The three couples encircled Yi Ran.

They were at a standstill, all waiting for the right moment to strike. The descending rain had lightened, just slightly tugging the cultivators' robes down a bit from the weight. The three couples drew their weapons, while Yi Ran held her two balls of blue fire.

"How scary..." Yi Ran didn't fall for the intimidation. She just cooed cunningly like a fox, trying to find the perfect time to run off and escape.

Her amber eyes flashed, as they landed on Shen Qingqiu.

"I wonder who's the weakest one here..." She smiled.

Hearing that, the three couples subconsciously scuffled towards Shen Qingqiu's area, afraid that Yi Ran might aim to flee at that section. Instead, Yi Ran directly fled in the opposite direction—the area which Lan Zhan guarded.

Within an instant, Yi Ran had already ran a few metres away-

She hurriedly ducked, as Lan Zhan's sword, Bichen swept through the air. Bichen was merely inches away from slicing off her own neck.

Yi Ran gritted her teeth, as the remaining three couples surrounded her once again.

To her, it felt like she could never get rid of these minions following her.

"How annoying." She seethed. Her job was to destroy Yunmeng Jiang from the inside, not to spend most of her energy on fleeing. Her eyebrows furrowed from irritation, as she balanced her weight on her two feet. "Are you guys sure you want to spend time on detaining me?"

Yi Ran put on her friendliest smile. "I'm afraid there's nothing I know that will interest you."

The three couples remained unmoved at that statement.

Yi Ran's smile faded away. "Fine. Look down at me like that. Continue to do so, and I will proceed to burn this city down. It'll be so hot that nobody can stop it..."

All of a sudden, the two balls of blue fire in her palms began to whirl. Spiritual energy began to stick onto one another, thickening the heat and temperature. The blue fire had roared as it was replenished with energy, wildly showing off its flames like a peacock showing off its tail.

Yi Ran bit her lip. She threw one ball of blue fire at the nearest person, Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan dodged effortlessly, with the ball of blue fire overpassing his head and landing in the distance—a deafening sound shook the earth. All three couples were astonished to find that the ball of blue fire had exploded, unveiling the rapidly spreading blue flames.

Fire that pertained the colour of the blue skies had roared aflame. They caught on nearby buildings, engulfing the structures in their stomach.

The blue fire had a big appetite. No matter how much buildings it set aflame, the fire wouldn't stop spreading! Despite of the light rain, the blue fire was not affected at all. At this rate, the fire might spread to the entirety of Yunmeng Jiang!

Sensing the three couples' disbelief, Yi Ran hurriedly slipped away.

However, she was stopped by Luo Binghe. His sword, Zhengyang had slashed across the air.

Yi Ran quickly dodged, bending backwards to avoid the slash. After dodging, she straightened her bent back, then dashed forwards.

Luo Binghe didn't think that the young lady would go forwards instead of fleeing.

He raised his sword, then slashed multiple times. No matter which direction he threw his sword at, Yi Ran had been ready for it. She dodged left, right. Occasionally, she'd duck below, avoiding blows that would've directly decapitated her.

Meanwhile, the rest of the three couples had finished putting out the fire. With one breath from Hua Cheng, he'd blown out the blue fire.

It seemed especially simple for the Ghost King. However, only he knew that the strength of the blue fire had increased compared to before.

Yi Ran saw that the rest of the three couples were coming to help. Her forehead wrinkled, as she swept her feet at Luo Binghe's leg.

The Demon Lord dodged by jumping upwards, avoiding the trip.

However, Yi Ran was well-prepared for that. She summoned an abnormal heat at her palm, which began to glow a mesmerizing colour of cerulean blue! Violet and red squirming veins became visible in her wrist, as heat was summoned in her hand.

Then, she thrusted that hot hand at Luo Binghe's foot in midair.

"Tch." Luo Binghe felt a burning heat at his ankle. It began to burn so badly, it was as if his foot had been caught on fire.

Immediately, Luo Binghe summoned great strength, then kicked Yi Ran's burning hand off of his ankle. As soon as the burning hand lost its grip, the pants around Luo Binghe's ankle began to burn up. A blue fire set the pants aflame.

Luo Binghe hurriedly tore the ankles' section of his pants, removing the fire briefly.

By removing the pants covering his ankles, there was a burn mark visible on the skin. Luo Binghe's ankle swelled purple, then began to revert back to its original state. The Demon Lord's demonic physique allowed him to heal faster than normal people.

His ankle had already been fully healed.

Coming back to the battle, Luo Binghe slashed his sword at Yi Ran once again.

"SHIT!" Yi Ran let out a curse, as she spiralled into a 180 degree backflip. "ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?" The panic which flashed across her eyes had faded away. Yi Ran spat, "Actually, are any of you guys trying to capture me alive? At this point, I'm starting to think that my life is in danger."

She landed lightly on the ground.

A flash of silver turmoiled in the air. Suibian, Wei Wuxian's sword had cut across the air, aiming for the young lady's neck. Yi Ran reacted fast.

She directly leaned backwards, her back bending into a beautiful arch.

While bending, Yi Ran stuck out her hands and grabbed at Suibian's hilt. Wei Wuxian was alarmed, and tightened his grip on his sword.

Thankfully, Yi Ran wasn't after his sword. By holding onto the hilt of his sword, Yi Ran flipped backwards up into the air. She landed directly behind Wei Wuxian, then threw a kick at his wide-open back.

However, her kick didn't land.

Bichen, Lan Zhan's sword had blocked the blow. The frosty glare of the sword had greeted Yi Ran, then began its pursue. Lan Zhan was attacking, so Yi Ran took the defensive. Her dark locks of hair and snowy bangs had flew in the air, like a boat floating on waves of water.

"Is that all you've got?" Yi Ran taunted.

She leaped backwards, while facing Lan Zhan's pursuit. The pair attacked and defended, while jumping all over the streets. They finally ended up at the dead end of a corridor.

Yi Ran saw the dead end. Amusement played in her eyes, as she continued backing up.

Finally, her back touched the wall of the dead end. She gritted her teeth, spinning to the left to avoid the slash. Lan Zhan has put his all into that attack. By accident, Bichen had lodged itself into the cracks of the brick wall. The white-robed man frowned, as he pulled his sword out.

By the time he pulled his sword out, Yi Ran sent out a flying kick at his abdomen.

Lan Zhan was knocked backwards, having to take three steps to stable himself. He went forwards, trying to attack again. However, he was greeted with the sight of a giant brick.

Yi Ran had grabbed this brick out from the wall, then threw it at him.

Expressionless, Lan Zhan extended out a hand. His slender hand was pale and beautiful, yet, it caught the brick effortlessly. That same beautiful hand had held the brick in the palm, then crushing it into mere smithereens. Crumbles of the brick had collapsed onto the ground.

Yi Ran saw the strength of his hands, then took caution.

Lan Zhan intended to slash Bichen at the young lady again. His sword's frosty glare had remained solid, even when the rain washed over the cold surface. Bichen was hurled at Yi Ran's neck. The young lady spun to the right to avoid the blade, then all of a sudden...

The whoosh of the wind grew wild.

A scimitar was thrown directly at where she had dodged to. Yi Ran's pupils thinned, as the distance between the scimitar and her face had shortened-

Yi Ran extended out a hand.

Without an expression, she held the blade of the scimitar, E-Ming by two fingers. However, if one were to look closely, they'd notice that Yi Ran's two fingers had a blue glow.

She had summoned spiritual energy into her fingers, protecting them from damage from catching the blade.

Hua Cheng had summoned E-Ming back into his hands, prying it away from Yi Ran's strong grip.

Yi Ran clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. She dodged left, avoiding a sudden slash from Lan Zhan's Bichen.

"You guys are so nasty. Ganging up on me; a girl." She commented.

Yi Ran directly jumped, with her feet pushing off from the dead end's wall. She propelled herself forward, running past Lan Zhan's figure and out from the corridor. However, she was blocked by Wei Wuxian and Shen Qingqiu. The two cultivators decided to cooperate together.

Wei Wuxian unsheathed Suibian, with a sharp glare from the blade.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingqiu already began his assault. Snapping open his fan, he carried out a few clean moves. Occasionally, he'd snap his fan shut, aiming to take out Yi Ran's eyes.

The young lady could sense his intentions, and protected her head.

Yi Ran gritted her teeth, then threw an abrupt punch at Shen Qingqiu!

Before her punch could collide with Shen Qingqiu's head, her fist was blocked by Suibian's blade. Yi Ran was taken aback, as she quickly leapt backwards to avoid Wei Wuxian's slash. A few strands of her snowy bangs had been cut, falling soundlessly onto the pavement.

This was all seen by Yi Ran.

She gritted her teeth. Abrupt killing intent had poured into her every veins, gushing through her bloodstream and meridians.

The killing intent was sharp and hefty, like a butcher's knife being sharpened to cut down the meat lying on its cutting board. The three couples sensed the killing intent. They hesitated. Killing intent was used by cultivators, so that they'd be intimidated by the opponent's intent to kill them.

Yi Ran and the three couples(?) fell to a standstill.

They stared at each other, neither daring to get any closer. Yi Ran gritted her teeth, as she poured spiritual energy down her body.

Her two hands summoned two balls of blue fire.

Except, the fire was even more burning hot than last time. This fire roared wildly, squirming to be set free and admonishing the entire city. A smile played on Yi Ran's lips. "It's about time for me to get serious." Suddenly, it was like a dragon breathed out fire.

A burst of heat had sprang from Yi Ran's creation. It was as if she was the core to all heat and hot temperatures. The heat was oh so unbearable-

Suddenly, the heat disappeared.

Even Yi Ran was surprised. She blanked out there for a second, then finally noticed the long and thin needle lodged into her nape.

Xie Lian had been sitting atop the wall, with a box of needles by his side.

He'd been performing a session of hand seals, controlling and absorbing spiritual energy from the inserted needle. By the time he'd finished, he had absorbed the spiritual energy within Yi Ran. This was the special technique passed down in the Mo Clan!

The young lady was shocked silly.

Where was her blue fire?

Before she knew it, Ruoye sprang off from Xie Lian's bandaged arm and directly tied Yi Ran up. Seeing that it was tying a beautiful lady up, Ruoye felt quite pleased.

"YOU—" Yi Ran blurted. Never had she ever thought there'd be a day where she got captured!

No matter how hard she struggled, Yi Ran couldn't unbind Ruoye from her. Anger and frustration blew her cheeks up, making her appear like an angered pufferfish. "Hey, pretty brothers!" She decided to go about a different approach. "How about you guys untie me and I'll spare you guys from losing your heads! Doesn't that sound like a great deal?"

The three couples watched her blindly struggle.

Xie Lian spoke up, "It's no use. Unless if you can seduce Ruoye into obeying, it's impossible to escape."

The remaining three couples, "..." Was it even possible to seduce a spiritual device?

"Just wait and see!" Yi Ran huffed angrily. "My fierce corpses obey my orders, and they will kill without mercy! You have no idea just how many people are going to die from their hands! Soon enough, Yunmeng Jiang will be destroyed!"

To her surprise, Shen Qingqiu wore a strange smile.

That smile didn't seem to reach his eyes, as he coldly spoke back, "Oh is that so? Let's wait and see."

Shen Qingqiu: 凸ಠ 益ಠ)凸 Let's wait and see

Luo Binghe: ...why do I feel that Shizun has this... domineering aura going on?

The other two couples: ...you're the only one who thinks that

I'm a bit tired y'all. I think I've been publishing chapters like sonic (eight chapters in sixteen days) since starting July 16th or so. Well, I mean, I've got nothing else to do 😂

I was thinking about taking a small break. Maybe refrain from publishing for a week or maybe two. This way, I'll just stockpile up some drafts, and after a week, I'll manage to publish faster (hopefully). In other words, I'mma procrastinate. Thank you 🙏🏻