71 Quan Zhen

XiXi is a bit stunned when he pushes her away, she looks hurt. "Li Jie I need you, she stretches her tender white arms towards him with a pleading look in her eyes. Don't you want me..."

"Xiaolian..I.."

At that moment he realizes something isn't right with her, is she drugged? Who would dare? He looks at her innocent face that now has an expression of pure desire on it looking at him . As much as he would like to believe this is real he knows Xiaolian well enough to see she is not herself.

He can't take advantage of her although his body is aching to find a way inside her, he touches her acupoint and she falls into his arms. He lays her on the ground on the fox fur coat, trying to figure out the situation.

Quan Zhen is beside himself, this was his first opportunity in ten thousand years to escape this frozen hell. He is in spirit form on the jade throne surrounded by a Tenth Level God Array so Wang Li Jie can't sense his presence in the cave. He returns to the form of an ancient Immortal, with long white hair flowing down his back, then clenches his fist gripping the jade throne in anger. Quan Zhen has nothing to lose he decides, what else could the gods do if he kills once more in this sacred cave.

He hasn't seen a woman this beautiful since he was betrayed by that wench. He will kill Wang Li Jie and keep her with him to fulfill his desires. He has absorbed enough spiritual energy in this cave to even kill a few gods if they come to punish him. His demented mind is picturing XiXi chained to the cave wall, a pet to play with whenever he desires. It's been too long since he has touched a beautiful pure woman.

He never bothered with these people who lived in the palace, he just wandered around or slept. He thought if he didn't cause any problems the gods would relent one day and release him. Occasionally while in the Ice Flower Garden at night he would curse that evil woman who drove him to madness, scaring the servants, but that was just for some fun.

The women servants in this place are ugly and Wang Li Jie is such a solitary man he never had a use for him. Quan Zhen considers himself rather benevolent up until this point. But, when he was in spirit form and in the Ice Flower Garden today wandering around, Wang Li Jie brought this woman into the garden and a plan hatched to leave this forsaken mountain.

He noticed how Wang Li Jie looked at her with suppressed feelings,when she wasn't looking at him he would have a look of desire in his eyes. She seemed naive and weak, he didn't detect any cultivation, it would be easy to manipulate her mind. If Wang Li Jie could be seduced by her and lose control, he Quan Zhen could escape.

Who would have thought the Immortal Emperor would have so much self control and assume she was drugged. He must make this bastard pay for ruining his plan. He will spoil her innocence then chain her up while Wang Li Jie watches, then kill him.

Wang Li Jie is holding XiXi on the ground while she is unconscious staring at her face which is restored to normal. What came over you Xiaolian, do you know how dangerous that was for you to be so seductive? He is considering if they should continue forward and cultivate or return to the palace for now when he feels an evil force coming up behind him.

Quan Zhen has removed the Tenth Level God Array from around the jade throne. He wants to engage in real combat with this bastard. The gods took away his ability to kill with merely a thought and many of his other abilities, leaving him only enough to survive the beasts on this icy mountain. But he has been practicing a demonic cultivation method he stole right before he was sentenced to this tortuous hell. He never gave up hope one day he could escape.

He wants to see Wang Li Jie's blood splatter inside the cave drenching it in red. Once Wang Li Jie is defeated and barely breathing he will ravish the little beauty. Then he will slice off Wang Li Jie's head and scatter his soul.

Wang Li Jie sits still as to not alert whoever it is, he is aware of an evil presence, he quietly condenses his internal energy. He was distracted when they were leaving for the cave and didn't think he would need his Black Ice Sword, he only has his Blue Ice Dagger he always keeps on him. The presence has a suffocating black aura surrounding it and is approaching swiftly.

Wang Li Jie spins around, flies into the air his dragon robes swirling around him, the dragon embroidered on it looks like it is coming alive. He quickly reacts to confront the evil force. He is stunned to see a white haired old man laughing maniacally coming towards him. The man is wearing the robes of a banished Immortal, gray and coarse. It must be Quan Zhen, why is he attacking now, Wang Li Jie has come here many times though the years and never saw him.

"Foolish boy spoiling my escape, you will die miserably now."

Wang Li jie doesn't respond but pulls the dagger from his sleeve, can he remove Quan Zhen's head with only a dagger. He looks down at XiXi on the ground below how can he get her out of harm's way.

Quan Zhen turns his palm, red and black flames come flying towards Wang Li Jie.

Wang Li Jie has only seen this demonic fire once before when he was fighting the demons attacking Xiaolian's family. He dodges and it melts a section of the cave wall. Wang Li Jie immediately goes on the offensive thinking this old Immortal will think he is afraid and stay in defensive mode.

Wang Li Jie charges at him wielding his dagger while his palm sends out a blast to immobilize him.

Quan Zhen quickly moves to the right and the wave of energy misses him.

"Is that all the mighty Immortal Emperor has? You can't hit an old man with a palm strike?" Quan Zhen taunts him.

Wang Li Jie realizes he can't judge this old man's skill by his age, he isn't slow in the least.

"Old man what made you decide to play now, did you suddenly get bored after being banished here for ten thousand years? Who let's a mortal woman manipulate him like that?" Wang Li Jie hopes to unnerve Quan Zhen so he makes mistakes.

This ignites Quan Zhen's anger and he swiftly sends more flames towards Wang Li Jie. They quickly are intercepted by his Blue Ice Dagger extinguishing them. The dagger flies back into his hand and he circles to Quan Zhen's back. Quan Zhen swings around, lifts his leg and kicks towards Wang Li Jie's heart, his kick connects but to the right of the heart.

Wang li Jie absorbs the impact but it sends him back towards the ice wall behind him, gasping for breath as he lands on the ground. A trickle of blood oozing from his mouth. He wipes his lips with his sleeve,his level of respect for Quan Zhen increases, not too many can connect a kick to his body. The force would have shattered anyone else's bones.

"You aren't very fast I was close to stopping your heart with that kick. Have you been getting soft since the last Demon War?"

" I will admit you have some skill there"

They both keep a distance contemplating their next move.

Quan Zhen strokes his long white beard. "It's a pity I wasn't in the mood for company when you would come to this retreat of yours. We could have played chess"

"We still can if you give this up now, I might even try to intercede with the gods for you"

"If I thought you had the ability to win my freedom I would have befriended you years ago he laughs, you are overestimating your value."

"I have my connections.

But I don't sense any remorse and you know the gods like to see a willingness to accept one's wrongs"

"What do I have to feel remorseful about? That bitch made me fall in love with her just to use me. What man wouldn't want vengeance?"

"All you had to do was not take her to this cave, she would have returned her reputation ruined and been kicked out of her sect for seducing a god to become an Immortal. Most sects frown on those who want to take a shortcut, haha"

"What can I say, I enjoyed having my lips and hands all over her pure body, listening to her screams as I ruined her.. enough small talk.."

Quan Zhen flies above him like a blur, from his grey robes he brings out a sword made of black smoke and demonic ice spikes swinging it with all his force towards Wang Li Jie's head, Wang Li Jie is barely able to dodge, it slices off some silver strands of hair from Wang Li Jie's hair.

As the sword is still moving past his head Wang Li Jie grabs onto it with with his left hand allowing the ice spikes to penetrate his hand, he twists it from Quan Zhen's grip. As he attempts to turn the sword back towards Quan Zhen, the sword disappears into a stream of smoke back into Quan Zhen's robe directed by his palm.

It appears as though drawing the sword took a great deal of internal energy, Quan Zhen moves towards the back of the cave and is circulating a force around himself to replenish his energy.

Wang Li Jie's hand is bleeding an ice spike is still embedded in his hand. He pulls it out and sprinkles some healing powder from his sleeve onto it when Quan Zhen moved away to gather his internal energy.

He decides to attack Quan Zhen while he is somewhat weakened. Wang Ji Lie flies to the back of the cave but Quan Zhen moves past him in a flash to the opposite end of the cave.

"I see you are stronger than I anticipated", Quan Zhen chokes, his breathing labored. He thought the demonic smoke sword would absorb Wang Li Jie's internal energy if it pierced him in his Dragon Point near his temple. He never thought Wang Li Jie would be able to see it. If he changes back into a spirit he could have the element of surprise but very little power.

"You are outdated, your demonic smoke and ice sword is a relic haha.. I see forming it cost you quite a bit of your energy", Wang Li Jie mocks Quan Zhen.

Quan Zhen thought he would be finished with this brat by now, but he underestimated him. He only has one more trick up his sleeve but if it doesn't work it will turn him into a zombie, costing him his soul, the Demon King will send someone to place him in his army of undead.

So the possibility of failure must be considered, he will end up being a slave to the Demon King or the gods will interfere and kill him for making a pact with the demons. He doesn't want to risk either fate.

He looks and sees Wang Li Jie's weak spot lying on the ground-XiXi. He quickly forms a plan. He will escape with the girl as a hostage and get Wang Li Jie to negotiate with the gods on his behalf to secure his freedom to save the girl.

She is lying closer to him than Wang Li Jie so he estimates he can grab her and pierce the Thousand Thread Ice Array to escape faster than Wang Li Jie can reach them.

It seems that is what I must do he decides.

Quan Zhen rushes over in the blink of an eye swoops up XiXi a split second before Wang Li Jie appears in the same spot.