Zhao Wuji was dead, and the Zhao family was like a scattered heap of sand. Wen Jingshu effortlessly captured the young boy clutching the egg.
Zhao Jin was plump and chubby, his eyes squeezed into mere slits by his fat.
Even when captured, Zhao Jin was still shouting that he was the young master of the Zhao family and the master of the spirit beast king, warning that anyone who crossed him would come to a bad end.
Wen Jingshu turned a deaf ear, tossing Zhao Jin directly to Suyao.
Suyao bit down on the scruff of Zhao Jin's neck, carrying him as he followed behind Wen Jingshu.
Wen Jingshu stepped onto her palanquin and soared into the air. Seeing her figure gliding forward, Xue Wanshu couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope rise in her heart.
To put it bluntly, their current battle was nothing more than a death struggle.
Because on the entirety of Cangwu Island, not a single cultivator was a match for a seventh-rank spirit beast!
While Xue Wanshu was dazed, a sudden cry of alarm rang out: “Senior Sister Xue, watch out!”
A spirit beast was trying to launch a sneak attack, and as a fragile sound cultivator, she feared close-quarters combat above all else.
Xue Wanshu gritted her teeth and retreated backward. Even if she couldn't block this strike, she had to avoid her vital points!
Seeing that she was about to be injured, Xue Wanshu closed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain. Instead, a rumbling sound echoed in her ears, followed by the faint crackle of a shattering barrier.
A Thunder-Attracting Talisman had struck the spirit beast with pinpoint accuracy, and that faint cracking sound came from a defensive talisman that had suddenly appeared on her body!
The young female cultivator's heart pounded wildly, her face pale with lingering fear. But that Thunder-Attracting Talisman and defensive talisman were only the beginning. She looked up and saw countless colorful talismans rapidly shooting out in all directions, with the palanquin at the center.
Thunder-Attracting Talismans, Exploding Talismans, Spirit-Stagnating Talismans, Binding Talismans...
These talismans specifically targeted the demon beasts and spirit beasts.
Gale Talismans, defensive talismans, Qi-Recovery Talismans, Vajra Talismans...
All of them drifted down and stuck onto countless cultivators!
A talisman cultivator could lead the offensive, but they could also play a supporting role!
In an instant, countless bolts of lightning accompanied by explosions and the shrieks of demon beasts crackled and boomed, nearly blinding everyone with their brilliance.
Many cultivators who had nearly been injured by the demon beasts were saved just in time by Wen Jingshu's talismans. Clutching their chests and panting heavily, they subconsciously looked up at her palanquin.
They couldn't see the person inside the palanquin clearly, but they heard a firm and powerful voice:
“Fellow Daoists, with a formidable enemy before us, I need you to set aside your differences and stand together! And I will support you in battle!”
Hearing Wen Jingshu's words, their panic, hesitation, and helplessness instantly transformed into soaring battle intent!
The young mistress was going to support them! What was there to fear!
Despite being protected by his Dao protector, Zheng Jilin had still been injured in the chaos. Seeing Wen Jingshu's thousands of talismans descending like divine aid, he quickly shouted:
“Zheng Jilin, disciple of the Pill Sect, obeys Senior Sister's command! Thank you for saving my life, Senior Sister!”
As soon as one person spoke, countless others echoed:
“Zhou Tian, disciple of the Qingyun Sect, obeys Senior Sister's command! Thank you for saving my life, Senior Sister!”
“Zhao Jianze, disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect, obeys Senior Sister's command! Thank you for saving my life, Senior Sister!”
“Disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect...”
“Disciple of the Sun family...”
“Rogue cultivator...”
Inside the Shengsheng Bead, Mu Yanghe watched the scattered heap of sand unite, and her respect for Wen Jingshu grew.
As expected of the little Celestial Maiden she had taken a fancy to—a natural-born leader, truly outstanding!
Seeing the cultivators unite as one against the common enemy, Wen Jingshu finally turned her attention to the two spirit beasts.
By now, the two seventh-rank spirit beasts were already red-eyed with rage. Wen Jingshu held two stacks of high-grade first-rank Thunder-Attracting Talismans, fairly and justly allocating one stack to each.
Lightning naturally countered all things. While a hundred high-grade first-rank Thunder-Attracting Talismans weren't fatal to the two spirit beasts, they were enough to draw their attention.
Riding her palanquin, Wen Jingshu ascended into midair. Holding the cub's egg in one hand, she said:
“The cub is here. This was entirely the Zhao family's doing. We will not interfere if you seek revenge on the Zhao family, but do not cause any more slaughter.”
“If you agree, I will personally return it to the sea. If you do not, then I can only strike first to gain the upper hand.”
Wearing her lightning spiritual force around the cub's egg, the protective shell instantly crackled with electric currents.
The two beasts were startled at the sight. They said to Wen Jingshu, “Wait!”
“We are merely subordinates of the beast king and have no right to interfere with the king's decisions. I will report this to the king. Give us one day. We will return in a day.”
With their young master held hostage, they didn't dare to act rashly.
Wen Jingshu nodded and added, “Let me warn you beforehand: your young master has already been contracted by someone. I don't have a way to break the contract right now, but I can hand over the person who contracted it to you as well.”
A contract?
The two beasts instantly flew into a rage upon hearing this. While contracting a spirit beast was a good thing for a cultivator, being unwillingly contracted by a human was a great humiliation for a spirit beast.
This was especially true for high-rank spirit beasts.
The abyssal octopus was furious. It raised a massive tentacle high, wanting to smash Wen Jingshu's palanquin to pieces.
Wen Jingshu didn't even blink. It was merely a seventh-rank demon beast; it couldn't possibly break through her palanquin's defenses.
Sure enough, the abyssal octopus's tentacle throbbed with pain from the impact, yet it hadn't even managed to touch the outer shell of the palanquin.
Wen Jingshu said, “I understand your anger, but this was not my doing. If you strike at me again, you will simply be acting ungrateful.”
The abyssal octopus gritted its teeth. In the end, it could only return to the sea to inform the spirit beast king.
The giant crab remained behind, closely watching Wen Jingshu's every move, terrified that she might do something to harm the cub.
Although Wen Jingshu had stopped the spirit beast invasion in time, the destructive power of the demon beasts was immense. From the start of the battle to its end, less than half an hour had passed, yet more than half of the city had already been destroyed.
Under the management of the Sun family, all the survivors gathered in the center of Cangwu City.
Wen Jingshu did not descend, keeping her palanquin hovering directly above everyone's heads.
The single palanquin floated alone in the sky, looking solitary and small.
Yet as everyone gazed up at the palanquin, they felt as if they finally had an anchor.
Seeing that the crowd was exhausted but not rioting, Sun Xiaosheng quickly sent people to distribute healing pills while also purchasing pills from the alchemists.
The cultivators of the Pill Sect didn't want to profit from a disaster either, so they sold their surplus pills to him at half the market price.
Looking at their ruined homes, many of the cultivators of Cangwu Island couldn't help but speak out:
“The Zhao family truly deserves to die!”
Once one person started, everyone else joined in:
“I was just curious about the island's scenery. I was really just passing through! Why did I have to go through this? If Miss Shu hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't even know how I died!”
“When the high and mighty fight, it's the people at the bottom who suffer! Where are the Zhao family members? I want to kill them!”
“Yes, kill them! Avenge our fellow Daoists who died in vain!”
Sun Xiaosheng quickly appeased the crowd's emotions.
Wen Jingshu felt a mix of emotions as she watched the chaotic scene before her.
If she were still just the talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu from her past life, she probably could only rage impotently just like them.
The cultivation world was indeed as cruel as always.
The crowd struggled through the long night. As the first light of dawn broke, a streak of light like a shooting star suddenly flashed across the horizon.
The Wang family had finally arrived.
A small flying boat hovered above the crowd. Wang Mengxia stepped off the vessel with two other Wang family disciples and approached Wen Jingshu.
Looking at the petite young female cultivator, Wang Mengxia couldn't contain her shock.
Was this the Little Senior Sister who had been the first to notice that something was wrong with the beast tide and had immediately informed Miss Wanting?
She had thought that Miss Wanting was already the pinnacle of talent among the female cultivators of their generation. When she heard Miss Wanting praising Wen Jingshu before, she hadn't taken it seriously.
After all, how could a mere ninety-five percent lightning spiritual root compare to their young mistress's perfect, hundred-percent mutated ice-lightning spiritual root?
Miss Wanting had simply seen too little of the world, to value a female cultivator who wasn't even as talented as herself so highly.
Only now, upon actually meeting Wen Jingshu and witnessing her demeanor, did she realize the true difference.
On their way here, they had also witnessed the current state of Cangwu Island.
Demon beasts taller than buildings roamed everywhere. The city was littered with corpses and lay in ruins, making it easy to see how fierce yesterday's battle had been.
Yet this tiny female cultivator had systematically gotten to the root of the matter, killed the Zhao family ancestor, intimidated the Zhao family, retrieved the spirit beast egg, and even stalled the spirit beast king's attack.
With just a single palanquin, she had put the hearts of all the cultivators at ease!
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