As the sun dipped below the horizon, night fell over the village.
Peering through the gaps in the window, the group from Sword Peak witnessed an eerie sight.
Just as that fast-talking, nonsense-spewing monk had claimed, Daniu Village at night was swallowed in pitch blackness, without a single household lighting an oil lamp.
It was as dead silent as a graveyard.
Bai Zhirou asked curiously via voice transmission, “Senior Brother Gu, where is Master Du'e?”
Gu Changqing wore a strange expression. “That monk... right after entering the village and walking around with us for a bit, he claimed he was going to perform last rites for the departed souls. Then he immediately turned around and went straight to Widow Liu's house on the east side of the village.”
Everyone: “...”
Perform last rites? It looked more like he went to be a "Superman."
...
The night deepened.
Outside Daniu Village, a group of figures dressed in black used the cover of night to creep closer, silent as ghosts.
Leading them was Second Elder Sima Zhao of the demonic Yin-Yang Sect, possessing a mid-stage Golden Core cultivation.
Beside him was Fourth Elder Sima Gui, who was at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.
Behind them followed four elite disciples at the early and mid stages of Foundation Establishment.
To deal with this group of Azure Mystic Sect juniors, the Yin-Yang Sect had truly spared no expense, sending two Golden Core Elders in person—making it crystal clear they intended to leave no survivors.
They had even villainously used the lives of the village chief's wife and children as leverage, coercing the chief to lure the Azure Mystic Sect group into the killing formation they had set up in advance.
Second Elder Sima Zhao's eyes glinted with ruthless malice. Licking his chapped lips, he sneered, “I heard that among this batch of Azure Mystic Sect disciples, there are a few top-tier female cultivators. Once the formation activates, trap them first. After their true qi is completely drained, we'll take them down in one swoop!”
“Kill all the men! As for the women... capture them all to use as cauldrons!”
Fourth Elder Sima Gui let out a strange laugh from the side. “Hehehe, Second Brother, that leader Gu Changqing looks fair and handsome. I have a good friend whose cultivation technique happens to require such a top-quality cauldron. Why not leave him to me?”
Hearing this, Sima Zhao's expression froze, and the look he gave Sima Gui turned extremely strange.
He silently took a small step to the side, creating some distance between them.
Before long, the Yin-Yang Sect members crept up to the abandoned courtyard at the tail end of the village.
Killing intent flashed in Sima Gui's eyes as a formation plate materialized in his hand.
His hands rapidly formed seals.
Buzz!
A pulse of eerie, blood-red light shot straight into the sky, transforming into a massive inverted blood bowl that tightly sealed the entire courtyard inside!
Sima Gui threw his head back and uttered a piercing, sinister laugh. “Hehehe...” “You fools of the Azure Mystic Sect! Melt into a pool of pus inside this 【Blood-Melting Grand Array】!”
The instant the formation activated, bloodcurdling screams from the Sword Peak disciples immediately echoed from inside the courtyard.
“Ah! Curse you demonic sect! How shameless, ambushing us from the shadows!”
“What kind of evil formation is this?! My true qi is draining away!”
“Help! My hands! My hands are melting!”
Hearing the agonizing wails within the array, the Yin-Yang Sect members exchanged looks, their faces brimming with smug satisfaction.
A Foundation Establishment disciple immediately seized the opportunity to flatter shamelessly, “Fourth Elder truly foresees everything with divine brilliance and possesses profound mastery over formations! With just a single killing array, you've wiped out this bunch of so-called Azure Mystic Sect geniuses without shedding a drop of blood! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!”
Listening to the delightful screams from inside the array, Sima Gui stroked his beard and laughed triumphantly, “Just a few wet-behind-the-ears ants dare to offend our Yin-Yang Sect? Naturally, when I act, success is guaranteed!”
...
Meanwhile.
Inside the terrifying blood-red formation.
The Azure Mystic Sect members were standing perfectly unharmed, not a single strand of hair out of place.
Aside from a few disciples occasionally wailing fake screams to play along with the act, the scene was utterly tranquil.
This was, of course, the masterpiece of Qi Linger.
After digging out the core of the formation, this formation genius of Sword Peak had not only severed its killing circuits, but had also reverse-engineered the formation plate, turning it into a light show that produced glow without harm.
Furthermore, they could see the Yin-Yang Sect members outside clearly through the formation's light barrier.
Gu Changqing's expression was grave as he looked around at everyone, transmitting his voice: “The situation is grim. The Yin-Yang Sect is dead set on eliminating us, even going so far as to dispatch two Golden Core Elders!”
“I have a life-saving Tier Three Medium-Grade 【Explosive Talisman】 in my hands. The moment the array breaks, I'll find a way to heavily injure one of the Golden Cores with it. The rest of you must scatter and flee immediately!”
At this point, he took a deep breath, his tone filled with resolute determination. “If they give chase, use the 【Cloud-Piercing Shuttle】 to escape! I will fight to the death to hold them off!”
Upon hearing this, tears welled up in the eyes of the disciples, and they frantically sent voice transmissions to argue: “Senior Brother, no! You are a True Disciple—you lead the others away, and I'll stay to cover the retreat!”
“No! If we leave, we leave together! If we die, we die together!”
“That's right! At worst, we'll fight these demonic monsters to the death!”
Right during this tragic and emotional moment...
The sound of a yawn inappropriately rang out in Bai Zhirou's mind.
Bai Zhirou, whose expression had been solemn a moment ago, immediately relaxed her tense body.
Clearly, the person who was most dangerous when nothing was happening—and safest when crisis struck—had awakened.
She hurriedly reported the situation in her mind: Senior, you're awake? A lot has happened just now. There are two Golden Core cultivators ambushing us outside, and we're about to fight for our lives!
Jiang Ye cut her off impatiently: No need to explain. I'm not interested in boring backstory setup.
Before the words had even faded, Bai Zhirou's body shuddered violently.
Jiang Ye logged in instantly!
The first thing he did upon taking control of the body was stretch lazily. “Haaahh~~”
This long yawn came right out of her mouth, sounding exceptionally jarring in the quiet courtyard.
Jiang Ye knew he had missed a lot of plot, but this brought him right back to his most familiar rhythm: not knowing where he was or what he was supposed to do.
He only knew that he was about to... start a slaughter.
The Sword Peak group, who had been passionately discussing how to heroically march to their deaths via voice transmission, froze simultaneously and turned their heads to look at "Bai Zhirou."
They saw the young woman casually wave her hand, speaking in a tone as matter-of-fact as deciding what to eat for dinner: “What's the big deal?” “Just kill 'em all, easy.”
Silence fell over the area.
Everyone was utterly bewildered.
Wait, sister, do you even know what kind of lineup is outside?
That's two Golden Core realm experts! One of them is even mid stage!
Is that something a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator should be saying?!
However, before anyone could recover from their shock...
The young woman before them expertly dropped into a track sprinter's starting stance.
"Bang!"
The wooden floorboards instantly exploded!
Transforming into a white residual shadow, the girl smashed right through the array light curtain modified by Qi Linger and charged out!
“Holy shit!” “She... she actually charged straight out?!”
Gu Changqing and the others were completely dumbfounded.
...
Outside.
The Yin-Yang Sect members were still smugly discussing how to take turns once they captured the female cultivators.
Suddenly!
The blood-red light screen burst apart with a deafening crash!
A white figure shot out like lightning, heading straight for Sima Gui, who was controlling the formation plate at the very front!
Jiang Ye's objective was crystal clear: slaughter a Golden Core first!
In almost the blink of an eye...
Jiang Ye had already closed the distance right in front of Sima Gui.
The Meteorite Greatsword materialized in her hand like a magic trick, coming down on his head with a terrifying sound of tearing air!
Although Sima Gui was dazed for a fraction of a second, he was still a Golden Core cultivator after all.
At the critical juncture between life and death, he instinctively activated a low-grade defensive Treasure Tool on his body.
Buzz!
A golden shield materialized instantaneously.
Bang!
The greatsword slammed viciously into the shield, letting out a deafening boom.
The violent force jolted Sima Gui so hard that his legs sank into the ground, but the shield stubbornly held against the strike, only sending out a ripple across its surface.
Still shaken, Sima Gui took a clear look and saw that the attacker was merely a mid-stage Foundation Establishment girl. He immediately sneered, “I wondered who it was—turns out it's just a flea at the Foundation Establishment stage...”
Rate on N.U.
