Chapter 208
“Who?!”
Hui Kong and Song Chi Yue turned to face the newcomer, but all they could see through the swirling demonic energy were a pair of blood-red eyes and a blurred figure.
The figure stepped closer, exuding a chilling aura.
“No wonder every year in the Zhongzhou Secret Realm, disciples from various sects go missing, especially those with outstanding talents. Turns out you’ve been the ones behind it all!”
Song Chi Yue squinted. Although she didn’t know who the visitor was, their aura was weak, and they were a demonic cultivator.
Instantly, the tension in her heart eased.
“What do you, a demonic cultivator, understand? Do you know why our righteous sects can suppress you demons? It’s because we know how to allocate resources! Only by gathering the best resources can we create true powerhouses that can dominate an era!”
“Root extraction, body devouring, dantian transplantation, soul snatching… What’s the difference between you and the evil paths?”
Hui Kong and Song Chi Yue exchanged glances and scoffed, “You, a demonic cultivator, dare to lecture us?”
He merely turned the beads in his hand, and the three motionless remains of demonic cultivators around the battlefield began to close in.
As the demonic energy gradually receded, the strength of these remains also waned.
Yet, even in their weakened state, they still possessed the power of late Golden Core or even Great Perfection.
Song Chi Yue’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at Mo Shu Mei, who wielded a demonic blade, a glint of greed flickering in her gaze. “Good, good, good! Another with a Dao body and a single-blade spirit root. What a pity you’ve fallen to the demonic path… Since you dare to show yourself today, you shall become part of our materials!”
Mo Shu Mei remained silent, her figure twisting for a moment.
A few scattered dry leaves suddenly hung suspended in the air where their gazes intertwined.
Song Chi Yue’s loose strands of hair stirred as if caught in a breeze.
Clang—!
The blood-red blade light flickered and vanished in an instant.
A section of crumbling wall beside the entrance collapsed in an instant.
“Such a fast… blade…” Song Chi Yue’s pupils constricted, a line of blood spreading across her neck, shifting from light to dark, then misaligning.
Thud—
Hui Kong watched as Song Chi Yue’s head fell to the ground, his expression unchanged.
He simply pressed his palms together and issued an attack command to the remains of the demonic cultivators.
He even ordered one of the remains to charge outside the formation—there were still many materials to gather, and nothing could be wasted!
“The blade is fast, but it’s not enough to kill me!”
Behind Mo Shu Mei, a cluster of flowering vines burst forth from the ground, twisting and coiling into the shape of Song Chi Yue.
“Tsk.”
The blade-wielding girl frowned slightly.
The cold voice of the Soul Abyss echoed in her mind.
[You have only half a stick of incense worth of time; after that, the backlash will begin!]
[The second layer of the Great Compassion Verse can suppress or even control me, but it cannot avoid this backlash… If you want to live, first eliminate the remains of the demonic cultivators, then retreat from the battlefield. Do not engage with Song Chi Yue.]
“Are you really that kind-hearted?” Mo Shu Mei glared at the encroaching remains and Song Chi Yue, her teeth clenched.
She knew how much the demonic blade coveted her flesh.
After spending so long together, she was well aware that this demonic blade was a cunning old fox that would devour her without a second thought.
The words of the demonic blade could not be fully trusted.
[Whether you believe me or not is your choice; I just don’t want to fall into the hands of the righteous sect.]
[What I want is your complete body… not a useless husk with its roots extracted, Dao body taken, and dantian removed!]
Mo Shu Mei snorted coldly, remaining silent.
She simply held the blade before her, its edge shifting, redirecting the focus of her attack from Song Chi Yue to the two remains.
The remains of the demonic cultivators were at Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, and so was she.
At this moment, with the power of the demonic blade, it wouldn’t be difficult to push back the remains and Song Chi Yue, then find an opportunity to escape.
And just then.
The demonic energy within the formation was entirely absorbed by the core of the great array, the formation closed, and the demonic energy dissipated.
The battlefield, littered with corpses, was exposed to the eyes of the disciples from various sects who had not yet left the array.
At the same time, Mo Shu Mei, who was battling Song Chi Yue, was also revealed.
…
…
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Chapter 223: A Bunch of Fools
The entire sect’s ruins spanned a vast area, stretching across the valley.
As they approached the sect’s ruins, Yun Su Xin bid farewell to Yue Qian Chi and Li Qing Ran, heading alone toward the Dan Pavilion.
At this moment, the sealing formation had completely vanished, and the sect’s ruins were fully exposed.
The remains of the demonic cultivators that burst forth from within had slaughtered the onlooking disciples, driving them away; no one dared to linger near the formation.
A mile outside the demonic array, disciples from the Sword Pavilion gathered beneath a rocky outcrop, each one resembling a withered leaf battered by a storm. Some knelt on the ground, clutching broken swords, their moon-white robes stained with large patches of blood; others turned their backs, their shoulders trembling in the twilight.
A gentle breeze carried the scent of gunpowder, mingling with the lingering smell of blood.
“Yue Shijie! Qing Ran Shimei!”
“You’re back! Something terrible has happened!”
A Sword Pavilion disciple stumbled forward, grabbing Yue Qian Chi’s sleeve, his voice choked with emotion.
His robe was tattered, and the soles of his boots were caked with dark red blood.
Yue Qian Chi gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her gaze sweeping over each pale face.
When she noticed that three of her direct disciples were missing from the crowd, her nails dug sharply into her palm.
“What happened? Where are your senior brothers Xu An, Duan Feng, and Zhen He?”
“The formation malfunctioned.” A Sword Pavilion disciple looked up, his eyes vacant, lost in despair. “The array that was supposed to purify the demonic energy turned into a demonic array that strengthened the remains of the demonic cultivators. This array only allowed entry, not exit. To send us out, our senior brother set up the San Cai Sword Formation and stayed behind in the demonic array. When we went back to look for them, the three senior brothers were already gone… alive, we couldn’t find them; dead, we couldn’t find their bodies…”
“What?!” Yue Qian Chi’s body trembled slightly, her fingers whitening as she gripped tightly, her voice breaking into a hoarse shout.
The Xuanwu Sword Intent erupted, distorting the air around her.
Li Qing Ran stumbled back a step, barely managing to steady herself with her sword.
She looked at her sister’s trembling shoulders, the green robe billowing with the raging sword intent, as if it might tear apart at any moment.
“What about the Yao Chi Saintess? What was she doing?!” Yue Qian Chi raised her head, her bloodshot eyes locking onto the disciple.
Each word dripped with murderous intent: “Why did the formation malfunction? Speak!”
No one had ever seen Yue Qian Chi so furious.
In the memories of every Sword Pavilion disciple, their sister was usually carefree and easygoing.
She could joke around, never held grudges, and was able to fight fiercely in the training grounds while also gently comforting disciples struggling with their cultivation.
“Because of an energy wave.” The Sword Pavilion disciple lowered his head, not daring to meet his sister’s fiery gaze. “It’s said that the energy wave contained a reversal of Dao rhythm, which struck the core of the formation, causing its function to reverse. Hui Kong was severely injured and coughed up blood because of it. Then, a Golden Core demonic cultivator’s remains emerged. The three senior brothers, seeing the situation was dire, sent us out… When the formation dissipated, the ground was littered with corpses. The Yao Chi Saintess and Hui Kong seemed to be heavily injured, and there were signs of battle everywhere…”
As he spoke, the Sword Pavilion disciple began to cry, choking out, “Sister, we wanted to go in and find our senior brothers, but we couldn’t break through that formation…”
“After the formation dissipated, we planned to take advantage of Song Chi Yue holding off the demonic cultivators and their remains to search for our senior brothers, but we were chased by a demonic cultivator’s remains. Fortunately, with the talismans bestowed by our ancestors, and since the remains were weakened, we managed to escape. Other sect disciples who encountered those remains didn’t leave a single whole corpse.”
After hearing the disciple’s account, Yue Qian Chi’s raging emotions gradually calmed.
Anger, pain, regret… these feelings were of no use in dealing with what lay ahead.
“Xu An, Duan Feng, and Zhen He are powerful; they could never have been easily killed by the remains of the demonic cultivators. They must be unconscious somewhere on the battlefield, and it’s only because the remains are nearby that you couldn’t find them.” Yue Qian Chi took a deep breath and made a decisive decision. “The small secret realm is about to close, and the gate will open again. You all stay hidden here; when the gate opens, rush out of the secret realm without stopping. I will go to the sect’s ruins to find your senior brothers! I will definitely… bring them back!”
“Shijie, the demonic cultivators’ remains may not have left!”
“Yeah, Shijie, it’s dangerous!”
The disciples of the Sword Pavilion urged her in unison.
They might have already lost three senior brothers and didn’t want to lose their beloved sister as well.
“Shijie, if you go, we’ll go with you!” a Sword Pavilion disciple suggested. “That way, even if we encounter the remains of the demonic cultivators, we can help share the burden!”
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