Bai Lin Hua's eyes shone with a bright purple.
Across her face there was a wide smile in her face.
Since the day she had been trapped by Kao Yun Yun, she had already developed an interest in Wisdom Path.
Apart from the effort she spent in trying to think of ways to improve her position, she also spent a lot of effort in trying to deduce and comprehend the slightest details of her every action.
However, she only received incomplete pieces of information, barely usable scraps, but using her Soul Path knowledge as a reference, she slowly filled the gaps in her knowledge.
Of course, that was a flawed approach; she wanted a more systematic approach by using Kao Dao Ji, however she found a pleasant surprise in Culture Makes One Wiser, which enabled her to fully solidify her understanding in one fell swoop.
That did not mean she could use it very proficiently yet; her lacking Soul Attainment was still not great enough for a thorough transformation, but was just enough to modify her Killer Move, by adding just a few Wisdom Gu Worms, she gained the ability to influence the emotions of others.
A subtle power that only became exceptionally powerful against simple-minded beings, like ants or…wills.
She extended her arms and legs widely.
A cold wave surged with intense might towards all directions; the surrounding dragons avoided warily.
While they did not know the specifics, they were fearful of being caught in the same trap.
So, they scattered everywhere, and at that, Bai Lin Hua chuckled.
Her abilities had yet to develop to the extent that she could do this; it was just a bluff.
Still, her actions brought a breather to Kao Yu Hun and especially Kao Dao Ji.
He rubbed his eyes several times, hand is vision rapidly returned.
And so did his consciousness.
He stared at Bai Lin Hua, who was smiling widely.
"Why do I have to feel that one day I will regret this?" He sighed. What was done was done.
Before he had the chance to gather his thoughts, he saw Kao Yu Hun, who had already regained his momentum to surge forward.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared.
Killing another dragon in a single strike before retreating.
Bai Lin Hua followed after him; her very presence forced the dragons to retreat further.
Still, they were not devoid of options; one of them opened its mouth and unleashed a Sun's Shine Beam.
Her expression changed.
There was not enough time to retreat.
But before the attacks could reach her, a myriad of clouds appeared between the two.
Kao Dao Ji had taken presence.
Bai Lin Hua squinted her eyes.
To think she would be outclassed by that Land Spirit, but it could not be helped without Immortal Gu; she was truly too useless.
At that thought, her expression towards Kao Dao Ji grew even more intense.
Still.
She did not forget her purpose here.
"Kao Dao Ji get close to me! I will attack, you will defend."
"Huh?" Kao Dao Ji tilted his head. He had never considered such a possibility when he lent a hand to her, but thinking about it, it was logical.
After all, Kao Dao Ji's best offensive moves were quite worthless right now; only his defenses and healing were up to standard.
The two stood side by side, staring at the diminishing army of dragons.
The two attacked together. Kao Dao Ji lifted his two hands together.
A swarm of micro clouds took shape before his very eyes, growing in size together like an army of thousands of ants.
[Field of Micro Clouds]
Consuming several Immortal Essence Beads, Kao Dao Ji rapidly summoned an army in a matter of seconds.
Not only that, but this army also gathered around him like an armor protecting him from every angle (albeit at an absurdly high cost)
Apart from this, it also rapidly devoured the essence of those cloud dragons, which rapidly lost size.
Several dragons moved to stop him, but Bai Lin Hua waved her hands, and a cold wave took place, forcing the dragons to retreat.
But the attack went on, several more dragons struck fiercely, Sun's Shine Beam was shot at full strength.
But Kao Dao Ji smirked.
He expended even more Immortal Essence to activate Cloud Field several more times.
[Light Reflecting Cloud] Using a natural effect, Kao Dao Ji dispersed part of the light using his micro cloud field, then, using the innermost layer composed of hardened clouds, he blocked the attack completely.
Only waves of heat and disorientation hit the two of them.
But it was not that bad; amidst the thick mist, Bai Lin Hua was remarkably well-protected.
"Can you snipe off those dragons?" Kao Dao Ji asked. This was the reason why he had built such sturdy defenses.
At those words, Bai Lin Hua nodded.
While very difficult, she could focus her gaze.
She spent most of her mental energy like this, but in a matter of seconds, she took over another dragon's min,d forcing it to attack the nearby dragons.
The process repeated itself several times.
But a minute later, the shrinking army of dragons finally had enough.
Even the ones currently fighting Kao Yu Hun turned their gazes towards the duo.
Kao Dao Ji's eyelids trembled.
Unlike before, when they were fearful of being struck and mentally crippled, this time they charged with abandon, focusing entirely on killing the two.
"Bai Lin Hua, use your mist." He shouted, but Bai Lin Hua's expression was quite the sight.
In reality, her previous seemingly overwhelming attack was but a paper tiger able to affect at most two or three dragons at a time.
After all, the very foundation of her attacks was still her soul foundation.
Kao Yu Hun stared at the scene of the army of dragons with a frowning expression.
Why is he not allowed to fight in peace?
Why does every damned minute somebody need to be rescued?
Kao Dao Ji gritted his teeth.
Using as much power as he could gather, he created the sturdiest defense he could manage.
Thunderous sounds were heard as the dragon's tails and heads collided with the barrier, which rapidly became unable to compensate.
It fluctuated rapidly until it was shattered like glass.
"Kao Dao Ji! Now!" Bai Lin Hua shouted.
Kao Dao Ji activated Rain Gu several times.
Whereas Bai Lin Hua used her Gu to freeze the produced rain, the change of temperature created a thick mist.
Bai Lin Hua had cold sweat on her forehead, her veins bulged, this time she no longer focused on turning the dragons against each other, but instead merely to hinder them.
Whereas Kao Dao Ji used that same mist to produce a repelling force.
Several bullets were shot from the mist, trying to cut through or at least push away the dragons, but it proved pointless.
The army seemed nearer than ever.
More than that.
The suicidal army, upon getting close enough, decisively exploded itself!
Four dragons exploded; the Clouded Thoughts mixed together in the mist.
Kao Dao Ji's eyes widened. He knew what would happen if those thoughts reached him, so he did his best to drive them away by controlling the mist.
Unfortunately, his divided attention only made them weaker; the two rapidly lost even more ground.
However.
Kao Yu Hun had finally arrived.
But instead of rescuing them like before, he instead surged towards the army.
And struck fiercely.
"We are already at the ending stages; you two only need to hold on for a minute." He shouted, even while fleeing towards the duo, he had taken care of several of the nearby dragons.
By this point, the army had decreased far too much.
Once he got rid of a few more, there would be a cascading effect, and dealing with the remaining few would be easy.
With such an idea, he struck like the wind, moving viciously against the army.
…
…
"It does seem this attempt was a failure." A figure sighed from the distance.
Star Constellation herself.
Even though the Tribulation had yet to end, she could already predict the outcome.
At that, she narrowed her eyes, staring intently at Kao Dao Ji.
During several months, she had stopped her schemes regarding the Kao Clan entirely, not because she felt merciful but because she felt that there were some variables that needed to be studied.
But no ordinary Tribulation would do.
With a Rank 7 Gu Master as his ally, ordinary Tribulations would not be able to 'test' him in the slightest.
She wanted to raise the ante just enough that Kao Dao Ji would feel the heat and force the truth to come out.
In her original predictions, the man would be forced to split part of his Immortal Aperture during the Tribulation.
She needed to see if her previous miscalculation was just a coincidence, a product of Fate being damaged, or if Kao Dao Ji was a true anomaly who defied her foretelling somehow.
Moreover, she also took the opportunity regarding the Tribulation to let some of Heaven's Will to infect the aperture to gather more clues, and once she did.
Her thoughts changed.
She saw the product of micro clouds and, with her attainment, immediately deduced its purpose.
While it was not heaven-defying or any such thing in her eyes, it was still something that went outside her expectations, beyond what a mere Land Spirit could accomplish.
Even most Immortals would not be able to come up with such an invention, especially not so quickly.
And once her suspicions were confirmed, the Tribulation's difficulty grew by a notch.
Star Constellation squinted her eyes.
"But who is his secret backer? Red Lotus? No, Red Lotus schemes are the most subtle, harder to grasp of all."
"Thieving Heaven? No, he only helps Otherworldly Demons, and no matter how much I look at him, there's no trace of him being an Otherworldly Demon."
"So, who else? Limitless, hardly, he put all his chips in Crazed Demon Cave, not a single Immortal Gu was left for other purposes.
Reckless? He would never help a Variant Human…"
"Giant Sun? But he already put most of his chips in Crimson Soul."
"Spectral Soul? No, as of now, he seems to be completely enthralled in mastering the myriad pathways."
All the Venerables of known history had been discarded.
Yet. Kao Dao Ji's existence could not possibly be a coincidence; there was something fishy about it.
Her expression changed.
"Could it be the anomaly?"
Suddenly.
Her expression changed.
As she saw Kao Dao Ji staring straight at her figure.
…
…
…
Kao Dao Ji felt a strange ringing sensation in his head.
He did not know why, but he felt that he was being observed by a mysterious figure.
The feeling only lasted for a hundredth of a second, still.
It was something that he could not have possibly imagined.
The aura he felt was even stronger than that of Crimson Soul.
"Star Constellation?" He muttered, bewildered at this speculation.
He did not know why or how.
But somehow, he had been able to feel her presence, one that not even mighty Rank 8 could perceive.
Even if for an instant.
But those thoughts were pushed away.
"I can see you." He chuckled.
Before, he would have tried to hide, but now there was no point.
Even though he had only felt her for an instant, he had no delusions that he could trick somebody as perceptive as her.
The veil had already fallen.
Besides.
He knew damn well why this Tribulation of his had been so difficult.
"Wanna see me dead? Tough luck!" He taunted.
"I will outlive you!" He flicked at the Heavens above.
…
Kao Yu Hun scratched his head at the scene.
What was that lunatic doing all of a sudden?