The giant sword and the twin blades clashed, and two powerful thunder-element spiritual forces collided, clearing the surrounding demonic aura completely.
Dongfang Shu's expression changed, and he quickly retracted his sword. Ye Zhizhou, on the other hand, sneered and continued to wield his twin blades, advancing forward. "How does it feel to fight yourself, huh?"
Familiar thunder-element spiritual energy emanated from the twin blades, and Dongfang Shu furrowed his brow, reluctantly glancing at Ye Zhizhou. He waved his hand to dispel the spiritual energy and pulled Ye Zhizhou into his embrace. "I'm sorry, I thought it was a shadow created by the demonic aura... How did you come out of the Derong Secret Realm?"
"Don't change the subject!" Ye Zhizhou was still angry, and he transformed his twin blades into a mace, ready to strike at Dongfang Shu's feet. He angrily accused, "You didn't even recognize me and attacked me! Tell me, how do you want to die?"
Dongfang Shu sighed and whispered something in Ye Zhizhou's ear.
Ye Zhizhou blushed, and the mace turned into dots of light as it returned to his dantian. His eyes started to gleam mischievously. "You said it, no reneging on your promise. Don't tell me later that my cultivation is too low or that it's not suitable..."
"No, I won't." A hint of a smile flashed in Dongfang Shu's eyes as he pinched Ye Zhizhou's earlobe. "Wait until you reach Nascent Transformation."
Wait until Nascent Transformation? So, there were still decades to go before they could have what they wanted? Ye Zhizhou was furious and raised his leg to stomp on Dongfang Shu. "You liar! You've stopped loving me, haven't you? You... don't have any interest in me anymore! A lack of harmony in our marital life is a major relationship taboo!"
"Our cultivation gap is too significant; engaging in dual cultivation recklessly would harm you," Dongfang Shu said softly, leaning closer to Ye Zhizhou and whispering, "Little Zhizhou, you need to work hard on your cultivation... I miss you a lot." As he spoke, he provocatively ran his hand along Ye Zhizhou's back.
The warm breath in Ye Zhizhou's ear sent shivers down his spine, and he quickly pushed Dongfang Shu's face away, maintaining a stern expression. "What are you doing? This is not the time. Everyone is still fighting hard against the demonic cultivators, and you're being too forward."
This scoundrel who complained first... Dongfang Shu lowered his hand to give Ye Zhizhou a peck on the cheek before glancing at the battlefield. "You came at the right time. Yuan Tai has created many illusions using demonic aura, and we must clear them first."
"That's simple." As a Wind-element cultivator with Thunder-element power, dispersing demonic aura was a breeze for Ye Zhizhou.
Dongfang Shu let go of his hand to avoid interfering with his spellcasting. After a pause, he sneakily reached out and touched the tip of Ye Zhizhou's long hair.
Ye Zhizhou turned to glare at him. "I'm in the midst of cultivating the 'Heavenly Path.' Don't touch me recklessly!"
Dongfang Shu chuckled, withdrew his hand, and resumed his defensive position.
With the raging wind imbued with Thunder-element spiritual energy rapidly spreading, it covered the entire battlefield, sweeping away the demonic aura drifting within. The cultivators engaged in battle suddenly felt a surge in their spiritual energy, making their movements much more fluid.
"It's Heaven River!"
"Quick, inform the Demon Sovereign!"
A man in a red robe blocked a fleeing demonic cultivator and sneered, "I'm curious about who this 'Demon Sovereign' you're talking about is. Stay and explain."
The demonic cultivator attempting to report was just a low-ranking minion and no match for the cultivator. He was easily slain on the spot. However, the cultivator didn't stop there; he captured the demonic cultivator's soul and searched it.
"Yuan... Tai!" With a gesture of his hand, the soul of the demonic cultivator silently screamed, twisted for a moment, and then dissipated into nothingness. "Heaven River is right. I truly am a fool."
He glanced at Dongfang Shu and Ye Zhizhou, who were standing together not far away, furrowing his brow. He then flew in the direction of their sect while using a voice transmission talisman. "Control Yuan Jing, don't let him go after Yuan Tai! And if you encounter Yuan Tai... kill him!"
Dongfang Shu withdrew his awareness, activated a flying magic tool, and said, "Let's go."
Ye Zhizhou jumped on without hesitation, surveyed the fiercely contested battlefield, and hesitated. "What about this place..."
"Leave it to the Linxian Pavilion. They know what to do." Dongfang Shu crushed a few voice transmission talismans and joined Ye Zhizhou on the flying magic tool. They headed towards the direction indicated by the Heaven River's display. Simultaneously, he retracted the spiritual energy web, instantly wiping out all the weaker low-level demonic cultivators.
Some of the cultivators who had lost their opponents were momentarily stunned, but their spirits quickly ignited. "With a powerful ally backing us, what are we afraid of? Kill!"
"Kill!"
On the mountaintop of the Qingcheng Sect, a black mist rolled lazily, occasionally emitting eerie ghostly cries from within.
"Release my master!" Liu Sha, trapped in mid-air by the black mist, glared at Yuan Tai with hatred, her body trembling with anger. "If you have a problem, come at me!"
"You, a Foundation Establishment trash, aren't worth my time." Yuan Tai kicked Xuan Zhongzi, who was unconscious, and his eyes gleamed with a twisted light. "Your master is quite good, though. Nascent Transformation cultivation, rich spiritual energy, and a strong soul. Liu Sha, you're lucky. In this cutthroat world of cultivation, masters willing to sacrifice their lives for their disciples are rare."
Liu Sha's eyes widened with fury. "Stop it!"
A sudden gust of wind dispersed the black mist, and at the same time, a familiar figure appeared behind Yuan Tai. With a flash of his twin blades, a cold gleam sliced into Yuan Tai's dantian. "Trash, vanish."
With a splattering sound, Yuan Tai's figure turned into black smoke and disappeared without a trace.
Liu Sha fell to the ground, stumbling towards Xuan Zhongzi and Su Yin. "Ye Zhizhou, quick, save Master. He was injured in the dantian while protecting me. Please save him."
Upon hearing this, Su Yin summoned his remaining strength and raised his head with great difficulty. He said, "Save Senior Brother... Ye Zhizhou..."
Ye Zhizhou hurriedly took a few steps forward, stuffed a pill into Xuan Zhongzi's mouth, and infused some spiritual energy. After analyzing the results through his connection with the Heavenly Path, he gave Xuan Zhongzi another pill and tended to his wounds using a medical kit.
Dongfang Shu scanned the surroundings and silently walked over to Su Yin, squatting down beside him to begin treating his injuries.
"Thank you," Su Yin finally relaxed his tense mind and smiled foolishly. "You both are safe. Those demonic cultivators are despicable, plotting in the shadows. By the way, please check on Liu Sha; he was also injured by Yuan Tai."
"I'm fine," Liu Sha approached and examined their wounds. He wiped away tears from his red eyes. "My injuries aren't severe. Master and Senior Uncle are the ones in danger."
Ye Zhizhou and Dongfang Shu exchanged glances, and then they gathered their spiritual energy and sent it towards Liu Sha and Su Yin, respectively.
The two men were startled and quickly dodged, exclaiming in shock and anger, "What are you doing?"
In the next moment, the spiritual energy pressed right up to them, disintegrating their bodies into several pieces.
A moment later, two more plumes of black smoke rose.
"Only the Sect Leader is real," Ye Zhizhou infused a bit more spiritual energy into Xuan Zhongzi and, once he stabilized, placed him on a flying tool. He looked at Dongfang Shu, furrowing his brow, and said, "It's all an illusion; Yuan Tai is diverting our attention. Even the Heavenly Path was misled."
Dongfang Shu surveyed their surroundings again, then suddenly approached Ye Zhizhou, wrapping his arms around his waist and taking him on the flying tool. "The malevolent spirits are targeting those in the Nascent Transformation stage. We need to go back."
Ye Zhizhou nodded in agreement. Suddenly, he remembered something and exclaimed, "Yuan Jing has also come out of the secret realm. Quick, let's go to the Linxian Pavilion's disciples!"
In the temporary rest area of the Linxian Pavilion, a red-robed man watched with a grim face as Yuan Jing struggled to leave and find Yuan Tai. He slapped him hard and said, "Wake up! Yuan Tai has betrayed the sect and fallen into darkness. He's no longer a member of our Linxian Pavilion, let alone your brother! You mustn't go after him!"
"I don't believe it!" Yuan Jing became even more agitated after being slapped, and his spiritual energy fluctuated erratically. "He and I cultivated the same technique and received the same education. How could he have fallen into darkness? You're lying to me!"
The red-robed man was exasperated by Yuan Jing's reaction. He decided to bind him with an Immortal Binding Rope to prevent him from doing anything foolish.
A junior disciple who had been watching nearby suddenly widened his eyes and pointed outside, stuttering, "E-elder, Y-Yuan Jing Senior Brother has returned..."
"What do you mean, 'returned'? He's right here." The elder frowned.
"N-no, I mean he's really back. He flew in from outside..." The junior's words trailed off as another Yuan Jing actually arrived from outside, landing from his flying sword. He urgently asked, "What's going on? Why are there so many demonic cultivators outside? And I heard from that Ye Zhizhou person that Xiao Tai is colluding with them. What's happening... who is he?"
The Yuan Jing bound by the Immortal Binding Rope was also shocked. "Who are you?"
The red-robed man released the rope, gazing at both Yuan Jings with a puzzled expression, then turned to the one who had just arrived. He lashed his whip at him and said, "Demonic aura illusions. Is this the best those demonic cultivators can do?"
The newly arrived Yuan Jing was greatly alarmed, barely dodging the whip. He faced the elder and explained, "Elder, I'm the real one! The aura of the mist from the Derong Secret Realm can't be sustained for this long; he's the fake one!"
The small disciples guarding the area were utterly dumbfounded, looking back and forth between the two Yuan Jings, their faces filled with confusion.
There was a series of swooshing sounds as several cultivators who had gone to the Derong Secret Realm with Yuan Jing finally returned. Upon witnessing the scene, they were perplexed at first but quickly turned resentful as they glared at the bound Yuan Jing. One of them angrily declared, "He's fake! Yuan Senior Brother had his robe torn by sword qi in the secret realm, but this person's clothes are intact!"
The man in the red robe cast a sharp look and, filled with killing intent, lashed his whip fiercely at the fake Yuan Jing's body. In an instant, the fake Yuan Jing turned into black smoke and disappeared, leaving the Immortal Binding Rope lying on the ground.
"Unbelievable, it was indeed an illusion! Dammit!"
Swoosh, swoosh, two more sounds of breaking through the air followed. Two Nascent Transformation stage cultivators each held an unconscious Yuan Tai as they landed. They exchanged puzzled glances, and their expressions changed.
"Why are you...?"
The red-robed man glanced at the two and, with a cold smile, raised his whip again. "Can't you tell? Twice in a row. Do you think the disciples of Linxian Pavilion are easy to fool?"
Bang! The long whip was intercepted by a giant sword thrown from afar, shattering the attack. The red-robed man felt a backlash of spiritual energy in his chest and looked angrily in the direction of the incoming sword.
"Stop!" Ye Zhizhou jumped down from his flying tool and crouched next to the "Yuan Tai" on the ground. He fed them two pills each and wiped their faces. After a few seconds, the "Yuan Tai" figures changed, revealing Liu Sha and Su Yin.
Everyone was shocked.
"As I suspected," he said with a frown as he checked their injuries, provided some spiritual energy to each of them, and then looked at Dongfang Shu. "Yuan Tai has been avoiding direct confrontation with us, trying to buy time."
"Look over there, what is that?" Suddenly, a Nascent Transformation stage cultivator who had brought Liu Sha back pointed to a direction with astonishment.
Ye Zhizhou turned to look and saw a faint red light rising at the farthest edge of the battlefield. The light gradually intensified, forming a barrier that enveloped the entire battlefield.
"The demonic cultivators over there are disappearing!" A junior disciple took a step back in fear, trembling as he pointed to another part of the battlefield. "They... they are turning into blood mist."
"It's a sacrifice," Dongfang Shu looked in that direction, his body exuding killing intent. "The red light is an Ascension Formation. It requires a large-scale life sacrifice. Yuan Tai wants to absorb the power of those within the formation to forcefully open a path to ascension. Then, he plans to rely on the merits and karma of those within the formation to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation and skip the entire cultivation process to ascend."
Ye Zhizhou sneered, "He not only wants the lives of the cultivators but also those of the demonic cultivators!"
"Let's stop him!" The red-robed man used his spiritual energy to protect some of the lower-level cultivators in the sect. He tightened his grip on his whip. "Before the formation is completed, we—"
"Who told you the formation hasn't been completed?" Dongfang Shu interrupted him, glancing at Yuan Jing in the corner. "The formation was completed the moment Yuan Tai arrived. The fruits of victory must be plucked by oneself, right, Yuan Tai?"
Yuan Jing's eyes flickered, and he suddenly grinned maliciously, saying, "Enjoy it, Heavenly River Supreme."
With that, his body turned into black smoke and disappeared into the air.
"What just...?" The red-robed man was shocked once again.
Ye Zhizhou carefully lifted Su Yin and Liu Sha onto the flying tool and asked Dongfang Shu, "Is it time?"
After acting alongside Yuan Tai for so long, it was finally time to close the net. Yuan Tai wanted to trap everyone with this formation, but did he forget that "everyone" included himself? Catching a turtle in a jar—did he ever consider whether he was the turtle?
Dongfang Shu nodded and held Ye Zhizhou's hand.
[Purple Void Space ready, can be activated at any time.]
"Very well." Ye Zhizhou squeezed Dongfang Shu's hand, and their spiritual energy began to merge as they spread it across the battlefield. "A jar within a jar. Let's see how the malevolent spirits will ascend when everyone inside the formation is gone!"