Lin Muxue closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing. Only after confirming that she had not been tainted did she finally relax.
However, the scene from moments ago still lingered in her mind—the headless, heartless giant, its inexplicable connection with Su Qianqian, the taint of the Abyss in the Yin Moon, and that headless giant’s proactive help… Every one of these things shook Lin Muxue’s spirit to its core.
When Lin Muxue opened her eyes again, everyone around her was watching her cautiously.
After all, she had been the direct target of the attack, and now, as if nothing had happened, she stood here completely unharmed—surely a very bizarre sight!
Lu Qing had even summoned his life-bound artifact, ready to “eliminate” her immediately if Lin Muxue showed any signs of abnormality!
Now he deeply regretted his earlier optimism; his wishful thinking might have put Lin Muxue in danger this time!
Lin Muxue glanced around at the wary crowd and nodded, releasing pure spiritual energy to prove she was unharmed.
Only then did the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere begin to ease. Lu Qing breathed a massive sigh of relief, but he still dared not let his guard down.
He remembered all too well those who had gone mad or corrupted by the Abyss.
How had Lin Muxue withstood such a direct shock?
“Fellow Daoist Lin, do you feel anything unusual right now?” Lu Qing asked cautiously.
Lin Muxue shook her head. Thankfully, that strange power had shielded her for a moment—otherwise, she might not even be able to stand here now.
Still, she felt uneasy, her understanding of the Abyss’s bottomless terror deepened.
“Well, as expected of our miraculous Sect Leader Lin, always hiding cards up her sleeve. You walk away unscathed while the rest of us got injured protecting you as your Guardians.”
Chu Youtong sneered, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Thank you.” Lin Muxue stared seriously at Chu Youtong and expressed her gratitude.
That left Chu Youtong at a loss. She’d wanted to provoke Lin Muxue, but this woman’s temperament was truly hard to handle.
After thanking Chu Youtong, Lin Muxue also expressed her gratitude to the others for their protection.
Only then did Lu Qing completely relax. Lin Muxue’s mind was so clear and calm; there was no way she’d been corrupted.
After all, those tainted by the Abyss could never act like this.
“Fellow Daoist Lin, why did you lose consciousness just now? And what method did you use to fend off the attack—of course, if it’s a secret technique or treasure, forgive my offense.”
“It’s not that, but the explanation is far from simple…”
Lin Muxue shook her head, her expression complex. The recent experience had been too surreal, too far beyond understanding.
If not for that final power shielding her and the message that appeared in her mind, she might have thought it all a hallucination.
Lin Muxue organized her thoughts and recounted how, after touching the Karmic Thread, her consciousness was drawn into the Yin Moon, where she saw the headless, heartless giant and ultimately received its aid to escape the Yin Moon through a gap opened by the Abyss’s corruption.
Of course, she concealed everything related to Su Qianqian.
At that moment, shock appeared on every face in the room.
Listening to Lin Muxue, it sounded like one of those mortal tales of “encountering an immortal who flew up to the moon, meeting the gods upon it, and being granted a Divine Miracle.”
But these words came from the Sword Sect’s Sect Leader herself, and Lin Muxue stood here, speaking plainly, only adding to their credibility.
“There really is such… a god within the Yin Moon?! Although legends of the Yin Moon Deity have been passed down in our sect since ancient times, nowadays few believe in them. I’ll make sure to report this to the sect, so our disciples and elders can gather and organize all relevant records.”
The sect leader of a Yin Moon-cultivating sect tugged excitedly at his beard.
Lu Qing and several others, however, focused on something else—the taint of the Yin Moon itself!
“So the very body of the Yin Moon is affected?! For countless ages nothing happened, so why now?”
Most troubling of all, even knowing the Yin Moon’s core was tainted, they were nearly powerless to act…
“Fellow Daoist Lin, do you know roughly where the Yin Moon was tainted?” Lu Qing asked gravely.
“From a glimpse at that time, I can estimate a rough location.”
“How large is the affected area?”
“About a kilometer across.”
“That’s not too bad yet, by the Yin Moon’s standards, but we must find a way to stop it from spreading!”
“Everyone, the situation is grave, so let’s skip the formalities. In the next few days, I’ll issue the Order to Cut Off the Abyss to the entire realm! I hope you can all send your greatest experts!”
“Once Fellow Daoist Lin locates the site, we’ll need a method for closer observation of the Yin Moon, a way to prevent Abyssal creations from manifesting through the Yin Moon’s power, and most importantly, a solution to halt or even purge the Yin Moon’s corruption! Achieving this will require gathering a great number of related experts. The safety—and even the survival—of our realm depends on it. We cannot afford to be complacent!”
“There may be no further need to prevent Abyssal creations from appearing,” Lin Muxue suddenly interrupted.”
She drew in the air, arcs of light sweeping through the void, revealing a brilliantly intricate Supreme Array blueprint, along with technical requirements and a list of needed materials.
“This was left in my mind by that ‘god’. I know little of Supreme Arrays, so I can only reproduce what was shown to me.”
The Deputy Sect Master of the Wanzhen Sect stared at the array in the air, his eyes shining as he muttered to himself—laughing one moment, pondering the next:
“Such an ancient formation! It’s similar to the supreme arrays recorded in ancient texts, but far more refined—closer to the origin itself… Here—marvelous! It can be done this way? But why is it set up like that…”
Several other array masters with deep cultivation also reacted with excitement, while those less skilled could make no sense of it. Still, seeing the experts’ reactions, it was clear the array held true merit.
A major problem had been solved so easily. Lu Qing was overjoyed at first, then turned serious, apologetic as he looked at Lin Muxue.
“Fellow Daoist Lin, you’re the only one to have entered the Yin Moon and met this suspected ‘god.’ That being clearly showed goodwill. If you’re able, I hope you’ll try again. The key to resolving this crisis may lie with you.”
Of course, Lin Muxue did not refuse. Even from her own standpoint, she wished to make contact with the headless giant once more and uncover its connection to Su Qianqian.
But now, she found herself missing Su Qianqian and Su Lingling. Given Lin Muxue’s cultivation, the time she’d spent apart from them wasn’t even as long as a deep seclusion session, yet she couldn’t help but long for them.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading back in a few days. There are affairs in the sect I must resolve.”
“Of course, thank you all for your help. I’ll need the support of your various factions in the coming actions. Once things wrap up in a few days, you may all return.”
Afterwards, everyone departed in turn—except for a few array masters who couldn’t take their eyes off the array diagram, gesturing and muttering excitedly.
Originally, Lin Muxue had planned to leave normally after a few more days, but things never go as planned…
Scarcely after the gathering dispersed, Lin Muxue barely had time to say goodbye before transforming into a stream of light and rushing back to the sect!
Everyone wondered what had happened, when a Sword Sect Disciple delivered a message on Lin Muxue’s behalf—she had also just brought her the sect’s emergency missive sent via their information network:
“Sect Leader, Su Qianqian was abducted by persons unknown while training in Dingshan City with Elder Qin!”
……
As soon as she exited the spatial rift, Lin Muxue used the Karmic Thread and the mark she’d left on Su Qianqian to try and locate her across half the world, but the distance was too great, and the enemy had made thorough preparations.
In the end, Lin Muxue failed to pinpoint her location…
Lin Muxue could only return to the Sword Sect with a dark expression. At that moment, it seemed as if a tangible murderous aura radiated from her.
Passing disciples who saw her state were so frightened that they fell off their swords.
Back at the Tianjian Peak Cave Residence, Su Lingling had already been waiting for a long time outside.
Seeing Lin Muxue return, she immediately ran up to her, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Master—Sister, Sister’s gone! Wuwu X﹏X, I was only away for a moment, and when I came back, Sister was acting strange, and then… then… she turned into a puppet, wuwuwuwu, Sister…”
Su Lingling’s voice trembled as tears, like broken beads, spilled onto her sleeve, leaving small, spreading stains as she sobbed.
Seeing Su Lingling like this, Lin Muxue’s expression softened.
She gently wiped away her tears and softly comforted her, “Lingling, don’t worry. I’m back now. Wait for me here—I’ll bring Qianqian back!”
Su Lingling couldn’t stop crying, but nodded through her sobs.
After soothing Su Lingling, Lin Muxue immediately summoned the other elders, especially Elder Qin, to ask about the current situation.
Elder Qin was consumed by guilt; he never expected a disciple under his care would be abducted right under his nose!
“Sect Leader, it’s all my fault! To think a disciple could be taken from right under my eyes! Even if it costs my life, I will bring her back!” Elder Qin appeared exhausted.
Since Su Qianqian’s disappearance, he had searched Dingshan City and the surrounding areas day and night for clues, but to no avail.
Only upon hearing of Lin Muxue’s return did he come back to the Sword Sect.
“Elder Qin, whoever dared act near the Sword Sect must have made thorough preparations. The fault is not yours. Now, please tell me exactly what happened.” Lin Muxue asked gravely.
“At the time… I brought the disciples to Dingshan City for training. Since it’s near the Sword Sect and the public order has always been good, I allowed them some free time to rest. I waited at the city gate and kept a close eye on their Disciple Tokens.”
“But as the gathering time approached, Su Qianqian’s token suddenly lost its connection. When I rushed to check, Su Lingling and Mingxi came running, carrying a puppet, saying Su Qianqian had suddenly turned into one…”
“Upon inspection, it was an extremely rare, one-time Substitute Puppet. In the short time Su Qianqian was separated from Su Lingling, someone swapped her out, fooling the Disciple Token’s recognition. Taking advantage of this, the abductor fled Dingshan City with her.”
“After her disappearance, I immediately searched the city and surroundings, asked the City Lord for help, informed the sect to notify you, and sent disciples and elders skilled in investigation to assist.”
“The only clue we found was a trace of a Soul Confusion Array in the shop Su Qianqian had been in…”
Lin Muxue frowned and nodded, then suddenly vanished from sight, reappearing above Dingshan City.
Lin Muxue’s formidable divine sense swept through the city and surroundings, but too much time had passed since Su Qianqian was taken, and this was a bustling commercial hub.
Even she found no further clues.
There was no point lingering. The enemy was too well-prepared—she was unlikely to find anything useful here.
The mark she’d set hadn’t been triggered, so it could only mean the abductor was someone who deliberately didn’t want to harm Su Qianqian.
The culprit was obvious… Several figures flashed through Lin Muxue’s mind.
She looked toward the nearest faction and vanished from where she stood. Her first destination—the Ziyuan Kingdom!
Not long after, in the Royal Court, Luo Wuhen’s lips curled into a smile:
“So you’ve come…”
At the same time, outside the palace’s grand array, Lin Muxue held her sword and sent her voice inside:
“Sword Sect Leader Lin Muxue seeks audience with the Sovereign of Ziyuan Kingdom!”