The Tiandao Sect’s attack happened at the perfect timing.
By then, most of the low-level cultivators besides Huajian and Linglong had already evacuated, and the Spirit Kings and Spirit Emperors from other sects had also started their withdrawal procedures.
But they were a few steps slower than their peers.
The moment those peers were wrapped in the radiance of spatial teleportation, they immediately launched an attack on Huajian, who seemed unsuspecting.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Yaochi’s Spirit Emperor, who had been waiting nearby holding Linglong and waiting for her sect’s Saintess to wake up, was shocked.
She immediately tried to intervene, but having never expected an assault from her own side, she couldn’t react in time.
“By the Venerable’s order, eliminate the demon and defend the Dao!”
The attacking Tiandao Sect Spirit Emperor snorted coldly, his Spirit Sword already descending toward Huajian’s brow.
It seemed that in the next moment, her head would be pierced by his blade.
And that wasn’t all— the remaining Tiandao Sect cultivators also attacked in unison, a full volley of Tiandao Sect Spirit Techniques crashing down on Huajian and Huaxinhu.
“It won’t hurt your Saintess, so don’t get in the way!”
Won’t it hurt Linglong? Do you Tiandao Sect really think I, a Spirit Emperor, am a fool? The Yaochi Spirit Emperor nearly cursed aloud.
Linglong’s soul was still in Huajian’s hands. If Huajian got annoyed by this sudden betrayal and tore it up, what then? Would the Tiandao Sect take responsibility?
But she was carrying Linglong in her arms, caught off guard by the Tiandao Sect’s abrupt assault.
All she could do was watch helplessly as Huajian was engulfed by those dazzling Spirit Techniques.
Tiandao Sect… how dare they do such a thing!
…
“Bastards, what does your Tiandao Sect think you’re doing?!”
Outside the secret realm, the Right Path Venerables who were stabilizing the reopening Space Passage shot furious looks at the Tiandao Sect Venerable.
This matter had never been discussed with them—it was entirely the Tiandao Sect acting on its own!
“Hmph, did you think we would just let Wanhuagu get what they want and walk away scot-free? What do you take us for?”
The Tiandao Sect Venerable directly left the formation maintaining the passage’s stability and charged toward Yanghong Venerable.
The pressure on the remaining four Venerables instantly increased.
Unlike that shameless Tiandao Sect Venerable, they had to keep the Space Passage stable and transfer all cultivators still inside the passage.
The Tiandao Sect Venerable had seized this exact opportunity to boldly act on his own.
“That Huajian is nothing but a small Spiritualist. My Tiandao Sect has a full Spirit Emperor and five Spirit Kings inside the secret realm—she can hardly turn the tables!”
Facing the aggressive, glory-seeking Tiandao Sect Venerable, Yanghong Venerable showed no anger at all. Instead, she burst into delighted laughter.
As she laughed, she tossed a red petal into the air, and a surging wave of spiritual power cut the Tiandao Sect Venerable off mid-charge.
“I think you probably don’t know—the current Huajian is not what you imagine. Not even a Spirit Emperor, let alone a Spirit Lord, can harm a single hair on her head.”
“And I wonder if Huajian will like the taste of your disciples and grand-disciples. Sigh, probably not—after all, black-hearted folks are no good to eat.”
The Tiandao Sect Venerable’s pupils contracted. Hearing this taunt-laden speech, a bad feeling welled up in his heart.
But now that things had come this far, there was no turning back. He had to eliminate Huajian completely, or he would not escape punishment.
“If one Saint avatar can’t take you down, I don’t believe two can’t!” He roared, pulling a golden token from his bosom and crushing it forcefully. “A demonic sect is invading! I implore the Sect Leader to act and eliminate the demon, defend the Dao!”
Another Saint-level aura descended.
The Tiandao Sect Leader’s projection and the Wanling Sect Leader’s projection stood together in the pitch-black space.
The heavy pressure made even the Venerables gasp for breath.
As soon as the Tiandao Sect Leader appeared, he attacked the caiflower. The girl’s avatar curled within the flower immediately opened her eyes.
Countless petals and vines grew from the void, blocking the Tiandao Sect Leader’s attack.
Meanwhile, the foliage inside the secret realm began to grow at an unprecedented speed.
She had to hurry up and absorb this secret realm, then fight those two enemies to the death!
…
Swish!
Crack!
Two sounds rang out almost simultaneously.
The moment before the attacks landed, a mass of branches and leaves tore through space and grew around Huajian, shielding her from the Tiandao Sect’s shameless ambush.
The Tiandao Sect’s attacks struck these colorful branches and leaves, unable to stir even a ripple.
Huajian opened her eyes. Without a word, she used the branches to wrap up Huaxinhu, who was still in a deep sleep.
Although she didn’t like that lying fox spirit, she had to admit that for now, her ally truly was Wanhuagu’s Huaxinhu.
As for Linglong—she had already returned Linglong’s soul. She didn’t want to drag Linglong into disaster if something happened to her.
Her feelings for Linglong were genuine.
Even when faced with danger, she never thought of using Linglong as a hostage to coerce Yaochi’s Spirit Emperor into helping her.
First, because it wasn’t necessary. Second, because she didn’t want to treat Linglong and Yaochi that way.
The vines connected to her body brought her rather bad news: something had also gone wrong outside the secret realm, and the time she had left was running out.
So she shouted to the Yaochi Spirit Emperor, who was about to come help, “Take Linglong and leave immediately! I’ll handle them!”
“I’ve already returned her soul. The secret realm is about to be completely destroyed. If you don’t go now, it’ll be too late!”
The Yaochi Spirit Emperor looked at Huajian, then at Linglong slowly waking up in her arms, biting her lip hard.
She didn’t want to abandon Huajian, but her duty demanded she safely escort Linglong out of the secret realm.
In the end, reason overpowered emotion. She nodded firmly and activated both her and Linglong’s tokens.
Silver radiance enveloped her and Linglong. Just before they left this space, Linglong finally opened her eyes.
She only had time to take one last look at Huajian before her vision was completely overtaken by silver.
“Huajian!”
“Saintess, please calm down. Sister Huajian will be fine. She’s very strong now—those insects from the Tiandao Sect can’t hurt her.”
This teleportation was especially long, with many bumps along the way, as if hinting to Linglong that the situation was not as easy as her Shijie claimed.
Crack!
When a small crack appeared in the Space Passage ahead of them and a terrifying aura seeped in, Linglong finally realized what the problem was.
So many Saint auras!
No wonder the Space Passage was so long—Saints were fighting nearby, affecting the passage’s stability…
No, that meant Huajian was in even greater danger!
Linglong’s heart clenched. Without a moment’s hesitation, she struggled hard in her Shijie’s arms.
“No, I have to help her!”
“But how can you help right now…?”
Linglong was a Heavenly Talent indeed, but she was only that—a talent. On a battlefield like this, she was less than a speck of dust.
Even if she wanted to help, how could she?
Was she going to shout and run back to die?
Of course, Linglong wasn’t that stupid. She said she had a way to help, and she truly did.
But this was a method she normally wouldn’t think to use—after all, it was a bit like bullying by authority.
She bit her fingertip, then pulled open the clothes at her chest and smeared the blood over her sternum.
With a flash of golden light, a platinum scale appeared on her chest. Without a moment’s delay, Linglong ripped the scale off.
“I might not be able to help Huajian, but my mother can!”
Linglong’s master was a Saint, but don’t forget—she also had a Saint for a mother!
To protect her daughter, the Saint had given Linglong a dragon scale. Using it, Linglong could summon her mother’s Saint avatar.
This was Linglong’s ultimate trump card. Once used, her mother would be notified immediately. If she found out Linglong had deployed it casually, she wouldn’t let her off easily.
But now, Linglong felt that the time had come to use the dragon scale.
Even though she was already out of danger, Huajian was still in the midst of a crisis.
She could not, under any circumstances, stand by and watch Huajian be hurt by those petty people!
“Mom will understand me!” Linglong clenched the scale in her hand, her eyes blazing as she looked at her dazed Shijie. “Shijie, let go of me!”
“Oh, oh.” Her Shijie said nothing more. The Saintess had just pulled out a Saint avatar—what was there to argue? Go save Sister Huajian, and quickly.
“We should be the last batch to leave the secret realm. This Space Passage is useless now.”
Incidentally, she reminded Linglong not to worry about the Space Passage—no one else was coming out of the secret realm.
What, you ask about those Tiandao Sect guys?
Could they even be considered people?
As for Huajian, she wouldn’t be leaving through the Space Passage anyway, so it wasn’t a problem.
“Mhm.” Linglong nodded, lifting the already glowing dragon scale high.
A brilliant platinum radiance completely engulfed her.
…
The battle between three Saint avatars had thrown everything nearby into chaos.
The Space Passage maintained by the four Venerables was barely holding up.
Fortunately, once these last two people were teleported out, they could break away and deal with other matters.
Fenghua Venerable sensed the presence of the two. She didn’t dare be careless at this moment—this was her Shijie’s own disciple, and she couldn’t allow any harm to come to her.
On the distant battlefield, the caiflower avatar had been suppressed by the two Saint avatars working together.
The Wanling Sect Leader’s avatar seemed to hold back, as if he had some misgivings, while the Tiandao Sect Leader’s avatar went all out, desperate to destroy the caiflower avatar as quickly as possible.
By now, the secret realm had shattered into countless fragments, and the last remaining area was rapidly disintegrating.
It wouldn’t be long before the secret realm disappeared entirely.
The flower protecting the caiflower avatar swayed under the Tiandao Sect Leader’s attacks; it seemed the petals would fail to shield the girl’s avatar at any moment.
Once this avatar was dealt with, they could charge straight in and destroy Huajian!
The Tiandao Sect Venerable, locked in combat with Yanghong Venerable, mused to himself.
Killing Huajian—a genius so valued by the demonic path—would be a great merit. He wouldn’t be punished; he would be rewarded by the Sect Leader!
“Hmph, do you think the demons can compare to the profound heritage of our Saint Sect?” he sneered, taunting Yanghong Venerable in his glee.
Did she think pulling out a Saint avatar would make them swallow this loss? Was Wanhuagu thinking too well of itself?
So what if they had a Saint avatar? The Tiandao Sect had one too!
“You think you’ve won? Ha, it seems you have no idea—” Before Yanghong Venerable could finish, a brand-new Saint aura exploded from afar.
Now that truly surprised her.
Turning her head toward the source of the Saint aura, her expression grew complicated. “Ah, I didn’t see this coming.”
A platinum dragon avatar appeared in the pitch-black space, its molten-golden eyes locked on the Tiandao Sect Leader’s avatar locked in battle with the caiflower avatar.
Now it seemed the situation was going to become two against two?
…
“Ugh…”
Huajian staggered back a few steps, clutching her chest, gasping for breath. Her body felt heavier and heavier.
Her power seemed to be draining away, flowing to a place far away.
She tried to intercept the energy, but this time she had no way to stop its flow.
It was like a person couldn’t suffocate themselves by holding their breath—Huajian’s attempt to intercept the energy was like holding her breath; her instincts were preventing her from doing so.
In other words, somewhere unknown to Huajian, she was going through a life-or-death crisis. Because of that crisis, her instincts had decided to pull all the energy away.
As for herself… ha, the enemy couldn’t kill her anyway, so she’d just keep taking the beating.
In the few minutes that had passed, Huajian had been attacked countless times by these Tiandao Sect cultivators, and she had sustained several fatal wounds.
But for her, a fatal wound was nothing. She even felt she didn’t really need this body—she could just transfer her consciousness elsewhere.
Right now, she was the enormous plant devouring the secret realm.
However, her brain’s capacity wasn’t enough to do fine control, so she could only use subconscious and instinct to manipulate the plants.
If she could control them precisely, Huajian felt these Tiandao Sect bastards wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Hey, you guys have been hacking at me all this time—aren’t you tired?” Looking down at the piercing wound on her waist that was healing, Huajian tilted her head and asked the already winded Tiandao Sect cultivators.
These people had thrown everything they had at killing her, but their attacks were like scratching an itch.
Sure, you could hurt me, but my health pool is huge and my regen is fast—hitting me is like not hitting me at all. What now?
The Tiandao Sect Spirit King left to guard the forbidden land was enraged by Huajian’s taunt. He charged at her with his sword, his companions unable to stop him.
“Come back! Watch out for traps!”
“Is this a trap?”
Of course it is. While those Heavenly Dao Sect cultivators were going all out attacking Hua Jian’s true form, countless branches and leaves had already surrounded the area.
And from the colorful flowers blooming on those branches, the faint floral scent drifting out was something good.
Hua Jian wasn’t taking that beating for nothing.