The entire hall erupted in commotion.
Numerous female cultivators shot to their feet, the sounds of toppling cups, clattering chairs, and the hum of abruptly released spiritual power mingling together, tearing apart the enchanting atmosphere of the Flower Queen Competition moments ago.
Those seated in the Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion were mostly people of status and reputation. Their first reaction was not panic, but fury.
“Demonic cultivators? How dare they! This is the East Continent! At least four sects have forces stationed within a thousand li radius, and with figures like Tianjian Peak Master Qin Shuying and the Tianheng Sect Grand Elder present, are those demonic cultivators insane?”
“No.”
The Tianheng Sect Grand Elder rose from her seat.
“For the demonic cultivators to launch a large-scale attack knowing full well that so many high-level cultivators are gathered here, there are only two possibilities. Either they have an unavoidable reason, or they possess a trump card capable of matching this force.”
A black pillar of light shot up from thirty li outside the city, piercing straight into the clouds.
Within the pillar of light, countless twisted human faces were faintly visible, mouths open in silent screams. The sight was so eerie it made one’s scalp crawl.
Then a second and third pillar of light rose from different locations within the city, enveloping the entire city in a suffocating, bone-chilling aura of darkness.
“Ten Thousand Soul Banners!” a knowledgeable female cultivator cried out in shock. “They’re remnants of the Soul Refining Sect! Weren’t they wiped out three hundred years ago?”
No one answered her.
Because everyone saw something even more terrifying. Between those black pillars of light, countless hair-thin black threads were connecting to each other, weaving into a massive net that covered the entire city.
Within the gaps of the net, something was writhing.
“This is… a formation,” Pei Yu said, her expression turning serious for the first time.
“Using living souls as threads and Ten Thousand Soul Banners as formation eyes—this is the Soul Refining Sect’s Soul Prison Locking Heaven and Earth Formation. Once the formation fully closes, everyone inside will have their spiritual power suppressed and their spirit souls continuously drawn out. Three hundred years ago, the Soul Refining Sect used this very formation to slaughter three entire cities in a single night.”
“How long until it closes?” Yu Furen’s voice was cold as ice.
“At the shortest, one incense stick’s time. At the longest, half an hour. It depends on how many Ten Thousand Soul Banners they brought.”
Those words were like cold water splashed into boiling oil.
Gasps, angry shouts, commands, and the sounds of magical tools leaving their sheaths erupted all at once!
The many female cultivators who had been immersed in festive and romantic atmosphere moments ago now changed expressions drastically, rising to their feet, spreading their divine sense, spiritual power surging covertly, instantly entering a state of combat readiness.
On the high platform, the emcee, judges, and even the candidates all turned pale with terror.
In an instant, countless streaks of light shot up from the Ten Thousand Flower Stage, the viewing stands, and even various buildings—like a reverse meteor shower, racing toward the city walls!
Many more people, faces filled with panic, either called out to companions or escorted their disciples and followers, hurriedly leaving the Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion, retreating to what they believed to be safe places.
The Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion, once bustling and lively, instantly became more than half empty and desolate.
On the high platform, Shen Mo still tightly gripped that bottle of Dragon Marrow Liquid, standing in place, somewhat at a loss due to the sudden upheaval.
A moment ago he had been immersed in the excitement and relief of obtaining a supreme treasure; the next, chaos reigned as demonic cultivators attacked the city and the crowd scattered.
The stark contrast left him unable to react for a moment.
Han Yi, who had been following at his side like a shadow, shifted slightly and moved a few steps closer to him.
Pei Yu furrowed her brow, glanced toward the direction outside the city where demonic qi was faintly visible, and whispered a few words to the attendant beside her.
The attendant acknowledged and departed. She herself did not leave immediately, instead leisurely waving her fan.
Cold wind poured in through the wide-open gates of the Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion, sweeping away the lingering romantic atmosphere in the hall.
In the distance, the firelight from the eastern part of the city had already dyed half the sky red.
The sounds of battle cries drifted intermittently on the night wind, like noise seeping through from another world.
That cold sensation of being watched did not dissipate; instead, it grew stronger and stronger.
Shen Mo’s perception of danger had never been wrong.
On those nights living alone on Jiaoyue Peak, whenever someone was watching from the shadows, a layer of fine goosebumps would rise on the back of his neck.
It was the same the night Yun He lit the aphrodisiac incense.
It was the same when Qin Shuying first embraced him from behind.
But this time was different.
This time, the coldness did not come from a single direction.
It surged in from all sides at once, like a net that was closing in.
It was too quiet around them.
Over half the people had already left.
Overturned chairs and shattered cups lay scattered about, like seashells and seaweed left on the beach after the tide receded—evidence of how boisterous the place had once been.
“What a devoted and loving pair.”
The voice came from the depths of the western corridor.
A woman walked out. She wore a deep purple long dress, its hem embroidered with large, dark crimson peonies.
As she moved, those peonies seemed to be both blooming and rotting at the same time.
Her face was beautiful—so beautiful it was excessive.
Every line of her brows and eyes carried a meticulously designed refinement, as if someone had taken a knife and carved each feature according to a standard.
Chu Yi.
Shen Mo recognized her.
“Young Master Shen.” Chu Yi stopped ten paces away and performed a clumsy bow. “Congratulations on winning the Flower Crown.”
“Chu Yi,” Su Wan’er stood up from behind Shen Mo.
Her dao foundation injuries made her movements somewhat sluggish, but her tone had already regained the composure befitting a peak master.
“What are you here for?”
“Peak Master Su, how distant that question is,” Chu Yi laughed, her smile carrying the ease of a cat toying with a mouse.
“I’m here, naturally, to collect what Young Master Shen promised. What, did Peak Master Su not know? For Young Master Shen to successfully ascend this high platform, to be allowed to participate in the Group Appreciation as an exception, to win the judges’ favor in the Tea Tasting Segment—none of these things fell from the sky.”
With each word she spoke, Su Wan’er’s face grew paler by a shade.
“Qin Shuying found me and asked me to open every convenient door for Young Master Shen within the rules of the Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion.”
Chu Yi twirled a lock of hair around her finger, her tone as light as if she were discussing the weather.
“Using my Jade Box as collateral in exchange for my assistance. Now that Young Master Shen has won the Flower Crown, obtained the Dragon Marrow Liquid, and Peak Master Su’s injuries should be secured—shouldn’t my Jade Box be returned to me?”
Su Wan’er turned to look at Shen Mo. Shen Mo’s jaw was clenched tight.
“I didn’t know about this.”
“The Jade Box isn’t with me,” Shen Mo said.
“I know it’s not with you,” Chu Yi’s smile did not waver. “It’s with Peak Master Qin. So I’ll wait—I’ll wait for Peak Master Qin to show herself.”
Before she even finished speaking, a faint sound of air being split came from the entrance of the Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion.
It wasn’t the sound of a door being pushed open.
It was the sharp whistle of someone streaking through the night sky at extreme speed, robes slicing through the air.
Before the sound faded, a deep cyan figure had already landed in the center of the hall, precisely blocking the space between Shen Mo and Chu Yi.
Qin Shuying.
Her black robe was stained with several scorch marks. Her left sleeve had been torn open, revealing pale skin beneath.
On her forearm was a wound still seeping blood. Not deep, but very long—running from her wrist all the way to her elbow.
She did not tend to the wound. She did not even glance down at it.
All of her attention was fixed on Chu Yi.
“Peak Master Qin returns quite quickly,” Chu Yi laughed lightly, clapping her hands. “The formation eye outside the city—broken that fast?”
Qin Shuying did not answer her pointless chatter.
She drew a palm-sized Jade Box from her sleeve. It was dark green all over, covered with dense sealing line patterns.
It was the very one she had taken from Chu Yi.
The Jade Box paused in midair for a moment, then was casually tossed out.
Chu Yi caught it, examined it to confirm it was intact, and nodded in satisfaction.
“Peak Master Qin truly keeps her word.”
“The thing is returned to you.” Qin Shuying’s voice was cold as tempered ice. “We’re even.”
She turned to face Shen Mo.
The two of them exchanged a gaze from three steps apart.
Chu Yi did not leave.
“Peak Master Qin, did you say even?” Her voice grew soft, so soft it seemed squeezed through her teeth.
“When you stole my Jade Box, did you ever ask if I was willing? When you used my leverage to threaten me and made me pave the way for Shen Mo, did you ever think of the word ‘even’? How generous of you—one little word and you think you can wipe everything clean?”
Qin Shuying’s gaze turned cold.
Her right hand quietly pressed onto the hilt of her sword.
“What do you want?”
“What do I want?” Chu Yi tucked the Jade Box back into her sleeve and lifted her head. The smile on her face finally faded completely.
“Peak Master Qin, you wouldn’t know—the thing I’ve been refining still lacks one final main ingredient. This ingredient is extremely rare. I searched for seven full years, thinking I’d never find it in this lifetime—until tonight.”
Her gaze passed over Qin Shuying and landed on Shen Mo.
“Young Master Shen, do you know how many times stronger my medicine would become if you were used as an ingredient?”
Shen Mo’s blood ran cold in an instant.
“Chu Yi!” Qin Shuying’s sword had already been drawn three inches from its sheath.
The sword light flickered at the mouth of the sheath, casting half her face alternately in light and shadow.
“Try touching even one hair on his head.”
“Try?” Chu Yi laughed, the sound sharp as metal scraping against glass. “Peak Master Qin, do you think I would come alone without preparations?”
She clapped her hands.
From the depths of the corridor, from the dark corners of the dome, from outside the gates of the Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion—dozens of figures surged forth simultaneously.
They wore uniform black combat outfits, faces covered with masks painted with ghost faces, and the magical tools in their hands glowed with a faint green light in the night.
They were not living people.
Their chests did not rise and fall.
Behind the eye sockets of their masks burned the unique ghost fire of corpse puppets, just slightly dimmer than those two.
And at the very front of this group of ghost-faced cultivators, a woman walked out with leisurely steps.
Yun Fuling.
Peak Master of Chaoyun Peak.
When she smiled, she looked like a kindly elder. When she spoke, her voice was gentle. Even when she killed, she did it with a smile.
Behind her followed two corpse puppets, their auras especially powerful, their bodies covered in dark gold line patterns.
“Peak Master Qin, long time no see.”
Yun Fuling smiled and greeted her casually, as if she had just run into an old acquaintance on the road.
“Has it really been that long since we last parted? Your sword intent has grown even sharper.”
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