“Ugh…”
Boom!
A flash of white light streaked through the dim room, sending a cultivator out of this perilous place filled with hidden dangers.
“Tch, what a pain.” Youye rubbed her wrist, letting out a cold snort, muttering with displeasure.
These days, cultivators of the Righteous Path have become increasingly cautious about their lives.
When exploring secret realms, they all carry these kinds of life-saving tools.
If this had been thousands of years ago, this guy would have long since had his neck broken by her protective formation, but now, she could only watch as he was teleported out of the secret realm.
There was no sense of true victory at all. Tch.
However, with that annoying guy sent away, she could finally obtain the treasure she had been coveting.
Her eyes landed on the blood-stained scale placed on a crystal altar at the center of the hall.
A surge of boundless ambition welled up in Youye’s heart.
As long as she took this scale back to her sect, the elders could survive the Saint Tribulation and achieve the Saint Path!
And this would represent the resurgence of the Magic Path after a thousand years!
The responsibility was immense, and Youye dared not delay for even a moment. She summoned all her spiritual power and charged toward the scale.
“Roar!”
Just as she was about to touch the scale, a strange roar came from beside her.
In the next moment, a black shadow dashed out, its sharp claws aimed straight at Youye’s chest.
“So it’s not that simple after all!” Youye twisted her body to dodge the sneak attack and retaliated with a palm strike, shattering the attacker into pieces instantly.
The black-purple blood, tinged with a metallic stench, splattered onto the floor, corroding the ground with small black spots.
Youye’s pupils constricted, immediately realizing the nature of her enemy.
Outer Demons!
Those Outer Demons had invaded the mortal realm thousands of years ago but were ultimately repelled by the combined efforts of all cultivators.
That era was one of the few times when the Magic Path and the Righteous Path appeared under the sun together, for the Magic Path was merely “evil,” not foolish.
The Outer Demons, however, had no brains—they only knew how to sow discord.
They only sought destruction, regardless of whether the target was righteous or magical. To them, there was no difference.
Thus, they were eventually defeated by all living beings united, leaving only a few traces of their existence in isolated places today.
“Tch, I didn’t expect the rumors to be true; Outer Demons really exist here.”
Scanning the eerie creatures crawling out of the darkness, Youye knew she couldn’t linger.
She had to seize the Dragon Scale quickly and break through the Righteous Path’s multiple blockades to leave the secret realm.
These Outer Demons were better left for the Righteous Path cultivators to deal with!
***
Boom!
A day after the first exploration team entered the Treasure Pavilion, a loud explosion echoed from inside its gates.
A pitch-black figure burst out, confronting the Spirit King-level guardians stationed there.
It was Youye. Her aura was unstable, and her clothes bore clear signs of corrosion and attack—proof that the Treasure Pavilion was indeed filled with danger.
Facing the assault of these Ling King guardians, she momentarily struggled to hold her ground.
Fortunately, a large group of pursuers was still behind her.
The moment the first Outer Demon rushed out from the pavilion, the Ling King guardians almost immediately ceased their attacks on Youye and turned to repel the demons trying to escape.
It seemed that, to them, preventing the Outer Demons from reemerging was more important than guarding the treasure inside.
The Outer Demons emerging from the pavilion were weak, and under the combined attacks of the Ling King guardians, they were quickly wiped out.
But that delay was enough for Youye to reach the second defensive line set up by the Righteous Path cultivators.
“Ugh, another Turtle Formation.” Youye let out a soft spitting sound and launched a full-force assault on the array, but her repeated attacks failed.
The formation, made up of nearly a hundred Saint Sect disciples, was not something a single Magic Path Ling King could break through by brute force.
The gap between a Ling Master and a Ling King wasn’t huge, but an array was a divine technique that allowed lower-ranked cultivators to fight evenly against higher-ranked ones.
Now that the Saint Sect disciples had the advantage of resting and preparation, Youye naturally found it extremely difficult.
“I refuse to believe you have no weaknesses!”
The formation was powerful, but it required flawless coordination among the disciples to unleash its full strength.
The more disciples involved, the more likely mistakes would occur.
For example, this hundred-person formation was already a small miracle just to function, and the notion that it had no weak points was impossible.
After several failed attacks, Youye quickly identified the formation’s weak spot and launched a fierce assault there.
Sure enough, under her full-on attack, the weak point soon began to falter. The disciples attempting to reinforce it had no time to react.
They could only watch helplessly as Youye smashed a large hole in the formation and retreated swiftly.
“Heh, a bunch of rabble.”
Breaking through the Righteous Path’s formation stirred a surge of pride in Youye’s heart. Wasn’t this like passing through five passes and slaying six generals?
Single-handedly, she had stolen the treasure right under the noses of so many Righteous Path cultivators, then fought through their layered defenses and escaped with the treasure in hand.
This was undeniably a slap in the face of the Righteous Path, showing them who the true strong and talented one was!
Speaking of talent, where had the Yaochi Saintess gone? Why hadn’t she appeared?
Youye recalled that she hadn’t actually seen Linglong. Could it be that the Yaochi Saintess wasn’t present?
A faint floral fragrance wafted into her nose, and Youye felt her consciousness briefly blur.
Huh?!
No!
She quickly pinched her nose. At some point, a thick white mist had surrounded her. The mist carried a dizzying sweetness, giving her an ominous feeling.
Mist, sweet fragrance—it was that person!
“How dare you betray me?!”
A small figure emerged from the mist—Hua Jian, wearing the Yaochi disciple robe.
The girl’s face bore a triumphant smile, clearly pleased with Youye’s current predicament. “Betrayal? Our Fanghuagu’s dictionary doesn’t have that word. Oh, by presenting you as a gift to the Saintess, my standing in Yaochi has risen quite a bit.”
“My dear Senior Sister Youye, for the great cause of Fanghuagu, could you sacrifice a little for us?”
“Shameless wretch, die!”
Youye furiously slapped toward the girl, but the attack only scattered the girl into a swirl of colorful petals.
The strike felt completely ineffective?
An illusion?
Youye froze. She had been holding her breath—how had she still been trapped by an illusion?
And it didn’t feel like the Bewildering Art from Wanhuagu. What was going on?
“Come on, shout out my name so everyone knows who I am.”
The girl’s voice sounded again.
But this time, Youye calmed down. This array was not set by the Wanhuagu girl. It was a Righteous Path ploy!
Her guess was half right and half wrong: the array was indeed arranged by Hua Jian, but the Hua Jian she saw wasn’t the real Hua Jian.
After suddenly inhaling the mist, she had already fallen into a confused state. What her eyes saw and ears heard was no longer real.
That Hua Jian was purely a figment of her imagination.
That explained why the “Hua Jian” spoke different words according to her thoughts.
If it had been the real Hua Jian, she wouldn’t have appeared so carelessly while the situation was still unsettled. Hua Jian was no fool—she wouldn’t do something only villains would.
“Senior Sister Hua Jian’s array is truly powerful, to so easily trap this Magic Path cultivator!”
The Righteous Path cultivators who had just formed the large formation now surrounded Youye with a smaller but far more potent formation.
The hundred-person formation relied on quantity, but this small formation of about ten gathered all the Saint Sect’s elite disciples, making its quality incomparable to the previous array.
Linglong was the main array leader of this formation.
The sky had darkened, and rumbling thunder echoed in Youye’s ears, instinctively drawing her gaze upward.
Lightning? Was that the Yaochi Saintess?
As the thought formed, a white dragon girl, indistinct in form, appeared in the sky, releasing a thunderbolt toward her.
Boom!
Youye dodged immediately, but after the lightning struck the ground, no dust was kicked up at all.
An illusion? Youye sneered inwardly. Since when had the Righteous Path started playing such disgusting illusions?
And she couldn’t remember when she had fallen into this trap. Where had these spiritual masters learned spirit techniques that could affect her, a Ling King?
Youye had continuously been taking antidote pills prepared by the Magic Path sect for this mission. She had done all this preparation and should not have been so easily trapped.
But the world was never fair—she had still fallen for the Righteous Path’s cunning.
Boom!
Another bolt of lightning struck. This time Youye saw clearly—it hit beside her, so she didn’t need to dodge.
Then the bolt suddenly curved sharply and struck her squarely, sending her flying backward.
The force was immense. Thankfully, Youye was a Ling King; otherwise, she’d have been struck half to death.
After taking the hit, Youye’s head cleared, and the illusions gradually faded, replaced by reality.
She saw the well-formed Righteous Path disciples and the Saintess Linglong enveloped in azure thunder.
The aura unleashed by the formation was in no way weaker than hers.
“You’re Linglong?”
“Magic cultivator, prepare to die!”
No pleasantries, no trash talk—the moment their eyes met, they both unleashed their full strength and charged at each other.
Thunder and black demonic energy collided violently in midair, the shockwaves instantly tearing apart everything within the formation.
In this clash, the advantage went to Linglong, whose strength was actually inferior to Youye’s.
“Damn it…”
Youye was forced back several steps before regaining her stance. The continuous fighting, the earlier illusion, and the sneak attack had all significantly drained her power.
Linglong had been conserving energy and was supported by the Righteous Path formation—truly holding the advantage in time, terrain, and manpower.
“Surrender now and you’ll be shown mercy.”
Linglong’s words were those of persuasion, but her hands never stopped moving.
She drew out a Ling King-level spirit tool, clearly intending to capture Youye alive.
It was as if this offer to surrender was merely a formality—for when others asked later, she could claim she had urged Youye to lay down her arms, but Youye refused stubbornly.
Her choice was undoubtedly the right one—Youye had no intention of surrendering.
So what if she was at a disadvantage at first? She refused to believe she could truly lose to this Yaochi Saintess!
***
Mist rose and formed a circular mirror. An elderly man with white hair squinted as he observed the battle in the mirror, sighing softly through his long beard.
“This is serious. Although she took the initiative, to fight a Ling King to such a standstill—Yaochi really is lucky.”
Luck? No, it was thanks to Saintess Linglong’s formidable strength.
Beside him sat a gentle female cultivator in an ice-blue gown. Upon hearing the elder’s words, she smiled faintly but humbly responded, “Swordmaster, you flatter me. The Jian Sect has many promising talents this generation—Xiao Qiuye isn’t bad, is she?”
“Hmph, a bunch of kids, none compare to your Linglong.” The Swordmaster shook his head, eyes fixed on the mirror. “That girl is unusual. Do you know her identity?”
Unnoticed, the scene in the mirror shifted from Linglong and Youye’s battle to another girl watching from the forest maze, her face calm and unperturbed.
The next moment, sensing something amiss, her multicolored eyes scanned the surroundings but found nothing, shaking her head in confusion.
“Unknown for now, only some speculation.” The woman shook her head. “Rumors say something major happened in Fanghuagu twenty years ago. Though they sealed the news quickly, I still caught wind of it.”
“Oh? You mean…”
“Not necessarily, but since this child has never been involved with the Magic Path, taking her in would be the best choice.”
The woman sighed regretfully. Her young apprentice was too cautious. The child Hua Jian could have been brought directly to Yaochi long ago.
If that had happened, fewer people would be scrambling for Hua Jian now.
“Penglai hasn’t noticed this child much yet, but Lingcaifeng’s master will not give up easily.”
“Ha ha, if the Sect Leader intervenes personally, the Lingcaifeng Master wouldn’t refuse to show you some face.” The elder laughed heartily.
Lingcaifeng’s master was a Spirit Lord, and the Yaochi Sect Leader was a Saint Level—nothing to fear, just go straight for the fight.
The Jian Sect had always been straightforward—no matter the identity, first snatch the talent, then worry about the rest.
“So you are unwelcome… Swordmaster, prepare yourself; the opportunity is coming.”
The Yaochi Sect Leader chuckled and shook his head, then changed his tone, waving his hand to send a gust of palm wind toward the mist mirror.
The elder laughed heartily as a silver light flashed in his hand. He gripped an ancient spirit sword, and the sharp sword intent instantly etched deep scars onto the stone table between them.
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. This time, we must cut off that old man’s hand!”