Aotian narrowed his eyes at the men blocking the path of his avatars.
It was a large group, around 15 cultivators in the Nascent Soul realm, ranging from the early to mid stages, the apparent leader being a cultivator of the 6th level, not far from the late stage.
All the opponents wore black hooded cloaks, as if afraid to reveal their identities.
The one with the highest cultivation stepped forward, looking seriously at Mu Luyin while completely ignoring the avatars and Lei Yun, as if they were nothing.
"Princess Mu Luyin, please, I ask that you wait a moment," he spoke in a grave tone.
His words were polite, spoken in a deep, heavy voice, but the encirclement spreading around them showed that they were anything but friends.
Mu Luyin narrowed her eyes.
"What do you want blocking this princess' path?" she asked, her voice carrying a veiled threat.
The enemy leader only spread his hands innocently to the sides.
"Princess Mu, there is no need for hostility. I only ask that you hand over the 10 men by your side, and we will let you pass peacefully with that boy, without any harm," he spoke simply, but the content made Aotian frown, slightly offended.
The avatars were being dismissed and treated as if they were toys that, as long as Mu Luyin cast them aside, could be easily taken.
He didn't care too much after thinking for a moment. After all, being underestimated before battle was good. It only made killing the enemy easier.
But, to his real displeasure, Mu Luyin did not immediately deny the man's offer to hand them over, which made Aotian feel the urge to actually stab her in the back just as she imagined he might.
"Why do you want them?" she asked, suspicious.
If the problems were caused by those men themselves, of whom she was wary, she wouldn't mind leaving them behind to deal with it alone. Fighting against these 15 new opponents was far too dangerous, even for her, and if she could sacrifice problematic existences who might stab her in the back while also avoiding trouble, it would be killing two birds with one stone.
At the moment, her cultivation was only at the 1st level of the Nascent Soul realm. Even with her powerful origin, which made her much stronger than common cultivators of the same level, she could not simply play around against dozens of opponents at higher levels, which was why she was so tempted by the offer.
The man saw that the princess seemed interested, and became a little more animated.
"Well, it's nothing so complicated, princess. We are only small cultivators trying to survive. And right now, you and everything around you are clear enemies of the 12 clans. We don't have the confidence to find a Silent Cadaver Orchid, so we can only place our hopes in other things. The heads of these 10 may be the difference between life and death for us. So please, don't make things difficult, since we know you hardly know each other."
He spoke with sympathy and diplomacy, offering a good deal, but to Aotian, his words carried cruelty and indifference to the lives of others.
"So, from what you said, I am also your target?" she asked, her cold eyes sweeping the encirclement.
"No, no, no! Of course not. We do not intend to offend you or your family so much by dealing directly with the princess of the Mu family, nor with the boy who seems to be your protégé," the hooded man explained, calmly placing his hands behind his back.
"If that's the case, you'd better let us pass," Mu Luyin demanded, gritting her teeth slightly.
The hooded man shook his head.
"That's not how it works, Princess Mu. If you don't hand over those men, we'll have no choice but to raise the stakes and use you as bargaining chip to free ourselves from the slave seal," he spoke with false helplessness. Finally, he tilted his head slightly, almost playfully, and asked: "So, what do you choose?"
The girl's fists clenched in anger, but her heart tightened. She gave up on handing over her 'allies,' since, in a way, this was her fault and not theirs. Unfortunately, she didn't know if she should feel happy or sad about this decision, because not handing them over meant a life-or-death battle, and her chances were not high.
If she were certain the 10 were enemies, she wouldn't hesitate to hand them over, even if it were her fault. But they were too mysterious, and they had saved her. If not for their blatant lie, she wouldn't even think twice about fighting for them.
On the other hand, even believing there was a 99% chance what they said was false, a 'what if' was born in her heart as she recalled the trust her brother Yun had shown them.
Taking a deep breath, after stopping her hesitation and making her decision, she announced her choice… but not with words.
A talisman appeared in her hand, and she activated it immediately. A massive wave of roots burst from the ground and charged toward the enemy leader, while she moved to break the encirclement and increase their chances of escaping.
['Protect Brother Yun! I'll break the encirclement!']
She shouted to the avatars via sound transmission as she advanced.
Meanwhile, Aotian sighed in relief at her decision. After all, if she handed them over, he might not be able to recruit Lei Yun, and might even turn the girl into an enemy.
Now, was he really afraid of the enemy's power to have such concerns? Well, if he were, he would have long since vanished from there.
[Mission: Deal with the enemy encirclement
…
Danger Level: Common]
If it had been 7 days ago, when he entered the mountain, the mission result would probably have been 'very dangerous' or even 'fatal.' But now, Aotian had synthesized Nascent-Tier spells.
And what did that mean?
Normally, only great geniuses on the verge of breaking through to a new realm could use spells above their level. This was because it was necessary both to comprehend the next realm to invoke such spells and to possess control of spiritual energy equivalent to a higher realm.
In other words, the problem lay in understanding and control.
But for Aotian, with his powerful avatars, vast knowledge base, and systematic benefits, mastering Nascent-Tier spells was child's play. This allowed even his main body and avatars, still only at the Golden Core, to use such spells—albeit with reduced power due to their insufficient cultivation realm. Even so, they were far stronger than Core-Tier spells.
And certainly, the most terrifying part was that… synthesized Nascent-Tier spells were equivalent to the finest Formation-Tier spells outside.
Back on the battlefield, with Mu Luyin taking the initiative and being the greatest threat in their eyes, most of the cultivators, unfortunately for her, focused on her — leaving only two behind to capture the others and prevent them from escaping.
But to the surprise of the two who had stayed behind and attacked casually, without caution — as if success were guaranteed — the avatars did not retreat. On the contrary, the elder of the Sword Pavilion stepped forward to face them.
The elder, his hands moving so fast they left afterimages, formed patterns at blinding speed and then crossed his arms before his chest in an "X," palms open.
Everything happened so quickly that, even though they were extremely fast, the Nascent Soul cultivators had barely approached when the elder's arms lit up before his chest.
Without wasting a moment, he swung them forward like blades.
A ray of light shone, and an "X"-shaped slash shot from his arms, tearing through the air, cutting through the two cultivators in the blink of an eye, before continuing in a straight line, destroying several trees along the way until it vanished into the distance.
As for the two opponents, who in the end were incredulous, eyes wide? Their bodies were split into three pieces and fell to the ground, their very Nascent Souls destroyed by the slash.
The battlefield froze for an instant as they felt the powerful energy reaction and saw their companions' corpses on the ground, along with several massive trees crashing down with thunderous booms.
Mu Luyin looked back in shock. The terrifying energy she felt, still making the air vibrate, made her realize that even she would have been cut into pieces by that attack.
Even Lei Yun, a certified Mahayana, stared at the scene in disbelief, his mouth slightly open before the devastating strike that a mere Golden Core had executed.
Gu Jian, elder of the Treasure Pavilion, turned toward them and smiled calmly amidst the silent battlefield.
Seeing Mu Luyin with some bruises, and two opponents equally injured, he teased with an amused look.
"Don't mind us, you may continue. We didn't mean to interrupt."
Despite saying this, Aotian sighed inwardly, helpless.
'Damn, why did those guys attack my avatars so quickly? I wanted to let the girl take a few hi—ahem, I mean, experience a bit more combat, it's good for her,' he thought, disappointed.
If asked whether he was vindictive and wanted Mu Luyin to take a few hits just because she had considered trading them for safe passage, he would certainly declare righteously: 'Of course not!'
Mu Luyin shot a searing glare at Gu Jian upon hearing the casual tone in his voice, while she had entered a bitter fight to defend them.
Her pearly teeth clenched, and she stared at him as if her eyes would spit fire.
Gu Jian seemed a little embarrassed before that intense glare, smiled apologetically, and waved for his companions to advance.
Without wasting time, the elder of the Beasts Pavilion formed hand patterns, condensing and drawing fire elements before him like a vortex, from which was born a massive serpent of flames.
The snake radiated a terrifying temperature, and its blazing red eyes seemed alive. Together with its great size, it exuded enormous pressure.
The fiery serpent did not remain still after being formed, and quickly shot through the air like a bullet, toward the enemy who had barely awakened from their daze upon seeing the attack emerge.
But even as they realized, there was nothing they could do. The serpent, faster than they could react, gleamed with life and cruelty in its eyes and, with agility, swallowed several of those who were slow to dodge.
"AHHHH! HELP!!"
"HELP ME!!"
"NO!!"
"STOP!! I SURREN— AHHH!!"
Screams of panic echoed. In an instant, 8 of the 13 remaining men were killed, swallowed by the flaming serpent and incinerated, not even their Nascent Souls escaping.
Unfortunately, after devouring so many, the serpent's energy dissipated. Its fiery body collapsed to the ground, dropping the incinerated corpses from its belly, and soon the flames that had burned the ground lost their ferocity as well.
Aotian felt the dantian of the Beasts Pavilion avatar drained, nearly devoid of spiritual energy, just like the elder of the Sword Pavilion, who was also empty and now recovering with a high-grade spirit stone. Aotian didn't provide perfect-grade stones to avatars outside the sect, in order to avoid risks in case they were discovered. As a result, their recovery was slower.
In any case, the consumption of a Nascent-Tier spell was simply terrifying, but the result… equally terrifying.
The proof lay in the five remaining men, fleeing in panic in all directions, not even daring to look back.
Aotian was about to order a pursuit, but immediately stopped.
[Mission: Pursue the enemy
…
Danger Level: Very Dangerous]
Confused, he created another mission and then understood.
[Mission: Stand still and do not pursue the enemy
…
Danger Level: Very Dangerous]
Gu Jian turned to Mu Luyin and Lei Yun.
"Let's go, we've drawn too much attention here. Many must already be coming this way, and if we're surrounded, it will be troublesome to leave," he ordered, and without waiting, quickly collected the battlefield spoils and departed with the other nine avatars.
The pair, still speechless before the real power of those men, quickly reacted, no longer hesitating to follow the order, and accompanied them into the depths of the mountain forest.
Soon, all twelve disappeared into the woods.