All the Nascent Soul cultivators resting inside the Hong Energy Shield heard Xian Yao's words. Xian Yao had not intended to speak privately with Yunxi anyway, so the moment she sat on the cushion, every ear inside the shield pricked up. This concerned their life and death.
Yunxi felt a sigh rise in her chest. For an evil cultivator to forcibly contract the Shanhe Scroll, their cultivation had to be at least above Divine Transformation. Otherwise, how could they have forced everyone into such a corner, or slipped past Huaxian Gate's Ancestors?
"Xian Yao Daoyou, how did you learn this?"
"When I was sucked into the Shanhe Scroll, I sensed something was wrong and tried to leave. I was pulled by the scroll's artifact spirit into another space. It was the artifact spirit that informed us the scroll had been compromised. Only then did we understand what had happened."
Yunxi's apricot eyes flickered. "Since the Shanhe Scroll has already been contracted by an evil cultivator, the artifact spirit should be under their control. How did it defy the evil cultivator's will to deliver a message to you? Are you sure what it told you is true?"
Xian Yao drew a steadying breath. "The Shanhe Scroll has long been enshrined within Huaxian Gate, so it is most familiar with our sect members. That is why, once we were pulled inside, it dragged us into the artifact spirit's inner space. Though it is being forcibly controlled, it still retains self-awareness, which is how it managed to pass critical information to us.
It also said the sect's Ancestors are attempting to sever the evil cultivator's control over the Shanhe Scroll. Once that control is cut, it can send us out. However…"
She paused, choosing her words. Yunxi continued for her. "However, we must first ensure our own survival. And this place is a sealing ground for evil cultivators. We absolutely cannot damage it. Otherwise, forget the evil cultivators, even the Shanhe Scroll's artifact spirit would not allow us to leave. Correct?"
Before Xian Yao could reply, Xian Xu's eyes went wide, as if to say, how did you know?
Yunxi was expressionless. "Once we were transmitted here in waves, everyone realized as much. Since the moment we arrived, the sealed evil spirits have begun to awaken. With every spatial ripple, the awakened spirits have grown stronger."
Xian Yao and Xian Xu had already heard the situation from Xian Qi, yet hearing it again from Ran Xi made their hearts sink all over.
Sensing the gloom settling over the group, Yunxi casually asked, "Since you met the artifact spirit, did you see its true form?"
This time Xian Xu answered. "The artifact spirit appeared as a Bifang."
Yunxi's fine brows lifted. Beside her, Wei Yunqing grew excited. "Yunxi and I were the first to be teleported in. We were surrounded by evil spirits, and a Bifang came to our rescue, burning them all to ash.
Yunxi said it was a manifestation of the sealing runes, meant to suppress the evil spirits here.
If what you are saying is true, then that Bifang should be the artifact spirit. If it can enter, it should be able to send us out, right?"
Wei Yunqing felt she had glimpsed the dawn of survival.
Xian Yao and Xian Feng exchanged a look, then turned to Yunxi.
Yunxi replied, "Wei Yunqing is right that a Bifang helped us, but in my view that Bifang was the concretized form of the sealing runes, not the Shanhe Scroll's artifact spirit.
The only ones who could have sent us into the inner sealing ground of the evil cultivators are the evil cultivators themselves. Their power system matches what is inside. Once the inside and outside link, they can transmit us accurately to this place."
Yunxi was not trying to crush their hopes. It was better to pierce unrealistic fantasies early.
Xian Xu frowned. "If Ran Daoyou is correct and the artifact spirit cannot enter, how can it send us out of the Shanhe Scroll?"
He had struck the key point.
Yunxi asked in return, "Xian Xu, under what condition does a seal become meaningless?"
Xian Xu was taken aback, then answered, "When all the evil spirits are destroyed, the seal is no longer needed."
Yunxi lifted a shoulder. "Exactly. Only when the artifact spirit is certain the evil spirits cannot escape will it open the sealed ground for us."
Wei Yunqing's face changed color. She could not help interjecting. "Yunxi, are you saying we have to destroy every evil spirit sealed here before we have any chance of leaving? What if we cannot?"
"Then we keep fighting here to the bitter end. Before, I believed the Shanhe Scroll was entirely under the evil cultivators' control. If we break the seal and release the evil spirits, we would be the first ones they kill, and they would release the spirits into the Weiyu Realm besides.
Now that we know the artifact spirit still has a sliver of awareness, if we break the seal, it will be even less likely to let us go. It might even force us to perish together with the spirits. Its mission is to seal and suppress them until they dissipate between heaven and earth. As long as its consciousness has not been completely extinguished, it will never allow us to leave the Shanhe Scroll."
Wei Yunqing's lips twitched. "So according to you, there is only one path, to fight to the death."
Yunxi corrected her. "To eradicate every evil spirit sealed here."
The surrounding cultivators drew sharp breaths. The good news Xian Yao brought had turned sour. Just as Ran Xi had said, this battle was unavoidable.
After a brief silence, someone cried out, "The evil spirits are back!"
All eyes turned beyond the Hong Energy Shield. This time the spirits' faces were even clearer. They plastered themselves against the barrier, drooling as they stared at the Nascent Soul cultivators inside.
Xian Feng stood and spoke. "Everyone, go out in the order we assigned earlier and meet them. Whether we can leave depends on ourselves. No one will save us. Cultivation is rowing against the current. If you do not advance, you retreat. Facing evil cultivators, we have no reason to shrink back. It was so five hundred years ago. It is so now."
Gentle as he looked, Xian Feng's words were rousing. No cultivator who had stepped onto the great path would admit to cowardice. One after another, they rose and filed out of the shield in order.
The instant they stepped outside, the evil spirits coiled around them. Their gleeful shouts grated on the ears of those who had gone out to fight.
"Haha, the tasty food has finally delivered itself!"
"Devour their souls and leave the bodies. We need these skins to get out of this cursed place."
"I like this human cultivator. Hand over your body."
"Do not fight me for it. This one is mine!"
The faces of the Nascent Soul cultivators darkened as they moved in a blur to meet the manifested spirits. Elemental arts, sword light, and blade light crisscrossed. Terrifying power flooded the hall. The sealing runes on the four walls began to shimmer, drinking in the shockwaves from the clash.
Yunxi was certain that every spirit in this wave was early Nascent Soul. The time left to them was shrinking. She lowered an isolation barrier again. On the surface, she was refining pills. In truth, her mind sank into her spatial storage, then into the chat group.
This time she sent a private message to the "Star Trek" in group. "I need to trade for a batch of energy potions, and the Hong energy cores you promised me earlier. Can you transmit them together now?"