Wei Yunqing's face went chalk-white. She sensed the ice needle in her dantian spilling waves of cold, flooding her core. The needle hanging above her Yuányīng's head was about to pierce down.
"Stop!"
Wei Yunqing blurted it out, then stammered, "Yunxi, don't. Please, don't. I will prove my worth. I can still fight. I can still kill evil spirits. Please…"
Only then did the Mystic Frost Needle hovering over the tiny Nascent Soul halt. Yunxi's smile did not reach her eyes. "Wei Yunqing, so you can manage it after all?"
Feeling the chill recede from her dantian, Wei Yunqing collapsed into a kneel, too cowed to be angry. Head lowered, she said, "I can still hold on."
This time Yunxi used sound transmission. "Wei Yunqing, in chasing after me, you only forced your cultivation forward. Your foundation is weak. You never fully turned your cultivation into combat power, and you nearly got possessed just now. In a place like this, you are even easier prey for the miasma. If you do not fix your mindset, I will not need to lift a finger. You will become a new skin for the evil spirits.
Once you are controlled by them, I will not hesitate. I will eliminate you at once. Remember that."
Wei Yunqing nodded in defeat to show she understood.
Yunxi rubbed her fingertips. "Wei Yunqing, your strength is still too poor. If you have any heaven-and-earth treasures that can raise your cultivation, stop hiding them. Take them early, so you are not chased around like this in the next battle."
The reminder jolted Wei Yunqing. She still had one Po Bi Dan left. It was a fourth-grade pill. Back in the Golden Core stage, she had swallowed two in a row just to catch up to Yunxi, leaving this last one unused, saving it for a breakthrough to Divine Transformation. Looking at things now, there would be no waiting for that moment.
From Wei Yunqing's expression, Yunxi knew the woman still had something good on hand. She did not press. Life and death were her own business. Live or die, it was on Wei Yunqing.
Wei Yunqing decisively swallowed the last Po Bi Dan, sat cross-legged, and began pushing for mid-stage Nascent Soul. If strength was lacking, she would make up the gap with cultivation. Otherwise, even without Yunxi's hand, she would be replaced by an evil spirit.
Sensing Wei Yunqing attempting a breakthrough, Yunxi shifted her gaze to Zhang Lingrui and Lin Keyang. Both were in decent shape, restoring power with spirit stones.
On the Central Region's side, spiritual fluctuations grew stronger. After the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the wave reached its peak, then settled. Yunxi knew Xian Feng had succeeded in breaking through to Divine Transformation. Without tribulation, however, it could only be called a false Divine Transformation.
Xian Feng's success lit a spark of hope among the Nascent Soul cultivators. Those already at late-stage in every region grew restless, eager to force a breakthrough.
Two hours later, some plans were cut short. Another wave of evil spirits poured into the hall, all mid-stage Nascent Soul, twice as many as before.
Four combat squads stepped out of the Hong Energy Shield at once to begin a new round.
Having restored her power, Yunxi fixed her divine sense on the battle outside. These spirits were clearly stronger than the last wave. They were fully corporeal, and they wielded weapons.
Yunxi swept those weapons again and again. She wanted to know whether they were conjured by the spirits' soul-bodies, or sealed here along with their owners.
She soon had her answer. A black giant axe smashed into Xian Xu, hurling him backward into the Hong Energy Shield. His white robe split open along one seam, and the exposed skin bore a scratch wreathed with gray miasma.
Xian Feng flicked his sleeve and pulled Xian Xu into the shield at once to expel the taint.
Beside them, Xian Yao flashed out of the shield to fill Xian Xu's position, keeping the formation running.
Yunxi's hand went to the place inside her collar where Dian Dian hid. A familiar voice sounded by her ear.
"Amitabha. Ran Daoyou, I would speak with you."
Yunxi did not need to turn to recognize Yun Chen Fózǐ. She returned a bow, gestured to the cushion at her side, and went straight to the point. "Yun Chen Fózǐ, what is it you wish to discuss?"
"Ran Daoyou, your earlier deduction has been confirmed. These evil spirits will only get stronger. Our side has already begun to suffer injuries, and my natal Buddhist treasure refuses to settle. I have a very bad feeling."
Some things could not be hidden, especially among the elites of each region. Reaching this realm meant each had their own fortune. Having stepped onto the board, none would willingly become a mere chess piece. Yunxi drew a long breath.
"So Yun Chen Fózǐ feels it as well. It happens that I do too. My spirit pet Dian Dian seems to sense something, and she told me the miasma here is getting thicker."
"Amitabha. Ran Daoyou is as keen as ever. What other backhand do you believe the evil cultivators have prepared?"
Yunxi touched the storage bracelet on her wrist. "That depends on what else this sealing ground holds besides spirits. Something the evil cultivators desperately want."
It was the only conclusion that made sense.
"Amitabha. Ran Daoyou's guess matches mine. I suspect an evil artifact. One of great use to the evil cultivators.
Buddhist and evil paths are opposed by nature. Only an evil artifact could make my natal Buddhist treasure so restless."
Yun Chen Fózǐ did not circle around it and laid his guess bare.
Yunxi's eyes lit up. He had likely seized on the key. The final aim of the evil cultivators was to release that artifact, with these spirits serving as part of its nourishment.
"Yun Chen Fózǐ, if your guess is right, the artifact should be among the spirits. Can your natal Buddhist treasure identify it?"
"Amitabha. It should be able to. But I must leave the shield."
Yunxi chose her words carefully. "We must treat this carefully. If you go out, the spirits will target you. With only mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, I fear you will not be able to face that artifact."
"I know. That is why I came to consult Ran Daoyou. I plan to force a breakthrough to Divine Transformation. I hope Ran Daoyou will lend me a hand once I advance."
Yunxi did not reject the proposal. She had planned to rush Divine Transformation herself. Still, she reminded him, "Xian Feng has already reached Divine Transformation. Perhaps discuss it with him. We can act together."
"That is exactly my thought. I simply do not know this Xian Feng Daoyou well, so I came to you first. Han Lian and Xun Kun are already aware of my plan. Both promised to break through as soon as they can."
Yunxi could hear it clearly. None of them intended to be ground down. They wanted to end the sealed spirits quickly. She was about to reply when a surge of spiritual power rippled beside her.