Huaxian Gate, Bidou Peak
After Yu Ling finished meditating to regulate his breath, he followed his habit and took Yunxi's soul lamp from his storage bracelet. Only after confirming that the flame still burned did he return the soul lamp to the bracelet.
He waved his sleeve to lift the barrier and saw Xiang Sizi. The two nodded to each other in greeting.
Xiang Sizi had just withdrawn from beside the Shanhe Scroll. She casually tossed a pill into her mouth, then asked, "Yu Ling Daoyou, news has come these past few days that cultivators from all Five Regions who were sucked into the Shanhe Scroll have fallen. Our Western Region loose cultivator alliance has already lost five. What about Haoran Sect?"
Yu Ling lowered his gaze. "Haoran Sect has two soul lamps extinguished."
"What about Ran Xi's soul lamp?"
"She is fine."
Hearing that Ran Xi was safe for the moment, Xiang Sizi narrowed her eyes. "The Shanhe Scroll has been shaking more and more frequently these two days. It should not be long before Huaxian Gate regains control. I only hope they can hold out a little longer."
"They will."
Yu Ling had great confidence in Yunxi. She was the variable. Any matter she joined would veer onto a different path.
Just then, Xiang Sizi and Yu Ling looked up at the Shanhe Scroll floating in the air. The blood-red miasma over it was collapsing everywhere. As the evil aura dispersed, the scroll returned to its original gold.
"Amitabha. The evil aura on the Shanhe Scroll has been fully purified. Hua Tang Daoyou, please contract the Shanhe Scroll at once and release the trapped disciples."
Master Yun Yi spoke out in a clear voice.
The other Divine Transformation cultivators surrounding the scroll tacitly withdrew to their original positions.
Hao Yan flashed to Yu Ling and Xiang Sizi's side, but her gaze on the Shanhe Scroll was heavy. Worry flickered in her eyes and quickly vanished.
Hua Tang did not delay. He flashed into midair and began to contract the Shanhe Scroll.
Because the Shanhe Scroll was a Mystic-grade treasure, Hua Tang directly used spiritual power to sketch a contract array. He pricked his finger and flicked out a drop of essence blood, then tapped between his brows to draw out a wisp of spiritual sense. He sent both into the array, then rapidly formed seals to initiate the contract.
At that moment, dark clouds rolled across the sky. The day turned leaden, as if brewing a storm. Unease rippled through the hearts of the Divine Transformation cultivators near the dueling grounds.
Just as the contract was about to take hold, the Shanhe Scroll slipped free of the array on its own and unfurled again before everyone's eyes. At the same time, muffled thunder rumbled overhead.
All the Divine Transformation cultivators thought the same thing. Not good. They flashed to the Shanhe Scroll in unison, Master Yun Yi at the fore, trying to force the scroll back into the contract array.
That was when the change occurred. A dragon-patterned saber saturated with evil aura slowly flew out of the Shanhe Scroll. The moment the blade fully emerged, it soared toward the sky. The crowd tried to stop it, but they were already a step too late.
A vortex opened in the cloud-choked heavens, and from within extended a great hand, reaching steadily for the dragon-patterned saber.
"What is that thing?"
"Not good, an evil weapon!"
"Hurry, stop it from leaving!"
Voices rang out almost at once. Every Divine Transformation cultivator struck together, dragging at Long Ya's ascent.
In the next instant, they saw streaks of light shoot from the Shanhe Scroll, racing straight after the saber rising into midair.
Wearing the Haoran Sect robe, Yunxi was the one in the lead. The cultivators behind her poured what little spiritual power they had left into Yunxi's body, helping her catch up to Long Ya in the shortest time.
Yunxi pushed Thousand Shadows Riding the Wind to its limit and sheathed her whole body in Mystic Thunder Violet Flame. Braving an evil miasma so dense it felt solid, she drove herself at Long Ya. Closer. She had to be closer.
Xian Feng, Han Lian, Yun Chen, Xun Kun and thirty-one others had nearly emptied their dantians. As they fell from the scroll, they shouted at once, "Ancestors, Master, fall back. Fall back now!"
Yu Ling's expression changed. Hao Yan and Xiang Sizi at his side were also badly startled. They spoke almost together, "What is Yunxi doing!"
"Save people first," Yu Ling said coldly. "I will chase Yunxi."
The three vanished from where they stood.
The leading figures of the Five Regions were doing the same, scooping up disciples spilling out of the Shanhe Scroll.
The instant Yunxi left the Shanhe Scroll, she did not feel the lock of a Divine Transformation lightning tribulation. Her heart sank. The evil cultivators had gone to great lengths for Long Ya. They had even masked the Heavenly Dao. A fine trick. That only made it more imperative she stop them.
As she shot upward, she tapped between her brows and summoned the Huadian Immortal Artifact, guiding it with her spiritual sense to ram Long Ya. She gritted her teeth and spoke a single word. "Explode."
In the next instant, before the eyes of all, the Huadian Immortal Artifact slammed into Long Ya and burst into a blinding golden sphere. The sphere did not only annihilate all of Bidou Peak. It swelled outward in every direction. While the Divine Transformation cultivators instinctively dodged, they joined forces to throw up a barrier, halting the surge.
The great hand in the sky recoiled as if scalded and withdrew at once, failing to grasp Long Ya. A wrathful voice shook the firmament.
"Whelp, how dare you!"
The hand changed from a grasp to a slap, this time aimed at Yunxi, who had just slipped out of her space after dodging the suicidal detonation.
Yunxi cherished her life. When she triggered the Huadian Immortal Artifact to self-destruct, she used the cover of the blast to flash into her space. She had calculated the timing. Once the aftershocks waned, she exited the space. The treasures on her person were enough to weather the residual force. What she failed to account for was the evil cultivator's counterattack.
With a thunderous boom, Yunxi failed to evade. She was swatted to the ground. The jade bracelet on her wrist shattered with a crack, absorbing most of the blow, yet blood still spurted from her lips.
"Ran Xi!"
Yu Ling cried out, his already chilly face gone glacial. He flashed to save her, but when the great palm sensed Yunxi had survived, it slammed down a second time.
Yunxi had no strength to fight back. Only her eyes could move. She was just about to reach for her space again when the second palm crashed down.
With a heavy thud, Yunxi's substitute puppet burst into eight pieces, completing its duty of dying in her stead. It tumbled from her sleeve.
Yu Ling's sword, Binghan, was already drawn. An Extreme Ice Blade cleaved forth. A vast ice-blue sword shadow shot into the clouds and hacked at the descending hand. In the next breath, nearly every Divine Transformation cultivator present struck. A storm of spells, sword gleams, and saber lights battered the intruding hand that had no right to be here.
So many Divine Transformation experts unleashed their power at once that the combined force barely checked the falling palm. The two breaths they bought forced the hand to retreat in frustration back into the sky.
In the next moment, every cultivator who had escaped the scroll felt the lock of the Divine Transformation lightning tribulation.
Yu Ling appeared at Yunxi's side. He immediately shoved a fifth-grade Shengji Dan between her lips, then flicked a thread of spiritual power to help her absorb the medicine.
Yunxi felt as if her organs had all shifted places. There was not a single spot that did not ache. Even so, the familiar aura made her open her eyes. Seeing her master, she spoke in a small, aggrieved voice, "Master, this disciple, I am about to cross the Divine Transformation tribulation."