The night was as dark as ink, so thick it seemed to drip blood.
Under the cover of night, the experts of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect stealthily infiltrated the forbidden area behind the mountain like ghosts. The cold mountain wind swept through the treetops, making a mournful sound, as if playing a dirge for the impending slaughter.
Leading the group was none other than Red Scorpion, the Third Elder of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect. His face was covered with hideous poisonous markings that gleamed with an eerie purple light under the moonlight, and the dark green bone flute in his hand occasionally flashed with a chilling glint.
He was followed by twelve black-robed disciples, each with three bulging poison sacs hanging from their waists, emitting a nauseating stench as they walked.
"Bai Ying!" The Crimson Scorpion's voice seemed to come from the depths of hell, his eyes surging with deep-seated hatred. "You killed my senior brother and our ancestor! Today, I will make you suffer the agony of a thousand poisons gnawing at your heart! I will make you wail for three days and three nights, wishing you were dead but unable to live!"
On the jade platform, Bai Ying slowly opened her eyes.
The moonlight, like water, reflected her cool and aloof face, but her eyes were colder than a deep pool.
She had anticipated that the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect would come, but she hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.
"Liu Yingjie," Bai Ying's voice was eerily calm, "you shouldn't be hiding in the shadows."
A soft sound came from the shadows, and Liu Yingjie walked out with a gloomy expression. He opened his folding fan with a "whoosh," revealing a ferocious centipede painted on its surface.
"You're quite shrewd, aren't you?" he sneered. "But this forbidden area is already shrouded in the Xuan Tian Sect's array. No matter what happens here, those useless trash from the Xuan Tian Sect won't notice. I'll see how long you can be so arrogant."
"Hahaha!" Crimson Scorpion suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, the venomous markings on his face twisting and writhing. "You are indeed powerful, but the grand formation you used before isn't here. Now you're severely injured, what a pity... everything you possess will belong to my Ten Thousand Poisons Sect!" He abruptly blew his bone flute, its sharp whistling piercing the night sky. "Set up the formation!"
Dozens of disciples from the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect simultaneously unleashed their poison banners, unleashing a dark green cloud of poison that surged forth like a raging torrent. Within the poison cloud, countless phantoms of poisonous insects appeared and disappeared, emitting chilling hiss. Wherever the poisonous mist passed, the rocks hissed and crackled, instantly corroding them into honeycomb-like holes.
A sinister smile curled at the corner of Red Scorpion's mouth as his withered fingers constantly changed hand seals.
In his eyes, Bai Ying was now completely trapped.
"Bai Ying, today is your death day!" Red Scorpion chuckled sinisterly, his turbid eyes flashing with bloodlust.
Not far away, Liu Yingjie was equally ecstatic. The veins on his sword-wielding hand bulged, and his eyes were filled with twisted glee. "Finally, this day has come..." he laughed wildly to himself, "This bastard has finally met his match!"
Just as the poisonous cloud was about to engulf Bai Ying, a clear and melodious sword cry suddenly came from the depths of the mountains and forests.
Master Tinglan arrived, his robes fluttering, accompanied by several elders. Behind him, seven jade-colored flying swords formed the Big Dipper formation, their sword light like rainbows, instantly shredding the poisonous clouds in the sky.
"You wicked disciple!" Elder Xuanxiao, Liu Yingjie's master, was enraged, smashing a boulder beside him with a single palm strike. "Our Xuantian Sect has maintained its reputation for a century, and yet such a heartless and treacherous person has appeared!"
Liu Yingjie couldn't believe his eyes. He looked up, trembling, first at his furious master, then at Bai Ying, who remained calm. Only then did he realize that everything today was a deception they had conspired to create for him, a trap they had set!
Liu Yingjie suddenly let out a shrill, bitter laugh: "Hahaha... What a clever trap! So you all knew about my connection with the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect all along..."
A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly launched an attack! His right hand gripped the throat of the Wan Du Sect disciple beside him like an eagle's claw, while his left hand quickly formed a hand seal, intending to use this disciple as a human shield to unleash the Blood Escape Technique.
"Sorry!" He grinned maliciously and pushed the disciple toward Elder Xuanxiao, then used the force to retreat rapidly. The Wan Du Sect disciple was filled with terror; Liu Yingjie had secretly injected spiritual power into his meridians, and his entire body was like a blood sac about to burst.
In that split second, Elder Xuanxiao let out a cold snort.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed from his sleeve, and a three-inch-long "Demon-Slaying Golden Needle" shot out from the air.
The golden needle split into three in mid-air: the first needle pierced the Tanzhong acupoint of the Wan Du Sect disciple, dissolving all the rampant spiritual power in his body; the second needle arrived first, drawing a golden arc in mid-air and precisely cutting off Liu Yingjie's retreat; the third needle, like a shooting star, went straight for Liu Yingjie's brow.
"Master, spare me..." Liu Yingjie's words of pleading were cut short as a flower of blood bloomed between his brows. His eyes widened in disbelief as his lifeless body collapsed to the ground.
The expressions of the members of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect also changed drastically.
They thought today was the best time to kill Bai Ying, but they didn't expect that this was a trap set by Bai Ying and the Xuan Tian Sect for them!
Red Scorpion cursed under his breath and hurriedly made a hand seal to try to retreat.
But then Bai Ying lightly raised her hand, and a dragon scale flew out from her palm, transforming into thousands of golden lights in the air. Those golden lights poured down like a torrential rain, and wherever they passed, the disciples of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect didn't even have time to scream before turning into clouds of blood mist.
"Trying to leave? Too late!"
"Damn it!" Red Scorpion's eyes were bloodshot as he suddenly pulled out a blood jade bottle from his robes.
The jade bottle was entirely crimson, its surface covered with strange patterns, and one could vaguely see swirling blackish-purple smoke within.
"Xia Qingdai! Don't think I don't know your true identity. This is 'Ten Thousand Gu Soul-Devouring Smoke,' crafted by your dear mother with three drops of her heart's blood!" He laughed wildly as he uncorked the bottle. "To kill you, she even told me the secrets of her family's bloodline!"
Bai Ying's pupils suddenly contracted.
She saw the black mist rising from the bottle transform into tiny blood snakes, twisting and writhing in the air.
"Didn't expect that, did you?" Red Scorpion smugly shook the jade bottle. "Madam Xia personally came to our Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, saying that your lineage is born with the 'Nine Yin Absolute Meridians,' and is most afraid of this 'Blood Catalyst.' Just a trace of it will cause your meridians to reverse, resulting in excruciating pain!"
Bai Ying's heart trembled violently.
She had prepared a perfect plan for today's battle, but she never expected this to happen.
The blood snakes swimming in the air exuded an aura that made her heart tremble. If she really had the bloodline of the Xia family, she would surely die under this poisonous fog.
"Mrs. Xia..." Bai Ying murmured softly.
She never expected that Madam Xia would go to such lengths, even betraying the secret of her own daughter's bloodline to her enemy.
Bai Ying felt deeply saddened.
I feel so sorry for Xia Qingdai...
Her mother never loved her and even tried to kill her...
Unfortunately, they were all wrong. She wasn't the real Xia Qingdai at all, and she wouldn't have died from the Soul-Devouring Smoke of Ten Thousand Gu...
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