The situation is tense on the top of the mountain, but below the mountain, there is finally a glimmer of hope.
Seeing the final moment, the disciples of the Buddhist Village did not dare to slack off at all. They mobilized all their spiritual power and sent it towards the center of the formation without hesitation. Qi Zhiye sat there, and even Buddha patterns gradually appeared on his fair face, and the golden light reached its peak!
The general's spirit felt as if there were thousands of chains under his feet, which became heavier and heavier. He seemed to recall some things from the past, and his expression kept changing from pain to despair and confusion. The blood light on his body gradually weakened, dimmed, and finally went out.
Its soul was also extinguished.
Thousands of years have passed, and only obsession survives. Without obsession, the soul will also disappear.
As everyone was frozen in silence, the spirits of several generals outside the formation also slowly stopped, looking towards the place where the general had died, with an indescribable complexity in their expression. Finally, they also turned around and dissipated.
The headless soldier was the last one, and he slowly disappeared from the world along with all the spirits.
They are born to be generals, and no matter how much resentment, hatred, or infatuation they have, they will not change their ways and follow the general. This has become their instinct.
The magic circle dissipated, and the spiritual power backfired. Qi Xingye just wanted to close his eyes and endure it, but the force was directed to the eldest disciple. He had already suffered huge losses, and now he was vomiting blood, his face was as pale as paper, and he could not sit cross-legged, and fell straight to the ground.
Yao Xing, who was setting up the Soul Locking Array, was not in a much better condition. He felt dizzy and almost fainted.
When it comes to a life-or-death situation, one doesn't feel tired. Instead, once it's over, the fatigue and pain surge back a thousandfold. Yun Xian, hanging his left arm, hurried over: "Brother Xue! The master has fainted!"
"..." Xue Lingxiu had already come over and said impatiently, "I'm not blind, so you don't need to tell me. Can you just sit quietly for half an incense stick? I'll give you some spirit stones, okay? Go play with them."
He was really full of energy. He rarely saw such patients. They went back to fight right after taking over the case. But compared to this, it was even rarer for them to refuse to pay.
"What do you mean?" Yun Xian felt extremely insulted. "You can bribe me with five high-grade spirit stones. Who do you think I am?"
Xue Lingxiu gave another five yuan.
Now Yun Xian shut up.
Qiao Lingshan no longer felt embarrassed. She was numb and didn't even refuse when Yun Xian stuffed the five pieces into her hands.
Qi Zhiye supported himself on the ground, sitting awkwardly. His golden eyes looked at Yun Xian who was playing with the spirit stones, then at Xue Lingxiu, and asked, "Will you charge me this time?"
"There's nothing I can do even if you insist on giving it to me." Xue Lingxiu didn't bother to pay attention to him.
If he charged money for treating the big monk, my elder sister would probably beat him all the way from Chang'an to Luoyang with a spatula.
Yun Xian was quiet for less than a moment before he started chattering again: "Fellow Daoist Qi, how are you doing now? Can you grab the top spot?"
"Do you want me to snatch it or not?" Qi Zhiye sneered, "If you want, I can still put some obstacles in your way."
Yun Xian held his hand affectionately: "I just hope you can have a good rest and don't let the root of the disease remain."
Qi Zhiye's mouth twitched, and he slapped her on the forehead: "Who are you disgusting?"
He didn't hold back any strength and was quite rude. Yun Xian almost pushed him over.
Qiao Lingshan was very happy.
"Stop arguing, stop arguing." Feng Ye's finger was also slightly treated and symbolically bandaged. He scratched his head and said, "Are we going to start fighting now? But I see no one is making any move."
really.
The leader was still hanging high above the mountain, glowing with blood, as if the darkness of the sky and the earth had nothing to do with it. However, everyone in this slightly brighter battlefield did not move.
They were practicing breathing exercises in perfect harmony.
Nonsense, why fight now? It's already like this, it will be broken if you touch it. Let's talk about it later.
Among those who were regulating their breathing, Zhong Changyao was the most eye-catching.
His strength as a half-step Nascent Soul was already the strongest in the field. He had just defeated a group of spirits with a single sword. His swordsmanship was elegant and his battle record was also extremely outstanding. More importantly, he looked quite good.
This was something Yun Xian had to admit. But compared to the senior brother, he was still a bit far behind. After seeing the senior brother for a long time, he felt that this man was just so-so.
But she didn't think that not everyone has the opportunity to see the senior brother.
"Although I didn't have a good impression of him," Qiao Lingshan said silently, "but now it seems that at least he's not a bad person."
Feng Ye also sighed: "Yes, yes."
He was a great help just now.
Yun Xian didn't hear it. She was talking to Yao Xing, and it was a good thing she didn't hear it.
Yao Xing's physique was relatively weak, and he had just suffered a great loss. After swallowing a few medicinal pills, he was able to stand up and said, "Miss Yun."
"Is Fellow Daoist Yao alright?" Yun Xian kept a faint gaze behind him, but still couldn't find any trace of the group. "What are your plans for next?"
Yao Xing's expression changed, but he still forced a smile and said, "I've already told Miss Yun that the Xingyan Sect's purpose in coming here is to obtain the ancient tomes in the City Lord's Mansion, and we will not participate in the battle for the top spot. Now, of course, we have to set off. Where's Miss Yun?"
"Me?" Yun Xian said, "The Sword Sect's people haven't shown up yet. I have a bad feeling."
Given the current losses, they were indeed at a disadvantage. But with Xue Lingxiu still here, any injuries, both major and minor, could be treated promptly, and some herbs and spirit stones could be used to speed up recovery. If the Sword Sect had appeared immediately, they could still be considered to have the upper hand. But now that they've been so slow, wouldn't the longer they've been delayed, the more disadvantageous they would be.
No matter how elite the Sword Sect is, the number of independent cultivators here is large, and it is not easy to defeat them.
“…”
Yao Xing was silent for a moment. Yun Xian caught the change in his expression and asked sharply, "Could it be that Fellow Daoist Yao knows where they are now?"
"I..." Yao Xing paused, and finally said, "Miss Yun, you should come with me to the City Lord's Mansion."
Yun Xian was puzzled: "Why do you keep trying to persuade me to go to the City Lord's Mansion?"
"I've said it before," Yao Xing said anxiously. "Miss Yun, not everyone can participate in the championship. If you need weapons or secret manuals, the City Lord's Mansion definitely has them. Why risk your life?"
Yun Xianguan saw that there was something else behind his words.
Yao Xing felt embarrassed by her cold gaze, but in the end he still didn't say anything.
"I'm leaving now. Chunfang, let's go." Yao Xing turned around and said softly, "I really can't say any more."
Yun Xian: “…”
Qiao Lingshan heard a little and frowned, "Is there something in the City Lord's Mansion?"
"The Body Strengthening Sect isn't here now. Oh, and Jimo Shu," Qiao Lingshan asked. "How could Jimo Shu not be here? She came here to win the championship, right? How could someone in the Nascent Soul stage still not be able to get in? Are they in the City Lord's Mansion?"
There are many doubts.
What a mess.
"Yun Xian, do you want to go to the City Lord's Mansion?" Feng Ye said, "You have the fastest agility, and the City Lord's Mansion doesn't seem too far from here. Now that the general has been liberated, there's no one guarding the third city wall, so we can just go straight there."
Yun Xian wanted to find out what was going on, but when she looked at Qiao Lingshan, her expression changed slightly.
"Don't worry about us." Qiao Lingshan saw her expression and pointed over there, "Aren't Fellow Daoist Xue and Fellow Daoist Qi still there?"
There is a medical cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage, a Buddhist cultivator who is in a half-injured state and can fight, and a bunch of casual cultivators who are recovering slowly.
"Okay." Yun Xian flashed away, "I'll be back soon."
The City Lord's Mansion stands outside the third city wall, on a high ground, with three floors. From its dilapidated appearance, one can tell how magnificent it was in the past.
When entering the mansion, Yun Xian raised his eyes and looked at the leader again.
From here, the leader seemed to be closer, and he could even see the patterns on the hilt of his sword. Yun Xian wanted to take another look, but his sight seemed to be covered by a layer of gauze, and he couldn't see clearly no matter how hard he looked.
"Peaceful." Yun Xian said, "How far am I actually from it?"
Taiping: "Fly with the sword for a quarter of an hour."
Yun Xian: "..." That's a bit too far! This is a fraud!
She complained angrily and walked into the City Lord's Mansion.
As Yao Xing said, there were many secret books and treasures hidden in the City Lord's Mansion. Yun Xian even saw quite a few sword manuals. He was immediately delighted, but after a moment, he became deeply annoyed.
Who can understand this written in classical Chinese!
"Weren't the old sword manuals all written in classical Chinese?" Taiping mocked her, "If you can't even understand this, go home and plow the fields."
Yun Xian turned a deaf ear to it, like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, and put the sword manual into his storage ring.
She couldn't understand it, but as long as someone else could understand it, at worst, someone could translate it for her and then teach her.
Going further, there is another desolate scene.
It was at this time that Yun Xian saw the spirit of the city lord on the main seat.
There were many exquisite plates and wine saucers in front of his table, but they were all made of stones and straw. A spirit was holding a pot of clear water and was wandering around the small table in a daze, with a sad expression on his face.
The city lord had no cultivation, just like the common people outside, but his body was intact and had not been eaten, and it looked like he had committed suicide.
Yun Xian carefully walked around it without disturbing it and continued walking forward. The further he walked, the more furrowed his brows became.
Even after walking this far, she still hadn't seen anyone from the Dao Sect.
Although he had only met Ji Rongxue a few times, Yun Xian had an inexplicable feeling that even if she didn't show up, she wouldn't cooperate with the Sword Sect, but...
Why is this tight uneasiness in my heart getting stronger and stronger, my heartbeat is accelerating, and my palms are sticky and sweaty, as if something is about to happen.
Suddenly, there was a deafening bang!
Yun Xian drew his sword in an instant, dodged and looked towards the source of the voice!
Her pupils suddenly constricted.
...The battlefield just now has now been completely covered by the thick purple poisonous fog. The poisonous insects are hissing and crawling, and nothing can be seen through.
Outside the secret realm, there was an uproar!
"What is that? Poisonous fog? Why is it suddenly invisible?"
"The projection stone is completely covered. Where are the people inside?"
"Look at the eternal lamps! Several have already gone out... and they're still going out! Several have died!"
"It's a demonic cult! What are the supervisors for? They can even put the demonic poisonous insects in there like this? Are they just trying to prevent chaos in the world?"
Master Mingguang clenched the Buddhist beads in his hand instantly, and Li Pei's breathing became rapid.
"It's impossible to put it in there." She said calmly, "There's no precedent of banning the Demon Cult from entering during the Four-way War. The four of us have each examined her, and there's no Gu worm on Jimo Shu."
Master Mingguang said, "I am also certain that there is absolutely no such thing."
Su Chi opened his mouth and said, "What if she puts the insect into her body?"
"How is that possible?" Liu Chang's face darkened as he retorted, "The Gu worm is inside the body, so it can't be detected. But even those seeking death don't do this. How could she survive a single day with a Gu worm of this strength? She would have died long ago! She's a saint who only appears once in a century in the Demon Cult. How could the Cult Leader let her do this?"
"Saintess?" Li Pei seemed to understand something in a flash, and said solemnly, "For us, we always feel that such a talented young man needs to be protected."
"...But what if she is an excellent vessel for the Demon Cult leader?"
Inside the secret realm, Yun Xian had a tense face and without saying a word, he rushed straight into the purple poisonous fog.
As soon as she entered, her head became dizzy for a moment, her eyes were dizzy, and a bloody feeling rose in her throat, but that was all.
It is not fatal, and it cannot kill people directly.
The half of the Great Wilderness Pearl in Taiping's place began to tremble. Yun Xian stretched out his hand and cut it, and the sword mark exploded in Jimo Shu's body. The poisonous fog dissipated a little in an instant, and behind the poisonous fog, there was another lighter fog.
Yun Xian's vision finally widened a little. She looked around but did not find anyone familiar.
Qiao Lingshan, Feng Ye, Xue Lingxiu, Qi Zhiye, and even the group of Buddhist disciples were all nowhere to be seen.
But she saw bodies on the ground. Many bodies, lying silently in the thick fog.
Among them, there was the person she least expected.
Liu Lin was lying on the side of the road with his back facing up, his eyes wide open, an expression of disbelief on his face, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and he was no longer breathing.
Yun Xian's throat tightened, and she ran over to take a closer look.
The blood flowing from the corners of his mouth was black. From a distance, it looked like he had indeed been killed by the poisonous fog. However, Yun Xian knew clearly that this poisonous fog could not kill anyone. So why did he die here? The other disciples of the Sword Sect—
At this moment, Yun Xian sensed a very subtle knife energy on his chest covered by his clothes.
The sword energy was everywhere, carrying the intention of killing. There was no need to say who the master was, there was only that person.
Liu Shi.
The reason why Liu Shi killed him is self-evident.
He would secretly collude with the Demon Cult, using poisonous fog as cover to kill anyone present who could threaten him. This would include Qi Xingye, Xue Lingxiu, and ideally, everyone in Jiange. Of course, the best outcome would be the complete annihilation of the other three realms, crippling the elite young forces. This would allow the Northern Realm to maintain its dominance for a period of ten to thirty years, allowing it to launch a major invasion.
As for why Liu Linshuang had to die? If all of them were disciples of the Sword Sect, it would be too easy for people to be suspicious if they survived. So why not just kill two or three of them and leave them here as a decoy?
At this moment, Yun Xian finally understood what Ji Rongxue had meant.
"It's okay if you're not smart enough, as long as you're vicious enough." She said, "Yun Xian, you tend to think too highly of others."
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