Chapter 129 They Ran Away!!: The snow cave suddenly fell silent. For a long while, no one spoke, only the wind howled through the air…
The snow cave suddenly fell silent, and no one spoke for a long time, only the raging snow continued to fall.
Lan Hui gathered her disheveled long hair, seemingly not having realized what Xi Congshuang had said.
Xi Congshuang opened her unfocused, dark green eyes and looked in the direction of Lan Hui.
With her eyes covered by a three-finger white blindfold, Lan Hui couldn't see the color of her eyes. She didn't know, but she vaguely felt that her eyes weren't black or amber.
If she could see the original color of Xi Congshuang's eyes, she would know that she also had a pair of eerie dark green eyes, which perfectly matched the characteristics of the demon race.
Gray hair can be attributed to nearly going mad from practicing qi cultivation, but eye color is not necessarily a factor.
Lan Hui didn't delve into it further. She said, "Yes, Master has a twin sister named Tingzhu."
"I joined the sect early. When I was young, I heard the elders of the sect talking about the two beauties of the Celestial Palace when they were drunk. The Supreme Elder said that my master's sister was more talented. She completed the formation in one go the first time, but my master broke the formation flags and it took him a long time to learn how to form the formation without breaking the flags."
Xi Congshuang asked curiously, "I've never heard of her before. Where is she? How did she disappear?"
As Lan Hui spoke, she recalled, "Because Master's younger sister was too strong-willed, always striving to be the best, and had no tolerance for others. Therefore, the former Palace Master intended to pass the Palace Master's position to Master, rather than to his younger daughter who cultivated faster. This decision aroused Master's younger sister's dissatisfaction."
"She swore that she would make everyone look at her with new eyes and regret their decision today, and that she would never return until the former palace master perished."
"For many years, Master never gave up on her whereabouts, and once said that if she was willing to come back, he would be willing to pass on the position of Palace Master to her."
But she just can't be found. If it weren't for the evidence that she's still alive, after all these years of disappearance, the only conclusion would be that she has already perished.
Xi Congshuang: "If even I don't know this, it must have happened many years ago, right?"
Lan Hui: "The Supreme Elder said that this happened about five hundred years ago."
Xi Congshuang: "If her whereabouts are unknown, how do we know she is still alive?"
“The Heart Lamp,” Lan Hui said. “Disciples of the Flying Immortal Palace who enter the inner sect will leave behind a Heart Lamp lit with their heart’s blood. If the lamp is lit, they live; if the lamp is extinguished, they die.”
Xi Congshuang understood: "So that's how it is."
As she spoke, Lan Hui suddenly asked, "Why are you asking these questions all of a sudden?"
The person inside the snow cave did not respond immediately, but lowered their eyes in thought.
This place is not a place to stay for long, and neither is the Flying Immortal Palace nor the area around it.
Xi Tingzhu is now in charge of Feixian Palace. If I stay, I will definitely die. The only way to survive is to stay far away from Feixian Palace.
What intrigued her even more was that, rather than tolerating her, the Palace Master disliked seeing her and Su Wenxin together, and also disliked seeing Su Wenxin become stable.
This is strange. Why is a clueless girl who knows nothing and was raised by a monster so annoying?
There's only one answer—the palace lord, with her collecting obsession, enjoys seeing those she dislikes suffer, preferably with her own eyes.
The more universally despised someone is, the more they meet the Palace Master's expectations.
This is also why she was able to target the daughter of an old friend, because that old friend was not her old friend at all, and even if she was, she was definitely not someone she had any feelings for.
They might even find it repulsive, though the reasons are currently unknown.
However, based on the analysis of that story, Xi Tingzhu is someone who cares extremely about winning and losing and takes pride in being the best in everything. She has been like this since she was a teenager, so she must have had dealings with the Qingfeng Sect leader and Su Xianzun, who were on good terms with her mother.
It's a fact that she, who was unwilling to be overshadowed, lost to the true palace master.
Perhaps she had also lost to Immortal Venerable Su, and lost in a rather tragic way, which is why Xi Tingzhu was so concerned.
As it turned out, Su Xianzun's daughter looked extremely similar to Su Xianzun when he was young. The similarity was so great that Su clan disciples who went down the mountain for training could recognize her at a glance and know just how similar they were.
Naturally, the palace master disliked this person.
Xi Congshuang said unhurriedly, "At such a tense moment, Senior Sister still tells me all these things in such detail. Does Senior Sister really not understand?"
Lan Hui: "What should I understand?"
Xi Congshuang: "I understand that I have the intention to escape."
Lan Hui was startled.
"Senior sister, I'm sorry." Xi Congshuang's pale lips moved slightly, uttering a single word, "It's settled."
"...!"
Lan Hui suddenly stiffened and couldn't move. A psychic paper figure had climbed up behind her at some point, spread its body and pressed against her back, making her unable to move according to Xi Congshuang's commands.
The person who was frozen in place instinctively tried to use her spiritual power to break free, but the paper figure made by Xi Congshuang not only restricted her movements, but also restricted the spiritual power within her spiritual meridians.
Xi Congshuang: "Don't be nervous. I have no intention of harming you. I will give you an explanation. When the time comes, take out the paper figure and say that I ambushed you and that you did not let me go on purpose."
Even at this point, she still had the mood to smile at Lan Hui.
The person sitting on the ice bed got up and landed, pulling out the ebony hairpin from her hair bun. The hairpin grew larger and larger in her hand, transforming back into the shape of a black dragon wooden staff.
It was heavy and deep black, held in a fair and slender hand.
Lan Hui was shocked and vaguely realized what Xi Congshuang was about to do. She couldn't believe it and was speechless for a moment.
Even powerful cultivators with profound cultivation can injure people by plucking flowers and leaves. As an array cultivator, once one reaches a certain level of cultivation, one can use anything visible to the naked eye to form an array.
Unfortunately, the last cultivator who set up an array on the Cliff of Contemplation also had this habit.
She was confident that the array she set up with stones and sticks was more solid than the arrays set up by other cultivators using rare and precious materials. This made things convenient for Xi Congshuang, and she liked doing it this way.
Living creatures cannot leave the snow cave, but that does not mean inanimate objects cannot.
The paper figures that had been cut all night came in handy at this moment. Braving the wind and snow, they found the place Xi Congshuang had requested, and brought stones or sticks to place on the corresponding spots to protect her.
Xi Congshuang gripped the wooden staff and walked towards the key point of the formation she had planned in advance. She intended to use the staff to draw upon spiritual energy and break the formation.
She really intended to break the formation from within!
How much spiritual energy would that take?
No, she was only locked up for one night, and she found a way to break the formation so quickly. Is she even human?
In an instant, too many thoughts flooded Lan Hui's mind, reminding her of the time when she was suppressed by her junior sister's talent.
All her thoughts eventually settled on one point, the one point she was most willing to accept—Xi Congshuang was indeed more suited to this.
However, this would consume too much spiritual energy, and Xi Congshuang would definitely be seriously injured.
Without hesitation, Lan Hui said, "If you want to go out, I have a pass. You release me from the immobilization spell, and I'll open the formation for you."
Worried that Xi Congshuang wouldn't believe her, she assured her, "I can swear."
With a composed gait, Xi Congshuang refused, raising her wooden staff with both hands: "There is too little spiritual energy here; I need more."
Even if spiritual power is like poison, it is her life-saving medicine. She absolutely cannot be without spiritual power if she wants to get out smoothly, otherwise all her efforts will be in vain.
Furthermore, Xi Congshuang said, "You don't plan to leave Feixian Palace, so I can't implicate you because of this."
Lan Hui: "..."
She truly had no intention of leaving Feixian Palace.
Having located the key point of the formation, Xi Congshuang channeled spiritual energy into the wooden staff and forcefully drove it into the ground.
The black mud, covered with a layer of snow, should have been easy to drive into, but Xi Congshuang used tremendous force and still felt resistance.
But the key to the formation has already been found, and no amount of resistance will change anything.
In a daze, Xi Congshuang seemed to hear a woman's voice laughing at someone, saying, "It's too cold to put the array's core outside. Anyway, those trapped inside can't get out, so no one will be able to think of a way to break the array..."
There seemed to be other people around her, and she said something helplessly.
"Who said there wasn't? I found it!" Xi Congshuang's hands gripped the wooden staff, veins bulging, her pale lips pressed tightly together, as she poured more spiritual energy into breaking the formation.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Lan Hui felt as if the world had frozen for a moment, but only for a brief instant. The next moment, an even more violent gale swept in, almost engulfing her.
But it was only a close call.
Xi Congshuang kept her word. While focusing on dealing with the formation, she also used some of her spiritual energy to protect herself, preventing the snow from covering her face.
That's how Lan Hui was able to see the most complete aspect of the formation.
An invisible barrier lit up with its last light, like a giant glass ball, covering the Cliff of Contemplation, which was ravaged by wind and snow all year round.
The pillar-like spiritual power pierced the sky, breaking through the barrier like a pillar reaching to the heavens and the earth. The barrier that had shrouded the Cliff of Contemplation for hundreds of years scattered outwards from where the pillar of spiritual power broke through, shattering inch by inch, like a glass bottle breaking apart.
As if realizing it only after the fact, it unleashed its final, resounding cry.
"boom--!"
A deafening roar resounded throughout the Qingfeng Sect, instantly startling many people, who all looked towards the horizon from which the noise originated.
"What happened?"
"I don't know, has something serious happened?"
The restricted spiritual energy surged wildly into the Cliff of Contemplation and into Xi Congshuang's spiritual veins. Her instinct to cultivate even through breathing played a positive role at this time.
Xi Congshuang doesn't need to meditate in place to recover; she can still have inexhaustible spiritual power.
Lan Hui was shocked that Xi Congshuang had broken the formation set up by her master, and at the same time, she saw Xi Congshuang's pale face, which brought her back to reality.
Even with her spiritual abode shattered, she can still unleash such power; if she had never suffered a qi deviation...
Xi Congshuang was about to leave when someone behind her called out, "Wait!"
“Master is not Master. Master is a very fair and just person. She would not say such a thing…” Lan Hui said incoherently. In the end, she gave up struggling. “You should leave quickly. Don’t stay. The Palace Master will be at Qingfeng Sect soon.”
*
Just before the wooden staff pierced through the formation, Su Wenxin was led aside by the female cultivator to talk.
The female cultivator didn't say much. Seeing that Su Wenxin was still stubborn, she went straight to the point: "Palace Master Xi brought you back to Feixian Palace because of her blind daughter."
Su Wenxin raised an eyebrow; this was the first time she'd heard this argument. She asked, "What can you do with me if you take me back?"
After several days of consuming the extremely bitter and delicious elixir, it was picked up by the young palace master himself.
The female cultivator said, "Palace Master Xi said that you have a special constitution. She said that if she gouged out your eyes and put them into the eyes of her blind daughter, it is very likely that she can regain her sight."
Su Wenxin: "..."
The girl, who had just looked unconvinced, froze, and her disdainful smile gradually disappeared.
Seeing that she had taken the advice to heart, the female cultivator's impatience turned into pity. But she was the disciple of the Su family head, so what could she do besides offering a few well-intentioned words of advice?
The female cultivator, who was not good at comforting people and was afraid that the other party would not believe her, added stiffly: "Whether you believe it or not, I really meant to remind you that I overheard Palace Master Xi's conversation with my master by accident."
"You're going to gouge out my eyes and then Xi Congshuang's too? Is that how you save someone?" Su Wenxin asked again. "Why are you telling me all this?"
She thought Su Wenxin would be right after listening to her, but she was utterly speechless.
After hearing her many questions, the female cultivator remembered her true purpose and hesitated for a long time before finally telling the truth: "I once admired Immortal Venerable Su. She is the number one sword cultivator in the world and is a role model for us all. It's just that you have really tarnished her reputation."
That's why she hates Su Wenxin so much.
No sooner had he uttered those words than a deafening explosion was heard in the distance.
Before the female cultivator could say anything more, Su Wenxin abandoned her and headed towards the Cliff of Repentance.
She heard it; the loud noise came from the direction of the Cliff of Contemplation.
*
Not only was Su Wenxin startled by the loud noise, but the entire Qingfeng Sect was also alarmed before they realized that the source of the sound was the place where Xi Congshuang was imprisoned.
Suspecting something had happened over there, they sent someone to investigate.
The message that came back was: "Young Master Xi has run away!"
"What? Xi Congshuang ran away!" The people of the Rainbow Moon Sect were the most shocked.
The closed-door disciple of the Rainbow Moon Sect was in a panic, fearing that Xi Congshuang had come out to seek revenge: "Wasn't she crippled? How could she have escaped!"
As he spoke, the boy hid behind an elder of his sect.
The messages that followed were increasingly terrifying to the boy.
"Not only did she escape, she also unleashed spiritual power far exceeding that of a Nascent Soul cultivator. She probably secretly broke through to the Deity Transformation stage!"
"Impossible. The formation in the Cliff of Contemplation has existed for hundreds of years, at least... at least six hundred years." The Qingfeng Sect leader, as calm and unhurried as a gentle breeze and a bright moon, said.
Everyone thought she was going to say something, but after hearing about the formation, they were speechless.
"Impossible, it wasn't a tribulation lightning just now... so what is her cultivation level?" A cultivator thought for a moment and realized something was wrong.
As they were talking, they had already reached the vicinity of the Cliff of Contemplation. Xi Congshuang walked out alone into the wind and snow, just as she had come.
Faced with her at this moment, no one could recall their initial assessment of her.
She is not like a useless person at all. She can walk the same path once and walk out of the Cliff of Contemplation with her eyes closed. In fact, because she does not need to use her eyes, she is less likely to get lost.
But to be honest, in terms of cultivation level, there aren't many cultivators present whose cultivation is higher than that of the Nascent Soul stage at the Great Perfection.
"What is her cultivation level?"
It can't be fully charged, but it can serve as a power transfer station. Red Apple flapped its wings frantically to keep up with Xi Congshuang; it couldn't fall behind and had to guide others.
It's infuriating to think that this highly intelligent artificial intelligence's most useful function for its host is a certain map service.
Seeing that the person was about to run away, the first to move was the elder of Feixian Palace: "Congshuang, what are you doing? Can't you talk things out properly?"
After she spoke, the remaining cultivators also chimed in.
"Xi Congshuang, are you planning to flee to avoid punishment?"
"The matter of Elder Qu of the Su family has not yet been explained to everyone. You are not planning to deny it because you have Palace Master Xi's backing, are you?"
Xi Congshuang sneered: "I didn't kill him at all. Don't bully blind people. It was someone with a higher cultivation level than me who threw the corpse under my window."
"Really? Shuang'er?" Elder Fu Yue, relying on his superior cultivation, shook off the nearby cultivators and flew towards Xi Congshuang, as if he still had questions to ask.
Before she could reach Xi Congshuang, Xi Congshuang took the initiative to fly away from the spot, picked up a red-clad girl carrying a sword, and just when everyone thought she was going to use her to threaten them.
Without a word, Xi Congshuang released something from her sleeve, which burst forth with powerful spiritual light.
That instant of inspiration made the cultivators present instinctively cover their eyes with their sleeves. By the time they realized what was happening, she had already disappeared from everyone's sight using a teleportation artifact.
Extremely fast, extremely villainous, born with few words.
This villain was secretly appointed by Red Apple.
"...?"
Where are they?
Shouldn't they have followed procedure, threatening everyone with the junior cultivator's life, forcing them to release her, and forbidding them from chasing her, or else they would kill the junior cultivator to vent their anger?
Why did they take the junior cultivator with them?
Under the gaze of everyone, the Qingfeng Sect leader helplessly spread her hands: "My sect's protective formation and the Siguo Cliff formation are the same, both of which were set up with the help of Palace Master Xi. Cong Shuang is her daughter, so even if she has a way to escape, there's nothing I can do."
Everyone: "..."
Instead of that, tell me why opening the protective mountain formation is so slow!
At this moment, the scapegoat, Palace Master Xi, was still on her way.
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