Turning point
The appearance of the cold maple was, in a way, both unexpected and expected by Hanjiang.
Unexpectedly, Han Qi did not appear to rescue Han Jiang; however, as expected, Han Qi did appear, which matched Han Jiang's guess about the plot.
They precisely intercepted the group's attacks, saving both the little girl and Han Jiang. There was no need for Han Jiang to intervene further; he simply put away the folding fan he had just taken out.
Hanqi defeated the Suzaku Pavilion and its followers, and returned the little girl to her parents.
During this time, Han Jiang used a communication talisman to contact Han Tian and return to the Demon Realm, saying that she had found Han Qi. She explained the current situation and her plan to solve the problem to Han Qi.
"The Sect Master's Decree?" Han Qi briefly recalled.
Han Jiang: "You didn't lose it, did you?"
"No, it's just that, unfortunately, I left the sect leader's token at the villa when I left the Four Provinces Sect."
"You mean the Sect Master's Token is in the Four Provinces Sect?" Han Jiang realized something was wrong. Both Sect Master's Tokens were inside the Four Provinces Sect, but they had no way to get in.
The only option is to return to the Demon Realm and work with the others to find a solution.
The mountain-guarding formation encompasses the entire Four Continents Sect, including the Hidden Cloud Palace beyond the mountains. Outsiders without the permission of the token holder have no way to enter. Its defensive strength is many times greater than that of the demon race's barrier.
"What about Gui Louzhu? Is there any news from her?" Han Jiang asked.
“No, my informant in Jingzhou City said that Lord Gui has been detained in the palace,” Cang Jingmo said.
Almost seven days have passed since the start of the battle, and the three siblings, Cangjing and his sister, are nearing their limits.
The two sides haven't actually fought yet; they're relying solely on the spiritual power of the three individuals to resist the control of the sect leader's command. If this continues, all three will collapse.
Xiao Mo wasn't in a hurry; he knew that the three princes of the Demon Clan would eventually run out of resources.
To make matters worse, there was no sign of the previous Demon Lord emerging from seclusion.
The eighth day.
Gui Xu appeared outside the Demon Palace.
In order to stabilize the control of spiritual power, Han Tian and Han Qi went to help, while only Han Jiang stayed in the Demon Palace.
"Weren't you imprisoned in the palace?"
Gui Xu stumbled to the entrance of the Demon Palace, grabbed the wall for support, and almost lost his balance: "He can trap me? Dream on! Xiao Yu won't budge no matter what, that bastard, does he really think he can go down in history and unify humans and demons? Bah!"
It was unusual for her not to wear her own clothes, but rather palace attire, which didn't fit her well. Furthermore, Gui Xu had lost a significant amount of weight, making the clothes seem like they were hanging on her body.
He was extremely weak and only managed to enter the Demon Palace thanks to the cold.
"I'm afraid I can't revive Wen Xu..." Gui Xu leaned against the bed. "Han Jiang, I'm going to die..."
Han Jiang held Gui Xu's hand, which was almost all bone, like a withered tree.
For the first time, she felt that Guixu was not like a person, but rather like a skeleton covered with a layer of human skin.
Her vitality was rapidly draining away.
That's not right. Even if one's magical power is exhausted, at most one would need to rest or die from exhaustion. Gui Xu clearly doesn't fall into either of those categories; he looks like he's aged drastically, more like he's about to die of old age.
Just as Gui Xu was about to close his eyes, a white light flowed into Gui Xu's body through Han Jiang's hand.
"……haven't seen you for a long time……"
It was the woman's voice on the sixth floor of the Maple Fire Reflecting Frost Pavilion.
Gui Xu seemed to have heard the voice too, and responded softly, "Long time no see..."
After the light disappeared, Gui Xu recovered somewhat, but remained bedridden.
Han Jiang said, "Are you having a final burst of lucidity before death?"
"More or less, I can live a little longer..." Gui Xu said with a self-deprecating tone.
"How exactly did you escape from the palace?" Han Jiang asked.
"Do you remember the top floor of Maple Leaf Frost Pavilion? I suddenly appeared there."
Han Jiang certainly remembered, assuming that the entire building had a teleportation array set up by Gui Xu.
"Actually, it's not just in the building; I can use any item I make to teleport. So I can use Maple Fire Reflecting Frost Tower to teleport from the palace to Anzhou."
After returning to Anzhou, he immediately rushed to the Demon Palace without even changing his clothes, which shows that the matter was indeed very urgent.
Han Jiang: "I have a hypothetical plan that might save you. But I need you to be teleported to the Four Continents Sect."
"Where in the Four Provinces Sect is there anything made by me?"
"Yes. The warm crystal coffin is in Hanshan."
"It's a pity, even if I knew, it wouldn't be of any use. With my crippled body, I'm afraid I can't support another teleportation..." Gui Xu looked at Han Jiang, then changed the subject, "However, perhaps you can. The essence of teleportation is the transfer of my spiritual power, so others will be unable to pass through my formation due to the repulsion of spiritual power. You are different; your spiritual power dissolves your body. If you are tainted by my spiritual power, you might be able to teleport through."
"I can't even sense my own spiritual power, how could I be tainted by yours?"
“But you can carry that woman’s power and soul.” Gui Xu helped Han Jiang sit up. “You only have one chance, Han Jiang, do you want to try?”
"Do I have any other choice? What do you need me to do?" At this point in the story, I have no choice but to try, even if I don't want to.
Gui Xu said, "That lamp can store souls and spiritual power, and at the same time has the power to illuminate the origin of all things, and can reveal your true nature, just as it illuminates your soul."
No wonder the woman suddenly turned into skeletons in the tomb, and Han Jiang changed back into modern clothes at that time.
Han Jiang suddenly thought of something, but he would have to ask Gui Xu alone after the war between immortals and demons ended.
According to Gui Xu, Han Jiang and Cang Jingqi returned to Feng Huo Ying Shuang Lou to retrieve the lamp.
Using lamps as a medium, the cold descends, imbued with the spiritual power of Guixu.
“This portion of spiritual energy is only enough for you to get there, so if you fail, even if you are not controlled by the spiritual energy, you will still become an object of Xiao Mo’s control,” Gui Xu said.
Han Jiang and Han Qi confirmed the location of the Sect Master's Order.
Han Tian instructed, "Using the Sect Master's Token is not difficult. You only need to inject spiritual power to use it. Because of your special constitution, you will drip a drop of blood and rely on the spiritual power in the blood to activate the Sect Master's Token."
Han Jiang's spiritual power was far from enough to contend with Xiao Mo, but the purpose was not to use Han Jiang to fight against Xiao Mo, but to stall for time so that Han Tian and Cang Jingqi could enter the Four Continents Sect.
They set off early in the cold weather and acted late at night when the cold deepened.
During the teleportation, Han Jiang felt a wave of dizziness. When she opened her eyes, she found herself next to a crystal coffin.
Wen Xu remained in the state of someone who had just died, still wearing the clothes he had worn to the desert.
Xiao Mo probably didn't discover this place.
Ever since Han Jiang was abducted from the study by Xiao Mo, Han Tian has placed protective formations on many parts of Han Mountain, which will repel Xiao Mo's spiritual power.
Han Jiang carried Cang Jingqi's folding fan; if anything unexpected happened, it could provide some protection.
Just as Hanqi had said, the sect leader's token was indeed in the box in the villa.
At this time, there were not many people in the Four Continents Sect, as most of the disciples had been transferred to the Demon Realm by Xiao Mo. On the contrary, there were more disciples in the Vermilion Bird Pavilion.
"Let's just rename it the Vermilion Bird Pavilion Branch Pavilion," Han Jiang thought to himself.
She cannot use the token immediately; she must wait until Han Tian arrives at the foot of the Four Continents Sect Mountain.
It takes at least a day to travel from the Demon Realm to the Four Continents Sect.
During the cold winter, I dared not sleep and stayed in my room with the token until dawn.
The number of people practicing on the playground at the foot of the mountain has decreased by more than half.
Hanjiang hid in a corner, observing the situation.
"The Demon Prince can no longer hold out. Cang Jingmo and Cang Jingye have retreated. Now the Demon Realm is only protected by a barrier. Lord Xiao has ordered us to go and break through the Demon Realm!"
"Damn it!" Han Jiang's heart tightened: he had to do something.
She ran back to Hanshan and took all the usable talismans from Hantian's room. Although she could only use fire talismans, the sect leader's decree could stimulate spiritual power. If she used the Cold Descent on herself, perhaps other talismans could also be used.
She kept a close eye on the training field, silently counting the number of people remaining.
She buried fire talismans and fire talismans on all four sides. She couldn't ignite the fire talismans, but she could use the fire talismans to trigger their explosion.
Noon, the time for shift change.
Please, Elder Chicheng, don't cause her any trouble afterward. And please, Elder Qingjuan, don't blame her when you're getting reimbursed.
Han Jiang silently made two requests before lighting the fire talisman at the precise moment, causing a series of explosions on the training ground.
She quickly pricked her finger and dripped blood onto the token. The mountain-guarding formation was in the center of the training ground. First, close the mountain-guarding formation!
The cold season hasn't arrived yet, but Han Jiang can't worry about that now. The mountain-guarding formation is malfunctioning, and Xiao Mo will definitely have to rush back. This will reduce the pressure on Cang Jingqi's side.
The disciples of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion panicked, anxiously searching for the source of the explosion, and overlooked a figure rushing towards the center of the formation.
It wasn't until the barrier above the Four Provinces Sect disappeared that they realized what had happened.
After the cold wind closed the formation, he immediately ran up the cold mountain.
Hanshan's protection helped to thwart some of the pursuit.
However, the disciples seemed to realize that they could not ascend the mountain normally, so they all flew on their swords to intercept Han Jiang at the summit.
Han Jiang wasn't stupid; she unfolded her folding fan halfway up the mountain and used it to escape.
The sect leader's decree doesn't significantly enhance the power of the Cold Descent talisman, but it still allows the use of some talismans.
The bloodstains dried quickly, and without spiritual power injected into the token, the token could no longer be used. The mountain-guarding formation would then be reactivated through the token in Xiao Mo's hand.
Both tokens control the mountain-guarding formation simultaneously, with distance taking precedence.
Han Jiang dared not stray too far, so he could only circle around the Four Continents Sect while continuously dripping blood onto the token.
Master, you must get here quickly!
Xiao Mo could roughly sense that the mountain-guarding formation had been deactivated.
As the number of pursuers behind him increased, Han Jiang gradually became overwhelmed.
She slashed a large gash in her palm, gripped the token tightly, and landed at the center of the formation. Her folding fan flew out, forcing back the pursuing disciples, and at the same time reactivated the mountain-guarding formation. However, her order was that only disciples of the Four Provinces Sect could enter the Four Provinces Sect.
The formation lit up beneath Han Jiang's feet, and the disciples of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion were all repelled by the formation's impact.
This consumed too much spiritual energy, and Han Jiang collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted, before lying down.
Whether it's opening or closing, it requires a lot of spiritual energy. Xiao Mo has been maintaining the formation for so many days, doesn't he look tired at all?
There must be some connection between Xiao Yu's sudden pressure on Gui Xu to obtain the Longevity Technique and Xiao Mo's return to control the Four Continents Sect.
Han Jiang suspects that Xiao Mo has mastered the human-demon transformation, or that he has achieved the transformation.
She tried hard to recall the circumstances of seeing Xiao Mo again. The first time she saw Xiao Mo was when Han Qi became his disciple; the old man even left on his own cane. Later, in the back mountain of Leishan, he was just as frail and weak.
Now, after disguising himself, he looks like a middle-aged man.
Blood kept flowing from his hand, and his brain began to lack oxygen. Han Jiang tried to stay conscious, but the wound on his palm no longer sent pain signals; instead, it became increasingly numb.
The afternoon sunlight was blinding.
Han Jiang raised her hand to shield her head from the sunlight with a fan, while still tightly gripping the token in her other hand.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
