Chapter 103
Standing at the stern of the last ship, the stronghold long since out of sight, Mingmo kept gazing in that direction. Anzhi came to her side, following her gaze, but could see nothing there either. She whispered, "Senior Sister, what should we do next?"
"Junior Brother Wenren has received the message and is on his way. He will escort everyone to Kuizhou City." Mingmo turned around and looked at the exhausted crowd on the boat. In fact, everyone had already prepared to sacrifice themselves at any time when they were studying at Tianyu Mountain, but today, when the time of crisis really came, a trace of escape and fear arose in their hearts.
She suppressed her discomfort and said to Anzhi, "If the demons catch up, you must not disembark under any circumstances. Your mission is to protect them and ensure their safe arrival in Kuizhou."
Anzhi looked at Mingmo in surprise. She wanted to say something, but in the end she lowered her head. She didn't want to agree.
Mingmo sighed. This was his junior sister; she couldn't sacrifice herself here. "Be good."
Anzhi didn't answer. She looked at the people on the ship. In her eyes, these mortals were weak and needed her protection. But this group of people shielded all the children behind them, and some even carried weapons and stood guard on both sides of the ship like disciples of the immortal sects.
Anzhi understood what her senior sister was thinking, and she finally nodded in agreement, "Okay, I will do my best to get everyone safely to Kuizhou."
As Anzhi finished speaking, Mingmo smiled. Suddenly, a blinding white light erupted behind them. Even though it was daytime, the light from afar was still dazzling, and everyone on the ship closed their eyes.
Anzhi and Mingmo were also blinded by the light. When the light faded, a chill ran through them as they ran to the stern of the ship to look in the direction of the stronghold. The light was coming from there, and there was only one kind of magic that could cause this.
Anzhi's hands trembled slightly as she shook her head, unwilling to believe what had just happened...
Looking at the scene over there from the other ship, Lin Jichen closed her eyes and asked, "Isn't that the place we learned about, where jade and stone burn together?"
This was a technique I learned during my time as an inner disciple, one I thought I'd never see again. The person casting this technique is like the fuse of an explosive; the final person's self-destruction of their primordial spirit is like lighting the fuse, causing everyone's primordial spirits to explode. The power generated by this technique is enough to split mountains and cleave seas.
Shen Junning nodded and said in a trembling voice, "Yes." He hadn't expected the Tianyu Mountain disciples guarding that place to be so desperate, especially since there were still Tianyu Mountain elders there. The fact that they had to use such a spell meant that the strength of these demons was beyond his expectations.
Lin Jichen closed her eyes, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. Those people were all her fellow disciples, and Elder Tang had been very kind to her. How could this happen...?
Seeing the frightened people, Shen Junning immediately calmed down and instructed the people around him, "Tell all the immortal ships to speed up."
That was Lin Jichen's fellow disciple. Shen Junning didn't go forward to disturb her; he stepped back and gave her some time to figure things out on her own.
Upon receiving the message from Shen Junning at the end of the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. The situation on the other side was beyond saving, and the immortal ship was already full of people; even if they tried to speed things up, they wouldn't gain much speed.
She looked at the guards on both sides of the immortal ship, unable to bring herself to give the order. The elders had all fallen in battle; what would become of these young disciples?
The immortal boats are all piloted by disciples of the immortal sects who burn their own spiritual energy, and now they have to accelerate, which is taking a toll on their bodies. Fortunately, someone came forward to take over for them, allowing them to rest and recover their physical and spiritual energy.
But things didn't go her way; she vaguely saw the figures of the demons chasing after her. These were probably the fastest runners; if they caught up, they would buy a lot of time for the demons behind them. Mingmo looked at the demons, then glanced at her junior brothers on either side. She dared not speak; she was sending them to their deaths.
The guards on both sides of the immortal ship also saw it. Without waiting for Mingmo's order, they separated a small team of a few people and stopped, their eyes fixed on the demons.
An Shang stepped forward and called out, "Senior Brother Liu!" She wanted to say, "Don't go, you'll die."
The person in front turned around, glanced at Anzhi, and said with a smile, "Listen to me, go back." Then, leading a few others, they charged towards the demons without looking back...
Anzhi couldn't bear to watch any longer; she turned away and wept bitterly. She gripped her sword tightly, desperately wanting to rush down and kill those demons!
The people on the ship saw the cultivators who rushed down to fight the demons, and saw them fight desperately to kill the few demons who charged to the front, buying time for the immortal ship. Although they knew these people were very old, seeing their youthful faces still pained their hearts.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, he rushed into the driver's seat and replaced the more tired disciple.
A dozen or so celestial ships in the air suddenly accelerated and quickly moved away.
Anzhi lay down at the stern of the boat. She could no longer see her senior brothers, nor the demons. Those were her senior brothers, the ones who had taken the best care of her.
"Stop crying!" A voice came from above, and Anzhi looked up to see Senior Brother Wenren.
She didn't know how long she had been crying, nor when her senior brother Wenren arrived. She sobbed, "Elder Tang and Senior Brother Liu, they're all..."
Wenren frowned and said, "You are a cultivator; you cannot cry in front of the common people."
Anzhi then looked up at the people, who cast comforting and sympathetic glances at her. Her nose started to sting again, and she controlled her emotions, nodding and saying, "I understand." Then she wiped away her tears and stood up.
Looking at his junior sister, Wenren felt he had been a bit harsh with his words, but at this moment, if she continued to cry, she might not even be able to protect herself. Thinking of Xiao Mu, who had died so quietly, he hardened his heart.
“Look at the people behind you, they need you too.” Wenren’s words were stern, but her voice was gentle.
Anzhi nodded: "I understand."
The demons caught up, but Wenren glanced at Anzhi and said nothing more. He called to his junior brothers, and they rushed down to fight the demons.
Besides demons, there were also magical beasts here, but no one knew when these beasts had appeared. Wenren's sword energy struck the magical beast, but it didn't cause much damage, only leaving a shallow bloodstain.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the demons broke through the cultivators' defenses and continued their pursuit of the immortal ship. Behind the demonic beasts were large numbers of demons, their faces filled with cruel excitement.
He and his fellow disciples worked together, using sword formations to kill hundreds of demons and monsters, preventing them from advancing. Seeing their companions killed, the demons turned red with rage, brandishing their weapons and engaging Wenren and his companions in fierce combat.
The few demons who had broken through were about to catch up with the immortal ship. Anzhi could clearly see the expressions on their faces. The sword in her hand had transformed into a bow and arrow. She drew the bow and aimed the arrow at the demon closest to her. She saw the other's expression turn to fear. The next instant, the arrow pierced his forehead, and the demon fell to the ground.
The remaining demons were also killed by their senior brothers. Anzhi watched as her senior brother Wenren was still fighting the demons. Although he was strong, the enemy outnumbered them. Some senior brothers had already fallen, and Wenren himself had numerous wounds. She wanted to go down and help, but at such close range, the demons would catch up quickly. She needed to at least keep the people on the immortal ship at a distance from them.
But they were stopped by another group of people. They were not disciples of Tianyu Mountain, but seemed to be the people Senior Brother Wenren had brought to help. They said, "You can stay here and guard this place!"
As they spoke, they rushed down to try and rescue Senior Brother Wenren. Just as they reached Senior Brother Wenren's side, they were instantly surrounded by the demons, and could only vaguely see a few figures.
The people on the celestial ship were shocked to see more people rushing off. There weren't many of these cultivators, while the demons behind them were numerous. Wasn't this like a mantis trying to stop a chariot?
The people on the immortal ship shuddered; someone had cast a spell—the very spell they all dreaded: the Jade and Stone Burning Together. Lin Jichen went to the stern, hoping to see the people fighting the demons, but they had long since vanished.
Senior Brother Wenren... just like that, he died? In the blink of an eye, how could that be?
Cultivators on both sides of the immortal ship engaged the demons in battle, buying more time for the ship. However, this wasn't a sustainable solution; the demons remained close behind, and it would still be some time before they reached Kuizhou. The immortal sects couldn't afford to continue this stalemate.
An Zhi suddenly felt the immortal ship tremble, and some of the people on board fell to the ground. The cultivators on the right suddenly moved; they were demons. They had somehow gotten close to the immortal ship and launched a sneak attack while everyone's attention was on Senior Brother Wenren and the others.
Anzhi rushed forward, shielding the civilians behind her, her bow and arrows never ceasing. Several demons struck by the arrows fell to the ground. The cultivators on the right also moved swiftly, and now only a few formidable demons remained.
After the reinforcements arrived, Anzhi went to the stern. Sure enough, the commotion had slowed the ship down, bringing them closer to the demons.
The people on the ship were still shaken. They looked away as they watched the cultivators rushing towards the demons.
After observing what had happened on Anzhi's ship, Lin Jichen placed his zither beside him. Shen Junning had already ascended to the top of the immortal ship on his sword. This current method wouldn't even be enough to propel the ship to Kuizhou; the cultivators would be exhausted halfway there. But what other method was there?
After the cultivators were killed, the demons ignored their corpses. The bodies, trampled by demonic beasts, blended into the ground, and the remaining cultivators were knocked down and trampled by the relentless onslaught of demons. There was no trace of the battle left behind.
The cultivators went down again, knowing their flesh and blood couldn't hold out for long, but they still went down in batches. In the blink of an eye, a third of the cultivators guarding the sides of the immortal ship had disappeared.
Lin Jichen's zither music began, temporarily enveloping all the immortal ships in a barrier. This barrier was very thin and didn't have much effect. But not long after, the sound of a flute rang out, covering Lin Jichen's barrier and thickening it.
The music playing on the celestial ship made the cultivator fighting the demons on the ground turn around and glance back. He recalled what had happened when he was still studying under his master and fell into deep thought.
Fearing that those nearby might be startled to see the person beside him asleep with a smile on their face, he turned and shouted towards the direction of the immortal ship, "Beware of the Illusion Demon!"
Then, in a daze, he saw the talisman he and his senior brother had stolen from the talisman cultivator. No, he shook his head to clear his mind. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain all over his body. He looked down and saw several knives stuck in his flesh. He tried to say something, but no sound came out; only blood gushed from his mouth.
He tremblingly reached out and pulled a puppet talisman from his robes, sticking it to the cultivator beside him, silently apologizing to his brother. Then he cast the incantation everyone used before their death; this was the last thing he could do, hoping only that the people on the immortal ship could reach Kuizhou…
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