Chapter 104
An Zhi was in despair. There were only a handful of cultivators left on both sides of the immortal ship. They could no longer go down to fight the demon; they still had to protect the immortal ship. But the demons were right in front of them, and if they didn't make a decision soon, the immortal ship would be destroyed.
She gripped the flute tightly in her hand, looked back, finally made up her mind, and then flew away without looking back, alone to stop those demons.
The people on the boat were astonished to see a little girl named Anzhi disembark. Some even reached out to stop her, but they couldn't even touch her.
The other cultivators on the immortal ship followed closely behind An Zhi and rushed forward...
Lin Jichen looked up and saw her junior sister rush into the demon army. The demon army paused for a moment, and then Anzhi was swallowed up by the crowd. Her heart skipped a beat; she knew that her junior sister had used that spell.
There shouldn't be many people left on that immortal ship, otherwise why would Junior Sister jump out? No one would let someone so young jump out.
Shen Junning learned as soon as he came out that a celestial ship had just been blown up by a cultivator using their primordial spirit due to the demon race. Although he didn't know the specifics of the incident, with civilians still on board, no one would detonate their primordial spirit.
The demons were far more powerful than he had imagined; the sacrifice of so many cultivators had failed to stop their advance. Looking at his fellow disciples from the Qingxu Sect, and recalling the destruction of their previous stronghold, he still couldn't swallow his anger.
“Now it’s our turn,” he said softly.
The disciples of Qingxu Sect saw that Shen Junning did not back down.
Amid the gasps of the crowd, Lin Jichen turned around and saw that the Qingxu Sect, led by Shen Junning, had ascended into the air on their swords. They threw all the talismans in their hands at the demons, but this only slightly slowed their progress.
However, this also created a distance between the immortal ship and the demon race.
This is only temporary. The amount of talisman paper is limited. Even if they can draw talismans on the spot or out of thin air, how long can this stop them?
The celestial boat flew for most of the day and had traveled halfway.
This time, those who went forward to fight the demons were from the immortal ship. These people knew that going down meant certain death, but not one of them retreated. Shen Junning and the others had run out of talismans, so they began to draw talismans in mid-air. The talismans they drew floated in mid-air, preventing the demons from advancing even half a step.
Lin Jichen looked around and carefully counted the people. More than half of them were dead. Her mind suddenly went blank for a moment. When she came back to her senses, the zither was already in her hand.
She watched as the Qingxu Sect members were surrounded by the demons. Shen Junning, a promising young cultivator and one of the candidates for the next Qingxu Sect leader, disappeared from her sight in the blink of an eye.
"Stop! Stop!" came the voices of the people behind him. Lin Jichen turned around and saw several people grabbing a cultivator and pleading, "Please don't go any further..."
Their words were earnest, their eyes filled with tears. "But we must go down! The demons feed on the resentment of humans, and that resentment makes them stronger. You cannot let them capture you. But cultivators are different. The souls of cultivators from various sects have undergone purification; cultivators do not harbor resentment."
She took one last look at the people on the boat before jumping out. Someone behind her shouted, "Come back!" But it was too late. The demons, seeing another member of the immortal sect come to their death, were overjoyed and wanted to send Lin Jichen on her way.
Lin Jichen smiled. She had already prepared herself to die when she came down, but before that, she was determined to take a few down with her. Her hands plucked the strings, and a large number of demons were bound, unable to break free from the strings no matter how much they struggled.
Each time she plucked a string, several demons would be trapped. Lin Jichen didn't know how many demons she had trapped; all she saw was her fingers bleeding profusely, with bone visible in some places. Yet, she felt no pain. She continued to fight the demons, even briefly slowing their advance.
A murderous intent swept from behind. Lin Jichen leaped to dodge, but was struck directly in the lower back. In mid-air, she saw the demon beast of the Time Demon Clan that had ambushed her. Her leap had given it the opportunity, and she was ashamed of her own stupidity.
At that moment when she couldn't care about anything else, the demons launched a fatal attack on Lin Jichen. Several arrows pierced her body, and the arrows were tainted with demonic energy. Instantly, the demonic energy corroded her entire body, and she fell heavily to the ground, unable to muster any strength.
The monster's enormous foot stomped down on her, but she had no strength left. The moment the foot landed, blood flowed from Lin Jichen's mouth, nose, and ears. Seeing Lin Jichen in this state, the demons ignored her and continued their pursuit of the immortal ship.
In her hazy consciousness, she seemed to hear someone calling her name. Yes, she couldn't close her eyes yet. She turned her head to look at the celestial ship speeding through the sky and smiled.
The demons did not notice that the cultivator lying on the ground was forming hand seals.
The people on the immortal ship were still grieving the deaths of so many cultivators, who were prepared to perish together with the demons. Someone saw a flash on Lin Jichen's body, followed by a burst of white light that shot into the sky—not a single pillar, but a vast expanse of light…
The energy unleashed by the primordial spirits of hundreds of cultivators shot straight into the sky, and the dazzling light could be seen from Cuiwei Mountain hundreds of miles away.
"What is that?" asked the short, skinny demon henchman who was guarding his fellow disciples.
The burly henchman next to him shook his head and said, "I don't know, I haven't seen it." They had just come out of the Boundless Realm, and everything in the human world was completely unfamiliar to them, so naturally they didn't recognize it.
Zhou Xuanzhi stood up. The cultivators were probably not close by, yet they still saw it. He suddenly found the white light exceptionally dazzling.
Sensing his senior brother's unusual behavior, Shi Yunzhou also took a closer look. No wonder his senior brother was like this. To be able to see from such a distance, there must have been quite a few cultivators who had sacrificed themselves. He wondered if there were any people he knew among them.
He came to Zhou Xuanzhi's side without saying anything, and then patted his senior brother on the shoulder.
Zhou Xuanzhi clenched his fist tightly as he hung down, and the veins on his forehead bulged out.
Upon hearing the sound, the demon turned around and saw Zhou Xuanzhi's expression. He asked sarcastically, "Why are you angry again? You got angry when you saw that person hanging up there, and now you're angry when you see that pillar of light. I really don't understand what you cultivators are thinking about all day."
Shi Yunzhou blocked the gazes directed at Zhou Xuanzhi and called softly, "Senior Brother?"
Zhou Xuanzhi looked up at Master Yunzhou's worried gaze, forced a smile, and said, "I'm fine, don't worry." He reached out and patted Master Yunzhou's arm before swaying as he walked towards the corner.
Zhou Xuanzhi's back view made him look hundreds of years older, and Shi Yunzhou realized that things were not as simple as he had thought. There must have been quite a few cultivators who had sacrificed themselves over there.
Inside the tent, Chonghua was listening to his subordinates' report when he suddenly sensed something was wrong. He immediately lifted the curtain and went out of the tent. When he saw the white light shooting into the sky in the distance, his face turned ashen.
The demon who was giving the report followed Chonghua's footsteps and saw the persistent white light in the direction of Chonghua's gaze.
Seeing that Chonghua's expression wasn't good, he didn't dare ask what it was. They waited quietly for a long time, and the pillar of light only dimmed slightly, not dissipating.
"You want to know what that is?" Chonghua suddenly asked.
The demon immediately bowed his head and said, "This subordinate truly does not know, and begs Your Majesty for guidance."
Chonghua sneered, "That's a technique used by cultivators, a technique to perish together with the enemy. The more people sacrificed, the stronger the technique becomes."
Hearing the unfriendly tone of Chonghua's voice, the man bowed lower and lower, fearing that he might die if Chonghua became displeased. However, the only thing that could drive cultivators of the immortal sects to mutual destruction was their own clansmen. Looking at the white light, he finally understood why Chonghua was so angry.
The light has been there for some time and has not yet dissipated, which shows that many of his people have sacrificed themselves.
Their voices were neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Shi Yunzhou, who was behind the tent, to hear. He stared in astonishment at the slowly dissipating light.
A protective barrier appeared above Kuizhou City, enveloping the entire city like a lotus bud. The city's inhabitants continued their lives as usual, unaffected by the demon invasion. Moreover, the imperial court had recently dispatched an army of cultivators from Kuizhou to launch a counterattack against the demons.
It was at this moment that Fei Xiang appeared on the south gate tower, accompanied by a group of Buddhist cultivators. They waited together on the tower, their expressions very solemn.
Someone noticed this and stopped a passerby, asking softly, "Why are the masters on the city wall? Has something happened?"
A passerby looked up from the city tower, but the buildings were overlapping, and he could only vaguely make out figures. He couldn't help but admire him, saying, "Brother, you have excellent eyesight!" He then gave a thumbs up. He scratched his head, embarrassed, and said, "I don't know why the masters and the others are up there."
Upon hearing this, a vendor with a stall nearby looked around and called out to the two men, "Hey, you two, come here." He waved his hand as he spoke.
After exchanging a glance, the two men walked up to the vendor, who then cupped his hands in greeting and asked, "Brother, are you calling for us?"
The vendor licked his lips, looked around, and realized that even though it was safe during this special period, there were very few people walking around in the city. Only after seeing that there was no one on the streets did he say, "Didn't you ask why the masters were up there?"
The two men were intrigued and craned their necks to ask, "Why?"
“My wife was cooking for the masters, and she overheard something. Things aren’t peaceful outside; several strongholds have been breached, and the cultivators have led the local people here to escape.”
The man was puzzled. This Kuizhou City was protected by masters, and there should be cultivators in the outposts outside. How come cultivators are leading people to escape here now?
The vendor said mysteriously, "Who knows? Those demons attacked the stronghold like madmen, regardless of casualties." Seeing that the masters above weren't paying attention to their side, he added, "Many of those cultivators died, and they were just trying to lead the people to safety. Who could have imagined this!" He sighed as he spoke.
Both were engrossed in the conversation when one of them suddenly fell silent. The other grew impatient, "Why did you stop talking? Who could possibly guess anything?"
"Most of those cultivators died for the people, and I heard that some sects are almost wiped out. But they're almost there." They'll be safe once they reach Kuizhou City.
Unlike the somber mood of those around him, the passerby asked in alarm, "Didn't they attract the demons? What do we do now?"
As if they had just realized it, the man said, "Yes, our Kuizhou is very safe. If the demons come, wouldn't we be in great danger?"
The vendor paused for a moment, then sighed as if he had just remembered something and said, "The pursuers have all been dealt with by those cultivators."
Before long, a sound came from the sky. They looked up at the sky and saw several giant immortal ships hovering above the Kuizhou barrier.
Fei Xiang and his fellow disciples clasped their hands together, closed their eyes, and chanted the scripture. Before long, the barrier bloomed like a lotus flower, and the celestial boat in the sky slowly descended and stopped in mid-air.
The people of Kuizhou City ran out and saw many people disembarking from the fairy ship. Their faces were ashen, and some were even crying.
The cultivators on the immortal ship also looked rather grim; some were sobbing uncontrollably, while others exuded a murderous aura.
What happened?
"Where did they escape from?"
"I don't think these cultivators are very good either."
...
The people who disembarked from the fairy boat seemed not to hear the murmurs around them. They were led by the monks to an open space that had been designated for them.
After Fei Xiang and the others closed the barrier, they arrived near the immortal ship, but the closer they got, the stronger the stench of blood became. When they reached the immortal ship, they could still see undried bloodstains on both sides of the ship.
Fei Xiang recited, "Amitabha."
The oldest person on the Immortal Ship is Mingmo. She only came out of the cockpit after Lin Jichen detonated everyone's primordial spirits. Exhausted, she couldn't stand up after hearing about the sacrifices of Anzhi, Lin Jichen, and others, and others had to help her up.
She felt remorse and blamed herself. If she had let them into the cockpit to drive the fairy ship, they wouldn't have died. It was her fault, she deserved to die.
Even after arriving in Kuizhou, she was still blaming herself.
The other cultivators recounted the events that had transpired along the way to Fei Xiang. Upon hearing that Lin Jichen had detonated his primordial spirit, he closed his eyes and gripped his staff tightly.
Seeing Mingmo's reaction, Feixiang's uncle sighed. He stretched out his hand, gathering a drop of water at the tip of his index finger. He then flicked it onto Mingmo's forehead, the drop of water entering her spiritual realm directly through her skin. The previously agitated and burning area instantly became clear.
Mingmo regained her senses and thanked everyone for their concern.
Fei Xiang opened his eyes at this moment. After all, he had spent some time with Lin Jichen and Zhou Xuanzhi. Now, one had vanished into thin air, and the other's fate was unknown. He found it hard to accept. If it weren't for the heavy responsibility of protecting the people of Kuizhou, he thought he would definitely go out to find Zhou Xuanzhi and then kill Chonghua to avenge the dead Lin Jichen and the others.
The fact that the demons haven't caught up yet doesn't mean they won't attack Kuizhou. There are still many people in Kuizhou City. No matter what, we must not let the demons advance any further, otherwise the resentment of the people will nourish the demons' demonic energy.
Mingmo and the others are now exhausted. The Buddhist monks have arranged a place for them to rest. After they have rested, they will fight against the demons together.
Few cultivators could lie down peacefully; the moment they closed their eyes, the images of their fallen brothers and sisters flashed before them. Lin Jichen, in particular, was remembered by everyone for glancing up at the immortal boat before self-destructing her primordial spirit.
Her smiling face and resolute eyes caused all the cultivators to unleash unprecedented power in that instant, accelerating their departure.
Mingmo didn't know how to explain this to her Uncle Mujin. She was restless in her room and couldn't rest at all. By the time she realized that Feixiang had come to her room, it was already dark.
"When did the master arrive?" Mingmo was quite surprised. He hadn't sensed anyone coming in. If the person was a demon, he would probably have already gone to see his tragically deceased junior brothers and sisters.
Looking at Ming Mo's appearance, Fei Xiang shook his head and said, "It's difficult for you to get things done in this state."
"I'm sorry, Master." Mingmo said, bowing his head, "I feel that I am not in a very good state right now, and I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Fei Xiang's complexion was not good. He smiled bitterly and said, "Don't say that. I... I'm not doing well either. I probably won't be able to hold on for much longer."
Mingmo looked at Feixiang and didn't sense that Feixiang was in poor health, only that his face was a little pale. So she said, "Master, you still need to rest well. None of us can fall down now."
There's no one left in the Immortal Sect. The elders and sect leader have all gone to the Demon Realm. They plan to close the passage to Guancheng from within the Demon Realm. If they succeed, the Demon Realm will be cut off from support. Those stationed in the sect can then launch a counterattack against the Demon Realm.
So now, we must persevere!
"Seeing you like this now, I'm relieved. Get some rest!" Fei Xiang said as he left Ming Mo's room.
On the way back, he walked unsteadily; if it weren't for the staff in his hand, he would have fallen. Fei Xiang smiled bitterly, thinking that he had accumulated immense merit at such a young age and was now wearing a patchwork robe. But now it seemed that all of this was foreseen by the Buddha, and he was about to go to see the Buddha.
At the end of the road, an old monk stood there, looking in the direction of Fei Xiang.
"Master, when did you arrive?"
The old monk Mingshi raised his hand and touched Feixiang's head, his eyes filled with tears and his face full of heartache, saying, "Child, you have suffered so much."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
