The sky was bright and clear, with white clouds drifting gently. The sea of primordial energy between heaven and earth still subtly ebbed and flowed, soaking Meng Qi and others’ bodies, allowing them to quickly recover while drawing upon the natural mighty forces for flight. Even carrying Qi Zhengyan and Ruan Yushu, they felt no fatigue.
The sky was high and blue, the sun bright and charming, the breeze cool and refreshing. Everything seemed so beautiful, tempting one to linger and savor the sense of freedom and boundless flight. Yet Meng Qi’s mood had turned somewhat gloomy, no longer as carefree and exhilarated as when he had turned northeast earlier.
“Have we not yet escaped danger? Is there another ambush?” Practicing the “Bajiu Xuangong,” he couldn’t ignore his sudden surge of intuition. He remained alert, scanning the surroundings and secretly forming the newly learned “Yuxu Divine Calculation” with his fingers.
The surrounding Five Elements and Four Symbols, sun, moon, and stars, all principles of cultivation appeared normal, without any strangeness or hidden danger, making Meng Qi wonder if he was just being too sensitive.
However, the result of the “Yuxu Divine Calculation” appeared chaotic and blurred, a sign that heavenly fate had been obscured or severed!
“Not good, there’s real danger ahead!” Just as Meng Qi was about to telepathically warn Jiang Zhiwei and others, he heard Jiang Zhiwei’s White Rainbow Through the Sun Sword trembling slightly in its scabbard, emitting a deep, dragon-like rumble.
“There’s danger nearby…” Jiang Zhiwei sensed it half a beat later than Meng Qi, but spoke first through telepathy.
Sincere in sword, sincere in heart; the autumn wind hasn’t stirred, but the cicada senses it first!
They exchanged glances, confirming the danger. However, the sense of intuition and the sword’s resonance weren’t particularly strong, indicating it wasn’t a sudden attack. There was still some leeway to respond without panic.
Unlike Ruan Yushu and Qi Zhengyan and other team members, Zhao Bai, Bai Song, and Wang Qi clearly showed disbelief upon receiving Jiang Zhiwei’s telepathic message. They simply couldn’t imagine any ambush within twenty or thirty miles.
“Change direction,” Meng Qi said directly without time for explanations.
However, just then, the surroundings grew dim and dark, the once blue sky rapidly shrinking. In the blink of an eye, heaven and earth were completely darkened, leaving no time to react!
“The Liyi Boundary Separation Scarf? Or something similar to a spatial treasure?” Meng Qi’s heart was startled.
The big-headed senior apprentice held both ends of the painting scroll and stepped out from the void with a carefree demeanor. Smiling at his senior brother who was hiding in the distance, he said, “Senior Brother, you worry too much. These are just some inexperienced people who could never recognize this treasure forged in imitation of the Shanhé Sheji Diagram. There’s no need for you to prepare the Delusion Bell as a precaution.”
The elder apprentice in the brown robe had planned a cautious approach, intending to prevent Meng Qi and others from detecting anomalies before his junior could gather the Shanhé Sheji Diagram and escape. Thus, he had prepared the Delusion Bell, planning to strike it and plunge them into confusion when the time came. However, things had proceeded so smoothly that his preparation seemed unnecessary, earning him some teasing from his junior apprentice, which made him feel embarrassed, “Well then, at least this way we won’t face unexpected situations later with insufficient uses of the Delusion Bell.”
The big-headed junior apprentice, slightly smug, said, “Then let’s quickly set up the killing formation!”
This treasure imitated from the Shanhé Sheji Diagram had the ability to trap but not to kill, yet it was sufficient to gain the initiative!
Inside the suddenly darkened painting, Zhao Bai, Bai Song, and Wang Qi were first seized by panic, but having struggled to rise from humble beginnings, their mental fortitude was decent, and they quickly forced themselves to calm down.
However, they noticed that Meng Qi, Ruan Yushu, and others remained completely composed, already discussing countermeasures.
“Their expressions remain unchanged even as a mountain collapses before them? Master Su and the others are so young, yet possess such composure!” Bai Song and others secretly admired.
In reality, compared to their experiences in life-and-death situations, Meng Qi and others, burdened with the cycle tasks, had faced far more dangers than them!
“Master Su, do you have a good plan?” They asked Bai Song once they had regained their calm, as Meng Qi and the others had nearly finished their discussion.
Meng Qi, wearing an ancient crown and wide robe, smiled slightly, “No worries, just observe the developments!”
“Observe the developments?” Zhao Bai exclaimed in disbelief. They were already trapped, and he still suggested watching?
Bai Song was also puzzled but trusted that Meng Qi and others were not ignorant, so he said gravely, “The enemy is not friendly. Even if Bo Le Jun considers his reputation and doesn’t directly send his high-level experts, he can still seek help from the secret sects supporting him. If we are taken back to their sect, it will be hard to escape!”
Jiang Zhiwei had already drawn her long sword, which gleamed like a white rainbow, pointing at the surroundings, “We’ve been trapped for several breaths already, and the killing formation hasn’t been activated yet, indicating it only has the ability to trap people. We still have a chance.”
Even if this treasure could activate a formation to kill, it wouldn’t be an absolute dead end. The imitations of the Tian Di Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda and the Yu Xu Xuan Huang Banner were not just for show. As long as they could hold out for a while until the opponent opened the treasure, they could seize the opportunity for a counterattack.
Bai Song nodded, agreeing with this logic, but he still wondered how this related to simply observing the developments. The enemy could take them back to their sect, making escape impossible!
Noticing his confusion, Meng Qi, holding a sword in each hand, maintained the composure of a master facing a crisis, chuckling, “If they don’t bother to take us back to their sect but instead set up the formation to kill us right here, it means we are still of some use to them. As long as we are useful, there is room for negotiation.”
“If they don’t take us back but set up the formation right away, given our strength, there won’t be any Grandmasters outside. If we can seize the right moment, the situation won’t be hard to resolve.”
Even if there were Grandmasters, the Soul-Stealing Bell could interfere slightly, giving us a chance to escape!
Though they didn’t understand why Master Su was so confident and composed, Bai Song, Zhao Bai, and others felt his confidence infecting them. As they listened to his calm analysis of the possibilities, the situation seemed less daunting, as if it could be easily resolved with a wave of the hand.
Their inner anxiety and tension gradually subsided.
Observing their changing expressions, Meng Qi secretly felt proud. He had not wasted his effort in putting on this act. With experience in teaching and spreading doctrines, he was likely to become a “zi” generation master in the future; how could he lose his composure and leave himself open to ridicule?
Proud as he was, he heightened his awareness and control over his body to the maximum, ready to seize any opportunity and launch a sudden attack!
The big-headed junior apprentice, holding the Shanhé Sheji Diagram, occasionally watched his senior apprentice busily preparing and sometimes helped him. Finally, they set up a killing formation. He believed that with their current realm and strength, and the two remaining secret treasures, combined with the formation, they would be able to eliminate the eight people inside!
“Senior Brother, are you ready?” The big-headed junior apprentice asked.
The elder apprentice in the brown robe, holding the “Delusion Bell,” looked solemn and nodded, “Ready!”
The big-headed junior apprentice dropped his playful expression. His left hand secretly gripped a red dart, while his right hand unfolded the Shanhé Sheji Diagram and shook it toward the formation.
Instantly, Meng Qi and the other seven flew out.
At that moment, the formation activated, exuding a sinister demonic aura and revealing a killing intent. At the same time, the elder apprentice struck the “Delusion Bell.”
Dang!
The sound was soft, like a whisper, causing their souls to become disoriented and their heads to spin. Zhao Bai, Wang Qi, and Bai Song immediately staggered and fell.
Ruan Yushu, however, raised a golden pagoda with thirty-three tiers, its eaves clearly defined, exuding a sacred and solemn aura. Strands of Xuan Huang energy descended from it, protecting everyone from the formation’s unleashed elemental forces and ensuring those affected by the Delusion Bell remained unharmed.
The Tian Di Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda, impervious to all laws, untouched by any evil!
“What a shame! Too bad they didn’t bring out the pagoda first!” The big-headed junior apprentice inwardly cursed, slightly relieved. Otherwise, the Delusion Bell wouldn’t have affected them at all. Unlike now, the main target, Master Su, was still outside the pagoda!
“Watch the dart!” He roared, his palm dart spewing smoke, striking Meng Qi with unerring accuracy.
Puff! The struck Meng Qi vanished in smoke!
His flesh was spiritual, his hair transformed into a doppelgänger!
“Bad!” His pupils suddenly constricted.
His opponent, the elder apprentice in the brown robe, was even more stunned, for at this moment, behind his junior apprentice, a giant emerged, over two zhang tall, with two heads and four arms, its face solemn, intertwining principles of cultivation, giving an impression of towering might.
This giant held a purple lightning saber in one hand, a red jade sword in another, a massive wound in the third, and a white lotus platform in the fourth. Looking down with indifferent eyes, it gazed upon the big-headed junior apprentice.
The purple lightning saber suddenly slashed downward, embodying lightness, heaviness, slowness, and intensity, commanding dark clouds and summoning thunderous punishment, all obeying its will!
Boom! Thick, azure lightning bolts rained down one after another, the Thunder God guiding the saber!
In the other two hands, Tian Zhi Shang and Liu Huo were also unleashed, the saber stroke heavy, bending the void, the sword light radiant, scorching and terrifying.
As the heavenly thunder fell, the saber and sword suddenly clashed!
Boom!
Boom boom!
An unimaginable explosion erupted, and the elder apprentice in the brown robe, unable to react, was engulfed in a blinding white light and sent flying backward.
Imitating the heavens, with two heads and four arms, the fall of the sun, and five thunderbolts striking simultaneously!
Amidst the blinding white light, the azure lightning of divine punishment danced. The elder apprentice in the brown robe inwardly cried out in alarm and attempted to strike the bell once more, but a long sword descended from above, making time appear to slow.
Protected by the Tian Di Xuan Huang Linglong Pagoda, Jiang Zhiwei burst out of the formation!
After advancing to the third level of the Outer Scenery and slightly intertwining the principles of cultivation, she, relying on her sword cultivation skills, could now slightly decompose the Sword Twenty-Three. Although it lacked the previous formidable effects, it also no longer carried the terrifying backlash.
The elder apprentice in the brown robe was slightly slow in his movements and failed to strike the treasure. He saw a golden rope flying toward him, splitting into multiple sections, with talismans clearly visible, directly binding him and sealing his magical powers!
How could they have so many treasures? The elder apprentice in the brown robe was greatly astonished in his heart as Jiang Zhiwei seized him.
At this time, the blinding white light and massive shockwave, which had spread across a radius of twenty miles, began to dissipate. Meng Qi reverted to his original form, with a piece of plant root in front of him, but it quickly turned to ashes, leaving only a scroll depicting mountains and rivers floating aimlessly.
Upon reaching the third level of the Outer Scenery, Meng Qi’s mastery of the “Emulating Heaven and Earth” technique enabled him to contend with peak fourth-level experts. With the augmentation of two additional heads and four arms, he unleashed his ultimate techniques, leaving the big-headed junior apprentice utterly defenseless.
As a peerless martial art, the Heaven and Earth Manifestation technique of the Eight-Nine Arcane Art has always served as a trump card for defeating higher-level opponents. In ancient times, the True Lord of Qingyuan, by employing the Heaven and Earth Manifestation technique at the pinnacle of mastery, managed to withstand a strike from a half-step Dharmakaya practitioner!
“Tree demon…” Meng Qi slightly frowned, the scroll before him was an imitation of the “Shanhé Sheji Diagram”?
The Shanhé Sheji Diagram, a demon, could it be that it had attracted the lineage of the Lady Nuwa?
Earlier, since Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei couldn’t judge the situation of the external enemies, they had not hesitated to use their treasures and techniques, directly giving their all without holding back. For example, Meng Qi used the seventh-grade White Lotus Platform to secretly block spiritual attacks, used his hair to create a doppelgänger, hid himself, concealed the enemy, and then suddenly attacked without holding anything back!
“Fortunately, the treasures weren’t wasted in vain and yielded some results…” Meng Qi swiftly redirected his thoughts to this aspect, shamelessly picking up the “Shanhe Sheji Diagram,” which appeared to still have one or two more uses left. Jiang Zhiwei also took the chime bell and the Jiezi Ring from the elder apprentice in the brown robe.
Then, he employed the “Heart-to-Heart Imprint” technique from the A’nan Breaking Precepts Saber Art, transformed the “Heaven Strikes Earth Grand Method,” and “interrogated” the elder disciple in the brown robe.
As a series of scenes flashed by, Meng Qi suddenly let out a slight exclamation, his expression quite surprised:
“The Xiao Qian Cave in the Tiantian Mountains?”
“Are they actually the demon clan guarding the Demon Emperor’s Hall?”
“No wonder the “Demon Emperor’s Canon” and the “Phoenix Rebirth Manual” are separate, both being unparalleled martial arts!”
“Could the Demon Emperor refer to the Lady Nuwa?”
“There really is a Demon Emperor’s Hall! That old chatterbox Chui Yizi at the back of Shaolin wasn’t making it up…”
Meng Qi collected his thoughts and delved deeper, when suddenly he saw a familiar face—no, a familiar demon!
The little fox from the Tianhaiyuan!
She, along with a man whose hair was of five colors, visited the Xiao Qian Cave and entered the Demon Emperor’s Hall!
It had been sealed for untold years, and even the guarding demon clans could not enter!
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