As night had just fallen, a group of uninvited guests flew over the dark imperial city—Han Li and the eight other cultivators from Yellow Maple Valley.
Riding their magical tools, they arrived above the blackened city walls. Liu Jing, their leader, glanced at the so-called forbidden ground, hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand with great determination.
“Let’s go!” His voice was resolute, without the slightest hesitation, and he charged forward first.
The others naturally followed closely behind, having long cast aside any fear of the ban imposed by the seven sects.
Han Li did not rush to the front but intentionally lagged behind, flying at the rear of the group. This wasn’t due to any ulterior motives; he was silently sensing the “Inverted Five Elements Grand Formation” he had set up the previous night.
When they flew to a spot several miles away from the imperial palace, a mysterious smile flickered across Han Li’s lips.
Excellent! The grand formation was still intact. The spiritual energy markers he had secretly placed showed no signs of damage, filling him with immense joy.
A moment later, the nine of them hovered high above the imperial palace, looking down at everything within its inner sanctum.
“Listen up, everyone! For this operation, we’ll proceed as planned, splitting into two groups. One group will head to the bedchambers of the current emperor of Yue Kingdom to rescue him from the Black Evil Cult’s control. This is the only way to prevent them from resorting to desperate measures and using the emperor as leverage. The other group will go directly to the cold palace where the Black Evil Cult leader is staying, focusing our forces on eliminating the four Blood Servants first. Then, the two groups will reunite to deal with the cult leader, who is still in seclusion.” Liu Jing solemnly reiterated the night’s plan, and the others nodded in agreement.
The assignments had long been decided: Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang, the two female cultivators, would rescue the emperor of Yue Kingdom. Liu Jing and the remaining members would charge straight into the cold palace guarded by the four Blood Servants, with Han Li among them.
“Seventh Junior Sister, Junior Sister Chen, be careful!” Liu Jing specially reminded them before they parted.
The two women responded solemnly before swooping down diagonally. Soon, they vanished silently into the darkness.
“Once we encounter other cultivators, show no mercy. Any cultivator freely moving within the imperial palace at this time is undoubtedly a member of the Black Evil Cult. Let’s move out now! We can create some opportunities for our two junior sisters.” Liu Jing turned to the others, his voice cold, before immediately riding his magical tool straight toward the cold palace Han Li had mentioned.
Han Li and the others followed closely behind.
A short while later, the seven of them descended from the sky with such imposing momentum that they were quickly spotted by the Black Evil Cult disciples guarding the outer perimeter of the cold palace.
Instantly, several sharp whistles sounded, and a barrage of spells and magical tools erupted from hidden spots near the cold palace, raining down fiercely upon them.
“Glowing rice grains dare compete with the bright moon?!”
Liu Jing raised his hand, and a shimmering silk handkerchief flew out, instantly transforming into a massive barrier shielding him and even protecting Han Li and the others behind him. Clearly, he had great confidence in this magical tool’s power.
As soon as the silk handkerchief was unfolded, spells and magical tools struck it simultaneously. However, after emitting a dazzling white light, the handkerchief remained completely unscathed. Instead, it reflected some of the spells back, throwing the followers of the Black Evil Cult below into chaos and disarray.
“Senior Brother Liu, impressive skills!” Song Meng, who was charging down alongside Liu Jing, loudly praised before unhesitatingly throwing out the object in his hand.
A massive blue greatsword materialized in the night sky—Song Meng’s favorite top-tier magical tool, the “Blue Silk Sword.”
“Go!” Song Meng formed a hand seal, and the blue greatsword let out a long hum, spinning on its own like a wheel. This left the Black Evil Cult disciples below, already terrified by the sword’s enormous size, momentarily stunned.
Seeing this, a fierce grin spread across Song Meng’s face. He extended two fingers and pointed at the “Blue Silk Sword,” which had transformed into a giant blue disc.
Immediately, the blue light on the disc contracted and expanded, suddenly shooting out countless slender blue threads that enveloped an area dozens of yards below.
Witnessing this, the Black Evil Cult disciples below were scared out of their wits, hastily deploying various defensive spells and magical tools in an attempt to block the overwhelming attack.
A series of agonized screams echoed continuously.
Under the piercing onslaught of countless blue threads, most of the Black Evil Cult disciples failed to defend themselves. Some died tragically, riddled with holes like beehives; others, though protecting their vital points, had other parts pierced, instantly losing their combat effectiveness.
“What a move, ‘Myriad Threads Under Heaven’! Junior Brother Song, I’ve long heard of this technique, and it truly lives up to its reputation.” One of Chen Qiaoqian’s senior brothers couldn’t help but sincerely praise, bringing a hint of pride to Song Meng’s face.
By then, the group had calmly descended to the main gate of the cold palace. The few surviving Black Evil Cult disciples dared not make any rash moves, already utterly terrified.
“Activate the Four Evils Formation and trap them inside!” Just as the remaining cult followers faced Liu Jing and the others in fear and trepidation, an icy voice rang out from within the cold palace.
A white figure, emanating a hazy white cold air, appeared at the gate in the blink of an eye—it was the “Ice Demon,” who happened to be on duty again.
It was he who had given the order through gritted teeth, now staring at the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators with a mix of shock and fury.
“Hmph! Demon scum, prepare to die!”
Upon hearing this and sensing the person’s cultivation level, Liu Jing immediately knew this was one of the four Blood Servants. With a cold snort, two silver lights shot out from him, slashing directly toward the opponent’s head.
The others, seeing this, also brandished their magical tools, ready to join forces and immediately eliminate this newly emerged Black Evil Cult expert. This was no friendly sparring match between sect members; there was no room for one-on-one duels.
Similarly, six golden lights shot out from Han Li’s storage pouch. He would be more than happy to see this Blood Servant killed right here and now!
But at that moment, the scenery before Han Li and the others suddenly blurred, followed by a dizzying spin.
To their astonishment, they found themselves transported to a world of ice and snow in the blink of an eye. Everything was white all around, with cold winds howling and large snowflakes drifting through the air. The white-robed figure was nowhere to be seen.
Though startled, Liu Jing and the others realized they had fallen into the Four Symbols Formation. After a moment of panic, they quickly composed themselves. After all, with so many Foundation Establishment stage sect members here, what was there to fear from a mere formation?
“Heh heh! You have quite the nerve, daring to harm our cult’s disciples! You can stay in our cult’s guardian formation for a while.” The icy voice drifted unpredictably, as if coming from all directions at once, its imposing manner truly startling.
“Four Symbols Formation?”
“Does anyone here understand this formation? We’d better break out quickly, otherwise, if the four Blood Servants gather, it’ll be troublesome.” Liu Jing ignored the Ice Demon’s provoking words and calmly asked the others.
At this question, the others exchanged glances, but for a moment, no one spoke up.
“I know a bit about formation techniques and have heard of the Four Symbols Formation, but I haven’t studied specific methods to break it. This formation is relatively obscure among formations; most people don’t research it.” Chen Qiaoqian’s senior sister, seeing the awkward silence, spoke hesitantly.
“That’s a bit troublesome. Do we really have to break it by brute force?” Liu Jing frowned, murmuring reluctantly.
Breaking a formation by brute force was simple and direct, but it not only took a long time but also greatly depleted everyone’s spiritual energy, which would be extremely disadvantageous for the battle after breaking the formation. This was likely one of the reasons the enemy had activated this formation!
Hearing this, the others also looked at each other, feeling somewhat stumped.
Just then, a curious voice asked, “Huh? Junior Brother Han, what are you doing?”
Song Meng, who knew nothing about formations and thus didn’t need to bother with cracking methods, was looking around when he noticed Han Li’s actions. Han Li had taken out a crystal ball magical tool and was holding it up to his eyes, peering intently in a certain direction through it.
This peculiar behavior greatly piqued Song Meng’s curiosity, and he blurted out the question without thinking.
His words drew the attention of Liu Jing and the others, who all looked at Han Li with puzzled expressions.
Han Li calmly lowered the crystal ball before turning to Liu Jing and saying, “I might have found a flaw in the formation!”
“What? Found a flaw?”
Han Li’s words brought looks of pleasant surprise to those watching him, with Liu Jing especially overjoyed.
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