"Spread out! Everyone, levitate in the air!"
"Reinforce your protective spirit shields! Do not touch the chains!"
Witnessing this scene from the front, Wang Lang and Quan Jiuxing's eyes were practically splitting with rage. This sudden turn of events had caught them completely off guard; they had no idea what was happening.
But they reacted quickly. This was clearly the effect of poison. The first cultivators they had seen die were all those who had briefly touched the iron chains after their bodies swayed for various reasons.
It was obvious, however, that their warning had come too late. The lethality of this poison was something they had never seen or heard of. In just a few breaths, more than twenty people had vanished. This was a situation that would rarely occur during normal explorations of perilous lands or immortal abodes. But the process of clearing the past few trials had locked their thinking into a certain pattern. They never considered that something like this could happen on the very ground they were traversing. They expected attacks to come only from the sides and the sky. This trial had attacks from the river, which they were prepared for, but they could never have imagined that the wooden planks and iron chains they had been walking on for several li would suddenly become a source of danger. Even if there had been some anomaly, they would have ignored it. This led to a massive loss of life in a short period.
That was over twenty people, gone in an instant. It made Wang Lang and Quan Jiuxing's hearts bleed. The sects had spent decades painstakingly nurturing these disciples, only for them to be turned to ash in a moment, all while they had no idea what had even happened.
"What is going on?" Wang Lang's eyes were crimson. Hovering in the air, his heart surged with a towering rage. And yet, the monstrous black vultures neither scattered nor retreated, continuing their relentless assault. Overwhelmed by grief and fury, the power of his every move magnified several times. A single strike would send dozens of flying swords, gleaming with cold light, spinning through the air, unleashing a rain of blood upon the sky.
Hearing the roar that Wang Lang forced from his throat, Quan Jiuxing's face twitched. A quick glance had told him that more than twenty people had died in an instant, and it looked like thirteen or fourteen of them were Supreme Mystery Teachings cultivators. He, too, began searching the surroundings with his Divine Sense like a ravenous wolf.
To their disappointment, no matter how they scanned the area with their Divine Sense, they found nothing but the endless monstrous vultures and the golden thread snakes below. There were no other living beings.
After confirming there was no ambush, the two of them quickly focused their Divine Sense on the iron chains. A moment later, they withdrew their senses, their faces grim.
"There is a faint trace of Spirit Qi on the chains, but only within a ten-zhang range. This Spirit Qi was used for concealment, to set up the ambush. It has no offensive properties at all. Its only purpose was to hide the deadly poison beneath it," Wang Lang said, enunciating each word, his pearly white teeth grinding together.
"Could this be a new tactic in the later trials? How despicable! This Spirit Qi is so faint that it's difficult to detect amidst our large-scale attacks. I just looked carefully myself; even with a detailed Divine Sense scan, it's extremely hard to find before it's triggered. It's too well-hidden," Quan Jiuxing said, his handsome face having lost its usual gentle grace. It was now so dark it looked as if water could be wrung from it.
"Why do I feel like this was man-made? This Spirit Qi is different from the naturally occurring Spirit Qi of this place," Wang Lang said, suddenly turning his head to look at Quan Jiuxing.
"I have that feeling too, but who could have done it here? Don't tell me they've also grasped the secrets of this place?" Quan Jiuxing first pondered for a moment, expressing his doubt, but then he shook his head. He simply couldn't believe in such a coincidence—that the very first time they used the power of the Five Elements against the Malevolent Spirit Sect, someone else would possess even greater means and could tamper with things right under their noses without a sound.
As the two of them spoke in low voices, they failed to notice two faint, almost imperceptible streams of Spirit Qi quietly approaching, their targets being the blue rhomboid crystals they held in their hands.
Hiding in the membrane of light ten meters away, Li Yan was carefully directing two wisps of Spirit Qi. This was the moment he had been waiting for. The Fragmented Twelve poison he had laid out earlier had two purposes: one was to kill a portion of the enemy, and the other was to throw their formation into chaos.
'Now is the time, while their minds are in turmoil,' Li Yan muttered to himself as he carefully manipulated the Spirit Qi.
His plan was to disrupt the Five Elements balance within the enemy's blue rhomboid crystals. However, since the two Magical Treasures were constantly held by two Foundation Establishment masters, it was a fool's dream to think he could get his Spirit Qi close. These were two Foundation Establishment cultivators, after all. No matter how confident Li Yan was, he knew he didn't stand a chance. So, he had to create his own opportunity. He had set up a ten-zhang-wide poison zone ten meters from the final gate to create chaos, and then he would take advantage of the situation to sabotage their crystals. He chose a distance of ten meters because any closer, and he was certain he would be discovered immediately. But if he was too far, even if their minds were in disarray, the chances of his Spirit Qi being detected over a long distance were too high. At this distance, Li Yan calculated that as long as he wasn't discovered the moment he opened the membrane gate, his Spirit Qi could reach them in a sudden assault, in what could be described as an instant.
But to be even more certain, Li Yan manipulated his Spirit Qi as carefully as possible, slowly drawing it closer.
'Ten meters, nine meters, eight meters...' As Li Yan was closing the distance, Wang Lang's eyes suddenly narrowed. At the same time, Quan Jiuxing also abruptly turned his head to look in a certain direction. Their sudden movements made Li Yan's heart clench. 'Damn it, I've been discovered.' Just as his two streams of spiritual power had approached within a few meters, the two of them seemed to have sensed something and had cast their gazes and Divine Sense toward his hiding place. Li Yan didn't dare hesitate. Spiritual power surged from his hands, and the two streams of energy shot forward like untamed horses.
"There really is something strange going on! I'd like to see what kind of unspeakable trick is hidden in this trial," Wang Lang shouted, unleashing a powerful sword light.
At the same time, Quan Jiuxing, his face grim, swiped a hand forward. A bizarre, crescent-moon-shaped seal also shot like lightning toward Li Yan's hiding spot.
At their shouts, Li Yan's two streams of Spirit Qi, like startled rabbits, shot off course, striking the empty air beside them. Initially, they thought their opponent had lost their composure after being discovered. Seeing that the Spirit Qi aimed at them had missed, they naturally attacked with their full strength.
The two streams of Spirit Qi had almost grazed their bodies. From this Spirit Qi, they only felt a surge of formidable power, but they sensed no fluctuations of any magical arts whatsoever, which stunned them for a moment. Before they had time to think, the two streams of spiritual power dissipated with a "pop" beside them. In the next moment, however, their expressions changed drastically. The dissipated spiritual power, as if drawn by some invisible force, rushed directly toward the blue rhomboid crystals in their hands. This was one of Li Yan's tricks. Through his earlier experiments, he had determined that the Wheel of Life and Death likely had some connection to the Five Immortal Sects. Therefore, he had imbued this Spirit Qi with the methods of the True Scripture of Gui Water. The blue rhomboid crystal had a greater affinity for the magical power cultivated through the True Scripture of Gui Water; it would automatically absorb it upon proximity. This was also why Li Yan didn't need the green gourd; when maintaining the blue rhomboid crystal, he found his own True Scripture of Gui Water to be much more effective.
But what caused Wang Lang and Quan Jiuxing's expressions to change even more drastically was what came next. They had no time to see the result of their own attacks. The instant the dissipated spiritual power surged into the blue rhomboid crystals in their hands, they both felt a surge within the Five Elements space inside the crystals. Before they could make a decision, the space within this passage suddenly erupted in turmoil. All at once, cries of alarm rose up. The two of them followed the shouts and looked, only to be scared out of their wits. Amidst the sudden storm, the dark shadow in the sky behind them was now pressing down on them at an unbelievable speed.
"What in the world is going on?!" When Wang Lang saw this, the handsome, jade-like expression he usually wore was replaced by a savage snarl, and his roars echoed through the heavens.
"Is this the consequence of that trick?" Quan Jiuxing stared blankly at the massive dark shadow about to crush them, muttering to himself.
They had both completely forgotten about the blue rhomboid crystals in their hands. Amidst the despairing cries of the crowd, the space changed once more. A sky-shaking, tremendous roar thundered down from above. Everyone hurriedly shifted their gaze from the sky behind them to the space overhead. They saw a giant yellow ball of light plunging toward them. In their shocked and somewhat hopeless gazes, the yellow ball of light rapidly expanded, filling their entire field of vision.
After the massive boom, Wang Lang, Quan Jiuxing, and the other cultivators stared blankly at their surroundings. They had somehow arrived inside a yellow sphere. Looking at the massive dark shadow that was now rapidly spreading across the ceiling of the sphere, everyone, for some unknown reason, felt a sense of relief.
It was all like a dream. In the series of changes—the poisoning, the deaths, their two leaders inexplicably attacking an empty spot, the sky changing, the giant shadow rapidly approaching, and then being enveloped by this massive yellow sphere—it had all happened too fast.
"Quick, the crystals!" While the cultivators were still stunned, Wang Lang and Quan Jiuxing, once again in unison, jumped to their feet. They hurriedly looked at the blue rhomboid crystals in their hands, their other hands already retrieving the green gourds in an instant. Their reactions were incredibly fast; in that short time, they had already figured out that those two streams of Spirit Qi were the cause of all this trouble.
However, before they could even open the gourds, two low rumbles sounded from behind them. When they turned to look, their faces became extremely ugly and contorted. The two sounds came from within the sphere. Two earthen platforms were rising with a rumble, and the massive dark shadow overhead was growing thicker. The implication of this caused the face of every person inside the sphere to change drastically.
After his strike, Li Yan had quickly fled the membrane of light, not daring to use his Divine Sense to probe what was happening inside. He had sensed two powerful attacks coming straight for the source of his spiritual power. Not daring to linger for a moment, he instantly closed the crack on the semicircular archway of light. As he closed it, the two massive forces struck the light band, causing it to tremble. Without a backward glance, Li Yan swiftly retreated.
By the time he emerged from the membrane, his body was soaked with sweat. This ambush, though simple to describe, had required immense mental effort and patience from him, and it had consumed a great deal of his spiritual power. He had been stuck inside the membrane for nearly half a cup of tea's time, constantly circulating his spiritual power to maintain the Five Elements space within the crystal. He had used up nearly eighty percent of his spiritual power. At this moment, even the new Ghost-Chariot Talisman he had slapped on himself before entering had grown dim, clearly on the verge of being useless.
Li Yan took out several medicinal pills from his Storage Pouch and tossed them all into his mouth. He then retrieved two Spirit Stones and sat down cross-legged on the spot.
A quarter of an hour later, some color returned to Li Yan's face. He put away the Spirit Stones in his hands. Time was short, and there wasn't much of it for him to recover. He could only rest briefly.
He took out the blue rhomboid crystal again and floated up to stand on the pure white band of light behind him. He sent his Divine Sense into the crystal's core. A short while later, he withdrew his Divine Sense.
"All ten archways inside are dark. What does that mean? Did my actions just now cause the great shadow to arrive early and devour everyone? But why hasn't this pure white band of light disappeared?" After a moment of thought, Li Yan dismissed the idea of going in to investigate. With all ten semicircular archways dark, he didn't have the courage to enter. It would be a tragedy if he plunged headfirst into the dark shadow.
"Since the tenth gate had just lit up when I left, and now it's completely dark, something must have happened inside. There's no time to waste. I have to find Senior Brother Baili and the others. I must return as quickly as possible. Although Sixth Senior Sister and her group know the truth, their situation is also extremely dire." Thinking of this, Li Yan swept his Divine Sense outwards. After confirming that the purple band of light he had come from was still there, a smile touched the corner of his lips, because the other yellow band of light that had been nearby was now gone.
Then, Li Yan looked in a certain direction. His Divine Sense detected several bands of light over there, but they were too far away. He needed to get closer. With a flicker, Li Yan's figure vanished into the distance, leaving only the pure white band of light dancing behind him.
What Li Yan didn't know was that not long after he left, from within that white band of light, a grief-stricken and indignant roar tore through the heavens. "Why? Why in the world?! You said everything was calculated, so in the end, why did this happen?!"
Wang Lang, covered in blood, stood inside the yellow sphere, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. A wound on his chest and abdomen was so deep it reached his internal organs, and one could faintly see his beating viscera. He still held a longsword in his right hand, but his gaze was vacant as he stared at his surroundings, seemingly oblivious to his own injuries. The ground was littered with corpses. Behind him, only three cultivators from the Ten-Pace Courtyard remained, each one injured, their faces etched with sorrow. On the ground, aside from the bodies of nearly half of the Ten-Pace Courtyard cultivators, the rest were the corpses of Taoists from the Supreme Mystery Teachings. Among them, one person still clutched a blue rhomboid crystal, his other hand frozen in a seal, pointing forward. The direction he pointed was precisely where Wang Lang now stood. His handsome face was filled with incomprehension as he lay in a pool of blood, felled by several sword wounds. His eyes remained open even in death. It was Quan Jiuxing, a prodigy of his generation, fallen here.
At this moment, the great dark shadow above the sphere had condensed into a thick, viscous liquid, on the verge of breaking through the wall. On the sphere wall in front of Wang Lang and the others, a rippling distortion was slowly sending out circles of waves.