The three stood high in the sky, their robes flapping loudly in the night wind.
Their gazes were all slightly mocking as they stared down at Cloud Lian below.
“Truly astonishing defensive power—you managed to block even that strike of mine.”
Dongfang Yun loosely clenched his fingers, the Mountain and River Seal glowing and rotating gently in his palm.
“Since you’ve shown yourself, why not introduce yourself, fellow cultivator?”
Dongfang Ge sneered, swinging a thick, dark red greatsword in his hand, its murderous aura palpable.
Cloud Lian unconsciously clenched her fingers, her back soaked with cold sweat.
But she straightened her spine, showing no sign of fear, and replied loudly, “Hehuan Sect, Cloud Lian.”
“Hehuan Sect? Hahahaha—”
However, as soon as she said that, the three burst into wild laughter as if hearing a great joke.
Dongfang Ge shook his head repeatedly, then snorted, “I thought you were from some prestigious clan, but it turns out you’re just a stinking bitch from Hehuan Sect!”
Hearing this, Cloud Lian frowned slightly and gritted her teeth inwardly.
“Where did those talismans come from?”
Dongfang Yun stopped laughing and asked loudly.
In his hand, the Mountain and River Seal’s pressure intensified, causing Cloud Lian to feel an inexplicable oppression.
Cloud Lian still held her head high, her eyes cold.
“None of your business.”
“Soon it will be our business.”
Dongfang Ge stopped laughing, a contemptuous curve on his lips.
“If you know what’s good for you, hand over your tokens and all the talismans in your ring right now, and we might spare you. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being ruthless!”
“Oh? You want to kill me?”
Yunlian heard they also wanted the tokens, her heart sinking, her voice turning even colder.
“What if you kill me?”
Until now, the handsome youth who had remained silent, Dongfang Bai, stepped forward and stood proudly.
“Just a whore from Hehuan Sect—so what if I kill you? Do you think your lousy sect dares to oppose my Dongfang Family?”
As the heir of the Dongfang Family, Dongfang Bai indeed had the right to say that.
Cloud Lian’s face completely darkened.
If it really came down to a fight to the death…
The young girl’s eyes quickly swept over the three.
However, three Nascent Soul cultivators were like insurmountable chasms.
Even with these talismans, she had no chance of winning.
After all, talismans took time to activate.
Before she could unleash enough talismans to defeat all three of them, they would definitely tear her body apart first.
But… the over two hundred tokens she had worked so hard to obtain, and the talismans given to her by her Shixiong…
No, she absolutely couldn’t agree to them!
At worst, she would fight to the death.
Did they think she was a pushover?
Cloud Lian hardened her heart, gritted her teeth, and quietly gripped a lightning talisman in her palm, silently beginning to channel her spiritual power.
“Brother Bai, she’s already charging up.”
Dongfang Ge’s eyes sharpened, his grip on the greatsword tightening slightly.
A dark red blood light flowed along the blade, indicating that he had already begun to gather his strength.
Dongfang Bai immediately snorted coldly, murderous intent showing in his eyes.
“Courting death! Since that’s the case, give her a lesson, let her know that the Dongfang Family is not something her insignificant Hehuan Sect can provoke!”
Dongfang Yun had said little throughout, but the moment Dongfang Bai finished speaking, he immediately made the first move.
Dongfang Yun held up the Mountain and River Seal with one hand, and under the infusion of spiritual power, the seal suddenly expanded in size.
In just a few breaths, the Mountain and River Seal transformed into a massive shadow that blotted out the sky, as huge as a real mountain, and slammed down toward Cloud Lian with earth-shattering momentum.
Wherever the Mountain and River Seal passed, the air vibrated with low roars, the ground trembled, and countless trees were flattened by its pressure before the giant seal even landed.
Cloud Lian’s pupils contracted sharply, and she dared not be careless in the slightest.
As the Mountain and River Seal descended, she threw the lightning talisman in her left hand and the two defensive talismans she had taken out with her right hand in different directions.
All three lightning talismans exploded simultaneously, and the dazzling lightning transformed into purple-gold lightning serpents that shot toward the three in the sky, trying to hinder their offensive.
The two defensive talismans turned into two thick, earthen-yellow barriers in front of her.
Crack…
The first earthen-yellow barrier shattered under the mountain-like force.
The second immediately became covered in cracks, looking precarious.
However, these two defensive talismans ultimately helped her block that strike.
Nevertheless, Cloud Lian’s qi and blood surged from the impact, a trace of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, and the entire ground beneath her feet caved in several zhang.
“Hmph, did you think the same tricks that work on Golden Core cultivators would work on us?”
Dongfang Ge let out a scornful laugh, spread his arms, and let out a loud roar.
His body suddenly expanded, his originally normal physique becoming abnormally burly, tearing his clothes, muscles bulging, and his skin taking on an eerie red glow.
Dongfang Ge strode forward, swinging his greatsword, and actually managed to single-handedly block all the lightning gathered from the three talismans that shot toward them.
At the same time, the moment Cloud Lian was injured and the lightning was blocked by Dongfang Ge alone, Dongfang Bai moved, turning into an afterimage and appearing beside Cloud Lian as if teleporting.
At the same time, a white jade long spear appeared in Dongfang Bai’s hand from somewhere, its shaft radiating bone-chilling cold, and he thrust it straight at Cloud Lian’s heart.
At the same time, Dongfang Bai snorted coldly, “Ungrateful wretch! Die!”
Dongfang Bai’s gaze was icy.
He thrust his long spear forward, moving so fast that only a frosty trail could be seen.
He struck with a killing move from the start.
He simply didn’t care whether this thrust would actually kill Cloud Lian.
In his eyes, killing a mere Hehuan Sect disciple was nothing more than crushing an ant while passing by.
Was there really anyone who would dare to seek revenge from him, Dongfang Bai?
Cloud Lian had just withstood Dongfang Yun’s heavy blow and had not yet had time to activate new talismans when Dongfang Bai’s lethal attack arrived.
And by the time she sensed the spear coming from her side, Yunlian had no time to dodge much.
The girl could only rely on instinct to twist her body, avoiding the vital spot at her heart.
One thrust hit Cloud Lian’s waist and abdomen.
The girl’s outer clothes instantly froze and tore, revealing a set of gauze clothing clinging to her skin.
However, the sound of the spear tip piercing flesh that Dongfang Bai expected never came.
And Cloud Lian also didn’t feel much pain.
The girl was startled and looked down at her waist.
She saw the tip of the icy white jade spear pressing against her inner garment, which was that soft armor.
It hadn’t penetrated even a fraction.
Seeing this, Dongfang Bai was also stunned, his eyes wide.
‘What’s going on? This thrust was actually blocked? By her… underclothes?’
Cloud Lian immediately realized that what she was wearing inside was the third-grade soft armor given to her by her Shixiong.
It was originally only meant to protect her during the elimination rounds, and afterwards she forgot to return it, and her Shixiong never asked for it back.
Unexpectedly, it had saved her life at this moment.
But… how could a mere third-grade soft armor block a full-force strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator?
Moreover, the spear Dongfang Bai used was clearly not an ordinary item…
She didn’t even feel the slightest touch from the spear tip.
Dongfang Bai came back to his senses, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
‘What kind of treasure does this brat have on her? Even my full-force strike with the Cold Snow Spear couldn’t break its defense. That must be at least a sixth-grade or higher defensive spirit treasure!’
Dongfang Bai snorted coldly.
With a sudden shake of his arm, a pure Yuan spiritual power burst out.
This burst of spiritual power might only cause a knockback effect against a cultivator of the same realm.
But for Cloud Lian, who was only at the Golden Core stage, it was a genuine heavy injury.
The vibrating spiritual power penetrated the protective soft armor and directly impacted her internal organs.
Cloud Lian felt as if all her internal organs were violently shaking.
A sweet taste rose in her throat, and she couldn’t help spitting out a mouthful of blood.
‘No!’
Cloud Lian’s internal alarm bells rang loudly.
This soft armor could block direct attacks but couldn’t isolate this form of spiritual power impact.
At this rate, he didn’t need to break the soft armor—he could shake her to death.
However, using the brief pause from the soft armor blocking that thrust and the distance created by the shock, Cloud Lian raised her right hand and threw five lightning talismans simultaneously.
Activating five talismans at once was the limit of her multitasking ability at the moment.
Boom…
Lightning filled the sky, dense purple thunderbolts weaving into a net.
Dongfang Bai was not a body cultivator like Dongfang Ge, so he didn’t dare to take it head-on.
He quickly retreated, his figure flickering backward.
Seeing this, Dongfang Yun and Dongfang Ge in the sky immediately channeled their spiritual power, wanting to go forward and stop Cloud Lian.
However, the moment they moved, Yunlian unhesitatingly crushed another talisman.
Space twisted.
The next moment, Yunlian’s figure vanished from the spot.
All three were momentarily stunned.
Dongfang Bai steadied himself, looking at the empty space ahead.
His pupils contracted, and he gritted his teeth.
“It’s a teleportation talisman! She even had a teleportation talisman? Isn’t that the exclusive secret art of Xuanji Valley?”
Dongfang Ge’s face darkened.
“Damn it! She got away!”
Dongfang Yun also frowned.
“She has quite a few treasures on her. How could a mere Hehuan Sect disciple have such wealth?”
Dongfang Bai snorted coldly and said grimly, “No matter what treasures she has, this was just luck. This secret realm is only so big—we’ll catch her sooner or later!”
Ten-odd li away, deep in the forest.
Space twisted, and a somewhat disheveled figure emerged from it.
It was Cloud Lian, who had escaped using the teleportation talisman.
As soon as she steadied herself, Cloud Lian could no longer suppress the surging qi and blood inside her.
She bent over and spat out a mouthful of blood with a waa.
“Damn it… my tokens…”
Clutching her aching chest, Cloud Lian wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
While panting, she couldn’t help but curse under her breath.
Just now, she only had time to escape, but didn’t have time to retrieve the tokens she had hidden.
This truly pained Cloud Lian.
Now, she could only hope that her tokens were hidden well enough that they wouldn’t be found easily.
But since things had come to this, she absolutely could not go back for the time being.
“I have to get out of here quickly…”
Cloud Lian gritted her teeth, a look of determination flashing in her eyes.
“At worst, I’ll switch zones and start over!”
Steadying herself, Yunlian took out a jade bottle from her ring, poured out three third-grade healing pills, and swallowed them all.
The pills dissolved as soon as they entered her mouth, quickly turning into a gentle and pure spiritual power that flowed through her entire body.
Cloud Lian could clearly feel that the damage inside her was healing at a visible speed, and the pain was quickly fading.
This surprised Cloud Lian slightly.
‘How can third-grade pills be this effective? Could it be… because Shixiong personally refined them?’
Thinking of this, Cloud Lian felt relieved.
Since Shixiong had refined them, it was no surprise.
After just a short while, Cloud Lian’s complexion regained some color.
Although her internal injuries were not completely healed, they were no longer serious.
Without any hesitation, the girl took a deep breath and flew away in the direction away from the three Dongfang family members.