Lin Xiao’s rough voice echoed across the wasteland, carrying far with the wind.
Wu Yan’s eyes showed a hint of admiration. Before the Five Sects Tournament, she had not heard much about Lin Xiao, but based on his performance during the competition, Junior Brother Lin was an honest man.
The three of them had been moving at a steady pace. Suddenly, a fierce yellow wind gusted ahead. Wu Yan faced the wind, releasing her Spiritual Power. Her fitting black-and-gold dress clung to her proud figure as her speed increased rapidly.
“Keep up!”
Lin Xiao and Xia Lingshuang reacted just as quickly. Lin Xiao’s feet kicked the ground hard, and in the next moment, he launched forward like a cannonball. Xia Lingshuang remained at the rear, but snow lotuses bloomed beneath her feet as she followed closely behind the other two.
“Eldest Senior Sister, what’s the situation?”
Wu Yan looked straight ahead, her voice frighteningly cold. “The wind just now contained a massive amount of Demonic Chi. And…”
“And there is fire and wood attribute Spiritual Power,” Xia Lingshuang’s voice rang out. She followed behind them, so her gaze toward Wu Yan went unnoticed.
‘Lin Xiao was right; Wu Yan really can sense the Demonic Chi in the air.’
“Fire and wood attributes,” Lin Xiao muttered to himself, then suddenly realized. “Aren’t those Junior Sister Yu and Junior Sister Su?”
“Yes.” Wu Yan nodded, and her speed increased even further.
The distance was only dozens of miles, and at full speed, they arrived in just a few moments. When they reached a basin, Wu Yan stopped and looked down from the cliff edge. A hot air current mixed with talisman ash hit her face.
In the center of the basin, a heatwave lit the area like day. Hundreds of monsters were attacking an Altar. Mounds of monster corpses had already piled up around the Altar, and the smell of charred flesh filled every corner of the basin. Despite this, the monsters continued to attack one after another, flying, biting, and pouncing.
On the Altar, dazzling lights flashed incessantly. Talismans, magical treasures, and Spirit Chi interwove into a radiant barrier, keeping the beast tide firmly at bay. Inside the barrier were two familiar figures.
Yu Qingyao still wore her snow-white robes. Although the hem was stained with green blood and her once-exquisite hairstyle was slightly messy, her back remained straight and her expression was calm. Red flames roared from Chixiao, turning any monsters that tried to enter the defensive circle into charcoal. Beside her, Su Qianqian’s clothes were disheveled and her movements were panicked, but she continued to act as logistics, providing pills to Yu Qingyao and occasionally throwing talismans into the crowd, causing constant explosions among the monsters.
From Wu Yan’s perspective, the barrier was like an island in the sea, standing firm no matter how the waves crashed against it. It was perfect coordination. Although there were no particularly powerful monsters in the tide, for two Foundation Establishment Stage disciples like Su Qianqian and Yu Qingyao to perform like this was quite impressive.
“This! Are Junior Sister Yu and Junior Sister Su really this powerful?” Lin Xiao squatted by the cliff, his throat moving as he stared in disbelief.
Xia Lingshuang looked at the thick layer of talisman ash and the cracked defensive treasure in the air, and a look of relief appeared on her cold face. “They are indeed worthy of the title of Foundation Establishment Champion. If the pill reserves in Su Qianqian’s storage ring are sufficient, they can hold out for a significant amount of time under the current conditions.”
However, the battlefield changed in an instant.
Inside the barrier, behind the two girls, dark red Demonic Chi suddenly rose. The earth began to shake violently, as if a great danger was approaching.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Heavy footsteps drowned out the roars of the monsters and the explosions of the talismans. The frenzied beast tide went silent in an instant, and the monsters parted to the sides as if frightened, making a path that was 3 feet wide.
It was a square golem 30 feet tall and 30 feet wide, composed entirely of obsidian. Every step the golem took shattered the carbonized earth, and the flying debris alone killed several monsters. It was covered in dark red patterns, with lava flowing through the lines. Su Qianqian’s talismans struck its body but only produced stray sparks.
Yu Qingyao’s clear voice carried a certain magic, calming the panicked Su Qianqian.
“But we can’t stop that golem’s attack,” Su Qianqian said with a sob in her voice. A person could force themselves to be calm, but the fear in their heart would not disappear.
Yu Qingyao’s gaze remained fixed on the golem. The golem raised both arms, its massive fists locking onto every living thing in that small space.
“We can stop it.” Yu Qingyao reached behind her head and pulled out her hairpin. Her slender fingers stroked the cold body of the Snow Lotus Hairpin, and the cold, beautiful face of the person who gave it to her became exceptionally gentle in her mind. “I didn’t expect to use my Senior Sister’s gift so soon.”
Yu Qingyao’s voice was very soft, so soft that Su Qianqian could barely catch a few syllables.
“If you don’t want to use it, then don’t.”
A familiar voice sounded in Yu Qingyao’s ear. Her hand tightened around the hairpin, and she looked up abruptly. Even through the barrier, that cold face was clearly reflected in her eyes.
“Senior Sister!”
“ETHEREAL SWORD ARTS, MYRIAD TRANSFORMATIONS!”
A rain of swords fell from the sky, and in a single encounter, more than half of the beast tide was killed or wounded. Wu Nian had already landed on the golem’s giant fist, forcibly smashing the Obsidian Golem’s knees into the ground.
“BREAK!”
Lin Xiao leaped down from the heights. Relying on the powerful force of gravity, he threw a punch with a bronze glow, his veins bulging, and blasted a large hole in the golem’s hard body. Inside the hole, a core was revealed, spinning and emitting dense Demonic Chi.
Finally, a Frost White Long Silk appeared. The silk surrounded the monsters, shrinking and piercing through them. Eventually, the silk reached the core and gave it a gentle strike. The core shattered, turning into a pile of dull rubble.
The giant creature that had been so overbearing just moments ago saw the red light in its eyes vanish. Its massive body collapsed with a loud bang, turning into a pile of lifeless stones and kicking up a cloud of dust.
The dust settled. With the death of the monster, the silk finished its mission, flinging away the monster corpses it had pierced before winding back around Xia Lingshuang’s waist.
The center of the basin returned to silence. Yu Qingyao looked at the three familiar figures standing before her, and the string in her heart that had been pulled to its limit finally relaxed.