Chapter 55

Liuyu, who had been concentrating on breaking the seal that locked her Qi Sea, felt the words of Mo Lin and her eyelashes trembled slightly.

She turned around, her lashes casting a shadow over the faint bluish tint in her eyes, and she lightly smiled before saying:

“You don’t want to make an enemy of me, I assure you.”

Her tone was firm, but it wasn’t confidence; it carried a hidden sense of helplessness that Mo Lin couldn’t understand.

But now, the Heavenly Sound Cloud Sea had activated its shielding formation under Wu Zhi’s control. This was the true signal that tonight’s operation had begun, and it was time for Liuyu to set off.

Mo Lin watched the girl’s figure disappear into the moonlight.

Before she left, Liuyu reminded him:

“The third eighth-level cultivator of the Xiang family is not in the main residence. I suspect he has been ordered by Xiang Lishen to guard the estate’s supplies, but that’s not important. What is important is that I haven’t received any response from Lan Zhu, and I’m worried that he might encounter this person.”

Her guess was correct.

The jade slip in Mo Lin’s hand flickered. It was finally a message from Lan Zhu.

Lan Zhu: [I’m fine! But the jade slip was damaged, and it seems I can’t send a message to the respected empress. Please, tell her not to worry about me!]

Mo Lin twitched the corner of his mouth.

At least he knew to reassure Liuyu. Who exactly was this person working for?

Mo Lin: [What about Yan Wushu?]

Lan Zhu’s mood soured at the mention of that person.

During the day, he had followed Yan Wushu out of the estate, thinking it would be easy to capture him. But to his surprise, Yan Wushu was highly alert and had already contacted his colleagues for rescue.

As a result, an eighth-level cultivator intervened midway, not only saving the near-death Yan Wushu but also almost killing Lan Zhu.

Fortunately, they were still on the main road leading to the Xiang family’s main residence when they encountered Fang Fuzang’s group.

He didn’t expect the usually listless young man to be able to single-handedly fight off seventh-level legalists and eighth-level farmers.

The situation was immediately reversed.

Lan Zhu: [But that scoundrel Yan Wushu actually used his colleague as a meat shield to block Fang Fuzang’s sword, then ran off. He really is ruthless.]

Mo Lin stared at the words on the jade slip, deep in thought.

While it was unfortunate that they couldn’t successfully kill Yan Wushu, eliminating an eighth-level cultivator from the Xiang family was still a relief. It would reduce the pressure on the main residence.

Now, only two eighth-level cultivators remained in the main residence.

Mo Lin lowered his eyes and wrote:

Mo Lin: [Don’t worry about him. Continue following Fang Fuzang and assist them.]

If he remembered correctly, after breaking through the outer defenses of the Xiang family, it would be Fang Fuzang’s task to destroy the remaining Infinite Sea in the family’s warehouse.

It was now the time of Zi (11 p.m.).

The silver frost-like moonlight bathed the roof of the Xiang family residence.

At this moment, sounds of Qi flows colliding echoed throughout the estate, which housed hundreds of houses. The central hall where Zhongli Lingzhao and Jiufang Shaogeng were located remained eerily quiet, only the wind howling, signaling a mountain storm was approaching.

Jiufang Shaogeng, who had been with his eyes closed for a long time, finally opened them.

Zhongli Lingzhao stared at his right eye, which had turned deep blue. His iris looked like shattered sea ice, with countless cracks spreading across it.

“Yao Bian Tianmu · Third Form · Heaven and Earth Domain.”

At this moment, the air and sound seemed to freeze.

In the next moment, an incredibly aggressive Qi flow spread from Jiufang Shaogeng’s body, radiating outward in all directions as if there were no limits. Every cultivator it touched felt an uncomfortable pressure bearing down on them.

In Jiufang Shaogeng’s vision, the Qi fluctuations of all the cultivators in the Xiang family’s main residence were now under his control, with him as the center.

“I see it.”

He spoke coldly:

“The group of demons and ghosts that broke in through the East Gate consists of three hundred individuals, and they are currently meeting with a seventh-level demon. Meanwhile, one of our eighth-level practitioners, along with the eight hundred practitioners he leads, is engaged in combat. These people are likely the main force trying to restrain us.”

“One seventh-level demon, one sixth-level demon, and a fourth-level practitioner are moving towards the southern garden, they are probably the demons who kidnapped Xiangli Huolian.”

“At the East Gate, there is an eighth-level practitioner, a seventh-level demon, and… a three-level child, also moving towards the southern garden.”

Jiufang Shaogeng lightly frowned.

“And one more… an eighth-level practitioner, or rather, to be precise, a peak seventh-level practitioner, moving alone towards the west gate. What is this person doing? Are they alone? Why are they acting alone?”

Although it was not the first time he had seen it, Zhongli Lingzhao still couldn’t help but be amazed by Jiufang Shaogeng’s celestial eyes.

This was a combination of force and technique, one of the Jiufang family’s unique military arts.

Such an ability to control the strength of all practitioners in the field was a power any leader would want to have.

However, even if given the opportunity, Zhongli Lingzhao, who had once accidentally learned about the Jiufang family’s military art secrets, would never want to personally practice it.

Zhongli Lingzhao unconsciously rubbed her thumb against her index finger.

“Xiangyuan, you handle that seventh-level practitioner. I’ll send two of my seventh-level practitioners to assist you.”

Jiufang Shaogeng frowned: “With such a tight team, we’re sending people just for a single isolated seventh-level practitioner?”

Zhongli Lingzhao replied: “Also, we need to exit through the West Gate and retake control of Tianyin Tower.”

Jiufang Shaogeng disagreed:

“Even without external help, we still have the advantage in numbers, and there’s the Wuliang Sea. One powerful push should be enough to overwhelm them. Your plan will just divide our strength.”

“Are you speaking of one advantage or two?”

Zhongli Lingzhao’s fingertips slightly turned white, her expression serious.

“The Ji Mo family has a well-thought-out plan and came prepared. Their trump cards should be more than what we’ve seen. If we don’t increase our manpower and recklessly underestimate them, we’ll be in danger just relying on this thousand practitioners to hold the main house.”

Jiufang Shaogeng seemed somewhat persuaded.

After watching Xiangyuan leave, Jiufang Shaogeng crossed his legs and said:

“This Ji Mo family, who knows where they came from… They’ve managed to push you to this point, that’s impressive. But after tonight, the Ji Mo family will no longer exist.”

Upon hearing this, Zhongli Lingzhao relaxed her stiff fingers.

She realized she had been tense all this time.

“It’s just a small family from the far border,” she slowly leaned back in her chair, her face as cold as frost. “If not for Xiangli Shen’s selfishness, delaying the timing, do they deserve to fight me?”

She recalled Xiangyuan’s report about the head of the Ji Mo family.

Ji Mo Gui.

What a strange name.

They can only rely on surprise attacks to gain a temporary advantage. People like this aren’t worthy of being her opponent.

“Once Xiangyuan successfully exits through the West Gate, notify Xiangli Shen, tell him not to waste the Wuliang Sea to face the enemy…”

Suddenly, Jiufang Shaogeng sat up straight.

Zhongli Lingzhao, who had been watching him out of the corner of her eye, immediately felt an ominous premonition.

Their gazes met, and Jiufang Shaogeng said:

“The Qi flow of Xiangyuan… has disappeared.”

Either they sealed their Qi sea or they died. Otherwise, a practitioner’s Qi flow wouldn’t just vanish.

Xiangyuan was loyal to the Xiangli family, so there was only one possibility—

“What’s going on!” Zhongli Lingzhao’s voice darkened. “Who’s over there? Your celestial eyes should be able to monitor all Qi flow fluctuations within a half-li radius, why didn’t you detect any ambush—”

“There’s no ambush.”

Jiufang Shaogeng stared at her in surprise, his right eye dark and deep like the blue sky, reflecting Zhongli Lingzhao’s now blank expression.

“Over there, aside from our people, there’s only that peak seventh-level practitioner.”

A flash of purple lightning cut across the sky.

The sound of thunder rolled behind the clouds. In the fleeting light from the lightning, the dying Xiangyuan saw the face of the young woman before him.

— Her expression was utterly ordinary, but her eyes were unforgettable.

In those eyes, there was no pride from defeating an eighth-level practitioner. Her smooth, jade-like eyes reflected his bloodied mouth, like a statue of jade looking down at the world, full of pity but unmoved.

“Are you unwilling? Angry?”

“When I watched you kill people from the Yinshan family in your past life, I must have seen this same expression.”

“This life, you know nothing, but I still have to kill you. If you have any grudges, you can come after me in your next life.”

What… past life… what… Yinshan family?

Xiangyuan had killed many people.

But he didn’t remember killing anyone from the Yinshan family.

But he would never have the chance to find out.

Her fingers closed, and Liuyu twisted Xiangyuan’s neck.

She stood and looked at the corpses around her. A sharp, stabbing pain spread through her Qi sea, a side effect of forcibly activating the ninth-level technique she had researched in her past life, using her own seventh-level Qi sea.

“—Miss!”

A voice from outside the West Gate. Wu Zhi rushed over and supported Liuyu, preventing her from collapsing.

Wu Zhi, who had watched Liuyu grow up, now looked at her with concern:

“Taking out the defenders of Taiping City took more time than expected. I came late, I’ll help you now, Miss…”

The iron cavalry watched as their enraged commander unsheathed his sword halfway.

All around them were corpses. Aside from them, there wasn’t a single living person.

Liuyu looked at the sky for a moment before saying:

“No need to help, they’re all dead.”

Wu Zhi awkwardly sheathed his sword, laughing sheepishly:

“With the Miss’s abilities, there’s really no need for me to worry.”

“No,” Liuyu’s lips, slightly pale, curved into a small smile. “I’m happy that you came.”

She looked toward the cavalry behind Wu Zhi, where iron riders sat on black horses.

“You too.”

The generals, although unsure why the young lady suddenly said this, still responded in unison:

“Xuanwu Cavalry is willing to serve the young lady!”

A fierce wind suddenly rose, and raindrops fell from the sky, landing in Liu Yu’s palm.

The young girl turned around, looking into the depths of the heavily guarded courtyards.

“We can’t rejoice just yet. From the moment you entered the estate, you should have already been detected by the Dayan Heavenly Eye of Shao Geng from Jiufang. They will not hold back anymore—next, we will be facing even more terrifying opponents.”

For example, the Xianli clan practitioners who had reached the eighth realm under the catalysis of the Wuliang Sea.

Just as Liu Yu expected.

At this moment, in the main estate’s southern courtyard, Xiang Li Shen, holding a wine cup, kneeled before the lower-tier practitioners. His face was filled with sorrow as he addressed them:

“Today, you have protected the Xiangli clan. You have protected my wives, concubines, and children, and the whole clan. I, Xiang Li Shen, swear to the heavens and the gods, that your families are my families. Today, we fought against the demons and ghosts together. In the future, I will give away all my wealth to ensure your families will have a lifetime of peace!”

Twenty practitioners stood in the courtyard, bowing to their clan leader, each with a bleak expression on their faces.

In the silence, the practitioners swallowed the dark, bitter pills.

A few courtyards away, the battle between humans and demons was raging.

But who is human, and who is a demon?

Who could say for sure?

Ghost Woman: [Help, help, help, help! It’s urgent! We’re being chased by five eighth-realm practitioners! Five of them!]

Although Liu Yu had already warned them that this journey would be extremely dangerous, Ghost Woman still felt an intense sense of near-death as they were chased by five eighth-realm practitioners.

The last time they fought these people who had been influenced by the Wuliang Sea was back at Yushan.

Ghost Woman stared at the side profile of Xiang Li Hua Lian, gritting her teeth:

“Those who developed the Wuliang Sea techniques deserve to die. If they catch up, I’ll have you suffocate them first.”

Xiang Li Hua Lian looked at the figures behind them, which seemed to be like evil spirits. Her face was pale, but she still tried to maintain an air of confidence:

“If you kill me, you’re really done for. But if you kneel down and apologize for lying about my brother’s death, I might be able to show you a way out—ah!”

Xiang Li Hua Lian screamed as Ghost Woman yanked her hair.

“Who lied to you!” Ghost Woman scowled, making a face. “Your brother really died! He was killed by Xiang Li Shen! Our people are taking your brother’s soul to raid your family’s warehouse. Wake up!”

Mo Lin walked alone through the darkness.

Because Liu Yu had warned him, he could not activate his Qi Sea, so he could only rely on the perception of high-level practitioners to avoid the scattered Xiangli clan practitioners in the estate.

Mo Lin: [Wait, I’m looking for Chaoyan and Chaoming. Where did you separate from them earlier?]

Ghost Woman: [?]

Ghost Woman: [Master! We are your true kin!!]

Mo Lin skipped over that message and focused on the location Ghost Woman reluctantly revealed.

It wasn’t far.

Climbing over a courtyard wall, Mo Lin indeed found Chaoyan and Chaoming surrounded by two eighth-realm practitioners.

Ghost Woman had said they received Liu Yu’s message and were coming to find her.

But Mo Lin knew they had secretly followed without Liu Yu’s knowledge, and there was only one possibility:

They wanted to cover for Ghost Woman and the others.

“Don’t be afraid. These practitioners who have enhanced their Qi Sea to the eighth realm by using Wuliang Sea still use techniques at the original level. As long as you stay calm, you’ll find a way to deal with them.”

Chaoyan and Chaoming both turned toward the figure who appeared suddenly on the wall.

Although their appearances were different, without any disguise in Mo Lin’s voice, the two instantly recognized who he was.

Mo Lin observed them for a moment and said in a calm voice:

“Chaoyan, stop always protecting Chaoming. The enemy is deliberately trying to hinder your offense, making Chaoming charge ahead while you adjust. After that, they’ll retreat.”

“Chaoming, do you want to hide behind your sister and let her be toyed with by these two?”

With three parts sincerity and seven parts provocation, the words instantly roused Chaoming’s fighting spirit.

Before Chaoyan could speak, Chaoming suddenly opened the Taoist hexagram formation beneath his feet.

“Li hexagram, covering the light.”

Chaoming swiftly formed a hand seal with his fingers, and the practitioner in the Li hexagram position didn’t hesitate and immediately raised their Qi Shield to block Chaoming’s Li Fire.

The eighth-realm Qi Sea was vast, and Chaoming’s seventh-realm strength could not break through the Qi Shield.

However, just as the Li Fire was about to extinguish—

The Li Fire spiraled like flowing water around Chaoyan’s long blade.

Chaoyan’s eyes were calm as she softly spoke:

“Five Elements Entwined Flow, Ninth Form: Li Fire Entanglement.”

Her long sword followed the fluid motion of her body, creating a powerful wave of blade Qi, and the Li Fire turned into a fire dragon, swirling and charging towards the two enemies with a destructive force.

Boom—!!

Chaoming stared at the three courtyards sliced open by Chaoyan’s blade, his shock hard to conceal.

This move was something he had never seen before.

Chaoyan looked at the Li Fire entwined on her long blade, her eyes filled with the joy of accidentally comprehending a new technique.

She looked up at the figure on the wall, and the girl with twin buns and flowing hair brightly said to Mo Lin:

“From today onwards, Master is better than Young Master Zhanghua!”

Chaoming hurriedly covered his sister’s mouth.

Mo Lin: ?

So, in her heart, had Young Master Zhanghua always been better than him?

Chaoming quickly explained, “My sister’s brain sometimes has issues, Master, please don’t take it to heart—thanks for your guidance. If it weren’t for you, we’d either be dead or severely injured this time.”

The demon lord in the night darkly glanced at them.

“I won’t let you die so easily.”

If they died, she would definitely be heartbroken.

Zhao Ming’s face turned pale instantly.

It’s over.

He was going to make sure they didn’t die a peaceful death.

Mo Lin glanced towards the direction of the South Garden.

“The remaining eighth-level cultivators are in the South Garden, probably protecting something, or… providing cover for Xiang Lishen to escape. We mustn’t let Xiang Lishen survive tonight.”

That being said.

The Mountain Demon, Lan Zhu, Fang Fucang, and Wu Zhi, who were fighting the main force of the Xiang family, all felt considerable pressure.

“…There are too many of them! These eighth-level cultivators seem endless!”

The Mountain Demon wiped the blood from his face.

There were so many people to slay, and the blood was so thick that he could barely hold his knife.

He glanced toward the deeper part of the South Garden.

“If we don’t destroy all the Infinite Sea, that damn Xiang Lishen will continue to create high-level cultivators—what’s wrong with these people? Even after being poisoned, they still willingly die for him!”

Fang Fucang’s voice was sluggish, drawing out the syllables.

“Families of noble descent, even if you don’t want to, there are ways to make you willing.”

Lan Zhu, seeing his lack of fighting spirit, gritted his teeth and asked, “Aren’t you the one responsible for destroying the Infinite Sea? If you’re here, who’s going to destroy it?”

“If I go, can you hold them off?” Fang Fucang decapitated someone, shaking the blood from his blade. “I’ve left it to my disciple. Xiang Ling will lead her.”

Wu Zhi’s face lit up in joy. “Oh, oh, that’s good.”

As long as no more eighth-level cultivators are added, they should still be able to hold on.

“Good my ass!”

Lan Zhu cursed loudly.

“His disciple is ten years old! She doesn’t even reach my knees when she jumps!”

Lan Zhu’s words were certainly exaggerated. If Yue Niang knew, she would probably jump up and slap his forehead.

At this moment, Yue Niang was running frantically along the corridor, her puppet, which was two heads taller than her, had its leg chopped off and was hopping behind her.

The Wind Charm on Yue Niang had only one left, and she dared not use it again. The group of cultivators she had trapped using her master’s military formation was closing in on her, and she ran so fast that her throat burned, but she dared not stop.

Fortune lies in risk, fortune lies in risk, fortune lies in risk…

While convincing herself, Yue Niang continued to run forward, the dark blue soul floating beside her encouraging her.

“Yue Niang, run faster! Once we meet the Liuyu Miss you mentioned, we’ll be successful!”

“Run… I can’t run anymore… I feel… I want to see our Yan family’s great-grandmother.”

The moonlight was bright, and at the corner of the corridor.

A figure, covered in wounds, as if drenched in blood, stood silently under the moonlight, blocking Yue Niang’s path to find Liuyu.

“Great-grandmother, don’t be in a hurry.”

The person suddenly raised their head, revealing a face that resembled Yue Niang’s by about thirty percent.

“It’s faster to see your brother first.”

Yue Niang, startled by the ghost-like figure, tripped over her own feet and fell heavily onto the wooden floor, her tongue tasting iron.

Yan Wushu remained indifferent, taking a deep breath. He extended a blood-stained hand toward Yue Niang.

“Give me your mustard seed bag, Yue Niang. Don’t make me say it a second time.”