Chapter 49

Lin Du endured the pressure and turned to look inside the cabin. “Yuan Ye, Xi Qin, grab whatever you can and disrupt the rhythm of the copper bells.”

Yuan Ye immediately took out the erhu and sat down, closing his eyes and playing a mournful melody.

The mournful sound of the erhu dispersed the rhythm of the copper bells. However, Yuan Ye was far from as relaxed as he appeared; his usual act of closing his eyes and frowning was now a genuine struggle. His face, previously smooth, was now wrinkled like a steamed bun.

Yan Qing realized something. “Is it the Eclipse Bell?”

Using this bell to break formations was a method from Yunnan.

Lin Du didn’t have the energy to answer questions and threw something to him. “Yan Qing, Qian Qi.”

Yan Qing caught it and realized it was a piece of Namo Tian Stone.

“Tian Wu, ignite the fire, leave the fifth one,” Lin Du threw something to Xia Tianwu.

The group quickly followed Lin Du’s instructions to set up a locking formation.

Lin Du stood in the center of the formation, expressionless as she wiped the blood from her lips. She then placed a spirit crystal and, with all her remaining strength, forced out a bit of spiritual energy under the pressure of high-level cultivators’ battle, activating the formation.

A faint golden light appeared on the ground, forming an intricate Bagua pattern. Eight golden light columns rose up, creating a golden cage that enveloped the five of them, making the previously oppressive pressure vanish instantly.

Yuan Ye relaxed his brows, and the melody suddenly quickened its pace.

Lin Du felt the turbulent spiritual energy within her body and thought to herself that the situation was bad. She uncontrollably lifted a hand to her chest.

The pain was overwhelming.

It felt like being crushed by a hydraulic press.

Lin Du frowned and gritted her teeth, searching for the pain-relief pills that Jiang Liang had made for her. After finding that one didn’t help, she swallowed a handful of pills without chewing. She then turned her gaze to her senior brother, who was engaged in a fierce battle with the opponent.

Amidst the mournful erhu music, Ju Yuan’s back also took on a tragic and heroic air, like a lone soldier in battle.

But his situation was much better than Lin Du had thought, even seeming to gain the upper hand.

Ju Yuan seemed to favor dragon patterns; today his deep blue dragon-patterned robe billowed in the air due to the spiritual energy, and the dragon on his back appeared to come alive, soaring through the clouds.

The silver spear cut through the air like a dragon’s roar, with a cold gleam. The golden spiritual energy of the spear’s owner erupted through the sparse and cold clouds, radiating a mighty and righteous aura as he resisted the cunning attacks from a cultivator clearly higher in realm.

The dazzling light scattered, and Ju Yuan sensed a rich fragrance.

Where did this floral scent come from in winter?

He furrowed his brows and held his breath, thrusting his spear once more. The spear made a sweeping arc in the air, its flower-like blooms moving with incredible agility in the man’s hands.

What was once a straightforward path had now become a whirlwind of intricate moves, making it hard for anyone to predict the next strike of the opponent.

A white rainbow streaked diagonally through the golden spiritual energy fluctuations, followed by the sound of tearing fabric.

Ju Yuan’s face turned pale. He raised his spear to block the white rainbow, but the spear trembled so violently that his palms were numbed.

“A genius favored by the Heavenly Dao is nothing special,” the white-robed figure’s raspy voice, reminiscent of an old woman, carried a hint of mockery. He then raised his right hand and made a slight beckoning motion.

At the moment the white-robed figure gestured, the sound of the copper bells abruptly ceased.

A crossbow bolt aimed at the ship, infused with spiritual energy, shot out with explosive force.

Lin Du didn’t even blink. She stopped Xia Tianwu, who was trying to get up, and sent a mental transmission, “The weapon can’t break it.”

Her unconventional master had set up the formation in a way that was different from the norm. Most defensive formations could withstand large-scale pressure, but focusing attacks on a single point would break them.

However, this ship’s defensive formation was immune to weapons and single attackers.

Unless they were to spread out, attack together, and exert a persistent pressure that couldn’t be dealt with all at once, they would exhaust the strength of the cultivators surrounding the ship.

Ni Jinxuan anxiously watched the blue figure and said, “I think the master might not be able to defeat that strange person.”

“Why would you think that?” Yan Qing asked calmly. “The person hides their head and reveals their tail, but judging from their techniques, they don’t match any records of the Chongxiao Ranking. Even if they are not a person, someone more powerful than your master should be on the Chongxiao Ranking.”

On the Chongxiao Ranking, both demons and humans are included. As long as they are within this realm, they cannot escape the Heavenly Dao.

Yan Qing implied that the person couldn’t possibly defeat Ju Yuan.

Lin Du suddenly spoke, “What if someone who shouldn’t be in this world came to this world?”

Yan Qing was taken aback and then looked in surprise at the ten people continuously attacking the defensive formation.

“The Lan Ju Realm?”

Everything in the world has its own destiny. Things not of this realm, not created by this realm’s Heavenly Dao, naturally wouldn’t be recognized.

“My luck has always been bad,” Lin Du said with a light smile. “Always attracting trouble.”

This scene was never part of the original plot.

There was no ancient city under the desert, no white-robed people.

The butterfly effect was far stronger than Lin Du had imagined. This was indeed a complete world. Even though many of them already had their scripts, Lin Du was the variable intervening in it.

Still too weak, Lin Du thought.

She hated this feeling of powerlessness.

The defensive formation was on the verge of collapse and finally emitted a cracking sound under the relentless pressure of the dozens of attackers.

Yuan Ye was so scared that his hand shook, causing the tune to swerve as if an old woman had stumbled.

Xia Tianwu raised his hand to use the strange fire (exotic fire), preparing to face ten cultivators of the same realm alone.

Lin Du watched the few cultivators who had exhausted their spiritual energy and could only maintain their hovering state. Their faces, pale from pain, showed a deep bitterness. She tightened her grip on the fan handle.

Just as she was about to unfold the Floating Life Fan, a massive shadow of a large spirit ship suddenly appeared in the sea of clouds. Before they could see anyone, a loud mocking voice came, “Oh damn, I told you your right eyelid was twitching today. Looks like you’re in trouble, huh?”

A sword intent, sharply contrasting with the speaker’s voice, split into eleven sword energies in the air, each emitting a series of explosive bangs.

“Little brats, the senior uncle of Guiyuan Sect invites you to watch a daylight firework show.”

Pei Qin’s figure suddenly appeared at the bow of the ship, facing a sharp crossbow bolt aimed at his chest.

“Oh damn, you Cloud Pirates are now using crossbows? Your equipment is getting better.”

A purple-robed cultivator drew his sword and approached. “You’re using the Broken Cloud Crossbow, so I’ll return the favor with a cannon.”

He raised his sword, his expression devoid of jest. “Heavenly Fire Thunder Explosive.”

At the moment Pei Qin swung his sword, Ju Yuan, who had been at a disadvantage, turned in mid-air and thrust his spear.

“Long Dragon Enters the Sea.”

Amidst the continuous explosions of sword energy and the fierce roar of dragons, the erhu’s melody became more intense.

The sword energy, filled with explosive ferocity, forced dozens of cultivators who were not even at the Huiyang realm to retreat, falling through the clouds like dumplings.

The white-robed figure at the stern of the ship was knocked back several feet by the dragon-like thrust of the spear. The edge of his silver mask was stained with sticky blood.

“I’ve said it before, I’m a cultivator on the Chongxiao Ranking. Even if your realm is higher, what of it?”

The silver spear’s tip pointed at the white-robed figure. The man’s eyes remained stern and righteous. “Why don’t I send you down to find your precious beast?”