The pervasive demonic aura spread throughout the entire Tianji Sect. Tang Muxi originally thought that Jiang Yin and the others chose to first destroy the demonic veins and then the spiritual veins to dismantle the mountain-protecting formation.
But at this moment, the mountain-protecting formation was still functioning as usual. Only the demonic aura was rampant, without any stronger spiritual energy surging out. Her heart suddenly tightened.
Where did Jiang Yin go? Why hasn’t the spiritual vein erupted yet? And why has “Yin Li” been resurrected? Countless questions surfaced without answers, and the unknown fear and unease made her restless, feeling that something was going beyond her expectations.
Bai Ling clearly knew the inside story, but it remained silent at this moment.
Tang Muxi couldn’t wait any longer and turned to go back to find Jiang Yin.
She had just heard a group of disciples shouting “Suppress the demon,” which couldn’t possibly be about capturing Wang Qu. It must be Jiang Yin buying time and attracting the attention of the elders.
Tang Muxi thought Jiang Yin was crazy. How could she, just at the Foundation Establishment stage, even with a divine weapon, face dozens of experts and come out unscathed? The mountain-protecting formation? Did she think she could split it with one strike of the Imprisoning Demon Blade? Ridiculous! However, she didn’t know that something even more ridiculous was yet to come.
Just as she got up and ran a few steps, Bai Ling grabbed her hind leg tightly. Although Bai Ling’s body was weak, it was at the Golden Core stage, a whole major realm higher than her. Using spiritual power to suppress her, she couldn’t move forward at all.
“Don’t go!” Bai Ling pleaded bitterly.
“But Senior Sister is in danger!” Tang Muxi regretted more than ever at this moment.
Not only did she fail to help Jiang Yin, but she also inadvertently held her back. If they had followed the original plan to destroy the spiritual vein, the Tianji Sect would have been in chaos by now, the mountain-protecting formation shattered, and they would have left safely. There was no need for Jiang Yin to stay behind alone.
So foolish. She had to go back to save Jiang Yin, and quickly…
At this moment, a terrifying pressure suddenly came from the sky. The dark starry sky was torn apart, and the horrifying power of space being ripped apart devoured everything, pitch black, with only a dim purple shadow stepping out as if no one else was there.
The Demon Emperor!
He seemed to be attracted by the “resurrected Yin Li.” As soon as he appeared, his towering figure occupied most of the night sky. Even the bright stars and the moon were overshadowed by his presence. Such was the majesty of an emperor.
With the arrival of the Demon Emperor, the elders, who were already in chaos due to the disturbance of the mountain-protecting formation, were even more terrified.
“The Demon Emperor!”
“How could he come in person? No… it’s a shadow!”
“In our spiritual cultivation domain, he shows no scruples!”
The elders were in a panic, and Sect Master Chen Qing was even more so. He had personally entered the Tianji Secret Realm many times and witnessed Yin Li’s soul being scattered. Seeing the ghostly “Yin Li” constantly calling out, his eyes were about to burst.
“You… you scoundrel! Do you know what you’re doing?” This sentence was almost a roar, filled with fear and unease.
The stone coffin of “Yin Li” still had his aura. Over the years, he had been constantly reinforcing the formation. No one knew better than him why this body was shattered.
If the Demon Emperor found out… the Tianji Sect would be in grave danger.
Jiang Yin laughed heartily, her laughter clear and bewitching, showing no fear at all: “The Tianji Sect dares to act but not to take responsibility?”
“You will die too!” Chen Qing’s eyes were bloodshot, and he quickly drew his sword, attempting to completely annihilate “Yin Li.”
How could Jiang Yin let him have his way? She controlled the Demon Imprisoning Blade from afar to block the attack.
“My son!” In the sky, the phantom of the Demon Emperor sensed the vitality of his beloved child and couldn’t help but rejoice. He raised his heavy hand, gathering immense power, and struck fiercely at the mountain-protecting formation.
In an instant, the earth trembled continuously, and trees and rocks within a few miles collapsed and tore apart, as if a catastrophe had swept through the world.
Such a massive commotion immediately alarmed the reclusive ancestor of the Tianji Sect. Almost simultaneously, an elderly man with white hair raised his withered hand and barely managed to block the strike.
“Ancestor!” Chen Qing was overjoyed. “Quick, please, destroy the puppet!” However, the Demon Emperor’s strike did not shatter the formation. Without hesitation, he gathered the demonic energy in the sky, forming a massive blade, and launched an attack like a downpour.
He was the supreme ruler here, and each strike carried terrifying thunderous power. In just a moment, the old man was drenched in sweat, barely able to hold on.
Seeing this, Jiang Yin unhesitatingly activated the Demon Imprisoning Blade, stabbing at the old man from behind like a ghost.
The Demon Imprisoning Blade had just devoured an elder, accumulating immense power, and instinctively inflicted severe damage on the old man. However, Chen Qing, at the cost of his own life, forcibly took the blow.
The old man was momentarily distracted, and the Demon Emperor seized the opportunity to completely shatter the crumbling mountain-protecting formation. But when he saw the shredded puppet in the smoke, crying out “Father, save me,” his heart shattered as well.
“Too much! This is too much!” The furious roar spread across the night sky, and the overwhelming demonic energy surged, manifesting a long, imposing war halberd that dominated the world.
The Heavenly Demon Halberd!
“Run!” Bai Ling felt the terrifying aura, as if a god was enraged. In an instant, she activated a spirit spell and fled the Tianji Sect with Tang Muxi.
“But Jiang Yin is still there!” Tang Muxi struggled to break free, but Bai Ling wouldn’t let her go. No matter how she resisted, Bai Ling unwaveringly continued to teleport.
By the time they were exhausted, they had no idea how far they had fled. From their vantage point, they could only see a giant figure in the distant sky, wielding a war halberd and angrily smashing the entire land.
Birds and beasts in the mountains fled in panic, and even the morning stars avoided its edge. Even from here, the lingering destructive aura was still terrifying.
Tang Muxi fell to her knees in a daze, staring blankly at the distant, terrifying pressure.
No one could survive; that place had become the realm of gods and ghosts…
Bai Ling, exhausted, panted heavily to regain her strength, her heart pounding with fear.
“You shouldn’t have taken me away,” Tang Muxi murmured in a daze.
Bai Ling didn’t dare to look at her and said nothing, just lying there quietly.
Indeed, she shouldn’t have taken Tang Muxi away. The Demon Emperor was furious; even if Jiang Yin had a divine weapon, how could he withstand one strike, let alone continuous, relentless attacks? If Tang Muxi had been there, there might have been a sliver of hope.
But Bai Ling didn’t know Tang Muxi’s strength after she turned white and couldn’t be sure she could contend with the Demon Emperor. So even knowing Jiang Yin might die, she never wavered in her decision to take Tang Muxi away.
I’m sorry.
It blamed itself in its heart.
In the blink of an eye, day and night alternated, and the furious figure had long since disappeared, leaving the Tianji Sect in ruins.
Tang Muxi believed that the Great Demon would not die so easily.
Having lived through so many lifetimes, the Great Demon had encountered all kinds of desperate situations. In the end, even if Tang Muxi died, the Great Demon would still live on.
Now that she was still alive, how could the Great Demon possibly be dead? Over and over again, Tang Muxi kept hypnotizing herself with this baseless reasoning until she actually believed it.
Jiang Yin had said that the next meal would be specially made for her, so she definitely wouldn’t break her promise.
Tang Muxi knew that this place was far from the Tianji Sect, and she was afraid that Jiang Yin wouldn’t be able to find her after he came out, so she kept making paper cranes to float around. Ten miles wasn’t enough; she needed a hundred miles. Thus, she continuously absorbed the power of the cold pool, constantly condensing higher-level search cranes.
Her power was limited, and even with the help of the cold pool, she could only create one high-level crane, so she also had Bai Ling help with the search. She believed that with its help, they would find him soon.
But the mountain range was too vast, stretching far into the horizon, and after half a month of searching, they still hadn’t found him.
They had secretly returned to the Tianji Sect more than once, rummaging through the rubble for any remains. They hoped to find some trace, yet feared finding Jiang Yin’s body crushed under the stones. The mix of terror and hope was like a poisoned blade slowly torturing them.
But fortunately, they didn’t find her. The massive Tianji Sect had been destroyed in the Demon Emperor’s rage, the patriarch was dead, the sect leader and many elders were either dead or injured, and the few survivors had left. No one mentioned the Imprisoning Demon Blade anymore, and even the mountains had collapsed.
When Tang Muxi returned, she encountered Zhang Xu. The master and disciple looked at each other from a distance, but neither spoke.
Zhang Xu was lucky; he hadn’t been caught in the battle. When the Demon Emperor raged, he had just entered a secret realm to investigate the demonic veins, thus escaping the disaster.
He harbored resentment towards these juniors, but he also understood the principle of reaping what one sows.
If the sect leader and elders had given up the Imprisoning Demon Blade, if the righteous path hadn’t humiliated Yin Li and shattered his body, if they hadn’t coveted resources and power a hundred years ago and secretly attacked the Demon Emperor’s son… today’s calamity wouldn’t have happened.
The sect’s destruction was largely their own doing.
But he still resented these junior sisters, not because of reason, but because he couldn’t let go.
Tang Muxi felt guilty, knelt from a distance to thank her master, and then hid away, trying to find Jiang Yin’s whereabouts.
However, she ultimately couldn’t find him.
Just as she was about to give up and leave, a child-sized disciple suddenly approached and handed her a piece of paper.
Tang Muxi opened it in confusion and saw the words “Western River” written on it.
The handwriting was strong and vigorous, exuding an aura of immortality and grandeur.
This handwriting belonged to Zhang Xu.
The disciple saw her open it and, in a deliberately serious tone, said in a childish voice, “Master said the fairy can go to this place to search, there might be some gains.”
Tang Muxi suddenly looked up and saw a figure quickly disappearing in the distance, tears streaming down her face.
Repaying kindness with kindness, how can one repay such a great favor? This gratitude might be impossible to repay in this lifetime.
She took out a large number of healing pills from her storage ring, put them into a storage bag, and handed it to the disciple, “Give this to your master for me, and tell him… Muxi has no way to repay, but will remember today’s kindness.”
After saying this, she watched the disciple run off, standing for a long time in the scorched earth.
When Bai Ling found Tang Muxi, she saw her standing and gazing into the distance. Puzzled, she turned and saw the tear stains on her face, and was shocked, “You, why are you suddenly crying? Who bullied you?”
Tang Muxi wiped her face and shook her head with a smile, “No one.”
Then she raised the note in her hand, “I know where Senior Sister is now.”
Bai Ling was overjoyed, “Really?” She jumped up, saw the note with “Western River” written on it, and couldn’t wait, “Let’s go quickly!”
Tang Muxi nodded, bent down to pick up Bai Ling, and quickly headed towards the river on the west side of Tianji Gate.
