Jian Mao was just about to retrieve his true sword when a transparent thread wrapped around the hilt. He immediately grinned, spotting Jian Lu being pulled toward the exit by the thread's guiding force.
After "Defense" had been shattered, Cotton Candy instantly wrapped Jian Dan, shielding her from the chaotic space's damage. She'd only suffered minor scratches on exposed skin, and her robe had been torn.
Jian Mao grabbed his true sword and pulled Jian Jing down with him.
The combined weight, along with the downward force, sped up Jian Dan's progress. As the Heaven Seal slowly crumbled halfway, the rift shrank to a single meter, nearly closing. Those below reacted immediately, pushing off with their toes and meeting the falling duo midair. The added weight from three more people accelerated the fall, pulling harder.
Jian Dan gritted her teeth and punched out a strike, slowing the rift's closure. With the five of them pulling, she was yanked through the shrinking hole just as the Heaven Seal disintegrated into powder, barely fitting through the fifty-centimeter gap.
The moment she entered this space, her sea of consciousness stirred. Purple Palace, suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, began expanding rapidly. Purple Palace shimmered with violet light. Merging with Magnolia, it revealed the surrounding spatial scenery for the first time. Each flicker turned part of the illusory space real, gradually unfolding like a map centered on Purple Palace, like a painting being rolled out.
Her rippling divine sense waves spread, alerting the six around her. Without a second thought, they immediately formed a protective circle around Jian Dan.
Though shaken, Jian Dan could see clearly and sat cross-legged, waiting for Purple Palace to stabilize. At the same time, Mò Xī and Mó Yuè's spiritual artifacts in her dantian opened their eyes, eager to act.
Jian Dan pressed them down and transmitted a voice to the two artifacts: "Wait a moment. If you both come out at the same time, and my sea of consciousness is expanding, I will be exposed."
Mò Xī and Mó Yuè obediently restrained themselves. Meanwhile, Liu Chuan, who had been quietly attached to Jian Dan's wrist, started absorbing nearby Immortal Yuan, visibly turning even greener.
Fifteen minutes later, Purple Palace stopped flickering. One-ninth of Magnolia's space in Jian Dan's sea of consciousness had stabilized, showing a three-hundred-kilometer radius centered on a bamboo house, complete with spirit springs, spirit fields, and spirit fruit groves.
"Woman, there's no spiritual energy here, only Xianyuan (Immortal Origin) energy. Be ready."
"Xianyuan?" Jian Dan was puzzled but knew it wasn't the time for questions. She didn't know the surrounding conditions and needed her guardians' help, so she immediately spoke to Xiao Yue in her spiritual beast bag.
"Xiao Yue, transform fully. I'm letting you out. There's no spiritual energy here, so you won't be able to change back once you're out."
Xiao Yue had been absorbing spirit spring water. At her words, he opened his eyes and swallowed the stored spirit spring water and spiritual beast meat Jian Dan had prepared. He didn't even tell Mó Yuè, already creating a spatial pocket inside himself to hide his treasures.
Stretching, his bones cracking with pop pop, a nearly two-meter-tall wolf appeared in Jian Dan's sea of consciousness.
"You little guy's clever, hiding your goodies," Jian Dan smirked, then said, "I'm letting you out!"
She activated her sea of consciousness, launching Xiao Yue from the beast bag.
The six around her shrank their defensive circle as she opened her eyes. The wolf flipped once in the air and landed steadily on all fours, blue eyes focused on them.
Jian Dan stood and waved to Xiao Yue, who tilted his head at her, puzzled. This woman felt familiar, but she clearly wasn't Mo Yue.
Still, he stepped forward slowly and sniffed her, as if confirming something.
The six were surprised but knew the wolf was Jian Lu's, so they weren't worried—it wasn't hostile.
Jian Dan reached down, patted his head, and pressed her forehead to his crescent-shaped snout, transmitting her voice: "I'm Mo Yue. Don't worry!"
"Your spiritual fluctuations aren't right!"
Xiao Yue still looked confused.
"You should recognize my aura!"
He sniffed again, this time confirming she was indeed Mo Yue. Though still puzzled, he stopped questioning and nuzzled against her, settling by her side.
Jian Dan casually pulled a narrow-sleeved robe from her storage pendant, dressed, and then looked to the six.
"Jian Lu, are you okay?"
Jian Mao spoke. He was the highest-ranking cultivator and captain of Tian Squad, so everyone assumed he was leading this mission.
"I'm fine, just lost a robe," Jian Lu replied.
"That was too dangerous. I almost feared you'd be shredded by the spatial turbulence!" Jian Jing said, shuddering. The others nodded.
"Good thing you pulled me out, and the Heaven Seal held for two breaths, letting me escape," Jian Lu said.
"You're fearless!" Jian Jing scolded playfully.
"Who could've guessed the rift would close the moment we entered? With our cultivation, we could last maybe four hours at most. If we couldn't find an exit, the chaos would've shredded us in seconds," Jian Dan shrugged.
Everyone knew she was telling the truth and stayed silent. Jian Jing only added a few words out of concern. "It's good everyone's safe. We still need to find others, so let's check the surroundings."
While Jian Lu recovered, they scanned the area. No people, not even animals. They were standing on gray grass, surrounded by half-dead trees, evidently attacked before. Sparse and broken, they were in the bottom of a pit.
"No spiritual energy can be used. Storage rings won't open, but true swords can be drawn. Storage pendants work, and divine senses can reach out, though only a tenth as far as before," Kuang Dao reported, letting Jian Lu understand the situation.
If Jian Lu hadn't flung him out first, Kuang Dao might have been swept away. Grateful, he silently guarded the group. Without spiritual energy, he could still fight with his martial training.
Jian Dan felt confused. She couldn't sense spiritual energy, but the power within her re-emerged, slowly flowing through her meridians along the Primordial Chaos Art pathway.
"Master, let us out. This environment will help us recover," Mó Yuè's artifact transmitted.
"You can't come out directly. Transform into the form I first met you in and attach to my earlobe. Can you do that?" Jian Dan asked.
"Okay!"
Jian Dan waved her hand. Miniature Mó Yuè appeared in her palm, then she pressed her gently to her earlobe as she tucked her hair behind it.