"It's working!"
Han Lian's voice carried a burst of joy.
The next moment, the massive black panther staggered up from the ground. Its expression looked dazed. Just as it prepared to leave, its body froze, its eyes once again clouding into gray. With a furious roar, it turned back to launch another assault on the formation.
After chanting a Buddhist prayer, Yun Chen Fózǐ spoke: "This seal does have effect. It's just that half of the Evil Flower scattered nearby, corrupting the beast once more after it had regained clarity."
Yun Xi, however, remained optimistic. "It's fine. As long as it works, that's enough. I'll teach you how to draw this seal. The longer we can stall, the better. We only need to hold until reinforcements arrive."
She raised her hand and once more used spiritual power to trace the inscription in the air. This time, the three watched intently, memorizing every detail. Afterward, each began drawing their own version of the seal. Once formed, they pushed them into the formation one after another.
Yun Xi noticed that the seal drawn by Yun Chen Fózǐ produced the strongest effect. In fact, the giant beast he struck stayed lucid even longer than when she had used her own. The panther seized the moment and broke free from its vicious cycle.
Han Lian's inscription came second in effect. It calmed the frenzied black bear beast, buying a pause of three breaths before its fury returned.
As for Xun Kun, his seal had the weakest impact, only causing the corrupted beast to falter briefly before resuming its attack.
Xun Kun sighed helplessly. "It seems I'm not suited to wield this seal."
Xiao Xian whispered through spiritual transmission: "Of course he isn't. His spiritual root is darkness, the exact opposite of light. The fact that he can even manage to sketch this seal proves his extraordinary talent. One cannot ask too much of him."
Yun Xi hadn't expected Xun Kun Zhēnjūn to possess a dark spiritual root. Clearly, every cultivator who had made it into this secret realm was anything but ordinary.
At that moment, Yun Xi's dantian emptied once again, and the violet sea of flame encircling the crimson Evil Flower began to shrink rapidly. It was obvious that the outermost layer of the flower's defense had been broken through by the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame.
Yun Xi swallowed another pill and gripped a high-grade spirit stone in each hand. Xiao Xian continued channeling energy into her. Taking a steadying breath, she said firmly: "I'll be counting on you three."
With that, she shut her eyes and focused entirely on absorbing spiritual power. She maintained her connection with Zi Yan and quickened the pace of eradicating the Evil Flower.
Because of her breakthrough, the surrounding corrupted giant beasts became even more frenzied. Han Lian swapped in another set of high-grade spirit stones and turned to Yun Chen, joining forces to sketch the seal Yun Xi had taught them. In unison, they hurled the inscriptions out through the formation.
The seals shone brilliantly the instant they were released. They hovered above the corrupted beasts, spilling down strands of pure white light that slowly calmed the raging monsters and restored their clarity.
The sight quickly drew the attention of the first group of Yunmen Temple monks emerging from the valley. Their leader clasped his hands together and called out: "Amitabha! While the corrupted beasts are subdued, we must hasten the extermination!"
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
The monks responded in unison, manifesting their Dharma golden bodies before charging toward Yun Xi's position.
Inside the array, Xun Kun Zhēnjūn remained in charge of the formation plate and guarding Yun Xi. He divided his focus between monitoring the state of the formation under siege and watching how fast reinforcements were approaching. His brow had not unknotted once.
Meanwhile, the Evil Flower thrashed against the violet sea of flame. Between roars, it lashed out at Yun Xi: "Human cultivator, you truly don't know what's good for you. Even if you burn away every drop of your spiritual power, you cannot erase me completely. One day, I will assimilate you!"
Yun Xi only gave a cold snort. She was already fighting to this point—retreat was no longer an option. Assimilate her? Keep dreaming.
Seeing she would not be shaken, the Evil Flower changed tactics. "As long as you withdraw your strange flame, I will take back my corruption. I'll even swear not to trouble you again—and tell you of a shortcut to ascend to the Immortal Realm."
Feigning interest, Yun Xi asked: "A shortcut? Then why hasn't Li Chang already ascended? He's already at Divine Transformation, isn't he?"
The Evil Flower seemed startled that Yun Xi cared about the fallen cultivator. It quickly replied:"He needed to claim this secret realm, so he didn't go to the Immortal Realm. I… I only came here to assist him."
The quick backpedal only confirmed Yun Xi's suspicions. Slowly opening her eyes, she said:"You came from the Spirit Realm."
"No."
The denial came too quickly, which only made Yun Xi more certain. This entire affair reeked of the Spirit Realm's evil cultivators. They had orchestrated everything.
But what exactly was it about Weiyu Realm that made them so relentless in their pursuit?
The thought flickered and was cast aside. Yun Xi poured even more energy into the attack. She had to utterly annihilate this Evil Flower, or the consequences would be endless.
"Aaagh!" The flower shrieked again, its earlier tone of weakness replaced with venom. "If you refuse to let me go, then we perish together!"
"Spit! I will ascend as immortal and god. You can go die on your own!"
As her words fell, Yun Xi slammed her palm against the ground. Violet thunder surged from her hand, rushing straight into the heart of the sea of flames. At the same time, Zi Yan traced with its true body the light-infused inscription, pressing it heavily upon the Evil Flower.
"No!"
Caught in the double onslaught, the Evil Flower finally fell silent. Yun Xi collapsed once again, utterly drained.
With a deafening boom, the backlash ripped through the battlefield. The protective formation that had accompanied Yun Xi all this time—fourth-tier in strength—finally cracked. Fissures spiderwebbed across the barrier, then spread to the formation plate. In the next breath, the plate itself fractured, on the brink of destruction.
"Master, the realm spirit must expel you early. Be prepared."
Xiao Xian's transmission was laced with fury at the realm spirit's cowardice. To eject Yun Xi at such a moment meant she wouldn't even have time to claim the spirit vein. This was a major loss.
Yun Xi immediately shouted: "Everyone, the secret realm is expelling us!"
With a flick of her wrist, she sent out a red cord, linking the four of them together.
The others, already braced for the worst, instantly moved to her side.
As the formation plate shattered, a black vortex yawned open behind them. Without warning, it swallowed all four whole before snapping shut.
An instant later, a crushing force obliterated the ground where they had stood. Countless giant beasts were hurled skyward before being smashed back into the epicenter, their bodies pulverized into paste. Blood rain fell across the battlefield.
The Zhēnjūn trying to break through toward them cried out in horror, "Not good!"
They scrambled to layer defensive barriers over themselves while forcing their way forward.
Only Yu Su Zhēnjūn let a faint smile curl her lips, a gleam of secret delight flashing in her eyes before she quickly masked it with feigned worry. She shouted aloud: "Feng Xiyun!!!"
But the only reply was the dying wails of beasts.
The Evil Flower's self-detonation threw the entire secret realm into chaos.
At that very moment, Wei Yunqing stepped out of the crimson bracelet space—straight into the path of an army of fist-sized soldier ants.
One bite to her hand sent a searing pain shooting through her. The skin swelled visibly, a chunk of flesh torn clean away.
Snarling, she pierced the climbing ants with a Water Spike, then crushed a teleportation talisman. In the blink of an eye, she was shifted to the desert's edge.
But the soldier ant horde had already locked onto her trail, surging after her in relentless pursuit.