After reading the jade slip, Ancestor Hao Yi wore a complicated expression. She had only asked Yunxi to verify whether evil cultivators had seized a secret realm. Yunxi not only confirmed it, she also managed to turn a fallen cultivator to their side. There was some coercion involved, but it was a brilliant move.
Ancestor Hao Yi handed the jade slip back to Yu Ling Zūnzhě with a smile. "Yu Ling, you have taught Yunxi well."
Yu Ling Zūnzhě shook her head. "Yunxi is clever. I have hardly taught her at all. Does Ancestor mean to approve her plan?"
"It is feasible. Let her proceed. Just do not destroy the secret realm. The Western Region has few such realms to begin with. Even for eradicating evil cultivators, we must avoid excessive losses."
"Yes. I will reply to Yunxi and have her act as the situation demands."
Yu Ling Zūnzhě saluted and returned to the Hive.
As soon as she left, Hao Hui and Hao Yan appeared in Ancestor Hao Yi's courtyard.
Hao Yan's phoenix eyes narrowed. "Senior Sister, did Yunxi uncover something new?"
Ancestor Hao Yi nodded. "She did, and she has also planted an eye within the evil cultivators."
Hao Hui clicked his tongue. "That girl Yunxi carries some luck with her. She was barely there, yet she verified the intel and even infiltrated the enemy in reverse. I like this style."
"She is not only smart, she is swift and precise. Had I been a step slower, the Nascent Soul cultivator Huaxian Sect sent to monitor her would be crippled if not dead."
Ancestor Hao Yi shook her head as she spoke, though satisfaction colored her face.
Hao Yan smiled in congratulations. "Congratulations, Senior Sister. A worthy successor."
Ancestor Hao Yi waved it off. "No rush. We will keep watching."
On the other side, after receiving Yu Ling Zūnzhě's reply, Yunxi turned to Xiao He. "Return to the Central Region now. Do not let the evil cultivators learn you left. I will handle the rest. Once I rescue your sister, Xiao Lei will send you a message."
Xiao He could only nod. He reclaimed his storage ring and, at first light, headed back to the Central Region.
Yunxi rolled the black token in her hand while she waited for nightfall. Dian Dian poked out from her sleeve. "Master, are we going into the secret realm to wipe out those evil cultivators?"
"Yes. When we enter, you guide me. We cannot let a single one slip away."
"Understood."
Dian Dian's ears twitched with excitement. Then it suggested, "Master, do you need a different face?"
Yunxi put away the black token and rubbed her chin. "I do. No need to let the enemy focus all their fire on me."
Because of a single Yinxi Grass formula, evil cultivators had long set their sights on her. Add in Zuo Qiu and Li Chang, those fallen cultivators of unknown bodies, and showing herself too early would be unwise.
Even though she was confident she could escape a Divine Transformation enemy, what if? Yunxi accepted Dian Dian's suggestion. Using the Glazed Jade Mask, she changed into an unremarkable female face, put on her only unworn robe, red with dark-gold patterns, and used the Huadian Immortal Artifact to suppress her aura to late Golden Core.
When she finished, Yunxi turned once in place. "Dian Dian, how is it now?"
Dian Dian kneaded its beady eyes with its paws and sniffed hard, then sent a transmission. "It feels like I changed masters. If not for the contract mark, I wouldn't be sure it's you."
"That means the disguise works. Let's move."
"Yes, Master."
Dian Dian leapt into her arms, ready to enter the secret realm with her.
Yunxi glanced up at the pitch-black sky. "Tonight is perfect. A moonless, windy night. A fine time for killing and arson."
With that, she tossed the black token into the air. A thin slit opened, and Yunxi flashed inside, sweeping the token along with her.
In less than three breaths, Yunxi stood before a broken wall. A figure appeared at once, demanding,"Who are you?"
He never heard her answer. The Mystic Frost Needle had already pierced his sea of consciousness. Dian Dian had transmitted the warning at the first instant. An evil cultivator.
The man fell without a sound. In the next heartbeat, three more evil cultivators flashed into place around Yunxi, unleashing attacks without a word. All three were mid to late Golden Core, their spells reeking of evil qi that made Yunxi's skin crawl.
She had not expected such a quick response. Yunxi summoned the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella she had been nurturing in her dantian. Now completely black, the umbrella opened and blocked all three attacks.
"My turn."
Yunxi smiled. She poured spiritual power into the umbrella and gave the handle a light twist. Razor wind blades shot from the canopy, shredding the incoming spells and streaking on toward the three men.
"You are not a Golden Core cultivator."
One of them shouted, and the next instant, failing to dodge, lost an arm to the umbrella's wind blade.
"I will kill you!"
Enraged, the evil cultivators attacked recklessly, sword-lights hacking toward Yunxi.
Yunxi ran her Fufeng Step and slipped past every strike, then drove a wind blade into the stump of the injured man's arm. Moments later, the male cultivator fell silent forever.
She had taken too long for a single target. Yunxi frowned. With a thought, she sent her divine sense to command the Mystic Frost Needle, splitting one into a thousand and lancing them into the surrounding enemies.
The battle in the realm quickly drew the attention of the captives. They were soaking in a blood pool saturated with evil qi. Those who could no longer hold on had eyes turned gray. Only a dozen or so still clenched their teeth to endure, Xiao Lei among them.
Xiao Lei's lips were torn and bloody. When she was captured, her spiritual power had been sealed and she was thrown into the blood pool. She had watched cultivators invaded by the rich evil qi, their own spiritual energy and the corruption warring within their bodies, grinding and devouring, a pain worse than death.
If the evil qi finally consumed their spiritual power, they would become humanoid puppets of the evil cultivators. If spiritual energy held a slight advantage, they could barely stay conscious, but only for a while.
As time passed, those soaking in the pool lost themselves and became puppets. Xiao Lei refused that fate. She endured the agony of reversed meridians and held on, believing her brother would come.
Just as her consciousness began to blur, the sounds of battle and screams outside pulled her back. She forced her eyes open. The evil cultivators who usually guarded the blood pool had gone out. She tried to drag her ravaged body toward the pool's edge.
A red-lit barrier hung over the pool, unbreakable. At that moment, an evil cultivator rushed into the cavern, swept his sleeve to open the barrier, then drove the already-puppeted cultivators out of the pool to confront a slowly approaching woman in red.