"It seems the evil cultivators really went all in this time. To net every high-stage cultivator who came in, they even tossed out a Wind Spirit Pearl." Yunxi sighed.
"This environment easily nurtures Wind Spirit Pearls. Maybe the evil cultivators just found this one first," Li Li transmitted.
"You have a point."
While Yunxi chatted with Li Li via divine sense, she also sent a message to the other three. At the end, she gave a firm tug to the red cord on her wrist. Yunxi trusted that Xun Kun on the other end would understand.
Xun Kun received the message first, then felt the pull from the far end of the cord. Xun Kun immediately understood Yunxi's intent. With one sweep of his blade he split the slicing gales swirling around him, then followed the cord's guidance toward Yunxi.
Han Lian and Yun Chen had better luck. They did not encounter cultivators disguised by evil souls, but they did run into five late Nascent Soul cultivators who wanted to enter the Misty Snow Domain.
The five had come as a team into the Polar Extreme Wind Zone. The evil cultivators probably weren't confident they could take all five at once, so they didn't make a move. Or perhaps they intended to strike after the five entered the Misty Snow Domain. In any case, the team made it smoothly into the middle zone.
After a brief exchange, Han Lian confirmed there was nothing wrong with them and told them about the evil cultivators hunting others inside the Polar Extreme Wind Zone.
"Han Lian Daoyou, is that true?" one of the women asked in surprise.
"You can choose not to believe it. But you should raise your guard. I'm going to support my companions. I hope you make it safely into the Misty Snow Domain."
Han Lian finished speaking and flashed into the gale. She had said what needed saying. Good advice cannot dissuade a ghost that deserves death.
"Huh, she just left like that?" the first woman murmured.
"Han Lian Zūnzhě wouldn't make up a lie that falls apart on a poke," another, steadier woman said slowly. "We did not avoid evil cultivators because of good luck. Most likely the evil cultivators weren't sure they could handle all five of us at once."
"Then we have to be even more careful."
"We also need to speed up. The gales slow us, but they also slow the enemy. If we find the entrance to the Misty Snow Domain first, we may shake them off."
"Agreed. Let's go now."
They put away their array disks, raised their protective wind barriers, and pressed deeper into the Polar Extreme Wind Zone.
Led by Feng Yan, Yunxi wound around two particularly vicious wind vortices and finally reached the place he spoke of.
"Daoyou, there. Look, isn't that a Wind Spirit Pearl inside the light sphere?"
Yunxi had already noticed it, but she played along. "I see it. You hide. Leave the rest to me. I won't let your injuries be in vain."
"Good. I'll wait for Daoyou to help me settle this debt."
At the perfect moment, Feng Yan showed the expression of a man about to get revenge.
Yunxi's lips curved. She sent Zi Yan into Feng Yan's body. Before the terror on his face could fully form, the evil soul was burned to clean ash.
During the ten years in the Sealed Land, the Mystic Thunder Violet Flame did plenty of this work. When Yunxi crossed her Divine Transformation tribulation, the flame also benefited, gaining a healthy amount of karmic merit. It essentially recovered the thousand years of wear from acting as an array eye. Burning a Yuányīng evil spirit was child's play for Zi Yan. It had even incinerated Out-of-Body evil souls before.
Yunxi flicked a thread of lightning spiritual power, awakening the sleeping original soul.
The real Feng Yan stirred and opened his eyes to see a very ordinary-looking female cultivator. He immediately blurted, "Daoyou, leave, quickly. There are evil cultivators in the Polar Extreme Wind Zone. I—"
Yunxi lifted a hand. "I know. I already expelled the evil soul inside you. We cleared the outer ring. You should leave."
Feng Yan froze, then said, "But I came for the Misty Snow Domain."
"It isn't that this Zūnzhě look down on you. You lack the strength to go deeper. Go back. People from Jihan Gate should have reached the entrance by now. Once you get out, you will see them."
Only then did Feng Yan realize the woman called herself "this Zūnzhě." Anyone who used that form of address was at least Divine Transformation. The aura she showed outside was late Nascent Soul, likely for convenience.
Feng Yan sighed, swallowed a healing pill, cupped his hands, and took his leave, heading for the outer ring.
After seeing Feng Yan off, Yunxi braced against the wind and charged straight into the trap laid by the evil cultivators.
The moment Yunxi arrived, the evil cultivators' eyes went green. They asked with feigned bluster,"Who are you, and why trespass on our ground?"
Yunxi gripped the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella. "I came at Feng Yan Daoyou's request to retrieve the Wind Spirit Pearl he found."
Her gaze slid to the cyan bead battering about inside a luminous barrier.
"Hmph. We found the Wind Spirit Pearl and trapped it. It has nothing to do with Feng Yan. He wanted to hog it, and when we caught him, he ran."
They gave the line as scripted, watching Yunxi with false wariness.
Li Li poked its head out of the spirit beast pouch, gave the five a glance, and transmitted, "They're the same as Feng Yan. Evil cultivators have learned."
Since there was no risk of harming innocents, Yunxi could not be bothered to keep acting. She lifted a finger and flicked lightly. Five violet motes shot into five bodies at once.
"Ah—"
"Stop—"
"I'll die with you—"
"Don't—"
"…"
By the time they tried to resist, it was too late. Zi Yan finished the job and lazily floated back to Yunxi's palm.
This time Yunxi did not rush to awaken the five original souls. She turned instead to the Wind Spirit Pearl. The bead had stopped ramming about and now hovered in the center of the barrier as if observing Yunxi.
As Yunxi approached, the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff in her dantian began to tremble. The closer she drew, the more violently it quivered.
She had dealt with something like this before. Yunxi used her divine sense to soothe the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff, then stepped up to the barrier, ready to break it.
Before she could act, the surrounding polar winds moved like living things and surged to strike her. Each gust that scraped across the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella's warding consumed her spiritual power.
Yunxi turned the umbrella. Nine black dragons burst from the canopy and tangled with the extreme winds.
In that moment, a pair of deep eyes watched from the dark. A bloodthirsty smile touched the lips of the hidden figure. With a flicker, the figure merged into the gale. While the nine black dragons wrestled the wind, the assailant rushed out with a hammer and swung at Yunxi without warning.
With a thunderous bang, Yunxi was hurled into the barrier that bound the Wind Spirit Pearl. Her blood surged; her entire body felt like it had been run over by a cart. The barrier could not withstand the tremendous impact. It shattered. The Wind Spirit Pearl broke free and streaked into the storm.
Yunxi gripped the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff and looked at the attacker. Her eyes were icy. The man's cultivation was late Divine Transformation. That blow had clearly been meant to kill. It was only stopped by Yunxi's golden body armor.