"You dare!"
Senior Brother Liu finally steadied himself. The moment he saw what was happening, he roared in fury. He forced down his injuries and blew into his jade flute with all his strength. A sharper, shriller howl burst out, and the sound waves turned into countless transparent blades that filled the sky as they shot toward Xie Zhaolin.
At the same time, the other two male cultivators pushed their zither and flute to the limit.
The zither notes turned into invisible shackles trying to bind Xie Zhaolin's movements. The flute notes stirred the earth, making stone spikes erupt from the ground to block her path.
The three of them worked together with impressive precision. Their attacks were fierce, and they clearly intended to rescue their companion by overwhelming her from every direction.
Faced with this storm of attacks, Xie Zhaolin frowned ever so slightly. She had to admit that these four Tianyin Sect disciples coordinated far better than the two elders she killed outside Tianxing City.
Their offense and defense blended together, boosting each other's strength.
The sound wave attacks were especially troublesome. They were invisible and weightless, going straight for her Primordial Soul. Combined with the ground spikes forcing her into tight positions, it really did put a bit of pressure on her.
If her Primordial Soul wasn't far tougher than others of her realm, and if she didn't have the You Ming Bracelet guarding her, she probably would've already lost focus and fallen into disadvantage.
But that was all.
Xie Zhaolin had fought on the front lines for nearly a century in her past life. She'd lived through more deadly battles than she could ever count. Her experience and adaptability weren't something they could compare to.
"Tch." She let out a cold snort and charged forward instead of retreating.
The Jingxiao Ribbon danced around her like wind, the dark purple strands forming a tight, impenetrable barrier around her.
Clang after clang rang out as the sound blades struck the ribbon shadows. Most were deflected or shredded on contact. The few that slipped through were avoided by her strange, razor sharp footwork.
At the same time, she weaved through the stone spikes with breathtaking precision, always slipping past danger at the very last instant.
As for the invisible sound shackles, she sensed them with her powerful divine sense and shattered them with the Jingxiao Ribbon whenever they got too close.
Her movements were fluid and effortless. They looked risky, but she was completely in control. She caught every tiny flaw in their coordination and broke through each wave of danger with minimal effort.
The four Tianyin Sect disciples grew more and more terrified.
They attacked like a raging storm. They felt like they had her completely suppressed. Yet no matter how they shifted their rhythm or how much spiritual power they poured into their instruments, they always fell short by the smallest margin.
Her footwork, her reactions, her grasp of the battle's flow, everything about her was on a level that shouldn't exist in the same realm. It was like they were attacking a phantom they could never catch. None of their strikes landed, and their spiritual power was draining at an alarming rate.
The feeling was suffocating. Helpless.
Even frightening.
"Who is this demon woman? Her movement is insane!" The zither cultivator was sweating, his voice trembling through the transmission.
"Her combat experience is way too much. She's nothing like a normal Golden Core cultivator!" the flute cultivator whispered back, his heart pounding.
Senior Brother Liu looked like his face had been dipped in ink. His unease grew stronger by the second. If this dragged on, their spiritual power would bottom out. They wouldn't last.
This was without a doubt the toughest opponent of their entire lives. Nothing else even came close.
"We can't drag this out!" Senior Brother Liu's eyes flashed with desperation. He feinted an attack, forcing Xie Zhaolin back half a step, then reached into his robes and crushed a smooth white jade slip without hesitation.
Crack.
The moment it broke, an invisible ripple with a unique rhythm spread rapidly into the distance.
It was a Tianyin Sect emergency aid token.
Once activated, every fellow sect member within a thousand kilometers would sense it. It signaled that the user had encountered an unbeatable enemy and urgently needed reinforcement. Others would rush over immediately based on the signal's direction.
These tokens were rare. No one used them unless they were facing life or death.
Xie Zhaolin paused briefly. She felt that special ripple instantly. "So they were calling for help."
Senior Brother Liu really was decisive. He didn't hesitate to burn his trump card the moment he realized they couldn't win in time. She had to give him that.
Unfortunately, this was now a big problem.
If reinforcements arrived, especially a Nascent Soul elder from Tianyin Sect, she'd be in danger.
Xie Zhaolin stumbled suddenly, as if she'd strained herself dodging a sound shackle. Her breath faltered for just a moment, and the Jingxiao Ribbon shadows around her flickered.
A small but obvious opening appeared.
Senior Brother Liu and the female cultivator who'd been waiting for a chance immediately noticed it.
"A good chance!" Even though he was anxious about reinforcements, Senior Brother Liu's instincts kicked in. He seized the fleeting opportunity and shouted, "Junior Sister!"
His jade flute flicked forward, launching an extremely focused sound spike at the exposed gap.
The female cultivator's eyes flashed with cold intent. She'd been preparing her Soul Capturing Bell all this time. She shook it hard, unleashing a sharper, darker sound wave that shot toward Xie Zhaolin along with the sound spike.
They were perfectly coordinated. They meant to heavily injure her in one go.
But just as their attacks struck toward the opening, a streak of light silently appeared behind the female cultivator, moving far faster than anyone could react to.
It was Elder Chou.
She'd been hiding at the flank the entire time under Xie Zhaolin's instructions, waiting patiently for the perfect moment.
Now was that moment.
A wet, muffled sound followed.
A razor thin blade, sharp enough to slice a hair in half, stabbed cleanly into the female cultivator's back. It pierced straight through her heart and burst out of her chest.
A surge of violent spiritual energy exploded inside her, shredding her heart and then her dantian.
Her face froze mid expression, switching from fierce to shocked to utterly blank. She stared at the blade tip sticking out of her chest. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her eyes dimmed, her spiritual power scattered, and her body collapsed lifelessly.
Instant kill.
A true instant kill.
"Junior Sister! No!" Senior Brother Liu watched her die right in front of him and screamed, his eyes turning blood red.
He'd never imagined a hidden ally had been waiting this whole time. The timing was perfect, and the strike was merciless.
The sudden loss stunned the other two male cultivators, and their attacks faltered.
Now.
The Jingxiao Ribbon curved through the air like a strange arc. It abandoned defense and shot straight at the zither cultivator whose mind was still reeling from his junior sister's death.
"Senior Brother, look out!" the flute cultivator shouted, horrified.
But Xie Zhaolin was too fast.
Crack.
The Jingxiao Ribbon wrapped around the zither cultivator's neck and twisted sharply. The sound of bones snapping rang out clear as day.
He didn't even manage to scream. His head tilted at a horrifying angle, eyes still wide with terror, and he died instantly.
In the blink of an eye, two more Tianyin Sect disciples fell.
Only Senior Brother Liu and the wounded flute cultivator remained.