Bai Xuanling, seeing that she could not manipulate the Innate Primordial Dual Qi Beads, was perfectly content to stand idly to the side.
Under Chu Xingchen's control, two strands of innate primal qi slowly drifted out from the Hunyuan bead and began to coil gently around his body.
Chu Xingchen's expression was grave. He exhaled heavily.
The white clear qi rose, and in the next moment seemed to vanish entirely.
Bai Xuanling's divine sense had been tracking the two qi strands all along. Such a wondrous treasure, aside from broadening her horizons, might also allow her to comprehend something from it.
But the moment the clear qi rose, even though Bai Xuanling's divine sense had been continuously tracking it, at the instant it dissipated she could no longer detect it at all—as if it had vanished into thin air.
Likewise, from the moment the turbid qi sank into the earth, Bai Xuanling could no longer track it either.
Bai Xuanling looked Chu Xingchen up and down, but found that he showed no change at all at this moment. He was simply holding the gilded bead in his hands, the clear and turbid qi within it now gone.
"It's hidden well enough. Even standing here, I can't tell where the two qi strands went," Bai Xuanling said, looking at Chu Xingchen, whose expression remained serious and focused. "But as for this thing's power—I've only heard it's formidable. I don't know its actual capabilities."
Chu Xingchen's brows furrowed slightly. His gaze shifted sideways toward Bai Xuanling.
In the next moment, Bai Xuanling suddenly felt heaven and earth rejecting her.
This was no illusion. It was… actually happening.
The spiritual power in this area was no longer as freely controllable as before. It was now like thick mud, and her own body instantly felt a hundred times heavier.
And there was also an indescribable sensation.
Chu Xingchen's eyes returned to their original position.
Only then did Bai Xuanling feel her body lighten again. Her gaze also grew extremely cautious.
To subject even a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator to this level of suppression… one could only say that the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect's trump card treasure had been underestimated.
If you fought one-on-one with this treasure activated, even an immortal wouldn't be able to win.
As if seeing through Bai Xuanling's thoughts, Chu Xingchen exhaled heavily and said, "This thing isn't that easy to use. After activating it, it takes tremendous effort to control. Most of my divine sense has to be devoted to the treasure. It's just that…"
Chu Xingchen's gaze fell on Bai Xuanling, yet it also seemed as though he wasn't really looking at her.
In Chu Xingchen's vision, a red qi rose from Bai Xuanling's entire body, solid and heavy as if it could blot out the sky.
And further away, every object was emitting its own unique qi—some large, some small, some thin, some dense.
And as long as Chu Xingchen was willing, he could mobilize all of this qi.
However, mobilizing this qi also consumed a significant amount of spiritual power and divine sense.
This treasure seemed to be rule-type.
No wonder it was so difficult to control.
After all, once something was connected to rules, it was practically connected to invincibility.
But the cost of using this thing was simply too great.
Nearly all of Chu Xingchen's divine sense was occupied by this treasure, and the spiritual power consumption was enormous as well.
If he became too distracted and the two qi strands reverted, the treasure would return to its original state and need to be reactivated.
Each activation lasted about three minutes.
Three minutes—let alone combat between cultivators, even a mortal could use three minutes to chop a person into eight pieces.
Chu Xingchen's face was stern. He spoke slowly: "Put a chair here. I need to sit."
Seeing that Chu Xingchen didn't even dare to move his head lightly, Bai Xuanling understood that this thing was extremely draining on the mind and spirit. She took out her usual reclining chair from her spatial ring, along with a tea table and chair set.
These things didn't take up much space in a spatial ring—or rather, for Bai Xuanling, many things were no longer absolute necessities.
Chu Xingchen moved slowly and lay directly down on the rocking chair, closing his eyes to rest.
He began manipulating the underground ley line connections, arranging the formation he had memorized many times—a formation newly learned from the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect.
Since the demons were preparing an ambush here, the entire Yuzhou City and this area should have been thoroughly infiltrated.
A large-scale formation, by normal means, could absolutely not be set up silently right under their noses.
Only by using the Innate Primordial Dual Qi Beads, manipulating the ley lines, and using the qi of all things as a guide could a grand formation be arranged—silent and undetectable.
At least it could not be detected before activation.
Bai Xuanling also took a seat, her divine sense reined inward, scanning only within a hundred-li radius.
This was also a somewhat bold gamble.
Betting that the demons wouldn't recklessly rush in face-first, but would instead confirm all their preparations before carrying out the slaughter.
And this window of time was Chu Xingchen's opportunity to deploy his measures.
Bai Xuanling sat quietly on her chair, her long sword already placed on the table beside her.
She lifted a full jade teapot and began brewing tea for herself.
At this moment, her greatest role was deterrence.
Time passed. The sun set and the moon rose.
The bright moonlight reflected softly on the pool.
Bai Xuanling brewed pot after pot of tea, her gaze calm as she watched the spirit fish in the deep pool.
When she was bored, she would casually toss in some fish food.
Fortunately, these fish were spirit fish. With spiritual energy present, they wouldn't starve to death.
Otherwise, when they returned this time, this deep pool would have become a dead fish pond.
Bai Xuanling's gaze shifted again, looking at Chu Xingchen, who sat with his eyes closed and brows furrowed.
She also began to feel a sense of ease in her heart.
Chu Xingchen didn't have to come. Whether it was an ambush or a misjudgment.
Not coming meant no risk. Even if Yuzhou City were razed to the ground, it wouldn't harm Chu Xingchen in the slightest.
Yet he still came.
There were plenty of clever people in this world, but only those who did foolish things because of their heart were the most interesting.
At the very least, the Bai Xuanling of the past would have come for the same reason.
A faint smile appeared on Bai Xuanling's face. She raised her cup to the moon.
To the peace of this moment.
Xu Linglong's figure was hidden in the darkness. Her gaze was calm as she looked out at the layers of formations circulating. She asked softly: "They came only to this place, and then stopped moving?"
Bai Bo stood beside Xu Linglong and nodded lightly. "Yes. However, the people who came with them are currently clearing out the surrounding evil cultivators. I'm afraid Chu Xingchen came only to act as an armchair commander and to hide the traces of his presence here. That's why he hasn't acted casually."
"If we strike now, we can catch them off guard and simultaneously crush the people accompanying them."
"Even if they react quickly, with Bai Xuanling risking her life, it would be impossible for her to protect Chu Xingchen."
Xu Linglong's gaze still held some suspicion.
Beside Bai Bo.
A tall young man with a righteous appearance, wearing black clothes, spoke softly: "At this point, with all the intelligence we've gathered, what are you hesitating about? If you don't plan to act, it's better to scatter now."
Xu Linglong looked at Zhong Su, who had spoken: "Chu Xingchen is extremely cunning. How do you know he doesn't have additional measures, or that he isn't waiting for us to take the bait?"
Zhong Su glanced sideways: "The more capable Chu Xingchen is, the sooner we should act. Are you waiting for him to finish deploying all his measures?"
Xu Linglong said firmly: "I mean we need to make thorough preparations."
Zhong Su replied just as quickly: "You've been preparing for a long time already, and I've also wasted a lot of time here."
Bai Bo reached out to stop Xu Linglong, who was about to continue speaking. He asked: "Linglong, do you still have measures and preparations you haven't used yet?"
Xu Linglong did not answer directly.
At this moment, her heart felt abnormally restless, and her emotions were in turmoil.
She didn't know whether it was excitement or a sense that something was wrong.
After a moment, Xu Linglong narrowed her eyes: "Prepare to act!"
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