C235 Nightstorm!
Mei Qiurong couldn't help but be shocked.
The "Maelstrom of Oblivion," which had always been unbeatable, suddenly became ineffective on Yu Yuan. This defied all logic.
Her Imperial Envoy, the Maelstrom of Oblivion, had somehow become imbued with a desolate aura and was now unable to return to its rightful place to exert full control over the Mark of the Celestials.
But that was the least of her concerns.
Who would have imagined that the cave where Yu Yuan sat was the very source of the Nightstorm?
She understood the terror of the Nightstorm better than most in the valley.
While others feared the toxic miasma and smoke, she, the bearer of the Mark of the Celestials, held little fear or panic for such things.
What truly unsettled her, what made her feel as if she were sitting on pins and needles, was always the Nightstorm!
"Hu!"
The unseen Nightstorm blew in from the cave that Yu Yuan had sidestepped.
A sinister and icy chill spread rapidly, closing in from a distance.
"Ah!"
A cultivator from the Empire of Dawn, in the late period of Subtlety, was the first to be hit by the Nightstorm between her and Yu Yuan.
His Lunar Spirit not yet formed, he gasped for air with his mouth wide open, as if on the brink of death.
The Nightstorm infiltrated his being as the upper elixir field at his mud pellet acupoint opened.
His Mindscape flickered with icy lightning, igniting his remnant soul into a ghastly cold fire.
He howled, blood streaming from all his orifices, a sight too gruesome to behold.
"It's that terrifying, formless wind!"
"My god! Run for your lives!"
"How is that Yu Yuan kid unharmed?"
"..."
Amidst the cries of alarm, the cultivators from various nations of Aetherius who had been near Mei Qiurong scattered in every direction, no longer concerned with anything else.
As the Nightstorm approached, they fled from Mei Qiurong, driven by the instinct to survive.
They all recognized that the Nightstorm was targeting Mei Qiurong.
"The Nightstorm truly is a weapon of doom," Yu Yuan said with a chilling smile. "It's particularly effective when targeting those who have opened the mud pellet in their upper elixir field and cultivated their spiritual sense and remnant soul. With the Lunar Spirit, I can engage in Spirit Walk."
He was well aware that the seemingly intangible Nightstorm would unleash its horrific power once it came into contact with a soul. Originating from the Frozen Hellscape, the Nightstorm held the chilling force of the Hellscape, along with the so-called Tectonic Bolt that lay buried thousands of miles beneath the earth's surface.
The Tectonic Bolt from the Frozen Hellscape, much like the Heavenly Thunder harnessed by the Thunder Sect from the distant lightning pools of the Nine Heavens, posed a lethal threat to the soul. Infused within the Nightstorm, the Tectonic Bolt carried the intense cold of the Frozen Hellscape, amplifying the storm's already formidable might.
However, the Nightstorm's deadly force was less effective against those who had attained the Solar Spirit level, unlike the Heavenly Thunder. The Heavenly Thunder, through repeated refinement and condensation, held miraculous effects on the Solar Spirit, the state of Freedom, and even the primordial spirit.
The Nightstorm formed naturally, and the Tectonic Bolt within it was scarce, making it exceedingly difficult to extract and refine repeatedly. Yet, due to the unique properties of the wind, it could easily penetrate the upper elixir field's mud pellet, wreaking havoc on the Mindscape.
In its late period, the Nightstorm's lethality might not compare to the Heavenly Thunder, which had been meticulously refined and purified by seasoned cultivators. However, for those below the Solar Spirit level—namely, the Subtlety, the Lunar Spirit, and the Spirit Walk stages—the Nightstorm's effects were far more pronounced than those of the Heavenly Thunder.
Mei Qiurong, whose state had regressed to the Lunar Spirit, would be in mortal peril from the Nightstorm, even if she remained within the Spirit Walk realm. All the cultivators who had ventured into the valley were within these three stages, making them particularly vulnerable to the Nightstorm's overwhelming suppression.
With a gasp, Mei Qiurong, unable to reunite with her Lunar Spirit, realized the gravity of her predicament. In a swift motion, she and her real body made a beeline for Loong Tianxiao, who was positioned at the greatest distance from Yu Yuan in the depths of the valley.
Mei Qiurong's form flickered between illusion and reality, her two silhouettes moving in unison, covering dozens of feet in an instant.
She employed this technique to evade the Nightstorm.
As she moved, chaos ensued. Aside from the fawning cultivators from the various empires, Guan Xianyun, Zanas, and some other nefarious guests were thrown into disarray.
Each one of them did their utmost to steer clear of Mei Qiurong to avoid becoming collateral damage.
"Damn it."
Loong Tianxiao, with his human head and dragon body, had just managed to escape the illumination of the Mark of the Celestials. Upon seeing her approach, he couldn't help but swear.
Mei Qiurong was heading straight for him, clearly assuming he had some connection with Yu Yuan. With the Nightstorm sweeping through in swathes, she sought to use him as a shield.
Unable to evade the oncoming Nightstorm, he was forced to withstand the fearsome winds alongside Mei Qiurong.
Mei Qiurong's actions were driven by the hope that Yu Yuan would show mercy.
"Hu!"
The Nightstorm, originating from the deep valley, suddenly shifted its course, targeting another individual.
In the next instant, Zanas from the Binders of Shadows let out a harrowing scream.
The Mindscape of Zanas was instantly set ablaze by the Nightstorm. His consciousness seared, with lightning wreaking havoc, ruthlessly obliterating everything within.
A Lunar Spirit, barely clinging to life, lay fragmented in his psyche.
To onlookers, blood streamed from Zanas' eyes, ears, and nose, accompanied by tendrils of green smoke.
His eyes, once filled with despair, quickly gave way to a vacant stare.
Guan Xianyun, also of the Binders of Shadows, didn't utter a word when the Nightstorm veered off course; he silently distanced himself.
He forsook Zanas.
Elsewhere, with a furrowed brow, he watched Zanas' pitiful demise with detachment, as the Nightstorm claimed his life.
After a brief silence, Guan Xianyun gestured respectfully towards Yu Yuan and spoke, "Although I hail from the Binders of Shadows, I've spent the recent years wandering afar, oblivious to the sect's affairs. This time, it was Chou Wan and Zanas who, bearing the sect's summons, invited me to the Serpent Spine Mountains."
Chou Wan and Zanas have a personal vendetta with the younger brother. I'm unaware of the specifics and prefer to stay out of it.
He was quick to distance himself.
Faced with the formidable Nightstorm, he, a practitioner of the Binders of Shadows' talisman techniques, made a snap decision. He informed Yu Yuan that the dispute between Chou Wan and Zanas was none of his concern and implored Yu Yuan not to hold him accountable.
In doing so, he inadvertently revealed a truth.
The one who now wielded control over the Nightstorm was Yu Yuan, not the entity shrouded in miasma.
Yu Yuan observed him from a distance, his smile warm, yet he offered no response.
In an instant, Zanas collapsed with a thunderous crash, his three souls incinerated.
Guan Xianyun, still reeling, had been vigilant of the Nightstorm's movements. Upon realizing that the soul-destroying gale was not pursuing him, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Just as I thought."
Loong Tianxiao managed a bitter smile, sensing Mei Qiurong's palpable fear and anxiety, aware that the Nightstorm had indeed come.
Guan Xianyun was right; the Nightstorm was under Yu Yuan's command. Its current trajectory indicated that it had not spared Mei Qiurong for his sake.
"Survive one moment at a time."
He abruptly altered his Spirit Magic. His form, with a human head and dragon body, fully transformed into a dragon. He circled the perimeter of the Shadowflame Blight Array, doing everything in his power to distance himself from Mei Qiurong.
The two Mei Qiurongs, upon seeing his movement, split and darted in different directions.
But without the unification of the three souls, the floating palace above could not withstand the entity within the miasmic clouds.
Deep within the thick toxic smog, it brandished a white bone blade, striking and cleaving at the lofty palace. Each blow felt as though it struck directly at Mei Qiurong's heart.
As Mei Qiurong's real body fled, it occasionally stumbled.
It was clearly sustaining damage with every passing moment.
