C235 !
Mei Qiurong was unavoidably stunned.
The once infallible Profound Whirlpool had inexplicably ceased to function on Yu Yuan, defying all logic.
Her Imperial Envoy's Yin God, tainted by a desolate mood, was now unable to reassume its position and exert full command over the Heaven Palace Seal.
But that was the least of her concerns.
Who could have imagined that the very cave Yu Yuan occupied was the origin of the chilling Yin Stalactite Wind?
She was acutely aware of the bone-chilling terror of the Yin Stalactite Wind, far more than most in the valley.
While others feared the miasma and the smog, she held no such trepidation.
In possession of the Heaven Palace Seal, she felt little reverence or panic for the toxic vapors.
Yet, it was the Yin Stalactite Wind that truly unsettled her, making her feel as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
"Hu!"
The unseen Yin Stalactite Wind, sidestepped by Yu Yuan, swept through the cave and enveloped her.
A sinister chill spread rapidly, advancing from a distance.
"Ah!"
A practitioner from the Kingdom of Driliwyr, in the late stages of the Penetrating Stage, was the first to be struck by the Yin Stalactite Wind between her and Yu Yuan.
His Yin God not yet fully formed, he gasped with his mouth agape, as if on the brink of soul death.
The Yin Stalactite Wind, seizing the opportunity, invaded his open Mud Ball Acupoint at the Penetrating Stage.
His consciousness flickered with icy lightning, his soul flaring up into a ghastly, cold ghost flame.
He screamed, blood pouring from every orifice, a sight too harrowing to behold.
"It's that horrific, intangible wind!"
"My God! Run for your lives!"
"How is that Yu Yuan kid unharmed?"
"..."
In the midst of panicked cries, the cultivators from across the Profound Sky Continent, once drawing near to Mei Qiurong, scattered in every direction, no longer heeding anything else.
As the Yin Stalactite Wind bore down on them, they fled from Mei Qiurong, their lives hanging in the balance.
They all recognized that the Yin Stalactite Wind had singled out Mei Qiurong as its target.
"The Yin Stalactite Wind is truly a deadly weapon."
Yu Yuan flashed a chilling smile. "Especially effective against those who have opened their dantian's mudra, cultivated Spiritual Sense, and achieved Soul Wandering. With the Yin God, they can traverse with their souls."
He was well aware that the seemingly invisible Yin Whirlwind would unleash its fearsome power upon contact with a soul.
Originating from the Nether Abyss, the Yin Whirlwind bore the chilling force of its depths, including the so-called "earth core lightning" buried thousands of miles beneath the surface.
This "earth core lightning" from the Nether Abyss, much like the lightning harnessed by the Thunder Sect from the Nine Heavens Lightning Pools, posed a deadly threat to the soul.
Infused with the frigid extremes of the Nether Abyss, the "earth core lightning" intensified the Yin Whirlwind's already formidable might.
However, the Yin Whirlwind's destructive power was significantly diminished against cultivators at the Yang God Stage, unlike the Nine Heavens Lightning.
The heavenly lightning, through repeated refinement and condensation, could work wonders on Yang Gods, those in the Freedom Realm, and even individuals at the Primordial Spirit Stage.
The Yin Stellar Wind, a natural phenomenon, contained only traces of "Heavenly Core Lightning," making it exceedingly difficult to extract and refine.
Yet, due to its unique properties, it could effortlessly penetrate the lower dantian's mudra, wreaking havoc on the soul and consciousness.
In its late stages, the Yin Stellar Wind's lethality might not rival that of the heavenly lightning, meticulously purified and honed by seasoned cultivators.
But for those beneath the Yang God Stage—within the Penetrating, Yin God, and Soul Wandering Stages—it proved far more devastating than the heavenly lightning.
Mei Qiurong, now reduced to the Yin God Stage, would be no exception; even if she remained in the Soul Wandering Stage, the Yin Stellar Wind would be her undoing.
The cultivators who had flooded into the valley were primarily within these three stages, making them all vulnerable to the merciless grip of the Yin Stellar Wind.
With a gasp, Mei Qiurong, unable to reunite with her Yin God, realized the direness of her predicament. In a desperate move, she and her true form darted towards Loong Tianxiao.
That place was the farthest from Yu Yuan deep within the valley.
Mei Qiurong, a blend of illusion and reality, moved with such swiftness that her two forms seemed to shift simultaneously, covering dozens of yards in an instant.
She deftly used this technique to evade the sinister Yin Stellar Wind.
Her movements sent everyone into a frenzy. Not only did the previously obsequious cultivators from the great empires scatter, but Guan Xianyun, Jin Fann, and various nefarious visitors were also thrown into disarray.
Each one did their utmost to steer clear of Mei Qiurong, desperate to avoid becoming collateral damage.
"Damn it."
Loong Tianxiao, with his human head atop a dragon's body, had just managed to break free from the radiant glow of the Heaven Palace Seal. Seeing her hurtle toward him, he couldn't help but let out a curse.
Mei Qiurong was deliberately heading his way, clearly assuming he had some connection with Yu Yuan. With the Yin Wind sweeping through the area, she sought to use him as a shield.
Unable to evade, he was forced to face the harrowing gales alongside Mei Qiurong.
Mei Qiurong's actions were driven by the hope that Yu Yuan would show mercy.
"Hu!"
The Yin Wind, originating from the depths of the valley, veered mid-course, targeting another victim.
In the blink of an eye, Jin Fann of the Ghoul Glyph Sect let out a harrowing scream.
The Yin Wind ignited his sea of consciousness; it blazed fiercely as lightning streaked through, wreaking havoc and destruction.
A battered Yin God, barely clinging to life, lay fragmented within his mind.
To onlookers, blood seeped from Jin Fann's eyes, ears, and nose, accompanied by thin trails of greenish mist.
His eyes, once filled with despair, quickly dulled into a vacant stare.
Kuan Xianyun, also of the Ghoul Glyph Sect, didn't utter a word as the Yin Wind shifted its path; he silently distanced himself.
He abandoned Jin Fann.
Elsewhere, with a furrowed brow and a detached gaze, he watched Jin Fann's tragic end, as the Yin Wind claimed his life.
After a brief silence, Guan Xianyun gestured respectfully toward Yu Yuan and spoke, "Though I hail from the Ghoul Glyph Sect, I've spent recent years adrift, unaware of the sect's affairs. This journey to Jade Peak was at the behest of Chiu Wan and Jin Fann, who extended the sect's invitation with their token in hand."
"I'm unaware of the personal vendettas between Chiu Wan and Jin Fann, and I prefer to stay out of it."
He voluntarily distanced himself from the situation.
Witnessing the formidable Yin Stygian Wind, and as a fellow practitioner of the Ghoul Glyph Sect's Talisman, he quickly declared that the issue between Chiu Wan and Jin Fann was unrelated to him, imploring Yu Yuan not to hold him accountable.
In doing so, he inadvertently disclosed a truth.
The one now commanding the Yin Stygian Wind 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, Jin Fann collapsed with a thunderous fall, his three souls extinguished.
Kuan Xianyun, his nerves frayed, had been closely monitoring the Yin Stygian Wind. Upon realizing that the soul-destroying wind wasn't targeting him, relief washed over him.
"Just as I thought."
Loong Tianxiao managed a bitter smile, sensing Mei Qiurong's palpable fear and anxiety, aware that the Yin Stygian Wind had indeed come.
As Yu Yuan had indicated, since he controlled the Yin Stygian Wind, its current trajectory indicated that it had not spared Mei Qiurong for his sake.
"Survive one step at a time."
He abruptly altered his soul technique. Transforming into his true dragon form, with a human head atop a dragon's body, he circled the perimeter of the Ghosts Poisoning Array, striving to distance himself from Mei Qiurong.
The two Mei Qiurongs, upon seeing his movement, split and scattered in different directions.
But without the unity of their three souls, the palace suspended in the sky stood no chance against the entity within the miasmic clouds.
Deep within the thick toxic smog, it brandished a white bone blade, striking and slashing at the towering palace, each hit resonating like a blow to Mei Qiurong's own heart.
As Mei Qiurong's true form fled, she occasionally stumbled.
She was evidently sustaining injuries with every passing moment.
