C343 Evil Person in the Relic
Around the crater, within the ruins of the city, many were disturbed by the commotion.
Yan Qiling's face transformed the instant Shen Feiqing emerged from the purple silk. At that moment, Feiqing's presence had soared to the pinnacle of the Soul Wandering Stage!
But there was more. Yan Qiling could assert with confidence that the commander concealed within the purple silk had truly broken through her limits!
Back on the mid-lake island, the commander had only been at the middle stage of Soul Wandering, equal in power to Zou Jin of the Cold Yin Sect. Her fearlessness was the only reason she could stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Bai Shuang and Zou Jin and survive.
It was only after employing the Desolate True Spell and harnessing the power of the Void Spiritual Plant that she managed to tear open spatial rifts and turn the resulting backlash to her advantage, significantly boosting her combat prowess.
However, at that time, it was merely her combat strength that had increased, amplified by the spatial rifts.
Her actual cultivation level had remained steadfastly in the middle stage of Soul Wandering.
Now, things were vastly different!
The commander who stepped out from the purple silk had shattered her cultivation's ceiling, ascending to the late stage of Soul Wandering!
Moreover, the formidable aura emanating from her suggested she had been steeped in this phase for years, standing at the zenith of the late stage, on the cusp of refining her Heavenly Soul into a Yang God!
Such magnitude of power and presence made every onlooker's spirit quiver.
Yan Qiling was no exception.
His adversary, the Earth Demon Bai Shang, remained stoic. His Spiritual Sword, known as Nether Gold, had merged with his soul, transforming into a golden dragon armored with dense scales.
The golden scales glittered under the night sky, casting a mesmerizing glow.
Bai Shang, like a knight astride a dragon, charged valiantly through the microcosms conjured by Yan Qiling.
Yan Qiling, overwhelmed and sighing, cast a glance at Xu Zixi.
That single look deepened his sense of futility.
The Python Queen's seven serpents had diminished in size, writhing in midair as their spirits melded with their bodies, engaging in a more intricate battle with countless tiny white snake spirits.
The crone with the White Bone Crutch wore a chilling smile, now burrowing into the earth, now surfacing unexpectedly.
The white-haired old woman, a demonic snake in her true form, struck the solid earth with her sharp crutch. The ground occasionally yawned open, as if a chasm ready to swallow all.
At times, it was as impenetrable as the hardest iron and stone in the world, not even allowing dust to seep through.
The White Bone Crutch possessed the power to shake the very earth, its capabilities mysterious and profound.
Once Xu Zixi engaged in combat, the moment she touched down, she risked plunging into peril.
The Python Queen, a human who had mastered the Demon Palace's secret arts to a high degree, wielded a jade flute. Its whistle could charm the hearts and pierce the souls of those who heard it, yet it was ineffective against the elderly crone.
Originally an orthodox member of the Demon Palace, she was expelled for various reasons and later suppressed in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, but she was well-versed in many of the Demon Palace's arcane and powerful arts.
She herself excelled in certain enigmatic Demon Arts, which she used to counter Xu Zixi's moves.
As Xu Zixi landed once more, the ground beneath her feet transformed into a space from another realm.
Within seconds, the world spun around her, and she watched in horror as everything below her neck was encased in a stone as unyielding as divine iron.
Reacting swiftly, Xu Zixi dispatched her Yin God into the jade flute.
From within the flute's holes, streams of liquid brimming with immense Demonic Power began to flow.
As soon as the liquid emerged, the Yin God merged with it, and in a flash, another Xu Zixi appeared, grasping the jade flute and aiming it at her true form embedded in the unyielding earth.
Xu Zixi's true form suddenly became boneless and effortlessly extracted itself from the ground.
"You wield the Demon Palace's art of Demonization with great finesse," the white-haired old woman mocked, as she thrust her White Bone Crutch into the earth with renewed ferocity.
A dozen sharp spikes, like lances, burst forth, impaling Xu Zixi's true form and leaving it bloodied.
The potent Demonic Power liquid, now fused with the Yin God, seeped into Xu Zixi's true form, restoring her to her original state as her bones were once again saturated with demonic energy.
Yet Xu Zixi's demeanor was unmistakably weary; she was worn out from contending with the relentless onslaught of secret arts from the white-haired old woman.
Shen Feiqing, stepping out from the purple silk, had no time to spare for the fray.
Yan Qiling paid her no heed, her gaze slipping past unnoticed.
She was aware that the white-robed Imperial Advisor had vanished like silk in the wind, fleeing swiftly. Yet, he remained a target of a haunting scroll painting, casting an inescapable shadow over her heart.
In this moment, the one she truly cared for was Zhou Cangmin.
Had the white-haired crone not pressed her with threats of death, she would have forsaken everything before her. Yu Yuan's fate and the Asura's severed head and eyes from the Dark Domain would mean nothing to her. Her sole desire was to catch up to Zhou Cangmin and safeguard his Yin God, disregarding all else.
If Shen Feiqing had forgotten their past, why should she dwell on it?
A jade palace, as worn as the last, soared from an unnamed corner of the Absence Relic, ascending into the heavens.
The palace, crafted from various jades, lacked the grandeur of the ruins where Yu Yuan and his companions were. It was overly intricate and ornate, almost petty in comparison.
Yet, beneath the night's glow, the tattered edifice was a vision of beauty, aglow with the sheen of jade.
The palace made a beeline for the chasm.
At its forefront stood a portly elder in a long robe adorned with an array of copper coins, representing nearly every dynasty of the Profound Sky Continent.
With a genial smile, he clutched an ancient bronze wine pot, gazing into the distance.
Within the palace, rooms of white, green, red, and purple jade echoed with the laughter of women, as if they belonged to his household.
The commander, draped in purple silk, felt a flicker in her eyes as the jade palace took to the sky.
She cast her gaze downward, then shifted her attention to the approaching structure.
Upon the Fallen Star Eyes.
Liu Ying and Yuan Lianyao watched in stunned silence as the jade palace emerged on the reflective table, their eyes fixed on the old man leisurely sipping from his wine pot.
The table's reflection revealed jade chambers filled with mirthful laughter, yet only the bustle of spirits could be seen.
No living beings, only the departed.
"Didn't your Fallen Star Eyes notice before? Another splendid palace lay concealed within the relic's depths?" Yuan Lianyao asked, her surprise giving way to curiosity as she turned to Lau Ying. "Isn't it said that this artifact can reveal all that lies between heaven and earth?"
"That palace, too, is a refined artifact—certainly no ordinary object," Lau Ying said with a grave expression on her small, pale face as she fixed her gaze on the old man adorned with various copper coins. "This elder, I recall my master mentioning him; he's quite renowned. Yet, he has no business being in the Absence Relic. Give me a moment to think."
Yuan Lianyao's expression shifted subtly. Lau Ying's master, the leader of the Silver Moon Sect, was not someone to be taken lightly.
Due to the distance and her status short of attaining Yin God, Yuan Lianyao couldn't discern the old man's realm. But the fact that he had refined such an exquisite pavilion was a clear sign of his extraordinary nature.
What troubled Yuan Lianyao now was whether this enigmatic elder was an ally or a foe.
"Here comes another," Lau Ying said with a wry smile, manipulating the mirror on the table with her thoughts to reveal a different scene.
A woman in a long red dress, nearly three meters tall and cradling a lute, appeared. Her flowing red hair was strikingly conspicuous. Despite her delicate beauty, the hand clutching the lute was nothing but white bone.
With a simple gesture from Lau Ying, the mirror showcased the woman's true form—a gleaming white skeletal figure within the long red dress, devoid of flesh and organs.
The woman in red sped through the night sky like a bolt of lightning, her dress billowing. She seemed to be heading in the same direction as the military commander, striding upon a purple silk ribbon.
"Since ancient times, the Divine Might Empire and Silvermoon Empire have pursued traitors. Various malevolent cultivators, unwelcome in both nations and by orthodox practitioners, have sought refuge in the Absence Relic for their practices. When the Spirit Void Sect established the space teleportation array, and the cultivators from the seven lower sects began to frequent it, those individuals vanished," Lau Ying explained, privy to the details.
"They fear the likes of Taoist Chongxiao, the Yang Gods, and even more so, the top-tier cultivators of the Unrestrained Stage."
"My guess is they've caught wind of the space teleportation array's temporary shutdown. These skulking figures, like rats, have sensed the tumult here and emerged from hiding."
"The question remains, are they in league with the commander, Earth Demon Bai Shang, and your Silvermoon Empire's queen, or are they a different breed altogether?"
As Lau Ying was speaking, another figure made their appearance at the table.
In the night sky, a gigantic yellow gourd materialized out of nowhere.
The gourd resembled two connected mountains, one taller and larger than the other.
Perched atop the smaller "mountain" was a towering yellow-clad apparition, a hundred meters in height. Yet, even at this scale, it seemed miniature compared to the yellow gourd.
This apparition exuded an aura not of flesh and blood, but of a soul coalesced into form.
Abruptly emerging, the yellow figure gazed upon the soaring jade edifice and with a casual sweep of his hand, the laughter from the group behind the old man clutching the bronze wine jug ceased.
A hush fell over them.
Undeterred, the yellow figure made several more grasps, imprisoning over a dozen spirits and greedily devouring them.
The old man, adorned with copper coins, spun around and shot him a stern look. "Don't forget your debt. You'll need to compensate me with some new souls later."
"Absolutely," the yellow figure roared with laughter, his voice booming with a freedom as if he'd been deprived of sunlight for ages. "Now that the accursed space teleportation array is gone, what have we to fear?"
