C517 I Am the Bait

The sun and moon were suspended in the heavens.

Lin Zhuyun radiated an intense chill, a cold moon delicately poised above her head.

Hundreds of massive ice spires, gleaming with a sharp, frosty light, shone translucent and solid in the sunlight, like colossal ice dragons, thousands of feet in length, surging towards the Ethereal Tower.

Ice light scattered across the sky.

Shattered ice spires sprayed forth fragments, beads, and crystalline shards.

The Ethereal Tower, though not towering, exuded an air of extreme opulence, its interior pulsing with spiritual energy, creating a protective barrier infused with the essence of wealth.

Tong Laoqian, corpulent in form, sat amidst his coins, blood spilling from his mouth.

The Ethereal Tower teetered on the brink of collapse.

Countless emerald flames, like flocks of birds, assaulted the Jade Wall, eroding the refined spiritual energy above.

Occasionally, a bronze coin, its spiritual energy and fortune depleted, would clatter to the ground.

Once a vessel of luck and spiritual energy, the fallen coin was now reduced to a mere memento, a common copper piece used for mundane transactions.

Its magic was lost.

As Tong Laoqian spat blood, his heart ached for his coins, and he wavered over whether to forsake the Jade Tower and flee to Celestial Isle with Yu Yuan and Yuan Lianyao.

The task he had hoped to entrust to Yu Yuan paled in comparison to the loss of the Jade Tower.

Regret filled him, yet he knew there was no remedy for hindsight.

Ahead lay a dead end, but it was the only path he could take to its bitter conclusion.

Lin Zhuyun's savage slaughter on Demon's Scar had made the consequences of crossing her crystal clear: pleading or withdrawing now would not absolve him of responsibility.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The relentless barrage of ice spires battered the Ethereal Tower, causing it to quake and suddenly plummet into the abyssal depths.

Tong Laoqian let out a resigned sigh, no longer willing to wait for Yu Yuan. He resolved to leave the Jade Tower behind and depart with his companions.

Gripping the sword sheath, Yu Yuan forced himself to overlook the turmoil within his little world of vitality and entered the profound state of Soul Forging through Enlightenment, seeking to connect with the distant Soulforge Pool in the Moonfall Sanctuary.

Just as he was about to act, a faint thought from the cauldron spirit came through, "No!"

"Hmm?"

"No. The space beneath the Soulforge Pool, those four ancient characters, they can transfer a remnant soul. But that power is owned by Boulderdawn! You mustn't act rashly here!"

"I'm about to die..."

"Too many eyes are on this place; you won't die. Just wait a bit longer. If you don't reveal anything about Boulderdawn, there's a chance you might die. But if they find out you're connected to Boulderdawn, your death is certain!" the cauldron spirit urged urgently.

"People are watching this place?"

"Mo Yan from the Devil Palace has secretly triggered the cauldron's magic circle, revealing your presence in an instant. He must have ulterior motives. I'm beginning to understand that his true purpose might not be to kill you."

"Then why?"

"You're the bait; he's using you to fish."

The artifact soul in the cauldron immediately stopped Yu Yuan from any rash actions, then said, "No need to conceal anything. Once I leave your body, let those powerful figures from the Sundering Isles see for themselves."

Whoosh!

The Crucible of Evil, hidden within Yu Yuan's little world of vitality and causing chaos in his middle elixir field, burst forth from his acupoint, unleashing a profound demonic glow and sending out astonishing ripples.

At that moment, the distinct presence of the Crucible of Evil and the stirrings of the Divine Artifact were laid bare for all to see.

As the cauldron departed, Yu Yuan gasped for air, the force that had been eroding his organs vanished without a trace.

Moreover, under the spontaneous operation of the Evil Body Refining technique, his damaged organs began to mend and heal.

"You?" Tong Laoqian was bewildered.

Yuan Lianyao jumped in surprise, "Why the sudden urgency?"

As soon as the Crucible of Evil emerged, those who had been vigilant and searching the deep sea would sense it immediately.

To Yuan Lianyao and Yu Yuan, the Sundering Isles seemed vast, with considerable time needed to travel between two distant islands.

But to the Solar Spirits with their immense power, the Sundering Isles were trivial.

With the emergence of the Crucible of Evil, even Lin Zhuyun, whose temperament had greatly altered, seemed to momentarily regain her composure, refraining from her frenzied assault on the Jade Tower.

With a splash, a scarlet rock burst forth from the icy depths, glowing like a red-hot branding iron.

It was a square cast-iron sign!

Enormous as a mountain range, the glowing sign was etched with a myriad of tiny characters on every side.

These minuscule characters danced like little fire sprites, joyously animating each face of the sign, resembling a host of flame-born fairies.

The once submerged, radiant cast-iron sign broke the surface, shattering the frigid stillness of the world around it.

A voice emanated from the sign, "Lin Zhuyun, a disciple of the Winter's Bite Sect, has been overtaken by a vile demon from the extraterrestrial realms. She has inflicted harm upon members of the Ruby Hand, the Starmoon Sect, and her own sect. Her transgressions are unforgivable!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The cast-iron sign soared into the sky, striking the ice with such force that the towering spires shattered like brittle paper.

"Representatives from the Sunlit Order!" Tong Laoqian, barely holding on, couldn't tell if he was more startled or relieved as he emitted a peculiar cry.

Yuan Lianyao's face turned grim the moment she witnessed the sign's ascent from the sea, "The guardian of Sunlit Isle!"

"In the Sundering Isles, we haven't seen such a heinous event in nearly a decade," another voice murmured from the ocean's depths.

A golden swallow also emerged, chastising, "You've killed enough solitary cultivators, but to also exterminate the disciples of the Ruby Hand, Starmoon Sect, and Winter's Bite? Unthinkable."

"Hu!"

A Silver Rainbow Shuttle zoomed in, arriving in the blink of an eye, carrying the chilling voice of the Dark Herald, "The Sky Fiend wreaks havoc, deserving of death a thousandfold."

"Sunlit Order! Skyreach Consortium! Devil Palace!"

Inside the Ethereal Tower, Tong Laoqian pieced together the identities of the newcomers through the cast-iron sign, the golden swallow, and the Silver Rainbow Shuttle.

The arrival of these artifacts signaled that the three eminent figures had long been observing, their plans already in motion.

"Dark Herald!"

Yu Yuan, clutching his sword sheath, was jolted as he fixed his gaze on the Silver Rainbow Shuttle.

He had traveled to the Embers Sea aboard the Silver Rainbow Shuttle. After disembarking, he had chosen to undertake a sea trial alongside Liu Ying from the Starmoon Sect.

The Silver Rainbow Shuttle then carried Yan Lu and others deeper into the sea, and since then, Yu Yuan had not seen the Dark Herald again.

He later learned that the enigmatic Dark Herald of the Devil Palace was tasked only with escorting them to the Embers Sea.

The Dark Herald was not the overseer of the Embers Sea.

It seemed that the true station of the mysterious Dark Herald was likely the Sundering Isles, where the Devil Palace had positioned its overseer on Devil Island.

In that moment, Yu Yuan fully grasped the cauldron spirit's words and conjectures.

Mo Yan had used him as bait...

The prey was Lin Zhuyun, who had brazenly slain disciples of the Ruby Hand, Starmoon Sect, and Winter's Bite on the Sundering Isles. Mo Yan had used Yu Yuan to draw out Lin Zhuyun for an ambush.

Whether Lin Zhuyun would kill him, the bait, was of no concern to Mo Yan.

Perhaps it would be better if he perished. If not, the Devil Palace would tidy up in the end, claiming the Crucible of Evil, the Sunsorrow from the giant beast, and all of Yu Yuan's hidden treasures.

"This woman is Lin Zhuyun, possessed by the Star-Spawned Terror at the bottom of the Embers Sea."

Mo Yan's voice emerged softly from the Silver Rainbow Shuttle, as he peered over the edge of the Warp Spindle and gestured towards Yu Yuan inside the Jade Tower, nodding with a smile. "Thanks to you, I knew your fiancée's massacre on Demon's Scar was all for you. The moment you show yourself, she won't be able to resist coming after you."

The ice shards bombarding the Jade Tower were obliterated in an instant by the cast-iron sign.

A shower of ice crystals cascaded into the sea.

Clusters of green flames returned to Lin Zhuyun, enveloping her once more.

Under the cold moon, she, amidst a sea of green fire, suddenly became the prime target for the cultivators.

"What really happened at the bottom of the Embers Sea?" the golden swallow inquired as it hovered before her. "Is the Abyssal Leviathan dead? Did it follow the Blood Altar into the extraterrestrial, or does it still lurk within the Everlands? What is the nature of your pact with it?"

The representative from the Skyreach Consortium pressed for details, eager to uncover the actual state of affairs within the Embers Sea.

To this day, the colossal upheaval that occurred in the Embers Sea remains shrouded in mystery.

Not even the Skyreach Consortium has been able to discern the truth.

Lin Zhuyun is currently the only individual still active outside who was directly involved in that tumultuous event.

She is the breakthrough, the pivotal figure for everyone seeking to understand the incident in the Embers Sea.

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