C84 The World Changed!!
The cold wind howled across the vast wilderness.
Without warning, snow began to fall, causing the temperature in the forbidden area to plummet.
From the depths of this region, thick and violent spiritual energy surged toward what was supposed to be a safe zone, an area the Silvermoon Empire considered a place of trial.
The Moonfall Sanctuary had undergone a drastic transformation.
The chaos of spiritual energy, expected only two months post-trial, was about to unfold prematurely.
Yet, most people remained blissfully ignorant of the impending change.
"The weather is turning," Lee Yu of the Lee family murmured, his right hand clutching a purple crystal ball that emitted an eerie green glow.
Beneath him lay a trial-taker from Wethtalos.
Like Zhu Huan and Lou Ling, this trial-taker had been possessed by an alien soul and had attempted to kill Lee Yu.
Ultimately, Lee Yu emerged as the victor.
He had even trapped the alien soul's residual wisps within the purple crystal ball.
"It's unfortunate that I haven't yet achieved the Subtlety state," Lee Yu lamented. "I'm unable to fully harness the Soul Orb's power."
The purple crystal ball, known as the Soul Orb, was a formidable spiritual weapon with both offensive and defensive capabilities.
The Soul Orb could refine souls and exert control over cultivators in the Lunar Spirit and Spirit Walk states.
Armed with this weapon of doom, Lee Yu, the strongest young cultivator of the empire and the sole Veil Breaking practitioner in the sanctuary, had vanquished the possessed trial-taker.
The fleeing alien soul, too, was confined by the Soul Orb, powerless to escape.
Had Lee Yu's realm reached Subtlety, his spiritual sense would have coalesced and penetrated the Soul Orb. He might have then discerned the memories within the green light, identifying the enemy.
"Without the ability to fully unleash the Soul Orb's mysteries, all I can do is..."
He watched, powerless, as the green light within the Soul Orb was refined into threads of Soul Power, assimilating into the artifact itself.
"I must return now."
Lee Yu let out a soft sigh and suddenly sped up, darting across the wilderness like lightning.
Behind him, the tumultuous spiritual energy roared from the depths of the forbidden area like a chilling gale.
This unruly spiritual energy was bound to submerge this final sanctuary in a very short time.
Soon, the region designated by the Silvermoon Empire as a trial ground would also succumb to the disturbance of spiritual energy.
When that time came, the intricacies within would be obscured, even to the Veil of Illusions.
For the cultivators from the five major families and seven cities participating in the trials, those with lesser cultivation would struggle to survive. They would be well-advised to depart as quickly as possible.
"I hope that, in my absence, my clansmen have not encountered similar invaders."
Upon his return, Lee Yu couldn't help but worry.
Had the trial-taker from Wethtalos not had the Soul Orb, victory might have eluded him.
Without him, if the Lee family, deep within the pit, faced such an invader, would they not suffer grievously?
...
Empire General Lee Yuchan, braving the harsh winds, ventured into the depths of the forbidden area.
Her complexion was ashen, clearly indicating an excessive depletion of Soul Power.
Lurking ten miles behind her, clusters of green ghost flames flickered in the void.
The ghost flames, like eerie green eyes or lanterns swaying in the emptiness, relentlessly pursued her.
The soul blades she wielded were suppressed by the clusters of green ghost flames, also hindered by the sudden frigidness of the land.
In contrast, the green ghost flames seemed to grow stronger, as if they were steadily gaining power.
Returning to the empire was no longer an option. Her only chance of survival was to venture deeper into the most fearsome place.
"Feng Xin of Wethtalos City has been overtaken by an alien entity, and it's not from the Crimson Sun Empire."
At her level of attainment, she knew her adversary and had deduced that the one who had possessed Feng Xin and battled her was not an agent of the opposing empire.
"Daylight is increasingly fleeting, and the nights are unbearably long."
She often gazed into the night sky, feeling as though the days were but brief moments, while the nights, under the high, cold moon, seemed to stretch on endlessly.
Every time Feng Xin, or rather the entity that had taken possession of her, launched an attack, it was under the cover of night.
During the day, Feng Xin's presence was there, but it merely followed at a distance, never launching into a frenzied assault.
"What kind of aberration is she? She's still growing stronger. With each passing day, she gains more power. The Silvermoon Empire should have noticed something amiss by now; why has no one investigated further?"
Lee Yuchan was plagued by doubts, yet she found no answers.
At last, one day, she ventured into a different region of the Moonfall Sanctuary and, to her surprise, the oppressive force and shadow that had been clinging to Feng Xin seemed to vanish.
Feng Xin did not pursue her further.
But by then, Lee Yuchan was too drained to turn back and delve into the mystery.
"I can only hope that the other trial-takers haven't encountered such an adversary; otherwise, I fear they would be completely wiped out," Lee Yuchan mused with a tinge of bitterness.
Unbeknownst to her, the formidable Feng Xin was actually looking out for her.
The seven guardians she had were instructed to confront the younger participants in the trial.
Why would she personally bother with a mere junior from the Golden Sanctum?
...
One by one, figures emerged from the pit, standing in the wilderness or in the slightly lower stone caves.
Members of the Lee, Su, and Lin families, along with the trial-takers from Asenalenor, no longer stood vigil at the pit but had come out.
This shift was prompted by Zhan Tianxiang sharing Yu Yuan's speculation.
The invaders aimed to ensnare them all in one fell swoop!
Previously, no one would have given credence to Yu Yuan's conjectures.
Now, however, the tide had turned.
Led by Yan Lu, Su Yan, and Zhan Tianxiang, and including Lin Zhuyun, they all chose to trust Yu Yuan's judgment, believing that the enigmatic alien souls were herding them together for a mass execution.
Under these circumstances, remaining in the pit was tantamount to trapping themselves for the invaders.
"Yu Yuan knew this all along, yet he only led the people of Asvetaesi up without warning us sooner. What is he playing at?" Lee Yuan from the Lee family, full of grievances after leading his kin upward, vented his frustrations to Zhan Tianxiang and Han Hui, "Was his plan to sacrifice us, so that when the time came, he could lead the survivors of Asvetaesi to escape on their own?"
Han Hui remained silent.
Zhan Tianxiang cleared his throat and said, "Yu Yuan is concerned that no one will believe what he says."
He was well aware that Lee Yuan's accusations were, in fact, the truth.
Yu Yuan had indeed intended to sacrifice others in order to make his escape.
If it hadn't been for him insisting on coming along, they might never have uncovered the truth.
"You seem quite unhappy with me."
Having taken a Restoration Potion, Yu Yuan felt his spirit return to its peak condition, and his heaven soul became even more refined. He emerged from the pit and declared, "If you're unhappy, then so be it. We've decided to withdraw from the trials in the forbidden area. Moreover, we won't wait here any longer; we're leaving immediately."
Behind him, all the members of Asvetaesi were geared up and ready to depart.
"Retreat?" Lee Yuan was taken aback.
"Do we stay and wait for death?" Yu Yuan looked at him as if he were a fool. "The invader has been here this long, and Lee Yu has been missing just as long, with no response from the empire. What does that tell you?"
"What does it mean?" Lee Yuan asked.
"It means that those who were watching us must have run into trouble themselves," Yu Yuan said with a cold laugh. "And all the eyes that were hidden in the forbidden area must have failed. If that's not the case, then the situation is even more dire."
"Perhaps the guards and generals at the entrance of the forbidden area are already dead."
