“Yunjin, you can’t listen to him! If the Divine Token falls into Chu Qing’s hands, none of us will survive!” Jiang Qingxue shouted to Mu Yunjin, fearing she would make the wrong decision.

Better one person dies than everyone perishes together.

Hearing Jiang Qingxue’s words, Chu Qing’s eyes revealed cruelty. He pulled a hairpin from Jiang Qingxue’s bun and drew a bloody line across her neck.

“Mu Yunjin, have you thought it through? Are you certain that for the sake of your so-called justice, you’re willing to watch your mother die?”

“You’ve already lost a master. Do you want to lose your mother too?”

When Jiang Qingxue heard Chu Qing reveal the news that Daoist Feng Xuan had passed away, her expression shifted. She opened her mouth to speak but saw that Mu Yunjin remained expressionless, showing no unusual reaction.

Mu Yunjin stared at Chu Qing, giving a cold smile without indicating her next move.

After a moment, while Chu Qing was still unable to gauge Mu Yunjin’s emotions, she spoke slowly, “Chu Qing, you still have a vial of Divine Phoenix blood, don’t you?”

“Is it that the Divine Token, combined with the Divine Phoenix blood, can summon dead spirits and soldiers?” Mu Yunjin said as she took a few steps forward.

…

Chu Qing instinctively stepped back. As he struggled to decipher Mu Yunjin’s emotions, the secret voice beside him came again, “Furuan is someone who talks tough but has a soft heart. Despite what she says, she absolutely cannot bear to see her mother hurt. Cut her mother’s wound deeper and see what happens!”

Chu Qing didn’t know who this person was. The voice sounded like that purple-robed woman, but also somewhat different.

But hearing how well she understood Mu Yunjin, Chu Qing could only follow her advice.

After all, he truly had no other options now.

Chu Qing pursed his lips tightly and pushed the hairpin deeper, cutting deeper this time. He captured the fleeting concern in Mu Yunjin’s eyes.

Indeed, she couldn’t bear to let Jiang Qingxue die.

At this moment, Mu Yunjin’s heart was extremely conflicted. Before her was Jiang Qingxue, held hostage by Chu Qing, and below were the severely injured, dying Yun Lianqing and Yun Shuangleng.

Now, two paths lay before her.

First, give up the Divine Token. If she could find a way to take it back later, that would be ideal, but if the Divine Token fell into Chu Qing’s hands again, he would certainly not be careless this time. If he activated the Divine Token, then all of them would lose their lives.

Second, sacrifice Jiang Qingxue, then eliminate Chu Qing…

Mu Yunjin bit her lip. Both paths required sacrifice.

“Mu Yunjin, have you decided? If you haven’t, then this prince will decide for you.” Chu Qing’s eyes gradually darkened, the bloodthirsty aura growing stronger.

Ignoring the killing intent in Chu Qing’s eyes, Mu Yunjin calculated the time and spoke softly, “Fine, I’ll give you the Divine Token.”

“You’ve made up your mind?” Fearing a trick from Mu Yunjin, Chu Qing was especially cautious.

“Enough talk! Release her!” Mu Yunjin spoke angrily.

Jiang Qingxue frowned, wanting to stop Mu Yunjin from such action, but not knowing what she was truly thinking, she dared not speak for fear of ruining Mu Yunjin’s plan.

“Hand over the Divine Token, and I’ll release the person,” Chu Qing said.

Mu Yunjin nodded and took out the Divine Token again. It was a pity that the token hadn’t even grown warm in her hands before it had to be given away again.

But it didn’t matter…

There was still time before daybreak.

“Take it!” Mu Yunjin threw the Divine Token to Chu Qing.

Chu Qing, focused only on the Divine Token, pushed Jiang Qingxue forward toward Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin caught Jiang Qingxue, but before she could react, she saw a black shadow dart out from the side and then quickly disappear.

Across from her, Chu Qing also looked bewildered. Just as the Divine Token was about to fall into his hands, it was snatched away by a black shadow.

From that fleeting figure, it was the purple-robed woman.

“Damn it!” Chu Qing cursed.

Across from him, Mu Yunjin suddenly felt like laughing.

At this moment, Feng Cang and Huang Yan rushed over from behind. Seeing the scene before them, Feng Cang became furious, “Who injured my daughter?”

Daughter?

Chu Qing’s eyes tightened. What was going on? How had these people become connected to Feng Cang?

“Him, who else could it be?” Mu Yunjin pointed at Chu Qing in front of her, then sighed, “This bastard forced me to hand over the Divine Token, or else he would kill my mother. I…”

Before she could finish, Feng Cang had already struck out at Chu Qing with his palm.

How could Chu Qing be a match for Feng Cang? After taking three successive palm strikes, his entire chest felt like it was about to burst. The black-clad men nearby tried to rush over but were surrounded by Huang Yan and Hua Ying.

Mu Yunjin helped Jiang Qingxue sit down to the side, then ran to check on Yun Lianqing. “Prince Yun, are you alright?”

“Cough…” Yun Lianqing had suffered the most severe injuries, but fortunately, no vital areas were damaged. “Let me tell you, this prince is really about to die.”

“Master, here!” Hua Ying, who was fighting nearby, threw over a bottle.

Mu Yunjin caught it, opened it, and sniffed—it was ginseng slices.

“Eat this for now to maintain your strength.” Mu Yunjin took out a slice of ginseng and placed it against Yun Lianqing’s lips.

After Yun Lianqing took the ginseng slice, Mu Yunjin moved his body to the side.

With Feng Cang dealing with Chu Qing, Mu Yunjin naturally had no worries there. The only concern now was Lengyuan and the Divine Token.

According to what Feng Cang had said earlier, Lengyuan already knew how to activate the Divine Token. Now that she had seized it, if she also obtained the Divine Phoenix blood, then a great calamity would truly arrive.

With this thought, Mu Yunjin could no longer remain calm. She flew off in the direction where Lengyuan had disappeared.

…

Lengyuan felt that her luck had never been better. Though severely injured, her life wasn’t meant to end, and she had obtained the Divine Token.

Now, all she needed was the Divine Phoenix blood and to wait for daybreak.

Lengyuan thought to herself, her lips curling into a smile, “I wonder if Furuan and the others think I don’t have the Divine Phoenix blood and have let their guard down?”

“Hehe…”

She had the Divine Phoenix blood long ago.

Lengyuan returned to her wooden cabin. Taking advantage of the absence of people around the cabin, she ran back to the dark chamber and opened a mechanism.

The mechanism activated, splitting the wall of the dark chamber in two. Lengyuan stepped inside and directed her spiritual energy toward a box on the table.

After the box sensed Lengyuan’s aura, a purple light flashed, and a transparent porcelain bottle rose from inside. The bottle was filled with deep red blood.

This blood was the Divine Phoenix blood.

Lengyuan took the porcelain bottle and looked at the Divine Phoenix blood inside, gently swirling the bottle and smiling.

She had obtained this bottle of Divine Phoenix blood by chance several decades ago. She had once read in an ancient book that Divine Phoenix blood must have great uses. Later, by coincidence, she encountered a small phoenix in the Tiansheng Continent.

That phoenix was blood-red in color, and with her years of experience, she knew at a glance that this small phoenix would one day become a Divine Phoenix. So she struck, injured it, and took its blood.

Afterward, she had intended to kill the small phoenix because seeing it reminded her of Furuan, the Phoenix Woman.

But unexpectedly, the small phoenix was quite formidable. Despite being severely injured, it managed to escape and eventually fled the Tiansheng Continent.

Though greatly angered, having the Divine Phoenix blood was some consolation.

Now, after several decades, this long-preserved Divine Phoenix blood was finally going to be put to use.

Lengyuan smiled, opened the lid of the porcelain bottle, and slowly dripped the Divine Phoenix blood onto the surface of the Divine Token.

After completing this series of steps, Lengyuan walked out of the dark chamber to the door of the wooden cabin and looked at the sky outside.

It was already the fourth watch of the night…

In less than half an hour, the Divine Token combined with the Divine Phoenix blood would summon dead spirits and soldiers, and fate would begin anew…

…

Mu Yunjin followed the trail and eventually found herself at the wooden cabin to the west.

Somehow, by instinct, she felt that Lengyuan was inside the cabin, but the outside was protected by a demonic barrier that she couldn’t easily enter.

At this moment, Lengyuan also saw Mu Yunjin standing at the entrance. Her eyes narrowed, and her lips curled into a smile, “Furuan, I’m here.”

Hearing Lengyuan’s voice, Mu Yunjin was slightly startled. Seeing that she was indeed in the wooden cabin, her heart sank, and she clenched her fists.

“Could it be that you’re afraid of this demonic barrier?” Lengyuan sneered.

“The Divine Token is with me, and daybreak is near. You’re about to be reduced to ashes.” Lengyuan spoke again when she saw Mu Yunjin remain silent.

Mu Yunjin, of course, knew that Lengyuan was trying to provoke her into entering the demonic barrier and suffering. She looked around, but Chu Li, Imperial Physician An, and the others were nowhere to be seen. Going back to find them now might waste too much time.

After some thought, Mu Yunjin bit her lip and thought, why not try to break the demonic barrier herself?

With this thought, Mu Yunjin didn’t hesitate. She channeled her spiritual power, a red light flashed on her forehead, and two streams of true energy flowed and merged together within her body.

One was from the Xuanling True Scripture.

The other was from Daoist Feng Xuan’s unique secret technique.

Thinking of Daoist Feng Xuan, Mu Yunjin’s heart filled with grief. Master, bless me…

“Break!”

With Mu Yunjin’s voice, a beam of light shot toward Lengyuan’s demonic barrier. When the light touched the barrier, black smoke surged out from within.

The two forces met, neither yielding to the other.

After a while, the black smoke began to be devoured bit by bit by Mu Yunjin’s spiritual power.

Mu Yunjin narrowed her eyes and stepped into the demonic barrier.

As her body touched the barrier, she suddenly felt a piercing pain. Looking down, she saw that some remnants of the demonic barrier surrounded her body, seemingly feeding on her flesh and blood to survive.

Mu Yunjin gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, and continued to run forward.

When she finally reached the wooden cabin, Mu Yunjin saw Lengyuan.

Lengyuan looked at Mu Yunjin, her lips slightly raised, her eyes revealing contempt as she said, “Originally, I was worried that being severely injured, I wouldn’t be your match. Now that you’re also injured, it’s fair. Truly worthy of being my dear sister, Lengyuan.”

“Lengyuan, you certainly won’t be my match! After daybreak, it will be your death!”