The war between the Yin-Yang realms had restarted for over ten days. Since opening the Eastern Extreme Ghost Gate, they had been trapped at this Ghost Gate Pass battlefield, mutually probing with the extreme domain, trying to understand the changes in each other’s strength and the cards they held over these eleven sixty-year cycles, so neither side was in any hurry.
But there were some unusual aspects on the Nineteen Continents’ side.
The reason lay with Yashan.
As a true disciple under Kunwu’s Hengxu Zhenren, Xie Buchen naturally knew that the situation was not as simple as what the outside world had spread—that “Jian Chou was delayed in coming due to injuries from the battle in the snow region.”
After all, it wasn’t only her who hadn’t come.
Besides her, the many Yashan cultivators and Mingri Xinghai cultivators who had originally rushed to the snow region for a surprise attack on Xinmi, and even Qu Zhengfeng, who had already become the Sword Emperor, had all failed to arrive!
Some secretly speculated whether Qu Zhengfeng, this traitor who had already betrayed Yashan, had done something while the Nineteen Continents’ forces were depleted. But the news coming from the Nineteen Continents completely contradicted such speculation.
The Nineteen Continents were calm and peaceful; nothing had happened at all.
So what exactly were Jian Chou, Qu Zhengfeng, and the other nearly thousand cultivators who should have rushed to the extreme domain battlefield planning to do?
Everything had an answer at this moment.
The instant he saw the seductive female cultivator mixed among this group of extreme domain Wuchang clan ghost cultivators!
The brief exchange of glances, in this flash of lightning and spark of flint, seemed like spreading time, stretched from a small, inconspicuous point into a thin line.
This end was him, that end was her.
“Swish!”
In this chaotic battle under siege, she merely extended her slender palm. Her long, tender white fingers reached up to her head, actually pulling out the crimson glass hairpin from her hair. With five fingers spread, the intricately carved hairpin transformed into a bright red glass precious fan.
The fan surface wasn’t large. The front was delicately painted with gold mud depicting the kind of seductive female demons from many legendary stories of the mortal world that led people to corruption. Between half-opened and half-closed eyes and brows, there was also shocking allure, clearly bearing some resemblance to its master’s style.
What was painted on the back, however, were the ghosts of hell.
Black water flowing, sharp claws and fangs, white bones and skulls!
She flipped her hand, and the glass precious fan spun in her palm. When it flew out, it revealed a seductive, lingering intent, yet after spinning once in mid-air, when it returned, it was already overflowing with stern killing intent!
“Bang bang bang!”
The lightning striking from beneath the black clouds that covered the sky so densely that not even wind could pass through was originally formless, yet now it was actually cut apart by the tangible fan surface, instantly collapsing!
Explosive sounds erupted everywhere, and the pressure on everyone in the formation suddenly lightened.
In the instant Jian Chou met Xie Buchen’s gaze, she drew her fan and struck. When the fan returned to her hand, her gaze had already shifted away. Though her face appeared calm, her heart was already surging with turbulent waves!
She understood Xie Buchen too well.
Those bygone times always leave some imprint on a person. Although she had resolutely cast aside the obstacles of the past that held her back, wholeheartedly cherishing the present time and living in this moment, this instant, no one could deny that in a certain sense, people are always ruled by their past.
With just one glance, Xie Buchen had recognized her.
She too needed only one glance to judge that Xie Buchen had recognized her!
A thousand thoughts, ten thousand considerations, all emerged chaotically from her mind at this moment like an army setting out, causing her to put aside her previous question of “how exactly did Xie Buchen pass through the Ghost Gate Pass” while realizing an even more crucial, even more fatal problem!
—What should she do?
Being within the formation, she couldn’t immediately discern how many people Xie Buchen had brought, but those who could come to the Nineteen Continents’ battlefield must have considerable cultivation, not to mention having stealthily infiltrated such a dangerous place as the Ghost Gate Pass.
There might not be many people, but they were definitely very strong!
The Wuchang clan ghost cultivators on the extreme domain’s side appeared to have “numerous ghosts and great momentum,” but aside from the few leaders and a small number of evil ghosts with considerable strength, they were all scattered soldiers hastily conscripted from the eighteenth level of hell. Even with their large numbers, under the current circumstances of being ambushed without any preparation, how could they possibly defeat the opponent’s elite forces?!
Damn it!
This was bad!
The moment she realized this problem, beyond the blazing killing intent in Jian Chou’s heart, another wave of suppressed, stifling anger was added!
Obviously, Xie Buchen hadn’t come specifically to kill her. When he saw her in the formation, there was clearly unexpected surprise in his eyes as well.
So this trip, they must have another purpose.
Taking great risks, entering the ghost gate, ambushing a group of scattered soldiers halfway, and happening to be those heading to the watchtower—without even thinking, one could know that Xie Buchen’s ultimate goal was also the watchtower!
But the problem lay precisely here!
Xie Buchen wanted to ambush their group to obtain information related to the watchtower; Jian Chou was hiding among this group, also wanting to follow to the watchtower to do something.
Both sides were in an awkward position, and had perfectly collided at this moment!
Every battle must have victory and defeat.
If the extreme domain’s Wuchang clan side won, then the Nineteen Continents’ cultivators opposite would all suffer, and it would definitely alert the enemy. Whether Xie Buchen died or not was secondary; if there was any mistake that affected the battle situation, that would be the real problem.
If the Nineteen Continents’ cultivators won, she and Qu Zhengfeng could certainly take advantage of the chaos to escape without exposing their identities, but they would also completely lose the advantage of being infiltrated on the extreme domain’s side.
Because the person with the highest cultivation here was Elder Kong Yin. She and Qu Zhengfeng were disguised as Lian Zhao and Xiao Mou. If Kong Yin died but these two could still escape safely, it would inevitably arouse suspicion, and the two of them didn’t have the ability to deceive the Eight Directions Yama Palace without being seen through.
Xie Buchen hadn’t come early, hadn’t come late, but came at exactly this moment—if this wasn’t bad timing, what was?!
As such thoughts floated through her mind, the fierce killing intent in Jian Chou’s heart gradually intensified, pressing down like dark clouds.
Now she was Lian Zhao, while Xie Buchen was still Xie Buchen.
Xie Buchen could recognize that she was Lian Zhao, but the others traveling with him might not be able to.
The enemy was in the open, she was in the dark!
Xie Buchen’s cultivation was merely at the Out-of-Body stage, while she had already reached Void Refining!
She could kill him!
And it was an excellent opportunity that had never existed before and might never appear again!
But there was also a price…
“They’re cultivators from the Nineteen Continents! They’re cultivators from the Nineteen Continents!”
“Don’t run around!”
“Those who flee from battle shall be killed without mercy!”
“Get out of the way!!!”
…
In this narrow world trapped by the formation, the Wuchang clan ghost cultivators finally recovered from their initial shock after experiencing that first wave of chaotic bombardment.
Elder Kong Yin was simultaneously struck by three lightning bolts, appearing somewhat disheveled.
However, he was after all already at the Golden Body realm of cultivation. Seeing that these ghost soldiers he had conscripted had scattered like loose sand under the surprise attack, he was extremely annoyed and angrily shouted while suddenly exhaling a breath. A circle of faint golden light actually surged around his body!
The “Golden Body” realm called such in the extreme domain was roughly equivalent to the Out-of-Body realm of the Nineteen Continents. It was just that the Nineteen Continents first cultivated the body then the heart, while extreme domain ghost cultivators had no body but had souls, so they first cultivated the soul then the body. The Golden Body realm was the watershed in the cultivation of extreme domain ghost cultivators.
After the soul reached Jade Nirvana, one would practice techniques to condense a golden body.
The golden body was naturally different from a real physical body, but in the extreme domain, it was almost no different from a physical body, except it was stronger and could be used as a means of attack.
What Kong Yin cultivated was the Wuchang clan’s “Phantom Form Golden Body.” Unlike the fierce, domineering, and treacherous path of the Ghost King clan, its power was also inferior, but it was more mysteriously profound.
After the golden light rose, though faint, it completely blocked those countless descending lightning bolts.
At this moment, he looked exactly like a living person with a physical form. As his palms turned, he had quickly formed seals, using himself as the center to prop up a pale golden light shield!
“Quickly come in!”
The aged voice still carried undiminished anger, violent and urgent. This was what Kong Yin shouted to Xue Yin, “Lian Zhao,” “Xiao Mou,” and others nearby who appeared quite disheveled after propping up this light shield.
Xiao Mou had the highest cultivation among these three people. Qu Zhengfeng, disguised as this person, naturally didn’t show too much cowardice, so when he entered the light shield according to Kong Yin’s words, he still appeared composed.
Xue Yin’s luck wasn’t so good.
Those cultivators lying in ambush outside the formation seemed to have already confirmed she was a leader of considerable status. Over ten attacks simultaneously smashed down at her, so that when she entered the light shield, she almost tumbled in headfirst.
At this time, a great wind had already risen in the formation, blowing the withered grass on this wasteland with rustling sounds that actually sounded like the wailing of evil ghosts.
The ghost cultivators were originally ghosts themselves, yet at this moment they still couldn’t help but feel a sense of terror.
Below the originally flat ground covered with coarse sand and gravel, it seemed as if something had come back to life, writhing beneath their feet!
“Watch out below!”
Xue Yin’s face immediately paled in horror as she cried out in alarm!
Elder Kong Yin’s reaction was also extremely swift. Almost the instant he detected the disturbance beneath his feet, he had already leaped into the air, simultaneously raising the pale golden light shield several zhang higher.
Qu Zhengfeng’s eyes flashed as he followed suit, leaping upward.
The next moment, nearly a hundred ferocious stone dragons, carrying hurricanes that could shred everything, burst through from underground, charging toward everyone in the formation!
How narrow was this area within the formation? The crowd inevitably panicked under the sudden attack, and because Elder Kong Yin had just called out, everyone had moved toward him, now completely clustered together. How could they scatter in such a short time?
“Rumble…”
The massive stone dragons rampaged. A single gust of sinister wind could knock down over ten people!
The extreme domain ghost cultivators, who had just calmed down somewhat after adapting to the enemy’s attacks, once again began screaming, and this time even more intensely and miserably than before!
Even Elder Kong Yin himself couldn’t completely avoid them.
Two thick and long stone dragons crashed from both sides of the light shield. The enormous impact force shook him until his face looked terrible, and even the originally stable golden body’s radiance swayed along with it. He almost couldn’t maintain the light shield, and even his complexion turned pale!
And what was even worse…
“Lian Zhao!!!”
Having just stabilized the light shield in mid-air and still in shock, Elder Kong Yin instinctively spread his spiritual sense to check, only to discover one person was missing. Looking again toward the field, he was immediately frightened into a cold sweat!
Lian Zhao was still in the field, still within those attacks that almost filled this entire space!
The seductive figure, which would naturally appear light and graceful on ordinary days, now looked somewhat disheveled.
No one who had been busy dealing with the attacks had noticed that at some point during this chaotic battle, she had already moved very far from them, unable to enter the light shield to take shelter the instant Elder Kong Yin called out to them, much less completely avoid the formation’s concentrated attacks!
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
They were clearly just stone dragons condensed from underground through Daoist techniques, yet when launching attacks, each one seemed to have life, as if they had grown eyes, launching attacks from all sorts of tricky angles!
Massive!
Precise!
Ruthless!
This was Xie Buchen’s formation, and it could also be said, this was Xie Buchen himself!
The power of his formations, Jian Chou had already experienced back in the Killing Red Small Realm. Now that his cultivation had improved several-fold, his understanding of formations was naturally far superior to the past, so even she found it somewhat difficult to handle.
One must know, she wasn’t simply someone with high cultivation.
In that old mansion in the extreme domain’s Wangsi City, she had also learned many formation essentials, yet even so, she could feel the difficulty and level of Xie Buchen’s formation!
Though there was still considerable distance from the old mansion’s master in Wangsi City, given his current strength and realm, he could already be called “reaching the pinnacle of mastery”!
“Boom!”
A stone dragon fully more than a zhang thick once again pounced from Jian Chou’s diagonal front. She wore black robes and red feet, and in just this instant, she drew upon the earth’s yin essence to surround her body. Her snow-white toe actually penetrated through the hurricane brought by the stone dragon’s pounce, landing on that hard stone!
Her form instantly became as light as a feather.
As three to five stone dragons smashed down, she had already gracefully escaped from that hair’s breadth gap!
“Bang bang bang!”
With a wave of the glass precious fan in her hand, ten thousand demonic winds rose from flat ground! Nine parts attacked the countless crisscrossing stone dragons in the field, actually blowing stone chips constantly off those stone dragons, and in the blink of an eye, they had “slimmed down” by a full circle.
The remaining part supported her feet.
The wide black robes instantly billowed up. Jian Chou stepped on fierce wind, held a red fan, like a demonic shadow drifting from the horizon. Just as everyone held their breath in worry for her, she had already landed back within the light shield Elder Kong Yin had propped up without danger.
At this time, the Wuchang clan ghost cultivators and conscripted ghost soldiers trapped in the formation had lost a full thirty percent, and the entire scene looked transparently cold and cruel.
They were within the formation and couldn’t see outside clearly at all.
They only knew their enemies must come from the Nineteen Continents, because the extreme domain didn’t have such sophisticated formations; yet they didn’t know exactly how many enemies they had, or whether the various attacks from outside came from cultivators or from the formation itself that trapped them.
Ghost cultivators only had souls and spirits, no physical shells, so when they were injured they didn’t bleed, but rather lost their soul power.
For a moment, one could only see the formation’s interior changing in countless strange ways, with infinite transformations.
After the black clouds and lightning came stone dragons. After the stone dragons ended, the withered grass that had been trembling in the wind was instantly ignited by deep blue flames! Raging flames burned within the formation!
Those who were slower or hadn’t run fast enough—their soul and spirit bodies, once they touched the flames, began to turn white as if they had been contaminated by some severe poison, and began to scream in agony.
After screaming, they had no strength left to flee.
People fell to the ground, and in the blink of an eye were completely devoured by those flames, leaving nothing behind.
Even though Jian Chou’s actual cultivation far exceeded the Lian Zhao she was currently disguising herself as, after falling into the light shield and looking back at the scene of stone dragons suddenly retracting and blue flames surging to devour people, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat startled!
At the same time, she sensed a gaze falling upon her.
Turning her head, she met Xue Yin’s rather shocked expression, as if she had never imagined she could escape from such a perilous situation using her own abilities.
So Jian Chou learned Lian Zhao’s usual tone and snorted coldly. Even in this critical moment, she didn’t forget to mock Xue Yin: “What, didn’t think I had the ability to escape? Stop looking down on people.”
Xue Yin was once again rendered speechless by her anger. Her previous doubts about Lian Zhao’s strength were instantly washed away by fury, and she no longer had the mind to consider how the other party could escape at such a critical moment. All she could think was that this nemesis was just a blind cat running into a dead mouse, happening to avoid the formation’s attacks.
On Qu Zhengfeng’s side, however, his eyes flickered slightly.
His pale face had no trace of blood, and under the current scene of howling sinister winds and deep blue flames, it revealed a sickly air and stern ghostly aura.
He glanced at Jian Chou, and the meaning couldn’t be clearer—
He knew perfectly well about the near-mortal relationship between Xie Buchen and Jian Chou, and he knew even better that Jian Chou never showed mercy when she struck, and had a temperament of taking revenge when she could.
When Jian Chou had been looking at Xie Buchen earlier, he had been watching Jian Chou.
When she first saw the other party, she hadn’t shown any abnormality, but when she turned to deal with the formation’s attacks, there seemed to be a moment of hesitation.
“What do you plan to do?”
Qu Zhengfeng’s voice clearly rang in her mind.
Jian Chou looked at him silently without speaking, knowing he was asking whether she wanted to take this opportunity to strike at Xie Buchen, and she shook her head almost imperceptibly.
Qu Zhengfeng immediately frowned.
But Jian Chou showed no further indication, much less explained anything at this critical juncture. She simply stood within this relatively safe light shield, observing the outside.
Kong Yin was at the Golden Body realm, with his cultivation fully deployed, the pale golden light screen finally expanded by another layer!
The lightning and stone dragons combined had only killed thirty percent of the ghost cultivators, but these deep blue flames that had just emerged from the ground had appeared for merely a moment, yet had already incinerated twenty percent of the ghost cultivators’ souls!
Not even a speck of ash remained!
The originally nearly thousand-strong ghost soldier force was reduced to less than five hundred in the blink of an eye, all huddled within the light shield Elder Kong Yin had created, like trapped beasts in a cage, utterly disheveled!
Kong Yin had no mind to pay attention to the quarrels and surging undercurrents among the juniors. Only when his gaze swept over this scene of carnage in the field did his expression become thoroughly ugly.
With his abilities, he could only vaguely make out Xie Buchen’s figure.
The two men’s cultivation levels were actually quite similar, so although the formation’s attacks remained fierce, constantly shaking the light shield he had erected, they couldn’t do anything to him for the time being. But this feeling of being ambushed halfway on his own territory was truly terrible!
Not to mention losing so many people!
The conscription of ghost soldiers was already a matter of great importance, and the Wuchang clan had always had a competitive spirit with the other major ghost clans. They had been repeatedly warned not to make any mistakes!
Who would have thought a roadblock would appear halfway!
The angry fire in Kong Yin’s heart instantly burned to its peak, even destroying his rationality, causing his face to contort as he sternly shouted at Xue Yin, Jian Chou, and others beside him: “Are you stupid or do you simply have no brains! Why haven’t you quickly sent word to the watchtower?!!!”
This place was already very close to the watchtower. The ten great ghost clans were responsible for conscripting ghost soldiers from the eighteen levels of hell and had to lead the ghost soldiers to the watchtower, so they naturally had special contact methods with the watchtower for emergency situations.
It was a void talisman.
Crushing this talisman would let the watchtower know they had fallen into a critical situation while also displaying their location.
And this void talisman happened to be with Lian Zhao, who was actually in charge of this ghost soldier conscription—that is, in Jian Chou’s hands!
After Kong Yin’s words fell, everyone’s gazes almost instantly turned over, falling upon her.
Jian Chou also took out that dark purple void talisman.
But the moment her fingers exerted force and was about to crush it, her movements stopped. Those rippling eyes, as they flowed, revealed a few parts half-real, half-false hesitation. She lightly bit her coral lips, also seeming troubled and unwilling about the situation they currently encountered.
Kong Yin was almost using all his strength to activate his Golden Body cultivation to maintain the light shield. How could he have expected this dead seductress to still be hesitant and coquettish at this critical moment? He immediately became anxious: “What are you standing there for? Crush the talisman!”
But Jian Chou looked at him once, then actually closed her five fingers, gripping the void talisman back into her palm.
Everyone was puzzled.
Kong Yin nearly went mad with anxiety, his face turning purple-black.
But she acted as if she hadn’t seen the current critical situation at all. Her previously somewhat annoyed gaze now shifted toward outside the formation.
Xie Buchen’s figure was blurred within the black clouds.
Her originally seductive voice had now turned cold, revealing an indescribable murderous solemnity. Like a bewitchment, she actually sneered coldly at Kong Yin: “Elder Kong has truly become muddled. If we bungle such a major matter as conscripting ghost soldiers, even if the Eight Directions Yama Palace doesn’t pursue it, the clan will never let us off lightly. Since entering the clan, who among us has had an easy path? If we’re held accountable for this and our bright futures are ruined, I don’t know if you’re willing, but I, Lian Zhao—absolutely refuse to accept it!”
Kong Yin’s brow suddenly jumped hard.
At this moment, no one could move their gaze away.
They could only let that slightly hoarse, seductive voice take away all their will, seize their throats, and make them hold their breath in shock!
Jian Chou put away the void talisman, unfurled the glass precious fan again, and said decisively: “We absolutely cannot notify the watchtower to send reinforcements. Those setting up formations to ambush us outside must be important figures from the major sects of the Nineteen Continents. We must capture this person alive and make merit to offset our crime before the Yama Kings!”
The four words “make merit to offset our crime” stunned everyone.
Elder Kong Yin naturally remembered how dismissive and negligent he had been when Lian Zhao and others reminded him that the surrounding situation was wrong, leading to everyone stepping unprepared into the opponent’s trap.
If they really investigated this matter…
Without needing to think carefully, Kong Yin’s forehead was already covered in cold sweat, and only now did he finally calm down.
The dense attacks from all around continued to fall, but within the area covered by the light shield, there was a bone-chilling silence!
No one spoke.
In the silence enveloped by clamor, only the sound of Jian Chou’s bright red fingernails lightly tapping the glass fan ribs in waiting clearly spread out…
“Tap.”
“Tap tap.”
“Tap.”
…
One tap after another, as if tapping according to her mood, without any pattern. Yet no one paid attention to the slight fluctuations that naturally scattered outward with these sounds.
When they transmitted outside the formation, Xie Buchen heard them clearly.
After a moment of stunned silence, what rose from his indifferent and stern eyes was actually unfathomable and treacherous contemplation.
Substituting one thing for another.
Removing the firewood from under the cauldron.
She was mixed among this group of Wuchang clan ghost cultivators and must have her own plans. Now she actually hadn’t taken this excellent opportunity to kill him, but instead wanted to “cooperate” with him…
Should he trust her?