The purple-clad lady…

That woman…

Qiuye and Black Robe’s expressions darkened, their hands slightly clenched into fists, unable to decide.

Since entering the Divine Continent, their every move had been under that woman’s control. Given her eccentric nature and eerily formidable skills, they had always avoided her when possible. Now, to actively seek her out…

They weren’t sure if she would agree.

After a while, Qiuye sighed, “I’ll go find that woman.”

With those words, he flew away.

The remaining Black Robe, Chu Qing, and Shen Wanning stayed in place, watching the bamboo forest burn to ashes, their hearts stirring with waves of emotion.

“Let’s retreat for now,” Black Robe said to the two, then glanced at the bamboo forest before backing away.

Shen Wanning pressed her lips together and immediately followed behind Black Robe.

Chu Qing remained standing, giving the bamboo forest a profound look before revealing a faint smile.

When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.

You mustn’t disappoint this King…

“The bamboo forest is destroyed. Now we can enter safely. Even if there are hidden weapons, we can detect them immediately,” Imperial Tutor An glanced at the forest and took the lead forward.

Mu Yunjin and the others followed.

At this moment, Qiqi, who had escorted Yun Lianqing and the others, ran back quickly. “Master, Master!”

Hearing Qiqi’s voice, Mu Yunjin paused and turned to look at the urgency on Qiqi’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Mu Yunjin’s brow furrowed.

After running closer, Qiqi lowered her voice and whispered, “When I was coming back, I saw Qiuye. He was heading west, and seemed to be in quite a hurry.”

“Fortunately, he didn’t see me, otherwise I might not have made it back…” Qiqi patted her chest and caught her breath.

Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow and thought to herself, “The west? Could it be that after seeing us destroy the bamboo forest, he rushed to get reinforcements?”

“Master, what are you saying?” Qiqi hadn’t heard Mu Yunjin.

“Nothing. Let’s enter the bamboo forest first,” Mu Yunjin put her arm around Qiqi’s shoulders, and they walked in together.

Qiqi noticed the black smoke still rising from the forest, and her mouth twitched, “Did I miss some excitement?”

“Hmm, you could say so,” Mu Yunjin said with a smile.

“What a pity…” Qiqi frowned. As she approached the bamboo forest and saw how completely burned it was, she knew she had missed quite a spectacle.

With the large area of bamboo forest destroyed, after entering, the group felt no difference from the outside.

After walking a few steps, Imperial Tutor An suddenly stopped and looked down at the ground.

Mu Yunjin lowered her head to look, and upon seeing the footprints on the ground, she laughed lightly, “It seems Qiqi is truly the only one who missed the show earlier.”

“Four types of sole patterns. It appears there were four people here just now,” Daoist Wind Xuan observed calmly.

“They’ve all scattered now. Could it be they’re afraid and have gone into hiding?” Mu Yunjin looked around, deliberately raising her voice.

Qiqi stepped forward and echoed Mu Yunjin, “That’s right, they must be hiding out of fear.”

“Hmph, gutless rats!” Daoist Wind Xuan snorted with disdain.

Not far away, Shen Wanning heard everything Mu Yunjin and the others said. Biting her lip, she looked angrily at Black Robe beside her. “Brother Lan, these people think they have victory in hand and are so arrogant. Who knows if Qiuye can persuade the purple-clad woman to come? What should we do now?”

Black Robe, his eyes crimson, quietly listened to Shen Wanning before speaking softly, “Victory in hand? Heh heh…”

“In Ping Feng Cliff, Murong Rusu has exhausted his lifelong power to save the little girl Yuer, who was severely poisoned. He’s practically useless now. The dark spirit energy in Huang Yan’s body hasn’t been completely cleared, and he’s still under our control…”

“As for Chu Li…”

“Heh, he has Eagle Eye vision and cannot see at night. The purple-clad woman once gave Rong Min a half-moon-shaped jade pendant, asking him to perform a play at the Water Cloud Temple. Now that the pendant is in Chu Li’s hands. Do you know what that pendant is?” Black Robe looked at Shen Wanning.

Shen Wanning looked confused and shook her head, suddenly realizing that although she had been by Black Robe’s side every day, there was much she didn’t know.

“That half-moon jade pendant is called Eclipse.”

Hearing this name, Shen Wanning frowned, “Eclipse? Isn’t that the divine artifact mentioned in ancient books? It’s said to be able to obscure celestial phenomena and reverse day and night?”

“Correct, that’s the divine artifact. Now the other half of the jade pendant is in the purple-clad woman’s hands. She can use her piece to control the celestial phenomena around Chu Li’s location. That’s the exquisite function of this half-moon artifact.”

“What if Chu Li discards the pendant?” Shen Wanning hypothesized.

Black Robe shook his head, “Useless. Once activated, to deactivate it, one must control the piece in the purple-clad woman’s hands. Otherwise, all efforts are in vain.”

“Right now, Chu Li is facing complete darkness, along with some formations we’ve set up. Even if he manages to escape alive, it will likely hold him up for some time.”

“That’s truly formidable. Who exactly is this purple-clad woman? How did she even manage to trap Chu Li?” Shen Wanning was intensely curious about the purple-clad woman.

“That woman appears young and calls herself a Supreme Deity, but her nature is ruthless and venomous, not at all befitting a deity,” Black Robe said.

Upon hearing this, Shen Wanning leaned against a nearby rock, “Now that Murong Rusu has lost his power and Chu Li is trapped, they’ve already lost two major allies.”

“Once Qiuye brings the purple-clad lady and she lures Mu Yunjin away, we can proceed with our original plan to deal with Imperial Tutor An and Wind Xuan first…”

“Then we’ll have no more concerns.”

Black Robe nodded, then glanced forward, and his eyes darkened, “They’re coming closer. We still don’t know if the purple-clad lady can be persuaded. Let’s first summon those dozen tribal chiefs to hold them off for a while.”

Although these chiefs don’t have much reputation in the martial world, they each possess considerable skills. They can hold them off for some time!”

Hearing Black Robe’s words, Shen Wanning immediately complied, flicking her wrist to release a signal rod from her sleeve.

Then, they both left together.

Mu Yunjin and her group walked for quite a while without seeing anyone, which was beginning to frustrate them.

What was the point of these people hiding like cowards?

Seeing that night was falling and they were unfamiliar with the terrain, continuing forward would be increasingly disadvantageous. Some had already suggested returning to the snow mountain to rest and recuperate, then coming back in the morning when it was light.

“Yes, let’s return to the snow mountain. After dark, traps become harder to detect,” Hua Ying spoke up, touching the wound on her neck that seemed to emit a chill.

Mu Yunjin agreed and looked toward Imperial Tutor An and Daoist Wind Xuan.

It was mainly up to the two seniors to make the decision.

“Let’s head back then. I’m getting tired too. Being trapped in that miasma for over two hours today—not dying there is a testament to my years of dedicated cultivation,” Imperial Tutor An said jokingly, raising an eyebrow.

“Let’s go. I brought some wine. Perfect for warming up on the snow mountain,” Daoist Wind Xuan said, ready to turn back.

Imperial Tutor An scrutinized him and teased, “With your empty sleeves, where did you hide the wine?”

“Hmph, the mountain man has his clever ways!”

“Hahaha.”

Just as the atmosphere was light and they were preparing to return, there was a sudden flash of cold light from both sides. Then, more than a dozen burly, dark-skinned men surrounded them.

These men all carried weapons, and a wide variety at that.

“Oh, just mention wine and they all appear. By the looks of it, have you come to steal our wine?” Imperial Tutor An raised his eyebrows at Daoist Wind Xuan beside him, looking mysterious.

Daoist Wind Xuan chuckled, “Anyone who can steal wine from Grandpa Wind Xuan probably hasn’t been born yet!”

Hearing the two old men’s banter and seeing how they weren’t taking them seriously at all, the dozen or so tribal chiefs were instantly enraged. Without a word, they brandished their weapons and charged.

Imperial Tutor An and Daoist Wind Xuan’s smiles vanished as they spread out to engage the attackers separately.

Meanwhile, Mu Yunjin had been watching the scene when suddenly the fighting broke out. Looking up, she saw people swinging weapons at her from both front and back.

Mu Yunjin didn’t hesitate. Seeing they all used weapons, she pulled out her Phoenix Tail Whip and quickly counterattacked.

At first, Mu Yunjin was just testing, but after several of her whip strikes were easily avoided, she realized these men were skilled. Every time they swung their weapons, they carried waves of true energy.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin became more serious and began fighting in earnest.

The sky gradually darkened, and a bright moon rose.

Under the moonlight, the area around the bamboo forest was filled with flashing blades and swords, and a rising killing intent.

“Aiyah, continuing like this, who knows how long we’ll be entangled! Forget about martial world etiquette—Grandpa Wind Xuan needs to get serious!”

During the battle, Daoist Wind Xuan’s impatient voice rang out.

As soon as he finished speaking, Daoist Wind Xuan flew into the air, his robes fluttering. A silver-white light flashed across his palm, and with a sweep of his sleeve, he struck at several tribal chiefs near him.

Seeing Daoist Wind Xuan use mystical arts, the others gathered their true energy and activated their mystical arts.

The next second, countless explosions echoed through the night.

“Bang…”

“Bang bang…”

A moment later, several injured tribal chiefs, seeing this situation, didn’t retreat or try to escape. Instead, they all burst into laughter—

“Hahaha, excellent! I’ve been a chief in the frontier for so many years and haven’t met a worthy opponent in ages. This trip is truly interesting!”

“Indeed! I’d almost forgotten what pain feels like. That palm strike from the woman just now, it hurt! If I hadn’t dodged quickly, I might have been split into pieces!”

“This is too exciting! Even if it costs me my life tonight, I must compete with these people to determine who’s superior.”

“…”

Hearing these tribal chiefs speak, Mu Yunjin’s mouth twitched a few times. They were all strange characters.

But from their tone, they didn’t seem to be particularly evil or malicious people.

“Chiefs, fighting like this isn’t interesting. How about we make a wager?”