Chapter 298: Declining Momentum

In a certain area of the Saint Puppet Sect, Bai Suyuan's clothes were completely stained black with blood, the half-wet fabric clinging to her body, making her figure appear even more delicate and well-proportioned. Even her snow-white earlobes, like pearls, were crusted with blood scabs resembling red agates.

However, most of the blood on her belonged to the Shifang Tower cultivators, with a fair amount also splattered from the Saint Puppet Sect cultivators nearby. Only a wound on her right arm was caused by a sneak attack from a treacherous Shifang Tower cultivator.

That strike was originally aimed at her heart, but at the critical moment, thanks to the peachwood talisman gifted by Bai Fengyi, it only injured her arm and saved her life.

She retreated to the center of the crowd, took the last pill to restore her magical power, and silently absorbed its potency. In her heart, she no longer felt the initial fear and unease.

Previously, whether being hunted by the demon-possessed ancestor Bai Songshi or engaging in battles during cultivation training, they were all small-scale, one-on-one fights. Compared to the hellish scene before her, like flesh being ground by a millstone, those were far too easy and carefree.

Blessed with exceptional talent, she had experienced the cold and warmth of her family's changes since childhood. Her nature was never that of a delicate girl. The bloody battle now further awakened her cold and decisive side. After successive fights, the bottleneck in her cultivation that had long been stuck showed a slight sign of loosening.

Bai Suyuan believed that if she could survive this safely, as long as she returned to seclusion for a dozen or so years, she would surely break through successfully.

But could she survive this time?

A shadow of gloom flickered in her beautiful eyes as she looked up toward the high sky.

Ten thousand zhang above, amidst the dense dark clouds, a massive hole a hundred zhang wide had been torn open, stretching for thousands of li, magnificent in scale.

Inside the hole, sword qi surged like ten thousand dragons rolling against walls, churning the chaotic primordial energy of heaven and earth, constantly tearing at the void, producing thunderous roars that shook the ears.

Through the hole, one could see a snow lotus shadow so large its entirety was beyond view, slowly rotating. Petals flew out, dotted with white radiance that gathered, brilliant as stars, from which waves of astonishing energy emanated.

A colossal sword shadow was suspended within that starlight, constantly emitting sharp clangs, yet it could not press down or break through the snow lotus.

The two remained deadlocked.

Yun Ni stood like a lotus flower in the center of the flower shadow, hand seals forming, her mouth continuously producing intoxicating soft chants. A pink hue rose in her eyes, and her entire being seemed shrouded in a hazy morning light and flower shadow, captivating all who saw her, making them forget themselves.

As her soft chants continued, countless barefoot women flew out from the stamen, stepping on the snow lotus petals and leaping into the high sky.

Above the clouds, a massive scroll unfolded in a hazy light, within which hundreds of barefoot women, with colorful ribbons around their waists, danced in the air. Some were like peacocks spreading their tails, some like colorful phoenixes looking back, some holding pipas backward, some with skirts flying... a scene of breathtaking beauty.

If any mortal were to witness this scene, even for a moment, their soul would immediately leave their body and fly into the scroll, becoming a trace of nourishment for those flying women.

Even cultivators who came too close, if their minds were unsettled and their Dao methods shallow, would fare little better than mortals, at most lasting a little longer before inevitably perishing, their souls scattered.

In the high sky directly in front of the scroll, Lu Ji still stood alone with his sword, suspended in the void.

His clothes were smooth and flawless, without a single wrinkle even under the fierce wind at such heights.

He no longer seemed like a man but like a meticulous and extremely sharp sword, as if no wind in the world could stir a ripple on him.

His eyes did not look at the scroll in the sky but were fixed on Yun Ni within the snow lotus shadow. A faint pink hue had appeared in his left eye, while his right eye remained clear as ever, unchanged.

Over the sea thousands of li away, a nine-star golden sword, over a thousand zhang long, shone brilliantly in the high sky, gleaming as it slashed down toward the scar-faced man on the sea surface.

Where the golden sword passed, the void trembled. Within the layers of golden sword shadows, tiny white light points emerged, as if surrounded by a dazzling golden starry sky.

"Two mere True Immortals holding me back for so long is enough to boast about, but you won't have the chance," the scar-faced man said, his clothes torn in many places, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

With that, he waved his hand, and a large black flag, about a zhang tall, appeared in his palm.

The flag surface was somewhat damaged, with swirling patterns embroidered in golden thread at the center, surrounded by ancient runes, from which emanated astonishingly powerful auras.

He gripped the flagpole with both hands, chanted for a moment, and then swung it fiercely.

"Rustle, rustle"

The broad flag surface rippled violently like ocean waves, flapping noisily. The embroidered runes flew off the flag, releasing blinding golden light that covered half the sky.

At the same time, the golden swirls on the flag seemed to come alive, spinning violently one after another, flying off the flag and stirring up a fierce storm in midair.

As the starry shadow carried by the golden sword approached these swirls, it immediately felt an extremely strong pulling force, and large portions were swallowed by the swirls.

As the starry sky diminished, the power of the nine-star golden sword weakened. By the time it actually struck the black flag, the sword had shrunk to less than a hundred zhang, merely causing the flag to tremble before being repelled.

Lin Jiu reached out to catch the golden sword as it flew back, staggering slightly. He felt that his celestial spiritual power had been consumed too much and was now flowing sluggishly.

"How is it?" he asked, turning sideways.

"Almost there... recover first," Bai Fengyi said, standing up with a pale face.

Earlier, when she and Lin Jiu were attacking the scar-faced man together, he deliberately exposed a weakness to lure her in, then struck her left shoulder with a golden ring artifact. Though her protective treasure prevented serious injury, her celestial spiritual power scattered and she couldn't mobilize it for a time.

Fortunately, Lin Jiu shielded her in time, giving her a chance to catch her breath and take pills to recover.

Now, the sleeve on her left shoulder and arm was completely shredded, and even the front of her robe was torn open, revealing a patch of crystal-clear, snow-white tender skin.

Beneath the water-blue bodice, layers of white silk bandages were wrapped around her chest, suppressing the originally magnificent peaks somewhat.

She switched positions with Lin Jiu, moving to the front to face the scar-faced man, while Lin Jiu took two pills and threw them into his mouth, fully absorbing their potency.

The scar-faced man snorted coldly and was about to fly forward when his expression suddenly changed. He turned his head toward the main island of the Saint Puppet Sect.

After a moment's hesitation, he waved his hand to put away the black flag, his escape light flared, and he vanished from the spot, instantly teleporting away.

"Not good!"

Seeing this, Bai Fengyi, without even calling out to Lin Jiu, immediately gave chase.

If she couldn't hold this man back and he had the chance to join forces with the sword-bearing man, then her master Yun Ni would be in danger.

However, with her True Immortal-level escape speed, how could she catch up to a Golden Immortal? In the blink of an eye, the scar-faced man had already reached the side of the sword-bearing man.

Seeing the strange flying scene in the high sky ahead, the scar-faced man's eyes showed a hint of caution. Then, noticing the peculiar state of the sword-bearing man's eyes, he let out a strange, low shout.

"Duo..."

This shout seemed to come from deep in his throat, extremely low but highly penetrating.

Upon hearing this sound, the pink hue in the sword-bearing man's left eye immediately flickered and receded like a tide, both eyes turning clear.

He took a step forward, his long sword suddenly rising. With the other hand, he formed two fingers and ran them along the blade. Immediately, streams of snow-white sword qi surged from the sword, turning into white dragons that coiled around the blade, writhing continuously.

This move seemed sudden but had been building for a long time.

Earlier, he had been preparing an attack, but at the critical moment of execution, he inadvertently fell victim to Yun Ni's secret technique, delaying it until now. However, because of the prolonged suppression, the momentum stored in the sword was now even more ferocious.

A clear, resonant dragon's roar rang out!

A snow-white sword qi, a thousand zhang long, seemed to tear through the void as it slashed across the high sky. The white dragons coiled around the sword instantly swelled a hundredfold, writhing and twisting as they charged toward Yun Ni.

Above the nine heavens, the wind and clouds changed violently, gales howled, dark clouds surged, and thousands of dragons loomed faintly within, their momentum immense.

Yun Ni, within the snow lotus shadow, watched all this. Though her expression did not change, she sighed inwardly.

If it were an ordinary Golden Immortal cultivator, being worn down by her "Illusory Woman Flying Heaven Scroll" would have already lost their mind. Even if not controlled by her, they would have become immobile puppets, incapable of further battle.

But the sword-bearing man's mental fortitude greatly exceeded her expectations. Although he seemed to have fallen for her secret technique earlier, he had immediately sealed his six senses and protected his mind.

Even without the scar-faced man's interruption, if she wanted to barely imprison him with this technique, she would need at least half a ke.

If that succeeded, she could free herself and first drive back the scar-faced man, possibly resolving the crisis here.

But now...