Chapter 299: Try Moving Them, If You Dare

Seeing the sword-light dragon surging forward with overwhelming force, Yun Ni's lips moved slightly as she softly chanted. The pink hue in her eyes gradually turned to pale gold, and the aura around her underwent a dramatic transformation.

Within the massive scroll hanging high in the sky, the colorful garments of nearly a thousand barefoot women gradually blurred and shifted, transforming into suits of golden armor. The pipas, zithers, and other instruments they held also changed into dharma artifacts like demon-suppressing vases and demon-subduing pestles.

The enchanting music that had been spreading through the air also transformed into a sky full of Buddhist chants.

In an instant, the entire scroll shone with brilliant golden light, exuding a solemn and majestic aura.

"Dharma maidens soar through the sky, formation slays ten thousand spirits!" Yun Ni shouted loudly, her eyes blazing with golden light.

As soon as she spoke, the golden-armored dharma maidens on the massive scroll all flew out, hovering in various places in the sky, forming a huge golden formation.

Above the formation, a celestial maiden dharma image a thousand zhang tall coalesced. Her face bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Yun Ni, though lacking some of her seductive charm.

Clad in golden armor and wielding a solid golden dharma sword, she struck at the sword-light dragon of the sword-bearing man.

With a whoosh!

The golden clouds and mist in the sky surged toward the golden dharma sword under its guidance, colliding violently with the snow-white sword light.

High in the sky, thunderous roars continued as golden light exploded everywhere, dyeing the originally pitch-black clouds a pale gold. Gusts of wind blew in all directions, and the snow-white dragon roared freely.

On the main island square below, almost everyone was stunned by the spectacular scene. They stopped their battles and looked up at the sky in unison.

After a brief stalemate, the snow-white dragons eventually broke through the golden light and surged into the golden dharma image.

"Rumble"

A rolling thunder sound rang out, and the golden dharma image split apart from the center, shattering along with the snow-white dragons into a shower of starlight-like fragments.

A tearing sound like ripping silk echoed.

The massive scroll, now empty in the sky, tore apart from the center. Amid intense golden light, it rapidly shrank, falling as two broken scroll shafts.

Yun Ni felt a tightness in her chest. Suppressing the blood rising to her throat, she retrieved the broken scroll shafts.

By then, Bai Fengyi had already reached her side. She hurriedly approached and asked with concern, "Master, are you alright?"

"Nothing serious," Yun Ni said with a bitter smile, waving her hand at her.

Seeing the expression in her eyes, Bai Fengyi's face darkened, and she sighed inwardly.

She knew her master had done her best; the Sacred Puppet Sect was truly beyond saving.

But at this moment, she instead felt a sense of relief. A charming smile appeared on her face as she said, "Master, take Suyuan and leave... In this life, having a master like you, I have no regrets."

Yun Ni's expression darkened. She opened her mouth but ultimately could not say anything else. She could only take Bai Fengyi's hand and fly down to the square.

High in the sky, the sword-bearing man's expression relaxed slightly. He turned to the scar-faced man and said, "Thank you."

"Thank you."

"Fellow Daoist Lu Ji, that fellow Chongluan is up to something. He suddenly left the main island and is now beyond my divine sense range," the scar-faced man said, waving his hand and changing the subject.

"He's someone you brought. It can't be that he took the incomplete immortal puppet on a whim, can it?" Lu Ji's expression shifted slightly as he looked directly at him and asked.

"Probably not. His lineage has never been interested in puppet arts. It might be something else. In any case, I'll contact him later and get that immortal puppet back for you," the scar-faced man said.

"Let's hope so... For now, let's finish off the Sacred Puppet Sect completely," Lu Ji said coldly.

As soon as Yun Ni and the others landed back on the square, the remaining members of the Wuchang Alliance immediately surrounded them.

"Fellow Daoist Lin San, although you are the leader of this mission, if you still try to pressure us with the mission and force us to stay here and die with you, don't blame us for defying orders on the battlefield," one of them immediately said.

He did not use secret transmission but shouted loudly, drawing the attention of those around.

"We have fought to this point and have done our duty."

"Yes, even if this matter goes to the Alliance's Supervisory Department, we are in the right."

The other Wuchang Alliance members immediately chimed in.

Yun Ni first glanced at Bai Suyuan, who stood beside Bai Fengyi, then swept her gaze over the Wuchang Alliance members one by one. She said, "This mission is over. You may leave now."

With that, she took out several storage rings and distributed them to the group.

After receiving their rewards and briefly inspecting them, their eyes lit up with surprise. Except for Bai Suyuan and Lin Jiu, they all turned into streaks of light and flew away.

For some reason, the Shifang Tower members and the green-armored soldiers did not intercept them.

Soon, only Yun Ni and a few others, along with the remaining defeated troops of the Sacred Puppet Sect, were left on the square.

Lin Jiu's gaze shifted between Yun Ni and Bai Suyuan, appearing hesitant.

"You should go too," Yun Ni said with a sigh.

After a moment of silence, Lin Jiu clasped his fists at her, then soared into the air as a rainbow light, flying away.

...

In an empty expanse of the Thunderstorm Ocean, tens of thousands of miles from the Sacred Puppet Sect's main island.

Suddenly, thunder and lightning flashed on the horizon, and a white light burst forth.

A loud thunderclap resounded!

A pillar of lightning as thick as a water vat descended from the sky, crashing into the sea below, churning the waters violently and raising huge waves and vast clouds of white mist.

Then, a figure emerged from the lightning, standing on the water's surface.

This person was tall, with a green ox-head mask covering his face. It was Han Li.

A flash of light appeared in his eyes as he released his divine sense, enveloping the sea area within ten thousand miles.

After a moment, a hint of confusion flickered in his eyes.

"Could I have been wrong? He didn't manage to follow? No..." Han Li muttered to himself, then frowned slightly as he looked toward a certain direction ahead.

On the sea surface a hundred miles away, ripples appeared in the void. Then a mass of black mist emerged, swirling upward, and Chongluan's figure gradually coalesced from within.

Seeing this, Han Li's mouth twitched slightly. He formed hand seals, and lightning flashed around him again as his figure vanished from the center of the lightning array.

A hint of mocking smile appeared in Chongluan's eyes as his figure also faded and disappeared from the spot.

...

On the square, fewer than a thousand survivors of the Sacred Puppet Sect remained. Almost all were injured, their faces filled with grief, and little hope for life left in their eyes.

In their hearts, they had already prepared to sink into the sea along with the main island.

"Master, you should leave too," Bai Fengyi said, taking a deep look at Bai Suyuan.

"Ancestor..." Bai Suyuan's eyes glistened as she murmured.

"Cultivate well with your master. Don't think about revenge until your cultivation level is sufficient," Bai Fengyi sighed, removing the storage bracelet from her arm and placing it on Bai Suyuan's wrist, instructing her.

"Suyuan will remember your teachings..." Bai Suyuan nodded heavily after a moment of silence.

"Are you really not coming with us? If I just take the two of you, even if I have to sacrifice ten thousand years of cultivation, they won't be able to stop me," Yun Ni frowned, transmitting to Bai Fengyi.

But Bai Fengyi only smiled at her and shook her head gently, saying nothing.

Seeing her resolve, Yun Ni did not insist. She took Bai Suyuan's hand, and her body glowed with escape light, ready to fly away.

"Others can go, but you cannot!"

Just then, a loud shout rang out.

Yun Ni's gaze sharpened as she followed the sound. She saw the sword-bearing man and the scar-faced man approaching from behind the Shifang Tower cultivators. The crowd parted automatically, creating a wide path for them.

"What? Do you think you can keep me here?" Yun Ni sneered, looking at the sword-bearing man with sarcasm.

The sword-bearing man's expression remained unchanged as he calmly said, "It's clear that you have a deep connection with the Sacred Puppet Sect. If I let you go, you will surely become a future threat."

The scar-faced man had initially been against a life-and-death battle with a Golden Immortal, but after hearing Lu Ji's words, he changed his mind and immediately resolved to kill Yun Ni here.

Although he knew that even with the two of them working together, truly killing a Golden Immortal would not be easy, he was even more unwilling to constantly worry about retaliation from a Golden Immortal in the future.

Especially one as powerful as this.

"So you want my life too? It seems you're truly infatuated with me, hehe... What a pity, I already have someone in my heart, and I must leave today," Yun Ni's illusory face smiled charmingly as she raised her hand to smooth a strand of hair, exuding boundless allure.

The Shifang Tower cultivators mixed among the green-armored bean soldiers all looked dazed, their faces showing infatuation.

"Bah! Still using seduction techniques at a time like this!" the scar-faced man shouted loudly.

His shout was not loud, but it reached the ears of every Shifang Tower member clearly, jolting them awake. They dared not look at Yun Ni again, their hearts filled with lingering fear.

If not for the scar-faced man's low shout that stirred their souls, they would have been silently controlled by that woman and turned into her puppets.

"What can I do? You have too many people, so I had to find a way to borrow some from you," Yun Ni said with a light laugh.

Though she appeared relaxed, she was already planning to activate a secret technique that would severely damage her cultivation.

"Master, we'll hold them off for you. Just leave," Bai Fengyi said, her gaze firm.

"Haha... With your ragtag bunch of defeated soldiers, what a boast!" the scar-faced man laughed heartily, as if hearing a hilarious joke.

Before Bai Fengyi could respond, a thunderous voice suddenly echoed from the sky:

"Try moving them, if you dare..."