Chapter 330: Chaos

The scene fell silent.

Needless to say, the low-level cultivators in the square were stunned, and even the thousand or so True Immortal realm cultivators of the Candle Dragon Sect still standing on the steps were repeatedly startled by the lightning-fast exchange before them, their faces changing color as they fell silent.

A trace of blue light flashed briefly in Han Li's eyes; with his eyesight, he naturally saw this scene clearly.

The golden talisman released by Xiao Jinhan, the Palace Lord of the Northern Cold Immortal Palace, was extraordinarily subtle, able to ignore Hu Yan's seemingly powerful strike, but was broken by a transparent sword light casually sent by Luo Qinghai, the Palace Lord of the Cangliu Palace.

Although the Immortal Palace was nominally the greatest power governing the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, its relationship with the Cangliu Palace was clearly somewhat delicate; at least Luo Qinghai did not seem to hold Xiao Jinhan, the Immortal Palace Lord, in much regard.

High in the air, Xiao Jinhan glanced faintly at Luo Qinghai, his expression revealing no change, and with a blur of his form, he flew down from the cloud head, heading straight for the white jade platform.

Luo Qinghai's eyes moved slightly; he slowly withdrew his right hand hidden in his sleeve, flicked his sleeve, turned around, and sat back down on the golden dragon throne.

The huge water-blue flower where he sat remained motionless, suspended in midair, with no intention of leaving; the dozen or so blue-robed cultivators standing on it appeared unperturbed.

"Roar..."

Before Xiao Jinhan could land, a dragon's roar suddenly rang out.

Baili Yan, trapped in the cage, had substantial flames spewing from his eyes. With one hand forming a claw-like shape, he suddenly raised it and struck toward the golden cage before him.

On his clawed palm, blazing crimson-gold flames rose, coalescing into a strange, ferocious dragon head amid a whistling wind. With dragon breath surging, it slammed heavily onto a spot on the golden cage.

With a thunderous crash!

One of the golden pillars in the cage was instantly swallowed by the fiery dragon head's huge, ferocious maw.

The golden runes on it continuously flew out in the blazing flames, then deformed and twisted until they completely shattered.

Like the dismantling of a house's beams, after one golden pillar shattered, several others followed suit, and the golden cage collapsed and broke apart like a tall building.

On the white jade platform, a dazzling golden light exploded with a bang, and dozens of dragon-head phantoms surged in all directions, transforming into an overwhelmingly powerful force that swept outward.

Wherever it passed, the originally somewhat blurry void rippled with golden light.

Then, with a loud noise, the禁制 light screen covering the entire mountaintop was completely shattered.

Half of the white jade platform below also collapsed with a boom. The eight Golden Immortal Dao Masters controlling the禁制 were greatly shaken in mind and spirit, hastily summoning protective treasures to block in front of them, but under this violent impact, their bodies involuntarily flew backward.

Several of them were struck by the dragon-head phantoms; their protective treasure shields shattered directly, and they spat out mouthfuls of blood as they fell downward.

Hu Yan's figure flickered, and he flashed to Yun Ni's side, who had been confronting the black-veiled woman. With a swirl of red glow, he blocked several dragon-head phantoms and, together with her, flew down from the white jade platform.

Although the more than thirty Vice Dao Masters had the dozen or so Golden Immortal Dao Masters in front as a buffer, they were still knocked askew by the residual waves from the exploding white jade platform. However, they also took the opportunity to flee in all directions.

Thus, the thousand or so True Immortal realm cultivators on the steps also scattered in the chaos, each transforming into streaks of light of various colors and fleeing in all directions. Previously, out of fear of the Immortal Palace cultivators above, no one dared to be the first to run, lest they become a target; everyone had been waiting for this chance.

Han Li and Qi Liang mixed in the crowd, also choosing a direction and speeding away.

Countless ice crystals and碎石 scattered and exploded, startling the hundreds of thousands of low-level cultivators in the surrounding square. Those quick to react had already summoned treasures and set up escape light; the rest, after coming to their senses, also began to scatter.

For a moment, tens of thousands of colorful streaks of light shot in all directions on White Jade Peak, like brilliant fireworks blooming in the sky, dazzlingly beautiful.

High in the sky beside White Jade Peak, Luo Qinghai formed a hand seal with one hand, and a layer of blue water curtain immediately lit up, enveloping the huge blue flower. Under the blowing of the gale, it trembled violently for a moment before returning to normal.

On the other side, the Immortal Palace Vice Palace Lord Xue Ying also flicked her sleeve, raising a semi-transparent protective shield around the silver chariot, while her gaze shifted to Luo Qinghai not far away.

Luo Qinghai seemed not to notice Xue Ying's gaze, appearing completely composed with eyes half-closed.

Xiao Jinhan, who was chasing down from above, ignored the onrushing airwaves and continued diving downward without slowing.

"Boom!"

Another explosion!

Xiao Jinhan's body emitted chilling cold air; white mist rose in the void, condensing into a huge white ice peak that, with immense force, heavily crashed onto the white jade platform.

The already mostly collapsed white jade platform could not withstand such pressure; it completely shattered, and even the entire White Jade Peak trembled violently.

Outside White Jade Peak, Han Li, while flying along with the crowd away from the peak, looked back toward the center of the peak.

There, ice crystals and碎石 were piled up like a mountain, already a scene of utter chaos.

Just then, a crimson light suddenly flared up beneath the ice crystal.

Immediately after, a sharp clang rang out.

A pillar of blazing flame as thick as an adult's arm shot up from beneath the ice crystal, slicing through it and directly cleaving the hill-sized ice crystal and rubble in two.

With a fierce shout, Bai Liyan's figure soared up from the shattered iceberg, and amidst surging crimson flames, he flew swiftly toward Hu Yan Daoren and the others.

Xiao Jinhan flicked his wrist, and a crystalline longsword appeared in his palm, wrapped in a gleaming white serpentine mist, slashing downward.

In the high sky, the sea of clouds churned, and hundreds of giant white pythons condensed from cold air twisted and rolled, pressing down toward Bai Liyan like a host of dragons on the move.

"Xiao Jinhan, if you want to catch me, then come and try!"

Bai Liyan let out a fierce shout, holding a longsword wreathed in crimson flames, and with a sword gesture, he swept the blade horizontally.

A scorching and intense aura spread through the void, and hundreds of towering pillars of flame sprang forth from the empty space before him, directly plunging into the cold air of the white pythons.

"Boom rumble"

A thunderous roar resounded, and in the high sky, blazing crimson flames burned fiercely, colliding with the ten-thousand-foot ice crystals, each occupying half the sky.

On the square, chaos had already erupted.

"Great Palace Lord Luo, are you truly determined to stir up this muddy water and oppose my North Han Immortal Palace?" In midair, Xue Ying suddenly spoke.

"What is Fairy Xue saying? I, Luo, find it somewhat hard to understand. I have only brought a few disciples here to observe; whatever conflicts you have, they have nothing to do with my Cangliu Palace." Luo Qinghai finally cast a leisurely glance at Xue Ying and said slowly.

"Lu Yue, Dong Jie, you two go keep an eye on Hu Yan Daoren." Xue Ying, hearing this, looked at a slender sword-wielding man and a bearded burly man beside her and instructed.

"Yes."

Lu Yue acknowledged, and immediately flew off the silver-white carriage with the others, heading toward a certain spot below.

"Great Palace Lord Luo, I will take my leave now." As Xue Ying spoke, she retracted the silver-white carriage beneath her, transformed into a white rainbow, and chased after Xiao Jinhan and Bai Liyan.

……

The square around White Jade Peak was now a scene of devastation, littered with corpses and debris.

Hu Yan the Daoist hovered in midair, his gaze fixed on the distant clash between Bai Liyan and Xiao Jinhan high above, while Yun Ni stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

At that moment, a massive black axe shadow descended from the sky, distorting the surrounding void as it passed, pulling with a force of traction.

As if expecting this, Hu Yan the Daoist stepped out a vigorous pace, pulled Yun Ni along, and with a flash of red light around him, dodged aside.

The giant axe struck empty air, and its enormous shadow crashed to the ground, causing a great rumbling tremor across the earth.

On the square, the ground shattered and cracked, directly forming a massive chasm over a thousand zhang long and unfathomably deep. Many low-level cultivators who failed to flee in time were swept in and perished on the spot without even a chance to scream.

Immediately after, the burly man with a curly beard named Dong Jie swung a huge mountain-cleaving axe with both hands and descended from the sky.

At the same time, seven Immortal Palace cultivators led by the sword-wielding man Lu Yue suddenly appeared around the square, encircling Hu Yan and Yun Ni.

These eight had previously concealed their cultivation using some unknown method, but now all emitted the spiritual pressure of Golden Immortal realm. Among them, Lu Yue and Dong Jie had auras far surpassing the others, being mid-stage Golden Immortal cultivators.

These people, paying no heed to the fact that other disciples on the square had yet to flee, urged their magical treasures to unleash streaks of vast spiritual light that attacked the two of them from all directions.

For a moment, the void trembled violently, booming sounds rose one after another, and cries of anguish came from all sides; the dead and wounded were beyond count.

Not far away, Ouyang Kuishan swept his gaze over the chaotic scene on the square, a complex look flashing in his eyes as he said to the other Golden Immortal Dao Lords beside him:

"First, guide the sect's disciples and try not to let them be caught in the crossfire."

Although these people had been affected when Baili Yan broke free, their cultivation was profound and they were largely unharmed. Without another word, they dispersed, each employing their own methods to summon some Deputy Dao Lords and True Immortal Elders who had not yet fled far. Using their magical powers, they began to transfer the low-level disciples of the Candle Dragon Sect out of the square area in batches.

At the center of the square, the snow lotus shadow summoned by Yun Ni expanded to several hundred zhang in height, shielding her and Hu Yan Daoist within.

Around them, wind blades, lightning bolts, fireballs, and sword beams continuously struck it, causing the petals to tremble incessantly. The spiritual light on its surface rapidly depleted, visibly dimming.

Hu Yan Daoist held a black pagoda aloft with one hand and pointed at it with two fingers. A black pagoda shadow expanded, enveloping both of them and the entire snow lotus shadow within.

The attacks from outside immediately landed on the pagoda shadow, producing a series of clanging metallic sounds.

"I have a reason that compels me to follow Dao Lord Baili and thus step forward to help him. You clearly know nothing and could have stayed out of this to protect yourself. Why did you get involved?" Hu Yan Daoist looked at Yun Ni beside him, a trace of reluctance flashing in his eyes.