Chapter 332: Anomaly Underground

While Hu Yan and Lu Yue were locked in fierce combat, Yun Ni's side was not going smoothly.

The snow lotus shadow enveloping her had lost most of its petals, looking somewhat tattered.

At some point, a slender green willow branch had appeared in her hand. Each time she swung it, hundreds of leaf-shaped light blades shot out, weaving a dense net of blades in the air, keeping the palace-robed female Golden Immortal at bay for the moment.

But just then, a cyan light suddenly appeared above her head, transforming into a massive sword blade that stabbed down treacherously toward her crown.

Yun Ni's expression changed drastically. The remaining petals around her immediately closed together, shielding her below.

With a loud bang,

the snow lotus petals shattered into pieces. Amid the stirred-up airwaves, a figure flew back and landed in the void a hundred zhang before Yun Ni, standing with sword in hand.

“Heh, Daoist Yun, do you still remember me, Gu?” The man looked at Yun Ni and said with a cold smile.

Yun Ni let out a muffled groan, forcibly suppressing the shock from that strike, and looked at him with a pale face.

The man wore an ancient cyan armor embroidered with golden patterns. It was none other than Gu Jie.

Seemingly seeking revenge for past grievances, he had not appeared until now, suddenly showing up to ambush Yun Ni.

Sensing the change below, Hu Yan Daoist altered his hand seals continuously. The sea of fire beneath him surged with massive waves at his will toward Lu Yue, while he himself descended and landed back beside Yun Ni.

“Are you alright?” he asked with a furrowed brow.

Yun Ni gently shook her head, took out a pill, and swallowed it without speaking.

Hu Yan Daoist's face turned icy cold. He turned to look at Gu Jie, his eyes filled with murderous intent so sharp it seemed tangible.

The latter, seeing this, felt a slight unease and couldn't help swallowing nervously.

“You're asking for death.”

Hu Yan Daoist said each word deliberately. He wiped his hand across the sword blade, cutting a gash in his palm, and drops of blood seeped into the Red Luan Sword.

The long sword blazed with crimson light, and some previously faint runes on the blade lit up.

With a flick of his hand, the crimson sword flew out, flashed with red light, and vanished.

Gu Jie's heart skipped a beat. His protective light flared, and he immediately flashed away, fleeing into the distance.

But after flying only a few hundred zhang, a crimson light suddenly appeared behind him, piercing through his protective light without any hindrance, breaking through his cyan ancient armor, and driving straight into his body.

With a resounding phoenix cry!

The tip of the crimson sword entered from behind Gu Jie, but what emerged from his chest was a fire luan blazing with fierce flames.

As it passed through him, several jets of blood spurted from the hole in Gu Jie's chest. His entire body burst into violent flames, and a scream escaped his mouth.

The fire luan formed from the crimson sword did not stop after exiting Gu Jie's chest. It turned sharply in midair, swooped back down, and pierced through his chest again.

Gu Jie, engulfed in flames, clapped his hands together in front of him and let out a roar.

The cyan armor on his body immediately glowed with a dark green light, flowing out like water, wrapping around both the flames and himself.

The returning Red Luan struck the dark light around Gu Jie but sank into it as if hitting cotton, then rebounded and fell to the side.

Hu Yan Daoist waved his hand, and the Red Luan reverted to a long sword, flying back into his grasp.

Then, a series of “puffing” sounds rang out.

White smoke billowed from Gu Jie's body surface, and the rolling crimson flames quickly extinguished.

But by now, he was burned beyond recognition. His flesh was charred black, covered with horrifying cracks like the parched, cracked riverbed after a long drought, with blood still oozing from within.

This scene startled the Immortal Palace cultivators fighting the bean soldiers, and they looked at Hu Yan Daoist with a hint of wariness.

However, Gu Jie grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and let out a strange cackle.

A bizarre scene unfolded!

The dark green light enveloping him slowly contracted, wrapping him tightly like a close-fitting garment, then flashed and merged into his body.

As he absorbed the green light, all the burn marks and cracks on his body healed at a visible rate, gradually regenerating.

Hu Yan Daoist merely snorted at this, not particularly surprised.

At their Golden Immortal level, both soul and body were not so easily destroyed.

“Daoist Ouyang, end this quickly, and your Candlestick Dao will suffer less backlash,” Lu Yue said coldly, turning his gaze toward Ouyang Kuishan.

Ouyang Kuishan, after a moment's thought, flashed a silver light from his feet, transformed into a silver rainbow, and appeared on the square in a few flickers.

With his addition, the bean soldiers, already half slain, were reduced at a visible rate like a collapsing wall.

The four Immortal Palace Golden Immortals freed up and jointly set up a lightning-summoning formation outside the sea of fire, summoning dozens of thick, water-vat-sized cyan-purple thunderbolts that blasted large numbers of bean soldiers to pieces.

As the bean soldiers dwindled rapidly, the situation for Hu Yan Daoist and Yun Ni grew increasingly dangerous.

Seeing this, many Candlestick Dao cultivators who, like Han Li, had not gone far, showed complex expressions, including some Golden Immortal Dao Masters and Vice Dao Masters.

In their eyes, although the First Dao Master Bai Liyan rarely appeared, his eight previous lectures had benefited a large number of cultivators, and it was because of him that Candlestick Dao had stood firm in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, rivaling the Cangliu Palace.

Now, the Northern Cold Immortal Palace, under the name of the Heavenly Court, had taken advantage of the First Dao Master's lecture to launch a sudden attack from within and without. Their intentions were sinister. Despite the many cultivators present, Bai Liyan had initially shown restraint, but the Immortal Palace had no regard for the lives of Candlestick Dao's low-level disciples.

Sadly, among the other twelve Golden Immortals, only Hu Yan Daoist and Yun Ni dared to stand against the Northern Cold Immortal Palace, and the situation was already precarious.

Once they were defeated, Bai Liyan would be isolated and no match for the Immortal Palace.

Han Li sighed inwardly at this.

The strength Hu Yan Daoist displayed today shocked him deeply. Although he had always felt the old man was not simple, he never expected him to single-handedly hold off nearly ten Golden Immortals from the Northern Cold Immortal Palace.

Unfortunately, Candlestick Dao was divided internally. If all the Golden Immortal Dao Masters had been united with Bai Liyan, the Immortal Palace, despite its strength, might not have caused such trouble.

The Cangliu Palace Master had likely refrained from acting because he saw this. Otherwise, with the combined forces of Candlestick Dao and Cangliu Palace, even Xiao Jinhan would have had to turn and leave immediately.

Just then, his eyes flickered as he noticed that among the Immortal Palace cultivators surrounding Hu Yan Daoist and Yun Ni, the young man in luxurious robes was missing.

He quickly scanned the area and then looked over the bean soldiers, now mostly lost on the square, but found no trace of him.

Seeing this, Han Li felt a pang of unease.

…

Deep in the sky, Bai Liyan's body was wreathed in crimson flames, having completely transformed into a fire form.

Outside the crimson flames, rings of multicolored light arcs shone, emitting a scorching heat that twisted the surrounding void.

Opposite him, Xiao Jinhan held a long sword covered in ice spikes with one hand, while a crystalline ice wheel several zhang in size floated behind him, exuding a chilling cold.

In addition, more than ten Immortal Palace cultivators, including Xue Ying, were scattered around him, keeping their distance, seemingly unable to withstand the cold emanating from the ice wheel.

“Bai Liyan, even now you still resist? Why not surrender? Perhaps the Heavenly Court might give you a chance to pledge allegiance and atone for your crimes,” Xiao Jinhan said calmly.

“Allegiance? Ridiculous! When has the Heavenly Court ever offered allegiance to those of the Reincarnation Palace? Not extracting your soul is already generous. Enough talk, let's fight to the death.” Bai Liyan laughed heartily.

With that, he swung his flaming sword, sending a wave of fire toward Xiao Jinhan, while his eyes blazed red and he muttered some obscure incantation.

“Boom!”

A deafening roar came from beneath the entire Bell Cry Mountain Range.

Then, the mountains and earth within ten thousand li of White Jade Peak trembled violently. Countless mountain beasts howled, and flocks of birds flew out of the forests.

“Boom!”

Another strange sound, louder than the previous one, shook the entire void, causing it to tremble violently.

The Candlestick Dao cultivators scattered everywhere were startled, unsure of what was happening.

At that moment, the ground below suddenly bulged upward, the surface cracked, rivers broke, and countless trees toppled and snapped.

In the distance, over a dozen mountains rose visibly, gaining nearly a hundred zhang in a few breaths. Their slopes crumbled, sending countless boulders rolling down, raising clouds of dust.

On the square, Lu Yue and the others turned their gazes to Ouyang Kuishan.

“Daoist Ouyang, what is this?” Lu Yue asked gravely.

Ouyang Kuishan shook his head without a word, clearly unaware.

But Hu Yan Daoist, surrounded by them, slightly curled his lips, and a hint of a smile appeared deep in his eyes.