Chapter 858: Relief Aid

This was a majestic bronze-red mountain, standing like a giant between heaven and earth. Bronze-red trees covered the mountain, shimmering with dazzling light.

At this moment, however, this giant-like mountain was embroiled in an intense war.

Tens of thousands of divine souls hovered in the air, blotting out the sky. Their immense spiritual power surged forth, causing the void to tremble.

In the center of these tens of thousands of divine souls stood four figures with their hands behind their backs. Leading them were Lu Xiao and Han Yuan, the sect masters of Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion, respectively.

Zhu Lian accompanied Lu Xiao. Beside Han Yuan was a man who appeared exceptionally thin, with eyes as bright and sharp as blades. This man, Zhao Yin, was also the commander for the Mountain Pavilion in the Heaven Flame Ceremony. Judging by the powerful spiritual fluctuations emanating from him, he had clearly also reached the Transformation stage.

At this moment, all four individuals gazed into the distance with indifferent eyes.

Outside the immense bronze-red mountain was a massive shield formed by spiritual power. Its surface featured layers of swirling patterns resembling clouds and mist. Inside this spiritual shield, nearly ten thousand divine souls continuously poured in their spiritual power; these were the forces of Forest Pavilion.

Meanwhile, the divine souls of Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion were continuously launching attacks. They relentlessly pounded the spiritual shield, creating massive ripples across its surface.

"This Mu Qingyan certainly has some capability," Zhu Lian remarked, gazing at the massive spiritual shield with an admiring smile, "to be able to mobilize the divine souls of everyone in Forest Pavilion to form the Myriad Soul Cloud Vortex Barrier."

"If Fire Pavilion hadn't intervened," the man named Zhao Yin added with a slight nod, "even if our Mountain Pavilion could defeat Forest Pavilion, we would likely have been tied down for a long time."

Lu Xiao said calmly, "How much longer until it's breached?"

Hearing Lu Xiao's words, Zhu Lian did not dare to delay. After a quick estimation, he replied, "Probably half a day more."

Lu Xiao frowned. "That's too long," he said. "Although I sent Wang Chen to hold back Wind Pavilion, Zhou Yuan is extremely cunning; there's no guarantee he won't notice something."

Zhu Lian let out a bitter laugh. "Mu Qingyan's Myriad Soul Cloud Vortex Barrier has extremely strong defenses," he explained. "They're determined to hold out, and we truly can't do anything to them quickly. We can only wear down their spiritual power bit by bit."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiao knew further discussion was pointless and could only nod.

Han Yuan smiled. "Brother Lu, there's no need to rush," he said. "Zhou Yuan might not guess our move; perhaps he's still foolishly waiting for Fire Pavilion to come and encircle him."

"Furthermore," Han Yuan continued, "I think you've greatly overestimated him this time. With Fire Pavilion's might, it's more than enough to crush Wind Pavilion. If you had immediately led your forces to clear them out, Wind Pavilion might have already been annihilated by now."

Lu Xiao said blandly, "That Zhou Yuan is somewhat sinister. This Heaven Flame Ceremony was originally supposed to be hosted by our Heavenly Spirit Sect, but Elder Xi Jing intervened and forced the Sect Master to change it to a free-for-all competition. If I were to mess up here, it would be difficult to explain. So, it's always better to be cautious."

Although Han Yuan felt that Lu Xiao was making a fuss over nothing, going to such lengths just to deal with Wind Pavilion, he also understood that this matter concerned Sect Master Xuan Kun's reputation, and Lu Xiao dared not be anything but cautious.

"Once we've jointly dealt with Forest Pavilion here," Han Yuan chuckled, "no matter what tricks Zhou Yuan has up his sleeve, he'll have no chance of winning!"

Lu Xiao nodded and urged Zhu Lian and Zhao Yin, "Intensify the assault, breach this spiritual shield as quickly as possible, and eliminate Forest Pavilion."

Zhu Lian and Zhao Yin did not dare to delay. The two Transformation-stage divine souls personally took action, directing their immense spiritual forces to strike the massive spiritual barrier like towering, furious waves, one after another.

As the assault from Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion intensified, the forces of Forest Pavilion inside the spiritual shield also felt their pressure greatly increase.

Mu Liu stood on the mountain peak, his handsome face now holding a hint of icy coldness. The sudden joint encirclement of Forest Pavilion by Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion had indeed caught him somewhat off guard. After all, this was likely the first time such an event had occurred throughout the many years the Heaven Flame Ceremony had been held.

Never before had a Heaven Flame Ceremony been so fierce.

Mu Liu gritted his teeth, looking towards a red rock behind him where Mu Qingyan sat cross-legged. She clenched her silver teeth, continuously directing nearly ten thousand divine souls from Forest Pavilion to reinforce various parts of the spiritual shield, desperately holding their defenses.

However, as time passed, Mu Liu could see the divine souls of Forest Pavilion members constantly disappearing as flashes of fire. This was due to the Heaven Flame Cauldron's protection mechanism activating once their spiritual power weakened to a certain extent.

If this continued, they would eventually be encircled and annihilated.

"Mu Liu, you idiot, we can't hold on much longer!" Mu Qingyan cursed.

Mu Liu scratched his head, a bitter smile on his face. If his physical body were present, he could rely on his profound Genesis Qi reserves to charge out and fight the opponents. But unfortunately, he was only a divine soul, and his spiritual cultivation was merely at the Solid stage; even if he charged out, he would be instantly obliterated.

"I can't do anything about it," Mu Liu said helplessly. "Who knew they'd be so shameless? To actually choose to encircle our Forest Pavilion first, it's completely against common sense!"

Mu Qingyan glared at him. "Isn't this all because you were swayed by Zhou Yuan into cooperating with Wind Pavilion?" she retorted.

Mu Liu shrugged. "What do we do now?" he asked.

"What else can we do?" Mu Qingyan replied. "Of course, we can only wait for Wind Pavilion to realize something is wrong and come to our rescue!"

Mu Qingyan mumbled, "But I'm afraid Zhou Yuan is a fool, still foolishly waiting for Fire Pavilion to come looking for him. And what if he does realize it but doesn't dare to bring people here, considering Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion are both present?"

Mu Liu shook his head. "If Zhou Yuan were that kind of person," he said, "he wouldn't have dared to directly ambush and kill Fang Ao. Don't let his usual gentleness fool you; he's actually quite ruthless."

"I hope so." Mu Qingyan nodded slightly, then said no more. She poured all her concentration into giving commands. This Myriad Soul Cloud Vortex Barrier required her personal command of everyone's divine souls; otherwise, it would quickly collapse under the opponent's attacks.

However, she also knew that under such immense pressure, even the Myriad Soul Cloud Vortex Barrier couldn't hold out for too long. Its breach was only a matter of time.

For now, they could only hope that Zhou Yuan would be clever enough.

Half a day quietly passed, as Forest Pavilion's forces endured their difficult struggle.

The Myriad Soul Cloud Vortex Barrier shrouding Forest Pavilion had now become extremely thin, like a mere film. Everyone could see that Forest Pavilion was struggling to maintain it.

In the sky, Zhu Lian gazed at this scene and quietly let out a sigh of relief. A few more waves of attacks, and the spiritual shield would surely shatter. Then, without protection, Forest Pavilion would face the frenzied assault of Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion.

"Sect Master," Zhu Lian declared, "Forest Pavilion is finished."

Zhu Lian turned his gaze to Lu Xiao, a somewhat smug smile on his face.

Lu Xiao nodded slightly. It was clear that his expression had also relaxed at this moment. Once Forest Pavilion was defeated, Wind Pavilion would become like fish on their chopping block, unable to resist and ready for slaughter.

"Zhou Yuan," Lu Xiao murmured, "no matter how much a rabbit hops around, it's still just a rabbit. When the sleeping lion awakens, it will be the rabbit's demise."

A faint smile appeared on Lu Xiao's lips.

However, just as his words fell, Zhu Lian and Zhao Yin, who were in front of him, suddenly changed their expressions drastically. They simultaneously turned their heads, their faces grim, looking in that direction.

"What..." Han Yuan, seeing this, was about to ask.

But the next moment, his voice abruptly stopped. His pupils constricted slightly as he looked into the distance. There, thousands of divine souls swept rapidly through the void, then surged overwhelmingly towards their position.

Lu Xiao stared grimly at the scene, his lips twitching slightly, the coldness in his eyes almost freezing the air.

"Wind Pavilion is here."

This Zhou Yuan truly always manages to ruin his plans!