Chapter 1446: Leaving

A sudden violent gale swept through, lifting countless yellow sands to form a hundred-zhang-high yellow earth wall that blocked Qian Yue's path. With a thunderous crash, the blue flower basket descended, causing the yellow earth wall to collapse and send dust flying.

Qian Yue had vanished, and countless yellow mists erupted from the ground, covering an area of over ten li. The blue giant python's eyes flared with a cold light. It opened its gaping maw, and with a piercing rush of air, thousands of white ice cones shot forth. They vanished into the yellow mist, like stones sinking into the ocean, leaving no trace or sound.

A flash of blue light, and the giant blue python suddenly transformed into a graceful, plump young woman in a blue dress, complete with a thick serpent's tail.

"A formation!"

Her eyes narrowed coldly as countless blue lights materialized in the void, swiftly coalescing into a hundred-zhang-tall blue mountain. The mountain was entirely encased in ice, a foot thick. With a low rumble, the blue mountain crashed into the sea of yellow mist, creating a deafening explosion. The yellow mist churned violently, dissipating significantly.

Inside the underground cavern, Ye Haitang and five others stood upon a teleportation array. Qian Yue's face was pale. A deafening roar echoed from outside, shaking the ground and sending copious amounts of debris cascading from the cavern walls, raising clouds of dust.

Wang Qingqing cast a spell, and the teleportation array began to shake violently. A blinding silver light shot skyward, engulfing their six figures. Once the silver light dissipated, the six individuals were gone.

A thunderous crash!

The underground cavern fractured into pieces, and countless stones tumbled down. The blue-robed woman flickered into existence near the teleportation array. She gazed at the array on the ground, her expression dark.

"A teleportation array! No wonder we couldn't capture many; a formation master must have set this up."

A rumble sounded, and the array patterns on the teleportation array's surface dimmed. Clearly, the other party had destroyed the corresponding array, rendering this one unusable.

Fifty thousand li away, within a hidden underground cavern.

Ye Haitang and her five companions stood beside a teleportation array. The cavern, roughly a hundred zhang in size, was illuminated by the soft white glow of several fist-sized moonstones embedded in its rock walls.

"Fairy Ye, we owe you our lives this time; otherwise, I would have perished at the hands of these foreign creatures. I can't believe there are Nascent Soul stage creatures here—how did they even get in?" Qian Yue was breathless, her face still pale.

"Fairy Qian, we're allies, it was no trouble at all. By the way, quickly destroy any sensing beads or similar items you have, or the foreign creatures might track us." Ye Haitang urged, recalling the numerous sensing beads they had found on the Nascent Soul stage foreign creatures, which suggested the creatures used them for tracking.

Qian Yue promptly took out her sensing bead and destroyed it.

"Fairy Qian, please tend to your injuries first! We'll go outside and check; hopefully, the foreign creatures won't pursue us further." Ye Haitang offered a brief farewell and headed out. Wang Qingling and Wang Qiuming quickly followed to assist Ye Haitang.

Atop a towering peak, within a simple courtyard, a benevolent-looking elder in red robes stood. Not far from him, a three hundred-zhang blood-red formation pulsed with shimmering blood-colored runes across its surface. A hundred or more cultivators stood on the blood-red formation, their expressions a mix of panic, tension, fear, and despair. Among them were several disciples from the Ten Great Sects.

A blood-red light barrier enveloped them. Upon closer inspection, each cultivator bore a miniature blood-red ram's head mark on their forehead, and intricate blood-red runes covered their arms.

The red-robed elder retrieved a palm-sized, blood-red ritual plate from his sleeve and cast a spell. A woman's voice abruptly sounded: "Fellow Daoist Yang, I truly can't find any more cultivators. How many more do you need?"

"If there are none, return. The time is fast approaching, within a day or two." The red-robed elder frowned. He had spent millennia studying the Immortal Relic and discovered that the planar forces weakened significantly during its opening or closing. This was the optimal time to use a formation to open a passage—an opportunity that arose only once every thousand years. Missing it meant he would have no choice but to perish within the Immortal Relic.

"Be sensible. If you don't wish to die, follow this old man's commands. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless. If I can leave this place, so can you." The red-robed elder looked at the cultivators on the blood-red formation and stated in a deep voice.

"Hmph, how can we be sure you're telling the truth? What if you're deceiving us?" Qin Bin frowned, feeling utterly frustrated. As a meticulously trained disciple of the Myriad Sword Sect, he had acquired many treasures in the Immortal Relic. However, he never anticipated encountering and being captured by Nascent Soul stage foreign creatures. His life was now in their hands, and the feeling of being a fish on the chopping block was deeply unsettling.

Over twenty cultivators who resisted had already been killed, their gruesome deaths serving as a stark warning. Had anyone used the Heaven's Eye Art to examine the dantian of Qin Bin and the others, they would have seen countless blood-red threads ensnaring their Golden Cores, preventing them from even self-detonating.

"Do you truly believe you have a choice? If you wish to die, say so. This old man has a hundred ways to make your life a living hell, where death would be a mercy you cannot reach." The red-robed elder sneered. With a flick of his hand, he produced a palm-sized, blood-red alms bowl. He cast a spell, and a chilling wail, like that of ghosts and wolves, echoed as a dozen green light orbs zipped frantically within the bowl.

With a dull thud, a large swath of blood-red flames erupted from the bowl. The ambient temperature plummeted instantly, and the green orbs, emitting piteous wails, spun even faster. These green orbs were the tormented remnant souls of slain Core Formation cultivators, condemned to suffer even in death.

Qin Bin and the others exchanged uneasy glances, their hearts sinking further.

"Your options are death or obedience to my commands. Is there a third path for you?" The red-robed elder's face was twisted in a mocking, disdainful sneer.

Qin Bin and the others sighed in resignation. They couldn't commit suicide even if they wanted to, and defiance meant immediate death.

In the underground cavern, Ye Haitang was diligently engraving array patterns, her expression serious. Qian Yue was still healing, while Wang Qingling and the other four chatted amongst themselves.

Suddenly, the void twisted and warped, and an immense spatial force converged from all directions, threatening to crush their bodies.

"The Immortal Relic is closing; prepare to withdraw." Ye Haitang's face lit up with joy; they had waited for this day for far too long.

Qian Yue quickly ceased her cultivation, and a hint of color returned to her face. Each of them produced a silver talisman, crushing it to transform into a ball of silver light that dissolved into the void. When they regained their senses, their bodies were rapidly falling downwards. A massive white cloud swept in, supporting them.

Above the deserted island, ripples spread through the void, and dozens of Core Formation cultivators tumbled out one after another. Wang Changsheng and his companions swiftly moved to catch them. Seeing Ye Haitang and her five companions return safely, Wang Changsheng's anxious heart finally settled, and he let out a long sigh of relief.