Chapter 285: Yaoqing Xuan?

A dim underground world.

On the Netherworld Plain, tens of miles wide, a wisp of breeze spontaneously arose, fluttering Tang Wanzhou's dark robes and long hair.

Holding her sword, she gazed at the woman in white who slowly approached from the plain. "Before the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, Lingxiao hasn't seen the Immortality Pill for sixty years. In this world, among those under sixty, over the past sixty years, only Zuoqiu Ling, who broke through to Immortality, has been able to earn my high regard. Have I encountered another such person today?"

A cloud bridge appeared beneath the woman in white's feet. Stepping on ripples of energy, she walked above the thorns, suspended in mid-air, until only a few miles separated her from Tang Wanzhou. "At the same cultivation level, Zuoqiu Ling once lost to me," she stated.

Only those who understood Zuoqiu Ling's strength could truly grasp the weight of that statement.

As it happened, Tang Wanzhou and Li Weiyi had both fought Zuoqiu Ling, deeply aware of how terrifying the battle power of that Lingxiao Chief was.

During the Battle of the Psychic Stone Wall of the Jiuli Hidden Sect, Li Weiyi, at the Eighth Spring, was utterly helpless against Zuoqiu Ling, who was at the Ninth Spring realm. He would only have a chance to defeat him if they were at the same cultivation level.

Tang Wanzhou sensed the aura of an Immortal emanating from the woman in white.

Atop the Spark Altar behind her, the mysterious Holy Spirit Psionist elder appeared. The elder stood in the darkness, absorbing all light to conceal his form and face, leaving only a shadow visible.

Any Dao Seed realm martial cultivator facing the combined pressure of an Immortal realm cultivator and a Holy Spirit Psionist would have long since suffered a mental collapse and prostrated themselves on the ground.

Tang Wanzhou's eyes showed no fear; instead, her fighting spirit surged. "Within sixty years, a person who can defeat Zuoqiu Ling at the same cultivation level—why have I never seen or even heard of you? I've at least heard the name of the Sheng family elder standing atop the altar and can deduce his identity. Who exactly are you?"

Atop the altar, the Holy Spirit Psionist elder sighed softly. "These young people nowadays are truly formidable. With just a brief exchange, she deduced my identity. This level of cultivation, this shrewdness—how can those so-called 'young emperors' compare?"

The woman in white said, "You are too young and have been in the North for too long, so it's normal that you don't know me."

Tang Wanzhou sensed that the Holy Spirit Psionist was setting up a formation. So, she drew Da Feng into her sleeve, employed a movement technique, and disappeared from the cliff edge, heading straight for Li Weiyi and Tuoba Butuo, who were fixed in place on the Netherworld Plain.

The woman in white's face remained expressionless as she gently lifted a finger on her right hand.

Shush!

On the Netherworld Plain, the glowing thorns, stimulated by a strange power, grew wildly, transforming into thorny vines.

Wrapped in Immortal energy, these vines were as sharp as metal.

Tang Wanzhou swung her sword in a horizontal slash.

Whoosh!

The thorny vines surging towards her all turned into dust, her single sword strike clearing a path a mile wide.

"Young Master, don't leave! Most of your companions are still within the altar. How can you bear to abandon them?"

From the brow of the Holy Spirit Psionist elder atop the Spark Altar, countless chains of spiritual light flew out. These chains transformed into luminous whips, dozens of miles long, bright and scorching. They lashed out rapidly and sinuously, causing the air to explode and the ground to indent.

Tang Wanzhou employed her movement technique, her body a blur. After dodging seven or eight times consecutively, she abruptly stopped.

She turned and stood firm, her sword intent instantly soaring out for tens of miles.

The next moment.

Influenced by her energy, snowflakes began to drift across the entire Netherworld Plain, and countless sword energies flew and weaved through the falling snow.

She raised her sword with both hands, striding several miles with unparalleled dominance, and chopped towards the Spark Altar.

Whoosh!

The myriad sword energies in the snow accompanied her chopping strike, transforming into an overwhelming tide of sword energy that surged towards the Holy Spirit Psionist elder.

Beneath Tang Wanzhou's feet, the ground tore apart, creating a long gully.

All the luminous whip-chains of spiritual light were shattered by a single sword strike, exploding in mid-air and turning into particles of light rain. This forced the Holy Spirit Psionist elder to activate a defensive formation just to block the sword energy.

Tang Wanzhou had just turned around, but had not yet taken a step.

An icy hurricane swept towards her, and snowflakes, like ice blades, lashed against her pale face.

In Tang Wanzhou's vision, numerous thick tornadoes appeared on the Netherworld Plain, connecting the ground to the endless darkness above. The powerful winds tore her Dao Heart projection to shreds.

Swish!

Like an illusion, the woman in white's graceful and slender figure appeared before her out of thin air.

So fast was the speed that even with Tang Wanzhou's keen eyesight, she felt the opponent's figure blur and her hand movements shift in myriad ways.

A palm print struck!

All the wind currents and tornadoes compressed into a limited space, coiling around the woman in white's arm.

The closer this palm got to Tang Wanzhou, the slower it seemed and the clearer it became, as if it were a feather-light press.

Tang Wanzhou retreated rapidly, knowing clearly that the opponent wasn't slowing down. It was an illusion caused by her being locked by the opponent's intent. If she didn't break free from this mental restraint, she would only be passively beaten.

Boom!

Tang Wanzhou's ancestral field in her lower abdomen burst forth with brilliant beams of sword energy.

Amidst the sword energy, there was bone-chilling cold that froze the Netherworld Plain foot by foot.

Breaking free from the woman in white's mental suppression, Tang Wanzhou's eyes sharpened. She stepped forward, raising her sword as if to split mountains and cleave peaks.

Bang!

The woman in white's palm print collided with the Divine Snow Sword.

Powerful energy ripples burst forth, knocking Li Weiyi and Tuoba Butuo, ten miles away, off their feet.

Tang Wanzhou was forced back two miles, falling to one knee. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth, and her ten fingers were bloody, their bones completely shattered.

The Divine Snow Sword flew diagonally, falling a hundred feet away.

"The Heavenly Wind Palm, one of the Jiuli clan's nine fundamental martial arts!" Tang Wanzhou raised her head and stared at the woman in white.

"With Dao Seed realm cultivation, to be able to break free from my mental suppression and take a palm strike from me without falling—you are truly strong."

The woman in white's tone was devoid of emotion, cold and arrogant.

Tang Wanzhou sensed a suffocating power fluctuation and looked overhead. She saw a grand formation condense, with dense mystic runes filling its array plate and golden light radiating outwards, pressing down.

The entire atmosphere was converging downwards.

"To suppress me, you two are not enough!"

Whoosh!

Tang Wanzhou pressed a palm to her ancestral field in her lower abdomen. Space energy burst forth, and her figure vanished without a trace.

"Oh no, it's a spatial evasion technique! She's only at the Dao Seed realm; how can she master spatial evasion?"

The old man, Shan Ze, rushed out from the altar, flashing to where Tang Wanzhou had been. He released his psionic energy, searching everywhere, extremely nervous.

If Tang Wanzhou escaped, many secrets of the Divine Sect would be exposed.

The Holy Spirit Psionist elder sensed spatial fluctuations in a certain direction and immediately used a light evasion psionic technique to pursue.

A moment later.

The Holy Spirit Psionist elder returned, standing in his dark, lightless self-region, and said in a low voice, "Venerable One, her mastery of the spatial path is exceptionally high. She can continuously use evasion techniques, and she got away!"

The woman in white remotely grabbed the Divine Snow Sword and toyed with it in her hand. She said faintly, "The foremost genius born in Lingxiao in a thousand years—how could she be so easily dealt with? She won't escape. Hall Master An will be waiting for her on her way back to the main entrance hall."

Shan Ze breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "With the Hall Master personally making a move, even if Tang Wanzhou breaks through to Immortality, she can only be captured without resistance."

The woman in white looked at Shan Ze. "Elder Li, this operation, while not perfect since Tang Wanzhou escaped, was entirely thanks to your precise information. We were able to react quickly, take a rested advantage, firmly seize the initiative, and deal with all these intruders. You can exchange this merit for cultivation resources for Psionists at the Withered Glory Hall!"

"It was all due to the Venerable One's masterful planning," Shan Ze said, showing delight as he immediately bowed in homage.

The woman in white looked at the twenty still-living martial cultivators on the altar, suppressed by the Holy Spirit Psionist elder's runes. "Take all of them back to the main altar and imprison them in the Divine Prison. For those who died, transport their bodies to Rentian to be used as rice fertilizer."

"Chizhen, Chihming, the two of you are responsible for clearing the battlefield. Make sure no one can tell that an Immortal or a Holy Spirit Psionist made a move."

Finally.

The woman in white's gaze fell upon Li Weiyi in the distance. "He will be dealt with by me!"

Li Weiyi lay on the ground, unable to move. He saw the graceful figure in white approaching, then was struck by an unknown force. His vision went black, and he fainted.

He had no way to resist, and his Dao Protector wife did not appear.

When he woke again, he didn't know how much time had passed.

His head throbbed unbearably, and his eyelids felt heavy.

He struggled to open his eyes just a slit.

Li Weiyi found himself lying on a wooden floor. The sound of gurgling water became increasingly clear in his ears, and a faint scent reached his nostrils.

His five senses returned.

He immediately circulated energy through the marked meridians in his body. Gradually, the pain in his head subsided.

"The energy restraints on me are gone!"

Bracing his hands on the ground, Li Weiyi stood up.

Before him was an antique-style hall. Three calligraphies and paintings hung on the walls, and in a bronze cauldron in the corner, smoke curled, filling the air with fragrance.

The Yellow Dragon Sword and Tang Wanzhou's Divine Snow Sword lay flat on a table.

"That is..."

The lamps and candles in the room were made from the refined flesh and blood of exotic beasts and would not extinguish for half a month.

And beneath the calligraphies and paintings, inside the most splendid lamp cover, was actually a fragment of a Spirit Platform Blazing Star Stone.

Li Weiyi leaned closer and carefully observed through the lamp cover. After confirming it was indeed a fragment of a Spirit Platform Blazing Star Stone, he secretly marveled that the owner of this place was so extravagant as to use such a treasure for lighting.

After his mental state fully recovered, he immediately pressed his hand to his chest, took out the Dao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish, and then let out a long sigh of relief.

As long as it wasn't lost, that was all that mattered.

All his possessions were stored in the Blood Mud Space.

"Oh no... where's the insect pouch?"

Li Weiyi searched his entire body but couldn't find the insect pouch containing the Phoenix-Winged Moth Empress. Except for Da Feng, the six little ones were all in the pouch.

Quickly calming down, he tried to recall and think.

"My Spring Eye and Qi Sea aren't sealed, nor have I been imprisoned in the so-called Divine Prison. This means I'm currently safe."

"The woman in white used the Heavenly Wind Palm from the Yaoli tribe against Tang Wanzhou. Could she really be Yaoyin's mother, Yao Qingxuan?"

"Shan Ze seems to be one of them."

In Li Weiyi's mind, the tragic sight of Tang Hu and over a dozen Dao Seed realm experts being killed appeared. He dared not entertain any thoughts of luck, picking up the Yellow Dragon Sword and Divine Snow Sword from the table. After a moment's thought, he also took the Spirit Platform Blazing Star Stone fragment from inside the lamp cover.

The hall's door was open.

Whoosh!

After leaving, Li Weiyi quickly walked down the stone steps. He had only rushed out about ten meters when a layer of formation light barrier appeared out of thin air, knocking him back and almost making him lose his balance.

"No wonder there were no guards, and they just left me on the ground," he mused. "It turns out this place is covered by a formation."

Whoosh!

He raised the Yellow Dragon Sword, activating his energy, and unleashed a full-strength horizontal slash.

Dense formation runes appeared on the light barrier, once again knocking him back.

The five fingers gripping the sword felt painful and numb.

"Not simple at all," he thought. "A mere residence, yet it has such a powerful formation."

Li Weiyi didn't stubbornly ram himself against the barrier. Instead, his figure flashed as he searched for another way out.

This area of buildings was quite extensive, with pavilions and towers scattered everywhere. There were streams and lakes, and by the lake, many glowing exotic flowers and plants were cultivated. However, apart from the building where the hall was, the rest of the area was desolate, covered in fallen leaves, and showed no signs of being cleaned or maintained.

Li Weiyi stopped by the lake and gazed towards the opposite shore.

Hundreds of meters away, a green-tiled palace with a hip-and-gable roof stood. Its tiles glittered, its walls seemed forged from immortal jade, and its roof was adorned with shimmering exotic beast illusions, appearing exceptionally divine and unlike structures built from mortal materials.

In the blood-red lake, a type of exotic flower resembling a lotus bloomed everywhere. Its petals were vibrant and crystal clear, with crimson flames burning on them, causing the lake water to evaporate and blood mist to fill the air.

What was strange was that.

The ambient energy here was very similar to that of the underground immortal mansion.

Overhead, there was no sky, only endless darkness.

If he were still in the underground immortal mansion, many things would be difficult to explain.

The entrance to the underground immortal mansion was discovered only about ten months ago.

Yet the environment and layout here could not possibly have been built within a year. It seemed to have existed for a very long time, more like the flourishing scene of the Bhagala Sect tens of thousands of years ago.

Li Weiyi narrowed his eyes and saw six familiar balls of light flying from the lake surface.