"Dong—"
"Dong—"
"Dong—"
The majestic and sonorous bell tolled, its sound suddenly echoing across the Kyushu Alliance.
Cultivators handling affairs within the alliance looked up in surprise, their faces filled with confusion.
Only a few cultivators with transcendent auras had their expressions drastically change. In the next moment, they had vanished from their original positions, reappearing in the most important and hidden chamber within the Kyushu Alliance.
In the center of the room stood an ancient and elegant large bell, its body still trembling slightly.
Ancestor Jingzhi gazed at the silver patterns flickering on the bell's surface and murmured, "It's real. The bell has truly rung."
Ancestor Wuqian of the Xuanqing Sect remained silent, his eyes fixed on the great bell before him, his expression complex.
Ancestor YanYan surveyed the room and stated gravely, "Everyone, now is not the time for stunned silence. Haven't we already made our plans?"
Ancestor YanYan's words caused the faces of the assembled ancestors to straighten.
Ancestor Jingzhi: "Ancestor YanYan is right. We proceed according to the plan."
"Good."
...
"Wan Yanxue, the grievances between you and I must be settled today!"
"Nalan Yan! You court death!"
Upon the perilous peak, surging energy waves distorted the space like rippling water.
Nalan Yan's expression was cold, her long spear moving swiftly. Dozens of golden lotuses, imbued with chilling killing intent, surged outwards in all directions.
"Disperse!"
Wan Yanxue neither dodged nor retreated. A cold glint flashed in her eyes as her palms snapped shut and then forcefully pushed outwards.
Demonic energy erupted, colliding fiercely with the golden lotuses.
Roaring sounds melded together, golden and black energy waves intertwining in a most peculiar manner.
Nalan Yan was forced back dozens of steps by the impact of the energy waves, her teeth clenched tightly against her lower lip, her pupils trembling slightly.
With her current strength, this initial clash allowed her to roughly gauge Wan Yanxue's level.
She was actually stronger than herself.
And not just by a little.
This realization filled Nalan Yan with anger, but also a hint of fear began to creep in.
She had once benefited from misfortune, consuming a petal of the Nine Revolutions Golden Lotus, which granted her the divine Nine Revolutions Golden Body physique.
Then, with the support of her family, she had successively absorbed various heavenly treasures, mending her previous injuries, her progress in strength could be described as a thousand miles a day.
Nalan Yan had even arrogantly believed that she was the foremost person in the Kyushu Continent below the Mahayana stage ancestors, and she was confident she could defeat even the highly praised Ancestor Xu Yi.
Dealing with Wan Yanxue, who was now a stray dog, should have been a simple matter.
But the development had clearly deviated from her expectations.
She was not the Nalan Yan of the past, and Wan Yanxue was also not the Wan Yanxue of the past.
"Can falling into the demonic path truly grant one immense power so quickly?"
Nalan Yan gazed at the demonic energy-shrouded sky, thinking with unease.
"Nalan Yan! I didn't want to send you on your way so soon, but you insisted on courting death.
The torment I suffered that day, I will now repay you tenfold, a hundredfold! I want you to feel the same pain of having no way to live and no way to die!"
Wan Yanxue's tone was filled with violent killing intent.
Nalan Yan felt as though she had fallen into an ice cellar, her skin enveloped by a chilling cold.
Upon hearing this, she knew it was bad. While summoning her defensive magical artifact, she fled backward, a retreat forming in her mind.
"Trying to escape?"
Wan Yanxue snorted coldly. The dense demonic energy surged rapidly outwards, relentlessly pursuing Nalan Yan in her direction of escape.
Nalan Yan sensed the movement behind her, a faint glow flashing in her eyes, and then, without hesitation, she struck her own chest.
"Pfft!"
A mist of blood spurted from Nalan Yan's mouth, but it did not dissipate immediately. Instead, it continuously gathered and condensed.
Then... BOOM!
With a thunderous roar, the blood mist exploded, continuously striking the demonic energy.
Sizzle, sizzle!
The demonic energy actually began to evaporate upon contact with the blood mist.
Wan Yanxue's movement faltered, but she quickly pursued Nalan Yan with even greater speed. The demonic energy swirling around her body not only failed to shrink but instead grew more potent.
A faint scent of blood wafted from Nalan Yan's lips and tongue.
Recalling how she had relentlessly pursued Wan Yanxue not long ago, and now seeing the tables turned, she was the one being chased.
The vast difference was truly regrettable.
After a moment of lament, Nalan Yan realized that the distance between her and Wan Yanxue was steadily closing. Her eyes showed a look of determination.
The next moment.
A shimmer of ethereal light flashed across Nalan Yan's fair skin, immediately followed by a vast expanse of golden light.
In the blink of an eye, Nalan Yan was completely enveloped in golden light, only her dark, bright eyes revealed.
Simultaneously, her flying speed surged once more.
"Nine—Revolutions—Golden—Body!"
Wan Yanxue uttered the technique Nalan Yan employed, word by word, her chest churning with hatred.
It could be said that Nalan Yan's Nine Revolutions Golden Body was thanks to her.
Why, after she had suffered such torment, did the other party gain such good fortune?
She was clearly no worse than Nalan Yan!
Wan Yanxue watched Nalan Yan, who was already disappearing from her spiritual sense range, and her body halted. A peculiar, curved smile suddenly appeared on her lips.
She let out a strange, low laugh and slowly raised her arm, clenching her hand into a fist in the air.
Her fingers and palm did not completely touch, leaving a gap, as if she were truly holding a long sword.
Wan Yanxue slowly drew her arm back, the movement slow but steady.
As the backward motion increased, her arm began to tremble, and the continuous demonic energy behind her also quieted down, unbeknownst to her.
"Go!"
Wan Yanxue finally opened her palm.
Hiss—
A deafening, sharp screech suddenly erupted.
Sword light towered into the heavens.
Nalan Yan, who thought she had escaped danger, felt an ominous premonition the moment Wan Yanxue stopped. Every part of her body screamed of danger.
When the sword light roared towards her, Nalan Yan's scalp tingled, and she channeled her spiritual power to the extreme.
However, in the face of such a colossal gap, her resistance was akin to a mayfly trying to shake a tree.
As the crimson sword light pierced through her chest, Nalan Yan's face was still etched with a look of utter horror.
She glanced down at the wound on her chest, let out a bitter laugh, and fell backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.
Wan Yanxue watched Nalan Yan's falling figure from afar, her face filled with satisfaction.
Between her and Nalan Yan, she had ultimately emerged victorious.
Wan Yanxue circulated the demonic energy within her, eager to witness Nalan Yan's death and vent her hatred.
After taking just a few steps, a soul-stirring, irresistible sense of summoning descended upon her.
Wan Yanxue paused, then glanced again in Nalan Yan's direction, tentatively taking a step forward.
"Ugh!"
Intense pain spread throughout her body.
Wan Yanxue grunted in pain, unwillingly stopping her advance.
As she hesitated, the summoning sensation within her grew stronger, and at the same time, abnormalities began to appear throughout her body, causing her unbearable agony.
After a few breaths, she finally let out a sigh of resignation, then vanished into the void, leaving no trace.
In the distance, Nalan Yan's corpse lay quietly on the ground.