In the dark and damp cave, a figure sat cross-legged, motionless.
Her skin was a strange, ghastly white, and a chilling aura emanated from her entire being.
Suddenly, her tightly closed eyes snapped open, and a spectral glow flashed in her blood-red irises.
"To think I've been discovered, heh heh..."
As her words fell, the cave began to shake violently. Stones tumbled down, and her pristine white robes were stained with specks of dirt.
She let out a strange chuckle from her throat, and her figure flickered, vanishing from her spot.
In the valley outside the cave.
Wen Yi, Chi Xiaoxi, and Fei Hua, holding the Treasure Seeking Rat, stood at the center of the group, their expressions tense. Standing before them were Xu Yi, Zhan Fei, and the three elders of the Bright Moon Pavilion, led by True Lord Long Hua.
Following the Treasure Seeking Rat's guidance, they had arrived at this valley and stopped.
Thereafter, without the rat's help, Xu Yi had already discovered another world beneath the valley.
Xu Yi did not choose to venture rashly but instead set up a trapping formation outside before attacking the cave entrance, forcing the opponent to reveal themselves.
With the formation disk laid by Teacher Yuwen, Xu Yi was confident that the killer of True Lord Jing Qiu could not escape.
However, to Xu Yi's surprise, the opponent showed no intention of escaping, for in the next moment, a chilling coldness surged up from the ground beneath their feet.
"Be careful!"
Xu Yi reminded them while striking the ground with her palm.
Fierce fire spiritual energy instantly surged into the earth, colliding with the chilling coldness.
Bang bang bang!
Countless cracks instantly split the ground.
The fluctuations generated by the spiritual energy collision spilled out from the cracks, sweeping aimlessly.
One powerful surge of energy happened to sweep towards Chi Xiaoxi, who had the lowest cultivation.
"Quick, dodge!"
Fei Hua, who was frantically dodging the energy surge, rushed towards Chi Xiaoxi without a second thought, simultaneously hurling his defensive magical artifact towards the direction of the surge.
Chi Xiaoxi also felt the rapidly approaching energy surge, but her dodging speed was far from matching the speed of its arrival.
Just as she thought she would be severely injured by the surge, her peripheral vision caught sight of Fei Hua, who was trying to save her. She cursed softly, calling him a fool.
He could barely save himself, so why was he coming to save her?
"Don't get distracted."
Chi Xiaoxi's eyes widened as she looked at the tall figure in front of her, then broke into a brilliant smile.
"Understood, Master."
She had actually forgotten about her Master.
With her Master here, how could she possibly be in danger?
"Put away your defensive magical artifact and keep it close."
Fei Hua watched as Zhan Fei shattered the energy surge with a palm strike and then used his spiritual energy to push his defensive artifact back. He scratched his head sheepishly.
He had instinctively rushed to save someone just now, casting aside all other seniors.
"Squeak squeak!"
The Treasure Seeking Rat, seeing Fei Hua's foolish look, laughed heartily, clutching its belly and rolling around in Fei Hua's palm.
Xu Yi had already discussed it with Zhan Fei before taking action. She would handle the enemy, while Zhan Fei would be responsible for protecting Chi Xiaoxi and the other two.
Xu Yi's earlier "Be careful!" was also directed at Zhan Fei.
The roaring gradually subsided, and the dust dispersed.
Xu Yi and the others maintained their previous formation, but this time, a figure appeared before them.
This figure seemed to have teleported into their presence, so fast that even Xu Yi could not capture their trajectory.
When Xu Yi saw the person's face clearly, her pupils contracted sharply. A chill surged from her heart and then seeped into her limbs.
How could it be her?
"Sect Leader Jing Qiu!"
Behind her, True Lord Long Hua's voice, distorted by shock, suddenly rang out.
Xu Yi's heart sank.
It really was her.
True Lord Jing Qiu.
Standing before them was none other than True Lord Jing Qiu, who had been dead for many days.
The person was still wearing the plain white mourning attire unique to the Bright Moon Pavilion.
"I knew my plan wouldn't be exposed so quickly. It's you again, Xu Yi," True Lord Jing Qiu said softly.
Xu Yi remained silent, meeting her gaze with a cold stare.
"Great Elder, what is going on? Is this truly our Sect Leader?"
The two elders of the Bright Moon Pavilion were now at a loss.
When Great Elder had placed Sect Leader Jing Qiu's corpse in the coffin, they had also been present and had confirmed that Sect Leader Jing Qiu had indeed passed away before the coffin was sealed.
Yet, the person standing before them was clearly Sect Leader Jing Qiu herself.
The immense shock made it impossible for them to think calmly.
"Open your eyes and look! She is not Sect Leader Jing Qiu! She is a demonic creature!"
True Lord Long Hua, after a brief moment of shock, had regained her composure.
Judging by those eyes alone, she could be certain that the soul residing within this vessel belonging to Sect Leader Jing Qiu was not Sect Leader Jing Qiu's.
"Demonic creature? Demonic creature!"
"Old woman, you're half in the grave, yet your eyesight is not bad."
"Sect Leader Jing Qiu" sneered and stated frankly.
Clearly, she had no intention of concealing her identity.
"Damn demonic creature! Not only did you kill our sect's Sect Leader, but you dare to defile the Sect Leader's spiritual body! You deserve to die!"
True Lord Long Hua was so enraged by this demonic creature that her hair stood on end.
At this moment, the creature had successfully displaced Xu Yi as the entity she detested the most.
True Lord Long Hua roared and hurled her dragon-headed staff forward.
A sharp whistle suddenly pierced the air.
The dragon-headed staff streaked through the air, like a soaring golden dragon.
"Tch."
With a mocking sound, the dragon-headed staff directly pierced through Jing Qiu's figure, striking a rock formation.
Amidst the booming sound, Jing Qiu's illusory figure slowly dissipated.
However, Jing Qiu's true body was nowhere to be seen.
"Such speed!" Xu Yi exclaimed in her heart.
True Lord Long Hua found it unbelievable.
She had been locking onto the opponent with her spiritual power, confirming that the person had not moved.
Yet, her dragon-headed staff had missed.
"You think this can hurt me, heh heh..."
A laughter, seemingly from nowhere, echoed in everyone's ears, pervasive and inescapable.
Wen Yi and the others felt the laughter reverberate within their minds, causing them splitting headaches and expressions of pain.
Xu Yi and Zhan Fei immediately cast several defensive barriers on Wen Yi and the other two, which somewhat eased their expressions.
"Xu Yi, it's impossible for you to trap me. Do you know why?"
That strange voice spoke again.
"Why?" Xu Yi's eyes flickered.
"Because you brought too many burdens to catch me," the person said with great arrogance. "If it were just you, I might have been a little troubled, but bringing these insignificant shrimp makes you bring trouble upon yourself.
I'll give you a chance to choose now: dismantle the trapping formation and let me leave, or watch me occupy a new body while you are utterly helpless to stop me.
Choose for yourself."
The demonic creature was extremely confident in her speed.
She was certain that Xu Yi could not capture her and could only trap her with the formation.
Thus, she would use these people's lives to threaten Xu Yi.
She wanted to see whether Xu Yi would be faster in saving them or she would be faster in killing them.
However, what awaited her was Xu Yi's long silence.
"What, are you scared?"