The Saintess knew it was a trap. Instead of advancing, she retreated, her divine sense spreading outwards, not daring to miss a single detail.
Whoosh—
Just then, a gentle breeze blew past, carrying a rich floral fragrance.
The Saintess was startled, her pupils contracting sharply. With a light tap of her toes, she instantly vanished from her original spot.
The next moment, countless petals appeared where she had been standing, interspersed with numerous spatial rifts that had just been cut open. This revealed the sharpness and strangeness of the petals.
"It's Immortal Master Zhaiye's unique skill, Flower Plucking!"
A well-informed cultivator immediately recognized the formidable technique, and everyone marveled.
"Look quickly, they're over there."
Following the direction of the voice, everyone looked and indeed saw Immortal Master Zhaiye, who had appeared at some unknown time, already engaged in battle with the Saintess.
However, no one could witness the combat between the two, as the area was enveloped by profuse flowers and lush leaves. All they could hear were the incessant sounds of fighting and the fluctuating spatial distortions.
"A good opportunity."
Xu Yi murmured softly, his gaze falling upon the crystal ball beside him.
A figure stealthily approached the crystal ball.
"Who's there!"
The Saint's Attendants, having received the Saintess's instructions, had not abandoned their surveillance of the area around the crystal ball. When the puppet was less than a hundred feet from the crystal ball, the Saint's Attendant suddenly turned his head and shouted loudly, his gaze sharp.
"Detected."
Xu Yi narrowed his eyes and immediately sent the attack signal to the puppet.
The puppet no longer concealed its presence and sprinted rapidly towards the crystal ball.
"Stop him!"
Three Saint's Attendants immediately focused all their attention on the puppet.
"Lightning!"
Deep purple lightning power poured down like rain.
Xu Yi shook his head slightly, a smile on his lips, thinking that using this move against the puppet was futile.
As expected, the puppet's clothes were almost shredded by the lightning, yet its body remained unharmed. It could even move freely within the area where the lightning converged.
Under its full-speed sprint, it drew closer and closer to the crystal ball.
The other three Saint's Attendants stared with wide eyes, filled with disbelief.
No one had ever been able to withstand lightning directly with their physical bodies.
It was simply too bizarre.
In their panic, they overlooked the anomalies concerning the puppet.
"We cannot let him approach the sacred artifact!"
One of the Saint's Attendants gritted her teeth, reminding her companions as she charged towards the puppet like an arrow released from a bow.
No matter how difficult the opponent was to deal with, they had to complete the task assigned by the Saintess, for their lives were entirely in the Saintess's hands.
The other two Saint's Attendants exchanged glances and then followed suit.
The Saintess also observed what was happening near the crystal ball.
She glanced at the smiling Immortal Master Zhaiye and said coldly, "Old Daoist, are you seeking death today?"
"Saintess, why do you say that? I merely wish to resolve my doubts, with no other intentions."
Immortal Master Zhaiye stood on clouds formed from piled flowers, with tender, dew-kissed leaves encircling him, appearing like an immortal from Mount Penglai.
"Old Daoist, since you are determined to seek death, I shall grant your wish."
Immortal Master Zhaiye's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and a bad premonition arose immediately.
However, before he could react, his consciousness was instantly pulled into a mysterious space.
As he wandered in confusion, images flashed rapidly within the space.
These were the events of Immortal Master Zhaiye's life.
From when he was sent to Lingyun Mountain as a child, to his dedicated and tireless cultivation, becoming the sect leader of Lingyun Mountain, and accepting many disciples, until he received secret intelligence and learned that the Saintess Cult was suspicious, deciding to investigate in person.
The images finally stopped at the scene of his confrontation with the Saintess just moments ago.
Immortal Master Zhaiye was bewildered and wanted to break free from the spatial restraints, but it was all in vain.
To his surprise, the images that had just flashed began to rotate in reverse.
"Ugh."
Immortal Master Zhaiye groaned, raising a hand to cover his chest, a look of panic appearing on his usually composed face for the first time.
His cultivation was regressing.
The feeling of spiritual energy being drawn from his consciousness was exceptionally clear.
No!
Immortal Master Zhaiye wanted to stop it, but he found himself so powerless within this space, unable to resist in the slightest.
His gaze fell upon the images still reversing, and he suddenly understood everything.
These reversing images symbolized his cultivation.
As time reversed, his cultivation naturally had to regress as well.
What kind of power was this?
It was so peculiar.
Even with Immortal Master Zhaiye's vast experience, he couldn't help but feel his mind shaken by such a terrifying event.
How could he break free from this predicament?
Outside the space, the Saintess smiled faintly as she looked at Immortal Master Zhaiye's vacant eyes.
She had given the old Daoist a chance, but he had not cherished it.
In another half a stick of incense, the old Daoist's cultivation would fall below the Tribulation Crossing stage, and by then, no one would be able to stop her from taking Rongzhou.
Boom!
An unexpected situation occurred.
A light wrapped in intense heat suddenly struck.
The Saintess glanced coldly and casually struck out with a palm.
It was merely a blow from a cultivator in the Integration stage; it didn't require any effort.
However, as the palm struck, the light immediately dispersed in the air, and countless sparks suddenly erupted from it.
Many of them flew directly towards the positions of the Saintess and Immortal Master Zhaiye.
"A low-level trick."
Just as the Saintess was preparing to unleash her spiritual energy to block, a shout caused the expression on her face to freeze.
"Wan Yanxue!"
During this brief pause, the sparks had already reached the Saintess and Immortal Master Zhaiye.
The Saintess's mind stirred, and the spiritual energy within her body automatically pushed the sparks away.
However, she had overlooked Immortal Master Zhaiye beside her.
Immortal Master Zhaiye's consciousness had been drawn away, and his body naturally had no defense. The green sparks landed on him, instantly igniting his Daoist robe.
"Not good."
"Ah!"
Immortal Master Zhaiye cried out in pain, and his body instinctively began to struggle. His consciousness, trapped within the space, also sensed the situation outside and finally broke through the shackles.
The first thing Immortal Master Zhaiye did after regaining consciousness was not to extinguish the flames on his body but to quickly retreat, creating distance between himself and the Saintess, his eyes filled with wariness.
The Saintess no longer had time to lament the failure of her plan; she stared intently in the direction of the voice.
She would not mistake that voice.
"Wan Yanxue? Who is Wan Yanxue?"
"Haven't heard of her? Is that the Saintess's name?"
"Hey, that's strange, why does this name sound a bit familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere?"
The cultivators had not expected so many twists and turns to occur today. Following the battle between Immortal Master Zhaiye and the Saintess, the Saintess's hitherto concealed identity seemed about to be exposed.
The most surprised among everyone present were the four from the Beast Taming Sect.
Others might not remember where they had heard the name Wan Yanxue, but they remembered it clearly.
Especially Xiong Zhuangzhuang, it could be described as unforgettable.
Because not only had he heard of her, but he had also seen Wan Yanxue in person.
At this moment, all the doubts were cleared.
No wonder the other party could master the secret techniques of the Beast Taming Sect, no wonder they had always avoided Mo City and the Qingming Academy.
Because she was Wan Yanxue, a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, and the first person to openly declare her secession from Kunlun Academy.