“You know where that mad woman’s body is?”
“Mhm. I have a few guesses.”
A thoughtful look flickered through the Sage’s remnant soul’s eyes. As a powerful cultivator who had walked this road himself, he knew very well that the greatest gulf between second and first rank was not source qi or physique. It was the Dao Field, that eerie and unfathomable field of power.
If that mad woman could not use her Dao Field, then a deranged first rank Transcendent was another matter. With the power of the Heaven Deriving Art, that little girl called Tian Yan should be able to fight the mad woman to mutual destruction.
When the time came, with the formation’s help, killing that mad woman would not be impossible.
Now that the plan had some chance of working, the Sage’s remnant soul relaxed slightly. He gave Xu Yuan a deep look and said, “Xu boy, tell this old man the truth. How confident are you?”
Xu Yuan thought for a moment and said, “Fifty-fifty, I guess.”
The Sage’s remnant soul rolled his eyes. This brat. He might as well have said nothing.
Xu Yuan, however, felt rather helpless. He really had told the truth. There were plenty of things in life where you had to gamble with your own neck on the line, and in that kind of gamble, the odds were naturally fifty-fifty.
After a pause, he smiled and asked, “Old Luo, are you helping or not?”
The Sage’s remnant soul hated him so much his teeth itched. Of course he wanted to refuse. Then why not untie the heart devil knot and lift all those restrictions while they were at it?
After a long while, the Sage’s remnant soul squeezed out two words. “Suit yourself.”
Seeing this, Xu Yuan smiled faintly, then turned his eyes toward Ran Qingmo beside him. “All right, Ran Qingmo. Let’s discuss the plan for later.”
ᯓ➤
Fifteen minutes later, Xu Yuan connected his soul consciousness back into the observation array and quickly found the battlefield where Tian Yan and the woman in red were fighting.
The situation was exactly the same as before. Tian Yan remained in place like a living artillery platform, while the red clad mad woman fled everywhere inside her own Dao Field. The only difference was probably that Tian Yan’s frosty little face had turned a few shades rosier.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan glanced sideways at Ran Qingmo. “Remember what I just told you.”
Ran Qingmo was also connected to the observation array. She nodded softly. “Mhm.”
After a pause, she added, “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry.” Xu Yuan smiled. Then his thoughts sank, white light flashed, and his figure vanished from the sect gate entrance.
When his consciousness returned, Xu Yuan looked around. This was the main hall of a palace. It was vast and majestic, with a raised platform standing at the far end. Below it were several hundred meditation cushions, all long since rotted away with age. The activated grand formation spread waves of pressure throughout the palace.
Xu Yuan roughly guessed that this place must have been the Dao hall where the elders of the Splendorbloom Sect once preached and answered disciples’ questions.
Without the slightest pause, he shot straight toward the palace entrance.
This was the teleportation point closest to Tian Yan and the mad woman.
Because of the Saintess’ soul key, the formations inside the palace did not obstruct him much. He sprinted all the way out of the hall without meeting any resistance.
The moment he stepped outside, Xu Yuan immediately felt how violently chaotic the source qi between heaven and earth had become. He raised his eyes, and his pupils shrank hard.
A mass of pink mist pressed down over the low sky, blotting out heaven and sun. Without the support of the observation array, he could not see what was happening inside. He could only see shockwaves of energy constantly shooting out from within, crushing one magnificent palace after another into flat ground as easily as snapping rotten twigs.
The pressure radiating from it made Xu Yuan unconsciously clench his fists and stop in his tracks.
“Xu boy,” the Sage’s remnant soul suddenly said.
“What?” Xu Yuan took a deep breath.
“It isn’t too late for you to turn back.”
Seeing Xu Yuan stop, the Sage’s remnant soul immediately tried to persuade him in a serious tone. “Judging by the scale of their battle, the mountain-protecting array, already rotten with age, will definitely suffer another round of damage. At most, it will break down in a few months. There’s no need for you to risk...”
“You think I’d believe you?” Xu Yuan cut off the rotten old man.
The Sage’s remnant soul’s voice was grave. “I’m not joking.”
“Heh.” Xu Yuan.
The Sage’s remnant soul clicked his tongue. “Tsk. Honestly, if I’d known you were this eager to get out, I wouldn’t have told you the array could still last that long.”
Xu Yuan smiled and said in a low voice, “Enough. Remember to protect my mind.”
The Sage’s remnant soul fell silent for a moment, then finally asked, “Xu boy, are you sure that mad woman won’t attack you?”
Although he had already asked this question many times before they came here, he still felt uneasy. A single Saintess soul key was enough to make that mad woman refrain from attacking him on her own? He had lived this long and had never seen anything so bizarre.
Xu Yuan pondered briefly, then nodded. “Most likely not. I’ve appeared this close to her. She should have noticed me already.”
The Sage’s remnant soul sounded as if he had resigned himself to fate. “This old man admits defeat. Go on, then.”
Seeing this, Xu Yuan chuckled. His figure flashed, and he swiftly flew toward the mass of pink mist in the sky.
In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the edge of the pink mist, the cherry blossom mark on his brow flickering.
If Luo Daofan had not shielded him with soul power, the shockwaves in the air here alone would have been enough to kill him a hundred times over.
Calming his mind, Xu Yuan flew several circles around the pink mist before he finally felt somewhat reassured.
Not only did that mad woman not attack him, she even deliberately controlled some of the shockwaves flying out of the mist, making them change direction before they could hit him.
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Yuan tried gently pressing his palm against the mist.
In an instant, waves of lust and confusion surged into his heart, but immediately afterward, a cool current washed through him and swept that strange emotion clean away.
First one hand, then one foot, then half his body, then all of it. Bit by bit, Xu Yuan slipped completely into the pink mist.
The moment he stepped inside, before he could even check his surroundings, his heart suddenly froze.
A woman had appeared abruptly in front of him. She wore red robes, her hair loose and disheveled. Beneath that curtain of black hair, he could only faintly make out a pair of vacant eyes.
Their gazes met.
Neither spoke.
Amid the decadent music drifting all around them, a murmur as faint as a mosquito’s buzz reached Xu Yuan’s ears.
“Thank you...”
It was very soft. Without the boost from soul power, Xu Yuan would not have heard it at all. But that unexpected voice immediately put him at ease.
Thank you. So his judgment had been right. However, if this red-clad woman could communicate, perhaps they would not have to follow the original plan after all.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Yuan cupped his fist slightly toward the mad woman before him and said in a low voice, “Senior, could I borrow your Sect Master’s token...”
“I’ll kill you!!! You want the token? I’ll kill you! Can’t kill!!!”
Before he could finish, killing intent surged in the mad woman’s eyes, and her figure vanished from in front of him.
BOOM! At the same time, a violent tremor came from afar. Xu Yuan raised his hand to block the wind pressure, his robes snapping loudly in the gale. He sighed softly in his heart.
It seemed this mad woman really could not be reasoned with after all.
After two seconds of silence, a pleasant female voice came through, faintly breathless.
“Xu Changtian, you... hah... what are you doing here?”
It was Tian Yan. This woman actually still had the strength to send him a voice transmission.
Xu Yuan looked around but did not see Tian Yan. Instead, he saw pavilions and towers formed from mist, and also those scantily dressed young ladies dancing gracefully with long sleeves. Those slender waists that looked as if one hand could wrap around them, those constantly swaying figures...
It was very lifelike. Fortunately, these young ladies all turned a blind eye to Xu Yuan. The moment they formed from the mist, they flew off in a single direction.
Following those charming women made of mist, Xu Yuan finally saw Tian Yan’s petite figure. She was rather far away, but with the enhancement from soul power, he could still see her clearly.
Tian Yan’s beautiful golden eyes shone like divine pupils, halos of light flowing within them. A faint golden glow lingered around her body, keeping the surrounding pink mist at bay.
After a slight hesitation, Xu Yuan borrowed the Sage’s soul power and sent a voice transmission. “Hey, little girl. Do you want to die, or do you want to live?”
Tian Yan fell silent for several seconds before her voice came through again. “Why... why isn’t that mad woman attacking you?”
She could not understand it. He had clearly, clearly taken the initiative to enter the Dao Field himself, so why was that mad woman not attacking him?
Xu Yuan stood at the edge of the mist, watching the show, and let out a soft laugh. “Cut the nonsense. Answer my question.”
BOOM! As soon as he finished speaking, another tremor erupted over there. The golden light around Tian Yan visibly wavered.
Tian Yan sent back through voice transmission, “What... huff... what do you mean?”
“I can save you,” Xu Yuan said seriously.
“You... you’re willing to save me?” Tian Yan’s voice sounded as if she found it amusing. But after two seconds of silence, she lowered her voice. “What do you want me to do?”
Xu Yuan smiled when he heard that. He liked talking to smart people. He took a jade box from his Sumeru Ring, wrapped it in soul power, and tossed it toward Tian Yan.
Under the precise control of the Sage’s remnant soul, the jade box soon flew into Tian Yan’s hand.
Tian Yan bit her lip and said softly, “This... this is a Beguiling Sakura Flower? What are you trying to do?”
“Eat it.”
“Huh?” Tian Yan froze.
Xu Yuan’s voice remained calm and unhurried. “The Beguiling Sakura Flower takes an hour to take effect. In that time, I have a way to kill this mad woman.”
If he wanted to kill the mad woman, he had to borrow Tian Yan’s strength. But if they simply broke this Dao Field, Tian Yan would most likely run the moment her restraints were gone. Before that happened, he had to put a leash on her first.
“No... no way!” Tian Yan rejected him outright, panting.
A soul bewitching divine item like the Beguiling Sakura Flower would affect her even under normal conditions if eaten directly, let alone now, when she had already been struck by the mind-bewitching power of this mad woman’s Dao Field.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan shrugged, turned around, and left. “Then enjoy yourself here, little girl. Bye.”
While resisting the mad woman’s endless attacks, Tian Yan stared at that bastard’s back as he turned to leave. After two seconds of silence, she clenched her fists hard and spoke. “How do I know... you really want to kill her?”
Xu Yuan stopped in his tracks and laughed through voice transmission. “I want something on her.”
“Why... why should I believe you?”
“You don’t have to. She won’t attack me anyway. At worst, I just won’t take the thing for now. I’ll go back and ask my father to come get it.”
Xu Yuan’s voice was extremely relaxed, as if none of this had anything to do with him. “I’ll give you five seconds to think. Five, four, one...”
“Wait!” Tian Yan’s furious voice came through gritted teeth. “I... I’ll eat it!”
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