From the narrow alleyway leading to the Ice-Fire Border, nine figures flew out. Eight boasted an early-stage Foundation Building cultivation or above, yet it was on the Qi Refinement girl at their helm that all eyes focused.
Whereas all other disciples on the scene wore the sect’s traditional white robe, this purple-haired vixen cut hers into a strapless mini-dress at odds with all Dongli norms and ethics. Her perky breasts and perkier butt pushed against the tight-fitting dress, proudly luring in the eyes of nearby males while her round lavender eyes deterred lustful thoughts with a sharp, oppressive glower.
Xia Hu and Chun Xu aside, Xinzi only met one Qi Refinement level entity able to resist him: her. However, unlike the other two who relied purely on their cultivation base, Dong Ling’s most daunting attribute was not her Dao foundation.
Granted, with a peak Qi Refinement cultivation and over 300 Spiritual Drops at 18, she stood leagues above her peers, that alone wouldn’t enable her to compete with the likes of Xinzi. But once paired with the Zi clan’s Spirit Snake Swordsmanship, that emerald whip sword in her hand pushed her abilities to abnormal levels—enabling her to contend with late-stage Foundation Building experts.
“Young lady!”
With no care for their age or face, the 15 disciples lurched at Dong Ling. Some even planned to hug her milky white legs, but the swaying sword in her right hand convinced them that the move would shorten their lives by an unacceptable margin. Unfazed, Dong Ling gave the men a casual nod. But the eight inner disciples at her back, seven of which were male, stared at the outers with murderous glowers.
“Not even one Formation Master in your ranks, yet you came so close to the Ice-Fire border? What did you hope to accomplish by mining here? Die like dogs?” With one hand on her waist and the other lifting the Lesser Spirit Snake Sword, Dong Ling swept the 15 outer disciples. Her words were like wooden planks swatting at the disciples’ faces. And while most groveled in shame, a few felt their chest swell with rage.
‘Do you think that all outer disciples come from the Dong and Zi clans? Even if we wanted to team with Formation Masters, why would they agree?’ The same thought swept the disciples’ minds. Most yellow-grade Formation Masters, bottom-tier of the hierarchy, possessed a Foundation Building cultivation base. With their strength and status, what time did they have to waste on outer disciples? Even those few yellow-grade Formation Masters in the outer court were geniuses with the backing of elite disciples or elders. Whenever they wished to form teams, inner disciples lined up to answer the call. Why would they join forces with a ragtag band?
“We were foolish! We are foolish! Young lady, please protect us!” Though they were all at least by 20 years her seniors, those disciples didn’t dare to call Dong Ling “junior sister,” so they went with the “Young Lady” her status as the sect masters’ daughter warranted.
“Right, right, right. At the back.” Dong Ling motioned for them to hide behind the inner disciples and shifted her attention back to the cave walls. From the start, she didn’t glance at the Ice-Glazed Lichen. This was not because she didn’t care for it, but as an aristocratic disciple, she knew that whoever aimed for it now would just be courting certain destruction. And as the White Immortal sect disciples prepared for unseen threats, a pool of frozen green blood formed where the Arctic Bearworms’ corpses hung. If its putrid stench could have drawn heaps of suicidal flies, the thudding sounds of a horde of massive, crushing steps, prevented even the most brazen of beasts from getting within a 100 meters radius of the scene.
Billowing waves of Ice Qi blew throughout the cave, making the outer disciples’ faces twist into a show of complete dread while even the inner disciples grew dignified. Over 100 towering forms crawled through the blood pool to stand above those very same walls. The average Arctic Bearworm was only six meters tall. But many in this lineup reached nine meters, with overpowering auras that made their disheartening size irrelevant.
“109 Bearworms, including 17…at rank 2? Young lady, should we run?” The only female among the inner disciples, who also happened to be Dong Ling’s personal maid, asked. While the Ice-Glazed Lichen represented a life-changing opportunity that even senior experts wouldn’t let go of, the maid couldn’t risk her young lady’s life. Dong Ling, however, welcomed the challenge with unwavering determination.
“I will delay them. Cousin, set up the Eight Trigrams Array!” She said, and with no care for her maid’s concern, stepped towards the beasts. Having been by her young lady’s side for years, the maid knew that once she settled on something, no one could turn her away from it, and therefore didn’t bother trying to do so.
While Dong Ling drew the attention of the Arctic Bearworms, a middle-aged disciple stepped forward. Thick blue mist oozed his form, proof that he’d reached the mid-stage of Foundation Building.
Tapping his storing ring, the inner disciple summoned a bagua compass and raised it at the ceiling. Ten rays of diverse hues shot out, curved as they dazzled the cave and plunged into the ground. The rays dispersed, leaving 10 array disks of different colors behind. Eight of the disks stood equidistant from one another and formed an octagon around the black and white disks at the center. Standing before the black and white disks, the middle-aged disciple moved his hands in a succession of mudras, making the disks glow, twirl and shift at will.
Meanwhile, Dong Ling whipped the ground with her Lesser Spirit Snake Sword, lopping off a chunk of ice as she unleashed its overbearing aura. Instantly, cultivators and beasts shuddered under the pressure of this profound-grade treasure. Fazed by its might, the Arctic Bearworms recoiled. But a moment afterward, the 17 leaders tilted their mouth-faced heads, clacking their jagged teeth in unique monster communication. The higher the mysterious beast’s rank, the cleverer they became. A profound-grade treasure was comparable to a Golden Core level expert. Though the rank 1 Bearworms suffocated under such pressure, their rank 2 leaders soon realized that a Qi Refinement girl could never exert the full power of such a weapon. Otherwise, they’d be dead already.
Seeing through the con, the 17 beast leaders uttered Guttural howls, forcing their subordinates to shrug off the fear and march on the Ice-Glazed Lichen’s enemies. Dong Ling didn’t expect the rank 2 beasts to regain control so quickly, but as she considered countermeasures, the Formation Master’s voice thundered.
“Ling’er, quickly stand on the Disk of Heaven!”
Knowing that the formation was complete, Dong Ling leaped back—landing on a disk that expanded to fit her and glowed in golden light. Each of the 10 disks represented an ancient world aspect: fire, water, wind, thunder, mountain, lake, earth, heaven, yin and yang. The Formation Master always controlled the yin and yang disks, and by having eight experts stand on the other disks, could make their strengths overlap with his and release the Eight Trigrams Array’s true might.
These ten aspects made the Eight Trigrams Array an elite first-layer Formation of the Yanzhou Province. And with eight Foundation Building experts powering it, plus Dong Ling who with over 300 Spiritual Drops, could compare to a Foundation Building expert on cultivation alone, the White immortal sect disciples didn’t doubt their winning chances. The Arctic Bearworms soon remedied that.
With the 17 rank 2 Arctic Bearworms leading the charge, the 109 beasts leaped from the cave walls, defying gravity and all manners of mobility laws to become icy-blue comets as they hurtled at the Eight Trigrams Array!
Without delay, the Formation Master raised his hands, lifting a defensive barrier that met the Bearworms’ frenzied charge with a deafening blast. Though powered by Foundation Building level troops, the barrier shook upon impact. None of the rank 2 Bearworms landed with a scratch. Their subordinates, however, wailed in agony—yet still rammed into the Eight-Trigrams Array with a relentless drive.
“Beasts will be beasts. When did the Eight-Trigrams Array forte become defense? Die!” As he controlled the array, the Formation Master’s hands moved in arcane gestures. Bright elemental beams shot from the eight orbiting disks—tearing through the Arctic Bearworms’ ranks with stunning ease. Knowing that their troops wouldn’t survive a proacted battle, the 17 leaders charged at the eight beams, taking them head-on while their troops kept bashing into the barrier.
The fight raged on. Mangled bearworm corpse upon mangled bearworm corpse tumbled down. Not even five minutes after the confrontation’s start, 60 rank 1 Bearworms had already lost their lives, while seven of the beast leaders lay severely wounded—forcing the strongest of the group to shoulder the succeeding beam salvos. But while the Eight Trigrams Array showcased overwhelming dominance, this dominance relied on the disciples’ thinning qi. Without them to power it, the Formation Master could not resist such a lineup for long—much less crush it.
Still, they all came prepared with several batches of Qi Replenishing pills and didn’t fear exhaustion. Therefore, Dong Ling didn’t doubt that victory would soon be theirs. Picturing how she could bring the Ice-Glazed Lichen to her big brother Xia, she couldn’t help but blush. But as her thoughts ran wild, the Formation Master’s eyes grew cold, and Dong Ling’s qi flowed in reverse!
“Puh!” Struck by immediate Qi Deviation, Dong Ling puked blood and collapsed on her disk.
“Young lady!” All except for the Formation Master screamed. But knowing full well that the slightest mistake would ruin both the formation and their lives, they didn’t dare rush towards her. Trembling, Dong Ling challenged her numbed limbs to turn towards her cousin, who faced her with a cold smile.
“Cous—no, Dong Hui…what do you mean by this?” Rage and confusion mixed in Dong Ling’s twitching face. But due to the severe blow, her words came out like a forced whisper.
Realizing that the Formation Master was to blame, Dong Ling’s other teammates shared her rage and confusion. But as they daggered Dong Hui with murderous glowers, he broke into a peal of laughter.
“Don’t forget that without this formation, a single rank 2 Arctic Bearworm can use the ice element to freeze us all to death. Are you going to throw your lives away for the Zi clan’s daughter?” He asked, and though the words only made Dong Ling maid’s angrier, the other inner disciples didn’t dare gamble their lives. Biting their lower lips, they focused their energies on their array disks.
“Cousin? A filthy beast of the Zi clan has the nerves to call me cousin? Hahaha, laughable!” Dong Hui said and stepped towards Dong Lin, whose face further twisted at his words.
“You…dar—”
“Why would I not dare? Am I wrong? Your Zi clan originated from the Western Continent, but 1,000 years ago, you fled that chaotic land and migrated all the way to our Dongli state. By concealing your true energy signature, seducing our ancestors and blaming your appearance on the Western Continent’s unique cultivation methods, you fooled the Dongli elite into welcoming you with open arms. But in this world, how can a human being possess purple hair and lavender eyes?!”
Dong Hui exclaimed and clenched his right fist. Bound to the Eight Trigrams Array, Dong Ling couldn’t resist the thin energy rays that poured out from her disk and pierced through her body. Worse, her qi no longer obeyed her—following her enemy’s will instead! Racked by searing pain, Dong Ling couldn’t prevent the purple qi leaking from her wounds. Her aura grew erratic, her round pupils became slit lines, and under the male disciples’ horrified eyes, her legs morphed into a large purple snake tail!
“You are a beast! I called you a filthy beast! Why am I wrong?! In the Eastern Continent, consorting with mysterious beasts is a death sentence! Not only have we consorted with them, but for 1,000 years our Dong clan’s top talents have been marrying your Zi clan’s vixens! Our ancestors were muddled! Our elders are muddled! But must we juniors follow them down this asinine road?! If we don’t stop you now, your Zi clan will destroy our White Immortal sect’s 6,000 years of history!” Dong Hui bellowed at Dong Ling, making her face twist from rage into grief.
The Zi clan’s secret was common knowledge to the Dong clan’s elites. In fact, due to that secret, the Dong clan split into two lines: the main line whose top talent married the number one daughter of the Zi clan, and the branch line which gathered the descendants of the Dong-Zi intermarriage. Thus, while on the surface Dong Ling possessed paramount status, she would always be a branch clan child. The next Dong clan master would be one of her father’s nephews.
Regardless, Dong Ling never resented the covert exclusion and believed that time had erased all man-monster differences. Her senior clan cousin’s words hacked into her like a butcher’s knife, making her realize how naive she had been.
Still, she refused to die! Alas, once she stepped on the array disk, no amount of struggle could change her fate. Dong Hui raised his hand, channeling the array for a fatal blow. But as Dong Ling saw the specter of death take shape in his palm, a deep bass voice shook inner and outer disciples’ ears.
“The Golden Lotus be praised. Are you not ashamed of using this self-righteous pretense for what is nothing more than highway robbery?”
“Jeweled Dome Array.”
Jade, amber, lapis, ruby; a rain of gemstones hailed down from the ceiling, carrying with it a seven-colored beam that blasted through the Eight Trigrams Array.
*BANG*
Mysterious beasts and White Immortal disciples reeled back as a herculean monk emerged from this magnificent ray to stand before the monster girl. Hundreds of boulder-sized gemstones gathered around him, forming an impregnable pyramidal array that forced men and beasts to stare helplessly at his inviolable figure. His hands joined in a prayer sign, the monk bowed at the audience, then raised a “sorrowful” gaze at Dong Hui.
But at that time, Dong Ling’s voice came from behind—shattering all his momentum.
“Hah, burly boy, what are you doing here?”