Chapter 349: The Two Confront

When those words were spoken, almost every disciple of the Tianyi Sect felt a surge of joy.

But when they looked at Hong Zhengqing, they found that he had slipped into a coma from excessive blood loss, and their excitement was instantly dampened by more than half.

A disciple spoke up: "Senior Brother Hong can no longer hold on."

"What shall we do then? Must we force our way through these forty‑nine trap mechanisms?"

"Now we have no choice but to do that, right? We can't just let Senior Brother Hong keep shedding bright blood, can we?"

The outer‑gate disciples of the Tianyi Sect began to argue loudly.

They split into three factions overall.

One faction wanted Hong Zhengqing to continue shedding blood to break the sealing barrier.

Another faction refused to let Hong Zhengqing keep shedding blood.

The third faction remained silent, i. e., neutral.

Seventh Elder Rong Jin Zhi slightly frowned; she looked at Second Elder Wang Yangbo: "Second Elder, this child probably cannot …"

Second Elder's cloudy old eyes glanced at her lightly; he took a jade bottle from the storage space and tossed it into Seventh Elder's hand.

Second Elder said gravely: "This is a Sixth‑grade Blood‑Returning Pill; give it to him to take."

Seventh Elder heard this and instantly understood Second Elder's intention.

She pressed her lips together.

In the end she still chose to follow Second Elder's decision.

She fed the Sixth‑grade Blood‑Returning Pill into Hong Zhengqing's mouth.

Lu Xiangxiang said: "Second Elder, we have only half a shichen left before our appointment with the Mountain King."

Upon hearing that, Second Elder immediately realized the urgency of the matter.

Seeing that Hong Zhengqing showed no sign of waking, he had no choice but to stride toward him and transmit his own true Qi to him.

Hong Zhengqing let out a muffled hum in his coma.

Meanwhile Bian Chen, Nie Bai, the Great Elder of the Hua Sect, Jiu Shu and others silently watched from the side.

Not far away, Hua Chengyan saw the scene, turned his head toward Yuan Yao beside him, and just as he was about to speak, Yuan Yao cut him off.

"I'll go examine this sealing barrier."

Having said that, before Hua Chengyan could react, she had already quickened her steps toward the sealing barrier.

Yuan Yao did not rashly reach out to touch the sealing barrier; instead she bent down and scooped a handful of snow.

She raised her hand and gently tossed the snow droplets.

Fortunately, the wind direction could carry the snow droplets toward the transparent sealing barrier.

Whenever a snow droplet landed on the sealing barrier, a faint glimmer appeared on its surface, with the vague outline of patterns.

"What are you doing?!"

Suddenly, a harsh shout rang out.

It seemed ready to explode in Yuan Yao's ear.

Yuan Yao looked up and met the sharp gaze of the middle‑aged male cultivator, District Instructor.

Yuan Yao said: "I want to see this sealing barrier."

District Instructor sneered, "Do you realize that every move you make can trigger a new round of trap mechanisms? Do you intend to kill everyone?"

For a moment, almost all the young disciples looked at her with disgust.

"She didn't do it on purpose," Bian Chen quickly spoke up, defending Yuan Yao.

Upon hearing that, District Instructor grew even more aggressive, mocking, "Just by her appearance, I can tell she's extremely ignorant! Which faction's pampered little miss from the Eighth Continent is she?"

Hua Chengyan walked over, "She is an honored guest of our Hua Sect, not a person of the Eighth Continent."

District Instructor said haughtily, "Young Master of the Hua Sect, we had agreed beforehand to cooperate in breaking the sealing barrier, yet you are not properly disciplining this girl; are you trying to let her cause our demise here?"

Hua Chengyan's expression turned slightly solemn.

Before he could speak, Yuan Yao coldly said, "I haven't done anything harmful to anyone, yet you slander me so disgracefully; do you suffer from delusions? Moreover, the Hua Sect and all of you have no right to discipline me!"

As she spoke, she reached out directly to touch the sealing barrier.

"How dare you?!" District Instructor's eyes seemed about to burst.

Yuan Yao chuckled lightly, "What's there for me not to dare? I never agreed to cooperate with you."

Hearing this, District Instructor launched an attack toward her, seemingly to give her a lesson.

But before he could reach Yuan Yao, Hua Chengyan stepped in to block him.

"Yuan fellow‑cultivator is an honored guest of our Hua Sect; please do not impose baseless malicious speculation upon Yuan."

At these words, District Instructor's face turned black.

Meanwhile, Second Elder Wang Yangbo, who was transmitting true Qi to Hong Zhengqing, heard this, slowly lifted his head, and his sharp gaze swept toward Hua Chengyan and Yuan Yao.

"It seems you truly refuse the offered wine and only drink the penalty wine."

Now that Hong Zhengqing's bloodline power has proven capable of breaking the sealing barrier, what use are these people?

In an instant, tension rose like drawn swords and bent bows.

At this moment, the ever‑silent Lu Xiangxiang finally spoke, "If your Hua Sect is willing to set boundaries with her, our Tianyi Sect can bring you into the treasure‑hiding place together?"

Hua Chengyan's expression showed slight hesitation.

And the members of the Hua Sect stared at Hua Chengyan; they had just heard that Tianyi Sect's Hong Zhengqing could use bloodline power to break the sealing barrier, so if they now tear the façade with Tianyi Sect over Yuan Yao, wouldn't that be a futile effort?

"Young Master, we should …" Uncle Jiu hurried to speak.

Hua Chengyan slowly raised his hand, stopping him from continuing.

"Sorry, Hua cannot do that."

Jiu Shu instantly showed a look of iron‑to‑steel frustration, gritted his teeth and glared at Yuan Yao, cursing her hundreds of times in his mind.

He doesn't understand why his young master treats the Six Sons of Qianshan with such importance!

"Then…" Lu Xiangxiang was about to speak when Yuan Yao cut her off.

"Junior Sister Lu, do you still remember me?"

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone present was stunned.

"Originally I didn't really want to say this in front of so many people." Yuan Yao sighed lightly, then continued: "I never expected you to become a disciple of the Formless Immortal. It's impressive. The Formless Immortal, back on the Ninth Province, learned of your malicious thoughts and schemes, yet still took you as a disciple! I can only say the two of you are a perfect match in stench!"

"Shut up! How dare you insult the Immortal!" Second Elder erupted in fury, shouting, and at the same time unleashed his own overwhelming pressure, trying to force Yuan Yao to kneel!

Hua Chengyan didn't expect her to say such a thing; seeing her about to be crushed by the powerful pressure, he prepared to intervene.

Unexpectedly—

Boom!

An extremely terrifying spiritual force silently expanded, not only shattering Second Elder Wang Yangbo's overwhelming pressure but also, in the blink of an eye, invaded the Second Elder's sea of consciousness.

She unhesitatingly began to wreak havoc inside his sea of consciousness!

Like a raging, violent storm.

The Second Elder's complexion changed abruptly, his lips turned slightly pale; he quickly expelled the intruding spiritual force, his gaze at Yuan Yao filled with disbelief.

Lu Xiangxiang spoke in time, "Yuan Yao, it was your sect members who set the trap for me in the first place…"

Yuan Yao sneered, "Stop playing the victim! You were expelled from the sect by my master because you tried to frame me. Because you were suspected of practicing forbidden cultivation techniques, you were imprisoned in the Heaven and Earth Domain's Heaven Prison. Before the interrogation could begin, the Heaven Prison suddenly caught fire, and you escaped in the chaos. Who was behind you?"

"I couldn't figure out that question before, but now I understand."

"It must be the Formless Immortal, right?"

Those words contained far too much information, leaving everyone present a little hard to digest.