Chapter 55: The Desperate Three Strikes

As expected, Qingyunzi raised his hand in a grab, and the Storage Bag at Jiu Shixiong's waist landed in his hand; then, with a light shake, a pile of messy pills, Magic Treasures, Spirit Materials, and Spirit Stones tumbled out into thin air with a clatter.

Qingyunzi's gaze fell upon a bronze bell the size of a fist, and his expression instantly turned incomparably cold and grim. He grabbed the bell in his hand, and a terrifying aura completely locked down Jiu Shixiong's Origin Qi, as he roared:

"This is the Soul-Absorbing Bell, a Magic Treasure unique to my Longmen Mountain. You really were the ones who killed them. Now that you have been caught red-handed, how else do you intend to deny it? Since that is the case, there is no need to take you back to the sect for interrogation; I shall execute you right here to pay for the lives of my disciples!"

"Daoist Friend, wait!" Third Elder exclaimed.

"Whoever dares to stop me shall die today!"

Qingyunzi's face was ferocious. Sitting on the back of the Spirit Crane, he raised his hand and struck; rolling Origin Qi transformed into a giant hand over a zhang in size, which then slapped down toward Jiu Shixiong, who was already restrained in mid-air.

Below, a group of disciples cried out in alarm. Xu Chen knew that it could no longer be explained away, and if he did not act now, Jiu Shixiong would surely die. Therefore, after locking onto Qingyunzi, all of his Divine Sense surged crazily toward the Blue Jade Bead.

Originally, Qingyunzi's severe wounding of Master Xuanhe Zhenren had already made him furious, and coupled with the urgency of saving someone, he poured his full strength into this strike, without the slightest reservation.

"Boom—"

The jade bead erupted with an unprecedented, brilliant radiance, as if a blue sun had exploded within his Sea of Consciousness.

The world was instantly enveloped by the blue light that pierced the soul.

At this moment, Xu Chen's Divine Sense was already blinded; all he could see was a patch of dazzling, brilliant blue. But he knew that as long as he did not pass out, under the lock of his Divine Sense, this blue light would attack Qingyunzi.

Sure enough, just as the Origin Qi giant hand was about to slap onto the top of Jiu Shixiong's head, Qingyunzi suddenly felt his entire body's hair stand on end. Before he could react, he felt a beam of dazzling blue light rush into the center of his brow, and then, like a red-hot iron sword, it stabbed fiercely into his soul. Instantly, his soul was pierced through, and his entire Sea of Consciousness began to burn under the dazzling blue light.

"Ah—"

Qingyunzi let out a miserable shriek, clutched his head, and tumbled headfirst off the back of the Spirit Crane.

The Spirit Crane was at a loss and flapped its wings, preparing to go down to save its master.

Xu Chen's vision was dark and his head felt as if it were splitting, but he did not lose consciousness. At the same time, he knew clearly that he absolutely could not let Qingyunzi escape. Otherwise, once he returned to Longmen Mountain, the next to come would not be a cultivator of the Danyuan Realm, but inevitably a Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator, Taiwu Zhenjun. At that time, the Taiyuan Sect would face true annihilation.

"Fellow Senior Brothers and Sisters, act quickly, don't let Qingyunzi escape!"

Amidst Xu Chen's roar, his Divine Sense locked onto the Spirit Crane and launched another full-power blue light attack.

"Coo—ya—"

The Spirit Crane let out a miserable cry, its wings suddenly went into disarray, and then it plummeted toward the peak of Zhaoyang Peak like a kite with a broken string.

Jiu Shixiong suddenly felt the pressure on his body release. His soul was still a blank; that terrifying pressure from just a moment ago had already pushed him to the edge of death.

But stimulated by Xu Chen's roar, which utilized Origin Qi, he suddenly jolted awake and saw clearly that the situation had changed. Coupled with their cooperation all the way down the mountain, he immediately understood that Xu Chen had used a strange soul-attack technique. Therefore, he raised his hand and waved; a Flying Sword transformed into a stream of light and chased after the shrieking, falling Qingyunzi.

"Pfft—"

The Flying Sword struck Qingyunzi in the lower back, but was deflected by his Protective Origin Qi, only tearing open a wound and sending a spray of blood scattering across the sky.

Qingyunzi shrieked again, seemingly waking up a bit more. He suddenly steadied his figure and, with a pale, twisted face, looked at the three of them and roared:

"It was you! It must have been you who killed Guo Ming and severely wounded Yulong Zhenren of Yuqing Hall. This time, your Taiyuan Sect is doomed; not a single one of you will survive!"

After Xu Chen's two attacks, his soul had already begun to collapse, and his consciousness was in a mess. He could no longer see anything before his eyes; there was only a blue ball of light burning fiercely, roasting his soul. He could only rely on his remaining consciousness to barely hover in the air, drifting and swaying like a leaf.

Hearing Qingyunzi's roar, Xu Chen poured all his remaining consciousness into the ball of light and used his final strength to trigger the Blue Jade Bead to launch a third attack.

With a loud "boom," as if the heavens were collapsing and the earth splitting, Xu Chen's vision went black and he plummeted from the sky.

Qingyunzi suffered another heavy blow to his soul and finally could no longer hold on. He shrieked and spat out blood as he fell. A Flying Sword whistled toward him, striking straight at his dantian.

This was Jiu Shixiong's favorite move.

Insidious and vicious.

"Lu Yuan, stop!"

Third Elder arrived after the fact but reached first; he waved his hand to knock the Flying Sword away, then flipped his hand to pull out a Spirit Talisman and crushed it. Instantly, several crisscrossing array light-shadows landed on Qingyunzi, transforming into a square cage that retracted into his body and disappeared.

Although he had not yet understood the sudden turn of events, he knew that Qingyunzi absolutely could not die; otherwise, Longmen Mountain would definitely become an irreconcilable enemy of the Taiyuan Sect.

"Junior Brother!"

Zhao Xuan caught up to the tumbling, falling Xu Chen and held him in her arms. Discovering that Xu Chen was bleeding from his seven orifices and his breath was as thin as a thread, tears rolled down her face. She carried Xu Chen and transformed into a stream of light, landing in front of Taiyuan Hall.

At this moment, the entire Taiyuan Sect was extremely quiet; one could almost hear a pin drop.

Eldest Senior Brother and the group of disciples still had no idea what had happened, so naturally, no one could step forward to help.

In fact, from the moment Xu Chen launched his attack until the dust settled, only a few breaths of time had passed.

When Third Elder landed carrying the unconscious Qingyunzi, everyone finally came to their senses and swarmed over, surrounding the four of them.

"Qin Zhao, watch Qingyunzi well. I have already used a Three-Grade Soul-Locking Talisman to restrain his dantian, but if he wakes up and resists, destroy his dantian immediately."

"Disciple obeys!" Eldest Senior Brother Qin Zhao hurriedly accepted the order, then released rolling Origin Qi to press Qingyunzi firmly to the ground.

"Yao Yuzhu, take two Junior Brothers to capture that Third-Tier Spirit Crane. If it resists, execute it on the spot!"

"Disciple obeys!" Second Senior Sister Yao Yuzhu hurriedly accepted the order and took Third Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Brother to find the Spirit Crane that Xu Chen had knocked off the cliff.

After Third Elder finished giving his orders, he walked to Zhao Xuan's side. Looking at Xu Chen, who lay in her arms with a face like gold paper and breath as thin as a thread, he probed his Divine Sense into Xu Chen's body to investigate carefully, his expression becoming very grave.

The entire Taiyuan Sect was already aware of what had happened to Xu Chen.

However, Xu Chen had said that he had obtained a fortuitous encounter at Black Wind Ridge, which caused his Divine Sense to be stronger than that of an ordinary Zhenyuan Realm cultivator, and he could also launch a very terrifying Divine Sense attack. It was just that the cost and aftereffects were also very great; if he used his full strength, his own soul would also suffer heavy damage, and he might even fall into a coma.

Just now, he had seen it clearly: in order to deal with Qingyunzi and his Third-Tier Spirit Crane, Xu Chen had launched three consecutive soul attacks. Although he had severely wounded Qingyunzi and the Spirit Crane, creating a peerless opportunity for their capture, he himself had paid an extremely heavy price.

At present, his Divine Sense was completely scattered, and his Origin Qi was almost at the point of collapse.

Jiu Shixiong squeezed in with a pale face, fumbled all over Xu Chen's body, pulled a Soul Bead from his bosom, and held it to the center of Xu Chen's brow. Then, he said with great anxiety: "Every time Junior Brother's soul is injured, he uses a Soul Bead to repair it, but this Soul Bead is too small; I fear the Soul Power is not enough."

Third Elder nodded and said: "Since that is the case, send him to the quiet room to recuperate first. Xuan'er, take good care of him. After I make arrangements, I will personally go to Black Wind Ridge; I must kill more Soul Beasts and bring back more Soul Beads."

Jiu Shixiong said urgently: "Third Elder, you must not. Only in the depths of the Black Wind Ridge fissures are there Soul Beasts, but inside, Divine Sense is greatly suppressed, and it is very easy to get lost."

Third Elder waved his hand: "This matter should be done sooner rather than later. My cultivation is still acceptable; although I have not reached the Golden Core, I am still much stronger than you all. By the way, how is Second Elder's injury?"

At this time, a disciple said: "Second Elder is still in a coma, but we have already fed him a Chiyun Pill. The cold energy in his body has been dispelled quite a bit, and his condition has stabilized."

Third Elder breathed a sigh of relief and began to assign tasks to the disciples. The first was to guard Qingyunzi well; he must not be allowed to run away. Additionally, that Spirit Crane must also be guarded well and likewise not be allowed to run away.

At present, Great Elder Danchenzi had been in seclusion for nearly a month. If things went smoothly, perhaps his emergence was not far off. Therefore, the current goal was to delay as much time as possible; the longer, the better.

Three or five days would not be too many; ten days or half a month would not be too few.

Once Danchenzi successfully achieved Spirit Transformation, even if Taiwu Zhenjun came personally to demand an explanation, they would at least have the strength to fight. Additionally, at that time, they could also seek help from Yuqing Hall. As long as Yuqing Hall did not stand by and watch, even if they only said a single word, Taiwu Zhenjun would have to back down.

Second Elder Xuanhe Zhenren was heavily injured, but it seemed Qingyunzi had not dealt a killing blow, so his life was not in danger; however, it was now impossible for him to continue attempting Golden Core in the near future, and if he could not recover through recuperation, his cultivation would stop there for this lifetime.

Of course, Qingyunzi was injured even more miserably and severely, falling into a complete coma, looking almost exactly the same as the situation with Yulong Zhenren.

He had suffered damage to his Soul, and the Soul is the foundation of the Primordial Spirit.

If the damage to the Soul could not be recovered, it would be even more impossible to achieve Spirit Transformation Infant in the future.

Yet, medicinal herbs in this world that repair the Soul happen to be the fewest, rarest, and most precious.

Therefore, both sides suffered heavy losses in this battle.

Overall, it seemed Longmen Mountain suffered greater losses, with one Danyuan Realm expert severely wounded and one Third-Tier Spirit Beast severely wounded and captured.

But in terms of foundation, the situation of Taiyuan Sect was even worse.

Great Elder Danchenzi was in seclusion and not coming out, so only Second Elder Xuanhe Zhenren had the highest cultivation; with Xuanhe Zhenren severely injured, his foundation was almost completely shaken.

But right now, no one cared about this; instead, they had to save people quickly and try their best to delay for time.

According to Third Elder's speculation, at most five days; if Qingyunzi had not returned by then, it was feared that more people from Longmen Mountain would come.

Therefore, these five days were the final time for the life and death of Taiyuan Sect.

"Lu Yuan, follow this poor Daoist to Black Wind Ridge; everyone else, guard the mountain gate tightly and watch over Qingyunzi. Under no circumstances must you disturb the Great Elder!" After everything was arranged, Third Elder used Divine Sense Transmission to the entire Taiyuan Sect.

"Disciples obey!" All the Disciples answered in unison.

Very quickly, Third Elder rode his sword, carrying Jiu Shixiong, and broke through the air, heading toward the northwest.