Chapter 155

Of course, Jiang Yu couldn't possibly slay Lord Hong with a sword as soon as she arrived; she flew on her sword to the outside of the circle where the sea beasts were besieging.

While helping the attacked cultivators slay sea beasts, she took the opportunity to approach the vicinity of Hong Haoshan, and in the instant his protective light shield was shattered by a fish tail, she suddenly shot out a needle-shaped magic implement.

And this silver needle was not aimed directly at Lord Hong; it grazed the belly of a leaping fish and shot toward Lord Hong's chest.

Just as Hong Haoshan, bobbing in the water, steadied his form and began to cry for help, the silver needle pierced through his chest: 'Junior Sister Qi, save…'

On this side, Jiang Yu would not give him a chance; while controlling the sunken silver needle to explode with her divine sense, several talismans blasted toward nearby sea beasts, instantly causing them to panic and leap, and the poor Lord Hong was pierced through the chest by a horned giant fish and sent flying.

Qi Haohao and Sister Liao wanted to fly to the rescue, but they could barely keep up with the giant fish.

"Jiang Yu, help chase it a bit!" Qi Haohao exclaimed, still unaware of what Lord Hong had done in the desert ancient city.

Jiang Yu fished an injured female cultivator out of the water, saying, "Right away."

But her flying sword only made a circle, then she fished another person out of the water; this delay made her slower than Qi Haohao and her companion flying.

By the time she caught up on her sword, the two had already wounded the giant fish and fished out a blood-soaked Lord Hong.

Jiang Tu cocked his head and looked, "Such a huge hole in the chest, and he's still not dead?"

Could it really be that the old saying holds true—good people don't live long, while misfortune lingers for a thousand years?

Jiang Yu also regretted wasting a needle, knowing that in the cultivation world, any magic implement shaped like a needle, mirror, bell, or seal is refined from special spiritual materials and is quite expensive.

Seeing that Lord Hong still had a breath left, she had to consider adding poison to her hidden weapons in the future.

"Fellow Daoist Qi, the smell of blood will attract more demonic beasts; let's return quickly." Jiang Yu had no interest in watching Qi Haohao and her companion rescue anyone.

"Junior Sister Qi, give him the Great Return Pill; life and death are up to heaven." After scattering the hemostatic powder, Sister Liao controlled her flying sword to return.

At this moment, Jiang Yu saw that most of the cultivators in the water had already escaped danger; aside from the fleeing sea beasts, the water's surface bore a few corpses of people and sea beasts.

She couldn't help but sigh inwardly; every time they entered a secret realm, someone perished along the way.

Following the scattered group, as soon as they flew to the shore, they saw several escape lights flying in from the distant sea.

Jiang Yu quickly set down the two people on her flying sword, and just as she was about to carefully discern whether those escape lights were from Senior Sister Xia, a cultivator who had just jumped off her sword suddenly leapt into the air.

He swung a sword toward Sister Liao's flying sword as it landed, aiming directly at the dying Lord Hong.

"What are you doing, Dao friend?" Qi Haohao drew her sword and blocked, and several cultivators who had come ashore looked over.

Jiang Yu sighed as she went to meet the distant escape lights; there were too many people, otherwise she would certainly have lent this person a hand.

Jiang Tu asked her, "Aren't you going to look at the outcome?"

Jiang Yu shook her head: "No need to look; with everyone injured, this cultivator couldn't defeat Qi Haohao and her companion."

Jiang Tu still wanted to stare at the dragon stele to see the result, but unfortunately Jiang Yu's flying sword was too fast; it only saw the cultivator who was swinging the sword, and he was jointly blocked by Qi Haohao and her senior sister.

Moreover, the escape lights in the distance were not slow either; one icy-blue streak arrived almost in the blink of an eye.

"Jiang Yu! Great to see you." It was Xia Bing; her flying sword, obtained from the Sword Pool of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, had now become her natal magic treasure, making it even more effortless to wield.

"Xia Shijie." Jiang Yu was delighted to see her, and she exchanged greetings of safety with the few people who had come after her.

"Since Fellow Daoist Jiang is unharmed, let's part ways here."

"Keep the IOU; next time we meet, we can offset it with spiritual herbs, okay?" The three cultivators from the Eastern Continent—Ouyang Nian and the others—had no intention of teaming up with the Heavenly Origin cultivators.

Jiang Yu patted her storage bag, took out the three IOUs and returned them, saying, "We've met by chance, and we've already gotten a few people to do their best to search; let's drop this matter."

The three exchanged a glance, burned the IOUs, then clasped their fists and flew off, heading not toward the group of cultivators who had just come ashore.

The remaining Deng Yuanwu and Guo Jue senior brothers naturally would not leave.

Qin Zhuo and Wen Xin of the Profound Heaven Sect, along with Fellow Daoist Feng of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, all intended to continue forming a team.

Jiang Yu naturally returned all of their IOUs as well; lacking those spirit stones herself, there was no need to make them replenish.

Wen Xin, feeling they had shared life-and-death experiences, spoke more warmly: "Jiang Yu, over there, do we have any Heavenly Origin cultivators?"

"Uh… even if I knew them, I wouldn't recognize them." It's no wonder Jiang Yu's eyesight is poor; indeed, many people, upon entering a secret realm, will change out of their originally marked ritual robes.

Including herself—she had put on an extra layer covering the mark of the Grand Void Sect.

"If they're all from that desert ancient city group, we ought to make an appearance." Xia Bing had already become the captain of the temporary squad.

"Among those who have perished, I also don't know if any Heavenly Origin cultivators are among them." Jiang Yu naturally had no objection and went along with everyone.

Unexpectedly, Lord Hong, who still had a breath just moments ago, had already been decapitated.

Meanwhile, the cultivator who had previously attacked him stood to one side laughing, and had not been slain by Qi Haohao and Sister Liao.

Jiang Yu and Jiang Tu both expressed astonishment, but she couldn't run over to ask Qi Haohao at this moment.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Origin cultivators in the crowd quickly gathered around Xia Bing.

Only then did Jiang Yu learn that, after they were teleported away from the desert ancient city, the two Dragon Emperor Island cultivators in the teahouse, having been crowded onto the second floor by many people, blew up the entire building during their standoff.

And then there was no afterwards; everyone inside and outside the building was swept away in an instant by a gray mist.

Unfortunately, these people did not fall into a village like Jiang Yu and her companions; instead, they landed amidst an astonishingly huge horde of demonic beasts.

What's more, some fell straight into the beasts' mouths and died on the spot.

Cultivators who are constantly infused with spiritual power are, to demonic beasts, nothing short of a delicacy; the beasts, delighted at the sight of prey, chase after a group of cultivators to devour them.

More than fifty cultivators, using every ounce of their strength, fled desperately; upon reaching a great river, they saw a massive vortex erupting, and without regard for where they were, they all scrambled to jump in.

At that moment, Lord Hong was about to be overtaken by the demonic beasts; in one breath he wounded the two cultivators beside him and shoved them into the beasts' mouths, thereby averting a calamity for himself.

Then someone sought revenge.

Finally, a cultivator of the Supreme Unity Sect said, "However, the one who just delivered the killing blow was not the laughing cultivator, but a female cultivator who had been standing behind the crowd."

She was extremely fast; with a single strike that hit its mark, she used an escape talisman to leave, leaving the two female cultivators nowhere to pursue.

Fortunately, they were all Eastern Continent cultivators; if they had been our people, the two sides would surely have engaged in a mass battle.

"How many of our Heavenly Origin cultivators have perished?" Jiang Yu recalled that Xia Shijie had said there were more than thirty Heavenly Origin cultivators in the ancient city.

She scanned her surroundings; at present there were only twenty-plus.

"At least seven or eight; one of my junior brothers is severely injured, having been struck by a sea beast while escaping…" The Return to Origin Sect cultivator couldn't continue, as his sect had received very few Taiji Fish Plaques; having only just arrived two days ago, he had already lost one.

Jiang Tu sent a mental message: "Jiang Yu, we should ask whether they obtained any magic treasures in the water."

"Cannot ask." Jiang Yu doesn't care, and moreover cultivators place great importance on the privacy of seizing treasure.