Chapter 159: Breaking the Siege

"If we try to break out upward, we can only look after ourselves, at most pairing up for short‑range escape." The divine sense swept the surroundings, another wave of demonic beasts quietly approached from this side, and with the high‑altitude bird calls, Xia Bing was also pondering the issue.

The Hundred‑Mile Flight Talisman can carry at most two people, so in their five‑person group one will inevitably be left alone.

Jiang Yu was about to speak up to go alone, but Deng Yuanwu, picking up on it, said, "At Great Awakening Temple, the two young masters pair up; Jiang Yu and Junior Sister Xia will travel together."

"If fate permits, we can rendezvous at the second‑level medicinal garden."

Xia Bing nodded, "It can only be done this way; once we safely leave this place, each of us will find a way to the second layer."

"Two Daoist friends, we'll be the vanguard; the moment we burst through the canopy, you two must immediately activate the Hundred‑Mile Flight Talisman."

Guo Jue disagreed, "Let's try to move together as much as possible; I have this."

"After I activate it in a moment, everyone should quickly slash the canopy overhead to make way."

At this moment he no longer hides his silk; with a slap he opens his storage bag and pulls out a palm‑sized flying boat.

But it isn't the single‑hull flying boat Jiang Yu usually uses; it's the Cloud‑Piercing Boat that Jiang Tu has been yearning for, incredibly fast—within half a day (one hour) it can fly three to four thousand li.

The boat has a sizable compartment in the middle that can accommodate ten people to rest, and the hull is equipped with a high‑level defensive formation; when fully activated, it can withstand a late‑Nascent Soul's full three‑strike onslaught.

Normally it is used by Core Formation cultivators; occasionally a Foundation Establishment disciple from a great sect receives one as a gift from his master.

However, most of the time Foundation Establishment cultivators do not pilot this boat when venturing out, because it is easily plundered by wandering Core Formation cultivators.

Jiang Yu kept saying "buy, buy, buy", but each time she saw the price she couldn't bear it, so she only bought two artifact‑level flying swords to fool Jiang Tu.

"Having this treasure is excellent!" Xia Bing was overjoyed, hurriedly pulling out two high‑quality spirit stones to give Guo Jue for use on the Cloud‑Piercing Boat.

Guo Jue firmly declined, but with a light toss the Cloud‑Piercing Boat instantly expanded, and the few of them quickly leapt aboard.

However, no one entered the cabin; instead they split into front and rear groups to form a defense.

"Ready," Guo Jue commanded, steering the boat from the prow and whooshing toward the canopy.

Jiang Yu and the other three, hearing his cue, swiftly drew their swords, cutting at the obstructing vines.

With hand raised and sword fallen, several streams of blade light continuously sliced a huge opening, and the Cloud‑Piercing Boat surged upward like a startled rainbow.

It happened to collide with the many circling birds that refused to leave.

"Launch talismans," Xia Bing ordered, and several of them simultaneously hurled spiritual talismans at the approaching Silver‑Winged Roc and Lion Bird.

The spiritual talismans in Jiang Yu's hand ignore the usual metal‑wood‑water‑fire‑earth categories; they're hurled at lightning speed, and she throws several at once, focusing a concentrated firepower.

The birds, unwilling to let them go, beat their wings wildly, raining down wind blades at a rapid pace.

However, the Cloud‑Piercing Boat's defense is too thick; the wind blades strike the protective aura without creating a single crack, and Guo Jue continues to charge through them.

In an instant, various colored spiritual lights flashed in the sky, wind and explosion sounds rang continuously, and both sides exchanged blows back and forth in a raging battle.

The commotion was so great that other cultivators who had not yet leapt over the mountain peak slowed down.

Wen Xin, gazing at the fire shooting into the sky, called out, "Senior Brother Qin, they must be Jiang Yu's group under attack; should we go to help?"

"It might not be them. Moreover we can't go; we all act together, and my words don't count. The spiritual wave ahead is violently shaking; you and I can't provide much support."

Several demonic cultivators hesitated and didn't leave; Jiang Yu's group instead split off to go alone. Qin Zhuo disagreed, but he had no standing to oppose.

On the side, a free cultivator said, "All we hear is bird song; why not flank them from the side?"

Wen Xin frowned, "What flanking? It's clearly a sneak‑run while the demonic beasts focus on attacking others."

After the Foundation Establishment leaders of the four major sects communicated, they also thought a swift passage would be better.

So they accelerated their flying swords to the limit, flying from a spot far from the duel.

Unfortunately, in the continuous forest there were many flying beasts; after only a few dozen li of flight, they were beset by a flock of birds and immediately fell into a hard fight.

On this side, as Guo Jue's Cloud‑Piercing Boat surged faster, the number of injured or dead birds kept increasing.

Seeing the Cloud‑Piercing Boat break the encirclement, the lead bird of the Silver‑Winged Roc unleashed a fiery roar, a sharp, wild screech that drove its subordinates to chase furiously.

Jiang Yu and Guo Ye ran from the prow to the stern to help their senior brothers and sisters counterattack the pursuers.

"Caw!" the birds pursued relentlessly, with two or three even catching up to the Cloud‑Piercing Boat, weaving in and out to evade the talisman attacks.

Yet at the stern, more birds lined up, charging forward.

Jiang Yu saw the talismans struggling to hit them, so she tossed a thunder sphere at the massive bird bodies, but its weight caused them to be kicked away.

So she produced a Nascent Soul Sword Talisman and said, "Senior Sister, use this."

"No need for that, I have Heavenly Thunder Orbs."

"Guo Jue, can you make the Cloud‑Piercing Boat fly out of the range when the heavenly thunder explodes?" Xia Bing shouted toward the prow.

Guo Jue replied, "It can, you command."

"I also have Heavenly Thunder Orbs," Jiang Yu snapped, pulling out a box.

Deng Yuanwu and Guo Ye, after taking out two or three, suddenly felt they were too poor.

Xia Bing said no more, distributed a batch of Heavenly Thunder Orbs into several hands, and assigned positions: "Ready, throw!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh

When the Heavenly Thunder Orbs entered the massive flock behind, the Cloud‑Piercing Boat surged forward again, whooshing far away.

Boom— boom— boom—

"What a huge mushroom cloud!" Jiang Tu exclaimed, eyes wide inside the Dragon Pearl.

Nearly twenty Heavenly Thunder Orbs detonated; a flash of white light made Jiang Yu hastily shield her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, the Cloud‑Piercing Boat had already flown a hundred li away, its speed gradually returning to normal.

Senior Sister Xia, at the prow, produced an Invisibility Talisman and said, "Junior Master Guo Jue, does this boat have a cloaking function? Do we need this talisman?"

Guo Jue was eager, but had to clarify, "Daoist friend Xia, just call me by my dharma name afterwards."

The boat itself lacks invisibility, but affixing this talisman merely makes it invisible to the naked eye; its flight‑induced spiritual energy waves can still be sensed.

"Cultivators need not worry for now; the demonic beasts are easily deceived."

It prefers to rely on sight rather than constantly sensing with divine sense.

"If we can hide a bit, we can avoid a battle," Jiang Yu said, walking through the cabin.

Guo Jue, feeling embarrassed, took the talisman and immediately slapped it onto the hull.

Xia Bing laughed and said, "We cultivators don't project our spiritual awareness outward all day long."

"You and the Fruit Sect fellow cultivators should rest and replenish your spiritual energy first; later we'll take over."

"Alright." Jiang Yu spent a long time setting up the formation; even though it was all ranged attacks, it truly consumed spiritual energy.

She didn't yield; she slipped into the ship's hold and began meditating. The newcomer from the Fruit Sect, seeing that she gave up the long couch and sat on the floor, felt a bit uneasy.

They immediately placed a meditation mat on the floor, grasped a spirit stone, and began replenishing spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu, standing nearby, stopped channeling at that moment and instead used her spiritual awareness to command a spiritual sword to fly out of the storage bracelet.

"Senior Xuantang, you finally woke up?"