142: Chapter 141 Counterattack

Starlight poured down like a waterfall.

The entire battlefield was enveloped in a brilliant sea of stars.

As the starlight fell upon the Qingxuan Sect Disciples, it transformed into a faint silver glow, as if they had donned armor woven from the stars.

Wounds healed, spiritual power recovered, and exhausted bodies were once again filled with strength.

However, when the starlight fell upon the devil Cultivators, it felt like being cut by blades.

Those devil Cultivators with lower cultivation levels screamed as they retreated, blue smoke rising from their bodies, and burn marks appearing on their skin.

A devil Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage was enveloped by the starlight; he felt as if he were being burned by fire, screaming and rolling on the ground until he fell silent after three breaths.

Even the devil Cultivators at the Golden Core Stage frowned, forced to divert a portion of their spiritual power to resist the omnipresent starlight.

Li Tu stood in the distance, watching the sea of stars that had suddenly lit up, his expression livid.

His bone saber was still stained with the blood of Qingxuan Sect Disciples, but at this moment, the blade was trembling slightly, as if afraid of something.

He looked up at the sky—the stars were blindingly bright, each one radiating vast power, a power he had never felt before, one that did not belong to the mortal realm.

"What is going on?" he asked in a low voice, a tremor he hadn't noticed himself in his tone.

Gui Sou stood beside him, his black banner mostly shattered, with only a few tattered strips of cloth hanging from the pole.

He squinted at the starlight, a trace of fear flashing in his murky, aged eyes: "It is a Formation... Someone is setting up a Formation."

Li Tu gritted his teeth: "Break it!"

Gui Sou shook his head: "It cannot be broken. That is not an ordinary Formation, that is..." He did not continue, because he did not know what it was either.

He had lived for hundreds of years and had never seen such a Formation, nor had he ever felt such power.

Li Tu said no more.

He took a step forward, raised his bone saber high, and slashed at the nearest beam of starlight!

His Saber Qi was like a rainbow, surging with black Devilish Qi, transforming into a ferocious tiger that struck the beam of light heavily.

Boom!

The Saber Qi shattered, but the starlight remained unmoved.

Li Tu was forced back several steps by the recoil, his hand numbed, and he almost dropped the bone saber.

He looked down at the saber in his hand; a small crack had appeared on the blade.

"No... impossible..." he muttered, his eyes filled with disbelief.

This bone saber had been with him for two hundred years, had drunk the blood of countless Righteous Path Cultivators, and had never been damaged. Today, it had cracked.

On the battlefield, Fu Qingyun looked up.

His gaze swept past the retreating devil Cultivators, past the enemies scorched by the starlight and rolling on the ground, and landed on Li Tu in the distance.

The devil Cultivator who had been showing off just a moment ago, having killed three Qingxuan Sect Disciples with a single slash, was now holding a cracked bone saber, his expression livid.

Fu Qingyun gripped the broken sword in his hand, his voice low but clear: "Qingxuan Sect Disciples, heed my command."

Everyone looked at him.

"Counterattack."

The voice was not loud, but it exploded in everyone's ears like a thunderclap.

Zhou Yuan was the first to rush out.

He was unarmed, but like a tiger descending from the mountain, he punched the chest of a Foundation Establishment devil Cultivator.

The devil Cultivator screamed, his sternum shattered, and he flew backward, knocking down three people behind him.

Zhou Yuan laughed, his voice hoarse but exhilarated: "Satisfying! Satisfying!"

Another devil Cultivator rushed up; he dodged to the side and slammed his elbow into the man's neck, causing him to collapse to the ground instantly, lifeless.

Zhou Yuan wiped the blood from his face and grinned: "Come again! Come again!"

Han Song did not leave Yun Ming's side.

He held that iron rod, guarding Yun Ming like a door god.

An Early Golden Core Stage devil Cultivator rushed up, and Han Song swung the iron rod horizontally with a whistling wind.

The devil Cultivator raised his saber to block; the saber and rod collided, sending sparks flying.

The devil Cultivator was knocked back three steps, while Han Song remained unmoved.

The devil Cultivator gritted his teeth and charged again; Han Song thrust the iron rod forward, striking the man squarely in the chest, causing him to vomit blood and fly backward.

Han Song remained standing in place, the iron rod held across his chest, his gaze like a torch.

Liu Ruyan followed behind Fu Qingyun, the broken sword dancing in her hands.

Her swordsmanship was far less refined than Fu Qingyun's, but at this moment, blessed by the starlight, every strike carried a sharp edge.

She stabbed through a devil Cultivator's shoulder with one sword strike, causing him to scream and retreat, then slashed another's arm with another strike, sending blood splattering.

Her robes were stained with blood—both her own and the enemy's—but her eyes were brighter than ever.

Fu Qingyun charged at the very front. The broken sword in his hand transformed into a silver rainbow.

A Golden Core Middle Stage devil Cultivator blocked his path, wielding a copper hammer with a head the size of a watermelon.

The man swung the hammer down with a whistling wind, its power astonishing.

Fu Qingyun dodged to the side, the broken sword sliding up along the hammer handle, its tip stabbing straight at the man's throat.

The devil Cultivator was alarmed and abandoned the hammer to retreat, but he was half a step too slow.

The broken sword sliced a gash across his neck, and blood gushed out.

The devil Cultivator fell, clutching his neck, his eyes wide open, unable to die in peace.

Fu Qingyun did not stop. He continued to charge forward, the broken sword flickering with a cold, icy light under the starlight.

The Qingxuan Sect Disciples also charged forward.

Those young people who had been struggling bitterly just a moment ago, on the verge of defeat, seemed like a completely different group of people now.

The starlight on their bodies flickered, their Magical Artifacts glowed, and every strike carried power several times greater than usual.

A Foundation Establishment Early Stage Disciple slashed out with his sword, actually forcing a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage devil Cultivator to retreat several steps, splitting the skin between the Cultivator's thumb and forefinger.

A Qi Refining Stage youth, unarmed, punched and shattered the Magical Artifact of a devil Cultivator of the same rank, then punched the man in the face, smashing it to a pulp.

The devil Cultivators began to retreat.

At first it was just a few, then a dozen, then swaths of them.

Their attacks landed on the Qingxuan Sect Disciples but were mostly blocked by that layer of starlight, leaving only three-tenths of their original power.

Conversely, the attacks of the Qingxuan Sect Disciples landed on them, augmented by the starlight, their power skyrocketing, every strike carrying force they could hardly withstand.

A Golden Core Early Stage devil Cultivator was surrounded by three Qingxuan Sect Foundation Establishment Disciples and was actually beaten back step by step.

He roared and slashed with all his might, sending one Foundation Establishment Disciple flying.

But the other two seized the opportunity to rush up; one pierced his shoulder, and the other severed his lower leg.

He fell screaming and was beheaded by Fu Qingyun, who had arrived in the wake of the attack.

Li Tu's expression grew uglier and uglier.

He watched his subordinates fall one by one, watched the Qingxuan Sect Disciples charging and killing like mad demons, and watched the sea of stars growing ever brighter, and for the first time, a desire to retreat arose in his heart.

"Retreat!" he roared hoarsely, "Retreat!"

The devil Cultivators acted as if they had been granted amnesty, turning and running.

The Golden Core Stage devil Cultivators led the frantic flight, the Foundation Establishment Stage ones followed behind, and the Qi Refining Stage ones scrambled on the ground.

When they came, they were like a plague of locusts, blocking out the sky and sun; when they left, they were like stray dogs, a routed army.

Fu Qingyun chased for a while, then stopped.

He stood on the ruins of a collapsed hall, watching the retreating devil Cultivators, his broken sword hanging at his side, blood dripping from the tip.

The Disciples behind him were still cheering.

Zhou Yuan jumped onto a large boulder and roared at the sky, his laughter echoing in the night air.

Liu Ruyan leaned on Fu Qingyun's shoulder, closed her eyes, and a trace of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Han Song remained standing beside Yun Ming, iron rod held across his chest, motionless.

And further away, several figures were busy.

They were a few veteran Disciples from the Alchemy Hall; they had not been sent to the front line, but had been assigned another task by Fu Qingyun—to re-arrange the Mountain Guardian Array.

The original array had been breached by the devil Cultivators, but the array base remained; as long as someone repaired it, the array could function again.

Those Disciples were weaving through the ruins, embedding Spirit Stones into the array base, and re-inscribing the array patterns.

Their movements were fast, their foreheads covered in sweat, but not one of them stopped.

They knew that this array was the final line of defense for the Qingxuan Sect and the hope of everyone.

Yun Ming sat slumped on the ground, looking up at the sea of stars.