498: The whereabouts of Lin Qingxue and others

Yao Delong frowned slightly, stepping out from mid-air to land in front of Meng Ya.

With a casual lift of his arm, an irresistible yet gentle force propped up the trembling Elder's arms.

"Stand up." His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable urgency.

"This place is a death trap laid by the Devil Sect. All of you, withdraw from the Profound Fire Ancient Realm immediately!"

Meng Ya was pulled to his feet by this force, stumbling slightly, the excitement on his face still lingering.

Hearing those words, he shuddered violently: "Yes! Yes! We will leave right..."

Before he could finish, Yao Delong asked again:

"Have you seen the whereabouts of my Yin Yang Sect Disciples?"

The gratitude on Meng Ya's face instantly turned into embarrassment and confusion as he shook his head vigorously:

"Son-in-law Yao! To be honest! A few days ago, demonic Cultivators suddenly broke through the pass and began rampaging in all directions!"

"This old man was originally ordered to cover the retreat of our Sect's Disciples. On the way, I heard a tempting rumor of 'Essence Fire appearing'."

"In a moment of greed, wanting to secure another Opportunity for the Sect, I deviated from the route and came here, only to encounter a demonic ambush!"

"We've fought bloodily until now... but I have not seen any sign of your noble Sect's Disciples! It is truly this old man's... dereliction of duty!" His tone was full of regret and guilt.

A cold light flashed in Yao Delong's eyes, and his look of disappointment was fleeting.

A faint trace of fatigue crossed his brow—he had just activated the third style of the Lesser Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, 'Extermination'.

Fusing it with the 'God Slaying Nirvana Domain', he had instantly killed hundreds of demonic Cultivators and five Soul Transformation old devils.

Although the Physical Body's Yuan Qi had mostly recovered under the effects of precious Medicinal Pills, the consumption of his Divine Thought and Sea of Consciousness was like having the deepest part of an ocean drained away.

At this moment, a tearing pain still throbbed faintly, as if billions of invisible fine needles were gently stirring inside his skull.

He suppressed that hint of dizziness, his voice sinking a bit: "I understand. Retreat quickly! Any later and it will be too late!"

The last sentence was a warning. The Devilish Qi here was as heavy as an abyss; those five Soul Transformation Cultivators were merely pawns.

Stronger venomous snakes were bound to be lurking in the depths, perhaps even... existences that truly touched the wall of Heaven-Reaching! This was no exaggeration!

"Yes! We will retreat immediately! Son-in-law Yao, please be careful!"

Meng Ya didn't dare delay for a second longer. Wiping the bloody froth from the corner of his mouth, he turned and roared:

"Did you all hear that?! Take the wounded! Activate the talismans! Go—!!"

The surviving Righteous Path Cultivators felt as if they had been granted a grand amnesty. They activated their prepared shifting jade talismans, and streaks of faint light lit up.

Carrying the remnants of their defeated force, they vanished frantically into the snow-filled Void Realm.

Just then, a slightly hesitant figure emerged from the nearby ruins.

It was a Nascent Soul Cultivator with a withered aura, wearing the tattered robes of the 'Hundred Beast Sect'. He rushed to a spot several yards in front of Yao Delong.

Not daring to approach the invisibly radiating pressure, he bowed deeply, his voice trembling with awe: "Yao... Senior Yao!"

Yao Delong's gaze swept over him like lightning.

The Nascent Soul Cultivator shuddered under the sting of that gaze and said hurriedly: "This Junior is Chen Chong! A Protector Elder of the Hundred Beast Sect!"

"Just now... just now I heard Senior Yao inquiring... and I remembered something!"

Yao Delong's eyes narrowed: "Speak."

"A few days ago! Three Golden Core Realm Disciples of my Sect ventured deep into the far west!"

"They intended to search for some Cold Flame Iron Essence but were attacked by a team of demonic Cultivators!"

"They luckily escaped by using Blood-Burning Escape Talismans. They mentioned... that at the place of the encounter, across a very great distance..."

"...they sensed the eruption of an extremely sharp Profound Ice Sword Intent, accompanied by a startling aura of 'Yin and Yang power'!"

"Looking from afar, they saw a mass of pitch-black Devilish Qi surrounding a canyon rift!"

"The direction of the aura's eruption... should be a thousand miles to the west-northwest!"

Chen Chong spoke extremely fast, fearing he might waste a single second: "According to the Disciples' vague perception afterward, in the deepest part... there also seemed to be an extremely hot energy tide being triggered... it's just that the area..."

"...must be completely sealed off by demonic barriers by now! Every word this Junior says is true!"

"West-northwest... a thousand miles... Profound Ice Sword Intent?"

A cold torrent instantly washed away the residual stinging pain in his Sea of Consciousness!

Clear Snow! Rumei! All the clues instantly connected, pointing to the same absolute prison!

"Thank you!" Yao Delong didn't hesitate for a moment longer! As the words left his mouth, they sounded like the clashing of metal!

With a wave of his sleeve, his Chaos Yuan Qi swept across the core area of the battlefield like invisible tentacles.

Five Storage Rings flickering with dim demonic light and possessing hideous, evil shapes, along with several damaged but still fiercely powerful demonic treasures,

the shattered armor of Savage Mountain, and the broken staff of the bone banner dropped by Ghost Skull were all instantly swept up and tossed into the ring on his finger!

Boom!

The Star-Shattering Cloud-Piercing Plume erupted once more with a screech that tore through the void!

Only a circular deep pit, instantly crushed by the powerful force, remained where he had stood!

Along with a ring of black spatial ripples that could not close for a long time!

Yao Delong's figure was already a kilometer away, transformed into a streak of mysterious, furious light tearing through the wind and snow, racing madly toward the direction Chen Chong had pointed!

His speed was so fast that it even left a ring of sonic boom clouds in the frozen air!

"Captain! This... it's starting again?!"

From an invisible spatial ripple in the void a hundred yards away, a Divine Thought transmission from a member of the Night Hawk team came through, sounding close to tears.

They had just used all their strength to activate Void-Stepping Talismans to steady themselves, and hadn't even had time to stuff a single Qi-Recovering Pill into their mouths.

Their breathing was still like a broken bellows, yet the target had once again transformed into a meteor and vanished into the horizon!

"Shut up! Keep up!"

There was no longer any of the previous hesitation or evaluation in the Night Hawk Captain's eyes; only execution remained, carved into his very bones!

However, his resolute face could not hide a trace of extreme shock and exhaustion.

He had personally witnessed the terrifying power with which Yao Delong had crushed the demonic army! He understood even more that it was not easily done!

Mental fatigue and the depletion of Yuan Qi were inevitable!

Yet, even though the speed at which the other party was currently traveling was not as exaggerated as the full-force spatial tearing from before,

it was still so fast that even their team of Soul Transformation elites, who specialized in assassination, felt heart-stricken!

What did this mean? The other party was "squeezing" his "exhausted body," which had just experienced a peerless slaughter, to travel!

What kind of concern could make him disregard his Divine Essence like this?

"Follow him! Stay hidden! His Divine Thought is bound to be externally relaxed but internally tight right now! Protect his rear blind spot!!"

"He is tired! But the trump cards he just showed... he is invincible below the Void Refining realm! And above Void Refining, he might not be unable to slay them!"

The Night Hawk Captain's voice was hoarse, but a kind of almost fanatical admiration burned in his eyes!

It was no longer for the mission, but out of awe for this power itself, a desperate gamble to protect this "possibility"!

The five almost imperceptible shadows, ignoring the tearing pain in their Meridians caused by forcibly absorbing the Qi-Recovering Pills,

merged like maggots on a bone into the violent airflow created by the high-speed travel, tightly tailing that guiding mysterious light!

At the same time.

Deep within the Profound Fire Ancient Realm, one thousand three hundred miles to the west-northwest.

A massive rift valley, like the hideous fangs of a prehistoric beast, stretched between eternal profound ice and pitch-black volcanic rock.

The bottom of the rift was not filled with deep darkness, but rather permeated with a solidified, viscous, ink-like, and eerie dim Devilish Qi!

The Devilish Qi was so thick that it almost swallowed all spiritual light and sound, forming a suffocating demonic domain prison!