499: The besieged crowd

A natural recessed platform near the western cliff of the rift valley had become the final breathing space for hundreds of Righteous Path Cultivators.

A nearly transparent "Nine Yang Golden Bell Boundary," covered in fine cracks, barely managed to hold open a space with a radius of a hundred zhang,

struggling to resist the erosion of the filthy demonic aura seeping in from all directions.

Outside the boundary wall were layers of Demonic Cultivator figures, patrolling like schools of hungry sharks!

They were flickering shadows of unknown numbers, but their fierce pressure weighed on the heart of every Righteous Path Cultivator like heavy lead ingots.

A few of them even emitted Soul Transformation demonic might that made the Golden Bell Boundary tremble!

"Pfft—"

A lean elderly man dressed in the black and white Elder's robes of the Yin Yang Sect, sitting cross-legged at the core of the Formation eye, suddenly opened his eyes.

A mouthful of blood sprayed onto the ancient Formation Plate covered in profound runes!

The crimson blood was instantly and greedily absorbed by the Formation Plate, allowing the crumbling boundary membrane to barely stabilize for a moment.

Lin Mingyuan! An Inner Sect Elder of the Yin Yang Sect, with a Void Refining Early Stage cultivation!

At this moment, this Elder, who was usually deeply majestic,

showed an irrepressible anxiety on his face for the first time... and a hint of resolute gloom!

"Junior Martial Uncle Mingyuan!" "Elder Lin!"

Exclamations rang out. Surrounding him were the core figures of this incident—

Lin Qingxue, Liu Rumei, Lin Shishi, and Xiao Huohuo.

Their auras were all fluctuating, their faces covered in the exhaustion and dust of consecutive fierce battles.

Liu Rumei's signature red clothes were torn in many places, and a temporary bandage was wrapped around her arm to stop the bleeding.

Lin Qingxue's face was as pale as snow, and the faint Ice Lotus Mark between her eyebrows was dull and lusterless.

Xiao Huohuo gripped a long saber wreathed in crimson flames, his eyes like those of a cornered beast.

Lin Shishi stood by his side, her elegant face filled with worry.

"Cough, cough..."

Elder Lin Mingyuan panted heavily a few times, forcibly suppressing his churning blood and Qi.

His gaze, sharp as a knife, pierced through the murky demonic mist, sweeping over the Demonic Cultivator Scouts who were becoming as dense as ghosts on the periphery.

His lips moved slightly, and a highly condensed Divine Thought transmission, which only Lin Qingxue could receive, pierced into her Sea of Consciousness like an ice needle.

'Qingxue... the situation is a hundred times worse than expected!'

Elder Lin's voice carried weak cracks even within the Divine Thought.

'The Border... has likely been torn open from the inside by those demonic brats! Our being trapped here is no coincidence!'

'The so-called "Appearance of the Ancient Realm Essence Fire" was nothing more than a bloody bait to lure our Cultivators!'

'Qingxue, the primary objective of my mission is to protect you until you complete the True Inheritance Trial and bring you back to the Sect alive!'

His condensed intent was like a steel needle tempered in ice, piercing accurately and relentlessly into Lin Qingxue's anxious Sea of Consciousness.

'The power of this "Nine Nether Soul-Locking Forbidden Domain" far exceeds estimations! It's not naturally formed, but an ancient remnant of a demon forcibly activated by those demonic brats!'

'Its sealing power over the shackles of the Dao of Space has exceeded what can be broken at the Void Refining Early Stage!'

'By forcibly burning my Primordial Spirit Origin to perform the "Blood Refining Void-Breaking Escape," I have a thirty percent chance of tearing open a corner of this forbidden domain!'

'But... I can only take one person!'

Taking even one more would cause the success rate to plummet to an unpredictable level. Once completely locked by the backlash of the Restriction,

you and I will turn to dust along with everything in this valley, our Divine Souls trapped forever!'

'As for the other Disciples...'

Lin Mingyuan's intent paused heavily here, carrying a suffocating helplessness and cruelty:

'In the face of the big picture, hot-bloodedness is no longer enough to save anyone! This old man... has done his best!'

Lin Qingxue pursed her bloodless thin lips, her ice-Phoenix-like eyes fluctuating violently as she gripped the cold sword hilt.

She suddenly met Lin Mingyuan's unquestionable, commanding gaze,

and a similarly condensed Divine Thought, carrying the determination of someone burning their boats, was sent back:

'Junior Martial Uncle! If the Border has truly fallen and the Sect is in turmoil, rescue might take time!'

'But precisely because of the great changes in the world, the high-level members of the Righteous Path will surely be like startled birds!'

'Hundreds of Cultivators have gathered here, including many Disciples from important surrounding Sects. News of our entrapment will certainly not be isolated!'

'Hold on for three more days! If after three days... the demonic might is overwhelming and reinforcements have not arrived...'

'At that time, please do not worry about me, Junior Martial Uncle, and perform the escape technique to leave alone!'

'Taking Clear Snow along might drag you down, Junior Martial Uncle, and in the end, we would both perish here, becoming a laughingstock for those demonic brats!'

'Clear Snow would rather use her remaining strength to burn her Dao, freezing her body and severing her soul, than become a burden!'

Her intent was resolute, decisive, and cold!

It was a kind of awe-inspiring integrity that set life and death aside!

She would rather be smashed to pieces than live ignobly and abandon the others!

Lin Mingyuan's body shook slightly, and a look of shock appeared on his withered face for the first time!

He looked at the young girl before him, whose eyes were as cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, yet whose very core burned with the rebellious fire of a Phoenix.

The iron-like plan in his heart was shaken for the first time!

This spirit... she is truly worthy of being the future pillar the Sect has put all its effort into cultivating!

'Nonsense! This is not up for discussion!'

Lin Mingyuan's intent instantly turned into a thunderous roar, allowing no rebuttal. 'You are the future spark of the Yin Yang Sect!'

'There can be no mistakes! When the time comes, this old man will decide what to do!'

The subtext was already clear—even if he had to burn his last bit of Origin Qi and Dao cultivation to nothing, he would definitely ensure she escaped this domain of death!

Lin Qingxue's "rather break than bend" will only served to strengthen his resolve!

Elder Lin's gaze became like a cold pool in an ancient well again, locking that immense pain deep within his eyes.

"Qingxue..."

Beside her, Liu Rumei's face was terrifyingly pale. The undried blood at the corner of her mouth and her torn red clothes made her look like a withered flower.

She looked at Lin Qingxue's tense profile, her usual arrogance having mostly dissipated,

leaving only a heavy, inseparable regret and powerlessness.

"It's me... I was too impatient... Delong possesses the Origin Essence Fire, which has unpredictable power,"

"so I thought of getting ahead to find that newly revealed Profound Fire Essence Spirit... If I could get it for him... but I didn't expect to run straight into the inescapable net set by those demonic brats..."

Her voice was very soft and hoarse, every word like a knife to the heart.

"Rumei..."

Lin Shishi walked to her side and gently supported her swaying body, her elegant face also clouded with gloom and self-reproach.

"It was Huohuo and I who dragged everyone down... Senior Brother Delong gifted us such a reconstructive Divine Pill as the Profound Dao Pill, a debt of gratitude as heavy as a mountain,"

"so the two of us thought of using this trip to obtain the 'Profound Fire Essence Spirit' to repay him... at least... at least to show our sincerity..."

She looked at the fellow Disciples around her, their faces sallow and their auras withered from supporting the Formation,

and then at the terrifying Demonic Miasma outside the valley, which looked like it was waiting to devour them, her eyes full of resentment and despair.

Xiao Huohuo stood to one side, silent, but his knuckles gripping the Crimson Flame Saber had turned white.

The abyss of the rift valley at this moment was like a prisoner pearl being continuously digested in the mouth of a giant beast.

Every time the light screen of the Golden Bell Boundary flickered and dimmed, it affected the crumbling spirits of all the survivors.

"Don't lose heart!"

Lin Qingxue's voice, however, was like an icicle piercing through the dead silence, suddenly ringing out with a chill that froze panic!

"If there truly is movement at the Border, the higher-ups of the Yin Yang Sect will never sit idly by! There are many Cultivators here, and the implications are vast!"

"There must be a stir within the Sect! Reinforcements are certainly already on their way!"

Her gaze swept across everyone's faces, which were filled with exhaustion, fear, and despair, her voice piercing through the oppression:

"Hold on! Continue to pour Origin Power into the Formation Pivot! Even if it's just a drop in the bucket, it can still delay the attacks of those demonic brats' Blood Formation!"

"Buy even a sliver of time for the reinforcements! Those who persevere to the end might not fail to see the dawn!"