114: Wangyue Cliff

The light faded, revealing seven or eight Cultivators dressed in blood-red robes. The leader, his face pale as if he hadn't seen the sun in a long time, fixed his gaze directly on Mu Yurou.

The other blood-robed Cultivators immediately dispersed, their hands forming seals as streaks of blood-light shrouded towards Lin Feng and Mu Yurou. Their offensive was ruthless, far beyond any previous attacks they had encountered.

Lin Feng pulled Mu Yurou behind him and summoned the xuanming heavy water bead to protect her.

Lin Feng knew he couldn't delay, as the opponents were clearly prepared. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and he no longer held back. He frantically circulated the dual-attribute Sword Essence within his body, and a blue-and-red spiral sword-qi suddenly erupted, forcibly tearing through the blood net.

Following his sword, he cut into the enemy formation like a ghost. Wherever his sword-light passed, two blood-robed Cultivators screamed and fell to the ground.

His left hand fired several streaks of icy blue light—the Ice Soul Divine Light. The surrounding temperature plummeted, frost condensed on the ground, and several Cultivators were instantly frozen.

Taking advantage of the gap, Lin Feng's right hand changed its sword seal. The lush green Wood Attribute Sword Essence and the blazing Fire Attribute Sword Essence flashed alternately, then merged, striking out at the frozen Cultivators.

For a moment, screams echoed everywhere as they fell one after another.

In the blink of an eye, the only one still standing in the field was the injured leader.

Seeing his subordinates wiped out in an instant, the leader's face drained of all color. Overwhelmed with horror, he turned to flee.

But how could Lin Feng give him the chance? With a flicker of his silhouette, he appeared before the man, his fingers gripping the leader's throat. Pure spiritual power instantly locked down the man's body, completely subduing him.

"Now, answer my question. Who are you people?"

The Blood Fiend Sect leader's face turned from pale to purple. He managed to squeeze out a few words: "Blood Fiend Sect... one of the Tianlan Seven Demonic Sects... we are Blood Fiend Sect Disciples..."

"Why did you ambush us?" Lin Feng's grip tightened, his gaze sweeping over the pale-faced Mu Yurou.

The leader's Adam's apple bobbed as he felt death approaching. He trembled, "For... for the tianyi true water..."

Mu Yurou had stepped forward at some point, her face terrifyingly pale. "How could you know about the true water?"

Lin Feng pressed further, "What collusion does Bishui Palace have with you?"

Under extreme terror, the leader finally broke and shrieked, "Bishui Palace has already defected to our Sect..."

"You're lying!" Mu Yurou interrupted with a sharp cry, tears streaming down her face. "The Blood Fiend Sect is part of the Demonic Path. My Bishui Palace is of the Righteous Path; how could we collude with you? Stop slandering my Revered Master and my Sect!"

Provoked by Mu Yurou's questioning and seeing Lin Feng's gaze grow even colder, the leader's will to survive overwhelmed everything. He gasped and shouted:

"Slander? Heh... if Bishui Palace hadn't taken the initiative to join us, how would we know your whereabouts? How would we know you possessed a treasure like 'tianyi true water'?"

"You... you are the 'living sacrifice' your Sect offered to our Sect Master. That true water... is the tribute to exchange for our Sect's protection."

Mu Yurou stumbled back upon hearing this, her voice trembling, "No... impossible. Revered Master treated me like her own daughter... she wouldn't..."

The leader laughed maniacally, his face contorted. "Naive! On Moon Gazing Cliff, your Palace Mistress of Clear Water Palace and our Sect's Elder have been waiting for a long time. Go and see for yourself."

Lin Feng released a burst of spiritual power from his fingertips, ending the life of the lingering demonic Cultivator.

He turned to look at the swaying Mu Yurou. Her eyes were hollow, and she looked as if she had been struck by lightning, needing to lean against the mountain wall just to stay upright.

Feeling a pang of grief in his heart, Lin Feng stepped forward and tightly embraced her trembling body. "Yurou, we won't go to Moon Gazing Cliff. I'll take you away from here. To the ends of the earth, I will surely keep you safe."

Mu Yurou shook her head vigorously, raising her tearful eyes. "No... Brother Lin, I must go. I want to ask Revered Master personally. I don't believe... I don't believe she would do this to me."

Seeing the stubbornness and pain in her eyes, Lin Feng knew that unless she saw the truth with her own eyes, the thorn in her heart would never be removed.

He took a deep breath, suppressed all his worries, and squeezed her hand. "Alright, I'll go with you."

They finally arrived at the eerie and desolate Moon Gazing Cliff. At the top of the cliff, a familiar figure stood with her hands behind her back—it was the Revered Master Mu Yurou missed day and night, the Palace Mistress of Clear Water Palace.

However, standing beside her were several experts whose auras were even more powerful than the Blood Fiend Sect Cultivators they had encountered earlier.

What made Lin Feng's gaze narrow even more was that among the Blood Fiend Sect Cultivators, there was a familiar figure—Yun Tianhe.

Mu Yurou's gaze instantly locked onto her Revered Master, and she stumbled forward. "Revered Master! They... they said you were going to offer me to the Demonic Path. That's not true, is it? Tell me, they were lying to me!"

She knelt before the Palace Revered Master, looking up with a pale face, her eyes filled with tears.

"Do you remember? When I was young and injured my Meridians during practice, you stayed up day and night, exhausting your own cultivation to heal me... You said I was your hope, the future of Bishui Palace!"

The Palace Mistress of Clear Water Palace looked down at her expressionlessly, her voice devoid of any emotion. "Yurou, you've grown up. The Sect has raised you for twenty years, taught you Cultivation Techniques, and given you honor. Now, it is time for you to repay us."

She gestured to Yun Tianhe and the group of Blood Fiend Sect Cultivators beside her. "Go with them. Offer the tianyi true water within your body intact. That will be your final and greatest contribution to the Sect."

These words, like the sharpest ice pick, not only pierced through Mu Yurou's hope but also crushed all her warm memories of the past into powder.

Her whole body shook violently, her face instantly turning ashen. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Repay... contribution... so all that affection, all those teachings, were just to... raise me as a sacrifice? Revered Master... tell me, this isn't true."

"Fairy Mu, do you still not understand?" Yun Tianhe spoke leisurely at this moment.

"If it weren't for the need for your 'Water Spirit Mysterious Physique' to come to Moon Gazing Cliff willingly to complete the final sacrifice ritual, why would I have bothered to act along with you all this way?

Did you really think a small, insignificant Sect like the Star River Sect could even be compared to my Blood Fiend Sect?"

Mu Yurou looked at this "Senior Brother" who had been so attentive along the way, then at her cold-as-ice Revered Master. Her faith completely collapsed. Her delicate body swayed, and she almost slumped to the ground, her eyes filled with nothing but endless emptiness and despair.

Just then, another wave of spiritual power attacked from the flank without warning. Several Cultivators dressed in mysterious black Daoist robes appeared, blocking the path of retreat.

The leader, with a sallow face, said loudly, "Fellow Daoists of the Blood Fiend Sect, wait. My Ghost Spirit Sect is equally interested in this 'Water Spirit Mysterious Physique' and the tianyi true water. I'm afraid it wouldn't be right for your noble Sect to keep it all for yourselves."

The faces of the Palace Mistress of Clear Water Palace and the Blood Fiend Sect members darkened. The leading expert of the Blood Fiend Sect snorted and said, "Fellow Daoists of the Ghost Spirit Sect, this woman is a gift from Bishui Palace to our Sect. This matter was decided long ago. What is your reason for interfering now?"

"Reason?" The sallow-faced Cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect gave a fake smile.

"Heaven And Earth Treasures belong to the capable. Besides, such a Physique and true water would be of great benefit to the secret methods of my Ghost Spirit Sect. How could we just watch you take them away? Why don't we... discuss a new arrangement?"

"Discuss? Humph, you ambushed us halfway in the watery marshes—is that your attitude for discussion?" The Blood Fiend Sect expert's tone turned sharp, and blood-light began to flicker around him.

The man from the Ghost Spirit Sect showed no sign of shame. A faint black glow rose around him.

"Since we've been seen through, I'll be blunt. If it weren't for your Blood Fiend Sect's secretive actions and intention to keep it all, why would we have gone to the trouble of intercepting you here?"