79: Chapter 79 What does your Qingyun Sect research all day long?

The flying boat fleet formed a wedge in the air, advancing toward Ranhuo City.

The decks were packed with Cultivators, with those of the Fifth Realm lining up and those of the Sixth Realm holding the line.

Two Eighth Realm Cultivators stood at the bow of the imperial flying boat, hands behind their backs, their robes fluttering loudly in the high-altitude wind.

An emergency meeting had been convened half an hour ago at the Qingzhou Prefecture office. The spiritual energy fluctuations from the direction of Ranhuo City had grown so strong that even the runic turrets on the walls of Qingzhou City were starting to automatically overload, and the abnormal migration of anomalies across the entire prefecture was still ongoing.

Grand Cultivator Helan Yan of Ziping Cave had personally stepped forward. The moment he sat in the council chamber with his Ninth-Stage Eighth Realm cultivation, all the decision-makers of the Sects present shut their mouths.

The Elder from the imperial family had snow-white hair and beard, wore a dark black Dragon robe, and had an ancient jade carved with runes hanging from his waist. His surname was Zhou, and he was the current Emperor's biological uncle.

With the two Eighth Realm experts sitting together, there was only one agenda item: no matter what the current situation in Ranhuo City was, they had to ensure its harm did not continue to spread. Whatever was entrenched there had to be purged or resealed.

As the sources of firsthand intelligence, the Qingyun Sect and Tianque Sect were required to participate throughout. The Third Princess, as the imperial overseer in Ranhuo City, was responsible for leading the way. And so, the flying boat fleet set off.

Qin Tianzong stood by the gunwale of the Qingyun Sect's flying boat, not even having time to change into a new robe. From the moment the fleet set sail, he had been pacing the deck, taking a few steps and sighing, then pacing a few more steps after each sigh.

Beside him, Elder Han of the Tianque Sect had a face of iron-blue. With his Sect's centuries-old foundation destroyed in an instant, he didn't even want to speak right now.

When Qin Tianzong paced near the imperial flying boat, Old Zhou glanced sideways at him. 'Elder Qin, is that Disciple of your noble Sect, the one you call Xie Feng, still alive?'

Qin Tianzong's footsteps paused. 'It's hard to say. When he was swallowed, he already had more than one aura clinging to him. Even if our Qingyun Sect's grand defensive formation were fully active, we wouldn't last half a cup of tea's time down there.'

Sighing, he lowered his voice by a fraction. 'I was the one who brought that child here. Before we set off, Elder Wen Heng specifically instructed me, saying he would be of great use and telling me to protect him. Now, he's buried under the ruins, and I don't even know if he's dead or alive. How am I supposed to explain this to Elder Wen when I go back?'

Old Zhou remained silent for a moment. 'Wen Heng is an Elder of your Qingyun Sect. Since he specifically instructed you, it means this boy carries a Legacy that your Sect highly values. Rest assured, once we arrive, if there is still a way to save him, the imperial family will not stand by and watch.'

Qin Tianzong lowered his head, tucking his hands into his sleeves. Tu Ziguan leaned against the other side of the gunwale. The bruise on the back of his neck, left by Qin Tianzong's slap, had not yet faded, and he had barely spoken since waking up.

Hearing Qin Tianzong playing the victim in front of Old Zhou, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Elder Qin usually scolded Disciples in the Artifact Hall more fiercely than anyone, but now, for Xie Feng's sake, he was playing the victim right in front of an Eighth Realm imperial expert.

It was indeed hard on him.

As the flying boat fleet crossed the walls of Qingzhou, the path of the anomalous migration on the ground was already clearly visible. Every few yards on the official road, there were tracks left by crawling anomalies, all pointing in the same direction.

Ranhuo City.

The fleet continued flying forward for more than half an hour, and the dark canopy ahead was now visible to the naked eye. It was a pure, absolute black; when sunlight hit the edge of that region, it vanished instantly, as if a chunk of space had been violently gouged out from the other side.

Everyone present was a powerful Cultivator with exceptional vision. As they flew into the dark canopy, they immediately focused their gaze on the center.

Xie Feng was suspended in mid-air. Three petals of fiery light flashed violently in his left eye, while a silvery-white Void Realm expanded in his right eye socket. Two marks on his chest beat in unison.

He was swinging his blind cane downward. He wasn't using any particular cane technique; he was simply using the blind cane like a hammer, striking a Formless Spawn's gelatinous torso strike after strike. With every blow, a burst of extremely cold, grayish-blue flame exploded from the tip of the cane. The Formless Spawn shrieked and squealed, its gelatinous body severely deforming, beaten from a sphere into a pancake, and from a pancake into shattered fragments.

The poor Formless Spawn, facing a madman who couldn't tell friend from foe, dared not fight back, nor did it dare to run.

The surrounding ruins were littered with fragments of anomalies. Entities of various Realms and strengths lay scattered on the ground, their cores shattered, their bodies torn apart, and their heads missing—dying in all sorts of ways, all crushed by the projection of Ygolonac.

Standing beside Xie Feng was a naked, headless, obese corpse with a completely different aura. Its scent was even more foul and depraved than the projections on the ground, and it was watching the scene with great interest.

'Die! Die! Die! Die!'

Old Zhou stood at the bow of the imperial flying boat, taking in this entire scene with absolute clarity.

He had never seen a First Realm Cultivator... no, he was probably at the Peak of the Third Realm now, standing bare-handed in the center of the ruins, left hand bleeding, right hand swinging a cane, shouting 'die' as he beat a monster into a pulp.

He turned his head and glanced at Qin Tianzong.

'Is that green creature with the severed arm ahead... the precious Disciple of your noble Sect, Xie Feng?'

Qin Tianzong's expression was even more bewildered than his.

He had spent the entire journey playing the victim, and now the victim was on the ruins, treating the anomalies like an anvil.

Beside him, Tu Ziguan leaned against the gunwale and suddenly burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.

'I knew he'd still be alive! I told you he wouldn't die so easily! Look at him!'

Something glinted at the corner of his eye, and Tu Ziguan quickly wiped it away with his sleeve.

The flying boat fleet slowed down, hovering at the edge of the dark canopy above the ruins. The two Eighth Realm Cultivators simultaneously stared at the dark-green figure in the center of the ruins.

Grand Cultivator Helan Yan remained silent for a moment. 'Get him up here first. Regardless of his current state, he is the only one who knows the full situation of the underground Seal.'

A Sixth Realm Cultivator below nodded, then looked at Xie Feng and the God of Depravity with some confusion.

'Which one is the human?'

Elder Qin covered his face and spoke somewhat reluctantly, 'The green one with the black fur...'

Old Zhou nodded, turning to gesture to the commander of the Imperial Guards behind him. Grand Cultivator Helan Yan stood at the bow, his brow furrowed tightly.

He had lived for hundreds of years, and Ziping Cave was the largest Sect in Qingzhou. He had seen more forbidden arts and anomalies than an ordinary Sect Elder had ever read about in ancient texts.

But he had truly never seen anything like the scene before him.

The dark-green cloud with hooves in the sky was slowly solidifying. The aura seeping from the depths of the cloud was somewhat similar to the Mother of Mists, but older, vaster, and wilder. As for the naked, headless corpse standing beside that dark-green figure, he could smell its foul and depraved malice even from hundreds of yards away.

The key point was that both of these things were clearly summoned by that 'green, black-furred' human below. What on earth was going on with this kid?!

'Regardless of the situation, we cannot let this kid continue,' Grand Cultivator Helan Yan said with a troubled expression. 'Although he might not know what he is doing, the malice beside him is no small matter. And that cloud in the sky—why does it look like the Mother of Mists? Does the Qingyun Sect have some secret technique to summon such things?'

He turned to Qin Tianzong, his gaze cutting over like a knife.

Qin Tianzong turned his face away, and Tu Ziguan glanced in the other direction.