150: Seven Days Later (Part 1)

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—

Inside the Tiangang Sword Formation, countless years seemed to have passed.

Facing the endless Sword Qi attacking from the darkness, Su Mengyao flashed, her graceful steps shifting as she gradually adapted to the intensity of the formation's assault.

Just as a fierce burst of Sword Qi rushed toward her face, she swept her sword in a backhand motion, instantly shattering the Sword Qi.

"Hah~"

At that very moment, Su Mengyao suddenly let out a low shout, stomped her foot, and leaped into the Void Realm.

"Since this space is endless, why should I cling to this small square foot of ground?"

"Turning the passive into the active—this is the only way to break the formation."

Having made up her mind, the nameless edge suddenly burst forth with dazzling sword light, instantly illuminating the pitch-black space as if it were broad daylight.

"Found it!"

Her eyes brightened instantly, locking onto the position of the formation core.

Su Mengyao made a decisive move without the slightest hesitation, gathering all the Spiritual Qi in her body onto the tip of the nameless edge, and swept it out abruptly.

Instantly, Sword Qi surged like rolling clouds, sweeping away all the incoming Sword Intent.

They saw the Sword Qi pierce through the distant formation core.

Boom—

A wave of Qi surged, causing the entire space to tremble.

"I succeeded!"

Just as Su Mengyao was celebrating breaking through the Tiangang Sword Formation, the scene before her suddenly changed. When she landed, she found herself standing atop a sea of clouds.

"Hmm? This is..."

Whoosh... Before she could feel surprised, the clouds beneath her feet suddenly formed a swirling current of air, transforming into a contrary gale that shot straight toward Su Mengyao!

"This is bad! This is the true core of the Tiangang Sword Formation! The previous part was just a distraction!"

Su Mengyao was greatly alarmed. Facing the torrent of air that could tear the atmosphere apart, the only thing she could do was quickly dodge.

However... Boom—

A clap of thunder interrupted her movement.

Just as she turned around, a bolt of Heavenly Thunder descended from the sky.

Fortunately, Su Mengyao reacted quickly, instinctively dodging by half a step.

Instantly, a bottomless abyss appeared right where her foot had been before the thunder struck.

"Retreat!"

Su Mengyao immediately dodged the Heavenly Thunder strikes left and right, her light steps unleashing an unprecedented instinct for survival.

However, the power of wind and thunder seemed to be locked onto the formation entrant, relentlessly pursuing Su Mengyao no matter how she dodged.

"My spiritual power!"

At this point, Su Mengyao, feeling her Spiritual Qi completely exhausted, relied solely on sheer willpower to keep herself from collapsing.

She finally managed to evade the combined assault of wind and thunder, only for a scorching wave of Qi to strike from behind.

Boom—

The instant she turned, a raging ball of fire shot straight toward Su Mengyao's face.

After narrowly dodging it, Su Mengyao saw her outer garment burning on her left arm. She gave a bitter smile, extinguished the flame, and sped toward another direction.

But just then, a line of monstrous waves appeared before her, rolling toward her body.

There was no way forward, and no path to retreat.

In just a moment, Su Mengyao was trapped in a deadly predicament.

The Tiangang Absolute Formation, formed by the four elements of wind, thunder, water, and fire, rushed toward Su Mengyao, carrying an aura of destruction.

"I'm sorry, Revered Master. I... I couldn't do it. I disappointed you."

Although she was unwilling, facing such a desperate situation, the exhausted Su Mengyao slowly lowered the nameless edge in her hand, accepting her fate... On the other side, Du Bingyan held a bowl of freshly prepared medicinal soup and sniffed it near her nose.

"Pfft~"

But the next moment, she violently spat out a mouthful of green blood.

The medicinal bowl she was holding immediately fell to the ground and shattered.

"It's not the antidote! Cough, cough, cough. Why? Why can't I formulate it? What exactly is the antidote formula?"

It was now the seventh day. Du Bingyan, who had suffered six days and six nights of torment, was emaciated, and her entire body looked sickly green.

Feeling as if countless Gu insects were about to hatch inside her organs, she felt a wave of nausea.

"No, I can't give up yet. I can't just die like this."

"The antidote, I can definitely formulate it."

Du Bingyan struggled to calm herself down, then wiped the green blood from the corner of her mouth and stumbled into the pharmacy, preparing the antidote again based on her own toxicity.

Half an hour later, another bowl of steaming medicinal soup was held in her hand.

Looking at the medicinal soup, which represented her last hope of survival, Du Bingyan let out a miserable, bitter laugh.

"Life or death depends on this one chance. I definitely will succeed."

After steeling her resolve, she recklessly poured the medicinal soup down her throat.

"Pfft—"

The result was that the poison, along with the medicinal soup, was violently rejected, causing Du Bingyan to violently vomit a mouthful of green blood.

"It's not the antidote! This isn't the antidote! I can't do it, I simply can't do it! Ah, ha ha ha."

In her emotional breakdown, dark green liquid flowed from Du Bingyan's seven orifices, and she slumped dejectedly against the corner of the wall.

"To think I prided myself on understanding pharmacology and being able to save countless lives in the future! Yet, I can't even save myself. How ridiculous, how ridiculous."

She raised her head blankly, her eyes, covered in green venom, vacant and lifeless.

"Revered Master, I disappointed you. This is probably my end."

Carrying endless unwillingness, Du Bingyan slowly closed her eyes.

A stream of green blood-tears slowly trickled down her eye sockets... At this moment, atop Buming Mountain, Shen Lian sat cross-legged alone on a cliff, circulating the Spiritual Qi within his body, not wasting a moment of cultivation time.

After entering the Immortal Realm, the progress of his cultivation had clearly slowed down by several levels compared to before.

But the path of cultivation inherently requires accumulation over time to achieve success, and this did not affect Shen Lian's state of mind at all.

Only after completing a full cycle of energy circulation did he slowly return from his meditative state.

He glanced at the sky; it was already approaching dusk.

Ding Buer's voice sounded from behind: "Master Shen, you should go and check on them quickly. Your two cheap disciples might not make it!"

Shen Lian lightly fanned himself with his iron fan: "If they can't endure it, there's no need for them to live. Death might be the best release for them."

"You..."

Ding Buer was speechless.

"Master Shen, is your heart made of iron? No matter what, they still called you Revered Master."

"Enough!"

Shen Lian directly interrupted Ding Buer's plea for mercy.

"Just because of a mere 'Revered Master,' I should treat them like my own children? Don't you think such affection is too cheap?"

"Just a 'Revered Master,' and they presume I should devote all my effort? Just a 'Revered Master,' and they think they deserve everything they should rightfully have?"

"Ding Buer, don't you think that's unfair to the title of Revered Master?"

Ding Buer was rendered speechless by the retort. Finally, he shook his head and said, "What exactly did you go through to make someone so cruel and ruthless? Shen Zhao also went through countless hardships, but he didn't turn into..."

Shen Lian replied mercilessly: "Shen Zhao is Shen Zhao, and Shen Lian is Shen Lian. He and I have never been the same person!

Although Shen Zhao suffered greatly, the Heavenly Dao still favored him, which is why he could endure the suffering of nine lifetimes and still maintain his original intention.

But from the moment I arrived in this world, I did nothing wrong, yet I was jointly schemed against by the Heavenly Dao and the System. Neither Heaven nor Earth could tolerate me.

Only by acting Heaven-Defying can I carve out a path to survival. Therefore, my experiences are completely different from his; we are not objects for comparison."

"Sigh."

Ding Buer sighed helplessly.

"Even so, you can't just let them throw their lives away for nothing."

"Throw their lives away? Hahaha!"

As if hearing a joke, Shen Lian suddenly burst into laughter.

"I have long since passed on the methods for detoxification and breaking the formation to them. Only by experiencing the realization of finding life after being placed in a death trap can they truly Break through their limits!"

Ding Buer's eyes lit up: "Master Shen, are you saying..."

"Hmph, do you think this is their limit?" Shen Lian curled the corner of his mouth slightly. "The people I value are never trash!"