336: Hidden Dragon Horror

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

For Lin Yu, this was like spending a century at gunpoint.

Finally.

Perhaps it was because that consciousness felt this forest, with only low-tier beasts and faint leyline fluctuations, was too unremarkable, or perhaps it was because dealing with the source of the insect plague was more important.

That consciousness slowly receded like the ebbing tide.

Without a single ripple, as if it had never appeared.

Inside the xuantian ring.

Lin Yu remained in the state of a "Soul Power compression sphere." Only after half a day did he dare to slightly loosen a tiny gap and extend a sliver of perception.

Outside, all was calm.

"Phew..."

Lin Yu "slumped" onto the floor of the ring space like a deflated ball, his illusory Soul body flickering. Clearly, that moment just now had scared him half to death.

Wiping away the non-existent cold sweat on his forehead, he looked at Su Ming, who was still unconscious outside, and sent out a Divine Thought with lingering fear:

"Disciple... your master almost perished just now..."

...As the "clearing" by that azure sword light concluded, two other white lights in the sky finally descended.

They were two "Cloud-Piercing Warships," as massive as mountains.

The dark hulls were forged from unknown spiritual materials, their surfaces etched with complex defensive Array Patternss that glinted with a cold metallic luster in the sunlight. Hundreds of spiritual-conductive cannons pointed menacingly at the ground, each muzzle exuding a destructive aura.

Beside these two behemoths followed a slightly smaller but more exquisite silver flying boat. On its gunwales were carved the drifting cloud patterns unique to the Cloud Hidden Sect, and a massive flag bearing the character for "Medicine" fluttered in the wind.

The rescue ship from Danding Peak.

As the warship's hatches opened, countless streaks of light descended like a swarm of locusts.

Some wore the black armor of the Law Enforcement Hall, while others wore the azure robes of the Outer Sect, beginning to work methodically across this scorched earth.

"Clear the battlefield! Search for survivors!"

"Formation Masters! Go repair the leyline nodes! Plug that leaking hole first!"

"Alchemist Battalion! Set up camp here and prepare to treat the wounded!"

Order after order spread across the fields via sound-amplifying Formations, and the once-dead ruins instantly became bustling.

Mid-air, about fifty li from the Black Pine Forest.

A middle-aged Cultivator in dark gold robes was traveling slowly atop a Flying Sword.

He held a compass-like Magical Artifact in his hand, his brow slightly furrowed as if searching for something. The needle on the compass didn't point to a specific direction but trembled incessantly, emitting a faint hum.

"Strange..."

The middle-aged Cultivator stopped and turned his gaze toward the Black Pine Forest to the south.

"Senior Brother Liu, what's wrong?"

Behind him, a young female Cultivator caught up, carrying a Soul-Guiding Lamp used to collect residual Souls. "The insects in this area have already been cleared by Sword Venerable Qingming. Do we still need to search?"

The middle-aged man addressed as Senior Brother Liu shook his head, his finger lightly tapping the edge of the compass.

"The Venerable's sword strike just now may have wiped out the insect swarm, but it also shook the leylines. My 'Dragon-Seeking Compass' shows that the flow of earth Qi to the south is somewhat... uncoordinated."

"Uncoordinated?" The female Cultivator looked doubtfully at the pine forest covered in white snow. "That's a buffer zone, isn't it? Aside from trees and rocks, what could be there?"

"It's precisely because it's too calm."

"Perhaps the terrain is special?" the female Cultivator guessed.

"Perhaps." Senior Brother Liu put away the compass and turned his sword. "But it could also be a Spiritual Qi void caused by some concealment Formation. What if there are high-tier Yao Beasts or... survivors hiding there?"

"Let's go take a look."

Before the words had even faded, two sword lights streaked across the sky, heading straight for the Black Pine Forest... Hovering in mid-air, the Golden Core Cultivator Li Changfeng locked his eagle-like gaze onto the seemingly ordinary snowy forest below. The needle of the Dragon-Seeking Compass in his hand was still vibrating frantically, emitting a faint but rapid hum—a resonance produced by Spiritual Qi under extreme suppression.

"Junior Martial Uncle Li, there seems to be no sign of life below other than a pile of rocks and snow," the Foundation Establishment female Cultivator behind him whispered. The flame of the Soul-Guiding Lamp in her hand was weak, failing to capture any ripples of residual Souls.

Li Changfeng did not answer, only slowly raising his right hand. In his palm, a clump of crimson pill fire flickered into existence, causing the surrounding snowflakes to vanish into nothingness before they could even touch it.

"If it were a dead land, the leyline flow should be like stagnant water. But the Spiritual Qi in this area..." Li Changfeng's fingers suddenly clenched, his voice cold. "It feels as if it has been artificially 'cut' off. It's too clean—so clean it looks like a painted landscape."

"Search this area thoroughly; do not overlook any Spiritual Qi abnormalities."

At his command, several sword lights descended from the clouds, sweeping through the Black Pine Forest inch by inch with a scrutinizing pressure.

Below, inside the stone house.

The sense of isolation and tranquility was being replaced by a suffocating heaviness. Although the "Hidden Dragon Formation" blocked sound and sight, everyone present felt a shudder from the depths of their Souls. It was the instinctive physiological reaction of low-tier Cultivators facing high-tier pressure.

Lu Jun curled up behind the door, his teeth chattering uncontrollably with a "clack-clack" sound. He covered his mouth tightly, his eyes bloodshot from extreme congestion. Through the decaying cracks in the wooden door, he saw a streak of crimson light hovering directly above the roof.

The light was not dazzling, yet it carried a heat that could sear one's very bone marrow.

"It's a Golden Core Immortal Master..." Old Zhang's wound on his broken leg burst open, blood seeping out, but he was oblivious. He only gripped the chipped broken blade tightly with his remaining hand, his knuckles turning white.

The air in the room seemed to have solidified into lead; every breath required immense effort.

Su Ming, unconscious on the stone bed, had his brow tightly furrowed, and a finger at his side twitched unconsciously. Within the xuantian ring, Lin Yu had already compressed his Soul body to the limit, completely cutting off all contact with the outside world, leaving only an extremely faint fluctuation to desperately protect the core of Su Ming's Divine Soul.

"Come out."

Li Changfeng's voice penetrated the Formation and entered the room. It was no longer an auditory sound but a rolling thunder that exploded directly in everyone's minds. "Whether you are human or ghost, hiding your head and showing your tail—could it be that you have a guilty conscience?"

Before his voice had even faded, the hovering crimson light suddenly pressed down.

Crack.

The decaying chimney, serving as the Formation eye, was instantly reduced to powder under this massive Spiritual Pressure.

Immediately after, the invisible "membrane" enveloping the stone house dissolved silently.

The wind and snow, previously deflected by the Formation, came whistling in. The stone house's camouflage was completely torn away, exposing it to everyone's sight.

"No... don't attack!"