txolops Chapter 2480 Jade Shadow
Chapter 2480 Jade Shadow
Chapter 2480 Jade Shadow
A few days later.
Lu Jiyuan led a team of Chirong internal guards away from the dojo, but did not notice that someone was secretly following them.
Qin Sang followed Lu Jiyuan and saw that he was not heading towards the Zhu Qian Dynasty, but rather towards Qingning Palace, where he would meet up with the Eastern Jiao King.
As the only one of the seven forbidden areas located in the territory of half-demons, Qingning Palace has many legends surrounding it.
Legend has it that this forbidden area wasn't originally called Qingning Palace. One day, an ancient stone palace named "Qingning Palace" appeared in the forbidden area, triggering an earth-shattering war that drew in several powerful half-demon nations. In the end, the ancient stone palace disappeared without a trace, its fate unknown. However, the influence of Qingning Palace was far-reaching, its fame surpassing even that of the forbidden area itself. Over time, people simply began to refer to the forbidden area as Qingning Palace.
Because they needed to use the eye of the storm to travel, Qin Sang couldn't follow too closely, but since she knew their destination, she wasn't worried about losing them.
They traveled nearly 90% of the way without incident.
As they approached Qingning Palace, Qin Sang was left behind by Lu Jiyuan. When he sped up to catch up, he unexpectedly discovered that they had encountered enemies.
High in the sky, the two sides were facing off against each other. The other side consisted of only three people, but their momentum was not inferior.
Among the three, there were two women and one man. The most eye-catching one was a female cultivator who wore a moon-white veil, had skin as white as snow, and looked like a porcelain doll without the slightest flaw.
The men and women behind her were noticeably younger, and their aura was stronger than that of the inner guards brought by Lu Jiyuan, but they were only at the Nascent Soul stage.
The porcelain doll-like female cultivator had a deep aura, and judging from Lu Jiyuan's expression, she seemed to be very wary of her.
Qin Sang hid in the shadows, gazing intently into the distance. Her gaze fell upon the couple, sensing that their auras were somewhat erratic, and that their eyes had turned into fireballs, burning with blue flames.
The flames looked somewhat familiar. Recalling Pan Cong and Zhu Que's previous descriptions, Qin Sang suddenly thought of a possibility.
"What a small world!"
Qin Sang looked at the porcelain doll-like female cultivator. This woman was likely the old rival that Lu Jiyuan had mentioned, the number one expert in the Shadow God Kingdom known as Jade Shadow.
As expected, the Shadow God Kingdom also received an order from the Zhu Qian Dynasty to send Yu Ying to Qingning Palace.
Unexpectedly, the two sides met here. Qin Sang looked around and searched for a while. Seeing that there were no other experts around, a thought came to his mind: If he had the opportunity to capture Yu Ying, he could severely damage the Shadow God Kingdom in one fell swoop!
Thinking of this, Qin Sang glanced at Lu Jiyuan, hesitated for a moment, and did not choose to show herself openly.
Inviting Lu Jiyuan to deal with Yu Ying would likely be something Lu Jiyuan would be very happy to do. However, since they have come under orders, Lu Jiyuan would not dare to disobey the Zhu Qian Dynasty and would inevitably have many concerns. Moreover, Qin Sang's true target is the Three Kings of Zhu Qian, and she has never regarded the Shadow God Kingdom as a real opponent; she is merely going with the flow now.
Having made up his mind, Qin Sang waited patiently in place, certain that Lu Jiyuan and Yu Ying would not fight here.
After a while, just as Qin Sang had predicted, both sides simultaneously withdrew their momentum, ceased their attacks, and left in different directions. Although Qingning Palace was just ahead, neither side clearly wanted to travel the same route as the other.
Little did he know that this was exactly what Qin Sang wanted, and he decisively changed his target and followed Yu Ying.
The couple looked indignant and were talking to Yu Ying, but Yu Ying's expression remained unchanged, always wearing a smile. She had been the same when confronting Lu Jiyuan earlier; her expression hadn't changed at all. Her beautiful face was like a finely crafted porcelain piece.
"Could it be that her physical body, like Lan Ying's, is a man-made shell?" Qin Sang wondered to herself.
He didn't have many opportunities to fight against spiritual cultivators, especially experts like Yu Ying. Most of the spiritual cultivators' supernatural abilities were unpredictable. Although Qin Sang wasn't afraid of Yu Ying's counterattack, he had to be careful to prevent her from escaping, so he had to make sure he was safe when he made a move.
"I heard that the Kingdom of Horned Life has sent an envoy to the Kingdom of Crimson Melt... The Kingdom of Crimson Melt must be the mastermind behind this!"
The couple continued their indignant cursing of the Red Rong Kingdom.
"On matters of national importance, one should not speak recklessly without firsthand knowledge," Yu Ying reprimanded, though her heart remained unsettled.
If these two juniors knew that Lan Ying and Wu Nandu had both died inexplicably in Jiaosheng Kingdom, they would probably be more worried than indignant!
Both Lan Ying and Wu Nandu went secretly, and this secret has not yet been spread, otherwise the people in the country would be in a state of panic.
She did suspect that the Crimson Rong Kingdom had intervened, but she was more worried that other forces might have gotten involved. She knew Lu Jiyuan very well, and when she sent Wu Nandu last time, she made thorough preparations against Lu Jiyuan. Even if they ran into Lu Jiyuan, Wu Nandu would not be unable to send back any messages.
The accidents involving Lan Ying and Wu Nandu happened too easily and too cleanly.
Therefore, the Shadow God Kingdom has not taken any retaliatory action for a long time, showing a style of "letting the insults go unpunished".
Knowing full well the dangers of this trip, she still came in person. In this region, every force, big or small, had to defer to the Five Great Kingdoms. At this critical juncture, she not only couldn't afford to offend the Eastern Dragon King, but she also had to try her best to be on good terms with him and find out if the Zhu Qian Dynasty knew about this matter.
If the Zhu Qian Dynasty tacitly approves, it might expose the Shadow God Kingdom's underhanded tactics, anger the Zhu Qian Dynasty, and teach them a lesson. The Shadow God Kingdom would then have no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.
If the Zhu Qian dynasty were unaware of this, they could use someone else to do their dirty work.
Yu Ying had a well-thought-out plan, but she hadn't anticipated running into Qin Sang halfway through.
Just as Yu Ying was figuring out how to get information from the Eastern Flood Dragon King, she felt a sudden unease. Her mind stirred, her clear black and white eyes darted around, and her expression finally changed.
There is an ambush!
As soon as those three words flashed through Yu Ying's mind, she heard a clear sword cry. The surrounding gale disappeared into thin air, and the sky that had been obscured by the wind disaster returned. The Milky Way was dazzling, and the bright moon was like a wheel, a sight rarely seen in the Great Wind Plains!
They were suddenly ambushed, but they didn't know who the enemy was.
The only certainty is that the enemy is not Lu Jiyuan. Yu Ying has fought Lu Jiyuan many times and is already familiar with that old man's tactics.
In an instant, a series of figures flashed through Yu Ying's mind. They were all top experts she had met once before. Then she felt a chilling sword intent she had never seen before.
"Sword formation?"
Yu Ying was puzzled. There were very few sword cultivators in the half-demon kingdoms, and she had never seen a master swordsman.
Qin Sang was using the Four Symbols and Nine Luminaries Sword Formation. To prevent Yu Ying from escaping, he decided to use the sword formation to trap this place. Unless Yu Ying could break the sword formation, no matter how powerful she was, she would not be able to escape.
The Four Symbols and Nine Luminaries Sword Formation, which he had re-comprehended, was now completely different from what it used to be. Before Yu Ying could react, she had already fallen into the formation.
However, Yu Ying was quite clever. She turned her gaze to the bright moon in the sky and seemed to have figured out the key.
‘Click! ’
With a cracking sound, Yu Ying broke off all five fingers of her right hand.
The five severed fingers did not bleed; instead, white light flowed across their surfaces, transforming into five streams of light, like five short swords, which shot towards the Moon and the five planets of Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, respectively.
Perhaps it wasn't that Yu Ying saw through the formation's core, but rather that compared to the constellations, these five stars were not yet fully formed, their starlight dim, making them an obvious opening.
"Roar!"
The roar of dragons and the howl of tigers shook the eight directions.
The four star fields lit up with dazzling starlight, which transformed into four sacred beasts, baring their fangs and claws, and each lunged at one of the four severed limbs.
The White Tiger Star pounced forward, grabbing one of the severed limbs before it could strike the Mars Star, and tearing it to shreds. The other sacred beasts were not to be outdone; four of their severed limbs instantly turned to ashes, while the last one pierced through the moonlight and stabbed into the Taiyin Star.
The moonlight rippled across the clear water.
Before Yu Ying could even appreciate the beautiful scenery, she swept up the couple and shot towards the edge of the starry sea.
She moved like a ghost, instantly passing through countless stars, but then suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at the Moon with a grim expression.
Suddenly, the sky brightened, the moon set and the sun rose, and yin and yang reversed.
The moon disappeared, and the sunlight shone. The sword formation seemed to be unaffected in the slightest, and this was indeed the case in her perception.
‘Boom! ’
Suddenly, a deafening thunderclap erupted.
Lightning serpents and electric pythons appeared from all directions, rushing towards the sky and transforming into a ball of lightning more dazzling than sunlight, which suddenly erupted.
No lightning struck, yet a terrifying thunderous aura descended, causing Yu Ying's delicate body to tremble, and the couple beside her were even more terrified.
The incident happened so suddenly that before they even understood what had happened, they felt a chill run down their spines.
'boom!boom! '
Their physical bodies could not withstand the strain and exploded into two clouds of blood mist. Two blurry spirits emerged from the blood mist, their faces filled with panic and helplessness.
They have not yet cultivated into Yang spirits, and their Yin spirits are still very fragile. They are especially afraid of the extremely Yang and powerful thunder magic. Now that they are exposed to the thunder, they feel that they will be wiped out of the world immediately.
Immediately afterwards, the two men froze in horror on their faces as their worst fears came true: their entire bodies shattered like mirrors.
The Yin spirit shattered, leaving behind a fist-sized core of light that was trembling and about to turn to ashes, but was finally absorbed by a water sleeve and saved from destruction.
At this moment, Yu Ying was also preoccupied with her own affairs. She had already cultivated to the Yang God level, and lightning magic was no longer her nemesis, but the power of this lightning magic was too terrifying.
Little did they know, this was precisely the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Seal that Qin Sang had unleashed!
In the critical moment, Yu Ying made the same choice as Lan Ying. Her delicate body trembled, and she suddenly opened her arms and flew towards the lightning above her head.
'boom! ’
Her physical body, as fragile as porcelain, was utterly shattered under the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Seal, turning into a cloud of white dust that drifted in the wind. The white dust billowed and spread across star fields, turning the sword formation into a vast, omnipresent white expanse.
Yu Ying did not die, but her whereabouts are unknown.
Qin Sang stood atop a sword star, unleashing her divine sense to sweep across the starry sea, even scanning every single speck of dust several times. Her spirit was formless, allowing her to reside entirely within the finest speck of dust.
However, no trace of Yu Ying was found; Yu Ying seemed to have vanished, but this was clearly impossible.
'Buzzing...'
All the sword stars trembled, their starlight transforming into countless invisible swords, turning the sword formation into a sea of swords. Countless spirit swords shuttled back and forth, slashing at the dust. Even the finest dust was cleaved into pieces, yet it still failed to force the jade shadow out.
Immediately afterwards, Qin Sang abandoned this chaotic attack and completely immersed her mind in the sword formation, focusing all her efforts on perceiving every sword star and every bit of sword intent within it.
Finally, Qin Sang discovered some clues.
He could say he found Yu Ying, or he could say he didn't.
Surprisingly, Yu Ying seemed to be omnipresent, as if every place was a clone of her. If Qin Sang weren't the master of the sword formation, one might even suspect that Yu Ying had merged into the starlight, becoming part of the sword formation herself.
"What a magnificent spirit! What unhindered spiritual travel!"
Qin Sang had long heard that the most troublesome thing about Yang Gods was their ability to 'travel freely without hindrance'. Yang Gods are formless and intangible, and if they are determined to escape, there are very few in the world that can trap a Yang God, whether through supernatural powers or formations. Just like the battle between Pan Cong and Lan Ying, if it weren't for Zhu Que's interference, Lan Ying might have escaped.
Moreover, Qin Sang could sense that Yu Ying was silently infiltrating outside the sword formation, her aura becoming increasingly elusive and difficult to detect. In any other formation, if the person in charge of the formation didn't have sufficient control, she might actually succeed.
Yu Ying showed Qin Sang the power of the Yang God, but unfortunately she encountered the Four Symbols and Nine Luminaries Sword Formation.
With a thought, Qin Sang silently activated her sword technique, and the formation changed abruptly. The originally dim sun immediately became several times brighter.
The sunlight, which previously couldn't even block out the starlight, has now reduced it to just a few blurry points. The sun shines brightly, and invisible ripples appear in the void, as if something has been revealed.
A moment later, a phantom figure reappeared under the sun; it was Yu Ying.
Yu Ying stared in horror at the sun, and saw a person emerge from it. Suddenly realizing something, she exclaimed softly, "You are the leader of the Five Thunder Sect!"
Qin Sang did not deny it, staring intently at Yu Ying: "Fellow Daoist, have you given up resisting?"
At this moment, all the sword stars pointed at Yu Ying. Yu Ying stood there, motionless, seemingly having given up.
"I'm no match for you."
Yu Ying gave a bitter smile and looked around. "This sword formation is the most unique I've ever seen in my life. Even if I fight to the death, I only have less than a 20% chance of winning."
After a pause, Yu Ying said in a seemingly relaxed manner, "The sect leader probably doesn't want to kill me either, right? In the previous few covert battles, we suffered losses, which allowed the Horned Kingdom to take advantage of the situation and expand."
"Ha ha……"
Qin Sang laughed, "As the old saying goes, 'Those who understand the times are heroes.' But I'm a little curious, why did that Fellow Daoist Lan Ying commit suicide?"
Yu Ying hesitated for a moment, feeling the sword intent around her growing increasingly fierce. She sighed inwardly and could only tell the truth: "Lan Ying is not actually dead. Those who cultivate our kind of technique will leave behind something called a Spirit Sprite in their cave. You can think of it as a special clone. When the main body encounters danger, it can be reborn through this clone."
Qin Sang suddenly realized and asked curiously, "Why did you choose to surrender instead of being reborn as a spirit abomination?"
Yu Ying sighed, "Rebirth through a spiritual aberration is not so simple, and restoring one's cultivation is even more difficult. Lan Ying is still asleep. Moreover, Lan Ying's cultivation is relatively low. The Shadow God Kingdom has the ability to support Lan Ying in quickly restoring her cultivation, but it will be very difficult for me to return to my peak."
Clearly, this resurrection would come at a great cost. Yu Ying was unsure if she could be repaired, so she decided to surrender to Qin Sang.