Several Nascent Soul cultivators unleashed their supernatural abilities one after another.
For a moment, the crack in the mountain wall flickered with spiritual light, and the fluctuations of spiritual qi were astonishing.
Fortunately, Scholar Yu had set up a Spirit-Locking Formation beforehand, sealing away this spiritual qi. Otherwise, the commotion here would certainly have attracted the attention of other cultivators within the Immortal Palace.
Throughout this process, Demon Lord Guifang and his disciple never appeared, which secretly puzzled Mo Tiange.
Although she hadn't seen Demon Lord Guifang fight much, since he had dared to challenge Perfected One Wuming back then and hadn't suffered any real losses in the end, his supernatural abilities should be no less than Perfected One Wuming's. He shouldn't have perished within the Immortal Palace, right?
But if they hadn't encountered some situation from which they couldn't extricate themselves, why wouldn't they hurry back to the storage facility? After all, the treasures within this storage facility might be related to the opportunity to advance to the God Transformation stage.
"Fellow Daoists, pay attention!" Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard True Person Yuan Mu shout. "That Corpse Puppet seems to be heading this way!"
Mo Tiange was startled upon hearing this. Looking up, she indeed saw that mass of demonic qi drifting between the mountain ranges, seemingly wandering in their direction.
They were very far from the Corpse Puppet. In theory, the Corpse Puppet shouldn't be able to sense their auras; it was just a coincidence that its wandering direction was toward them. But this wasn't a good sign. As long as the Corpse Puppet continued moving in this direction and reached a certain distance, it would sense their auras. By then... "Fellow Daoists, time is of the essence!" True Person Yuan Mu barked.
As long as they could blast an entrance into the Illusion Formation, even if the Corpse Puppet arrived, they could take refuge inside the storage facility.
An ownerless Corpse Puppet was ultimately a dead thing. Even if a crack appeared in the Illusion Formation, it wouldn't know how to discern it and would naturally leave eventually. But if they couldn't open the Illusion Formation in time, facing the Corpse Puppet, they would have no choice but to flee.
All the Nascent Soul cultivators knew the situation was critical. Without needing True Person Yuan Mu to say more, they each brought out their trump card abilities.
Perfected One Wuming didn't hesitate. He plucked a prayer bead, uttered a Buddhist chant, and the bead in his hand exploded with a dazzling golden light, releasing a surging wave of spiritual aura that pressed down on the weak point of the Illusion Formation.
With a *pfft* sound, the gap, which had been only the size of a soybean, suddenly cracked open. The surrounding mountain walls shattered and dissolved into nothingness, and the gap was now the size of a fist.
Seeing this, True Person Yuan Mu summoned his Exquisite Pagoda. With a *boom*, he smashed it against the gap.
Qin Xi formed a sword seal. The Three Yang True Fire Sword returned to its main form, but the true fire on the sword body burned brighter and brighter, until it almost turned into a ball of flame. It abruptly transformed into a meteor and slammed into the gap.
Jing Xingzhi also summoned his flying sword. A dazzling sword light instantly illuminated everyone's eyes, causing even these Nascent Soul cultivators who hadn't taken him seriously to glance sideways.
Mo Tiange noticed that Ling Shiyu seemed quite heavily injured; the power of his supernatural ability was far inferior to before. True Person Yuan Mu and Perfected One Iron-Face also didn't seem as powerful as their original strength. She pondered inwardly: Could it be that the Jiuyan Sect group suffered a major setback while searching for the tokens? For their current predicament, this wasn't good news. Opening this gap was definitely not an easy task.
While she was lost in thought, the Nascent Soul cultivators exerted their full strength. The gap in the Illusion Formation slowly expanded. However, expanding it enough to allow a person to enter would take time.
True Person Yuan Mu looked at the increasingly close Corpse Puppet, his face showing anxiety. "If this continues, we simply won't make it in time!"
"Then what should we do?" Scholar Yu's expression was grave. "If we flee first..."
"That won't do!" The one who spoke was Perfected One Wuming, his tone extremely solemn. "Leaving aside whether everyone can escape, even if we all flee, it won't be easy to regroup. Besides, we don't have much time."
"Perfected One Wuming speaks sense," Perfected One Iron-Face spoke up, a rare occurrence. "This Illusion Formation requires a long time even with our combined efforts. If a few more Fellow Daoists don't return..."
They currently had four late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, two mid-stage, and one early-stage.
Ling Shiyu was struggling to act effectively, almost weaker than an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. True Person Yuan Mu and Perfected One Iron-Face had also lost some of their strength, more or less. Demon Lord Guifang hadn't returned. If not for Jing Xingzhi making up the numbers, who knew how long it would take to break through?
Mo Tiange hadn't anticipated this situation either.
Although she had intentionally or unintentionally wanted the others to suffer some setbacks, lest she and Qin Xi be overly bullied by others, she hadn't expected the Jiuyan Sect group to actually encounter setbacks while searching for the tokens, thus affecting their overall strength.
True Person Yuan Mu gritted his teeth and said resolutely, "Scholar Yu, Senior Brother Iron-Face, could the two of you go and delay it for a while?"
Scholar Yu was taken aback, then his face showed displeasure. "Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu, that's a God Transformation stage Corpse Puppet! I have no ability to delay it!" Although they were collaborators now, delaying the Corpse Puppet was an extremely dangerous task. A single misstep could mean death. Who would be willing to sacrifice themselves?
True Person Yuan Mu seemed both angry and flustered, but he restrained himself and patiently explained, "Scholar Yu, among the seven of us, Junior Brother Ling's strength has greatly declined. Perfected One Wuming, Fellow Daoist Qin, this Fellow Daoist Jing, and myself—our four supernatural abilities are more powerful. Senior Brother Iron-Face's cultivated supernatural ability focuses on defense, and you are proficient in miscellaneous studies and quite resourceful. Other than you two, who is more suitable?"
Scholar Yu's face remained dark, and he didn't answer. That might be true, but facing a God Transformation stage Corpse Puppet, he had no confidence of escaping unscathed. Why take such a risk? If something happened to him, Han Shizhi alone would have no chance of obtaining an opportunity on this journey. Without anyone to protect him, he might not even make it out of the Immortal Palace Passage! As for the Jiuyan Sect, they had many people and great strength. Perfected One Iron-Face was about to enter seclusion for his final years and had long stopped managing affairs normally. What did it matter if they lost him?
"Scholar Yu!" Seeing the Corpse Puppet getting closer and closer, True Person Yuan Mu suddenly took out a token from his bosom. "If you're willing, this token will be yours. How about it?"
Seeing that storage facility token, everyone was shocked, even Scholar Yu found it hard to believe.
None of them had expected True Person Yuan Mu to be willing to pay such a price! One token meant one spirit treasure. This storage facility contained the collections of an ancient major sect. The value of a single spirit treasure was beyond measure, and he was actually willing to give it up? Moreover, this matter concerned the others as well, yet he hadn't demanded that the other two sides also pay a price!
"Scholar Yu, we must act without delay!" True Person Yuan Mu said one last sentence, staring intently at Scholar Yu.
Looking at that token, Scholar Yu's expression turned contemplative. Finally, he made a decisive judgment. "Very well! Since Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu is willing to pay such a price, what more can I say? Fellow Daoist Iron-Face, let's go!"
With that, he put away the token, summoned his flying artifact, and flew toward the God Transformation stage Corpse Puppet.
Perfected One Iron-Face didn't even glance at the others and followed closely behind.
Not long after, the two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators entered the Corpse Puppet's sensing range. Having found a target, the Corpse Puppet immediately gave chase. Scholar Yu and Perfected One Iron-Face lured it while retreating. Scholar Yu continuously used spirit talismans, transforming them into the forms of spiritual creatures, trying to lure the Corpse Puppet in another direction.
Watching this scene, Mo Tiange suddenly couldn't understand.
As the Chief Supreme Elder of Yunzhong's number one sect, she absolutely didn't doubt True Person Yuan Mu's scheming mind. Before this, when it came to the Jiuyan Sect's interests, True Person Yuan Mu had never yielded, let alone taken the initiative to suffer a loss. But now, he had actually so readily produced a token.
One must know that failing to open the Illusion Formation would affect everyone, including Scholar Yu! Even if compensating Scholar Yu, there was no need to pay the price of a storage facility token. Moreover, he could have demanded that the other two sides also offer something; it just required time to discuss. But he seemed more anxious than anyone else, utterly unwilling to take the risk.
Could it be that there was something even more important than the storage facility token, so he couldn't afford to delay and just wanted to safely survive this calamity?
Mo Tiange's gaze swept over True Person Yuan Mu and Ling Shiyu.
Then, what exactly was it? Manpower? Or time?
"Fellow Daoist Mo." A low voice sounded by her ear.
Mo Tiange turned her head. It was Ling Yunhe.
Although Ling Yunhe wore a slight smile on his face, his gaze was solemn. He looked at Mo Tiange and said calmly, "We are not enemies yet. Some things are better not investigated to the root."
"..." She paused for a moment, then smiled slightly and gave him a slight nod. "Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Ling."
With that, she looked again at the several people breaking the formation, but focused solely on the gap in the Illusion Formation.
Ling Yunhe secretly breathed a sigh of relief, worriedly looking toward the two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators maneuvering against the Corpse Puppet in the distance. Then, he exchanged a glance with Ling Shiyu, who was temporarily resting.
Time passed bit by bit. Scholar Yu and Perfected One Iron-Face were in constant peril. Later, they simply lured the Corpse Puppet and fled toward the distance. Unfortunately, by now, the cultivators within the Immortal Palace who could be used as cannon fodder had almost all been wiped out by the Corpse Puppet. Their escape speed wasn't enough to shake it off, so they could only keep dragging it along.
Losing the assistance of two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators meant breaking the Illusion Formation would take even more time. But this was also unavoidable. If no one lured away the Corpse Puppet, even with their combined strength, they wouldn't be able to break the Illusion Formation before the Corpse Puppet arrived.
Demon Lord Guifang and his disciple still hadn't appeared. Mo Tiange couldn't help but suspect: Could they have met with an accident? Demon Lord Guifang was one thing, but thinking of Yang Chengji, she felt some regret in her heart. Yang Chengji was a person with a proud and awkward personality, but he wasn't a bad person, just somewhat stubborn like a youth. If they interacted longer, perhaps they could become friends... Thinking of this, she suddenly realized her own mentality had changed. In her youth, she had been sensitive and suspicious. After arriving at the Xuanqing Sect and having a master and fellow disciples, she slowly opened up a bit, but deep down she still didn't want to get too close to others. But now, she actually actively thought about becoming friends with others... Perhaps it was because her inner self had grown stronger, so she wasn't afraid of interacting with others, even offering trust.
"Fellow Daoists, we're almost there!" True Person Yuan Mu shouted loudly.
Mo Tiange looked. Just a bit more, and the gap would be large enough to allow a person to pass through! She turned to look into the distance. In mid-air, Scholar Yu and Perfected One Iron-Face were still entangled with the Corpse Puppet. Seeming somewhat low on spiritual qi, Scholar Yu's figure faltered for a moment, looking as if he was about to be caught up by the Corpse Puppet. Fortunately, he dodged in time. Afterward, he continuously released illusion talismans, each one transforming into the appearance of a spiritual creature to confuse the Corpse Puppet.
This kind of talisman was extremely difficult to make. Although Mo Tiange wasn't proficient in talismans, she knew that this kind of illusion talisman wasn't something at the Core Formation level; its selling price was no different from ordinary magic treasures! Scholar Yu used them so lavishly. In just this short while, he had probably thrown away tens of thousands of spirit stones.
She anxiously looked at the gap in the Illusion Formation. If Scholar Yu couldn't hold on, he certainly wouldn't sacrifice himself and would lure the Corpse Puppet elsewhere. If they still couldn't break through, all their efforts would be wasted.
With a *boom*, as if the heavens had heard her prayer, joyful voices sounded by her ears: "We've done it!"