The situation was now laid bare before them. In the past, the Five Sages had not taken the Bow of the Vermilion Bird. Dao Sage Guizhen had passed this secret down to his descendants, and they had found a solution.
Not long ago, when the five sacred artifacts emerged one after another, the Jiuyan Sect began to act. They allied with various sects, gathered the five sacred artifacts, entered the mysterious space of the Guixu Sea, and sought the Bow of the Vermilion Bird enshrined beneath the Immortal Palace in the Vermilion Bird Temple.
Before this, places like the Scripture Pavilion and the treasury were merely smokescreens. The true opportunity the Jiuyan Sect sought was not there.
Thinking of this, Mo Tiange couldn't help but sigh. These cultivators of the Jiuyan Sect were truly deep and cunning. Previously, they hadn't shown the slightest hint, acting just like everyone else, deliberately allowing themselves to be restrained by her. In reality, they had long planned to take the Bow of the Vermilion Bird on the final day.
In the current cultivation world, no one had ever heard of a true Spirit-Connecting Treasure existing. This sect-protecting treasure, made from the remains of one of the Five Spirits, the Vermilion Bird, by top cultivators of antiquity—if the Jiuyan Sect obtained this item, they would undoubtedly become the number one sect in the world in one fell swoop!
She couldn't help but wonder, what about the others? Did Master Huiyin, Master Zhou, and Demon Lord Tianyao also pass down this secret? Yang Chengji was not a successor of Demon Lord Tianyao, so it was unlikely he knew this secret. But Juewu and Han Shizhi...
After a brief contemplation, Mo Tiange dismissed this possibility. Several hours had passed since they descended from the treasury to the underground palace. If the Buddhist and Confucian factions also harbored such a purpose, they should have arrived by now.
Thus, the situation was indeed difficult. With no others to form a balance of power, they were directly confronting the Jiuyan Sect and were undoubtedly at a disadvantage. Moreover, the other side had made it clear they didn't trust them and intended to eliminate any future trouble.
Come to think of it, faced with such a heavy treasure, who could believe they harbored no ill intent and let them leave?
At this thought, Mo Tiange sighed inwardly. If she had already formed her Nascent Soul, with the three of them working together, even if they couldn't win, escaping shouldn't be a problem. But as luck would have it...
Her gaze fell upon Ling Yunhe and found him giving her a helpless smile. At this point, their enmity was inevitable.
An idea struck her, and she subtly exchanged glances with Qin Xi and Jing Xingzhi.
Judging by the appearances of Perfected One Yuan Mu and Perfected One Iron-Face, they likely hadn't encountered any mishaps on their way from the treasury down to the underground palace. So why had Ling Shiyu, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, not come, while Ling Yunhe, a Golden Core cultivator, had? Even if Ling Shiyu was injured and his strength greatly reduced, he would still be more useful than a Golden Core stage Ling Yunhe, wouldn't he?
Seeing her gaze seemingly sweep past Ling Yunhe without intent, Qin Xi and Jing Xingzhi immediately understood but remained expressionless.
In the silence, a sharp sword cry suddenly rang out. Jing Xingzhi had already drawn his sword in that instant. His movements were swift; as a sword cultivator, he was accustomed to striking first. By the time the sword cry was heard, the area within three zhang of him was already enveloped in sword light, countless sword rays stabbing toward Perfected One Yuan Mu.
Perfected One Yuan Mu snorted coldly, raised a hand, and an exquisite small pagoda appeared in his palm. In a flash, the pagoda's body transformed, becoming immensely large, its shadow layering as it pressed down upon the sword rays.
The incredibly sharp sword rays could not advance an inch further under Perfected One Yuan Mu's casual wave.
A late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was indeed a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Along the way, Perfected One Yuan Mu hadn't displayed particularly formidable strength, but now, Jing Xingzhi's sudden assault was effortlessly resolved by him.
The next moment, Qin Xi's Three Yang True Fire Sword arrived. His sword aura wasn't as intense, but the Three Yang True Fire on the sword's body, coupled with the occasional flicker of Extreme Yang True Fire, made Perfected One Yuan Mu not dare to underestimate it.
Fire-based techniques had always been the most adept at destruction among the elemental arts. Even the theoretically most powerful and easiest to break through cultivator defenses, thunder-based techniques, couldn't match fire in terms of destructive power. Especially Qin Xi's secret technique, the Extreme Yang True Fire, which had even incinerated Mei Feng's Yuan Demonic Qi without a trace, showed just how domineering it was.
Perfected One Iron-Face finally made his move, tossing out an unremarkable small stone that instantly transformed into numerous rock fragments, densely piling up to block the Three Yang True Fire Sword. Even the Extreme Yang True Fire was halted before the rocks.
"Cough!" The four Nascent Soul cultivators were fighting at close quarters, and the pressure from their clash caused the spiritual qi within Mo Tiange's body to churn violently. She circulated the Soul Refining Art to forcefully suppress it.
Turning to look at Ling Yunhe, she saw him slap a talisman onto his body, isolating the fluctuations of spiritual qi, unaffected.
After the sword rays were blocked and rebounded, Jing Xingzhi once again activated his sword art, seemingly fixated on Perfected One Yuan Mu, attacking him relentlessly regardless of the consequences.
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Perfected One Yuan Mu's mouth.
Even among Nascent Soul cultivators, how vast was the gap between the early and late stages? He wouldn't even bat an eye at seven or eight ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators; he could annihilate them with a wave of his hand. This junior had decent skills, forming his Nascent Soul at a young age and being a sword cultivator—the strongest in combat—so he must have always held himself in high regard. Now, facing a late-stage cultivator directly, he must realize the gap, right? Acting like this was clearly the result of being struck and acting impulsively. Juniors were just juniors, even if they were Nascent Soul cultivators like them...
Wrong! The next moment, Perfected One Yuan Mu couldn't retract his hand in time. He watched as Jing Xingzhi's sword rays shattered upon impact, but the man himself flickered and suddenly appeared dozens of zhang away, behind them!
"Fellow Daoist, lend me your life for a moment." Jing Xingzhi smiled, his peach-blossom eyes curving, as a mass of sword qi already enveloped Ling Yunhe.
"You—" This sudden change caused Perfected One Yuan Mu and Perfected One Iron-Face to pause momentarily. Qin Xi seized this opportunity to swiftly withdraw.
Immediately after, Perfected One Yuan Mu's face turned ashen!
He and Perfected One Iron-Face hadn't been neglecting Ling Yunhe, but they never expected that this junior with only early-stage cultivation would dare to use teleportation art right in front of two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators!
Teleportation art wasn't a vanishing art; it still required traversing the distance between two points. In other words, when performing teleportation, it was as if time stopped, moving from one point to another. Therefore, even with teleportation, one couldn't avoid anything between the two points.
Just now, the four Nascent Soul cultivators had been fighting in the great hall, with spiritual qi crisscrossing and fluctuations intense. If someone rashly charged into the middle, with good luck, they might only be injured, but with bad luck, they could very well be torn apart by these violent spiritual qi fluctuations!
Precisely because of this, he and Perfected One Iron-Face had merely positioned themselves in front of Ling Yunhe for protection. They never imagined Jing Xingzhi would recklessly use teleportation art, directly targeting Ling Yunhe!
This sword cultivator junior was utterly audacious!
Most critically, he had actually gambled and won. No matter what, he was still a Nascent Soul cultivator. At this distance, Ling Yunhe's life was in his hands.
The moment he saw Jing Xingzhi appear, Ling Yunhe tried to summon the God-Restricting Bead, but unfortunately, Jing Xingzhi's movements were too fast; he simply didn't have time.
At this moment, his expression was gloomy as he said coldly, "Senior, if you think to use my life to threaten my two uncles-master, I'm afraid you've miscalculated!"
"Is that so?" Jing Xingzhi was still smiling, turning his head to look at Perfected One Yuan Mu and Perfected One Iron-Face, who had stopped. "It seems your two uncles-master don't think so!"
"If Senior doesn't believe me, you might as well try," Ling Yunhe said indifferently. The sword qi of a Nascent Soul sword cultivator hovered above him, yet his face showed no fear.
"Fellow Daoist Ling is quite bold," Mo Tiange said with a smile, looking at Ling Yunhe. "However, your words don't count here!"
"..."
"Two Fellow Daoists," Qin Xi said, the Three Yang True Fire Sword circling around him as he looked at Perfected One Yuan Mu and Perfected One Iron-Face. "What do you say?"
Perfected One Yuan Mu's face twitched, and finally he said through gritted teeth, "He's just a junior. What if you kill him? Although this kid is outstanding among the younger generation, our Jiuyan Sect hasn't reached the point where we can't afford to lose a Golden Core cultivator!"
"Other Golden Core cultivators, of course, you wouldn't care about." Mo Tiange's gaze fell upon the God-Restricting Bead in Ling Yunhe's hand. "But if Fellow Daoist Ling is gone, I'm afraid you won't be able to take the Bow of the Vermilion Bird either, right?"
As soon as her words fell, the expressions of all three changed drastically! Ling Yunhe, who had remained composed just moments before, now stared fixedly at Mo Tiange.
"What does Little Friend Mo mean by that?" Perfected One Yuan Mu spat out each word.
Before Mo Tiange could speak, Qin Xi's divine sense swept over Ling Yunhe, and a slight look of surprise appeared on his face. "Water-Fire Dual Spirit Roots?"
So it was! Hearing this, Mo Tiange pondered.
Ling Yunhe's escape light was blue, and he was hailed as a genius, so she had always taken for granted that he had a single water attribute Spirit Root. It wasn't until just now, when she found it odd that the two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators had brought Ling Yunhe into the temple instead of Ling Shiyu, and Fuyaozi had reminded her, that she realized another possibility.
Water-Fire Dual Spirit Roots were a relatively rare type of dual Spirit Roots because water and fire clashed, making it difficult for them to coexist within one person. But this type of Spirit Root could cultivate a special technique: the Ice-Fire Art.
"So that's how it is." Jing Xingzhi's hand gripped Ling Yunhe's pulse point. "Indeed, Ice-Fire Dual Spirit Roots, and both are quite good, not too far apart in quality."
Qin Xi smiled. "Two Fellow Daoists, your junior's Spirit Roots happen to be perfect for cultivating the Ice-Fire Art!"
"I'm afraid Fellow Daoist Ling isn't cultivating just any ordinary Ice-Fire Art either, right?" Mo Tiange continued. "Senior Fuyaozi said that in the past, Dao Sage Guizhen took a technique from here, which seems to be one of this sect's top techniques."
"Let's speculate a bit," Jing Xingzhi said with a grin. "This Bow of the Vermilion Bird is the sect-protecting treasure of this ancient great sect. Therefore, members of their own sect must have had a method to lift this bow. But they were a sect specializing in ice-attribute techniques, while the Bow of the Vermilion Bird is fire-attribute. How would they lift it?"
"Naturally, by having someone who cultivates the Ice-Fire Art do it," Qin Xi said calmly. "By cultivating the Ice-Fire Art, one possesses pure fire spiritual qi and water spiritual qi within their body. The fire spiritual qi activates the Bow of the Vermilion Bird's power, while the ice spiritual qi neutralizes the bow's ferocity. This way, one doesn't need to cultivate to an extremely high realm to lift the Bow of the Vermilion Bird."
"After Dao Sage Guizhen left, he kept thinking about how to take the Bow of the Vermilion Bird. Coincidentally, the technique he obtained from this Immortal Palace was this sect's Ice-Fire Art. With his intelligence, he naturally deduced this method. So, all these years, your Jiuyan Sect has been searching for suitable individuals to cultivate this Ice-Fire Art, waiting for the right time to gather the five sacred artifacts, open this space, and take the Bow of the Vermilion Bird!"
Mo Tiange concluded, "Two Seniors, are we correct?"
"..." Perfected One Yuan Mu's expression was extremely ugly. The three of them, speaking one after another, had almost laid everything bare!