"Senior Brother!"
"Don't go over there!" A figure flashed, and Jing Xingzhi intercepted Mo Tiange, shouting sternly.
Mo Tiange didn't even look at him.
Jing Xingzhi sighed helplessly, grabbing her arm as spiritual qi surged from his palm.
The sharp sword intent of a Nascent Soul sword cultivator pressed down, immobilizing Mo Tiange, who could only watch helplessly.
Qin Xi had been completely engulfed by the Breath of the Vermilion Bird, his entire body wrapped in a red mist, yet the Breath continued to flow incessantly from Ling Yunhe's body, surging toward him.
"You going over there won't solve anything!" Jing Xingzhi said calmly. "This Breath of the Vermilion Bird is so tyrannical. You're only at the Core Formation stage. If Qin Shoujing can't withstand it, you'd just be adding another casualty."
Qin Xi. Watching him being wrapped in the Vermilion Bird's Breath, her heart suddenly felt hollow.
She could only hope, hope that before he could no longer endure it, the divine power within the Bow of the Vermilion Bird would be exhausted. As for who ended up owning the bow, she didn't care. Even if it meant sewing a bridal gown for another, it didn't matter, as long as he could preserve his life.
But the Breath of the Vermilion Bird seemed endless, continuously surging forth, pouring into Ling Yunhe's meridians, then flowing out from Ling Yunhe's body to wrap around Qin Xi.
The red mist around Qin Xi grew denser and denser, until finally, it was as if he was bathed in blood, his figure no longer clearly visible.
Watching this scene, Perfected One Iron-Face felt both joy and worry.
He had originally intended to capture someone to share the pressure of the Vermilion Bird's Breath. Since Qin Xi and Jing Xingzhi were both Nascent Soul cultivators, he hadn't been confident, so he had targeted the lowest-ranking Mo Tiange. But unexpectedly, through a strange twist of fate, the Vermilion Bird's Breath had sought out Qin Xi. He was already at the mid-Nascent Soul stage and could withstand much more of the Vermilion Bird's divine power than Mo Tiange. Perhaps with him, it would be enough.
However, the Vermilion Bird's Breath was also so potent. Seeing Qin Xi already completely wrapped, yet the flow showed no signs of stopping, Perfected One Iron-Face couldn't help but grow worried again.
If even adding Qin Xi wasn't enough, then what? He had originally thought that, at worst, he would risk his own life to share the Vermilion Bird's divine power. But since he had already made a move earlier, given that sword cultivator kid's ruthless and vicious temperament, he would likely take advantage of their vulnerability, causing him to perish needlessly at his hands.
Thinking this, Perfected One Iron-Face found himself stuck, unable to advance or retreat, and could only watch helplessly.
"Boom!" When the blood mist reached its peak, a loud explosion suddenly erupted from Qin Xi's body. The blood mist actually transformed into flames, blazing fiercely.
Mo Tiange was greatly alarmed. What was this situation? The flames formed by the Vermilion Bird's Breath contained the Vermilion Bird's divine power. Even Qin Xi's Extreme Yang True Fire feared it immensely. For it to burn directly on his body like this, could there be any life left?
"Huh?" Jing Xingzhi beside her let out a surprised gasp, muttering to himself, "How strange."
At this moment, Ling Yunhe's hand grasped the Bow of the Vermilion Bird. The Vermilion Bird's Breath flowed through his palm into his meridians, then passed through him to True Person Yuan Mu. But True Person Yuan Mu was merely flushed red all over, his meridians and dantian filled with the Vermilion Bird's Breath. Qin Xi's situation, however, was different from theirs.
First, he hadn't been in contact with Ling Yunhe beforehand; one could say the Vermilion Bird's Breath had actively sought him out. Second, the Vermilion Bird's Breath around him was in a state of red mist diffused around his body, unlike the two of them, where it directly entered their meridians. Third, the other two had no flames on their bodies; only Qin Xi had ultimately transformed into flames.
In just this short time, the flames had completely enveloped Qin Xi. Apart from a hazy silhouette, nothing could be seen.
Just as the others thought he was about to be burned to ashes by the flames, a faint white light suddenly appeared at the location of his dantian. At first, this white light was only a tiny point, hidden within the flames, so faint it seemed like a trick of the eye. But gradually, the white light grew brighter and larger, until finally, it even vied with the Vermilion Bird's flames.
"Boom!" Another dull sound. The Vermilion Bird's Breath seemed to go mad, surging toward Qin Xi—from the Bow of the Vermilion Bird, from Ling Yunhe, even from True Person Yuan Mu!
This Vermilion Bird's Breath, flowing onto Qin Xi's body, transformed into flames, then surged toward that white light!
"This is..." Both Jing Xingzhi and Perfected One Iron-Face were stunned. What was happening?
After a momentary daze, Mo Tiange suddenly remembered something and was overjoyed. "The Yang Spirit Bead!"
She had almost forgotten that Qin Xi had a Yang Spirit Bead on him! Dao Lord Jinghe had said that the Yang Spirit Bead was a wondrous object of heaven and earth, born within spiritual veins. It specifically devoured the yang spiritual qi within veins. Over time, after consuming all the yang spiritual qi of an entire spiritual vein, the Yang Spirit Bead was produced.
According to this explanation, the Yang Spirit Bead contained boundless spiritual qi. If released completely, even a God Transformation cultivator could easily suffer spiritual explosion and bodily rupture. Because a spiritual vein capable of producing a Yang Spirit Bead would definitely not be a small one, and the spiritual qi possessed by a single God Transformation cultivator couldn't possibly surpass that of a spiritual vein.
Since a single Yang Spirit Bead could contain so much spiritual qi, then could it also contain the divine power brought by the Vermilion Bird's Breath?
Thinking of this, Mo Tiange felt as if she had found life in a desperate situation, hope blooming once more in her heart.
"Yang Spirit Bead?" Jing Xingzhi frowned slightly, puzzled.
Although he had been with Qin Xi during that adventure when he obtained the Yang Spirit Bead, he had no idea that unremarkable-looking bead was the Yang Spirit Bead. If he had known, he would have regretted it so much his intestines turned green. Because back then, he hadn't paid any attention to that bead at all. When dividing the spoils, he casually tossed it to Qin Xi. And it was precisely because of this Yang Spirit Bead that Qin Xi cultivated faster than him, encountered more opportunities, even obtained a supreme cultivation method like the Pure Yang Art from a God Transformation cultivator, and even achieved his marriage with Mo Tiange.
Fortunately, he didn't know. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
The white light grew brighter and brighter, and the speed at which the Vermilion Bird's Breath surged toward Qin Xi also accelerated.
Perfected One Iron-Face's expression grew somewhat strange. He intuitively felt something was wrong.
The Yang Spirit Bead's radiance blazed brightly, while the light of the Bow of the Vermilion Bird grew weaker and weaker.
The Vermilion Bird's Breath on Ling Yunhe and True Person Yuan Mu also diminished, all of it surging toward Qin Xi alone!
No one knew how long this lasted. Perhaps a quarter of an hour, perhaps even less. Finally, the flames on the Bow of the Vermilion Bird flickered, dimmed, and then vanished. Without the Vermilion Bird's Breath, it now appeared to be merely a simple yet exquisite ancient weapon.
The Vermilion Bird's Breath on Ling Yunhe and True Person Yuan Mu had also completely disappeared. Losing the support of the Vermilion Bird's divine power, the two of them immediately collapsed to the ground.
Perfected One Iron-Face was stunned for a moment before rushing forward to check on Ling Yunhe and True Person Yuan Mu.
Pressing his fingers to their pulse points, Perfected One Iron-Face froze. After a while, he slumped to the ground.
The two of them had had the Vermilion Bird's Breath forcibly rush through their meridians and dantian. Although it hadn't reached the point of severance, they were almost completely ruined.
Ling Yunhe was in slightly better shape. The fire spiritual qi within the Ice-Fire Art he cultivated resonated with the Vermilion Bird's Breath. Only his meridians had been forcibly widened and slightly damaged. True Person Yuan Mu, however, had his meridians shattered inch by inch, almost devoid of spiritual qi! This Bow of the Vermilion Bird was, after all, an ancient sentient magic treasure. Even though True Person Yuan Mu was already a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator, he couldn't withstand such powerful Vermilion Bird divine power.
But the reason Perfected One Iron-Face was so distraught was the Bow of the Vermilion Bird on the offering table.
Having lost the Vermilion Bird's Breath, it had also lost the Vermilion Bird's divine power. Was it still a sentient magic treasure? Moreover, Ling Yunhe had already fainted, yet the Bow of the Vermilion Bird remained properly placed on the offering table. This didn't look at all like he had successfully subdued the bow.
He couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that the final wish of their Patriarch, the efforts of hundreds of generations of the Jiuyan Sect over a hundred thousand years, were nothing but a reflection of the moon in water? Was their conjecture wrong, or was Ling Yunhe's cultivation simply insufficient?
The flames on Qin Xi's body also slowly dimmed. When the last flicker of flame vanished, the Bow of the Vermilion Bird on the offering table trembled slightly, flew toward him, and, following the flames, vanished into his body.
That Yang Spirit Bead, having absorbed the Vermilion Bird's Breath, was no longer pure white but had turned a pale red. After completely devouring the Vermilion Bird's Breath, the Yang Spirit Bead flashed once, then slowly retracted its radiance before finally disappearing.
As for Qin Xi, he plummeted headfirst to the ground.
"Senior Brother!" Mo Tiange cried out.
Seeing there was no more danger, Jing Xingzhi withdrew his sword intent and released her.
She rushed forward, knelt down, and helped Qin Xi up.
Qin Xi's eyes were closed, his teeth clenched, his face deathly pale.
Mo Tiange's heart pounded fiercely. Reaching out to feel his pulse, she detected the flow of spiritual breath and finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling a spark of vitality return to her hollow heart.
Alive. At least he was still alive.
Jing Xingzhi walked over and also grasped Qin Xi's pulse, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.
"What's wrong?" Mo Tiange asked nervously. Due to the gap in cultivation, she couldn't use spiritual qi to investigate the specific condition inside Qin Xi's body; she only knew there was still spiritual qi within his meridians.
After a long while, Jing Xingzhi released Qin Xi's pulse and said, "Very bad. The spiritual qi within his body is almost depleted. His sea of consciousness is closed, and his dantian is damaged." He glanced at Mo Tiange, choosing his words carefully as he said cautiously, "Although he didn't die this time, in this condition, I don't know if he can hold on."
He had experienced this kind of situation before. The sea of consciousness was the seat of consciousness. Once it closed, a person was equivalent to a living corpse, devoid of awareness. Even more critically, the spiritual qi within his body was almost gone, and his dantian was damaged. If a cultivator lacked consciousness, they couldn't cultivate. If they couldn't cultivate, they couldn't absorb spiritual qi to heal. Without healing, the injury to the dantian would gradually worsen, and eventually, the body would slowly collapse, dying unconsciously. Even if he held on and woke up one day, his cultivation would plummet drastically.
Fortunately, Qin Xi was already a Nascent Soul cultivator. His physical body had been reshaped during the Nascent Soul formation, and he had also practiced body refining techniques. As long as his dantian was protected, his body shouldn't atrophy.
But even so, when his sea of consciousness would open and he would awaken was an unknown variable. Perhaps a day or two, perhaps a year or two, even ten or a hundred years.
This was why Jing Xingzhi found it difficult to voice.
Within the great hall, three living people and three half-dead people all fell into silence.
After quite a while, Jing Xingzhi suddenly looked up, alert. "We can't delay any longer. We must leave quickly!"
The demonic qi outside had almost completely dissipated, which meant that if True Person Yuan Mu's conjecture was correct, this Origin Demonic Qi had already been fully absorbed. If the person absorbing the Origin Demonic Qi needed time to fuse with it, that would be a good thing. But if he came to the great hall immediately...
Perfected One Iron-Face seemed to have been startled awake. He looked at the unconscious Ling Yunhe and True Person Yuan Mu, then turned a heavy gaze toward them.
Jing Xingzhi noticed immediately, his arm trembling as his flying sword hovered in mid-air.
But Perfected One Iron-Face ultimately didn't make a move. After a moment of silence, without saying a word, he lifted Ling Yunhe and True Person Yuan Mu, one in each hand, and flew away without looking back.
Seeing this, Jing Xingzhi relaxed his tense nerves. The gap between his cultivation and Perfected One Iron-Face was vast. If they had fought, it would have been very unfavorable. But if he had abandoned these two and fled alone, he would have felt uneasy.
He lowered his head, looking at the unconscious Qin Xi and the grim-faced Mo Tiange, and suddenly felt a strong urge to slap himself.
In his nearly three hundred years of life, Jing Xingzhi had always acted decisively and ruthlessly, never hesitating when it was time to strike hard. In the current situation, if he were ruthless enough, he should take the opportunity to rob them. Even if he couldn't bring himself to rob them, he should have left far behind to avoid trouble. So why couldn't he move his feet now?