“There’s the exit!”
“Go! Don’t slow down!” Quan Hui shouted.
The next moment, all six members of her party rushed out of the ancient temple, returning to the wide clearing outside that was overgrown with tall grass.
Rumble-!
The ancient temple started collapsing behind them, and was reduced to rubble within a matter of seconds.
Even during the collapse, dangerous-looking beams of energy could be seen escaping through the gaps in the rubble, shooting into the skies and piercing the clouds. Thankfully, that did not last long.
Soon after the temple’s collapse, the beams stopped emerging as well, returning the area to a state of tranquil silence.
As for Quan Hui’s party, all of them looked exhausted and even slightly unkempt. But as they exchanged glances, smiles subconsciously started appearing on each of their faces.
“Hehe! That was exciting!” Quan Hui broke the silence with a snicker. “We barely got out in time!”
“Indeed, that was close!”
“That said, we did spend more time combing through the entire temple in search for treasures. Otherwise, we would have been out of there long ago!”
“It is good that everyone is safe.”
“Haha! You are as serious as always, Junior Martial Sister Mei!” Quan Hui casually patted her party member on the back.
The party had indeed faced numerous traps and dangers inside the temple, but the treasures they found made it well worth the trip.
And now that they were back out and basking under the warm sunlight, the party members could not help but feel a lot more relaxed.
This successful venture felt especially rewarding after having spent a full day recovering from the injuries that they had suffered back at the Trident Lake.
Even thinking back to that monster of a trident user sent chills down their spines.
Fortunately, it did not pursue them as they tried to escape, only sending out a few more attacks after them. That said, those attacks were no joke as well, almost enough to take them out altogether.
In fact, it could already be considered quite the miracle that they had managed to escape Trident Lake without losing anyone.
Compared to facing that monster, challenging the ancient temple felt like a walk in the park!
Quan Hui shook her head to clear those depressing thoughts. “We don’t have much time left. Let’s quickly recover before looking for more treasures!”
The ancient temple might have been an easier challenge than the trident monster, but they still had to expend quite a bit of energy to overcome the trials within.
To avoid any mishaps, it was best to recover to their top condition before continuing their exploration of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.
“Wait, something is wrong!” one of the party members exclaimed.
The next moment, an emblem of light appeared underneath their feet as an array buzzed into life.
This emblem of light covered the entire clearing, wide enough to ensure that they would not have enough time to escape before its complete activation.
“Who is it?!” Quan Hui shouted in rage.
Countless water droplets formed along the edges of the array before shooting inwards, turning into water arrows that headed straight for Quan Hui’s party that stood within.
Quan Hui’s party quickly gathered up with their backs against one another.
Flames erupted in all directions as each member started throwing out fire-element attacks, perfectly neutralising the water arrows that were coming at them from all directions.
At the same time, a party member, who had remained in the centre instead of helping with the defence, raised his foot.
A small flame spread underneath his raised foot, making it seem as though the sole of his shoe was on fire. And with this burning sole, he stomped his foot down with great force.
Bang-!
The golden emblem of light on the ground flickered upon the impact.
Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!
With each successive stomp, the golden emblem of light started dimming further and further.
“Break!” he finally shouted and stomped down with all his might.
Shatter-!
The sound of glass shattering could be heard as the golden emblem of light finally collapsed, turning into light particles that dissipated into the air.
The array had been broken just like that!
However, the party did not get any time for rest.
Right as they broke through the array, Quan Hui’s party could see a huge yin yang symbol heading straight for them.
The sword energy encompassed within the yin yang symbol could barely be contained, which was more than enough to let them know the danger within.
All of them recognised this technique immediately.
Yin Yang Sword Diagram!
With that, they managed to identify at least two of their opponents – the Yin Yang Sword Sisters.
That said, it was unthinkable for participants from the Flying Swords Hall to target them in such a manner. Not only were they a much weaker faction, but they also had no enmity with each other.
It would still be possible if they had encountered each other and ended up in a conflict, but setting up a killing array in advance was simply ridiculous.
Most probably, this was the work of members of the Black Tortoise Sect, of which the Flying Swords Hall was subordinate to.
At this moment, the likely perpetrators immediately came to mind – San Wanfan’s party.
“Those cockroaches!” Quan Hui cursed under her breath.
But if San Wanfan believed that this would be enough to take them down, then he could not be more wrong!
“Let us!” two of her party members shot forth, one male and one female.
With their shoulders leaning against each other’s, the two of them raised both palms to face the oncoming Yin Yang Sword Diagram.
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Essence energy surged from within them, summoning forth twin fire dragons that intertwined in mid air as they charging straight towards the yin yang diagram.
Roar-!
The fire dragons let out a majestic roar as they slammed into the Yin Yang Sword Diagram, resulting in a huge explosion that sent out shockwaves in all directions.
In the end, the twin fire dragons dissipated from the collision, as did the Yin Yang Sword Diagram.
And with the disappearance of the Yin Yang Sword Diagram, the Yin Yang Sword Sisters who had been following right behind were quickly exposed.
Still, the twin sisters did not slow their advance.
Against the party of a core disciple of the Vermilion Bird Sect, it would be naive of them not to have expected at least this much.
That said, they would not have agreed to lead the assault if they did not have a plan!
“Watch the sides!” Quan Hui shouted upon noticing their confidence. “There has to be more than just the two of them!”
As though responding to her words, ice spikes immediately shot out from the tall grass, aiming to trap them from both sides.
These attacks were quickly met with fiery defences, comprising flaming vipers on one side and a fire shield on another.
Faced with these responses, not a single ice spike managed to pass through and reach the members of the Vermilion Bird Sect.
In fact, the defences were quickly turning into offence.
While blocking the ice spikes, the flaming viper was slowly advancing towards the source of the ice-element attack.
At the same time, the two members who had blocked the Yin Yang Sword Diagram shot forward, wanting to engage the Yin Yang Sword Sisters in close combat.
“Be careful not to get caught by them!” San Wanfan shouted, finally revealing his presence.
“You persistent cockroach! What is a loser like you doing here?” Quan Hui shouted. “Are you trying to take advantage by attacking us after we have spent our energy? Is this the way of the Black Tortoise Sect?”
It was frustrating for her to admit this, but while they seemed to be holding up well, that was a temporary thing.
After all, they had just conquered the ancient temple and had yet to recover their energy.
If this battle dragged on, they would most likely be the first to expend all their essence energy. At that point, they would be no different from lambs to the slaughter!
Bang-!
Due to their execution of the Yin Yang Sword Diagram, the Yin Yang Sword Sisters’ forward momentum was way too strong. This made it difficult to retreat immediately, causing them to be caught by the two from Quan Hui’s party.
Of course, as core disciples of a sword-focused faction, they were no slouches when it came to close combat either.
The four of them quickly started an intense exchange of close combat techniques, though it was clear that the Yin Yang Sword Sisters were at a slight disadvantage.
“Help them!” San Wanfan shouted, and members of his party quickly moved towards the four.
However, this also caused the constant assault of ice spikes to stop.
“Not on my watch!” Quan Hui sneered as she moved to block the reinforcements.
“Damn it!” Lou Guanlai and his companion immediately stopped in their tracks, unwilling to expose any openings while trying to help the Yin Yang Sword Sisters.
He was at the Peak Essence Physique realm while his companion was at the Primary Origin Core realm.
On the other hand, Quan Hui was not only alone, but her cultivation level was also the same as his – at the Peak Essence Physique realm.
Be it in terms of numbers or cultivation level, they should have a clear advantage over Quan Hui. Yet they could not help but hesitate.
After all, her terrifying combat prowess from their earlier encounter was still fresh in their memories.
Coupled with her confidence in coming to face them alone, they had a foreboding feeling that even if they fought her together, they would end up being defeated instead!
At the same time, the rest of Quan Hui’s party moved to engage San Wanfan and the remaining members of his party in direct battle.
“We let you off easy the last time, yet you still came crawling back,” Quan Hui said as her hands burst into flames. “This time, don’t expect us to show any mercy!”
San Wanfan gritted his teeth in frustration.
It would appear that even by starting with a killing formation, they could not force Quan Hui’s party onto the back foot.
So, this was the strength of a core disciple’s party!
***
“Detecting heavy energy fluctuations and abrupt movement patterns. San Wanfan’s group is likely to have entered battle!” Zhao Yunxiao reported. “This appears to be a difficult one for them.”
Indeed, judging from the jade tablets’ rate of vibration, the Mo Group was clearly in an intense battle that required them to give everything they had.
Most likely, they had commenced San Wanfan’s plan to engage Quan Hui’s party.
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but let out a sigh of resignation.
Well, what’s done was done.
That said, for them to find Quan Hui’s party as they had wanted, it was likely that their battle location was not far from that of their first encounter.
He could use that information!
As for now, at least they were still in a better situation than the Wei Group.
Following Qin Biyu, another member of the Wei Group had already been eliminated with similarly serious injuries.
Some might say that they were foolish for not activating their jade tablets earlier, and from the perspective of someone whose assessment would be greatly impacted should anyone die in the mystic realm, Zhao Yunxiao definitely agreed with those sentiments.
But at the same time, Zhao Yunxiao could also understand their feelings to a certain extent, and thus felt a sense of admiration towards them for being willing to push their limits like this.
After all, for every extra moment that they drew the Serpent Mammoth’s attention, that would bring the party one step closer to melting the black ice.
In fact, he had indirectly contributed to this as well by suggesting different ways to draw the Serpent Mammoth’s attention.
The plan was to alternate aggro between the party members, using a method of tagging in and out to buy as much time as possible before being caught.
Yes, before being caught.
After all, it was inevitable that they would be caught eventually. If it were so easy to toy with the Serpent Mammoth, it would never have been considered such a great threat in the first place.
Zhao Yunxiao had suggested that they activate the jade tablets right before being caught, but he definitely did not expect them to push their limits to such an extent – only activating it after actually getting hit.
This was almost like gambling with their lives!
The good news was that the party member who returned after Qin Biyu had been stabilised as well, and was no longer tethering on the brink of death.
The bad news was that out of the original five, only Nuo Qianling and Zhuang Chan remained.
Judging from their respective rates of energy expenditure, Zhuang Chan had been responsible for melting the black ice all along. This meant that Nuo Qianling was now solely responsible for drawing the Serpent Mammoth away.
There were no longer any tricks that could be played.
All that mattered now was how fast Nuo Qianling could run and hide.
If she could not last long enough for Zhuang Chan to get through the black ice, then everything that they had done up till now would be for naught.
And even if she could last long enough for Zhuang Chan to get through the black ice, Zhao Yunxiao could only hope that whatever was inside that black ice was worth all this trouble!
As for their claim that it held an old companion’s remains, he did not believe it for a second.
Zhao Yunxiao looked up at the sun hanging over the tents.
It was already the final day before the closure of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm. Surely there was no way that both groups would suddenly end up getting wiped out after having come this far?