“How could this be?”
Qian Ying was the first to reach the summit. Gazing at the colossal structure slowly emerging in the night sky, she instinctively raised her hand to stop it, only to be sent flying by the immense divine might emanating from the black stone mountain.
Xuan You arrived just in time to witness this scene. She hurried to catch Qian Ying, preventing her from falling off the cliff.
Seeing Qian Ying so injured that she could barely stand, Xuan You exclaimed in shock, “Has this secret realm developed its own consciousness?”
Earlier, she had wondered why Ao Ming, when targeted by Bai Shengyi using the black stone pit, was so severely attacked that he lost his physical body. Now, it seemed it wasn't because Ao Ming was a demonic cultivator and the black stone possessed divine might that it disliked him, but rather because this black stone was an integral part of the Huanyu Secret Realm, which had perhaps awakened its own consciousness.
Thinking of this, Xuan You broke out in a cold sweat.
Not only her, but Qian Ying was also terrified.
“No way?” Qian Ying swallowed a Rejuvenation Pill and spat out the stagnant blood in her body, finally managing to stand steady.
At this moment, Bai Shengyi, Yue Bufan, and Lin Qingyu also arrived one after another.
“No way what? Senior Sister, are you injured again?” Bai Shengyi couldn’t help but look at Qian Ying.
Qian Ying waved her hand to indicate she was fine and then recounted what had just happened and Xuan You’s speculation.
In fact, she didn't need to say anything. In just this short time, the Huanyu Secret Realm had already caused rocks to fall from the most prominent peak of Mount Qunyu, and it was still pressing downwards.
The entire mountain began to shake slightly.
Mount Qunyu had already lost its master, its Great Heavenly Star Chessboard, and had endured a prolonged war between righteous and demonic factions. It was in a fragile state. This shaking made the mountains unstable, as if they would collapse in the next second.
“I’ll go first to evacuate the disciples. And the wounded, we must send them away quickly,” Xuan You said with a grim expression.
Qian Ying also frowned. “I’ll go with you. We also need to inform the major sects and remind them not to send any more wounded here.”
Neither of them was one to procrastinate, especially with the urgent situation. The words had barely left their mouths when they were no longer in their original positions.
However, Bai Shengyi and the others could not leave.
“We can’t just let this secret realm continue like this,” Bai Shengyi said solemnly, looking at the figures bustling in panic all over the mountain.
Yue Bufan frowned deeply. “But if this secret realm has truly developed consciousness and is aided by divine power, we are no match for it. Instead of wasting time here, it would be better to quickly contact the other sects and transfer all the cultivators and people in the Qunyu Mountain Range.”
Yue Bufan was not timid or fearful of trouble, but rather speaking based on facts.
The reason why deities were called deities was not merely because they were unattainable, but because they had long transcended the cycle of reincarnation. Their words became rules, and their actions reshaped the universe. During the era when ancient deities were active, even immortals had to avoid their brilliance.
If even immortals could not deal with such things, what could they, mere cultivators, do?
“But it’s not a deity,” Bai Shengyi’s eyes sparkled with a bright light, his tone carrying his usual carefree defiance. If one listened carefully, they could detect a hint of eagerness. “It’s just a secret realm.”
“Even if it has developed consciousness, it doesn’t change its fundamental nature as a secret realm.”
Seeing Yue Bufan still disagreeing, Bai Shengyi spoke again.
“We don’t know how large the Huanyu Secret Realm is, but as it stands, this realm can directly crush the entire Qunyu Mountain Range.”
Mount Qunyu was not just a single mountain; it encompassed the ten thousand miles of the domain of the Mount Qunyu Master.
But now, as far as the eye could see, the vast expanse within these ten thousand miles was being covered by all sorts of strange-looking black stones.
The area of this coverage was continuously expanding.
Bai Shengyi’s expression turned serious. He turned to Yue Bufan and Lin Qingyu and said, “Grandfather, Your Highness the Demon King, please lend me your support. Let us first slow down the descent speed of this Huanyu Secret Realm.”
Yue Bufan worried about Bai Shengyi getting injured and said, “Even if we have to act, it should be me. You…”
Bai Shengyi had already leaped forward, stepping on spiritual light and flying below the secret realm. With a wave of his hand, the Heavenly Mystery Sword and the Reincarnation Brush appeared in his hands.
“Little Reincarnation, Heavenly Mystery, I’ll have to trouble you two again.”
A blue light flashed across the blade of the Heavenly Mystery Sword.
The Reincarnation Brush, having only recently regained consciousness, responded irritably, “Why are you being so sentimental? Stop dawdling and get to it.”
“I’m just afraid something might happen to you two.”
Bai Shengyi stroked the brush in his hand. Due to the lack of proper recuperation, even though he had collected several divine fires, the Nine Revolutions Reincarnation Brush had not yet recovered to its peak state.
At this moment, a green light emanated, and the pen barrel dispersed into a cluster of green light spots, which then coalesced into a translucent green longbow that fell into Bai Shengyi’s hand.
“What could happen? Pen-pen and the Heavenly Mystery Sword are both divine artifacts, no weaker than this damned secret realm!” It paused, then added dryly, “At worst, I’ll just fall into a dormant state again for a while.”
Amidst their exchange, Bai Shengyi had already nocked an arrow and drawn his bow.
“That won’t happen,” Bai Shengyi said softly. “I only need to delay it for a moment.”
It wasn’t time to use his full strength yet.
“Swish!”
The Heavenly Mystery Sword shot out abruptly!
Perhaps all the cultivators in Mount Qunyu tonight would never forget this scene.
The sky, which had suddenly turned dim, resembled the gaping maw of a lurking beast. The shaking ground and the tense atmosphere were weighing down everyone’s spirits to the extreme. Then, a green light, like a meteor trailing a faint blue tail, suddenly streaked across the dim night sky.
The light was incredibly bright, so bright that it even burned people’s eyes.
Two spiritual lights, one red and one blue, then flew in from the left and right, converging with the ‘meteor’.
Instantly, a massive barrier slowly unfurled in the direction of the ‘meteor’s’ advance, enveloping the entire Qunyu Mountain Range.
The ground abruptly stopped shaking.
“What are you all standing around for?” Qian Ying urged the disciples in a deep voice. “Hurry up and send the wounded down the mountain.”
On the other side, Lan Xuerou was also arranging disciples who knew formations on Mount Yueqing. “Try to set up a teleportation array connecting to Mount Yueqing. If it’s feasible, teleport the disciples to Mount Yueqing.”
Upon hearing this, Qian Ying immediately clapped her hands. “Excellent, young friend Lan. This method is good. I’ll go speak to the Master of Mount Yueqing later. Let’s send the people away first, especially those wounded who cannot be moved easily.”
Before long, the entire Mount Qunyu resumed its activity.
However, a new problem soon arose.
“Sect Master Xuan, Daoist Master Qian Ying, what should we do? Those alchemists are unwilling to transfer with the wounded,” a disciple rushed over.
“What?” Qian Ying’s anger flared. “What is Dongyang Mountain trying to pull? At a time like this, they’re still being so dramatic. Do I have to personally invite them to leave with the wounded?”
Since the vast majority of alchemists were located in Mount Qunyu, these were not only the wounded from the Baiye City battlefield and the Qunyu Mountain battlefield, but also those sent from other battlefields.
With such a large group of people, if there were no accompanying alchemists, it would be too late to deal with emergencies like the worsening of injuries.
Earlier, she had tolerated the fuss these alchemists had been making, but at this point, if they were still causing trouble, her fiery temper could not be contained.
Qian Ying became angrier as she thought about it. Sensing the location of Sect Master Dong, she strode over.
Sect Master Xuan did not stop Qian Ying, clearly also tired of the repeated disruptions caused by Dongyang Mountain.