All Dead, Confirm Identities

Nangong Wan and the other person retreated to the edge of the formation, beside the azure light barrier.

The holy power within their bodies was rapidly draining, leaving them no time to hesitate. Nangong Wan formed a hand seal, and a silver-white glow flickered at her fingertips.

She pointed directly at the light barrier, and the spot she touched twisted into a whirlpool. In the next instant, a gap tore open.

Nangong Wan furrowed her brows and shouted, “Hurry!”

Opening the door, fleeing—done in one smooth motion, without a hint of delay.

“Daoist! Wait for us!”

“Big shot, save us!”

Only after Nangong Wan and her companion opened the azure light barrier did the crowd react, frantically rushing toward the small whirlpool opening.

Boom!

Yet, without Nangong Wan’s technique, the azure light barrier instantly restored itself. No matter how hard the others attacked, they couldn’t break through.

“Damn it!! That wretched woman actually escaped on her own!”

The crowd seethed with resentment, but their anger and unwillingness were useless now. As their spiritual power and holy energy drained away, their cultivation began to drop.

In just a short while, many cultivators had already fallen an entire major realm. Except for the Saint realm cultivators, who could barely maintain their Saint-level cultivation, the rest had nearly given up resisting.

If even the Saint realm cultivators could do nothing, what hope was there for them?

“I should have escaped with them earlier. We could have survived!”

“Hahahaha, this is fate. We were too greedy. We didn’t even know the truth about the treasure, and now we’re stuck here.”

Some cultivators were more optimistic, accepting their fate calmly.

Meanwhile, the Saint realm cultivators were still making a stubborn stand. “Fellow Daoists, is there really no way out? Are you all truly willing to be trapped here to death?”

“This azure light barrier seals off space. To get out, you’d need a special method like that woman had.”

“Or, we could join forces and attack a single point. The light barrier must have a limit to how much damage it can take. If we can unleash an attack equivalent to that of a Saint King, we might be able to break through a corner!”

Aside from Nangong Wan and Su Muxue, who had already fled, five experts of the Saint Realm remained on the scene. However, they were all within the Saint Realm, and the highest cultivation among them had only just reached the seventh level—effectively the late stage of the Saint Realm.

“Fine! Let’s combine our efforts while our cultivation hasn’t fully fallen below the Saint realm!”

The five Saint realm cultivators struck together, targeting one spot on the azure light barrier.

Boom!!

Five powerful attacks slammed into the light barrier. It trembled slightly, but after the various bursts of light faded, the barrier showed no change at all.

“How is this possible? What kind of damned place is this?”

The higher the cultivation, the greater the gap between minor realms. Pulling off an attack that leaps beyond one’s level is usually the exclusive skill of the chosen one. Clearly, none of these people were anywhere close to being such a chosen one.

“Whew.”

“Thank goodness you were here, Wan ‘er, or else we might have died in this awful place.”

After leaving the formation, Su Muxue still felt a lingering fear. She patted her impressive chest, which gave a slight bounce, and let out a small sigh of relief.

Nangong Wan gazed at the cultivators trapped within the azure light barrier, her expression calm. “This place isn’t safe to stay. The greatest danger here isn’t these formations but the Heavenly Tribulation that exists for some unknown reason.”

She looked up at the sky, which was as dark as splattered ink, oppressive and unsettling. Black and red lightning serpents coiled within the clouds, twisting like wild brushstrokes through the ink, making everyone feel deeply anxious.

Most cultivators had been so focused on the formation that they had completely overlooked the most threatening presence.

“Damn, there really is more danger. Good thing we got out early, or we’d be done for!”

“Thanks to the Daoist who ran first! Appreciate it!”

“Yeah, that was close. Luckily, that Daoist was kind enough to warn us before fleeing, or even Saint realm cultivators might have fallen here!”

The cultivators who had the foresight to escape early felt as if they had won the ultimate lottery, their faces full of joy.

Though they had gained nothing from this trip, seeing those who had sought fortune and ended up sealing their own fate made them feel much better.

As time passed, all the trapped cultivators within the formation had their realms drop below the Saint level. The Saint-grade talisman suspended above their heads burst into dazzling light, transforming into countless sword beams that attacked viciously.

That single Saint-grade talisman reduced the flesh of dozens of cultivators to ruin, leaving only their souls floating in the air.

“Sigh, we couldn’t escape death in the end.”

“But it seems the formation doesn’t attack their souls. That means if they can leave the formation, they might still survive.”

“If they’re lucky, they could live through possession. But losing their original bodies means their cultivation is mostly wasted.”

“Surviving at all is good enough. Who cares about cultivation?”

The cultivators outside watched those inside meet such a fate, shaking their heads in lamentation.

Su Muxue looked warily at the formation. “Good thing we ran fast. The way of formations is truly profound and unfathomable. Unfortunately, in the Xuanhuang Realm today, I doubt anyone’s formation skills could reach such a level.”

Nangong Wan nodded in agreement. “Let’s go. We need to find Senior Brother.”

Treasures were good, but only if you lived to enjoy them.

“Ah!!”

“No! Get away, get away from me!!”

Just as the two were about to leave, heart-wrenching screams echoed from the formation. They stopped and turned around, only to see the formation suddenly filled with countless vengeful spirits, madly tearing at the souls of those cultivators.

“This is…”

Nangong Wan’s eyes glowed faintly with white light. She spotted a flag in the hand of a ghostly cultivator with a white beard among the countless spirits, and her pupils contracted sharply.

“How is this possible!?”

“Wan ‘er, what’s wrong?”

Su Muxue, seeing the horrific state of those souls, felt a chill down her spine. “Let’s get out of here. This place is too eerie. There must be some great demon sealed here!”

The surrounding cultivators were all terrified. First their bodies were destroyed, and now even their souls weren’t spared. They were now certain that this treasure trove was no stroke of lucky fortune.

Nangong Wan’s expression shifted constantly—now frowning, now deep in thought. “Wait for me, Muxue. I need to confirm something.”

She had a guess in her heart, but she wasn’t entirely sure.

That treasure was definitely her Senior Brother’s. She couldn’t be mistaken. But she couldn’t guarantee it hadn’t been stolen from him. Over so many years, while her Senior Brother was out cultivating on his own, he must have faced countless dangers.

It was possible someone had robbed him.

But anyone who dared to rob her Senior Brother—no matter who they were—would pay a terrible price!

As she thought this, Nangong Wan’s eyes turned dangerous.

“Muxue, wait here for me. I’m going to…”

BOOM!!!

Before Nangong Wan could finish speaking, a massive tremor erupted from deep within the formation, shaking the ground for hundreds of miles around as if an earthquake had struck.

In the next instant, a thick, rainbow-like pillar of dark red light surged upward from the mountain depths within the formation, crashing straight into the sky above. It intertwined with the black and crimson lightning there, unleashing a sinister and terrifying pressure that swept across a radius of a hundred miles.