Will You Send Us Back

In his despair, the only means of resistance he could think of was to detonate his golden core.

Yet just as the dark orb was about to strike the Golden Core cultivator, and just as he was about to self-detonate, a spell carrying an exceedingly peculiar aura tore through the air. With a bang, it slammed into the dark orb!

Under the spell’s attack, the orb shattered on the spot, as though it were not nearly as formidable as it had seemed moments ago, but instead incredibly fragile.

At this sudden turn of events, everyone who was still conscious turned toward the direction from which the spell had come.

“Fellow Daoist Lin!”

“Fellow Daoist Lin!”

When they saw that the newcomer was Fellow Daoist Lin Xiao of the Lingxian Sect in the Pu Si Kingdom—the same person they had encountered not long ago—the cultivators cried out in delight.

The State Preceptor’s expression darkened when he saw his orb destroyed in an instant, especially since the newcomer appeared to be one of these cultivators’ fellow disciples.

His gloomy black eyes fixed coldly on Lin Xiao.

The man had no protection around him whatsoever, yet the spell he had cast was astonishingly powerful. It was as though he were completely unaffected by the Jishi Stone!

Could it be that these cultivators had already comprehended essence energy so quickly…

But Lord Jixian had clearly said…

As these thoughts raced through the State Preceptor’s mind, he stared intently at Lin Xiao, who was walking toward him step by step.

Lin Xiao did not rashly enter the formation, either.

He looked around and saw that the ten cultivators and Yuan Jinsheng, who was lying in the pit, were still alive. Only then did he inwardly sigh with relief.

Then he discovered that there were mortals here as well.

And ten of them at that!

The ten mortal women were unconscious, lying on ten sacrificial platforms.

What astonished him most was that, in the pit where Yuan Jinsheng lay, he actually saw the soul of the former ruler of Huanyou!

Lin Xiao frowned.

What was going on?

Hadn’t this man already died on the surface earlier…

Before he could think any further, the State Preceptor in the formation suddenly let out a mocking laugh.

“I had originally intended to offer every one of you as sacrifices this time. But… never mind. I’ll spare you for now. We have a long road ahead of us…”

Before he finished speaking, his figure began to turn transparent and disperse.

“Not good! He’s escaping!”

After painstakingly pursuing the State Preceptor for so many days, they had finally found the mastermind behind everything. Naturally, none of them wanted to let him escape.

The nine cultivators immediately lunged at him together.

In the end, however, they merely pounced upon a phantom.

The State Preceptor had already vanished from the central cavern.

Lin Xiao’s attention was not on the vanished State Preceptor.

With a flash, he arrived beside Yuan Jinsheng and tried to pull him out so he could treat his injuries.

If he was not treated soon, remaining in this Jishi Stone mine would likely cost Yuan Jinsheng his life.

But when Lin Xiao reached out and gently lifted him, he found that he could not move Yuan Jinsheng even slightly!

He took a closer look and discovered that Yuan Jinsheng was being restrained by the formation.

Time was pressing. Lin Xiao had no time to search for the formation’s eye, so he directly unleashed a spell and bombarded the area around the formation. The formation, which was on the verge of completion, was utterly destroyed.

As the formation collapsed, the threads of vital blood and essence energy that had extended from each sacrifice into the air rapidly retreated, returning to their respective bodies.

Only then was Lin Xiao able to drag Yuan Jinsheng out of the pit.

The cultivators searched everywhere but could not find any trace of the State Preceptor, so they tied up the Jixiu lying on the ground instead.

As for the ten mortal women on the sacrificial platforms, the Jishi Stone’s influence had been less severe on them because they were mortals. Their condition was far better than Yuan Jinsheng’s.

A Nascent Soul cultivator spoke up.

“The State Preceptor has escaped, but we’ve captured everyone else. We shouldn’t stay here any longer. Let’s get out quickly.”

No cultivator was willing to remain in this place for another moment.

Naturally, no one objected.

Lin Xiao had been worrying about how to transport the ten unconscious mortal women out. He turned and spotted the sacks discarded in a corner. He was just about to retrieve them and put the women inside for transport when he saw a cultivator wave his hand once, then twice.

The unconscious Jixiu on the ground and the mortal women lying on the sacrificial platforms all woke up.

Lin Xiao: …

He had been a cultivator for too short a time. Clearly, he still hadn’t fully adjusted to thinking from a cultivator’s perspective.

Now that everyone was awake, a Nascent Soul cultivator stepped forward. Without offering any explanation, he simply told them to get up and leave quickly, or they could stay behind and wait for death.

As for the Jixiu, they had already been bound together in a chain, with the cultivators dragging them along behind.

The mortal women who had just awakened had no idea where they were, nor did they recognize the people standing before them. For a moment, they were all bewildered.

Only one of them—a girl who looked to be fifteen or sixteen and was the prettiest of the group—snapped out of her brief daze. When she saw Yuan Jinsheng being supported by Lin Xiao, she cried out in alarm:

“Father!”

As she shouted, she staggered toward Yuan Jinsheng—or rather, “he” did.

Seeing Yuan Jinsheng with his eyes tightly shut and unconscious, Shen Yingzi turned to Lin Xiao with reddened eyes and asked in a flustered voice, “Sir, my father… What happened to my father?”

Lin Xiao glanced at the cavern behind them and saw that the mortal women had all come out. He shifted Yuan Jinsheng from supporting him to carrying him on his back, then said to Shen Yingzi, “This place is dangerous. We’ll talk once we’re outside.”

With that, he turned and walked away with Yuan Jinsheng on his back.

In order to leave as quickly as possible and escape this oppressive place, the three Nascent Soul cultivators used spiritual power from behind to push the mortals and the Jixiu along.

The matter here could be considered settled, and they would be out soon, so there was no need to worry about wasting spiritual power.

Even if it was absorbed by the Jishi Stone and their spells suffered heavy losses, they could not afford to care.

The group hurried onward and finally returned to the surface.

It was already the middle of the night.

The moon was nearly setting.

The nine mortal women huddled together, not daring even to breathe too loudly as they looked at this extraordinary group of people before them.

They had no idea where they were, nor what would become of them.

Once Yuan Jinsheng emerged, cultivators familiar with him took over and began treating his injuries and helping him regulate his breathing. Shen Yingzi stayed by his side.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so Jixiu were taken back to the Allied Army first by two Nascent Soul cultivators and the ten Golden Core cultivators who had remained outside to stand guard instead of entering the cavern.

The others rested here for a short while before taking the nine mortal women to a nearby city.

When Lin Xiao turned around, he saw the nine women huddled tightly together.

They were dressed in thin clothes and shivering in the cold wind before dawn.

He went over and set up a small formation around them to provide warmth. He also comforted them with a few words.

“Don’t be afraid. In a little while, tell us where each of you is from, and we’ll send you home.”

Seeing his handsome features and noting that he was around their age, while also hearing the gentle and amiable tone of his voice, the women felt some of their fear fade.

A woman with a rather cheerful-looking face summoned her courage and asked, “I… I live in Qianzhong County, Linxi City. Will you… really send us home?”