The Third Disciple of Tianyao Pavilion, Luo Qingchen; Three Women Ambushed

The Outer Realm's vastness and peril far exceeded the imagination of ordinary cultivators.

Aside from the Outer City which served as a central hub, to support cultivators in exploring deeper, the City Lord's Manor had established several small protective strongholds along major "safe" routes at varying distances from the city.

These strongholds were no larger than mortal villages, usually equipped with simple defensive formations and providing basic healing, trading, and short-term rest services.

Of course, enjoying these services required paying a hefty fee, and the strongholds were manned year-round by personnel dispatched by the City Lord's Manor for management and toll collection.

However, the extension of these strongholds was not infinite.

They were mostly concentrated in areas relatively close to the Outer City, where the dangers had been preliminarily scouted.

The further one ventured into the depths away from the Outer City, the more bizarre the environment became, the more powerful the exotic beasts were, and the unknown risks increased exponentially.

Even the eight Half-Immortal City Lords standing watch did not dare to easily set foot in the deepest regions, let alone establish strongholds there.

The rules here were far less strict than in the Outer City; they were more like temporary shelters and supply stations built on the edge of danger.

People from all walks of life gathered here, and conflicts frequently broke out. As long as the troublemakers compensated for the stronghold's losses, those City Lords wouldn't pursue the matter.

At this moment, the stronghold furthest from the Outer City was permeated with soaring killing intent and turbulent spiritual energy.

The once orderly stone and wooden buildings were now reduced to scattered debris. The simple defensive formations had been completely shattered, their spiritual light dimmed.

Upon the ruins lay the mountain-like corpse of an exotic beast, resembling a lizard but with six wings, its scales scorched black and shattered.

And above this expanse of ruins and corpses, two groups of people stood in a tense standoff.

One side consisted of only three people, all women, yet they exuded a chilling, heart-palpitating aura.

The leader wore a moon-white sword robe, her posture as straight as a pine tree in the snow.

Her appearance was breathtakingly beautiful, her skin fairer than frost and snow. Her ink-black hair hung loose, with a few stray strands blowing in the wind across her pale yet tightly pursed lips.

In her hand, she held a crystal-clear longsword. The blade was flawless, with faint ripples of the void flowing across it.

She was none other than Ye Qingxue, the possessor of the Primeval Void Sword Body and the Eldest Senior Sister of the Celestial Holy Land.

However, at this moment, the aura of this peak sword cultivator at the Eighth Stage of the Half-Immortal Realm was clearly chaotic.

A trail of crimson blood hung at the corner of her mouth, and her plain white sword robe had multiple tears and dark red stains. The veins on the back of her sword-holding hand bulged slightly, clearly indicating she had suffered significant internal injuries.

To her left stood a woman in a pale blue gauze dress, her skin as translucent white as jade.

Faint Lunar Frost Energy lingered around her. This was Yue Lingxi, the possessor of the Profound Heaven Lunar Soul Body.

On Ye Qingxue's right was a woman in white, her hair reaching her waist, pinned with a silver feather hairpin.

She was tall, with her silver hair tied into a neat ponytail at the back of her head. On her forehead rested a small, brilliantly glowing diamond-shaped crystal mark.

The most striking thing about her was the pure, holy aura she exuded, as well as her eyes, which currently shimmered with a faint golden light due to anger and vigilance.

She was Luo Qingchen, the Third Seat disciple of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, a faction established by Gu Changyuan in the Demon Realm. Her bloodline was that of the Radiant Pegasus.

Facing the three of them were dozens of cultivators radiating powerful auras.

Leading them was a sinister-looking middle-aged man in a yellow robe with a ruthless gaze. His aura had also reached the Seventh Stage of the Half-Immortal Realm.

The cultivation levels of the crowd behind him mostly ranged from the First to the Fifth Stage of the Half-Immortal Realm. Everyone had an unfriendly look and was brimming with murderous intent, clearly having come prepared.

Seeing Ye Qingxue injured, a cold light flashed in Yue Lingxi's aloof eyes.

She knew her Eldest Senior Sister's injuries were not light; they had to end the battle quickly or create an opportunity to break out.

With almost no warning, the transparent ripples of soul power around her suddenly vibrated violently. A terrifying, formless, and intangible divine soul shockwave that struck straight into the depths of the soul instantly swept toward the dozens of cultivators opposite her!

This was one of the most dreaded abilities of the Profound Heaven Lunar Soul Body—an area-of-effect divine soul attack, completely without warning and impossible to defend against.

However, just at the moment Yue Lingxi's divine soul attack was about to touch the enemy camp—

"Om—!"

From the ruins below, a massive, ink-black formation over a hundred zhang in diameter suddenly lit up.

The formation lines were bizarrely twisted, as if sketched from countless agonizing spirit faces, emitting an extremely sinister and cold aura.

Yue Lingxi's powerful divine soul shockwave not only failed to harm the opponents in the slightest, but like a clay ox entering the sea, it was instantly absorbed and converted by the black formation.

Immediately after, a more berserk, filthy, and strongly resentful backlash of soul power surged back along the trajectory of her released soul power.

"Pfft—!"

Yue Lingxi's delicate body trembled violently, her face instantly turning as pale as paper. She violently spat out a mouthful of blood, her entire aura plummeting abruptly, her figure swaying unsteadily.

"Hahahaha!" Seeing Yue Lingxi injured, the leading middle-aged man in the yellow robe immediately let out a heartily sinister laugh.

"Bet you didn't expect this! We anticipated your annoying divine soul attacks long ago!

To deal with you, we went to great lengths to find this incomplete formation diagram in some ancient ruin in this godforsaken place!

Although setting it up cost us a lot, it's totally worth it to cripple your most troublesome trick! Otherwise, why do you think we dared to surround and kill you so openly?!"

Seeing Yue Lingxi also injured and coughing up blood, Luo Qingchen grew extremely anxious.

She gave a clear shout, and the crystal mark on her forehead suddenly burst with dazzling pure white light.

Following that, the phantom of a massive, pure white pegasus with giant wings of light and a holy, majestic presence condensed in the air above her head.

"Holy Light Purification: Heal!"

The pegasus phantom neighed towards the sky, spreading its wings, and showered down a large expanse of gentle, life-filled pure white holy light, cascading like rain over Ye Qingxue and Yue Lingxi.

The holy light contained the unique purifying and healing power of the Radiant Pegasus clan, capable of dispelling negative statuses and accelerating wound recovery.

"Hmph! Don't even think about it!"

In the opposing camp, a haggard-looking old man in a blood-red robe snorted coldly, a look of madness flashing in his eyes.

He fiercely bit the tip of his tongue, spat out a mouthful of lifeblood, and rapidly formed hand seals.

Several people around him simultaneously formed a formation with him.

A blood-red formation exuding a thick bloody and foul aura instantly appeared beneath the area covered by the holy light.

The blood-red formation flared brilliantly, clashing violently with the pure white holy light and emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound.

The faces of the several men grew even paler, blood trickling from the corners of their mouths; evidently, forcefully activating this formation placed a massive burden on them, but they held on desperately.

The pure holy light was visibly corrupted and dimmed. Finally, the pegasus phantom let out an unwilling wail and shattered violently.