Chapter 164

Chapter 164

As the secret realm teleported them out, Wen Qiao immediately grabbed Ning Yuzhou’s hand.

Ning Yuzhou smiled at her and held her hand in return.

The large fur ball that had been following them extended its paw hidden in its long fur and tightly hugged one of Wen Qiao’s legs.

Everything spun around them as they, along with the large fur ball, were teleported out of the secret realm.

It seemed like a momentary blur before their surroundings transformed into an endless sea. The people who appeared in mid-air fell straight down.

Wen Qiao summoned two flying swords with lightning-fast reflexes. She and Ning Yuzhou landed on the flying swords, while the large fur ball clinging to Wen Qiao’s leg stuck to the other end of the sword and started chirping when it saw the water below.

Wen Qiao looked around and realized that they were in an unfamiliar part of the ocean, not the same area where they had entered the Thousand Islands Secret Realm.

"Apparently, when the Thousand Islands Secret Realm closes, the location of its spatial passage shifts," Ning Yuzhou explained.

Every time the Thousand Islands Secret Realm opened, the spatial passage would appear near Crescent Moon Island. However, six months later, when the cultivators inside were sent out, the spatial passage would manifest in another part of the ocean, and the exact location was unpredictable.

Still, it remained within the Thousand Islands region, never straying beyond its boundaries.

After understanding this, Wen Qiao didn’t rush to leave but instead surveyed the area, searching for disciples of the Red Sky Sect.

The cultivators who had been teleported out of the secret realm, much like Wen Qiao and her companions, stood on flying swords, hovering in mid-air as they observed their surroundings.

Below, the seawater churned, waves rising and falling continuously. Gigantic waves surged one after another.

In the midst of the rolling waves, there was a massive whirlpool covering nearly half a mile of the ocean. Beneath the whirlpool lay a spatial passage, from which countless cultivators emerged, as if being spat out by the passage itself.

This situation was oddly comical.

These cultivators were the lucky ones who had survived the Thousand Islands Secret Realm. Most were in disarray, but many also appeared relatively well-spirited, suggesting that they had deliberately hidden away during the last month before the secret realm closed, waiting for it to shut without suffering any significant losses.

Wen Qiao glanced around and noticed that Yi Xuan and the others who had been with them were all present. Her gaze swept through the crowd and quickly found Duan Haoyan, Shuilinyin, and Zhongli Yi from the Purple Sun Sect...

The spatial passage spat out the cultivators like obstacles.

The cultivators who emerged from the spatial passage appeared above it and barely managed to steady themselves as they fell, avoiding a plunge into the sea.

They stood on flying swords or other spirit artifacts, hovering in mid-air as they gazed at the spatial passage below.

Once the spatial passage had expelled all the cultivators, the whirlpool on the sea surface shrank, and the spatial passage began to contract.

Seeing this, the cultivators present understood that the spatial passage of the Thousand Islands Secret Realm was about to close and wouldn’t reappear until the next three hundred years.

Just as the spatial passage was gradually contracting, it suddenly spat out two more people.

"Huh? How can there still be people?"

Someone voiced their confusion, echoing the thoughts of everyone else. After all, whenever the Thousand Islands Secret Realm closed, the repulsive force generated would simultaneously eject all the cultivators outside. Therefore, most cultivators inside were expelled at the same time, and even if there were differences in timing, they wouldn’t be significant.

However, these two individuals only appeared when the spatial passage had already begun to contract, causing considerable surprise.

When the two were ejected from the spatial passage, everyone saw that one of them was a woman in red wielding a long saber. Her long hair, tied high, flew wildly in the turbulence created by the spatial passage, while she fiercely swung her long saber at a person draped in a black cloak, unleashing countless fierce and domineering saber beams.

The cloaked figure held two black wheels, which emitted a surge of demonic aura to block her attack.

"It’s a demonic cultivator!" Those who witnessed this scene couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Senior Sister!"

Upon seeing the woman in red with the long saber, the disciples of the Red Sky Sect couldn’t help but call out in concern, their eyes fixed on Qin Hongdao.

The collision of saber beams and demonic aura tore through the surrounding air, causing the seawater below to churn even more violently. Huge waves rose up, and the cultivators hovering above the spatial passage were drenched by the surging waves.

Everyone was stunned, never expecting that there would be a demonic cultivator at the Yuanzong realm who had infiltrated the secret realm and engaged in combat with Qin Hongdao of the Red Sky Sect.

These two had fought all the way from the spatial passage, and with their comparable strengths, the destructive power of their battle not only caused the seawater to rise hundreds of feet due to the clash of spirit energy and demonic aura, but also made the spatial passage below, which was about to close, become unstable.

The surrounding cultivators hurriedly fled the area.

Cultivators at the Yuanzong realm were considered high-level cultivators on the Holy Martial Continent, and the power generated during their battles wasn’t something ordinary cultivators could approach. A group of people retreated, not daring to get close to the two combatants.

They now understood why these two had appeared last.

Both were at the Yuanzong realm, and cultivators at this level had some resistance to the repulsive force of the secret realm. When the secret realm closed, they were still fighting, so they unconsciously resisted the repulsive force, which delayed their exit compared to other cultivators.

Lower-level cultivators who saw the ongoing battle quickly retreated.

Yi Xuan’s gaze turned stern as he said to Wen Qiao and the others, "Junior Brother Sheng, Junior Brother Ning, Little Junior Sister, stay here. I’ll go help Senior Sister."

After giving his instructions, he summoned his Frost Snow Sword and swiftly flew towards the battlefield.

Other cultivators at the Yuanshen realm who saw this rushed forward to assist Qin Hongdao.

Many cultivators in the secret realm were already aware of how the demonic cultivators had orchestrated beast tides against righteous spirit cultivators. Seeing Qin Hongdao confront the demonic cultivator, they naturally wouldn’t stand idly by.

The other demonic cultivators disguised as righteous spirit cultivators finally revealed themselves and joined the battle.

The scene descended into chaos in an instant.

Lower-level cultivators couldn’t get close at all and had to retreat further and further.

Wen Qiao, Ning Yuzhou, and Sheng Yunsen knew their own limitations and obediently stayed away from the battlefield, but they were still concerned about Qin Hongdao and the others. They all focused their attention on the battle.

Suddenly, Wen Qiao felt a bone-chilling sense of danger, making her spine tingle.

Without hesitation, Wen Qiao whipped her chain backward.

A whistle sounded as the stone-gold whip sliced through the palm that attacked from behind.

Ning Yuzhou reacted swiftly and threw out a set of talismans. The talismans exploded mid-air, affecting many people. Those cultivators cursed and avoided the exploding talismans, revealing the person who had been hiding in the crowd to launch a sneak attack.

"It's you!"

Sheng Yunshen called out angrily.

Wen Qiao’s pupils constricted as she saw Fairy Flowing Cloud appear from nowhere.

Fairy Flowing Cloud was no longer as fresh and radiant as when they first met. She wore tattered magic robes, her hair was disheveled, and not only had she lost an arm, but half of her face seemed to have been injured by something, leaving it pitted and scarred, looking extremely disgusting.

Fairy Flowing Cloud looked at them with a twisted expression, the deep hatred in her eyes making one’s heart shudder.

When Sheng Yunshen saw her appearance, he felt a mix of schadenfreude and depression.

That woman hadn’t died!

Clearly, when the beast tide arrived, she had fallen into the swamp where the lizard crocodiles lived for some reason. At that time, they all thought she was dead, but who knew she would actually come back alive.

Why didn’t heaven take this woman away!

Fairy Flowing Cloud flew towards them and struck out with a palm, shouting crazily, "Die!"

"Quick, go!"

Wen Qiao shouted fiercely, flicking her whip to push Ning Yuzhou and Sheng Yunshen away.

However, Ning Yuzhou dodged the whip and reached out to grab her, while only Sheng Yunshen was pushed far away.

Fortunately, Fairy Flowing Cloud wasn’t in good shape now, and the two barely managed to dodge the palm strike.

Although the two of them had dodged, they couldn’t avoid the next palm strike. Their bodies swayed and fell off their flying swords, about to drop into the spatial channel below which had yet to close. Wen Qiao grabbed Ning Yuzhou and lashed out with her whip, binding the suspended flying sword in mid-air.

Fairy Flowing Cloud’s Flowing Cloud Veil struck the flying sword, breaking it, and the two fell again.

"Chirp chirp!"

Seeing the two fall, Furball also leaped off the out-of-control falling flying sword and rushed towards them.

The seawater below was still churning, and the spatial channel was closing. As the two fell, Fairy Flowing Cloud struck out several palms in a row, hitting the closing spatial channel, forcibly twisting the originally stable closing spatial channel. The sudden surge of spatial suction sucked the two people and the beast in at the same time.

After swallowing the two people and the beast, the spatial channel finally closed, and the churning seawater gradually stilled.

Witnessing the two disappear into the spatial channel, Fairy Flowing Cloud burst out laughing, immensely pleased.

The people around stared dumbfoundedly at this scene.

Everything happened too suddenly, and the people around couldn’t react in time. They could only watch helplessly as the distorted spatial channel swallowed the two, then disappeared.

"Junior Sister, Younger Brother Ning!"

Sheng Yunshen flew down in terror, trying to pull the two out before the spatial channel disappeared. However, no matter how fast he was, he couldn’t beat the closing spatial channel. He crashed into the gradually calming seawater. How could he find anyone?

Just as he was anxiously searching everywhere, Fairy Flowing Cloud, who had been laughing wildly, looked at him with cold eyes. Gathering all her spiritual energy in her palm, the spiritual arcs crackled as she struck out at Sheng Yunshen in the sea.

"Bastard, die!"

Sheng Yunshen spat out a mouthful of blood and fell from his flying sword, crashing into the sea with a thud.

Cultivators from various forces who had arrived nearby just happened to see this scene.

"Yunshen!"

Sheng Zhenhai cried out in alarm. In the next moment, he was already there, flicking his long sleeves to scoop up his son who had fallen into the sea.

Realizing that his son had been beaten to the point of broken meridians and was barely breathing, Sheng Zhenhai’s eyes turned red with rage. He struck out at Fairy Flowing Cloud, who was laughing wildly in mid-air.

A blow from a cultivator at the Yuan Emperor Realm, when enraged, was enough to kill a cultivator at the Yuanzong Realm.

Seeing this, the Sect Master of Qingyun Sect hurried forward to block the attack. Even so, Fairy Flowing Cloud was still affected by the residual force of that palm strike and was sent crashing into the sea.

Sheng Zhenhai wanted to strike again to kill the woman who dared to hurt his son.

Sect Master Cheng of Qingyun Sect, ignoring Fairy Flowing Cloud who had fallen into the sea, hurried over to stop him and shouted, "Sect Master Sheng, wait. There must be some misunderstanding here. Don’t act rashly."

Sheng Zhenhai said coldly, "Misunderstanding? Seeing how she hurt my son, it doesn’t seem like a misunderstanding! Sect Master Cheng, get out of the way, or I’ll hit you too!"

A protective father didn’t care who was in front of him; he would hit regardless.

Sect Master Cheng was speechless. Facing Sheng Zhenhai’s anger, he was extremely troubled. Although he didn’t know what had happened, he couldn’t let Sheng Zhenhai really kill Fairy Flowing Cloud.

So he said, "Sect Master Sheng, calm down. Let’s first check on your son."

Sheng Zhenhai gave him a cold look. After all, his own son was the most important.

He held his unconscious son and quickly fed him several spirit pills, keeping his hand pressed against his back to transmit spiritual energy and protect his broken heart meridian.

At this time, the other cultivators who had accompanied them also arrived.

These were the sect leaders and elders of various sects. Since the Thousand Islands Secret Realm opened, they had been stationed nearby for the past six months, waiting for the secret realm to close.

Because each time the secret realm closed, the location of the spatial channel would shift, it took them some time to arrive.

But they didn’t expect that everything here was in chaos, and even saw Fairy Flowing Cloud of Qingyun Sect attack the son of the Sect Master of Red Sky Sect. Judging from the situation, she even intended to kill him.

Although they didn’t know what had happened earlier, upon discovering that there were demonic cultivators here, they decided to deal with these boundary-crossing demonic cultivators first.

Those demonic cultivators whose identities had been exposed were quickly restrained by the righteous path cultivators. Some died, some were injured, and they were dejectedly escorted to the side.

In the crowd, a woman wrapped in black robes quietly retreated, hiding behind other cultivators.

Seeing the demonic cultivator captured, Qin Hongdao sheathed his long blade and led the Red Sky Sect disciples to Sheng Zhenhai's side.

Upon seeing Sheng Yunshen, barely breathing in Sheng Zhenhai's arms, the pupils of Qin Hongdao and others constricted.

"Master, what happened to Junior Brother Sheng?"

"Who injured him?"

Qin Hongdao and Yi Xuan asked in unison, their gazes burning with murderous intent as they scanned the surroundings.

Sheng Zhenhai's expression was icy as his gaze fell upon the sea.

Their eyes followed downward, catching sight of Fairy Flowing Cloud emerging from the sea in disarray—her hair loose, her body drenched, and all who saw her wore expressions of disbelief.

"Sister Wen?" Sect Master Cheng of Qingyun Sect couldn't help but ask hesitantly, "How did this happen to you?"

Not just Sect Master Cheng, but everyone present who knew Fairy Flowing Cloud could hardly believe that this one-armed, disfigured woman was indeed she. How had she come to such a state?

Fairy Flowing Cloud's real name was Wen Xiao Yun; "Flowing Cloud" was the Daoist name bestowed upon her by her seniors when she ascended to the Yuanzong realm. Since then, she had been known as Fairy Flowing Cloud.

In the eyes of the world, she had always been a graceful and ethereal woman. Before she became Daoist partners with Daoist Master Daoyan, countless male cultivators were enamored with her, willingly addressing her as "fairy." Though her disposition seemed to change after marriage, her reputation as a renowned Yuanzong Daoist Master remained largely unchanged.

Yet now, they could scarcely believe this was Fairy Flowing Cloud.

After bursting out of the sea, Fairy Flowing Cloud stared blankly at Sheng Zhenhai, ignoring her own disheveled state.

Seeing her appearance, the heads of various sects, familiar with the old love triangle, couldn't help but sigh inwardly, feeling a twinge of sympathy.

Since ancient times, matters of the heart have proven most hurtful, and Fairy Flowing Cloud was another pitiable soul ensnared by love.

Unfortunately, the Red Sky Sect did not find her pitiable.

Sheng Zhenhai gave Fairy Flowing Cloud a cold glance before ignoring her, focusing on channeling spiritual energy into his unconscious son.

Qin Hongdao and Yi Xuan also looked at Fairy Flowing Cloud coldly.

The other Red Sky Sect disciples stood behind their sect master, their gazes equally cold.

The cultivators emerging from the secret realm, whether from the Inner Sea or Central Continent, paused in their departure, curious about what would unfold next.

With Fairy Flowing Cloud attacking the Red Sky Sect disciples in public, a grudge had formed between Qingyun Sect and Red Sky Sect. The question was how it would escalate.

Under Sheng Zhenhai's efforts, Sheng Yunshen finally opened his eyes.

Upon seeing his father's face, tears welled up instantly—half from pain, half from grievance. He coughed up blood and rasped, "Father, Junior Sister Xiao and Junior Brother Ning... They, they..."

"What happened to them?" Qin Hongdao asked urgently.

Yi Xuan and others searched the area but found no sign of Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao, a foreboding feeling rising within them.

Sheng Yunshen coughed up more blood as he spoke haltingly, "Fairy Flowing Cloud knocked them into the spatial tunnel... It twisted and swallowed them..."

Upon hearing Sheng Yunshen's words, Qin Hongdao exploded in anger.

"That madwoman again!"

Others erupted in exclamations, staring at Fairy Flowing Cloud in disbelief.

Earlier, the situation had been chaotic. Although some witnessed Fairy Flowing Cloud knocking someone down, the event was too sudden and brief for them to identify the unfortunate victims as the Red Sky Sect master's two personal disciples.

Had Fairy Flowing Cloud lost her mind?

Everyone present found her actions baffling, unable to explain them except by attributing them to madness.

Even Sect Master Cheng of Qingyun Sect was at a loss for words.

If Fairy Flowing Cloud wasn't his fellow sect sibling, he wouldn't want anything to do with her. Who gave her the audacity to kill Sheng Zhenhai's child and harm his disciples right before his eyes?

At that moment, Sheng Zhenhai finally turned to look at Fairy Flowing Cloud.

She had been staring blankly at him. When she met his emotionless, cold gaze, her pupils constricted slightly.

Before she could react or speak, Sheng Zhenhai struck, his attack fueled by the fury of a Yuan Emperor realm cultivator. It sent her crashing back into the sea, her chest wracked with pain as her consciousness sank into darkness...