Arrival

All the afterimages were torn apart by the sharp claws in an instant. Bai Ye stood where he was, coldly watching Su Chi Mu's figure.

He pressed his palms together, circulating his spiritual power.

The next moment, he raised his right arm high, and the temperature between heaven and earth abruptly soared.

"Screech—"

A piercing bird cry clearly pierced everyone's eardrums, seeming to strike at the souls of every person present.

But before they could make sense of it, blazing firelight instantly illuminated the entire area.

Great Sun in the Sky.

The temperature between heaven and earth boiled in an instant.

A low-grade divine spiritual art, the Nine Heavens Golden Crow Skill.

It burned the wilderness to ash and dried up ten thousand miles of land.

The blazing sun hanging in the sky grew larger and larger under Su Chi Mu's astonished gaze.

An aura of destruction spread through the air.

His gaze was deep, yet he still did not say a word.

The next moment, time itself seemed to freeze. The great sun descended, scorching all things around it.

Every boulder was incinerated in an instant.

Endless waves of flame mercilessly swallowed Su Chi Mu's figure.

Xiong Tu stood in place, his expression grave.

Everyone's expressions were grim.

Even Su Xuan, who was fighting off to the side, diverted part of her attention toward this direction.

They all wanted to know the outcome.

The firewaves continued spreading through the valley. Under the corrosion of the extreme heat, the boulders gradually became a sea of molten lava.

Time froze at that moment.

Then, in the next second, a huge wolf phantom shot into the sky.

Breaking through the sea of flames, it transformed directly into a streak of flowing light and climbed out of the Ten Thousand Zhang Abyss.

Ink-black claws slashed a sharp gleam through the air, and that figure once again stood in midair.

Su Chi Mu looked coldly at Bai Ye before him. He was in a wretched state, and his aura had instantly fallen to its lowest point, only to return to normal moments later.

Yet even though the spiritual power fluctuations around him had not changed in the slightest, he stopped there and was unwilling to attack again.

He was not the only one in this valley at the Heaven Transforming Realm.

Bai Ye stood where he was, clasping one hand behind his back as he silently watched the more than forty people around him.

Where no one could see, his palm trembled slightly.

The divine art was powerful, but its cost was immense as well.

This was both intimidation and a means of buying time.

Among the more than forty people present, there were roughly five factions.

Including Su Chi Mu and Xiong Tu, there were six people whose Spiritual Power Realm he could not see through.

This included the Black Iron Mask Man on the mountain peak, as well as the two people holding back Su Xuan. But he could not locate the last aura no matter what.

Still, none of that mattered.

He only knew that these people were not as harmonious as they appeared. Since they were not united, they would restrain one another.

Su Chi Mu, who had rushed in first to seize the fruit, had already been intimidated. Xiong Tu, who had watched coldly from the sidelines, had also chosen to keep watching.

That strike had achieved the effect he wanted.

Buying time and looking for an opportunity—what he had to do now was the same as what Su Xuan had done before.

But also somewhat different.

The only reason he had appeared was to maintain this deadlock, which had already been on the verge of collapse.

This was a battle of scales. Both sides kept adding weights to maintain the balance. Earlier, that balance had been broken because Su Xuan's weight no longer held enough value.

But the sun he had cast down had pulled everything back into place.

Many people here were stronger than him.

But who could guarantee that they would remain unscathed beneath the bombardment of that blazing sun?

The human heart was a treacherous labyrinth. That was what the saying meant.

They were allies, and no more than allies.

It was because Bai Ye had seen through this that he had not hesitated to expend his spiritual power and use the divine spiritual art he had only recently mastered.

Thanks to Su Chi Mu, he had served as the chicken used to scare the monkeys.

Though this chicken was still alive.

"Clap, clap, clap."

At that moment, crisp applause echoed through the valley.

It was neither cheering nor praise.

Bai Ye looked toward the source of the applause.

It came from where the Black Iron Mask Man stood.

He lightly clapped his hands, each clap crisper than the last.

The upturned corner of his lips perfectly expressed just how pleased he was.

"I truly didn't expect an accident like you to appear."

The man's voice was calm. Although he spoke words of praise, there was not the slightest hint of appreciation in his tone.

"Well, I suppose that's how it is. Life only becomes especially interesting when it's full of surprises."

He spoke as though everything remained under his control.

He raised his head, his calm gaze meeting Bai Ye's for several seconds.

Then, before everyone's eyes, he suddenly clapped his hands. The crisp sound seemed to penetrate every corner of the valley.

Then, in the next second.

Bai Ye's pupils contracted. A spray of blood burst into the air, so dazzling that it stung his eyes.

And the source of that blood...

"Elder Sister!!"

Su Ling'er's voice tore through the valley's silence.

At the center of the valley, Su Xuan turned around in disbelief and looked at Li Qing behind her.

"I... it wasn't me, I don't know... no, it was me."

Li Qing's face was filled with panic, but then it twisted into an awkward, strange grin.

Her eyes remained frantic and terrified, while the blade in her hand was steadily embedded in Su Xuan's waist.

The key that had remained in Su Xuan's hand also fell into her hands in the next moment.

"Why?"

Su Xuan's aura immediately withered.

Bai Ye narrowed his eyes and turned directly toward the Black Iron Mask Man on the cliff.

There was not the slightest surprise in his gaze. That calm expression seemed to be saying something to him.

"See? No matter how unexpected things become, the outcome never changes."

"Did you really think I was playing a game with you?"

The Black Iron Mask Man said coldly. At this moment, he tore away all pretense of gentleness.

Su Xuan retreated sharply, staring intently at Li Qing, whose eyes were filled with struggle.

The disconnect between her eyes and expression made her think of a possibility.

"Bone Control Art? Bone God Hall?"

The Black Iron Mask Man gave her no reply. There were only two words he wished to say.

"Kill her."

Boom!!!

Bai Ye's spiritual power surged into the sky, no longer restrained in the slightest.

Judging by Li Qing's state, she must have been silently controlled at some unknown point during the earlier standoff. The situation was now extremely unfavorable: the key had been taken, and Su Xuan had been ambushed.

Everything seemed to have reached the worst possible point.

Difficult. Difficult. Difficult.

But there was still one chance.

The emotions in his eyes gradually calmed. At this point, it seemed there was only one choice left.

Enormous spiritual power surged skyward.

A smile curled across the Black Iron Mask Man's lips. What he loved most was watching trapped beasts struggle.

A Heaven Merging Realm Middle Stage cultivator, even if he possessed powerful methods—

Did he really think he could turn the tables?

Su Chi Mu and Xiong Tu stood ready.

They would not risk their lives, but no matter which of them Bai Ye chose, they were confident they could stop him.

Yet in the next moment, to everyone's shock, the direction of his spiritual power suddenly changed.

Countless icy frosts madly rushed toward one location.

That location was Li Qing, who was moving forward slowly.

"How dare you!"

The Black Iron Mask Man's smile instantly froze. For the first time, he lost his composure so completely.

That attack contained Bai Ye's strongest cold energy. It was aimed straight at Li Qing's vital point.

He had never intended to save her.

At a time like this, there was only one way to successfully recover that crucial key.

Kill Li Qing.

"Boom—"

A massive explosion suddenly rang out through the valley. Everything around it froze over without the slightest transition, becoming a domain of ice.

Icy mist spread, and Bai Ye's figure flickered through it, appearing within the fog.

Retrieving the key was his only choice.

But at the very moment his body appeared in the icy mist, a sharp longsword tore through the air and shot straight at his face.

The spiritual power contained in that strike surpassed Bai Ye's.

This was...

"Clang—"

His right arm collided with the longsword, and Bai Ye was instantly sent flying dozens of meters. His feet scraped against the ground before he steadied himself.

He stared tightly at the figure emerging from the icy mist.

But in the next moment, that figure vanished without a trace.

Who was that?

That aura of the Heaven Transforming Realm.

It was the sixth person hidden in the shadows.

But he had no time to think further. His plan had failed again.

Li Qing had already disappeared from where she stood.

He had failed.

And since he had failed...

It seemed there was no longer any way out.

From here on, he could only make a desperate struggle...

But it was so frustrating. Truly frustrating.

This was the most frustrating moment he had experienced since he was nine years old.

His expectations were shattered again and again, his attempts failing again and again.

That feeling of powerlessness.

It was as though he had returned to that cliff when he was nine.

That small house when he was six.

That ice domain when he was three.

He hated that feeling.

"You nearly ruined it."

The Black Iron Mask Man let out a breath, reined in his earlier agitation, and smiled again.

Su Ling'er stood beside Su Xuan, supporting her elder sister. The pair of sisters were both injured.

At some point, Bai Ye had already been surrounded by three people.

Su Chi Mu, Xiong Tu, and an unknown Heaven Transforming Realm cultivator.

They really did think highly of him.

His gaze was icy as he swept his eyes over them.

Cold energy condensed in his hand as his spiritual power began to circulate.

He was not afraid of a desperate struggle.

But in the next moment, he stopped moving and looked in a certain direction.

"Nearly? No. It has already been ruined."

At Li Qing's location, she had already collapsed unconscious on the ground. Standing beside her was a young man in azure robes.

Spiritual power fluctuations no weaker than anyone present radiated from his entire body.

He coldly watched the Black Iron Mask Man on the cliff, a key with a crystalline sheen in his hand.

At the same time, a graceful figure stepped behind Bai Ye, spiritual energy gathering in her slender hand as she stared coldly ahead.

Even facing three Heaven Transforming Realm experts, she showed not the slightest fear.

It was as if, in an instant, the tilted scales had returned to balance.

No, that was not right. This time, their side held heavier stakes.

Because the woman behind him possessed the strength to look down on everyone present.

Heaven Transforming Realm Middle Stage, Lin Yu.

"Bone God Hall only knows how to use this disgusting stuff."

As Lin Qi's spiritual energy swept across Li Qing's body, a fingernail-sized insect floated into the air.

Bone Control Worm, Bone Control Art.

It was a long-missed sight.

When the Black Iron Mask Man saw the siblings appear, a flicker of emotion passed through his eyes.

The next moment, he raised his hand.

"Kill."

Streams of spiritual energy shot into the sky.

But in the next instant, they all realized that the person who had spoken earlier seemed to have vanished from the cliff.

"Damn that cheap masked bastard, he actually ran."

Xiong Tu froze for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Lin Yu before him.

He knew why the Black Iron Mask Man had left.

Although the Heaven Transforming Realm Middle Stage and the Heaven Transforming Realm Initial Stage were separated by only one level, with this disunited rabble of theirs, there was no way they could keep them here.

The outcome was already decided, so why struggle?

"Let's disperse."

His figure vanished from where he stood.

Su Chi Mu lifted his eyes, his gaze still as unfathomable as ever.

He glanced at Bai Ye standing in front of Lin Yu and pressed his lips together.

Then he, too, disappeared from the spot.

At the same time, everyone present gradually vanished as well.

Lin Yu and Lin Qi did not stop them, because they could not.

Nor did anyone present try to resist, because they knew that even if these people were no match for them, the chance of keeping them here was zero.

Since that was the case, why increase unnecessary losses and let the other factions reap the benefits?

They were a loose pile of sand. As long as the storm was strong enough, it could scatter everything.

Bai Ye stood where he was, watching them leave.

It was a hasty ending.

But it was also exactly what he had expected.

Had he not gone to such lengths to stall for time because he knew the arrival of these two could truly break the deadlock?

But...

"Tch, this feels a little unpleasant."

He murmured softly.

He looked at his hand, feeling as though something was missing this time.

Even though they had won, he still felt no joy.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Yu asked in confusion.

Bai Ye shook his head.

It was not that he did not want to answer, but...

He did not know either.

"Let's head back."

Lin Qi walked over, with Xue Li carrying Li Qing on her back behind him.

"Some people still haven't given up."

He swept his gaze around, his voice icy.

There were still many auras lingering nearby, seemingly watching to see whether they would open the entrance to the spirit repository now.

Clearly, they would not.

There were too many severely injured people. Opening it now would put them at a disadvantage.

"Let's go."

As Lin Yu's words fell, the group rose into the air and headed back toward YanSha City.

In midair, Bai Ye turned back and glanced at the place where that figure had flashed past earlier.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

A few seconds later, he withdrew his gaze and left with the others.