Twists and Turns

Hurried, chaotic footsteps echoed through the corridor built of massive stone blocks. In barely a dozen seconds, the five of them had sprinted through the long passage and reached the temple entrance.

Tremendous crashes, berserk air currents, and surging spiritual energy fluctuations came from within the temple.

"Stay where you are. I'll scout ahead."

The violent, terrifying aura kept Zhang Yuanqing from acting rashly, and he stopped his companions.

Little Round and the others nodded silently, their expressions grave.

Zhang Yuanqing used Nightwalk, concealing himself as he stealthily approached the temple entrance.

The temple was vast and open, with no walls or stone pillars. Above was a boundless, distant starry sky. Lingering at the entrance, Zhang Yuanqing saw the two sides locked in battle.

Behind Xiahou Aotian floated the phantom of a towering deity, an elderly man with white hair and beard, bearing the air of an immortal sage.

The old man wore a Taiji Eight Trigrams robe. In his right hand, he held a bronze pill furnace, around which turtle shells, pills, and copper coins revolved. In his left hand, he held a flame—white at its base, black in its middle, and crimson on the outside. More than a dozen items and materials revolved around the tricolored fire.

Behind the "Scholar Deity" stood Jiang Ju, one arm severed; Yin Ji, whose veil had fallen away to reveal a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms, though she remained unconscious; and Xia Zuo, both arms severed at the shoulders, his face ashen.

All three were severely wounded, especially Xia Zuo. Besides having both arms severed at the shoulders, he had a horrifying puncture wound through his chest and abdomen, through which the tender red, damaged organs inside could faintly be seen.

He had nearly bled dry!

The Knight profession did not possess