Taking action
Chen Lingxi concealed his presence and watched the group.
The power of Xi Lan Dao Platform had been pushed to its limit, and the pale blue star river Dao Origin around him roared.
She took a step forward.
As that step landed, the sea of clouds beneath his feet exploded outwards from that point, as if the layers of clouds had been cleaved open, revealing a fissure a hundred feet deep!
At the same time, she flipped her palm and took out a turquoise Seal Art from her sleeve, throwing it at the musketeer who was the first to rush forward among the five.
The Seal Art was originally only the size of a palm, but the moment it left the hand, it grew in the wind and transformed into a huge azure light seal that could cover a radius of ten zhang, which crashed down from the sky!
Before the azure light seal even reached him, the flowing cloud patterns on the seal had already produced countless mysteries, freezing the fiery spear light surrounding the musketeer in mid-air, unable to move an inch.
The cultivator holding the gun suddenly narrowed his pupils, and his spiritual energy burst forth, transforming into a blazing fire Divine Ability!
But the instant the light imprint descended, the fiery spiritual energy around him was swept up by the cloud of energy!
The fire borrowed the power of the clouds, and the clouds amplified the fire's might. Not only was its initial arrogance not suppressed, but it was also forcibly seized by the light seal and swept back towards its own direction!
Boom!
The musketeer grunted and used the force of the recoil to flip himself backward, barely avoiding the direct impact of the seal that was about to strike his chest. However, the hem of his robe was charred black by the seal's energy.
His expression suddenly became extremely grim.
Xi Lan, however, had already gained power through this seal.
She turned and took another step forward.
With this step, she lightly touched the clouds with her toes.
That single point of force seemed extremely light, but the instant it landed, it felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down from the sky!
At that moment, the sea of clouds within a radius of several dozen feet surged and collapsed simultaneously, sweeping up a green flying sword, a blood mist humanoid figure, and a giant hand made of black iron.
The azure flying swords, caught in the waves, lost their aim for a moment, colliding and clashing with each other, producing a continuous clang of metal!
The blood-mist humanoid figures were squeezed and deformed by the collapsing sea of clouds, their outlines becoming blurred and showing signs of disintegration.
And those giant, iron-blue hands were smashed to pieces amidst the churning clouds, shattering into countless iron filings.
Xi Lan's attacks became increasingly fierce.
A cloud of supernatural Divine Ability then manifested.
[Cloud Pivot]!
This magical power takes advantage of the power of clouds to condense into seals, disperse into tides, turn your hands to form mountains, and turn your hands to form seas. It seems to use clouds as objects, but in fact it is fundamentally based on the true meaning of the word "pivot" contained in the dao yuan, which can be freely retracted and released.
However, this Divine Ability is extremely difficult to cultivate, and even if ordinary Qi Circulation Realm cultivators obtain the method, they will find it difficult to achieve anything in it.
Xi Lan cultivated this Divine Ability by spending two years seeking fortuitous opportunity in various places and comprehending it bit by bit.
Despite being alone and outnumbered, she had not lost any of her momentum in the fight with the five men.
The cultivators exchanged glances, a hint of seriousness flashing in each of their eyes.
The talisman cultivator who had been using his Divine Sense to harass the outside world no longer relied solely on his Divine Sense for attack. Instead, he took out a dark red wooden plaque from his sleeve and shook it.
The runes carved on the wooden plaque, shaped like a winding little snake, suddenly lit up at that moment!
Buzz!
A barely audible hum came from the wooden sign.
Xi Lan had just used his Cloud Pivot Divine Ability to completely neutralize the attacks of those people and was continuing when suddenly, he felt a sharp pain deep within his Consciousness Sea.
A sudden chill ran through her.
In that instant, the most accomplished Dao Platform among the five suddenly stepped forward.
At that moment, the dark iron-colored spiritual energy around him suddenly surged, and he clasped his hands together in front of him, interlacing his fingers to form an extremely complex hand seal.
As soon as the hand seal was formed, all the spiritual energy around the cultivator converged between his palms!
The spiritual energy gathered so quickly that it seemed as if an invisible giant maw was sucking in that entire area of heaven and earth.
At the same time, a black iron-colored light wheel, about ten feet in diameter, materialized between the Dao Platform cultivator's palms.
The halo rotated slowly, its dark blue patterns gleaming, like a millstone that would never stop turning.
[Heaven-Connecting Wheel.]
With a flick of the cultivator's wrist, the halo of light shot out of his hand.
It flew in a spinning motion towards Xi Lan.
Wherever the halo passed, all the clouds and scattered Dao Origin in the Void were swallowed, crushed, and absorbed into it.
The halo was only about ten feet in diameter, but wherever it flew, it carved a deep, bottomless ravine into the vast sea of clouds!
The churning clouds above grew thicker and thicker, the spiritual energy gathered became more and more abundant, and the speed of rotation became more and more astonishing, like a millstone that had been forcibly enlarged and forced to increase its own power, ready to crush anyone caught in its midst into dust at any moment.
The halo of light pressed down on Xi Lan.
Xi Lan felt an indescribable pressure bearing down from the halo, causing the last remaining azure Dao Origin around her to tremble violently!
The very core True Intention of the [Shu] character in that Cloud Pivot Divine Ability began to collapse under the crushing force of the light wheel.
She took a deep breath and unleashed all the remaining spiritual energy in her body.
She clasped her hands together in front of her, and a pale blue shield of light appeared between her palms.
But before the light shield could be formed, it was shattered inch by inch by the cloud energy brought by the Heaven-Connecting Wheel Divine Ability, turning into a sky full of blue light.
At this very moment, the halo of light had already pressed down to within three feet of her.
However, Xi Lan Lan's pale blue Dao Origin was almost depleted, yet he was still fighting desperately!
Right now!
A gray figure suddenly emerged from the depths of the sea of clouds!
This was a middle-aged cultivator with a stern face, wearing a worn gray Daoist robe, with a small black iron seal hanging on his shoulder.
Xi Lan was focused on dealing with the towering clouds, his entire aura was controlled by that halo of light, and he had no energy left to spare for anything else.
The middle-aged cultivator raised his hand and a giant, iron-blue hand materialized from the Void, grabbing Xi Lan, who was already exhausted and barely clinging to life, in his palm.
The giant hand suddenly retracted.
Boom!
The last wisp of pale blue Dao Origin protecting Xi Lan's body shattered inch by inch under this grasp, turning into countless specks of light.
The Dao Platform cultivator had already landed above the sea of clouds.
He walked up to Xi Lan, who was being held by the giant hand, lowered his head, and looked down at her beautiful yet stubborn face.
"Fellow Daoist Xi."
A sinister smile crept across his face.
"Having long been trapped in my jar, becoming my furnace, how could it have suffered this calamity?"
Xi Lan's eyes remained stubborn. She bit her lower lip tightly, a little blood seeping between her teeth, but she still didn't utter a single word.
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged cultivator simply lowered his head and smiled.
Chen Lingxi stood at the edge of that sea of clouds.
He had originally planned to leave quietly.
In this Nine-Towers Land, sects stand in great numbers, and immortal clans abound, making their struggles against each other commonplace.
He always ignores anything that doesn't concern him.
But at this moment, seeing that beautiful face held in the giant hand's palm, with a vaguely familiar look between its brows and eyes...
A thought suddenly struck Chen Lingxi.
"Xi Lan is, after all, a figure from the Weiji Grotto-Heaven... and moreover..."
He suddenly remembered that Xi Lan had traveled a long way to find him, and her shoes were worn out from walking so many mountain paths...
Now, this woman is trapped in a deadly situation...
Thinking about this, a thought quietly surfaced.
He sighed.
"Never mind..."
Without a sound, Chen Lingxi her finger, and a Sword Qi instantly appeared!
Thunder-Wielding Heavenly King Sword!
Sword Qi burst forth from Chen Lingxi's palm, and the entire sea of clouds seemed to suddenly become still.
The Sword Qi was only about three inches long, pale gold in color, with flowing lightning patterns on it, mysterious and extraordinary!
It emerged from the edge of the sea of clouds at incredible speed, leaving almost no trace among the clouds.
Sizzle!
The first sword.
It pierced straight into the brow of the middle-aged cultivator who was holding Xi Lan with his left hand.
The middle-aged cultivator still had a faint smile on his face, a smile that had appeared just moments before as he celebrated the end of the encirclement.
Before the smile had faded, a hole the size of a finger appeared between his eyebrows.
He froze on the spot.
The next instant, his right Divine Ability, which was holding Xi Lan, suddenly loosened its grip, and together with Xi Lan in his palm, they plummeted into the sea of clouds below!
Xi Lan felt a sudden lightness throughout her body.
Before she could even discern what had happened, she was lifted up again by the surging clouds.
She struggled to lift her head.
Above the sea of clouds, another pale golden sword light shot into the sky!
This sword light was no longer confined to a mere three inches; it expanded dramatically the instant it shot out, transforming into a dazzling sword rainbow spanning hundreds of feet!
Lightning crackled and Sword Qi energy crisscrossed the sword rainbow, carrying a pure and destructive killing intent that was capable of destroying the heavens and the earth, and it slashed down at the other cultivator sitting cross-legged in the sea of clouds!
The cultivator's pupils suddenly contracted, and almost instinctively he activated the emerald flying swords around him, forming a layered emerald sword curtain that blocked his way.
But the Thunder-Wielding Heavenly King Sword slashed across! Then it charged straight in.
The swordsman with the green sword didn't even have time to finish his last thought before he was reduced to nothingness by that Thunderclap Sword Light!
Chen Lingxi stood deep within the sea of clouds, her fingertips making continuous gestures.
The bursting Sword Qi condensed continuously from his fingertips, slicing through the clouds and tearing apart the sky, drawing dazzling yet fierce trajectories on the chaotic sea of clouds!
Three more cultivators died instantly!
Only the Dao Platform priest remained!
Chen Lingxi her fingertips with a touch!
The Dao Platform cultivator who had just been chuckling and speaking, saw the four sword lights approaching one after another and his fellow Daoists dying one after another in the sea of clouds. He was already heartbroken and could no longer care about Xi Lan, who was already severely injured. He turned around and left!
But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't outrun the sword light that descended from the sky.
The sword light pierced through the clouds...
That Dao Platform cultivator also perished in that very moment!
Five monks.
Five sword lights.
In less than three breaths.
Above the sea of clouds, the scene that had just been surging and teeming with spiritual energy was now utterly silent.
Xi Lan stood there, still in a daze, above the sea of clouds.
Her clothes were tattered, her face was pale, and the blue line between her eyebrows had faded!
But she couldn't bother to catch her breath, gazing into the depths of the churning sea of clouds.
"That sword light came from the very depths of that sea of clouds."
At that moment, from the deepest part of that sea of clouds, a ray of light was slowly receding into the distance.
The radiance vanished very quickly, disappearing into the sky in an instant.
Xi Lan suddenly took a step forward, his Dao Origin flowing. "Which senior came to my rescue? Would you please show yourself?"
Xi Lan is deeply grateful and will surely repay your kindness in the future!
The Dao Origin, carrying a sound, emanated from the sea of clouds, traversing the churning mist and the radiant sky, chasing after the fading light.
It landed beside Chen Lingxi's ear.
Chen Lingxi stood deep within the sea of clouds.
He had already retracted his Concealed Edge Method, hiding all his aura completely.
He naturally didn't respond.
"However, speaking of which, Xi Lan's talent is truly terrifying. In just two or three years, she has actually cultivated to the point of perfect Qi Circulation Realm and formed Dao Platform... If I were to take such a person as my disciple..."
The thought of taking on apprentices resurfaced, and Chen Lingxi shuddered.
He shook his head again, dispelling the thoughts in his mind, before activating the Cloud-Riding Method and setting off once more.
Above the heavens, the Great Luo Heaven-Observing Mirror, hanging high in the sky, still casts its blazing white light.
Above the sea of clouds, Xi Lan remained standing in the same spot, waiting for a long time, but there was no response from the senior who had come to her rescue.