Midnight Raid, Rescuing the Captives

"Enemy attack!"

The evil cultivator disciple guarding the gate let out a shrill alarm.

Four female cultivators with the strongest auras leaped down from the gate tower and swiftly formed a square formation, surrounding Jiang Yuan at its center.

They were the core disciples who had previously presided over the Dual Cultivation Formation!

"Form the array! Drain him dry!"

At the lead female cultivator's command, red and cyan light flared from all four of them at once. Four streams of alternating yin-yang true qi, like venomous snakes, instantly coiled around Jiang Yuan's limbs and crazily burrowed into his body!

Their dual cultivation array could forcibly absorb an outsider's yang energy, then transform it through the formation into pure yin essence for the four of them to share.

The sensation of ice and fire exploding through his meridians struck at once—one side bone-piercingly cold, the other blazing hot!

Yet Jiang Yuan stood where he was without dodging, allowing the four streams of true qi to pour into his body. He even wore a faintly pleased expression.

"That's it?"

"Is that all the strength you've got? Didn't you eat?"

The Nine Yang Inner Force within him was like a slumbering dragon. It effortlessly enveloped and suppressed the foreign true qi invading his body.

"More power! I refuse to believe he can hold out!"

Infuriated by Jiang Yuan's contemptuous attitude, the lead female cultivator pushed their techniques to the limit. Their true qi output tripled in an instant!

After enduring three rounds of violent energy assaults, the curve of Jiang Yuan's lips grew wider and wider.

He saw it clearly.

Between the four female cultivators was a faint red-and-cyan ribbon of qi, linking their true qi together.

That was the formation's core!

"My turn."

Jiang Yuan murmured, and the Thunderfire Broken Sword in his hand let out a dragon's roar!

He did not attack any of the female cultivators. Instead, from an extraordinarily tricky angle, he drove the blade precisely into that endlessly circulating red-and-cyan qi ribbon!

"Riiip!"

Like a hot knife through butter, the yin-yang connection was severed in an instant!

The dual cultivation array collapsed!

"Pfft!"

The four female cultivators all spat blood at once, blasted backward by the violent backlash of their own true qi as their meridians shattered!

"Beautifully done!"

Su Yan drifted down from the gate tower like a fairy. With a sweep of her longsword, her icy sword qi sealed off every fleeing evil cultivator.

The two of them charged into the depths of the stronghold like tigers among sheep, unstoppable.

The prison area's doors were kicked open.

Seeing the captives tortured beyond recognition, Jiang Yuan's gaze turned cold.

Working together, the two swiftly severed the chains on every cage.

"Thank you, benefactors!"

More than thirty students and independent cultivators from various colonial planets were freed, each one moved to tears.

Just then, the frailest-looking young man struggled to pull half a broken token from his clothes and handed it to Jiang Yuan.

"This... I stole this Transit Order from one of the overseers..."

The young man's voice was hoarse, but his eyes gleamed with deep, unforgettable hatred.

"I heard them say that Chu He... that Chu He from Celestial Pivot Industries, will go to a place called the Yin-Yang Convergence Pool before dawn to inspect a new batch of 'furnaces'!"

"They... they've already found the entrance!"

The Yin-Yang Convergence Pool!

Jiang Yuan's pupils contracted.

Buzz—!

The Thunderfire Broken Sword on his back suddenly began to tremble violently. Its blade grew faintly hot, its tip pointing directly toward a spot in the northeast!

That was the direction of the Convergence Pool!

They could not wait any longer!

"We won't wait for the Pure Cultivation Academy's reinforcements," Jiang Yuan said, looking at Su Yan. "We're going straight there!"

Su Yan nodded heavily without the slightest hesitation.

"We're coming with you!"

The young man who had handed over the token was the first to step forward, the flames of vengeance burning in his eyes.

"That's right! Let's take them on!"

Among the rescued captives, more than a dozen cultivators who could still fight answered the call. They would rather die in battle than return to that humiliating hell.

The remaining evil cultivators had long since scattered and fled.

Jiang Yuan looked at the hastily assembled group before him, then at the mountains in the northeast shrouded in darkness.

He knew that stronghold had been nothing more than an appetizer.

The true hunting ground lay ahead!