"Damn it!!"
Liu Jingci abruptly stepped forward, reaching for the life lamps.
Hum!
Just then, the communication jade token at his waist began vibrating violently.
It was Sun Yang's distress signal, transmitted straight into his ears through Skysoar Pavilion's array.
"Elder, save us! The Soulbirth Sect has set an ambush outside Danview Gorge!!"
The agonized scream made Liu Jingci instinctively want to tear open the void and intervene.
Yet just as his palm was about to touch the life lamps, he stopped.
"..."
Liu Jingci looked at Lu Ling's extinguished life lamp, then at Zhou Yan's still-struggling life flame.
Expressions flickered across his refined face.
Shock and fury, hesitation, and finally, cold, deathly stillness.
"No!"
"Once an arrow is loosed, there's no taking it back."
"Lu Ling's life lamp has gone out completely. Even her true spirit's aura has dissipated... that means her soul has been destroyed. There's no saving her!"
"If I force my way there now, not only will I fail to save Lu Ling, I'll expose the fact that we've been monitoring them in secret!"
"If the Sea of Clouds Prefecture grows suspicious, the entire plan will be ruined!"
For the sake of the bigger picture, he could only endure!
"Phew..."
Liu Jingci slowly clenched his fists, digging his nails deep into his palms.
He forced himself to withdraw his hand and stood where he was, coldly watching everything unfold.
Until Sun Yang's life lamp, too, went out completely after struggling for a few moments.
By then.
Apart from Zhou Yan's lone, flickering lamp, the other four were all dead!
"Fine! Just fine!"
Liu Jingci gritted his teeth, his eyes brimming with killing intent.
"Soulbirth Sect, you've gone too far!!"
"In that case, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
Once his emotions had settled again.
Liu