The two transformed into streaks of light and sped towards the north of the valley. Less than half an hour after they left, several dark figures descended upon the valley, the leader being none other than the Earth Venerable. He scanned the traces of the battle, his gaze landing on the ashes, a cold glint flashing in his eerie green eyes.
" The Taiyin Physique... and the sword energy of Heavenly Melody Valley." The Earth Venerable sneered, "It seems the prey has found companions. Issue the order: seal off the area within a thousand miles of Fallen Star Lake; not even a fly is allowed to escape!"
"Yes!"
The Earth Venerable looked north, his withered fingers stroking a black bell at his waist.
"Run! Run faster! My Ten Thousand Yin Banner is still missing two main souls."
The two traveled north at an extremely fast speed. Snow Empress frequently activated the Specter Talisman to disrupt any possible tracking from behind. Luo Qingyin, on the other hand, focused entirely on leading the way, adjusting her direction from time to time by referring to the ancient map.
"Although this Specter Talisman can interfere with tracking, the methods of the Underworld are unpredictable, so we cannot be careless," the Snow Empress said coldly. "You just said that the teleportation array can reach Fallen Star Lake, which is three hundred miles from the ruins. But those three hundred miles are probably not safe either."
Luo Qingyin nodded. " Fallen Star Lake is an ancient battlefield relic, with extremely heavy malevolent energy, which ordinary cultivators are unwilling to approach. But precisely because of this, it may be safer. There is a remnant of an ancient formation in the lake. If the Underworld comes after us, we can use the formation to maneuver around it."
"How much do you know about formations?" Snow Empress asked.
"I know a little bit," Luo Qingyin said modestly. "Although my Heavenly Melody Valley's techniques are mainly based on music, formations are connected to music, and the sect has done considerable research on formations. However, ancient formations are profound and mysterious, and I may not be able to fully master them."
As they spoke, the two had already crossed three mountain ridges. As dusk fell, the afterglow of the setting sun dyed the mountains golden and red. Suddenly, the Snow Empress stopped, her jade pendant flashing faintly, a clear warning.
"There's an ambush ahead," she whispered to Luo Qingyin.
Luo Qingyin immediately concealed her aura and followed Snow Empress's gaze. Ahead was a dense forest, the trees were lush and seemingly ordinary, but upon closer inspection, she could sense that the forest was filled with deathly energy, completely out of place with the surrounding vitality.
"At least five people, all at the Dao Palace Realm." The Snow Empress's senses were sharp. "They must be sentries planted by the Underworld."
"Avoid it or eliminate it?" Luo Qingyin asked.
Snow Empress pondered for a moment, "Eliminate them. There must be communication between the sentries. If we don't eliminate them, our whereabouts will be exposed. But we must act quickly and decisively, without alerting those in the distance."
The two landed silently and disappeared into the shadows of the forest. The Snow Empress took out two ice crystal talismans, handing one to Luo Qingyin: "This is Ice Concealment Talisman; it can hide your presence for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."
Luo Qingyin took it, infused it with her true energy, and a faint blue halo appeared on her body. Her aura instantly merged with the surrounding cold air. Snow Empress took the lead and moved stealthily, her body as elusive as Gui Mei, silent and undetectable.
A hundred feet ahead, five black-clad cultivators hid in the treetops. The leader held a black bronze mirror in his hand, the surface of which reflected the scene within a ten-mile radius. If it weren't for the warning from the Snow Empress's jade pendant, they would most likely have already been exposed.
"Third Brother, do you think the Taiyin Physique will pass through here?" a young cultivator asked in a low voice.
The cultivator known as Third Brother scoffed, " The Earth Venerable has ordered the sealing off of all key passages. Unless she can fly or teleport, she'll inevitably fall into the trap. Be patient; catching her will be a great achievement."
"I've heard that the Taiyin Physique is as beautiful as a celestial being, hehe..."
Before the lewd words could be finished, a beam of icy blue light reached the man's brow. Before he could even react, a bloody hole appeared between his brows, and he plummeted straight down from the tree.
"Enemy attack!" Third Brother exclaimed in shock. He had just summoned his magic weapon when he felt a chill in his throat as Luo Qingyin's Autumn Water Sword pierced through his neck. At the same time, the Snow Empress transformed into several afterimages, her fingertips flicking repeatedly, and the remaining three fell to the ground, each with a speck of icy blue between their brows.
From the moment the attack began until it ended, it took only three breaths. Five people died without making a sound.
With a wave of her hand, the Snow Empress summoned a black bronze mirror. The mirror reflected a scene spanning ten miles, with several red dots flashing, representing other hidden sentry positions. She touched the mirror with her fingertip, and icy blue energy seeped into the mirror, instantly causing cracks to spread across its surface.
"Walk."
The two continued on their way. A short while later, several dark figures descended upon the site. Seeing the five corpses, the leader's face turned ashen. "Useless! They died without even sending a signal!"
"My lord, look at this wound. It's from an ice-based technique, likely inflicted by Taiyin Physique."
"Chase them! They can't have gone far!"
But Snow Empress and the other two had already gone far away. Using the effect of the Ice Concealment Talisman, they bypassed three hidden sentries and finally arrived at the valley that Luo Qingyin had mentioned when it was completely dark.
The valley is deep and secluded, with sheer cliffs on both sides, and a light mist hangs in the air at the bottom. Under the moonlight, you can see piles of rocks in the valley, and vaguely see broken stone pillars half-buried in the soil.
"This is it." Luo Qingyin pointed to a spot at the bottom of the valley. "The teleportation array is buried under rubble and needs to be cleared."
The two landed, Snow Empress warily surveyed her surroundings. The jade pendant's light remained stable, offering no immediate warning. Luo Qingyin had already begun moving the stones, and Snow Empress offered her assistance.
Half an hour later, a circular stone array with a diameter of three zhang (approximately 10 meters) was revealed. The array patterns were ancient and inlaid with some kind of silver-white metal, and although it had been around for tens of thousands of years, it still shimmered faintly. There were five grooves at the center of the array, which seemed to be places to place spirit stones.
"It really is an ancient teleportation array." Luo Qingyin examined it carefully. "The array patterns are intact, but the energy is depleted. It requires five high-grade spirit stones to activate."
Snow Empress frowned slightly. High-grade spirit stones were precious, and although she had some, she didn't have many. However, now was not the time to be stingy. She took out five crystal-clear spirit stones and placed them into the slots as Luo Qingyin instructed.
The moment the spirit stone was embedded, the array patterns suddenly lit up, and a silvery-white light shot into the sky, but it was blocked by the cliffs of the valley and did not travel very far. The light grew brighter and brighter, and the space began to fluctuate.
"Enter the formation quickly!" Luo Qingyin was the first to step in.
Snow Empress followed closely behind. Just as the light was about to reach its peak, she suddenly sensed several powerful auras rapidly approaching, the closest of which was none other than Dragon Transformation Realm!
"We've been exposed." Her heart sank, but the teleportation had already begun and couldn't be interrupted.
With a flash of silver light, the two figures vanished. Almost simultaneously, a dark figure descended upon the valley; it was one of the Yin Sha Guard under the Earth Venerable, a powerful expert at the Third Transformation of Dragon Transformation.
"They escaped?" The black-robed cultivator's face darkened, sensing the still-unsettled spatial fluctuations. " Earth Venerable: the target used an ancient teleportation array to escape, heading northwest!"
He took out a black jade slip, infused it with his true energy, and then crushed it. The jade slip turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished into the void.
Fallen Star Lake, spanning a hundred miles, has waters as black as ink, and its surface is shrouded in a thin mist year-round. Legend has it that in ancient times, a star fell here, creating a giant crater that filled with water to form the lake. The lake is filled with malevolent energy, and ordinary creatures dare not approach it, except for some yin-attribute spiritual herbs that grow there.
Somewhere by the lake, space distorted, and two figures staggered into existence—it was Snow Empress and Luo Qingyin.
"Cough cough..." Luo Qingyin's face was pale, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "The teleportation array is too old, and the spatial pressure is too great..."
Snow Empress was slightly better, but her blood and qi were still churning. She quickly took out two healing pills, took one herself, and handed the other to Luo Qingyin.
"I need to take a moment to recover; this place is not safe to stay any longer." She looked around.