Just as it was about to be activated, a sharp shriek suddenly came from ahead.
The whistling sound was piercing, containing a strange rhythm. Upon hearing the whistling sound, the surging evil spirits paused in unison, then retreated like a tide, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
"What's going on?" Luo Qingyin stopped playing the flute, looking surprised and uncertain.
The Snow Empress's expression turned grave. "Something even more powerful is coming."
A pile of bones exploded ahead, and a skeleton three zhang tall slowly rose to its feet. The skeleton was entirely black, its bones covered in strange patterns, and deep red flames flickered in its eye sockets. It wielded a rusty greatsword, and its aura had clearly reached the Dragon Transformation Realm!
" The White Bone Battle General..." Luo Qingyin gasped, "This is the manifestation of the obsession from the ancient battlefield, at least at the level of First Transformation of Dragon Transformation!"
A red light flashed in the black skull's eye sockets, locking onto the two figures. The greatsword was raised, and death energy condensed.
Knowing there was no way to avoid it, the Snow Empress had the Profound Ice Talisman in hand and was about to activate it when suddenly a thought struck him, and he looked at the jade pendant in his bosom.
The jade pendant was emitting a soft blue light and vibrating slightly.
She seemed to understand something, put away the Profound Ice Talisman, and instead activated the Lunar Power, but not to attack. Instead, she transformed it into a beam of ice-blue light and shot it toward the black skull's forehead.
Luo Qingyin was puzzled, but out of trust, she didn't ask further, only remaining wary.
The icy blue beam pierced the black skull's forehead, causing it to pause, its red light flickering violently in its eye sockets. After a moment, it slowly lowered its greatsword, knelt on one knee, and actually gave the Snow Empress an ancient military salute.
Then, the black skull's body disintegrated, turning into a pile of bone dust. From within the bone dust, a black token emerged and flew towards the Snow Empress.
Snow Empress caught the token; it was icy cold to the touch. The front was engraved with the words "Zhenbei," and the back had a star pattern.
"This is..." Luo Qingyin exclaimed in surprise.
"My master once said that the Ziwei Sect ruled the Northern Region in ancient times and had the ' Northern Subjugation Army ' under its command. This token should be a token of the Northern Subjugation Army," Snow Empress explained. "I used the Lunar Power to Simulation the aura of the Ziwei Sect's techniques, and it mistook me for a descendant of the Ziwei Sect, so it dissipated."
She put away the token. "Let's keep going. This token might come in handy in the ruins."
Just as the two were about to move forward, Snow Empress's expression suddenly changed, the jade pendant vibrated violently, and the blue light flashed rapidly!
"Oh no, the Underworld is coming, and they're very close!"
Almost simultaneously, three dark figures descended from the sky, surrounding the two in a triangular formation. The leader was none other than Gui Sha, Second Transformation of Dragon Transformation Realm, while the two behind him were also at the first stage of the First Transformation of Dragon Transformation.
"You ran pretty fast," Gui Sha Fiend chuckled sinisterly. "Too bad, it ends here."
Snow Empress's mind raced, and she transmitted her voice to Luo Qingyin: "I'll hold them off, you find a chance to break through."
"No!" Luo Qingyin exclaimed urgently, "How could I abandon you!"
"This is an order!" Snow Empress's tone was stern. "As long as you live, at least someone knows about the Underworld's conspiracy. Go now!"
Before she finished speaking, she had already made her move, unleashing the full Lunar Power, instantly covering an area of dozens of feet in frost!
"You're courting death!" Gui Sha sneered, striking out with a palm. Death energy transformed into a hideous ghost face, colliding with the frost.
With a deafening roar, the Snow Empress staggered back several steps, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, but the cold light in her eyes intensified. She formed a hand seal, and nine icy blue lotus flowers appeared around her, slowly rotating.
" The Lunar Nine Lotus Seal? Interesting." Gui Sha's eyes narrowed slightly. "But with only Dao Palace Peak cultivation, you think you can contend against Dragon Transformation? Naïve!"
The two Dragon Transformation cultivators behind him attacked simultaneously, unleashing three deathly aura attacks from different directions, blocking all of Snow Empress's escape routes.
Seeing this, Luo Qingyin gritted her teeth, placed the jade flute to her lips, but instead of playing the Demon-Cleansing Melody, she played a stirring battle tune. The sound waves transformed into sharp blades, slashing towards the three Gui Sha.
"Sound attack?" Gui Sha scoffed. "A mere trifle."
He flicked his finger, and a black light shattered the sound blade, its momentum undiminished, heading straight for Luo Qingyin's brow.
Snow Empress flashed in front of Luo Qingyin, and an ice lotus bloomed, blocking the black light, but the ice lotus also shattered inch by inch.
"None of you will escape," Gui Sha sneered. "The Earth Venerable wanted you alive, but didn't say you couldn't be seriously injured. Don't worry, I'll spare your lives; after all, a living soul is the most delicious."
He formed hand seals, and death energy surged forth, transforming into a ten-zhang-long giant claw that slashed down at the two. Even before the giant claw arrived, its terrifying pressure had already shattered the surrounding bones.
A resolute glint flashed in Snow Empress's eyes. Just as she was about to use her trump card, the broken sword fragment in her bosom suddenly vibrated violently, and a barely perceptible purple light entered her brow.
In an instant, countless images flooded my mind: the stars revolving, the Emperor Bell, and armies paying homage... These were the inherited memories of the Ziwei Sect!
At the same time, a bell rang out from the depths of White Bone Shoal.
The ancient and desolate sound of the bell contained the supreme power of the emperor. Although it was faint, it caused the three Gui Sha to change their expressions drastically, and their attack faltered.
"This is... the sound of the Ziwei Emperor Bell?!" Gui Sha exclaimed in surprise and doubt.
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Snow Empress pulled Luo Qingyin up, transformed into a streak of icy blue light, and sped toward the direction from which the bell sound came.
"Chase them! We can't let them get close to the Emperor Bell!" Gui Sha shouted urgently, and the three of them gave chase.
But after the bell rang, even more evil spirits emerged from the White Bone Shoal, and several White Bone Battle General even awakened, blocking their path. Although the three Gui Sha were strong, they were held back for a moment.
In that short time, Snow Empress and the other person had disappeared into the depths of the White Bone Shoal.
At the end of White Bone Shoal lies a precipice. Below the precipice, a mist shrouds the bottomless abyss.
Snow Empress and Luo Qingyin stopped at the edge of the cliff, with pursuers closing in behind them and a dead end ahead.
"Ancient maps record that below the cliff is a ' Bottomless Abyss,' and no one who falls in ever comes back alive." Luo Qingyin's face was pale.
The Snow Empress looked at the jade pendant in her bosom, which was pointing directly down the cliff and emitting an unprecedentedly intense light.
" The Emperor Bell is down there," she said in a deep voice.
"What?" Luo Qingyin was shocked.
"The bell's sound just now triggered my inherited memories," the Snow Empress explained simply. " The Ziwei Emperor Bell is in the Bottomless Abyss. The Underworld's target is me. If I go down, they might chase after me. You should use this opportunity to escape."
"No!" Luo Qingyin shook her head firmly. "If that's the case, I'll go down with you. Heavenly Melody Valley has been searching for the fragments of the Emperor Bell for hundreds of years. Now that we have a clue, how can I back down?"
Looking into her resolute eyes, Snow Empress remained silent for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. But life and death are in the hands of fate."
"Life and death are determined by fate," Luo Qingyin smiled.
The two leaped off the cliff and plunged into the mist.
When the three Gui Sha arrived at the edge of the cliff, they only saw two figures disappear into the mist.
"They jumped?!" a Dragon Transformation cultivator exclaimed in surprise.
Gui Sha's face darkened. " The Bottomless Abyss... Legend has it that even those at the Immortal Platform Realm rarely survive. They're courting death."