The instant Baihuaxiang's body exploded, a multicolored, bewitching flower suddenly flew out of her.
It moved far faster than the Early Nascent Soul Stage's standard. It was Baihuaxiang's Nascent Soul.
At the Nascent Soul Stage, damage to the body alone was not fatal. As long as the Nascent Soul survived, its consciousness could be preserved through Body Possession.
Although the cultivator had to cultivate their realm anew, that was no great difficulty for a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. Cultivating again and cultivating for the first time were two entirely different matters.
Daoist Qingxu watched the fleeing Nascent Soul with a calm gaze. He reached out to seize it, but after a moment's thought, he lowered his hand.
Baihuaxiang had already died once. It would take her some time to return to the Nascent Soul Stage, and that would be enough for Ye Lingtian and Su Mingyue to enter the Nascent Soul Stage themselves.
When that time came, they could settle this karma themselves.
Everyone on Douluo Continent stood rooted to the spot, all of them stunned by Daoist Qingxu's terrifying strength.
"Gulp." Someone swallowed, and only then did the crowd come to their senses.
"W-what a terrifying existence." Ning Fengzhi opened his mouth. Even someone as exalted as him could not remain calm at that moment; his speech came out in fits and starts.
"Without even making a move, he could kill an existence like the Hundred Flowers Demon Saint, who was practically a god, on the spot," Chen Xin murmured, his eyes full of awe and fear.
When a person's strength was only a step above everyone else's, others might still think of catching up.
But if the gap between them became an impassable chasm, then all they would feel was fear, without the slightest thought of catching up.
Di Tian clenched his fists and stared fixedly at the unruffled Daoist Qingxu on the sky screen, but he soon relaxed his hands. Fortunately, such a terrifying existence did not exist in this world.
If he did appear in this world, let alone Di Tian, even his lord probably would not be able to withstand his power.
"So this is the sect master of the Primordial Sect, the source of Ye Lingtian's confidence?" Qian Daoliu slumped in the seat reserved for worship hall elders, staring blankly at the sky screen.
Only now did he awaken as if from a dream and realize just how much Qian Renxue had gained. Having such a terrifying existence as the backer of her backer was something countless people would fight tooth and nail for all their lives and still never obtain.
Bibi Dong also stood there in a daze. She had imagined that Daoist Qingxu's strength would be terrifying, but she had never thought it would be this terrifying.
An existence comparable to the Rakshasa God had been unable to resist at all and had fallen in an instant. Was this a true powerhouse of that world?
"Quick, quickly build this man-no, build a shrine for this existence and pay him worship," Emperor Xue Ye shouted to the minister of rites after a moment's daze.
An existence like that left people unable to even conceive of resisting, and Xue Ye was no exception. Since he could not beat him, he might as well join him.
Building a shrine for such an existence would not diminish his prestige; on the contrary, it would greatly benefit the empire.
He did not dare gamble on whether such an existence would appear in their world, but with the sky screen there, anything was possible.
After killing Baihuaxiang, Daoist Qingxu glanced at Tang San, who was falling from the sky without her protection, and paid him no further attention.
He was only a half-demon and of no use to Daoist Qingxu. But Baihuaxiang had protected him so closely; could she have had some plan?
It no longer mattered, however. Baihuaxiang could barely save her own life, so if this man died, then so be it.
"The External Avatar Talisman's time is up. Once you've recovered, hurry back to the sect. Someone is waiting for you," Daoist Qingxu transmitted to the two of them, his tone somewhat helpless.
With that, his transparent body vanished completely into the air, as though he had never appeared.
Ye Lingtian knew that Daoist Qingxu's last sentence had been addressed to him.
"Someone is waiting for me?" Ye Lingtian raised a brow. Just as he was about to give it some thought, Su Mingyue's groan suddenly reached his ears.
Now that their great enemy had fled, Su Mingyue could no longer bear her injuries and cried out in pain.
Ye Lingtian immediately took out medicinal pills and began treating her.
After they landed, Ye Lingtian watched Su Mingyue sit cross-legged and regulate her breathing. He swallowed a pill to restore his spiritual Qi, then set up an array around them to conceal their forms and presence.
Only after finishing these preparations did he feel at ease enough to take out healing pills and begin recovering himself.
As for Tang San, they had also seen him fall from the sky. Given his cultivation, if the fall did not kill him, it would leave him crippled. There would be no problem dealing with him after they recovered.
An hour later
Ye Lingtian slowly opened his eyes. His external injuries had mostly been taken care of; for the rest, he would need to return to the sect and use the spiritual spring to recover.
He glanced at Su Mingyue, who was still regulating her breathing, and frowned. Her injuries were more severe than his, so naturally she needed more time.
Taking the opportunity, Ye Lingtian rose and walked toward the earlier battlefield. When he saw the broken Clear Profound Sword on the ground, he sighed.
With a casual wave, he sent the broken Clear Profound Sword flying into his storage bag.
His master had given him the Clear Profound Sword when he became his disciple. It had been with him for fifty years, and he had long since grown attached to it.
Seeing the Clear Profound Sword broken now left him with complicated feelings.
"Don't worry. One day, I'll repair you." Murmuring, Ye Lingtian looked over the rest of the battlefield. The place had been almost completely flattened, with shattered ground and rocks everywhere.
After confirming that nothing was amiss there, Ye Lingtian leaped into the air and flew toward the place where Tang San had fallen. Tang San's situation was unusual; unless he saw Tang San's corpse with his own eyes, he could not rest easy.
Although he did not know what was special about half-demons, he knew it was definitely not mere curiosity, as Baihuaxiang had claimed. Tang San must have had some special use to her.
Otherwise, why would Baihuaxiang have insisted on taking Tang San with her even when facing the sect master?
Ye Lingtian sent out his spiritual sense to scan the area, but after quite a while, he found no trace of Tang San.
Instead, he found several flower petals on the ground, right where Tang San had fallen earlier.
During Baihuaxiang's fight with the sect master, she had not even been able to make a move. Where had these petals come from?
Ye Lingtian frowned slightly. "Was he taken away?"
He recognized the petals as Baihuaxiang's. He had not expected that even as her Nascent Soul fled, she would take Tang San with her.
"What exactly is Baihuaxiang trying to do?" Ye Lingtian pondered.
After thinking for quite a while without reaching an answer, Ye Lingtian shook his head. "Once I get back, I'll look into what use half-demons have."
Just then, Su Mingyue also woke from regulating her breathing, and Ye Lingtian hurriedly flew back.
"How are you? Are your injuries still serious?" Ye Lingtian asked softly.
Su Mingyue shook her head. "I've mostly suppressed them. I'll deal with the rest when we return to the sect. Where is that person?"