Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Breakthrough Fails...

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When his vision brightened again, Chen Qi saw Marquis Yunshan inside a lavishly decorated chamber, assessing the cultivation progress of several disciples. Zhao Fan and the two men from the mountaintop were unmistakably among them.

Marquis Yunshan furrowed his brow and spoke sternly, clearly holding his disciples to exceptionally high standards.

Suddenly, the crisp chirping of birds sounded outside the room. Marquis Yunshan’s expression shifted, and he vanished from sight.

Soon after, he returned with a look of joy, said little, and promptly ordered all the disciples to accompany him into the mountains, stating that he intended to change the method of assessment...

The scene did not fade away but instead went black briefly before becoming clear once more.

This time, Zhao Fan was alone, practicing martial arts in a clearing, exuding an aura that warned others to keep away.

After an unknown length of time, he lay weakly on the ground resting. Suddenly, he saw Marquis Yunshan returning hastily from outside the manor, his face strange and clearly shaken by a great psychological blow.

Unable to restrain himself, Marquis Yunshan murmured to himself, words that were overheard by the resting Zhao Fan.

“How could an elder of his stature…”

His voice abruptly cut off, but the shock in his tone was unmistakable. Even Marquis Yunshan, usually so composed and reserved, had lost his poise to this extent. If not for Zhao Fan’s presence, his reaction might have been far more intense.

The scene was approaching its conclusion. Moments later, Chen Qi regained his vision.

His pupils constricted sharply, ignoring the sinking sensation in his legs.

Evidently, through Zhao Fan’s memory, he discerned that there was a traitor within the Yunhai Sect, and this traitor held a very high position—most likely an inner sect elder.

As this thought crossed his mind, Chen Qi quickly regained his composure.

What did this have to do with him? As long as he escaped safely back to the sect and exchanged his reward before leaving, he might never cross paths with this world again.

Of course, before leaving, he would subtly pass on intelligence—perhaps informing Old Chi, or having Sun Ruohai relay it through his grandfather to the higher-ups.

While pondering these details, Chen Qi continued his flight southward. It was time to leave this poisonous swamp behind; if the medicinal power inside his body dissipated, the consequences would be dire—Zhao Fan’s fate would be his own.

...

Zhàng Demon Mountain, summit trail.

Unlike their previous fierce battle where spiritual energy spiraled uncontrollably into luminous pillars, the current duel had entered a strange stalemate.

Yun Tianxin sat cross-legged within a complex, vast formation, clouds hanging over her head, faintly outlining an ethereal beauty. Yet this cloud fairy kept her eyes closed, paying no attention to Marquis Yunshan outside, meditating and regulating her breath in solitude.

She appeared clad in a splendid robe woven from pale azure energy, which accentuated her fair skin, making her look like a piece of mutton fat jade veined with delicate blue patterns.

Yet her expression was grave, her delicate figure trembling uncontrollably. At the center of her brow, the core of her energy gathered into a strange, profound, dark green vortex.

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Though still in its nascent form, the vortex subtly influenced the surrounding environment. Its slight rotation emitted a faint aura of power, causing the spiritual energy in the air to flicker and the clouds to churn restlessly.

Marquis Yunshan stood outside the cloud formation, his face darkened, features twisted in anxiety and suppressed rage.

His clothing was no longer the neat attire seen earlier; his white hair was disheveled like wild grass. Several thick, bluish-white cloud chains descended from the mist, tightly binding him, making his movements stiff and constrained.

Clearly, the cloud formation hovering midair was extraordinarily profound, exerting its full effect.

“Bang, bang, bang.”

Suddenly, pale yellow streaks of light flared up abruptly, then were swallowed by the mist. As the yellow light dimmed, so did the runes within the cloud formation.

Marquis Yunshan incessantly assaulted the formation, muttering as he went.

“Never imagined your old hag mother would hand you such a treasure. But sooner or later, it’ll be mine.”

His tone lost its usual mellowness, becoming sharp and biting, attempting to unsettle Yun Tianxin’s mind and sabotage her breakthrough.

Amid his harsh words, his hands shaped into a strange gesture, vaguely resembling an embrace of heaven and earth.

“I’m curious to see how you’ll break through to the Spirit Origin realm like this.”

Marquis Yunshan emitted an exaggerated, sinister chuckle, his body suddenly radiating light in all directions.

“Three Yang True Energy: Red Sun Illuminates Snow!”

With a powerful breath, he transformed into a miniature sun, glowing fiercely and radiating heat that steamed the surrounding clouds, causing the mist to visibly darken.

The royal family of Yuyang Kingdom was famed for the Nine Yang Divine Art, which was divided by complexity into Three Yang Fist, Three Yang True Energy, and Three Yang Manifestation.

The Three Yang Fist was taught to elite disciples of the royal family and noble houses. The Three Yang True Energy was reserved for royalty, marquises, and their chief aides.

The final Three Yang Manifestation was available only to the royal bloodline and a few reclusive senior elders.

Though not the supreme Three Yang Manifestation, the most renowned group-attack technique of the Three Yang True Energy exerted immense pressure on the cloud formation, far surpassing the Three Yang Fist.

Within moments, the outer layer of the cloud formation was utterly shattered, allowing the miniature sun to shine directly on Yun Tianxin at its center. The cloud chains binding Marquis Yunshan were also mostly severed.

“Heh heh heh, why not take a gamble? I hear your Yunhai Sect folks have always been lucky!”

The hoarse, powerful voice echoed through the clouds, clearly heard by Yun Tianxin, causing her brow to furrow and the nascent energy vortex on her forehead to become unstable.

“Ha!”

Seizing the slight disturbance in the formation’s core, Marquis Yunshan surged upward.

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Another deep breath of true energy flowed into his body, swelling his upper torso. His silver hair stood on end, and the miniature sun in his hands brightened further, causing the formation’s center to tremble under the strain.

“By now, your junior brothers and sisters are probably all dead. Well, maybe one last breath remains.”

Watching the formation near collapse, Marquis Yunshan’s wrinkled face curled into a satisfied smile, but he continued his verbal taunts.

In his view, the outcome was decided; capturing this woman was imminent.

As if provoked by a certain phrase, Yun Tianxin’s tightly closed eyes snapped open, her gaze clear and resolute as she made a daring decision.

She swallowed the energy vortex at her brow into her abdomen!

Instantly, her aura multiplied geometrically, the exposed white skin displaying spiritual patterns. A fierce, beast-like intensity emanated from her, no longer appearing fully human.

With this wild surge of energy, the already strained cloud formation collapsed entirely, exploding into a dim formation flag in midair, which Yun Tianxin swiftly grasped.

Marquis Yunshan, witnessing the collapse, could no longer laugh.

Trembling, he pointed at Yun Tianxin as if confronting a forbidden taboo, stammering:

“You… you’ve gone mad, attempting to break through like a savage beast. Such a path will not be tolerated by the world! You will be cast out from the human cultivation realm!”

Yun Tianxin, however, seemed deaf to his words and lunged at Marquis Yunshan. Her purple energy sword slashed toward the elder’s shocked, aged face.

Her aura now completely surpassed his, her skin etched with deep blue-green spiritual veins and eyes glowing with an azure light—she no longer resembled a human.

Suddenly, Marquis Yunshan’s expression shifted again! All signs of panic and defeat vanished—it was all an act.

Fixing his gaze on the charging Yun Tianxin, he carefully studied her expression. From his spatial ring, he withdrew a seal and sighed:

“Fine! At this point, killing you is no different. A pity for my Yunshan Marquis Seal!”

With a grimace, he crushed the seal in his hand.

The broken seal emitted a destructive wave, but before its full force could be unleashed, part of it split off, enveloping Marquis Yunshan, transforming him instantly into a streak of escaping light that vanished into the mist.

Staring expressionlessly at the erupting seal, Yun Tianxin’s instinctive awareness of danger halted her forward momentum. Driven by this primal urge, she leapt off the mountain trail toward the cliff on the opposite side.

“Rumble!”

Behind her, the energy within the seal exploded completely, creating a ten-meter-deep crater in the mountain path and blasting a towering pillar of light into the sky, even more powerful than the previous one.