"Yu Xiaotang?" Ling Chuan's brow furrowed into a deep, jagged line. He had clearly recognized the Hehuan Sect's Young Sect Master standing there before him.
His eyes clouded with confusion and a sharp edge of wariness. How could a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator silently pass through the lethal layers of the Mystic Ice Sealing Annihilation Array that he had personally set up with such care?
It was completely unbelievable to his senses.
Unless she was carrying some hidden, heaven defying array breaking treasure, or perhaps her cultivation was completely fake?
But her aura was clearly only at the Foundation Establishment stage, vibrating at a level far below his own spiritual pressure.
Unlike Ling Chuan's visible shock, Xie Zhaolin didn't seem particularly surprised by Yu Xiaotang's sudden appearance. She had long expected that with one Hehuan Sect Nascent Soul elder dead and another now lying gravely injured, this old acquaintance wouldn't remain unmoved for long.
Still, Yu Xiaotang had made it here at the very last moment. Her methods were strange enough to exceed part of Xie Zhaolin's expectations for the encounter.
"Xi Tong again… or is it something else?" Xie Zhaolin's gaze grew even colder as she watched the girl.
Yu Xiaotang didn't answer Ling Chuan. She remained silent, her attention fixed.
She stared hard at the two people standing in front of her. She swept her peripheral vision across Xue Shouren's shriveled, grotesque corpse lying on the frozen ground. When she sensed the faint lingering fluctuation of the Devouring Origin Backlash Curse still clinging to the body, she instantly understood what had happened earlier.
"Xue Shouren… still rotten to the core," she cursed inwardly, her lip curling in disgust at the sight.
But the man was already dead, so there was no point dwelling on it now. She waved her hand. Several defensive artifacts and shield talismans flashing with different, vibrant lights shot out. They instantly formed layer upon layer of shimmering barriers in front of herself and Granny Hua.
"Elder Hua, can you still move?" she asked rapidly. Her eyes never left the enemies looming ahead in the cold air.
Her gaze locked firmly on Xie Zhaolin and Ling Chuan. Her teeth were clenched tight as she held her ground against them. She knew very well that even though her sudden appearance had startled them, the fight wasn't going to stop.
On the contrary, her arrival would only make them more eager to silence any witnesses to their deeds.
Sure enough, Ling Chuan and the black robed woman only paused for a split second before their eyes turned even colder. Their attacks didn't slow down at all. Instead, driven by urgency, they surged forward like a raging storm. The force crashed toward Yu Xiaotang and Granny Hua.
"Cough, cough… I am… still… still alive…" Granny Hua forced the words out. A flicker of hope flashed in her dimming eyes as she looked at her savior. "Young Sect Master, be careful! That black robed woman's methods are strange, and Ling Chuan… cough…"
"I know!" Yu Xiaotang gritted her teeth. She cursed Ling Chuan and that black robed woman a thousand times over in her heart.
She felt particularly wary of that black robed woman. Yu Xiaotang felt like she had seen her somewhere before. Or rather, she gave off an unsettling sense of familiarity that made her skin crawl.
But right now, there was no time to think about that during the heat of the battle.
Sure enough, the killing intent rose again.
"Kill them! Don't let her take Granny Hua and escape!" Ling Chuan roared. The Frostmark Sword erupted with unprecedented ice blue brilliance. A massive icy sword qi tore through the air and slammed viciously into the defensive light screen Yu Xiaotang had set up.
At the same time, he urged the ice crystal in his hand again. He tried to reinforce the array and restrict Yu Xiaotang's movements.
Xie Zhaolin moved even faster than her companion. She didn't say a word. Her figure vanished from where she stood. In the next instant, she appeared at Yu Xiaotang's side and rear.
"Damn it," Yu Xiaotang cursed silently. She had blocked the first wave of attacks using system effects and talismans, but the pressure from the two of them was overwhelming. It was especially heavy coming from the black robed woman.
"Go!" Yu Xiaotang grabbed Granny Hua, who was so badly injured she could barely stand. She madly circulated her spiritual power.
"Flashstep Shadow Shift!"
She unleashed a strange movement technique. She carried Granny Hua through several rapid flickers across the ground. She narrowly dodged Xie Zhaolin's killing strike and Ling Chuan's freezing sword qi.
At the same time, a silver glowing talisman was already pinched between her fingers, ready to be used.
"She's trying to run! Stop her!" Xie Zhaolin's eyes sharpened. She instantly saw through Yu Xiaotang's intent to flee.
If Yu Xiaotang could get in, then she could surely find a way to get out.
"Go all out! Seal the space!" Xie Zhaolin shouted urgently to Ling Chuan. At the same time, the baleful qi inside her body erupted. It transformed into a massive black canopy that crashed down toward Yu Xiaotang and Granny Hua.
She was going to forcibly pin them in place before they could move again.
"Freeze Heaven and Earth!"
Ling Chuan realized the severity of the situation and didn't hesitate. He spat out a mouthful of essence blood onto the ice crystal in his hand.
The crystal flared with blinding light. The temperature inside the array plummeted rapidly. Even space itself seemed on the verge of freezing solid.
He was going to turn this entire area into a dead zone and block all spatial escape methods they might possess.
But it was still a step too late to catch them.
Just as the black canopy and freezing power were about to close in, Yu Xiaotang and Granny Hua's figures appeared at the very edge of the array barrier. There, the array's light rippled in a deeply abnormal way. It looked as if some invisible force had forcibly pushed open a small gap in the barrier. It was the exact spot where Yu Xiaotang had entered earlier.
"Break!" Yu Xiaotang shouted lowly. The silver talisman in her hand instantly ignited with power.
Boom.
A powerful spatial fluctuation erupted. It violently expanded the newly opened breach.
"Go!" She pulled Granny Hua without hesitation. They stepped straight through, finally leaving the range of the Mystic Ice Sealing Annihilation Array.
"Stop them!" Ling Chuan's eyes split with fury. Ignoring the backlash, he forcibly urged the ice crystal again. An ice blue chain shot out from the array and grabbed toward Yu Xiaotang's back. Xie Zhaolin's Jingxiao Ribbon followed close behind it.
Just as the ice blue chain and black ribbon shadow were about to touch Yu Xiaotang, another golden talisman in her hand suddenly burst with dazzling golden light.
It was a high grade random spatial escape talisman.
"This is bad!" Xie Zhaolin and Ling Chuan's expressions changed at the same time as they realized what was happening.
Whoosh—
Golden light flashed. Space twisted violently. Yu Xiaotang and Granny Hua vanished on the spot. They left only spreading spatial ripples and two attacks striking empty air.
Puff—
With the target gone, the array lashed back at him again. Ling Chuan spat out a mouthful of blood. His face turned ugly with pain.
"She got away!" He ground his teeth together. His eyes were filled with unwillingness and a faint, hidden fear. That Yu Xiaotang was far too strange for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
She was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, yet she had managed to rescue someone and escape from the two of them.
Xie Zhaolin slowly reeled in the Jingxiao Ribbon and stood there. Her expression beneath the black robe was equally dark. She looked at the empty space where Yu Xiaotang had vanished. Then she looked at Xue Shouren's corpse and the blood Granny Hua had left behind on the frozen ground. Her gaze flickered uncertainly.
"She won't get far," Xie Zhaolin said. "A high grade random spatial escape talisman has limited range, and it will leave spatial fluctuation traces." She raised her hand. The You Ming Bracelet on her wrist trembled slightly and sent out a faint but clear response.
You You was only a soul body now, but she was extremely sensitive to spatial and energy fluctuations in the surrounding air.
"I can track the general direction."
"Chase," Ling Chuan said without hesitation. "We can't let her take Granny Hua and leave alive. Otherwise, the trouble later will be endless."
He knew that once the Hehuan Sect found out they had joined forces to kill Xue Shouren, severely injure Granny Hua, and nearly kill Yu Xiaotang, it would become a feud without end.
This was especially true with the eerie things Yu Xiaotang had just displayed, which filled him with a deep sense of unease.
"No rush." Xie Zhaolin shook her head. "Clean up first. Granny Hua is gravely injured and on the verge of death. Yu Xiaotang can't run fast or far while carrying her. They will need time to heal and hide."
She walked over to Xue Shouren's corpse and began carefully looting the spoils. She focused especially on his storage pouch.
"And we need to deal with this place first."
She was referring to the Mystic Ice Sealing Annihilation Array and the lingering battle traces.
Although the array had blocked most of the fluctuations, Yu Xiaotang breaking through it and using a high grade escape talisman had caused a significant disturbance. It could attract unwanted attention from others nearby.
Ling Chuan took a deep breath. He suppressed the restlessness and killing intent swirling in his heart. He knew Xie Zhaolin was right, so he began retracting the array and erasing the traces of the battle.