Volume 1, Chapter 108 – The Double Pupils Display Their Might

Liu Ruyan’s group did not rush toward the heart of the secret realm.

Instead, they cautiously explored the outer regions while using their identity jade tokens to contact and rendezvous with more fellow disciples.

Over the next few days, three more fellow disciples joined them, bringing their number to nine.

With Liu Ruyan overseeing the group and everyone working together, they managed to collect several valuable spiritual materials.

But not every disciple of Yaochi Immortal Palace was so fortunate.

Elsewhere in the secret realm, at the edge of a swamp steeped in a faint, bloody stench…

Three disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace had found themselves in grave danger.

They were two men and one woman named Zhang Cheng, Liu Yuan, and Sun Qiao. All three were disciples of Elder Jin Feng and primarily practiced sword cultivation.

Following the guidance of their identity jade tokens, they had been making their way toward an area where more of their fellow disciples had gathered.

Unfortunately, they had disturbed a group of first-tier demonic beasts in the swamp. Although they managed to drive the beasts back after a grueling battle, the fight had taken a heavy toll on them.

Just as they were about to meditate and recover, four figures emerged soundlessly from the deadwood forest on the other side of the swamp.

All four wore dark gray robes. Their auras were cold and sinister, and greed gleamed in their eyes.

They were disciples of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge, a premier faction in the Southern Region renowned for its poison arts and corpse-refining techniques!

Their leader was a pale young man with a sinister gaze whose cultivation had already reached the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Behind him stood two cultivators in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment and one in the early stage.

The four swept their gazes over Zhang Cheng and his companions, then over the artifacts in their hands, sizing them up like prey. The greed in their eyes intensified.

“Disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace?”

The sinister young man’s lips curled into a cold sneer, his voice hoarse.

“Not bad. We’ve only just entered, and we’ve already run into a few fat sheep.”

He licked his lips.

“Leave your artifacts and Storage Pouches behind, and I might consider sparing your lives.”

He made no attempt to conceal the contempt and cruelty in his words.

As far as they were concerned, the three Yaochi disciples, all in the early stage of Foundation Establishment and already in poor condition, were nothing more than lambs awaiting slaughter.

Zhang Cheng’s expression changed. He forcibly suppressed the churning qi and blood within him, along with the discomfort caused by the poisonous miasma.

Taking a step forward, he shielded Liu Yuan and Sun Qiao behind him and said gravely,

“Fellow Daoists of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge, Yaochi Immortal Palace has never had any grievances with your sect.”

“In a secret realm, everyone relies on their own luck to find treasure. Why must you press us like this?”

“No grievances?”

The sinister young man scoffed, his eyes brimming with mockery.

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“In this secret realm, weakness is a crime in itself.”

“If you want to blame something, blame yourselves… for being too weak!”

Before he had even finished speaking, one of the middle-stage Foundation Establishment disciples beside him struck first!

With a flourish of both hands, he unleashed two streams of murky gray poisonous mist that surged toward Zhang Cheng and the others like living creatures!

“Watch out! It’s poisonous mist…”

Sun Qiao cried out in alarm.

Zhang Cheng and Liu Yuan did not dare hesitate. They immediately activated their artifacts and counterattacked.

However, they had already expended much of their strength and had little spiritual power left.

Worse, the poisonous mist was extremely difficult to deal with. It clung to the spiritual light protecting their bodies, sizzling as it ate away at their defenses.

“Attack! Finish this quickly!”

The sinister young man barked, signaling the others.

His figure blurred as he closed in like a specter. A pitch-black bone spike appeared in his hand and stabbed straight toward Zhang Cheng’s heart!

The other two disciples of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge lunged at Liu Yuan and Sun Qiao at the same time. Their attacks were vicious and treacherous, every move aimed at a vital point!

The battle erupted in an instant!

Zhang Cheng and the other two stood back-to-back, fighting desperately.

Their swordsmanship was built on a solid foundation, and their coordination was seamless enough. Unfortunately, they were in poor condition, and their cultivation was inferior to that of their opponents.

After barely a dozen exchanges, they were already in mortal danger.

Zhang Cheng took an attack head-on. His arm went numb, and the spiritual light protecting his body rapidly shattered.

A blast of finger force grazed Liu Yuan’s shoulder, instantly turning the area dark purple and slowing his movements.

A stream of poisonous mist clipped Sun Qiao’s arm. Her skin rapidly blackened, and she grunted in pain.

“Hah! You’re no match for us!”

A disciple of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge laughed loudly. Spotting an opening in Sun Qiao’s defenses, he slammed a palm toward the center of her back.

Just as Sun Qiao was about to suffer a devastating blow…

“Buzz!”

Terrifying pressure crashed down like the celestial river pouring from the Nine Heavens!

All four disciples of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge, including the sinister young man at the peak of Foundation Establishment, froze in unison!

They stared in terror toward the source of the pressure…

In an open stretch beyond the swamp, a figure cradling a long sword was swiftly approaching them.

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It was Gu Luoli!

At that moment, her double pupils had turned a dazzling gold!

Vitality flowed through her left eye.

An aura of destruction permeated her right.

Life and death, two diametrically opposed yet perfectly intertwined auras, radiated from her without the slightest restraint.

The mere sweep of her double-pupiled gaze made the four disciples of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge feel as though it would pierce straight through them and tear them apart!

“D-Double pupils?!”

“It’s… Gu… Gu Luoli!”

The sinister young man’s teeth chattered, his voice brimming with utter terror!

He had long since heard of Gu Luoli and knew that she had once been the Holy Maiden of Qingyun Sacred Land.

But he had never imagined that her double pupils would be so terrifying!

This was by no means pressure an ordinary Golden Core cultivator could possess!

“Senior Sister!”

When Zhang Cheng and the other two saw Gu Luoli, it was as though they had seen their savior. They were so overwhelmed that they nearly burst into tears.

Gu Luoli’s gaze swept calmly over her three badly injured fellow disciples, pausing for a moment on Sun Qiao’s arm.

A faint light of vitality flickered within her left eye.

Sun Qiao immediately felt the searing pain in her arm ease considerably.

“This…”

Sun Qiao froze, her eyes filled with disbelief.

With a single glance, Gu Luoli had alleviated a fellow disciple’s injuries!

The sight sent an even deeper chill through the four disciples of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge!

“A misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding!”

The sinister young man was the first to react and forcibly suppressed his fear.

He hurriedly put away his bone spike, forcing a smile uglier than a grimace.

“We were only… We were only playing a joke on these junior brothers and sister!”

“We’ll leave right now! Right now!”

As he spoke, he prepared to retreat with the other three.

“A joke?”

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Gu Luoli’s voice was cool, yet carried unquestionable authority.

“The people of Yaochi Immortal Palace are not yours to touch.”

“Since you touched them… you can die.”

The final four words fell like a death sentence.

The sinister young man’s expression changed drastically. Realizing that begging for mercy was useless, a vicious light flashed in his eyes.

“Fight her! Form the Poisonous Baleful Formation!”

The four disciples of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge frantically circulated their spiritual power, instantly shifting into formation.

Dense gray-black poisonous mist erupted from their bodies and swiftly merged, forming a poisonous domain several dozen feet across!

Within the formation, ghosts wailed and wolves howled as a fetid wind swept forward. Countless hideous venomous insects swarmed through the air, flying toward Gu Luoli to devour her!

This was one of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge’s combined attack formations, capable of amplifying the power of all four cultivators’ poison arts.

Even an ordinary Golden Core cultivator trapped within it would suffer greatly!

Yet faced with such a fearsome cloud of poison, Gu Luoli’s expression did not change in the slightest.

She slowly opened her double-pupiled eyes wide.

“Double Pupils: Annihilation.”

Her red lips parted, and she softly uttered those four words.

The instant the words left her lips…

A power that was formless and intangible, yet seemingly capable of annihilating all things, erupted from her right eye!

There was no earth-shaking explosion, nor any dazzling display of light.

The oncoming poisonous mist touched that power and silently dissolved into nothingness, like snow beneath the blazing sun!

The four disciples of Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge reeled as though struck by lightning!

They felt as though their souls, linked to the formation, had been brutally cleaved by the sharpest executioner’s blade!

“Pfft!”

All four spat out a mouthful of blood. Their faces instantly turned deathly pale, and their auras weakened to the point of collapse!

The poison arts for which they were renowned had been forcibly shattered by a single glance, and the resulting backlash had struck them instead!

“That’s… impossible…”

The sinister young man’s eyes overflowed with despair and disbelief.

He could not understand how someone who was clearly only at the Golden Core stage could possess such heaven-defying power!

Gu Luoli gave them no further opportunity.

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She drew her sword and swung it at the four of them.

A sword qi condensed to the utmost limit flashed out like lightning and slew all four in an instant.

From Gu Luoli’s arrival to the deaths of all four Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge disciples, no more than ten breaths had passed.

It happened so quickly that Zhang Cheng and the others barely had time to react.

Silence returned to the edge of the swamp. Only four corpses and the lingering traces of poisonous mist remained as evidence of what had just happened.

The golden light in Gu Luoli’s eyes gradually receded, and her double pupils returned to their usual unfathomable depths.

She walked over to Zhang Cheng and the other two and examined their injuries. Only after confirming that they were in no danger did she smile faintly.

“Fortunately, I wasn’t too late.”

“Thank you for saving our lives, Senior Sister Gu!”

Coming back to their senses, Zhang Cheng and the others hurriedly bowed, their voices brimming with gratitude.

They had witnessed Senior Sister Gu crush and slay four powerful enemies with overwhelming force. The terrifying sight of her double pupils unleashing their might was seared especially deeply into their hearts.

“We are fellow disciples. There is no need for such formality.”

Gu Luoli’s tone was gentle.

“Clean up the battlefield and take their Storage Pouches. After that, we must rendezvous with the others as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Senior Sister!”

The three hurriedly assented and began clearing the battlefield with practiced efficiency.

Gu Luoli looked toward the depths of the secret realm, faint golden light swirling deep within her double pupils.

She could vaguely sense that something profoundly terrifying seemed to be awakening within the secret realm.

“It seems we must gather our fellow disciples as quickly as possible…”

She had made up her mind.

Before long, Zhang Cheng and the other two finished cleaning up.

Gu Luoli checked the distribution of her fellow disciples’ light markers on her identity jade token once more, then chose a direction.

“Let’s go. We’ll rendezvous with Senior Sister Liu and the others first.”

“Yes!”

With Gu Luoli, a core personal disciple, leading them, Zhang Cheng and the other two felt greatly reassured and hurried after her.

The four figures swiftly disappeared into the mist at the edge of the swamp.

Only the four gradually cooling corpses of the Ten Thousand Poisons Ridge disciples remained, bearing witness to everything that had just occurred.