Volume 1, Chapter 118 – Venerable Tianqiong Awakens

Inside the great hall, the bloody slaughter continued.

The stone statues were tireless killing machines, claiming several lives with every strike.

Amid the chaos, Gu Luoli’s voice cut through the fear and clamor, steadying everyone like an anchor amid turbulent seas:

“Everyone, gather around me!”

“Keep away from the statues, wipe the blood off yourselves, and form a defensive formation!”

Her gaze swept across the hall as she calmly analyzed the stone statues’ behavior.

The statues targeted bloodstained cultivators first. They were noticeably less aggressive toward everyone else.

“They’re activated by blood! Stop fighting among yourselves, or we’ll all die here!”

Gu Luoli shouted again, infusing her voice with spiritual power so that it reached every survivor with perfect clarity.

Most of those still capable of rational thought were core disciples of the various factions.

Though they had their doubts about Gu Luoli’s warning, the sight of their bloodstained companions dying first lent credence to her words.

“Do as she says! Flowing Cloud Sword Sect disciples, fall back!”

Ling Chen issued the order hoarsely.

“Lingxu Sacred Land, withdraw slowly!”

The male cultivator leading Lingxu Sacred Land immediately began directing his people as well.

The body cultivators of Tianyuan Sacred Land roared as they formed a human wall, buying time for their fellow disciples to retreat.

For a moment, the bloody melee in the center of the great hall eased as the various factions began resisting and retreating in an organized fashion.

However, the stone statues did not stop killing.

Their “gazes” remained fixed on the cultivators who reeked most strongly of blood, pursuing them relentlessly.

As they absorbed more and more blood and life essence, dark-red patterns began spreading across the surfaces of some statues, and their auras grew increasingly savage!

Gu Luoli led the disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace into a battle formation and slowly moved toward the entrance to the great hall.

They had the least blood on them and therefore had not become the statues’ primary targets.

“Senior Sister, the exit is just ahead!”

Zhang Cheng pointed excitedly at the enormous doorway nearby, half of which had collapsed.

However, the moment they crossed the threshold, an immense pressure erupted from the “corpse.”

Ancient and majestic, yet brimming with chaos and savagery, it burst forth like a volcano that had lain dormant since time immemorial and instantly swept through the entire hall!

Rеaⅾ oո ΚatRеαԁіոɡСαfе

“Ugh!”

“Pfft!”

The cultivators nearest to it, whether at Foundation Establishment or Golden Core, were instantly crushed to dust beneath that pressure.

Gu Luoli’s pupils contracted as a chill raced up her spine to the crown of her head!

She had only ever sensed an aura of this magnitude from her Master, but her Master’s aura was far gentler and completely unlike this one.

“Run!”

“Run for your lives!”

“The corpse… The corpse came back to life?!”

Like ants whose nest had been disturbed, the crowd surged madly toward the entrance to the great hall!

At that moment, only one thought remained in everyone’s mind!

Run!

Run as far away as possible!

In the face of a genuine threat of death, inheritances and opportunities alike became nothing but a joke!

They shoved! They trampled!

In their desperation to escape first, the fragile “cooperation” that had only just taken shape instantly fell apart.

Blades once again swung at the “companions” blocking the way, while spells were hurled mercilessly at those behind them!

Screams, furious curses, and the sounds of shattering bones mingled together in a scene even more brutal than before!

Among the Yaochi Immortal Palace disciples, Gu Luoli forcibly suppressed her fear and barked:

“Don’t panic! Hold the formation, take turns covering one another, and withdraw!”

Her voice had grown somewhat hoarse from the drain on her spiritual power, yet it still carried an authority that brooked no argument.

The twenty disciples followed closely behind her. Though their faces were pale, their formation remained intact as they swiftly moved toward the exit.

Gu Luoli gripped the Dragon Abyss Sword. Sword qi crisscrossed around her, forcing back several stone statues that tried to approach.

Golden light swirled within her double pupils as she once again studied the figure atop the dais.

Yet, unexpectedly…

The “corpse” merely opened his eyes a fraction and made no further attack.

Rеad оn ΚαtRеαԁіոgCafе

He simply sat there in silence, his hollow eyes slowly sweeping over the countless people fleeing frantically through the hall.

There was no anger in his gaze, no killing intent. Only a trace of… bewilderment.

This eerie sight only made Gu Luoli’s heart sink further.

Such unnatural behavior could only mean something was wrong!

Even if all that remained was a single shattered wisp of will from a mighty expert in the Immortal Ascension realm, it could never simply do nothing!

What exactly was he waiting for?

Or rather, what was he “thinking”?

“Go!”

Gu Luoli did not dwell on it any longer. The most important thing now was to lead her fellow disciples out alive!

At last, after fighting their way through…

Gu Luoli led the group out of the great hall and back into the valley.

“Third Junior Sister!”

“Third Senior Sister!”

“Senior Sister Gu!”

Liu Ruyan, Ye Ling’er, and the others waiting outside the entrance immediately hurried forward to meet them.

When Liu Ruyan saw the injuries Gu Luoli and the others had sustained, her expression changed.

“Luoli, you…”

“We’ll talk once we’re away from here. It isn’t safe to stay. Hurry!”

Gu Luoli spoke quickly, a trace of exhaustion in her voice.

She glanced back at the dark entrance to the hall.

Shrill screams continued to pour from within, coming from members of the other sects who had yet to escape.

“Everyone, withdraw immediately! Head back toward the entrance to the secret realm!”

Liu Ruyan made a swift decision and gave the order.

The more than forty disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace swiftly assembled and retreated in the direction from which they had come.

Not long after they left…

Rеаⅾ οո КаtRеаⅾіոɡCаfe

More survivors fled through the entrance to the hall, their faces twisted with terror and their bodies drenched in blood.

Mubai of Qingyun Sacred Land was deathly pale, his left arm hanging limply at his side.

Ling Chen, the First Senior Brother of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect, had a horrifying claw wound across his chest, deep enough to expose bone.

Lingxu Sacred Land, Tianyuan Sacred Land, Wondrous Sound Pavilion…

Nearly every faction that had entered had suffered devastating losses, and every survivor bore injuries.

Some smaller sects and groups of independent cultivators had even been completely wiped out. Not a single member had escaped.

The cultivators who had survived were still badly shaken and did not dare linger.

They did not even dare glance back at the hall’s entrance. Instead, they fled in different directions, seeking only to put as much distance between themselves and this place as possible.

The area before the ruined hall soon fell empty and deathly silent once more.

The Yaochi Immortal Palace group traveled at full speed, joining up with several scattered groups of fellow disciples along the way.

By the time they neared the entrance to the secret realm, their numbers had grown to more than eighty.

Clearly, the other disciples who had not rejoined them had either met with accidents inside the secret realm or had yet to arrive.

Liu Ruyan found a secluded hollow and set up simple concealment and warning formations, allowing everyone to rest and recover.

She then walked off to one side with Gu Luoli and Ye Ling’er.

“Luoli, what exactly happened in there?”

Liu Ruyan asked with concern as she handed her a medicinal pill.

Gu Luoli accepted the pill and swallowed it. She closed her eyes and regulated her breathing for a moment before recounting everything that had happened inside the hall in detail.

“An extremely chaotic will lingers inside that ‘corpse’ in the great hall.”

“I suspect it’s a wisp of Venerable Tianqiong’s remnant soul, left behind after he failed to overcome his heavenly tribulation all those years ago.”

Gu Luoli’s voice was grave.

“After awakening, it didn’t attack us. It seemed somewhat confused.”

“I have a vague feeling that he’ll emerge soon.”

At those words, Liu Ruyan’s and Ye Ling’er’s expressions turned extremely grave. Even their breathing unconsciously quieted.

Even the weakest remnant soul of a mighty expert in the Immortal Ascension realm was far beyond their ability to resist.

“We must notify the Grand Elder immediately. We need to find all our fellow disciples and evacuate the secret realm as soon as possible!”

Rеαԁ оո КatRеadіnɡСαfе

Liu Ruyan gave the order without hesitation.

The moment she finished speaking…

“Buzz…”

Without warning, a tremor came from every direction at once, rising from the earth beneath their feet and the dark-red sky overhead!

“What’s happening?!”

“The ground… Is the ground moving?”

“No! It’s the secret realm! The secret realm is changing!”

The resting disciples of Yaochi Immortal Palace leaped up in alarm and looked around frantically.

In the distance, from the direction of the ruined hall, a gray-white pillar of light suddenly shot into the sky!

Within the pillar of light, a blurry figure could faintly be seen rising slowly.

It was none other than “Venerable Tianqiong,” who had been seated atop the dais!

As his figure appeared, the entire secret realm seemed to be clenched in the grip of an invisible hand.

The spiritual energy within the secret realm began surging madly toward the gray-white pillar of light!

The sky grew even dimmer as the strange clouds, already thin and sparse, were torn apart and devoured.

The lingering tribulation power and Dao laws within the charred fissures across the earth were also forcibly extracted, producing sharp cracking sounds as the land strained under the pressure.

“This is bad!”

Golden light flared violently within Gu Luoli’s double pupils. She stared fixedly at the figure and the upheaval between heaven and earth, a rare trace of horror entering her voice.

“He seems to be drawing out the energy of the entire secret realm to stabilize his remnant soul!”

“But if he does that, the secret realm may close ahead of schedule…”

“The secret realm will close ahead of schedule?!”

Ye Ling’er’s face turned deathly pale.

If the secret realm truly closed, they would be trapped here, left to wait a hundred years for it to open again.

But could they survive for a hundred years under the eyes of an Immortal Ascension remnant soul?

The answer was obvious.