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Mei Yechan looked at the red domain—which resembled a dome from the outside—with a cold smile.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Su Meiren appeared beside her, frowning. "I know you've actually enjoyed your current life quite a bit, even if you won't admit it. After revealing yourself this time, you won't be able to keep hiding from them anymore. They won't spare any resources tracking you down as last time."
Nostalgia flickered in Mei Yechan's eyes. What Su Meiren said wasn't a lie. She truly had enjoyed these past three years—cultivating in peace, occasionally chatting with a charming girl, and spending her days idly.
It was undoubtedly a lifestyle worth envying.
But...
"This has already become an obsession for me. Every time I start cultivating, the scenes from that day replay in my mind. I'm not doing this just out of a destructive vengeance—it's also for my own sake. Besides... that girl is still in there..." Mei Yechan smiled faintly. "On your end, you should take advantage of this large-scale assault those bastards are launching against the territories of Ziyu City's three major forces. You might find traces of their hidden base."
Su Meiren nodded. Indeed, it was a good opportunity. Those people had deployed nearly twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators to besiege the three forces. She refused to believe they still had enough strength left to defend their hideout after deploying so many people.
She gave Mei Yechan one last look before leaving.
Mei Yechan felt Su Meiren depart and sighed. She still didn't feel entirely comfortable with her nearby—it was like having the mistakes of the past staring her right in the face.
"I suppose my peaceful life ends today..."
Mei Yechan's expression turned icy as crimson mist began swirling around her body. She extended her hand. Her slender fingers tore through the air, and an invisible pressure slammed down onto the red dome before her.
Mei Yechan's eyes blazed intensely as she clenched her hand into a fist—shattering the domain before her as though it were a pane of glass!
Entering a domain after it had fully formed wasn't easy, so Mei Yechan wasted no time and stepped through the opening she'd created. Her figure, wreathed in crimson mist, became visible to everyone trapped inside the domain.
Mei Yechan carefully surveyed the situation within the Domain of broken enlightened—the true name of the red domain.
Just as she'd expected, the scene was tense and filled with slaughter. Cultivators died with every passing second. Of course, she felt nothing special about that—this was simply the cultivation world.
If anyone was to blame, it was themselves for their own weakness.
Still, the situation in the sky surprised her slightly.
'Qing clan... I suspected it, but these people are truly exceptional. Not only do they have someone like Ling'er, but according to rumors of their surprising resistance against demonic cultivators who came to cause trouble in their territory, they've hidden at least a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators.'
This clearly had something to do with opportunities the Qing clan had seized—but seeing how the elders fought without regard for their lives, she had to admit it was the clan's own merit that brought them this far.
"As for that little one..." Mei Yechan murmured, glancing sideways at Qing Xuanling's disheveled, distraught appearance.
Her heart ached slightly at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes—but she didn't even dare turn to look at her properly, let alone go comfort her.
Mei Yechan's gaze turned frigid as she stared at the demonic cultivator fighting Qing Meipon.
"You are quite brave to dare to come out into of the sunlight again, again after all these years, rats of the Nine Remnants." Mei Yechan's voice carried through divine sense, audible only to Foundation Establishment cultivators. "I thought I'd have to wait much longer to see you again, but I suppose Ziyu City means more to you than it appears."
Cultivator Zhang frowned as he fixed his gaze on Mei Yechan. The pressure this woman exerted was astonishing—he couldn't believe it. But what truly made his heart skip a beat was when Mei Yechan named his faction.
His completely black eyes betrayed a flicker of confusion—until realization struck him like lightning.
"So you're the Bloodmist Envoy! I've heard for years you've been hunting us, but I never imagined you'd get close enough to track us here! Don't tell me the sudden silence from our Thousand-Faced Brother was your doing too?!" Cultivator Zhang was stunned.
Legends of the Bloodmist Envoy were plentiful. Tales of her exploits and incredible powers circulated especially among the Nine Remnants—since it was known she hunted them relentlessly, no matter where they fled.
Cultivator Zhang laughed. "You really are decisive. You abandoned your sect, master, friends—all those years of cultivation—just to learn our names. Now I wonder... how much did you sacrifice to discover we'd be here today?"
Though Cultivator Zhang seemed relaxed, his divine sense was hyperactive—constantly contacting his comrades, devising a plan to ambush her together.
As for the Qing clan elder he'd been fighting moments ago—he'd forgotten her completely. In his eyes, she was already dead.
Mei Yechan was fully aware of all this—but she didn't care. She was making preparations of her own. A smile appeared on her lips as the spell she'd been weaving finally completed.
A chill ran down Cultivator Zhang's spine.
In the sky above, blood-red mist coalesced into spears hovering over specific buildings.
Cultivator Zhang's face froze. "Lemi! Kuga! Watch out!"
His voice was laced with panic.
Two figures shot out from two of the targeted buildings just as the spears plunged downward!
BOOM!
A dozen explosions erupted simultaneously, shaking the earth.
Smoke billowed from the buildings Mei Yechan had destroyed—but her eyes were sharp enough to pierce through the haze. She immediately spotted formation arrays and various materials amidst the rubble.
She smirked disdainfully. "How predictable. Using the Nine Vengeful Spirits Sacrificial Formation again. You used it back then, and you're using it now. Did hiding from sunlight for so long rot your brains to the point you can't innovate anymore?"
Mei Yechan's voice dripped with arrogant authority, darkening Cultivator Zhang's expression. He wouldn't tolerate this any longer.
"Hmph! You talk big for someone who abandoned her sect and master for an impossible vengeance!" Cultivator Zhang roared with laughter. "Bloodmist Envoy—you may have taken that step first, But I also took that step! Let's see if the rumors about you hold true!"
Corpse Qi erupted violently from Cultivator Zhang's body, forming a layer that solidified into an illusory bone armor.
He extended his hand—and a pitch-black halberd materialized in his palm.
His eyes burned with ferocity as he charged straight at Mei Yechan! The sudden rush generated such a powerful wind that it sent everything nearby—including Qing Meipon—flying backward!
Mei Yechan's face filled with coldness. She simply waved her hand, creating a vortex of red mist that began enveloping Cultivator Zhang's entire body—even before he could get close to her!
Cultivator Zhang frowned as he felt the red mist corrode his armor at an alarming rate. No matter how hard he tried to escape the mist, it kept pushing him back to his original position, denying him any chance to counterattack.
After all, his halberd couldn't harm the red mist no matter how fiercely he swung it. But demonic cultivators were never known for fighting fairly.
From the very beginning, he hadn't planned to fight a clearly unwinnable battle!
"Lemi! Kuga! Activate it!"
Cultivator Zhang roared forcefully, causing Mei Yechan to frown slightly. She waved her hand again, conjuring mist-formed hands that shot toward Lemi and Kuga, intending to crush them to death!
Lemi and Kuga exchanged a glance—then each plunged their hands into their own chests, digging around as if searching for something. It took them less than a second to find what they sought: a fragment of black jade.
Lemi and Kuga each held one piece—but it was clear the black jade had been split into three parts.
Cultivator Zhang, still trapped in the red mist, laughed savagely and seized the moment while Mei Yechan focused on the other two to pull out his own black jade fragment. Like Lemi and Kuga, he injected his Qi into the jade shard.
Mei Yechan's expression tightened—but she didn't seem particularly surprised. On the contrary, she looked slightly expectant.
Cultivator Zhang felt a bit unsettled, but he'd already activated the black jade anyway. There was no stopping it now, so worrying was pointless.
The three black jade fragments flew from their hands and merged in the sky, forming a black jade tablet inscribed with dark, sinister characters. A sinister power erupted from the tablet the moment the three pieces joined.
A Qi—alternating between corpse-like and spectral—surged forth as a figure emerged above the jade tablet. The figure, a man who resembled a corpse more than a living being, slowly opened his eyes, revealing two empty sockets still oozing blood.
The man—though eyeless—blinked and surveyed his surroundings.
"This is far worse than I imagined."
His voice, rough as sandpaper, sent chills down Cultivator Zhang's spine and those of his companions. He quickly apologized. "Immortal Ghost Lord, I'm sorry—but that madwoman, the Bloodmist Envoy, is disrupting our plans! You know how powerful she is yourself, so I hope you'll forgive our incompetence."
The Immortal Ghost blinked his empty sockets—now fixed on Mei Yechan—with evident interest.
"Aren't you the girl whose power resembles mine? I've heard you've been causing us trouble... Hmm. Very well—I suppose I can assist these useless ones and take this opportunity to examine your soul. Two birds with one stone."
A sinister smile spread across the Immortal Ghost's face as corpse Qi and spectral Qi converged into a single point, fusing into a kind of undead Qi. This undead Qi surged from the Immortal Ghost, gradually coalescing into dozens of figures.
Mei Yechan didn't respond to the Immortal Ghost's words—but she wasn't idle either. She waved her hand, summoning three crimson whirlwinds that shot toward the Ink Sword Sect elders, trapping them helplessly!
Most terrifyingly, the three whirlwinds began contracting, slowly shrinking to melon-size as agonized screams echoed from within the crimson spheres.
But something horrifying happened when the screams ceased.
Mei Yechan's gaze suddenly deepened. She pointed at the three red mist spheres and released three carmine rays. Soon, the crimson mist balls transformed into three figures!
Qing Huomei stared in disbelief. She recognized them—they were precisely the three Ink Sword Sect elders! Including Bei Shifeng! Worse yet, the three figures—whose bodies were entirely made of red mist—still radiated Foundation Establishment auras.
Fear gripped Qing Huomei's heart. This ability was far too unnatural! She'd never heard of anything like it!
At that moment, a divine sense message arrived:
"Woman of the Qing clan, listen carefully—I won't repeat this."
A voice, clear yet icy, resonated in Qing Huomei's mind.
"I'll be too occupied with the old ghost who emerged from the jade tablet to deal with the three demonic cultivators. Take these three Crimson Specters to fight them. If you can't defeat them, evacuate the people on the ground outside this domain. A Foundation Establishment cultivator should have enough strength to create an opening."
Qing Huomei's face filled with shock. She didn't understand why this cultivator—who likely belonged to the demonic path—was offering them help. She hesitated, but the dire situation forced her to decide.
She nodded.
The three Crimson Specters moved the instant she accepted, flying toward Lemi, Kuga, and Cultivator Zhang—who were now descending toward the ground with clear intent to unleash a massacre!
She exchanged glances with Qing Xuyun and swiftly flew to intercept the demonic cultivators, silently praying the Young Master could resolve the situation below.
Meanwhile, on Qing Xuanling's side—
Though Qing Xuanling had been momentarily stunned by Madam Yechan's sudden appearance, she quickly felt several lingering confusions clarify. Apparently, the reason Madam Yechan was in Ziyu City was because of those mysterious demonic cultivators who were attacking her clan!
She couldn't help but sigh in relief. Earlier, she'd genuinely feared she and Lady Yechan might be on opposing sides from the start—but that now seemed like an unfounded worry all along.
With that thorn—planted in her heart for weeks—finally removed, she turned her attention to the other barrier.
Several minutes had passed since Qing Zhu's arm—clutching the jade tablet with the message—had entered the barrier. By now, the other side should be debating their next move. Hopefully, they wouldn't take much longer to decide.
Indeed, something happened five minutes later.
"The other barrier is moving!" Qing Muyu shouted excitedly.
Qing Xuanling narrowed her eyes. She knew perfectly well that from this moment onward, their danger would multiply—but she was resolved to face it and overcome it. Failing now would be a grave disrespect to the sacrifices already made.