Chapter 1819: Black Market Stronghold
Hua Cangying's Qimen Huodun (Mystic Fire Escape) was unparalleled in its subtlety. In an instant, he brought Xue Qiu a thousand miles away, arriving in a desolate urban area.
Hua Cangying gently shook his white bone folding fan, somewhat surprised, muttering to himself, "They actually didn't pursue."
"Probably they are also quite wary of you, Young Master, and didn't dare take the risk," Xue Qiu said with a smile.
Hua Cangying was quite confident in his own strength and nodded lightly.
Xue Qiu added, "It's a pity that that Saint from the Chen Clan survived. This operation targeting the Chen Clan will definitely be exposed. Once the Chen Clan is on guard, succeeding will be difficult!"
Hua Cangying smiled, "That Saint from the Chen Clan would have certainly sent a message back to the Eastern Domain Saint King Manor long ago. Even if we killed him, it wouldn't have made much difference."
"That's true. As long as that item has been destroyed, we can rest easy," Xue Qiu said.
"Rustle, rustle."
A light wind brushed against Hua Cangying's face.
Hua Cangying detected a faint fluctuation of Saintly power and abruptly stared towards the ruins on his right.
There, on a broken wall, a white-robed monk had appeared, seemingly from nowhere.
The white-robed monk had short white hair, giving him an ethereal, immortal-like bearing.
"Such a powerful aura-concealing technique. He got within twenty zhang of me before I noticed him," Hua Cangying thought, extremely shocked.
Hua Cangying remained composed, cupping his hands and asking, "May I ask who you are, sir?"
"Those who come do not stay; those who go do not return," the white-robed monk said, his countenance solemn and dignified.
A look of realization dawned in Hua Cangying's eyes. He cupped his hands again and said, "So it's Senior Quxingzhe (Wandering Traveler). My apologies, my apologies."
"Benefactor Hua, this humble monk has come specifically to escort you. Come, everyone is waiting for you at Tianjue Pavilion (Heavenly Absolute Pavilion)," said the white-robed monk named Quxingzhe, smiling kindly.
...
...
One of the five continents of the Eastern Domain Sacred City, the Snow Calamity Continent.
The Thirty-First City District was located on the northwestern border of the Snow Calamity Continent, near the polar region, perpetually covered in ice and snow. Although it was part of the Eastern Domain Sacred City, it was exceptionally desolate, with thousands of mountains and hundreds of peaks all clad in silver.
A secret stronghold of the Black Market was built deep underground in the Thirty-First City District. Only core members of the Black Market First Class Hall would know of its existence.
That day, Murong Yue had been ambushed, her Divine Stone stolen. She had only escaped by using a life-saving escape talisman, and then hid here to recover from her injuries.
She sat cross-legged on a bed of Sacred Jade, her upper body exposed, her skin as white and flawless as congealed fat. However, below her right shoulder, there was a bloody hole the size of a wine cup.
From the bloody hole, black mist continuously seeped out, spreading in all directions like winding hornless dragons.
An extremely evil power had invaded her body. The wound would not heal, and instead showed signs of worsening.
"Wa!"
A mouthful of dark red Sacred Blood spewed from her lips.
The ground made a "chi chi" sound as it corroded, forming a pit half a zhang in diameter.
"What a powerful demonic art. Even with my Extreme Yin Body, I am being eroded and cannot refine it. If it were a Saint King of another physique, they would probably have already fallen, turning into a pool of pus and blood."
A figure appeared in Murong Yue's mind.
That figure was extremely emaciated, his face as white as paper, chains wrapped around his body, like a walking corpse.
It was that person who, with a single finger strike from afar, had broken through all her defenses and injured her.
In recent years, Murong Yue had not competed for the position of Hall Master of the Black Market First Class Hall. Instead, she had been taken by a mysterious person to a place of awakened divine soil, where she received supreme opportunities, her cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds to the level of a Seven-Step Saint King.
Yet, even so, facing an expert from the Heavenly Court Realm, she was still vulnerable.
She felt a sense of powerlessness, a deep disappointment in her heart.
"Am I truly the Chosen One? Why can't I do anything in this chaotic era?"
Murong Yue recalled the words of that mysterious person when he took her to the awakened divine soil: "You are the Chosen One. Whether the Kunlun Realm can rise again, you will bear an important responsibility."
What does it mean to be the Chosen One?
Chosen by whom?
And who was that mysterious person?
Murong Yue's heart was full of doubts. The other party had told her nothing, only instructing her to go out and train, to hone herself amidst the chaos of the world, to quickly forge an indestructible sacred body and achieve the venerable position of a Great Saint.
"Forcing growth is ultimately difficult to cultivate a true powerhouse. Only by practicing hard step by step can there be infinite possibilities in the future. But there is no choice; it must be done this way. The time left for Kunlun is already short."
Murong Yue knew in her heart that she was one of those cultivators whose growth had been forced. Perhaps she would indeed play a role at some critical moment, but she was definitely not someone who could turn the tide.
Forcing growth was an investment in potential.
Those who would truly decide the future of Kunlun were bound to be beings who had cultivated step by step.
"Boom."
Suddenly, the underground chamber shook violently. Array inscriptions appeared on the stone walls.
Murong Yue's expression changed. She immediately grabbed a layer of black gauze from the air, wrapped it around her exquisite and translucent body, and stood up abruptly, entering a combat state.
A black-robed elder burst into Murong Yue's recovery chamber, his face changing dramatically: "Miss, a Saint King realm expert is forcefully attacking the stronghold. The stronghold's defensive array might not hold for long."
"Caught up so quickly?"
Murong Yue knew she was no match for her pursuer. She took out an ancient artifact she had brought from the awakened divine soil, preparing to activate it and escape again.
The ancient artifact was shaped like a crescent moon, emitting a cyan glow with faint divine power seeping out.
"Boom."
A terrifying shockwave pierced the stronghold's defensive array, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to split.
Screams rose and fell from underground. The Black Market cultivators in this secret stronghold suffered heavy casualties. Many were blasted into bloody mud by the shockwave, their bones turned to powder.
That power was chillingly cold. Not only did it shatter the earth, but it also froze a hundred li, its might extremely astonishing.
"Miss, flee quickly... Ah..."
The black-robed elder standing before Murong Yue was frozen by the cold, turning into an ice sculpture before her very eyes.
A cold, sword-like light flashed in Murong Yue's eyes. She shouted, "You go too far!"
Above the Black Market stronghold, a tall, thin man with chains wrapped around his body and a face as pale as paper held a silver bowl. He condensed the power of Six Yao Perfection, preparing to launch a second wave of attack.
This man was named Bai Yuejun. He was the senior brother of one of the Six Uniques of the Netherworld Divine Hall, "Laiwangren" (The One Who Comes and Goes). He had entered the Nine-Step Saint King realm a thousand years ago, with a very deep accumulation, an old monster who had lived for nearly two thousand years.
"Whoosh!"
A cyan crescent moon burst out from the ground, slashing towards him.
Bai Yuejun let out a "giggle" laugh, letting the cyan moon strike his body.
Bai Yuejun's body shattered, transforming into a white robe, which instead wrapped around the cyan moon.
The next moment, Bai Yuejun's figure appeared in another location.
"Clank, clank."
The chains on his body flew out, entangling the white robe and the cyan moon, forcibly dragging them to his side and suppressing them tightly.
Murong Yue flew out from the shattered earth below. A demonic moon rose above her head, and vast, surging demonic energy enveloped the sky and earth. She formed hand seals, trying to recall the cyan moon ancient artifact.
Suppressing the cyan ancient artifact was not an easy task for Bai Yuejun either. He said, "I didn't expect the Kunlun Realm to have a young expert like you, even stronger than the few Realm Sons that Empress Chi Yao has placed in the open."
Feng Chengdao stepped out from the void, appearing behind Murong Yue, and laughed, "She has an Extreme Yin Body and cultivates the 'Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription' from the 'Taiyi Divine Art Ranking'. She is definitely a hidden piece secretly cultivated by a big shot from the Kunlun Realm."
Bai Yuejun laughed, "An Extreme Yin Body is excellent. I, this old man, also have a Yin-cold physique. I can capture her for long-term... replenishment. Plundering her might even help me achieve the venerable position of a Great Saint."
Bai Yuejun's potential was exhausted. Under normal circumstances, he could never make any further progress, his life forever stuck at the Nine-Step Saint King realm.
But the appearance of an Extreme Yin Body gave him hope.
Feng Chengdao laughed, "I don't know how many resources the Kunlun Realm spent to cultivate her, allowing her to reach the Seven-Step Saint King realm at such a young age. Doing this would surely anger the big shots of the Kunlun Realm to death."
Murong Yue was caught between two enemies, trapped in a desperate situation.
Yet, she remained calm. The blood energy in her body churned wildly as she activated a forbidden art that burned Sacred Blood. The aura emanating from her grew stronger and stronger.
Feng Chengdao frowned. He stopped watching from the sidelines and struck a finger seal towards Murong Yue.
"Boom."
The finger force was like a white rainbow piercing the sun, fierce and domineering.
Murong Yue waved her arm, and a phantom of a demonic stele condensed, colliding with Feng Chengdao's finger force. It actually blocked this attack.
"Little girl, quite impressive!"
An eerie light appeared on Bai Yuejun's brow.
Immediately, the mass of black mist that had invaded Murong Yue's body became active. The faster her Sacred Blood circulated, the faster the black mist invaded.
In moments, the black mist entered her Qi Sea, causing her consciousness to become chaotic.
Murong Yue knew she couldn't hold out much longer. She silently chanted in her heart, "Your Highness, where are you... You must come quickly... Otherwise, I will have no choice but to self-destruct my Sacred Source and perish together with them..."
At this moment, Murong Yue placed all her hope on Zhang Ruochen.
Bai Yuejun let out a sharp laugh, turning into a series of afterimages as he rushed before Murong Yue. He pointed a finger at her brow, intending to subdue her Sacred Soul and take her as a slave.
"Whoosh."
Space trembled.
A masked figure appeared beside Murong Yue out of thin air. A hand wreathed in flames reached out and grabbed.
"Crack."
Bai Yuejun's finger was caught.
As Bai Yuejun froze in shock, the masked man broke his finger. His figure blurred, and he struck Bai Yuejun's chest with a palm, sending him flying horizontally.
Bai Yuejun's body carved a groove several li long in the snow.
The masked man's gaze locked onto Feng Chengdao. He snorted, "So it really is the Netherworld Divine Hall. You dare to snatch what I want and hurt my people. Today, I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes."