There was no priceless sword or hidden weapon, nor any earth-shattering secret technique. He charged recklessly like a stag, sacrificing himself as he plunged into the fiery pit with Chai Xijin.
Those who had pursued Liu Yan, all seeking to kill either him or Tang Licizhi for vengeance, witnessed this desperate lunge.
Blades gradually stilled, arrows ceased, and the murderous intent in their hearts suddenly turned to confusion.
Tang Licizhi had claimed to be Chai Xijin’s master, while Liu Yan had declared himself Tang Licizhi’s master. Both had proclaimed themselves supreme, thus establishing Fengliudian and driving Chai Xijin to slaughter the innocent.
And then, before everyone’s eyes, Tang Licizhi had dragged Chai Xijin into the fiery pit.
What did this mean?
What… did this mean?
The Spider Woman was dead, Dashi had perished, and Chai Xijin had fallen into the fiery pit—all in the span of a fleeting moment. The crowd, their minds frenzied and bodies poisoned, lost control. With no sound-based manipulation to restrain them, they began to stir again, craving those who had once been afflicted by the Nine Hearts Pill.
No matter how indestructible Yang Guihua’s Coiling Dragon Formation was, it could not withstand these people, now like ravenous zombies or vengeful ghosts. The foremost warriors of the Central Plains Sword Association exchanged glances, their eyes filled with bewilderment.
The crowd parted as Cheng Wenpao strode forward with his sword, followed closely by Wan Yu Yuedan and the Red Maiden.
They gazed at the fiery pit.
For a moment, silence fell over all.
Liu Yan’s robes were aflame. He let out a laugh, then another.
“Ha…” he said. “Haha.”
“Respected Master Liu, please step aside. My Bihua Palace has flying cloud ropes that may allow us to descend and rescue them,” Wan Yu Yuedan said gravely. Though he hadn’t seen how Tang Licizhi had gone down, he could guess most of it.
To save a life while also slaying an enemy.
An impossible task, yet he insisted on achieving both.
“Rescue?” Liu Yan said slowly. “Isn’t Tang Licizhi the one who deserves death ten thousand times over, with his sinister schemes and favors given only to demand repayment? Perhaps he deceived someone, killed someone, gained some unimaginable benefit… or is it simply that you don’t know? That he died like this—isn’t it just perfect?” He staggered to his feet, the edges of his robes catching fire inch by inch, his dry black hair dancing and burning in the scorching wind. He seemed on the verge of being roasted into a withered husk, yet he made no move to flee. “Palace Master Wan Yu, do you truly wish to save him? If you did, you should have intervened when he risked his life on the war chariot, not stood by as a spectator.” Liu Yan burst into wild laughter. “You—all of you—none of you wanted to save him. You only waited for ‘Young Master Tang’ to save you, to exhaust everything he had, to fight with all his might, and then to die—isn’t it just perfect?”
Wan Yu Yuedan’s brow twitched slightly. For a moment, he neither denied nor confirmed.
Just then, a series of thunderous roars erupted from the depths of the fiery pit, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
White smoke suddenly billowed from the pit’s depths, steam and thick fumes bursting forth.
The temperature was dropping.
Something was changing deep within Piaoling Meiyuan.
The crowd stared in shock as plumes of dust rose from the fiery pit of Piaoling Meiyuan, as though something were churning underground. Then, with a sudden collapse, scalding steam erupted from the deep chasm.
The Red Maiden was also stunned. There was a lake near Piaoling Meiyuan—last time, when she had used a diversionary tactic against Yu Konghou, she had feigned that someone might attack Piaoling Meiyuan via the nearby river and lake.Could it be that water was truly flooding into the Drifting Eyebrow Manor? Had the words become a prophecy?
As the water level surged violently, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. Cheng Yunpao took a deep breath and shouted, "Disaster! A landslide!"
At the mention of a landslide, the fiery cavern where the Drifting Eyebrow Manor was located erupted with thick smoke and white steam. The pit filled with more and more water, scalding vapor rising as the ground shook incessantly. With a deafening roar, the left slope of Soul Prayer Mountain collapsed, taking part of the Drifting Eyebrow Manor with it. Countless fragments of rock tumbled down, and dust billowed in all directions.
In this critical moment, the members of the Central Plains Sword Assembly sprang into action. With sweeping palm strikes, they pushed the dazed soldiers still lunging at them far away. Then, their figures flickered as they employed various lightness techniques, each landing on the remaining half of the mountain that had not collapsed.
Those struck by the palm winds were fortunate enough to avoid the collapsing pit, most rolling down with the rubble and suffering only minor scrapes. From their vantage point on the mountain, the group looked down to see half of the manor teetering on the brink. Originally, it had descended from the mountaintop into the mountain's belly by mechanical means. The place where it sank was a natural cave, which Po Cheng Guaike had expanded, adding tracks and chains so the Drifting Eyebrow Manor could easily descend into the mountain's depths. However, this cave was a water-soluble cavern with an underground river channel. Bai Suche's fire had scorched the manor, Tang Licihui had knocked down Chai Xijin, and the Drifting Eyebrow Manor had suffered repeated heavy blows. The mechanisms were completely destroyed, the structure shattered into pieces, and the intense heat fractured the mountain rocks, causing them to collapse downward until they met the underground river.
Then came a tremendous explosion as subterranean heat burst through the rock layers. Half of Soul Prayer Mountain caved in, the earth splitting asunder in a catastrophic landslide.
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