In the distance, shouts could be heard.
“Master!” “Master!”
Murong Chun and Liu Qingyin, having dealt with the remaining devil’s horde, had rushed to the edge of the crimson array.
Anxious and desperate, Liu Qingyin immediately summoned her Fullmoon Radiance. The brilliant sword aura burst against the crimson array, but the lines remained unfazed as if it were nothing more than an illusion.
Murong Chun’s expression grew grave. “This is… Purest Intent!”
Liu Qingyin gasped. “An attack aimed solely at the primordial spirit?! Master’s primordial spirit was gravely injured during her confrontation with the Devil Lord! Ji Yuan is taking advantage of his weakness! What do we do now?!”
Without hesitation, she threw herself at the array.
Murong Chun failed to grab her in time. The moment Liu Qingyin touched the outer layer of the crimson lines, it was as if she had fallen into a quagmire, her movements becoming painfully restricted. Her face turned deathly pale, and a pained gasp escaped her lips.
Murong Chun reached out to pull her back, but the moment his fingers made contact, it felt as if countless icy needles stabbed deep into his soul. Despite his strong will, he instinctively recoiled, releasing her at once.
Grimacing, Murong Chun pressed a hand to his forehead and, with great effort, summoned a green vine of aura. Gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his skull, he used the summoned vine to drag his junior sister back.
Her condition was far worse than his. He had only made contact with the array through her, and it was almost unbearable. For her, who had charged straight into it, the agony was simply unimaginable.
The excruciating pain blurred Liu Qingyin’s vision. She had bitten through her lip so hard that blood was trickling down her beautiful jaw. Trembling, she struggled to stand again and made another attempt to break into the crimson array. Beyond that flickering red light was the man she loved! If just a touch on the outside caused this much pain, how much worse must it be for him inside?!
“Senior Brother,” Liu Qingyin gritted her teeth, “this array isn’t a barrier! It won’t stop anyone—it’s just too painful. That’s what’s forcing me back. Please send me inside!”
Murong Chun’s pupils shrank, and he growled, “You are courting death! Forcing your way in will cause you to die from sheer pain! Trust in Master; the two of them will definitely break free!”
Hearing this, Liu Qingyin could not stand it anymore, “It’s bad enough that he’s in there alone! But now he has to protect that Lin Qiu as well! Knowing his nature, he won’t abandon her… That’s just the kind of person he is! Senior Brother, this is the first time I’m begging you, please send me in! If you refuse, I’ll drop to my knees and beg!”
Murong Chun blinked hard, finally tilting his head to the sky with a long sigh. “Fine.”
In fact, the anxiety in his heart was no less than his junior sister. He was fully aware that, after the battle with the Devil Lord, their Master’s primordial spirit had sustained severe damage, which couldn’t be healed in just a few days. Ji Yuan had obviously plotted this ambush, preparing an array specifically to target Master, and there was no guarantee that he could withstand it!
With these thoughts in mind, Murong Chun silently steeled himself. “Junior Sister,” he turned to Liu Qingyin, “use your Crescent Moon. I’ll send you in with a reverse thrust.”
Though Liu Qingyin hesitated briefly, she didn’t overthink it. Following Murong Chun’s command, she spun gracefully and summoned a powerful single-target sword move.
Murong Chun’s sword flickered at the same time, summoning emerald vines that crawled up her blade and wrapped around the unleashed Crescent Moon. By swiftly brandishing his sword, he caused the vines to stretch tightly like a bowstring. Using the crescent as the bow and his own body as the arrow, he propelled himself with a sudden snap and shot into the crimson array!
Liu Qingyin covered her lips in shock, stifling a startled cry.
Riding the momentum, Murong Chun broke through the array and plunged directly into the illusion.
“Senior Brother—!” Liu Qingyin shouted, her voice trembling with tears, “No!”
Murong Chun could no longer hear her cries. After breaking into the crimson array, the pain hit him so hard that he lost all sensation. Everything around him slowed down to a crawl, and he could no longer distinguish his surroundings.
The Purest Intent was believed to have only existed in legends. To put it in simpler terms, it was a raw clash of primordial spirits, the most primordial form of battle that happened without the involvement of spiritual aura or physical force.
While devil cultivators wield Intent, its power wasn’t typically strong enough to deal significant damage without the aid of spiritual aura. However, using spiritual aura opened them up to attacks from a cultivator’s techniques. For devil cultivators, this was a near-unsolvable dilemma—unless they mastered Pure Intent.
And this Ji Yuan had evidently grasped this ultimate technique—a worst-case scenario.
Murong Chun’s feet touched the ground, but his mind felt adrift as if he were still floating in the air. The pain was so intense that he lost awareness of it; all that remained was a distant hum in his mind, a never-ending echo of agony.
“I can’t… let Ji Yuan… wreak havoc… and bring disaster…If I perish… so be it…
At that moment, when Murong Chun forgot everything and resolved to detonate his primordial spirit to strike a fatal blow against Ji Yuan, the world around him suddenly went still.
A crisp, exasperated female voice rang out, “Stop messing around!”
With great effort, Murong Chun refocused his vision. Amidst the blinding red glow stood a delicate and fair young woman, appearing like a celestial goddess descending from the heavens.
The excruciating pain radiating from his primordial spirit finally subsided, yet his entire being remained numb. Murong Chun raised his eyes, gazing blankly at Lin Jiu. Countless crimson threads emerged from the dense lines of the array, attaching to her body.
’How painful that must be!’—Murong Chun’s breath tightened at the sight. The crimson glow grew brighter, obscuring Lin Jiu’s expression, but he could sense that her body was trembling slightly, as if she were enduring unbearable pain.
The scene before him seemed to slow to a halt. A strand of crimson thread shot in from the upper right, and without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Jiu stepped in to shield him with her own body. He heard her gasping, her delicate frame quivering as though it could barely withstand the blow.
Murong Chun struggled to his feet, using his sword for support, and extended his hand towards Lin Jiu.
Slap! A heavy blow struck the back of his hand.
Murong Chun was startled and looked up, only to see his Master’s stern face. From his thin lips came three icy words, “Go and meditate.”
The disciple quickly sat back down.
Wei Liang’s silhouette flickered intermittently amidst the intense crimson glow. He patiently waited for an opening in Ji Yuan’s defenses—ready to launch a fatal strike.
Lin Jiu, meanwhile, was darting around, using her body to shield Wei Liang from every crimson thread, trying her best to prevent them from affecting his actions.
A surge of heat rose in Murong Chun’s chest. At that moment, he forgot that Lin Jiu was just an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. In his eyes, this husband and wife were heroes standing tall against the enemy of humanity. They coordinated flawlessly, silently bearing all hardships without saying a word.
“Master, Mis…tress…” Murong Chun muttered to himself.
Lin Jiu vaguely heard his mumbling and couldn’t help but shiver.
At this moment, the karma lotus in her spiritual sea was blooming gorgeously, as if revitalized by the essence of the sun, moon, and dew. Each petal was plump, emitting an elegant and mysterious dark golden glow, while numerous crystalline crimson threads at the lotus’s base formed delicate stems and roots, gently drifting in the spiritual sea. Lin Jiu sensed that as long as the right opportunity arose, the karma lotus could take root and sprout, achieving an unimaginable realm.
To her, this was simply a delightful surprise. Murong Chun thought she was overwhelmed, but in truth, she was just trying not to get too carried away—restraining overwhelming joy is not easy, you know!
From the bottom of her heart, Lin Jiu was genuinely grateful for Ji Yuan. The array he provided had opened up a whole new world for her!
Without any warning, the wildly flickering crimson light suddenly froze.
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she was running around to fed the Lotus yet they thought she was shielding them