Chapter 294 : Destroy It
The newly established barrier was broken, and before anyone could react, several attacks followed in quick succession.
This sudden change came unexpectedly, but fortunately, Jiang Mo and the others weren't completely unprepared. They swiftly retreated in different directions. Consequently, some attacks landed on the ground, while others struck the altar behind them, creating several "boom" sounds and raising clouds of dust.
Jiang Mo rose into the air, hovering several meters above the ground, her gaze sweeping around to discover additional figures surrounding them: "Since you're already here, why hide yourselves?"
Having already attacked, the opponents indeed had no intention of hiding anymore. As her words fell, a circle of people immediately appeared around the perimeter... They weren't exactly strangers, having traveled on the same ship, so they were familiar faces to some extent. Yet they weren't truly familiar either—no one had seen these people since arriving on the island, these Nine Abyss Sect disciples who had disappeared long ago!
Indeed, those surrounding everyone were Nine Abyss Sect cultivators. Seeing them, Jiang Mo and the others weren't surprised at all—the Nine Abyss Sect's ambition was well-known, not to mention that Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu had personally witnessed a Nine Abyss Sect elder secretly conferring with the merperson. The only thing they couldn't guess was what exactly the sect wanted to accomplish.
Regarding this point, the merperson should know, but they had forgotten to question him about it.
With this in mind, before the Nine Abyss Sect disciples could speak, Jiang Mo released spiritual energy from her hand, capturing the merperson who had fallen to the ground, and immediately questioned him: "The Nine Abyss Sect elder sought you out before. Why?"
In Jiang Mo's hands, the merperson always had the same lifeless, dead-fish appearance, but upon hearing this, he couldn't help rolling his eyes: "Don't mention the Nine Abyss Sect to me. They're a bunch of lunatics!"
Jiang Mo was about to inquire further when a person stepped out from among the Nine Abyss Sect members—it was the Grand Elder who had previously conferred secretly with the merperson.
Meanwhile, the cultivators had instinctively stopped fighting and united against the external threat, showing wariness. Someone took the initiative to question: "What are you trying to do?"
Hearing this, the Grand Elder's gaze fell on the altar behind everyone, and he actually answered the question: "Destroy it."
This answer somewhat surprised everyone. In fact, before learning about the merperson's sacrificial purpose, many had harbored such thoughts. Even Zhu Baiyi had previously used a jade talisman to launch an attack, attempting to destroy the altar. However, even a full-strength attack from a Grand Achievement cultivator couldn't damage the altar in the slightest. Now that they knew about the seal, even though no one was willing to be sacrificed, no one wanted to tamper with the altar either.
Regardless, the welfare of all living beings took precedence. If damaging the altar truly caused problems with the seal, they would bear unforgivable responsibility. Furthermore, they were still on the island—according to the merperson, sacrifices were necessary; if they destroyed the altar, how could they escape?!
The cultivators weren't fools. Upon hearing this, they instinctively positioned themselves to protect the altar.
Zhu Baiyi frowned. At this moment, she hadn't revealed her identity, so she stepped forward as "Elder Qi" to engage in dialogue: "Why destroy it? Does the Grand Elder know the importance of this altar?" After asking, she added: "Even if you destroy this altar, you won't be able to leave either."
The Grand Elder's gaze only swept over Zhu Baiyi briefly before returning to the altar, his eyes seeming almost fervent. However, his previous "explanation" had evidently been sufficient; he had no intention of elaborating further. He directly waved to his subordinate disciples: "Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
The Nine Abyss Sect disciples roared in assent, then took out their respective magical instruments and launched their attacks.
Compared to the other cultivators whose spiritual power was restricted, these Nine Abyss Sect disciples had clearly preserved their abilities. Thus, despite the numerical disadvantage, they showed no fear. Some directed objects to attack, others formed hand seals to cast spells. Dark demonic energy surged toward the cultivators, yet they refused to engage in close combat.
In terms of cultivation level, the cultivators were no worse than the Nine Abyss Sect disciples, and even without spiritual power, they weren't entirely defenseless. But long-range attacks were unfair—normally no one would take them seriously, but used at this time, they left people completely helpless.
As the demonic energy was about to reach them, the cultivators' expressions changed dramatically, and they took out their last defensive treasures, preparing to fight to the death.
At that moment, a cyan figure descended from the sky.
With a swing of the long sword in her hand, white spiritual light flashed, and the imposing demonic energy approaching them was suddenly cleaved open. The sword intent was like ice and snow, or perhaps colder than ice and snow. The demonic energy that contacted it froze inch by inch. After breaking through the demonic energy, the sword light continued unabated, slashing toward the Nine Abyss Sect disciples casting spells on the opposite side.
All cultivators on the island had lost their spiritual power, with only the Nine Abyss Sect's techniques being the exception, which was why they dared to face larger numbers with fewer people. However, the person before them was clearly an unexpected variable. Not only was her attack fierce, but it was completely unexpected.
The sword light was too fast. Even though the Nine Abyss Sect disciples opposite saw it, they had no time to react. Moreover, before the extremely cold sword intent even reached them, the surrounding air rapidly froze, causing the reactions of those Nine Abyss Sect disciples to become sluggish for a moment... In cultivator combat, a moment could mean life or death. Those directly facing her hadn't even reacted before they turned into ice sculptures with expressions of shock.
The remaining Nine Abyss Sect disciples were startled, not even thinking of how to respond, but instinctively activated their techniques to retreat rapidly—they were actually quite familiar with this opponent's methods, as many Nine Abyss Sect disciples had met the same fate in previous decades.
"Yun Qingyue!" someone called out her identity, filled with shock and hatred.
Yun Qingyue now had Spirit Division realm cultivation, capable of serving as an elder in major sects, and wasn't someone ordinary disciples could handle. The Grand Elder had originally been observing from the sidelines, waiting for his disciples to handle the situation, but seeing this development, he could no longer remain passive.
His expression became extremely ugly, and with a wave of his sleeve, an attack shot toward Yun Qingyue... The Grand Elder had at least Fusion realm cultivation, possibly late-stage Fusion. His attack on Yun Qingyue was like her previous attacks on those disciples—pure bullying.
With an attack of such magnitude, Yun Qingyue naturally wouldn't be unaware of it, yet she didn't even turn her head, continuing to strike at the Nine Abyss Sect disciples.
Was she unable to react in time? Of course not!
A white figure appeared just in time, shielding her from behind, fiercely blocking the killing move. Then she raised her hand, beckoning to the Grand Elder with an arrogant expression: "Come, I'm your opponent."
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo held back the Nine Abyss Sect's offensive, one fighting the disciples, the other battling the elder.
The current situation wasn't particularly good. The former faced too many opponents, making it tricky despite her realm advantage. The latter was in an even worse position—Jiang Mo only had early-stage Fusion cultivation, and even with her divine beast status advantage, she was at a disadvantage against the late-stage Fusion Grand Elder. Moreover, Jiang Mo had spent these years focused solely on cultivation, while the Grand Elder had accumulated thousands of years of battle experience to reach his current level. There was no comparison between their combat experience.
Simply put, Yun Qingyue was engaged in a difficult battle, while Jiang Mo could only hold on temporarily. The others, seeing this situation, wanted to help but were unable to do so, especially on Jiang Mo's side, where ordinary cultivators couldn't even intervene.
Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi had high cultivation levels, but their spiritual power was currently restricted, preventing them from taking action.
The two, normally composed, were somewhat anxious now. Zhu Baiyi grabbed the rag doll-like merperson and harshly demanded: "Did you tamper with the spiritual power restriction on this island?"
The merperson greatly feared the white tiger because he couldn't defeat her, but with the current restriction on spiritual power, he wasn't afraid of these people. Even though he was seriously injured, he still had usable spiritual power. Therefore, he didn't take Zhu Baiyi's questioning seriously at all—to him, the Nine Abyss Sect members wanting to destroy the altar weren't good people, and the white tiger wasn't benevolent either. It would be best if both sides fought to mutual destruction.
He had no intention of answering Zhu Baiyi's question, and even felt offended by her actions, so he raised his hand to push her away. However, halfway through raising his hand, he suddenly felt a tremor from deep within his soul, causing his entire fish body to freeze.
Zhu Baiyi narrowed her eyes, her entire being radiating a dangerous aura: "I'll ask once more. How can the spiritual power be restored?"
Just as the white tiger could easily suppress spirit beasts and demon beasts of lower rank, the merperson now felt a bloodline suppression. He couldn't help but feel fear, and facing Zhu Baiyi's questioning, he no longer had any will to resist. He didn't even have time to consider the identity of the person before him, and stammered: "Th-there's no way. This island has a natural Spirit-Binding Formation."
Natural formations are the most concealed and the hardest to break. Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu had previously overlooked the island from a mountaintop and had people traverse the entire island, yet they hadn't discovered the hidden Spirit-Binding Formation until now, finally realizing its existence.
However, regarding the claim that there was no way to restore spiritual power, the two didn't believe it, especially with examples right before their eyes.
Zhu Baiyi pointed at the two fighters and asked: "If there's no way, then how did they restore their spiritual power?"
Hearing this, the merperson instinctively turned his head, looking at the two who were in the heat of battle, feeling like crying: "I don't know either!" If he had known, how would he have revealed himself so easily, and how would he have ended up in such a predicament?!
While the questioning of the merperson yielded no results, Jiang Mo was also struggling in her battle. She had no choice but to seek help from her external aid again: "System, I'm about to lose. Do you have anything for emergencies?"
The system assessed the situation and once again recommended: "Host, the Formation-Breaking Pearl! For 1,000 points, you can turn the tide of battle!"