Chapter 69: Don’t Chicken Out

Three great arrays. Three overwhelming waves of pressure.

And across from them, three thousand Nascent Soul Stage Yin Soldiers.

The Yin Soldiers stood in perfect formation, clad in tattered armor, gripping rust-covered battle halberds. They did not breathe. They had no expressions. Only the ghostly blue flames flickering in their eye sockets proved they existed at all.

Three thousand pairs of ghostly blue eyes stared coldly ahead.

—

The eerie silence lasted for three breaths.

Then-

“Charge!”

At Tianjue’s command, the Wuya Heaven-Breaking Array was the first to move!

The array surged forward like a colossal golden sword, tearing through the air as it hurtled toward the Yin Soldier army!

Right behind it, the Holy Spirit Demon-Slaying Array moved!

A green radiance shot skyward, transforming into a roaring giant beast that charged in right after!

The Tianyue Star-Breaking Array was the last to launch!

Moon-white light condensed into a massive curved blade that swept out horizontally!

Three arrays. Three torrents of power. All crashing simultaneously into those three thousand Nascent Soul Yin Soldiers!

—

BOOM!!!

The earth-shaking explosion rang out!

Countless bursts of spell-light detonated, illuminating the entire sky!

The Nascent Soul Yin Soldiers finally moved!

They took one unified step forward. Three thousand battle halberds rose as one and slashed toward the three arrays!

The clash of metal, agonized screams, and furious roars blended into a single deafening cacophony!

The slaughter had begun!

—

Lin Xiaoyu stood in the distance, watching it all unfold.

With the Eye of Heavenly Punishment open to its limit, she could see every detail of the battlefield clearly.

The Wuya Heaven-Breaking Array was like a sharp sword, carving a gap into the mass of Yin Soldiers. But those Yin Soldiers feared death no more than puppets, surging forward endlessly. The gap was quickly filled again.

The giant beast formed by the Holy Spirit Demon-Slaying Array was ferocious, but every time it destroyed a Yin Soldier, several battle halberds would strike it in turn. Cultivators within the array kept falling.

The Tianyue Star-Breaking Array was the most agile. That moon-white curved blade wove through the horde of Yin Soldiers, its every rotation reaping several of them. But there were too many Yin Soldiers. It was impossible to kill them all. Absolutely impossible.

—

The three arrays were advancing, slowly but surely.

But every step was paved with blood.

—

Lin Xiaoyu gripped her sword hilt.

She watched the cultivators falling one after another. Watched the Yin Soldiers fighting with insane ferocity. Watched Hanling Hall growing closer and closer.

She suddenly remembered her master’s words.

“When the opportunity comes, don’t chicken out.”

She drew a deep breath.

Then, she moved.

Not toward the arrays.

But around to the flank.

Under the gaze of the Eye of Heavenly Punishment, she could see it clearly.

Those three thousand Yin Soldiers were immensely powerful, but their attention was wholly absorbed by the three arrays.

The flank. There was a gap.

—

Driving the Heavenly Dao Evasion Art to its limit, her figure darted through the shadows.

One Yin Soldier sensed something amiss and turned its head.

But all it saw was a violet-gold afterimage, flickering past and vanishing in an instant.

It paused, bewildered, then turned back and continued staring at the battle raging in front.

—

Lin Xiaoyu pressed close to the cliff wall, moving forward soundlessly.

Ahead, it was drawing nearer and nearer.

Hanling Hall was just a hundred zhang away.

The great hall’s doors were wide open. The interior was dark and deep, impossible to make out.

But that ancient, desolate aura washed over her in waves.

—

She was just about to accelerate-

When suddenly, a fierce sword-light struck from the side!

Lin Xiaoyu’s figure flickered, narrowly dodging it.

She turned her head.

Not far away, a man in white was staring at her coldly.

It was the very same lackey who had been whispering in Su Lin’s ear just moments ago.

He had somehow broken away from the Tianyue Star-Breaking Array and stealthily followed her.

“Little girl, you’re pretty good at hiding.”

He let out a cold laugh.

“But did you really think you could walk into that hall alive?”

—

Lin Xiaoyu looked at him.

She said nothing.

She only tightened her grip on her sword.

—

The man was in no hurry either. He strolled forward casually.

“Senior Brother Zhou said to make sure you stay in this secret realm forever.”

He licked his lips, a flash of cruelty passing through his eyes.

“I figured it’d be simpler if you just got surrounded and killed by Yin Soldiers outside.

Never thought a little Qi Refining nobody like you would have the guts to sneak into the Heavenly Palace.”

Before his words finished-

He suddenly froze.

Because Lin Xiaoyu had already moved.

Not retreating. Not dodging. But charging straight at him.

The speed was shocking, leaving a trail of violet-gold afterimages in the air.

The man’s pupils contracted sharply. He barely managed to raise his sword to block.

Clang!!!

Sparks flew everywhere.

The man was sent flying backward, slamming heavily into the cliff face ten zhang away, carving out a deep crater.

He struggled to his feet, his face full of disbelief.

“You-“

Before he could finish, Lin Xiaoyu’s sword had arrived.

He desperately circulated his spiritual power, swinging his blade to parry.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

A rapid chain of collisions erupted before the cliff face.

In three breaths, the two exchanged seventeen strikes.

The man’s hand began to tremble. The web between his thumb and forefinger split open, blood streaming down the sword hilt.

His expression changed completely.

“You… you’re not at Qi Refining Stage!”

Lin Xiaoyu said nothing.

Her answer was an even more ferocious strike.

This strike, he could no longer block.

The Qingfeng Sword pierced through his throat and burst out the back of his neck.

The man’s eyes went wide. His mouth opened and closed, trying to speak, but only a garbled gurgle came out.

Lin Xiaoyu withdrew her sword.

The corpse slid slowly down, leaning against the cliff wall, leaving behind a long smear of blood.

—

Lin Xiaoyu looked down at him.

That face still bore the terror and disbelief of his final moments.

She crouched down, removed his storage ring, and tore a Tianyue Sacred Land token from his waist.

Then, she stood up and glanced at the battlefield still raging in the distance.

The three arrays had pushed deep into the Yin Soldier horde. Every step forward erupted with blood.

Cultivators kept falling. Yin Soldiers kept turning to ash.

Lin Xiaoyu had originally planned to infiltrate quietly.

But after this brief delay, a large group of Nascent Soul Yin Soldiers had already encircled her position.

They swarmed in from all directions, their ghostly blue eyes locked dead onto her.

The halberd in his hand gleamed with a cold, sharp light.

In that brief exchange just now, quite a few Yin Soldiers had already begun surging toward her.

One. Two. Ten. Twenty.

In the blink of an eye, several dozen Nascent Soul-level Yin Soldiers had completely surrounded her.

*

In the distance, the three great formations were still locked in fierce battle with the main Yin Soldier force.

Someone happened to glance over and caught the scene unfolding here.

They saw the white-robed corpse lying beneath the stone wall, and Lin Xiaoyu encircled by the Yin Soldiers.

“Look over there!”

“Isn’t that Lu Feng? Why is he lying there?”

“Don’t tell me he went to save that little girl and the Yin Soldiers got him…”

“Tsk, tsk. Even heroes fall for a pretty face.

That Lu Feng usually seemed so sharp. Can’t believe he’d break away from the formation for some Qi Refining stage brat.”

Quite a few people shook their heads and sighed, their gazes carrying a mix of pity and mockery.

The way they saw it, Lu Feng must have noticed the girl was in danger, charged over to play the hero, and ended up dead himself.

As for the girl…

Qi Refining stage, surrounded by dozens of Nascent Soul Yin Soldiers. What suspense could there possibly be?

*

Only Su Lin furrowed her brow slightly.

She remembered the words Lu Feng had spoken in her ear just moments ago.

That tone, that expression — it was unmistakably directed at that girl called Lin Xiaoyu.

It hadn’t looked like he was trying to save her.

It seemed more like… he wanted to harm her.

But the battle was far too intense. Wave after wave of Yin Soldiers kept surging forward. She had no time to dwell on it.

She could only pour all her strength into operating the formation, holding back that endless onslaught.

*

Soon enough, no one spared this place another glance.

Just some Qi Refining stage brat.

On a battlefield of this caliber, she didn’t even qualify as cannon fodder.

*

And yet…

Lin Xiaoyu moved.

The Heavenly Dao Divine Art churned madly within her body as purple-gold Heavenly Dao Primordial Power surged into the blade.

Her figure darted through the Yin Soldier ranks like a bolt of lightning!

One slash!

The Nascent Soul Yin Soldier charging at the front raised its halberd to block.

CLANG!!!

Sparks sprayed everywhere. The Yin Soldier was forced back three steps, a deep crack snaking across its halberd.

Lin Xiaoyu gave it no chance to catch its breath. Her second strike was already descending!

This time, it could block no longer.

The Qingfeng Sword sheared through its halberd and bit into its neck.

The Yin Soldier’s body, armor and all, was cleaved in two with a single stroke, crumbling into ash.

*

One.

Two.

Three.

Lin Xiaoyu’s figure threaded through the Yin Soldier swarm, every strike dealing crippling damage.

Those Yin Soldiers were powerful, yes, but their movements were stiff, their reactions slow.

Her Heavenly Dao Evasion Art, meanwhile, was exquisitely refined. She wove between them effortlessly, as if strolling through an empty field.

Every three or five strokes of her sword, another Yin Soldier fell.

*

The distant battlefield still shook with the roar of slaughter.

No one was paying attention to this place.

No one saw that Qi Refining stage brat they had written off as cannon fodder.

Single-handedly massacre dozens of Nascent Soul Yin Soldiers in mere moments.

*