"Senior Qi, what are your thoughts on their hidden card?" Ji Muchen asked Qi Ximing through sound transmission.
Qi Ximing pondered for a moment before responding confidently, "Regardless of what it is, I am certain that it can only be used once."
Ji Muchen's eyebrows raised slightly, and he immediately understood the underlying message from Qi Ximing. He essentially wanted to use Huo Han and his people as cannon fodder. This made anger appear in Ji Muchen's heart, but he could do nothing in return.
He glanced at several elders who were busy attacking the barrier for a while and gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to call them back. In the end, he decided to sacrifice them.
Sorry, elders. Ji Muchen swears upon my name. I will wield the divine sword to bring glory to our sect. He made a vow in his heart. His mind spun rapidly, trying to figure out how to deal with Qi Ximing.
Qi Ximing seemed to have insight into Ji Muchen's thoughts. He smiled coldly and thought that Ji Muchen was too naive. How could he let go of such a divine sword?
A combination of the forces from the Sacred Flame Sect and the Profound Sword Sect could only manage to create a few cracks in the barrier. They could not go any further than that. As time passed, Huo Han grew increasingly impatient with the lack of results. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong deep within his heart, but he couldn't quite pinpoint it.
Huo Han glanced at Qi Ximing and said, "I would like to ask Senior Qi for assistance."
Qi Ximing frowned with dissatisfaction and said nothing.
Huo Han said further, unhurriedly, "Senior Qi, I have an agreement with Your Majesty. Don't you think you should honor it?"
Qi Ximing snorted coldly upon hearing this. He looked at the barrier for a moment and started to gather profound energy in his right hand. A powerful gust of wind immediately formed around his hand as he slammed it towards the barrier.
Boom—
The impact instantly caused a large hole to appear in the blue translucent barrier. The expressions on the disciples of the Misty Cloud Sect turned grave when they witnessed this scene, yet there was no trace of fear in their eyes. Each of them firmly grabbed their weapons, ready to engage in battle at any time.
"It's time." Yun Ruanyu said to Yun Qianxue after receiving a signal from Yun Lingwei, who had been sent away on a secret mission.
Yun Qianxue had been waiting for this moment for a long time. She rushed into the air with a hazy mist trailing behind her, along with the twelve elders.
"Fall back, none of you are her opponents." Huo Han shouted as his figure flashed, arriving in front of Yun Qianxue.
"Get lost!" Yun Qianxue flicked her wrist slightly, causing several ice pikes to materialize in the air. They rushed towards Huo Han.
"Hmph!" Huo Han snorted and unleashed a scorching crimson flame that engulfed his body. The moment the ice pikes touched the flame, they were instantly melting and evaporating into ice fog.
In the next moment, Huo Han saw the tip of the divine sword appeared before him, aiming at his forehead. Within a split second, a long crimson-colored sword emerged in his hand and he instinctively swung at the divine sword.
Clang!
Their swords collided with each other, making a loud, piercing noise. The impact forced Huo Han to be propelled several meters away before he could regain his balance in midair.
Huo Han glanced at his sword, and his brows involuntarily furrowed upon seeing that it had become chipped. This further confirmed the conjecture in his heart. The divine sword in Yun Qianxue's hand must be the one that Huo Yan was looking for.
Yun Qianxue gracefully swung her sword in a beautiful arc. Suddenly, numerous ice swords that resembled the appearance of the divine sword appeared in the air. With another flick of her wrist, all of them madly shot toward Huo Han, becoming a rain of swords.
"Ha!" Huo Han let out a loud cry. A crimson flame burst out from his body, coalescing into a massive ring of fire. He then directed it towards the oncoming ice swords.
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
The ice swords passed through the ring of fire effortlessly and went straight to Huo Han and several of his subordinates nearby.
Puff!
The ice swords pierced the heads of three men nearby, instantly taking their lives. Meanwhile, Huo Han was struggling to evade the onslaught of ice swords.
Qi Ximing, who had been observing the battle all this time, noticed the abnormality of these ice swords. He clearly saw the three dead men complete their protective barrier in time, but somehow the ice swords passed through them as if the barrier didn't exist.
His eyes fixated on the divine sword, and the greed in his gaze intensified even more. A gust of wind slowly gathered around his body as he uttered, "Gale."
Qi Ximing waved his hand, sending numerous blazing wind blades towards Yun Qianxue and the others.
"Leave it to me." Yun Ruanyu spoke calmly as a beautiful white Guqin appeared before her. She closed her eyes, and her slender fingers began to dance on the strings of the white Guqin.
Clang!
Gentle melody rang out continuously, slowing all the blazing wind blades down and eliminating them before reaching her position.
Qi Ximing's eyebrows raised slightly as he was surprised by Yun Ruanyu's powerful musical sorcery. He said, "I once heard about you before. Originally, it was you who was selected by the previous Sect Master Yun to succeed in her position, but you rejected her… Your Majesty had often praised you back then and even said you were the most talented person in the Heavenly Fortune Nation. Today, I saw it clearly by myself. You're indeed heaven chosen one as Your Majesty claimed."
Yun Ruanyu paid no heed to Qi Ximing's words. Her fingers continued to elegantly dance on the Guqin. Each string trembled, producing a gentle yet hypnotic melody that spread into everyone's ears, pulling the enemy's minds into the artistic concept world.
"Kill!" Yun Qingrou, who had always maintained a gentle appearance, was now shrouded in boundless killing intent. She shot several arrows at Sacred Flame Sect's Elders' heads, finishing them off effortlessly as they were still in a trance by Yun Ruanyu's music spell.
Meanwhile, the Misty Cloud Sect's twelve Elders had also managed to kill at least fifteen opponents during this time frame.
"Qi Ximing! Ji Muchen! "What are you two waiting for!?" Huo Han roared in a furious when he saw his subordinates died one by one. He couldn't do anything to help them because he was entangled by Yun Qianxue.
Ji Muchen turned a deaf ear, appeared unperturbed, even though some of his subordinates were also dying. He had already decided to sacrifice them. Hence, he didn't bother to help them. His eyes were fixed on Yun Qianxue, specifically on the divine sword in her hands, as he patiently waited for the opportune moment to act.
Qi Ximing's face turned cold, filled with a murderous aura, when he heard Huo Han call his name directly. However, he knew this wasn't the right time to start an internal conflict. He spread his right palm, and instantly a gust of wind gathered on it, gradually forming into a small tornado.
"Tempest!" Qi Ximing spoke coldly as he threw the small tornado in his palm toward Yun Ruanyu.
The small tornado kept enlarging its size while traveling through the air toward Yun Ruanyu. The twelve Elders speedily intercepted the tornado's path by teaming up to create several protective barrier layers in front of Yun Ruanyu.
Riip—
The tornado tore the protective barrier layer after layer, pushing the twelve elders away and forcing its way to Yun Ruanyu.
Yun Ruanyu's fingers sped up. The previous gentle melody abruptly changed into a fast and strong one. If the melody earlier was akin to a lullaby, coaxing people to sleep, the current melody was a thousand blades that could kill anyone on its path.
Qi Ximing's tornado collided with an invisible barrier ten meters away from Yun Ruanyu, unable to advance any further. It continued to relentlessly grind against the barrier.
At this time, Qi Ximing's expression grew solemn. He didn't expect Yun Ruanyu to be this powerful. "Sure enough. You've already reached Half-step Ruler Profound Realm."
"How about this? Tempest Domain!" Qi Ximing clapped his hands together, and the surrounding space became chaotic as a raging wind constantly surged wildly.
Yun Qianxue successfully sent Huo Han away, leaving a fatal wound on his body. She turned around to Qi Ximing and saw the raging wind around him gradually expanded toward everyone.
"A domain of pure wind elementals?" Yun Qianxue's brows raised, but there was no agitation in her eyes.
If profound practitioners wanted to break through the Heaven Profound Realm and stepped into the Ruler Profound Realm, they needed to completely master at least one element or a profound intent such as sword intent and spear intent.
After that, they could attempt to create a domain by integrating their power and insights into it. The more elements or intents they integrated, the more powerful their domain could become, but the risk also increased. If they failed to establish a domain in the end, their foundations would also be affected, and their next attempt would be twice as difficult as the last.
Only when they successfully created their domains would they step into the Ruler Profound Realm and become a ruler of their own domain.
The divine sword in Yun Qianxue's hand shone in deep blue light as she raised it high above her head. The droplet symbol on her glabella also glowed, as ice particles slowly enveloped her entire being, transforming her into the Ice Goddess.
Scree!—
The moment Yun Qianxue swung the divine sword down, an illusory image of an Ice Phoenix emerged behind her before flapping its wings towards Qi Ximing's direction with a loud cry.