The silver-light formation sand twisted and twirled in the air like ribbons in a whirlwind, rushing towards the Leaf Edge immortal gu in the rank eight Flying Leaf Coiling Vine Formation.
"Stop it! Don't let it inside the formation!" - The Bao clan immortals frantically tried their best to halt the silver sea's intrusion.
But this core of the immortal formation was like a punctured boat, a gaping hole for the silver sand to pour forward with great momentum. Like the venom of a deadly snake, it exerted its effect almost immediately.
"Ugh! So heavy!"
"What is happening to the formation?"
"Do not slack! Keep pouring in your essence!" - Shouted the third supreme elder, Bao Chi Ping,.
The silver sand infiltrated the formation and started to spread wildly.
The immortals in the formation noticed a sharp increase in the formation's essence consumption.
Two times.
Three times.
Five times...
One after another, Bao Yijun used beads of her rank seven red date immortal essence to continue to fuel the formation, but to no avail.
No matter how much they struggled the formation kept slowing breath by breath.
Not giving up, the formation shook and creaked intensely, the greater the force it created, the more the formation sand impeded it.
"How could this... But this is a rank eight formation!"
A weary horse halts on a path of blue stones; a boat in stormy seas ceases its journey.
The immortal essence flowed like a river, yet just after an incense stick of time, the formation ground to a complete halt.
Like rocks between the cogwheels, the formation sand achieved its ultimate purpose.
Bao clan suddenly found themselves at an impasse.
At the next moment Wen Jie's voice reached their ears:
"Riding the wind and breaking the waves, only to meet the towering cliffs."
"Advancing with vigor, but halted by the unyielding mountain."
"Subduing the strong with gentleness, target the weakness."
"The mountain bows, crumbling to mere grains of sand."
"Conquer the summit to claim the lands."
"Eradicate all who stand in the path."
Bao Lang Chao: "..."
Bao Yijun: "..."
Bao Chi Ping: "..."
The Bao clan immortals had an ashed expression.
But now, what should they do? They looked at each other with uncertainty written on their faces.
Bao Yijun: "We can't stay here and endure passively!"
Bao Chi Ping: "The formation is useless now. We need to retreat into the depths of the grotto!"
Bao Lang Chao's eyes flashed resolutely: "Yijun, you lead the charge. I'm going to hold them as long as I can."
Bao Chi Ping: "Lord Chao, I'll stay too. You are still injured. I will bring up the rear."
They nodded in understanding and charged out of the formation at once.
Bao Yijun flew at the lead with five rank six gu immortals following closely behind her.
Bao Lang Chao kept using his healing methods to recover his injury from Wen Jie. His body had no wounds, this was an injury of his mind. Chaotic emotions kept interrupting his concentration as he covered the escape path for the others.
He and Bao Chi Ping turned to face the Wen clan immortals in the far distance.
Bao Lang Chao used his technique, seven large leaves of elephant ear sprouted from his body. Raising the huge leaves like the feathers of a peacock, they towered tall and wide, blocking the way.
At the same time, Bao Chi Ping used his signature move, Desolate Black Dahlia transformation.
The two rank seven wood path gu immortals aimed to physically block the way.
But at the next moment, Bao Chi Ping unleashed a sneak attack!
His strike caught Bao Lang Chao unprepared. At such a short distance there was no time to react, it struck him dead on.
"Ugh!" - Bao Lang Chao coughed up a mouthful of blood. His interrupted killer move's backlash caused an internal injury.
He endured the pain with gritted teeth. His eyes flashed with shock.
"You? You were the traitor?" - He shouted in anger.
"Ha! Take this!" - Bao Chi Ping, didn't hesitate. He followed up his attack with another.
Bao Lang Chao defended himself, but his injuries worsened.
"Are you surprised? Your and Yijun's suspicions were right. There was a traitor. But it wasn't your son. Haha-ha!" - Bao Chi Ping mocked.
At the mention of his son, Bao Lang Chao's emotions flared up! Indignant and furious, he charged at Bao Chi Ping.
Immortal Killer Move — Great Leaf Grasp!
The seven monstrous leaves curled forward like the fingers of a giant.
The two rank sevens clashed in an exchange of blows.
Memories flashed in Bao Lang Chao's mind.
Bao Chi Ping was Bao clan's indomitable pillar for as long as he knew. He put clan benefits above all else, and wouldn't tolerate any setbacks that would hurt the clan's bottom line.
"How did I not see it sooner? This person was too perfect." - Bao Lang Chao realized.
Because of this, Bao Chi Ping often got pushed aside by the other supreme elders' selfish political interests.
But these selfish interests also saved Bao Chi Ping. When Bao Lang Chao wanted to distance himself from the rumors regarding his son, he sacrificed him.
"The oath! When you protected us from that ink, that was to remove your restrictions! Then you forced us into retreat... Wait." - Realization dawned on his face.
"Your main target was me?"
Bao Chi Ping clapped in mockery.
"Beheading the king. You realized all too late. Without you and me, what can just Yijun do? Your clan is doomed." - Bao Chi Ping explained with a calm voice.
Wen Jie appeared behind Bao Lang Chao at this moment.
Immortal Killer Move — Willing Heart, Faltering Strength!
This was Wen Jie's attached killer move.
Bao Lang Chao was still under the effect of her previous attack from the Treasure Blue Beaver Blessed Land.
Now this killer move attached itself to that killer move to form an even stronger attack. This was a type of a combination killer move that worked best when the target was in an agitated state.
Bao Lang Chao felt like falling into an endless chasm of icy needles, an overwhelming sense of helplessness engulfed him.
He screamed, but no words came out. Even a finger felt too hard to lift at this moment.
Only his darting eyes told the world he was still conscious.
"Well done, Leaf Will." - Wen Jie praised briefly.
"Did it work?" - Bao Chi Ping turned to Wen Jie with a hint of nervousness.
He knew Bao Lang Chao was a notch stronger than him. If it weren't for these circumstances, he wasn't confident in his chances against the first supreme elder's all out strength.
"He is now restrained and suppressed. Let's continue as planned." - Wen Jie smiled confidently.
"Look, Sword Will is about to catch up to the rest." - She pointed in the distance.
From the corner of his eye, Bao Lang Chao witnessed a figure drawing a streak across the sky. His pupils shrunk in his shock.
"This cannot be! That person died of old age two hundred years ago! Why is Wen clan's Eccentric Sword — Wen Jiao Feng still alive?!"
"Oh, you saw something you shouldn't have. Thank me later, your weak heart might not take what's next to come." - Wen Jie swung her fan lightly and Bao Lang Chao's vision faded to darkness as he collapsed unconsciously.
Bao Lang Chao got captured.
Great Root Manor
Bao Zhi landed and hurried into the halls. It was just like he remembered, this place hadn't changed in centuries.
"It should be here." - He stopped at one of the empty walls.
After a moment of stillness, the walls opened in front of him. A hidden passage was revealed.
He followed the narrow and winding stairs down into the heart of this place.
At the end, he arrived at a small dark chamber.
There were no ornaments of lights here adorning the walls. A foul stench and dust lingered in the air.
Bao Zhi used a Brilliance Lotus gu, dispelling the darkness.
A skin-and-bone corpse revealed itself sitting on the floor.
Bao Zhi narrowed his eyes, and kicked the hunched body with all his strength.
"Wake up! I need you."
The corpse was tough like a monolith, Bao Zhi's kick couldn't even scratch it.
The dry husk suddenly came to life. In fact this was no corpse, it was an immortal zombie!
"Grrnngh... Who—krrrgh—phh—phh—dares?" - It groaned deeply and coughed up a large puff of dust.
The immortal zombie's movements were stiff, but it soon composed himself, standing in front of Bao Zhi.
He looked up at the imposing figure of Bao Zhi holding the only light source in the room in his hand.
If he had cheeks, he would be smiling. If he had tears, he would be shedding them at this moment.
"You... You. Made. It... You. Lived." - He spoke slowly in a hoarse voice.
"Come, follow me. We will talk as we go." - Bao Zhi instructed and passed a gu worm to him which let them communicate faster.
The zombie's happiness quickly turned to dismay as Bao Zhi explained the current situation.
"So you are still a gu master..." - The immortal zombie realized the problem.
Immortal zombies had slow minds, they were between life and death. Not dead yet not alive either.
"I have nothing to give you. No gu. No immortal essence. No soul. I am just a remnant will in a dead body." - The zombie transmitted.
"I remember."
"Use me as an immortal material. Make a powerful killer move. Wipe out Wen clan." - The zombie suggested.
Bao Zhi shook his head mentally.
"Shut up! I will do the thinking. Did you already forget your purpose? What would happen to this place if you were gone?" - He rebuked the immortal zombie.
"..."
Through no fault of their own, immortal zombies were dumb as their thoughts were very slow and few in numbers.
High up in the sky, Wen Jiao Feng caught up to Bao Yijun's fleeing party.
His bald head gleamed in the sunlight, contrasting sharply with the long, flowing mustaches that danced behind him in his wake. His body bore the marks of countless injuries, scars crisscrossing him from head to toe.
"Cut! Cut! Thrust! Feel it! Feel how it's like to be cut!" - He shouted at the top of his lung.
Two arcs of sword light shot out like crescent moons, and a ray of piercing sword light followed closely behind.
Wen Jiao Feng used three killer moves right off the start in quick succession.
The fleeing rank six gu immortal activated his defensive killer move, but before it has even halfway formed, his body was already cut into four pieces by Wen Jiao Feng overbearing attacks.
Sword path was notorious for its speed and destructive power.
The situation turned from bad to worse in a moment.
"Who is this rank seven gu immortal?"
"We need to split up!" - Bao Yijun gave the order immediately. The four rank six gu immortals flew in four different directions as fast as they could, Bao Yijun accompanied one of them.
"Splitting up? What a good idea! I'll split you all up nicely." - Wen Jiao Feng laughed.
A streak of blood ran down his arms and chest, exactly where the rank six gu immortal he struck.
"Ah, so good! The joy of cutting, you will all get to experience the joy of cutting! Cut! Cut!" - He shouted and gave chase.
Two arcs of sword slashes flew out at great speeds.
One of the blades missed and flew past, leaving a mirror-smooth cut as it leveled a whole city block.
The Bao clan gu immortal dodged the first one, but the second blade curved its path and sliced his torso in half.
"How dare you try to avoid my cuts?" - Wen Jiao Feng's body shook, a deep gash opened up on his back this time.
"Haha, yes! This is what's worth living for!" - He rejoiced.
Bao Zhi looked up with a cold expression.
He and the zombie just left the unattended immortal treasury.
"Did you remember everything?" - Bao Zhi asked while he activated an immortal gu.
The small, beetle-like immortal gu circled around the two of them before resting on Bao Zhi's shoulder.
"Yes." - The immortal zombie nodded solemnly.
"But are you sure this is going to work?" - He continued.
"I believe in you." - Bao Zhi reassured.
"Haha! Of course, you do. One must trust themselves." - The zombie let out a hoarse chuckle and transmitted the rest.
* * * * *