Xinyue was on her feet in seconds, sword drawn.
"Diabolism"she muttered.
"Here?In broad daylight?"Ling interjected.
It really was a most brazen move, given how intolerant the cultivation world was towards diabolic cultivation and all who practiced it.
"Ling, it is our duty to protect these people. Will you work with me?".
"Yes, Shijie".
"Good. Let's go".
They stepped out of the shade, and Xinyue looked around for the culprit,whom she did not see.
"They're not attacking, but this spell reeks of hostility. What could they be planning?"she said.
"The whole area is covered,"Ling replied "something to do with the people?".
"A crowd..."his Shijie mused.
With a deep exhale, she sheathed Banlu and put her hands together.
An aura of silvery energy coated her,then spread through the entire place.
"This is bad"she concluded.
"What is it, Shijie?"he asked quickly.
"There are barriers in place at the four corners of this place, and smaller arrays at each one. You were right, this place is being attacked because there is a very large number of people gathered here. It's a ritual".
"A ritual for what?".
"I don't know, but we must hurry. If we don't dissolve the arrays, everyone here is going to die".
Needless to say, the regular people there were already running helter skelter. Fortunately, there were a reasonable number of cultivators among the crowd.
Suddenly Xinyue remembered.
"A-Yue".
*
*
*
"Shixiong, what is going on?".
A rather funny question, since she could very well see for herself what was going on.
"We should find the spellcaster"was Yuchen's response.
"Okay, but how do we do that?".
Yuchen didn't reply, instead he turned around in a careful circle.
"There".
He had taken off on Fenlide before Yingyue could understand what he had just said.
"Shixiong, you're doing it again!"she grumbled as she pulled out Xinying and hurried after him.
He was so good at leaving her behind!
Surprisingly though, he let her catch up before heading straight for the roof of an inn that towered several feet above all the other buildings.
Yingyue did not need to ask him why, though. Now that they were airborne, she saw it clearly- the large sphere of diabolic energy, thick and heavy with a blackish-purple hue.
It was not until they landed on said roof, though, that she caught a glimpse of the shapely woman in a fancy dress. Neither of them could see her clearly, though, thanks to all that dreadful aura.
In a second, Fenlide had gone flying towards her like an arrow from the bow of a martial god.
Despite having her back to them, the woman turned sideways right in time. It was a deliberately arrogant action,as if she considered them unworthy of her full attention.
"Tch".
That was the last thing they heard before they- Yuchen, Yingyue and even the attacking Fenlide, vanished entirely from the venue.
*
*
*
Haoran hacked down one more fierce corpse, wiping his forehead furiously with his sleeve.
"Where the heck are all these things coming from?".
He had come here to attend the lantern festival, not to find himself battling swarms of grotesque creatures. Was one peaceful day really too much to ask for? And where the hell had Pan Chao gone? Did he plan on getting himself half killed again?
Argh! At that very moment, Pan Haoran really hated the whole world.
First it was that weird diabolic array,then these things just started pouring from it, attacking and tearing to shreds whoever they got their hands on with those terrifyingly sharp teeth of theirs.
There really was no end to them. No matter how many fell to his sword, there were always more to take their place.
Suddenly, there was a blinding silver glare,then a beautiful sword swept by in a smooth silver arc, obliterating every one of them.
"Pan Haoran,is it?".
Haoran turned immediately to offer a most respectful bow to the Saintess of the Silver Blade.
"You're here, Shijie".
There were five people that Haoran absolutely adored- Sect leader Pan, and the members of the A-list.
He looked up to see her answering nod, and the two people standing behind her.
Ling and Chao.
Haoran was so relieved he just might fly.
"A-Chao! Where in the world did you go?".
"That's not important right now"Chao replied.
"I need your help to stop all this, Pan Haoran. Will you help me?"Xinyue asked.
"It would be my honor, Shijie".
It was a little creepy, the way Haoran transformed into such a meek Shidi.
"Thank you. Now listen carefully, we are running out of time. Aside from the array above us, there are four arrays at the four corners of this place. Each of us needs to find one of these arrays. Once you locate it, do not try to dismantle it. Just release a signal and I'll come over, do you understand?".
"Yes, Shijie".
"Alright. Scatter".
Cultivators' speed was amazing. They were gone from that spot the as soon as she spoke the last word.
Xinyue arrived at her destination first. She studied the barrier critically. At first glance, it looked like there was nothing there, but up close she could see the faintest red tint in the air. Cautiously, she reached out, but there was a sizzling sound, and zap like lightening. When she drew her hand back, her fingers were bleeding.
"A demon formula".
Odd.
Very odd.
The demon race were most compatible with diabolic cultivation, and humans could never hope to use it as well as they did, no matter how hard they tried. However, this barrier was definitely a demonic spell. It wasn't something a human being should be able to create.
"What in the world is going on?".
Cases of diabolic cultivators making trouble in the cultivation world was nothing new, but could it be that this one was working with demons? That really should not be possible at all. Like, the demons had already been sealed away fifty years ago, and by the Jade Emperor himself, no less.
Still... what if...
Xinyue shook her head. She had to focus.
She looked down in search of the array. It was pretty hard to miss,a smaller replica of the one hovering above everyone. It looked a little different, though.
As soon as she drew closer, she understood why. There were bright blue orbs amidst the patterns that appeared to be drawn with blood.
Xinyue's eyes widened in horror.
"Sickening... this is sickening...".
These were souls. Souls who had been forcefully bound with diabolic cultivation and denied the right to rest in peace. This was cruelty on a totally different level.
The Saintess knew she had to set them free. After forming a series of hand signs, she stretched out her hand towards the array, flooding it with her energy.
The air around the array crackled dangerously, but she persevered, until a sound rang out, like breaking glass. The souls floated towards the sky, but Xinyue took out a soul-trapping pouch and collected them all.
Letting them drift to the array above would only be endangering them further.
A sharp pain ripped through her, but she paid it no heed. She still had a lot to do.
A signal exploded in the air, attracting her attention. One of the juniors had found another array.
She hurried over without delay. More lines drawn with blood, more trapped souls.
When she was done, she and Ling hurried on to the next, to Chao, and then to Haoran.
Soon, all the arrays had been dismantled, and Xinyue was feeling a little ill.
"What now, Shijie?".
"I will confront the diabolic cultivator now, while I try to break the barrier somehow. Help everyone else as much as you can, and as soon as it breaks, get them out".
"Will you be okay, Shijie?"Haoran asked with obvious concern.
"I will be fine, thank you, Pan Haoran".
Without further delay, she took off.
"A position from where they can observe a grand scale ritual,"she mused as she ran"a place from where they can spot any approaching threat. A convenient spot...".
Minutes later, she was leaping from roof to roof. Her target spotted her before she arrived, and greeted her with a wave of black fire.
The Saintess was not unprepared, and countered the blast with a surge of spiritual energy. The resulting shockwave was enough to send her flying backwards, but she regained her stamina in seconds and landed on her feet. She did not give herself a break before dashing forward with Banlu drawn, all the while making hand signs with her left hand.
It was a jeweled dagger that met her silver blade, and the Saintess was shocked to discover that the strength behind that beautiful knife evenly matched her own.
Worse still,a thick black smoke obscured her opponent's features, rendering them too hazy for her to grasp. Whatever the spell was, it was more effective than any mask.
Nevertheless, Xinyue continued relentlessly with the hand signs. She had infused her energy into barriers, and she intended to shatter them from where she stood.
Unfortunately, battling a demonic barrier and a diabolic cultivator at the same time proved to be a most daunting task, and Xinyue feared her body would not be able to keep up, especially since the multitasking had forced her to be on the defensive.
Her opponent was terrifyingly fast and unbelievably strong, and really was not the sort of person to be fought when one of her hands was occupied. If she was not so powerful a cultivator, Xinyue would have been overwhelmed long ago.
She was already breathing heavily when she made the final sign.
The barrier shattered.
Xinyue could tell that her opponent felt it too, because she paused. The Saintess seized the opportunity to put some distance between them, and her legs failed her almost immediately, bringing her down to her knees.
It was no surprise.
Only fools tampered with demonic spells like that, and the fact that she was still alive after dismantling the arrays and barrier singlehandedly was already a miracle on its own. She wiped the blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth as she rose painfully to her feet, ignoring the pain flaring in her chest.
Her opponent hesitated no more. Quick as a streak of lightning, she dashed forward, but Xinyue blocked what would have been a killing blow with Banlu.
The Saintess' arms were screaming in protest, and her entire body felt like it was on fire from the backlash of dismantling those demonic spells,yet she gritted her teeth and held on. She could only hope that the juniors had indeed succeeded in escaping with everyone else.
She leapt back again, creating more distance as she flexed her arms to restore the feeling to them. She could feel her senses dulling, her breathing growing even more laboured.
Looks like she really pushed herself too hard this time.
The diabolic cultivator swung her arm, and a swarm of uncountable blades blackened by poison came flying towards Xinyue.
Before she could even think about reacting, Yuchen appeared,as if out of thin air, and effortlessly deflected every single blade with Fenlide.
"Pan Yuchen?"Xinyue called in surprise.
"Jiejie!"Yingyue landed beside her"are you alright?".
Xinyue looked from Yingyue to Yuchen.
"You two...".
"You should get your sister out of here,"Yuchen said.
"Yes, Shixiong. C'mon, Jiejie".
"Wait, where did you two come from?".
"Some place, Jiejie. I... really can't explain".