The war had reignited with explosive force. For mid tier cultivators, those at the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Divine Transformation stages, their battles were already clashes that shook the heavens.
In an instant, violent, colorful surges of power rippled and crashed across the sky. Thanks to the massive golden protective formation enveloping the sect, none of the destructive energy reached the ground. But the sight and sound of it were enough to terrify every disciple below the Golden Core stage, as well as the ordinary citizens in the distant cities who could only watch the apocalyptic light show.
Even in such utter chaos, the battle lines were clearly drawn. Almost everyone instinctively sought an opponent of similar cultivation level, except for Su Min.
The moment the fighting began, Mu Xue, the mid stage Divine Transformation cultivator, locked his murderous intent onto her. Meanwhile, the little Golden Crow was already fully engaged, a blazing sun contending with the withered puppet and the peak stage Mu Kui. Though she clearly held the upper hand, her movements were effectively hindered by the two, leaving her no immediate opening to assist Su Min.
But this was not a problem. Su Min had long anticipated this exact scenario. It was still well within her plans.
"DIE!!!"
True to expectations, Mu Xue roared the instant the battle began, transforming into a crimson streak of light as he charged straight at Su Min, ignoring all others. But at that very moment, the space above him distorted. A massive, ancient mansion, towering like a mountain and radiating profound pressure, materialized out of nowhere and slammed down on him with the force of a falling star.
BANG—
The earth shook violently from the impact even through the barrier. The colossal palace was sent staggering backward from the recoil, while Mu Xue was left dazed and disoriented, barely able to regain his senses and footing.
"A Heaven grade high tier treasure?!"
His face twisted in horror and disbelief at the sight of the palace. Their Blood Puppet Sect only possessed one artifact of this legendary level, and it was held by his elder brother, Mu Kui, who was using it right now against the Golden Crow. So how could there be another one here? The realization made his expression darken with dread.
The artifact was none other than Xie Yingying's Xuantian Mansion, the sole Heaven grade treasure of her former sect, which had always been in her personal possession. Unfortunately, her cultivation had been insufficient to use it before, and the restrictive laws of the Golden Core Avenue had prevented her from summoning it. Now that she had solidly reached the Nascent Soul stage, she could finally activate it, if only to a limited extent.
But using it actively in battle? Without genuine Divine Transformation level power, it was far too draining. After blocking Mu Xue's reckless charge, the palace rapidly shrank to the size of a small model and flew back into Xie Yingying's waiting hand. By then, she had already taken her place beside Su Min, her expression cold and focused.
"Lunar Sovereign Physique?!"
Mu Xue's face grew even uglier when he saw the young woman in black robes. That Heaven grade treasure had put immense pressure on him. The collision had felt like slamming into an indestructible mountain range. With his Divine Transformation level strength, even ordinary mountains would have crumbled to dust under such force.
"Correct, but no reward."
At that moment, Su Min's aura shifted once more. A brilliant, golden light erupted from her body as she activated the power of the Solar Sovereign Physique, meeting Xie Yingying's silver blue radiance with her own.
"Solar Sovereign Physique… but it is incomplete?! How is this possible?!"
Mu Xue's expression finally twisted into sheer, utter disbelief. In his centuries of knowledge, the Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign Physiques were far too overpowering, so much so that the two were never meant to coexist in the same era. Yet here they were, and when their auras met, they resonated, unleashing a terrifying, harmonious pressure, even though Su Min's Solar Sovereign Physique was not fully realized.
Gritting his teeth, he threw himself forward again. No matter what, he had to crush Su Min now, even kill her. As for the Xuantian Mansion? He dismissed it. Xie Yingying's current pale face clearly showed she could not unleash another strike like that so soon.
But in the next instant, Su Min and Xie Yingying seemed to establish a deep, strange connection, their spiritual energies intertwining. The two had spent decades in the Golden Core Avenue experimenting and developing new, efficient ways to combine their Taiyin and Taiyang energies.
At their current early stage Nascent Soul cultivation, killing a mid stage Divine Transformation expert was impossible. But stalling him, or even injuring him, was well within their combined abilities.
Simultaneously, as if sharing one mind, their swords touched, the silver and gold blades crossing.
And in that moment of contact, a massive sphere of fused, chaotic Yin Yang energy, black and white swirling together, shot straight at the charging Mu Xue.
BOOM—
The attack collided with Mu Xue head on.
As the saying went, the finest ingredients often require the simplest methods. The fusion of primordial Taiyin and Taiyang was similarly straightforward. They just mixed the energies together and hurled them out. Any more complexity risked the opposing forces clashing and detonating prematurely.
But underestimating this seemingly simple attack would be a fatal mistake.
Mu Xue, in his impatience and arrogance, did not even bother to dodge. He barreled straight into it, relying on his several defensive treasures to block the strike so he could close the distance and seize Su Min as quickly as possible.
But—
"AAARGH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream of agony tore through the air. The fusion of primordial Taiyin and Taiyang was not so easily resisted. The chaotic energy ate through his defenses like acid. Mu Xue's body was sent flying backward at even greater speed, and when he finally steadied himself, he clutched the bloody, frozen and burned wounds on his chest, sucking in sharp, pained breaths.
The pain was uniquely unbearable, a simultaneous burning and freezing that seared his nerves. Only he knew just how severe and strange that single strike had been.
"I cannot fight them head on. I have to wait until her Solar Sovereign Physique state ends."
In an instant, he realized his only viable option was to stall.
Engaging directly was suicide. But if he dragged this out, Su Min's Solar Sovereign Physique, which was not a true innate physique but a temporary activated state, would eventually fade. Once it was gone, at their mere early stage Nascent Soul level, they could not touch him if he simply avoided confrontation.
And indeed, if a Divine Transformation expert truly chose to evade and run, Su Min and Xie Yingying had no way to deal meaningful, lasting damage. But the two women were not worried.
Because less than a minute later—
A terrifying, sun bright aura exploded across the other side of the sky.
"MU XUE, SAVE ME!!!"
A desperate, final shriek echoed across the battlefield, freezing even Mu Xue mid retreat. When he turned, he saw a horrifying sight. The sect's precious Unity stage puppet was now just charred, broken wreckage falling from the sky. The ancestor's corpse had been completely obliterated by pure solar fire. As for his elder brother Mu Kui? Though slightly better off, his entire body was scorched black, his aura guttering like a candle in the wind. Death was only a breath away.
In that critical split second of distraction—
Su Min and Xie Yingying moved in perfect, fluid sync.
Their hands flew up, forming a rapid series of opposing, mirror image hand seals.
"Yin Seal. Yang Seal. Twin Polar Karma Seal of Yin and Yang—SEAL!!!"
By the time Mu Xue realized what was happening and tried to mobilize his power, it was too late. A brilliant, spinning mandala of black and white light slammed into his chest.
The seal was complete. Back in the Golden Core Avenue, Su Min had barely managed to suppress the Ten Thousand Laws within Yao Xian'er's body, and that was when Yao Xian'er was only at the Golden Core stage. The Ten Thousand Laws themselves had been of an unfathomably high tier.
Mu Xue had nothing of that caliber within him.
So the sealing power rampaged through his meridians unchecked. In an instant, his cultivation base plummeted violently. From mid stage Divine Transformation, it crashed down to early stage Divine Transformation, then further down through late stage Nascent Soul… mid stage…
Mu Xue's face turned deathly pale, feeling his vast power draining away like water from a broken vase.
Meanwhile, Su Min allowed herself a cold, sharp smile.
"Leave him to me. Go support the others."
She dismissed her Solar Sovereign Physique state as she spoke, the golden light fading from her body. Against a true Divine Transformation expert? Impossible. But if his cultivation had fallen all the way down to the Nascent Soul stage? That was a completely different story. Even with his Divine Transformation level body and knowledge, Mu Xue might not fear ordinary Nascent Soul opponents.
But Su Min was no ordinary Nascent Soul opponent. And time was no longer on his side. Mu Kui was already dead, his body incinerated into ash under the little Golden Crow's final assault. Once the divine beast was free, Mu Xue would be doomed.
Moreover, their forces had been decimated. Though the Blood Puppet Sect's secret techniques had given them numerical superiority among the Nascent Soul experts, they were no match for the Azure Dragon King and the Peacock King, who were tearing through them with brutal efficiency.
After all, they were nothing but a pack of weaklings, artificially elevated and unstable.
"Vermilion Bird Idol!"
Su Min did not care what Mu Xue was thinking. Her hands moved swiftly through the air, conjuring a hundred meter long phantom of the Vermilion Bird, its form wreathed in crimson flames. It materialized in the sky with a piercing cry. Without hesitation, she leaped onto its back and shot forward like a blazing arrow.
"I will fight you to the death!"
Seeing the Vermilion Bird charging toward him, Mu Xue clenched his teeth and lunged forward in a final, desperate gamble. He could not even self detonate his spirit now, his power was too sealed. But if he could capture Su Min, there might still be a sliver of hope for negotiation. A deep, bitter regret gnawed at him.
"If only we had brought the sect's resources to Eastern Mulberry Land to beg for forgiveness instead of attacking."
From their investigations, Su Min was known for her reason and mercy. Throughout the Golden Core Avenue, she had rarely killed anyone outright, not even the members of their own sect who had provoked her. But it was far too late for such regrets now.
"Trying to fight me to the death? In your dreams."
Su Min smirked inwardly. With a flick of her wrist, three miniature, condensed Vermilion Bird Idols materialized in the air in front of her. They shot forward one after another, each slamming into Mu Xue's chest in rapid succession.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three concussive explosions rocked the sealed space. Though she could not see him clearly through the smoke and flame, her heightened spiritual senses allowed her to react instantly to his staggering form. She kicked off the back of the large Vermilion Bird phantom and lunged forward herself, sword aimed for his heart.
BOOOOM—
A final, crimson light flashed across the sky, eclipsing all others.
At the same time, a triumphant streak of golden light pierced through the fading chaos from the other side of the battlefield. Mu Kui's head, along with his fleeing spirit, was obliterated into nothingness. Without spiritual energy to resist, his body was incinerated by the Sun's True Flames in the blink of an eye.
In that moment, every last invader from the Blood Puppet Sect had been annihilated. With Xie Yingying joining the fray, the Nascent Soul level battle had ended swiftly and decisively.
Then came the cleanup of the remaining Golden Core cultivators, who were quickly surrounded and subdued.
In less than ten minutes from start to finish, the Blood Puppet Sect's forces, who had arrived with such ferocity and confidence, were completely wiped out.
Not a single one remained alive. The sky, once torn by violence, fell into an eerie, quiet calm, broken only by the crackle of dying flames and the heavy breathing of the victors.