Chapter 69

At the summit of the main peak of the Mystic Pass, Yuan Zhen hurriedly walked into the Mystic Hall.

"Teacher, Vice-Mountain Master Liu..."

Yuan Zhen's expression suddenly changed. He suddenly realized that there was an extra person in the Mystic Hall, and he had not noticed it beforehand.

"How did you come here?"

Yuan Zhen almost instinctively asked the newcomer with a questioning tone.

The newcomer just smiled and did not speak.

"What's the matter? Have you heard from Old Liu?"

Ji Wenlong, as if he had not seen the previous situation, directly asked Yuan Zhen, who had just entered.

Yuan Zhen glanced at the newcomer, knowing that since his teacher was asking in front of him, he did not intend to be secretive. He then pulled out a strip of soft silk from his sleeve and said, "This is the message I received at the foot of the mountain. It should be sent back by Vice-Mountain Master Liu through a wind pigeon."

Ji Wenlong raised his hand, and the strip of soft silk flew from Yuan Zhen's hand into Ji Wenlong's.

Ji Wenlong glanced at the content and laughed in anger, "This old Liu, he actually has the nerve to ask for help. He must be trapped in some corner by the Rose Society, unable to get out, right?"

After saying this, Ji Wenlong directly handed the soft silk to the newcomer and said indifferently, "You can take a look too!"

The newcomer calmly took the soft silk, read the content, and shook his head, sighing, "Even if Ji Elder tries to cover up for him, Vice-Mountain Master Liu won't hear it."

Ji Wenlong remained silent with a cold face.

Although the newcomer showed a certain level of respect to him, his words were clearly much more casual than those of Yuan Zhen and others.

The newcomer waved the soft silk in his hand and continued, "Is Vice-Mountain Master Liu really asking for help? It's more like he's ordering the martial artists on Mystic Pass to launch a rescue, almost as if he's demanding that Mystic Pass send everyone out!"

This was said quite bluntly, but although Ji Wenlong's face was grim, he surprisingly did not refute it.

Ji Wenlong glanced at Yuan Zhen, who was standing there, and said, "Should we save him?"

The newcomer countered, "How do we save him?"

Ji Wenlong remained silent.

The newcomer continued, "Does Ji Elder think Mystic Pass is more important, or Vice-Mountain Master Liu is more important? Or perhaps Vice-Mountain Master Liu plus the Zhu Clan's legacy is more important?"

Before Ji Wenlong could speak, the newcomer waved the soft silk again and said, "The Coral Forest spans a thousand miles. If Vice-Mountain Master Liu really needed help, how could he not specify the exact location? How can we search in a thousand-mile radius? How long will it take?"

"This is clearly because he is trapped but not in immediate danger, yet he fears that others will share his good fortune. So he described the location vaguely, ensuring that if we go to search, we will alert the Rose Society. Then, while we fight to the death with the Rose Society, Vice-Mountain Master Liu can safely take the Zhu Clan's legacy and retreat. He might even have the kindness to help us drive away the Rose Society, and then we would owe him a great favor."

Yuan Zhen couldn't help but say, "It's not just that, right?"

The newcomer bluntly retorted, "What do you know!"

Yuan Zhen's face turned red with anger, but seeing his teacher remain silent and knowing that his teacher, who always valued rules, allowed this person to sit and speak freely, his previous suspicion was confirmed. He could only suppress his anger.

The newcomer, without even looking at Yuan Zhen, smiled and said, "I must say, after all these years, Vice-Mountain Master Liu's habit of scheming has not only not changed but has become even more pronounced."

"Enough, don't say any more. He was once your teacher!"

Ji Wenlong said this with a heavier tone, then continued, "Mystic Pass cannot afford to lose. It seems Old Liu can still hold on, so let's wait until after this major battle."

Finally, Ji Wenlong added, "This time, let it be a lesson for him. I hope he can hold on!"

The newcomer quickly responded, "He will definitely hold on..."

He seemed to want to say more but was stopped by a look from Ji Wenlong.

When Yuan Zhen came out of the Mystic Hall, the feeling of being stifled finally dissipated.

Looking at the clear and solid shadow at his feet, Yuan Zhen thought to himself, "After this battle, I need to focus more on cultivation. Among the three heads of the Academy Guard, only my cultivation is still at the second level of the Martial Realm. I can't fall too far behind, especially not behind the heads of the Teaching Department!"

"Only, why is the shadow at my feet moving..."

Yuan Zhen suddenly looked up and saw a bright moon hanging high in the sky above Mystic Pass.

However, the moon's position in the sky seemed to be changing too quickly, and it looked like it was... falling!

...

In the commercial building, after sending Tian Mengzi and Jin Guanchao away, Shang Xia had just completed the third move of the Intangible Sword Technique.

Perhaps because this sword technique was too mentally taxing, after completing the third move, Shang Xia suddenly felt that the yuan qi in his body seemed to be restless, and he himself felt somewhat agitated.

Leaving the training ground, he walked to the roadside in front of the commercial building and gazed into the distant sky beyond Mystic Pass.

Clouds spread out in the sky like fish scales, and under the slightly dim sky, they looked like a shimmering surface of water surging towards Mystic Pass.

Faintly, Shang Xia could even hear the sound of waves, and the sound seemed to be getting closer.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle—"

The quiet water sounds seemed to resonate with the yuan qi in the world, causing the yuan qi in the martial artists' bodies to gradually accelerate, eventually slipping out of the control of their cultivation techniques.

The yuan qi in Shang Xia's body was slowly accelerating, then surged into his dantian.

If this happened to another martial artist, it might cause a disturbance in the yuan qi foundation in the dantian.

However, in Shang Xia's dantian, the Taiji diagram spanned heaven and earth. The surge of yuan qi could not even cause a ripple, and instead, it startled Shang Xia, who had been distracted.

"Something's wrong with this sound!"

Shang Xia's originally hazy gaze instantly became clear, and he looked out again. The fish-scale patterns in the sky were not clouds but ripples of yuan qi caused by the mysterious sound, surging towards Mystic Pass from all directions.

"Buzz, splash, splash, splash—"

The moment the wave-like yuan qi ripples reached the outer six secondary peaks of Mystic Pass, the six iron chains connecting the peaks began to sway in the air.

The sound of the metal chains surpassed the mysterious sound of the waves from the sky, and the violent shaking of the iron chains disrupted the incoming yuan qi ripples.

In response to the sudden mysterious attack, the protective array of Mystic Pass immediately reacted.

Although the mysterious sound of the waves was covered, it still persisted; although the yuan qi ripples were disrupted, the weakened ripples still penetrated the protective array and affected Mystic Pass.

"Ah—"

Mad cries suddenly came from various positions on Mystic Pass and the six secondary peaks.

This was due to the influence of the sound of the waves, causing the yuan qi in their bodies to become restless, and eventually leading to a loss of control and a breakdown.

Shang Xia looked around and immediately noticed that a few people nearby had pale, red, or panicked faces, or remained relatively calm, clearly due to the restless yuan qi in their bodies.

However, some martial artists remained calm, indicating that their cultivation was stable and their control over their yuan qi was at a high level.

At the same time, Shang Xia suddenly noticed a full moon in the sky above the peak of Mystic Pass, and this moon was falling, and its speed was increasing, heading straight for Mystic Pass!

"Enough!"

A loud shout suddenly came from the peak of Mystic Pass, the sound wave sweeping through the yuan qi surrounding Mystic Pass, instantly spreading to the six secondary peaks and completely extinguishing the sound of the waves from the distance.

A blade of light instantly rose from the peak, flashing across the six secondary peaks, and the cold blade intent instantly filled every corner of the protective array of Mystic Pass, suppressing the aftermath of the yuan qi disturbance.

Ji Wenlong, who was guarding the peak of Mystic Pass, had quickly quelled the hidden dangers throughout Mystic Pass with a single move.

However, at this moment, Shang Xia's full attention was drawn to a giant sword that had flown up from the peak of Mystic Pass.

This was the second time Shang Xia had seen this five-foot-long sword, and he knew from Shang Quan that this was Ji Wenlong's superior weapon, the "Surprised Swallow Sword"!

However, at this moment, the five-foot-long sword was enveloped in an extremely dense yuan qi, transforming into a blade of light that almost spanned the entire sky above Mystic Pass, slicing towards the rapidly falling full moon in the sky!

A moon-cutting strike!

At this moment, everyone around Mystic Pass who noticed the sky above the peak was captivated by this incredible scene.

Under the clear night sky, the falling full moon was instantly struck by a towering blade of light!

A massive burst of light exploded, and the world fell silent for a moment!

Many martial artists who were drawn to this strike instinctively closed their eyes.

When Shang Xia opened his eyes again, he saw a visible shockwave spreading out in a circular pattern from the point of impact, instantly erasing the wave-like yuan qi ripples in the night sky.

At this moment, a massive sound wave finally descended from the sky.

An invisible barrier appeared above the protective array of Mystic Pass but was pressed down into a concave sphere.

The twelve iron chains of the twelve secondary peaks of Mystic Pass trembled in unison, finally dissipating the aftermath of the moon-cutting strike, and the concave sphere gradually disappeared with the barrier of the protective array.

Ji Wenlong was now suspended in the air above the main peak, the Surprised Swallow Sword, which had lost its blade of light, revealing its five-foot-long form, falling back into Ji Wenlong's hand.

The full moon that had illuminated the night sky of Mystic Pass was sliced away by Ji Wenlong, emitting a trembling sound as it seemed to be about to fall to the ground outside Mystic Pass.