Chapter 80

On the ground, Xu Ziyan was startled upon hearing the news. Her body, which had been moving swiftly, suddenly came to a halt. She then leaped upward abruptly, her body spinning continuously like a tornado, breaking through the wind and snow in the air, rising straight up. She turned her gaze to the person chasing her from behind.

The person behind her, upon hearing the person on the flying sword call out to Xu Ziyan, changed his expression and suddenly sped up, shouting as he chased:

“I am Xu Lin from Zhongdu City, who is in front of me?”

As soon as Xu Lin finished speaking, he saw a person rise from the ground like a tornado, stirring up a flurry of snow, appearing before him like a snow dragon.

Hearing Xu Lin's shout, the snow dragon suddenly paused, the swirling snow falling to the sides, revealing Xu Ziyan slowly descending.

“Ziyan!”

Xu Lin, who was on the flying sword, exclaimed in surprise and flew to Xu Ziyan's side with a “whoosh,” descending slowly with her. He asked softly:

“Ziyan, what happened? Why are you here? Who are they?”

Xu Ziyan had already landed on the ground, and Han Yue, Xu Yundong, and Xu Wenli also descended from the air. Xu Ziyan did not answer Xu Lin's question but asked curiously:

“Senior Brother Xu Lin, why are you here?”

“Oh, I was standing on the top of Snowfall Peak at night.” As he said this, Xu Lin's face showed a hint of embarrassment, and he quickly continued:

“I saw a burst of light here and didn't know what was happening, so I came to check it out.”

After speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked at Xu Ziyan with concern. Seeing that Xu Ziyan was not injured, he asked anxiously:

“What was that light just now? I was too far away to hear anything, but I could vaguely see the light flashing. What exactly happened?”

Xu Ziyan introduced Xu Wenli, Xu Yundong, and Han Yue to Xu Lin, explaining their names and identities. After they exchanged greetings, she briefly recounted what had just happened to Xu Lin.

Xu Lin listened with wide eyes, realizing that the light he saw on Snowfall Peak was the result of Xu Ziyan using talismans.

“You mean the Zhou family from Canglang City and the Yang family from Nanlin City have already joined forces to target our Xu family?”

“Senior Brother Xu Lin, don't ask anymore. Let's hurry back to the family and report this to the patriarch!”

“Alright! Let's go!”

At this moment, Han Yue and Xu Wenli were already exhausted, so Xu Yundong was carried by Xu Lin in the air, while Xu Ziyan continued to fly across the snow. Watching Xu Ziyan's dreamlike figure, Xu Lin, like Han Yue and the others, was filled with shock.

As they were about to reach Zhongdu City, only five miles away, a tremendous pressure suddenly descended from the sky. The pressure was like a tidal wave, wave after wave, each stronger than the last, crashing down on them.

Xu Wenli, Han Yue, and Xu Lin, who was carrying Xu Yundong, suddenly felt as if they were weighed down by thousands of pounds, losing their balance and falling from the sky.

Xu Ziyan, who was flying swiftly, suddenly rose like a snowflake caught in the wind, moving backward at an incredible angle but in a natural manner, landing instantly in front of Xu Lin and the others who had fallen to the ground.

Facing the mountain-like pressure, Xu Ziyan stood firm like a rock in a storm, resisting the descending power. Her body felt as if it were under a mountain, her bones creaking, on the verge of collapse.

“Huh?”

A light “huh” came from the sky, and the tidal wave of power suddenly intensified. Xu Ziyan's face turned red, and her breathing almost stopped. She quickly took out ten talismans from her storage bag and scattered them in the air around her, forming a small defensive talisman array.

As soon as the defensive talisman array was formed, the mountain-like pressure immediately disappeared. Xu Wenli, Han Yue, Xu Lin, and Xu Yundong, who had been pressed to the ground, felt a sense of relief, got up from the ground, and looked up at the sky.

They saw the snow in the sky suddenly roll to the sides like a curtain, revealing four figures. It was Yang Linglong and her two subordinates, who had returned, and a man in his fifties standing on a flying sword beside her, coldly staring at Xu Ziyan and the others on the ground. The mountain-like pressure was emanating from this man.

“Are these the people?” the man asked coldly.

“Yes, Uncle Leng! If not for Uncle's chance encounter here tonight, the family's affairs might have been compromised!” Yang Linglong respectfully said to Yang Leng.

“But... with just their strength, how could they escape?” Yang Leng looked at Xu Ziyan and the others, puzzled.

Yang Linglong's face turned red. As the most talented girl in the Yang family, she had never been at a disadvantage before. She had not expected to be helpless against Xu Ziyan. However, she had to explain, so she said with a red face:

“It's all because of Xu Ziyan. She has many talismans, and I couldn't do anything against her.”

“Talismans?”

Yang Leng's eyes flashed with a sharp light, scanning the talisman array floating beside Xu Ziyan. Unfortunately, he had no expertise in talismans, let alone talisman arrays. In the northern part of the continent, apart from those in the sects, how many people in the secular world could recognize talisman arrays?

Although Yang Leng could recognize that the talismans were top-tier second-grade talismans, he believed that even if there were many, they could not harm him, nor could they harm Yang Linglong, who was at the fifth level of the Qi Condensation stage. He frowned, wondering how they could have defeated Yang Linglong.

“Let me try?”

Yang Leng coldly snorted, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and the golden elemental energy above his head rapidly condensed, quickly forming a long spear. The spear tip glinted with a cold light, pointing at Xu Ziyan and the others on the snow-covered ground.

“Go!”

Yang Leng shouted, and the spear broke through the wind and snow, whistling toward the talisman array around Xu Ziyan.

With a “boom,” the golden spear exploded, but the ten talismans forming the array also dimmed, barely holding together, and would not withstand another attack from Yang Leng.

Yang Leng's expression in the air changed, his eyes flashing with sharp light. He had not expected that ten top-tier second-grade talismans, when used by Xu Ziyan, would produce such an unexpected effect.

In the swirling snow, Xu Ziyan and the others' hearts sank. Yang Leng's cultivation was too high, definitely a high-level Qi Condensation stage cultivator. They probably would not leave this place alive tonight.

At this moment, Yang Leng began to clasp his hands in front of his chest again, and the golden elemental energy in the air began to condense wildly. Xu Ziyan gritted her teeth, took out all the remaining top-tier second-grade attack and defensive talismans from her storage bag, about fifty in total, and threw them at Yang Leng and the others in the air, instantly forming a talisman array, trapping Yang Leng and Yang Linglong inside.

Xu Ziyan quickly held the last top-tier fifth-grade talisman in her hand, staring intently at Yang Leng in the center of the array, and said to Xu Lin and the others:

“Quick, go! This talisman array probably won't hold them for long!”

“No! You take them back to the family, I'll stay here!” Xu Lin shouted at Xu Ziyan.

“Go first, I have a top-tier fifth-grade talisman for protection,” Xu Ziyan said anxiously.

Xu Lin suddenly snatched the top-tier fifth-grade talisman from Xu Ziyan's hand, held it with both hands, and shouted at Xu Ziyan:

“Take them and go, I'll stay! Otherwise, I'll charge at Yang Leng and tear this top-tier fifth-grade talisman!”

After speaking, Xu Lin rose on his flying sword, directly charging at Yang Leng, floating outside the talisman array that trapped Yang Leng, looking resolutely at Xu Ziyan below.

Tears instantly fell from Xu Ziyan's eyes, her vision blurred as she looked at Xu Lin in the air. Behind him, Yang Leng, trapped in the array, was continuously attacking the talisman array, the heart-wrenching “boom” sounds particularly startling in the snow.

Xu Ziyan suddenly turned and shouted: “Go!”

She turned and flew toward Zhongdu City, two streams of tears flying in the snow, like two strings of crystal-clear pearls scattered on the snow...