Chapter 82

I am very grateful for qiuning's reward.

In the midst of a snowstorm five miles outside the capital city, Xu Ziyān’s skin had turned completely blood red. Her eyes were bloodshot and protruding, and her body was trembling uncontrollably.

Yang Leng and the others inside the talisman array were also extremely anxious. They couldn’t see what was happening outside, but Yang Leng had already realized that he was facing a master of talisman arrays. The seemingly unremarkable top-grade second-rank talismans had been transformed into something extraordinary in the hands of the opponent, forming an array that trapped them.

Moreover, he could imagine that the opponent would certainly send someone back to the capital city for help. If he were trapped for a bit longer, Xu Haoran, the head of the Xu family, would come personally. At that time, his life would be at stake.

Therefore, Yang Leng was extremely anxious. Originally, he thought that with his cultivation, even if the opponent set up a talisman array, he could easily break it. And indeed, under his attacks, the talisman array that trapped him was about to collapse.

However, just as a look of joy and relief appeared on his face, the talisman array, which was about to collapse, suddenly emitted a bright light and stabilized again.

Yang Leng’s face twitched, and he didn’t understand why, but time didn’t allow him to think too much. He turned to Yang Linglong and her two subordinates and said dryly:

"Let’s attack together!"

Yang Linglong’s face also changed. She immediately understood the situation and quickly called her two subordinates to join Yang Leng in attacking the talisman array.

Under the simultaneous attacks of Yang Leng and the others, the talisman array’s bright light quickly dimmed. At the same time, the spiritual energy in Xu Ziyān’s body, as if finding an outlet, rushed into the talisman array, causing it to shine brightly again.

Yang Leng was very frustrated. He didn’t know why this was happening and could only continue to attack the talisman array.

Although the spiritual energy in Xu Ziyān’s body was being released through the confrontation with Yang Leng and the others, it was still insufficient to resolve the crisis within her body. Her skin gradually swelled, like a bag filled with air, about to burst.

Suddenly, Xu Ziyān clearly heard a crisp sound from within her body, as if something had broken. The snowflakes swirling around her body suddenly seemed to be driven away, rushing towards her body. The fluctuations of the earth’s spiritual energy followed, and although Xu Ziyān’s body already contained too much spiritual energy, the earth’s spiritual energy continued to surge into her body.

Soon, the heavy snow covered Xu Ziyān’s body. It accumulated thicker and thicker, eventually forming a large white cocoon that tightly enveloped her.

At this moment, it was as if a new channel had opened within Xu Ziyān’s body. The previously chaotic river of energy suddenly found a path and surged forward. Under the pressure, one of Xu Ziyān’s meridians was opened, breaking through a cultivation barrier, and her cultivation level directly rose to the sixth level of the Qi Condensation stage.

The surging energy flowed rapidly through the newly opened meridian and the previously opened meridians, heading straight for the dantian. The qi vortex in the dantian suddenly grew, absorbing a vast amount of spiritual energy.

However, the opening of just one new meridian only temporarily alleviated the expansion of the spiritual energy, without completely resolving Xu Ziyān’s dangerous situation. As her cultivation level increased with the growth of the qi vortex, it quickly reached the peak of the sixth level of the Qi Condensation stage and continued to try to break through to the seventh level.

The snow outside continued to fall, and the wind grew stronger. The large snowball that enveloped Xu Ziyān slowly floated up. Xu Ziyān’s hand was still gripping the talisman array, and as she floated up, the talisman array also rose, carrying Yang Leng and the others inside it into the air.

The snow grew heavier, and the wind became more intense. The large snowball that enveloped Xu Ziyān was carried away by the wind.

Inside the talisman array, Yang Leng didn’t know what was happening and continued to attack the array fiercely, hoping to break it as soon as possible.

"Crack!"

Another crisp sound was heard, and the surging spiritual energy in Xu Ziyān’s body calmed down again, rushing into another newly opened meridian. Xu Ziyān’s cultivation level suddenly broke through again, reaching the seventh level of the Qi Condensation stage. This was not the end; her cultivation level rapidly soared, quickly reaching the peak of the seventh level and stopping just before the barrier to the eighth level, gathering strength to break through.

As time passed, Xu Ziyān continued to break through, being carried by the wind for over a hundred miles. At this point, the spiritual energy in her body had mostly calmed down, and her cultivation level had reached the peak of the tenth level of the Qi Condensation stage.

"Boom~"

The large snowball around Xu Ziyān burst, revealing her with her eyes closed. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked around and found herself in the air. Looking down, she saw a dense forest. Xu Ziyān was stunned for a moment, then realized that she had been carried far from the main road by the wind.

Thinking that Xu Lin and the others should have already returned to the capital city, she knew it was time for her to leave. More importantly, with the increase in her cultivation, she felt a sense of clarity in her mind, knowing that this was a rare opportunity for enlightenment.

She looked up at the talisman array in front of her and heard the rumbling sounds inside. Xu Ziyān frowned slightly, suddenly feeling that the sound was disrupting her state of mind. She released her hand, and her soul quickly expanded, merging with the earth and sky. The Water Ice Technique’s cultivation method appeared in her soul, and Xu Ziyān’s figure disappeared in the snow, wandering in the wind and snow.

Five miles outside the capital city, Xu Haoran and a group of family elders stood in the snow, their faces dark, especially Xu Haoran and Xu Haobo, whose faces were as cold as ice. Turning to Xu Lin, Xu Haoran asked:

"Are you sure it’s here?"

"Yes!" Xu Lin answered respectfully, his face full of anxiety.

"Search!"

Xu Haoran shouted, and dozens of people immediately flew in all directions, searching within a fifty-mile radius.

However, the result was disappointing for Xu Haoran; they found no trace of Xu Ziyān.

"Yang family! Zhou family!"

Xu Haoran gritted out a few words, his fists tightly clenched, the veins on his forehead bulging. After a long sigh, he said weakly:

"Let’s go back!"

A dozen people flew back to the capital city on their swords. Upon arriving, Xu Haoran and Xu Haobo turned back to look at the outskirts of the city, their faces full of sorrow. They exchanged a glance, and the same thought crossed their minds:

"How will we explain this to Xu Haoguang?"