Crisis

Below, in the Black Wind Swamp.

Bai Qingxue suppressed the urge to turn back and provide support, pushing her speed to the limit as she plunged into this treacherous land shrouded year-round in gray-black poisonous miasma. The moment she entered the swamp, her vision and spiritual sense were severely limited. The air reeked of decay and deadly toxins, the ground beneath her feet was soft and dangerous mire, and occasionally eerie black shadows flickered beneath the murky water's surface.

She dared not linger. Following a vague sense of direction from memory, she flew toward the swamp's depths—toward the core region where, according to rumors, the magnetic disturbance was most chaotic. Little Snow followed closely at her side, nimbly avoiding puddles and hidden dangers.

She could feel the violent spiritual energy fluctuations from the distant sky behind her, along with Yu Chenzi's undisguised, frenzied killing intent. She could also feel Aunt Bai Wei and the others' auras rapidly weakening. Her heart felt as if cut by knives, yet she could only transform her grief and rage into strength, desperately pressing forward.

She didn't know how long she had flown when the rumbling behind her seemed to weaken slightly, but that feeling of being locked onto never faded. Yu Chenzi clearly possessed some tracking secret technique that allowed him to roughly determine her direction even in this heavily disrupted environment.

Suddenly, a strange area appeared in the swamp ahead. Here the mist took on a dark red hue, and chaotic magnetic forces drifted through the air, making Bai Qingxue feel her spiritual energy circulation becoming sluggish. Her spiritual sense was compressed to only a few zhang in front of her. Scattered across the ground were oddly shaped, magnetized black rocks.

"This is it—the edge of the 'Chisha Magnetic Abyss' in Black Wind Swamp." Bai Qingxue's heart steadied slightly. This extreme environment might interfere with tracking to a greater degree. She found a relatively dry mound half-surrounded by several massive magnetic stones and landed, quickly setting up a small concealment formation. She also gripped the jade pendant Dustin had given her—its special material seemed to have some effect on calming the mind and warding off external malevolence.

She sat cross-legged, trying to seize the time to meditate, but her mind was unsettled, worried about Bai Wei and the others' safety.

High in the sky, the battle was nearing its end.

Yu Chenzi attacked with fury, his power terrifying. Though Bai Wei and her three companions fought desperately in formation, the gap in strength was too great. After taking over a dozen of Yu Chenzi's violent thunder techniques head-on, the sword formation finally couldn't hold and shattered with a boom.

"Pff—!" Bai Wei bore the brunt, struck in the chest by a bolt of lightning. She sprayed blood wildly and plummeted like a kite with its string cut.

"Aunt Wei!" The other three's eyes nearly split with rage as they desperately rushed to rescue her, only to be ensnared by the lightning net Yu Chenzi casually cast.

"A bunch of trash! You dare block my way?" Yu Chenzi didn't even glance at the four falling figures. His spiritual sense had long locked firmly onto that faint but clear cold aura in the swamp below—Bai Qingxue! He smiled grimly and transformed into a streak of light, about to plunge into the swamp.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

From somewhere in the Black Wind Swamp below, without any warning, a dazzling golden pillar of light rose straight into the clouds! The light pillar contained pure and vast spiritual energy, instantly dispersing some of the poisonous miasma and even temporarily calming the chaotic magnetic disturbance!

This sudden development not only made Yu Chenzi pause mid-flight, but even the gravely wounded, semi-conscious Bai Wei and the three Bai family disciples trapped in the lightning net instinctively looked toward the golden pillar.

Even more surprising, the direction from which the golden pillar rose seemed not far from the edge of the "Chisha Magnetic Abyss" where Bai Qingxue was hiding!

Yu Chenzi's pupils contracted. He had never heard of such a phenomenon in Black Wind Swamp. But the spiritual energy in that pillar made even him feel a twinge of unease. "Could it be some heavenly treasure emerging? Or..." His thoughts raced, but the hatred of his wife's murder instantly suppressed his curiosity. "Whatever you are! I'll kill Bai Qingxue first!"

He was about to continue his dive when he noticed two figures faintly appearing within the golden pillar of light. One of them gave him a strange sense of familiarity and... wariness?

At the same time, in the swamp below, Bai Qingxue, who was meditating while gripping the jade pendant, was also startled by this golden pillar so close at hand. She looked up in astonishment, peering through the faint glow of her concealment formation toward the pillar. The white jade pendant in her hand had suddenly grown warm, emitting a soft white light that seemed to resonate with the golden pillar!

"This is..." Bai Qingxue's heart shook violently as an incredible thought surfaced. "Could it be... Young Master Dustin? But isn't he a mortal who lost all his cultivation? The spiritual energy in this golden light..."

She had no time to think further, because after Yu Chenzi's brief pause, his killing intent locked onto her once more. Ignoring the anomaly of the golden pillar, a supremely sharp cyan sword energy had already torn through the miasma, slashing down ferociously toward the mound where she hid!

The concealment formation shattered like paper under the enraged strike of a Golden Core cultivator!

Bai Qingxue's face went deathly pale. She struggled to summon what little spiritual energy remained, condensing an ice shield before her while rapidly retreating.

"BOOM!"

The sword energy struck down, the mound crumbled, and mud sprayed everywhere. The ice shield shattered, and Bai Qingxue was caught by the shockwave, coughing up another mouthful of blood. She staggered backward and fell into a patch of mire, her aura even more feeble. Little Snow was also sent flying by the blast, landing not far away, crying out anxiously.

Yu Chenzi's figure descended through the still-settling dust and lingering golden glow, landing before Bai Qingxue. His gaze was ice-cold and cruel, like a venomous snake watching its prey.

"Bai Qingxue, you can't escape." Yu Chenzi slowly raised the long sword in his hand, cyan light flowing along its blade. "First I'll sever the tendons in your hands and feet, then destroy your dantian. Then I'll take you back to the Yu family, and before my beloved wife's spirit tablet, I'll have you executed by a thousand cuts, your soul extracted and refined!"

– Marinien