"But Bai Qingxue's strength is considerable. Yesterday she managed to wound you, Immortal Lady. Though you were caught off guard, her Frost Ice Technique is truly formidable. The four of us..." The guard still had reservations.
"What is there to fear!" Immortal Lady Yuxia said impatiently. "She's already badly injured—her strength is greatly diminished. With the four of us working together, and my Purple Lightning Pearl in hand, we can't take down one wounded woman? Besides, my husband knows I'm handling matters here. If there's any real danger, the protective talisman he left me will activate, and he'll sense it and come."
At the mention of her husband, a trace of pride and dependence flashed in Immortal Lady Yuxia's eyes.
Her husband, Jade Dust Master, held a high position among the younger generation of the Purple Sky Jade Family. His cultivation had already reached early Golden Core stage, and he doted on her considerably.
Seeing that Immortal Lady Yuxia had made up her mind, the three guards could only bow: "As you command, Immortal Lady."
"Send a message to the Seventh Elder informing him that Bai Qingxue may have fled to the northwestern mountains. We'll pursue and investigate first—request that the Elder come quickly as support." Immortal Lady Yuxia commanded, then waved her hand. "Move out! Today, that wretch won't escape even if she had wings!"
Four streaks of light rose into the air, racing toward the northwestern mountains. Consumed by her desire for revenge and eager to claim credit, Immortal Lady Yuxia completely failed to notice that these leads had come a bit too "smoothly."
In the valley, Bai Qingxue suddenly opened her eyes.
"They're here." She murmured, receiving through Little Snow's special method a faint sense that at least four considerable auras were rapidly approaching. One of them was unmistakably Yuxia's detestable purple lightning spiritual energy.
She took a deep breath, suppressing the dull pain from her injuries, her gaze sharp as a sword.
With a shift of her form, she quietly left the formation's core and moved to a position near the valley entrance that offered good observation while allowing easy retreat.
Before long, the sound of figures cutting through air echoed as four silhouettes landed outside the valley entrance. It was indeed Immortal Lady Yuxia and her three guards.
Immortal Lady Yuxia surveyed the valley before her. The mist inside was slightly thicker than the surroundings, but that was normal for mountains. Her spiritual sense swept through and detected no obvious anomalies or strong spiritual fluctuations—only a vague sense of faint cold deep within the valley.
"Hmph, so she is hiding here. This mist provides some cover, but unfortunately, it can't mask that cold aura of yours!" Immortal Lady Yuxia was certain Bai Qingxue was healing in the valley. Her heart settled, and killing intent blazed in her eyes.
"Bai Qingxue! Get out here and accept your death! Did you think hiding in this ravine would keep me from finding you?"
Immortal Lady Yuxia channeled her full spiritual power, her shrill voice piercing into the valley and echoing repeatedly. "You saw what happened to those ants of the Wang family, didn't you? That's what happens to those who oppose me! Today, I'll make your fate ten times worse than theirs!"
The valley fell silent for a moment. Then, a cool voice emerged from the depths of the mist—calm and emotionless, yet carrying bone-piercing cold: "Yuxia, you slaughtered innocents and exterminated an entire clan. Heaven's way is clear—retribution is certain. Today, I shall seek justice for those who died in vain."
Before her words faded, a white figure slowly emerged from the mist. It was Bai Qingxue. Her complexion was still somewhat pale, but her posture was straight, her icy gaze fixed on Immortal Lady Yuxia and her group.
"Seek justice? With what?"
Seeing Bai Qingxue appear with her aura indeed weakened, Immortal Lady Yuxia's last trace of doubt vanished. She laughed wildly: "Hahahaha! Bai Qingxue, you dare talk tough when death is upon you! Attack! Take her—I want her alive! But first cripple her dantian and sever the tendons in her hands and feet!"
At her command, the three guards immediately moved, forming a triangular encirclement around Bai Qingxue, their weapons gleaming with various colors of spiritual light.
Bai Qingxue appeared ready to engage, but at the instant the three were about to close in, she retreated rapidly while forming hand seals, crying out softly: "Formation, rise!"
In that moment, the mist in the valley seemed stirred by an invisible hand, suddenly becoming incredibly dense, churning and roiling, instantly engulfing Immortal Lady Yuxia's group along with Bai Qingxue herself.
The mist not only obscured vision but also interfered with spiritual sense. Immortal Lady Yuxia found her spiritual perception sluggish, as if mired in mud, unable to extend far.
What alarmed her even more was that her internal spiritual energy circulation had inexplicably slowed!
"A formation? You actually set up a formation!" Immortal Lady Yuxia was both shocked and furious, not expecting Bai Qingxue to have this ability. But she quickly composed herself. "Parlor tricks! What can a formation laid by someone in your wounded state do to me? Break it!"
She summoned her Purple Lightning Pearl, unleashing an explosion of purple lightning, attempting to disperse the mist and strike at the formation's nodes.
The three guards also employed their own methods, attacking in all directions.
However, this "Mist-Lock Spirit Formation" utilized part of the valley's terrain. Its formation eye was well hidden, and it wasn't designed for powerful direct attacks. For the moment, the lightning and sword energy disappeared into the dense mist, creating ripples but failing to immediately break the formation.
Instead, Bai Qingxue's figure flickered in and out of the mist—sometimes an ice spike would strike, sometimes a freezing palm would descend. Though not powerful, the attacks were cunning and vicious. Combined with the formation's interference, they left Immortal Lady Yuxia and her group scrambling.
– Marinien
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