Chapter 132: Scarlet Refining Lotus
The bloody clouds hovering above the Chi Long Mansion obscured the stars and moon, dyeing the hundred-li long sky with a crimson hue. A strange, bloody stench permeated the air from an unknown source.
The cultivators who had been wandering and seeking pleasure on the streets of the Chi Long Outer Mansion, though unaware of what this blood cloud signified, all reacted in the same way upon seeing it.
—They fled for their lives.
Instantly, countless flying swords, trailing spiritual light, ascended from the Chi Long Mansion, scattering in all directions like seven-colored fireworks exploding in the sky.
However, four flying swords did not choose to flee. Instead, they flew against the tide of escapees, heading towards the Chi Long Mansion.
On the four flying swords were one taller and three shorter figures, two males and two females. They were dressed in dark blue night-blooming outfits with bamboo hats, and their hands, necks, and faces were wrapped in bandages, giving them an extremely menacing appearance.
Feng Yu Die slightly lifted her bamboo hat with her finger, looking up at the cultivators flying towards them, and asked with a frown, “Young Master Ye, the offerings are almost all gone. What is Li Feng sacrificing blood for?”
“They can’t escape.” Ye Anping, the leader, replied dismissively.
Just as he spoke, twenty-seven pillars of purple light suddenly erupted from the surroundings of Chi Long Mountain.
The purple light pillars converged at a single point in the sky, forming a hemispherical purple light shield that enveloped an area of fifty li around the Chi Long Mansion.
Many cultivators who were attempting to escape had their flying swords still going, and they crashed into the shield, falling from hundreds of feet in the air into the forests below.
Feng Yu Die’s neck recoiled, and she gasped, “Hiss—”
Hearing this, Ye Anping sighed softly and explained, “Li Feng has reversed the activation of the Yu Shan formation of Chi Long Mountain. It was originally designed to allow egress but not ingress, but now it’s only ingress and no egress. With these cultivators at the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stages, it’s impossible to break through that spiritual shield.”
Brother Liang, at the rear of the group, furrowed his brow at this. “So, we have no way out either?”
Ye Anping glanced back at him and smiled, “Brother Liang, the four of us are in this together now. You should stop thinking about running and focus on finding a way to deal with Wu Chengzhou.”
“Heh—” Brother Liang rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe Ye Anping’s words; this guy definitely had some backup plan for escape.
After a moment of hesitation, he added seriously, “Old Sixth, promise me.”
“Brother Liang, please state it.”
“Take Ating back to the Hundred Lotus Sect afterward.”
“I won’t,” Ye Anping replied, glancing back at him. “Take her yourself if you want. I don’t like looking after that bratty girl.”
“…”
“I don’t do things I’m not sure about,” Ye Anping pulled down his bamboo hat, gazing at the Yu Shan formation in the distance, and sighed, “This Yu Shan formation was personally set up by Immortal Dan Yue for Li Feng in the past.”
“Huh?” Feng Yu Die blinked in surprise. “Does that mean Xiao Yunluo’s mother was an accomplice? She’s really involved with demonic cultivators?!”
“You won’t say that when you meet her.”
“Why?”
Because in the game, the first time you see Si Xuanji, you rush up to tickle her ear, and then she beats you up so badly…
Ye Anping sighed softly without answering Feng Yu Die’s question. Seeing that they had arrived at the city gate of the Chi Long Mansion, he descended with the other three on their flying swords.
The Mansion Guards of the Chi Long Mansion had not abandoned their posts. About a dozen guards in armor still stood at the city gate, guarding the entrance.
The leading guard sized up Ye Anping and the other three’s attire, his brow immediately furrowing. He raised his hand and gave an order, “Surround them!!”
Huala Huala—
The sound of iron boots on the ground was oppressive. More than a dozen Chi Long Mansion Guards ran forward, surrounding the four in the center and pointing the tips of their spears at them.
Ye Anping immediately formed a sword finger with his hand, preparing to take out the jade talisman Li Longling had given to Feng Yu Die.
However, at that moment, a flash of bloody light appeared in the sky, diverting the attention of several guards. They looked up at the sky.
The irregularly shaped mass of bloody clouds began to contract and condense, transforming into a huge crimson lotus within a few breaths.
Hoo—
Accompanied by a sound like a giant’s breath, the lotus petals gradually tightened, then suddenly opened wide.
A large amount of crimson pollen erupted from the center of the flower, then fell like tiny specks of crimson snow.
The guards surrounding Ye Anping looked on with slight confusion as the crimson snow fell. One of them reached out his hand, intending to catch a snowflake to examine it.
However, just as the snowflake was about to land in his palm, Feng Yu Die suddenly darted forward and kicked his chest armor, sending him flying under the city gate tower.
“Don’t touch the snow!!” Feng Yu Die shouted a warning. But as soon as she spoke, two Chi Long Mansion Guards beside her lunged at her with their spears.
Ye Anping quickly took out Li Longling’s jade talisman and held it up to show one of the older-looking guards.
Upon seeing the jade pendant in his hand, the guard’s expression stabilized, and he immediately ordered, “Retract!!”
The spears that were thrusting at Feng Yu Die stopped instantly and were pulled back.
The leading guard bowed respectfully to Ye Anping, “Young Master Li, what are your orders?”
“Order all Mansion Guards in the mansion to wear full body covering, do not expose any skin, and absolutely do not touch this crimson snow. If anyone touches it—”
“Ah—!!” A scream from behind interrupted Ye Anping’s words.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ye Anping summoned his spirit sword and instantly appeared before the guard who had screamed.
Swish—
A silver crescent flashed across the guard’s left arm, separating it from his body. Ye Anping then drove his spirit sword, piercing the man’s hand in mid-air and pinning it to the brick floor beside his feet, splattering blood and mud.
Everyone present looked on in astonishment, but then they saw the hand pinned to the ground by Ye Anping seemingly struggling, its five fingers writhing like tendrils.
Ye Anping took out a Fire Element talisman and threw it onto the hand, igniting it. He then turned his head back to the old guard and said, “—If anyone touches it, this is what happens.”
“…”
“Maintain order within the mansion. Inform the cultivators of various sects in the city that if they want to survive, they should seal their windows and doors and hide indoors.”
The old guard’s pupils contracted, but he quickly regained his composure and barked out orders, “Yes!! Everyone, hear my command! Return to the city tower to change clothes. Do not expose skin, and do not touch the crimson snow!”
“““…Yes!!”””
The other guards hesitated for a moment, but then they all responded loudly, helping the guard whose left hand Ye Anping had severed back to the city tower.
Ye Anping pulled his spirit sword free, shook off the blood, and sheathed it.
“Senior Sister Feng, Brother Liang. The time limit is five eruptions of the Scarlet Refining Lotus in the sky. That was the first eruption. If we fail to break the blood sacrifice formation before the fifth eruption, we lose.”
