491: traces of demonic cultivators

Before the words had even faded.

"Thanks—"

While the echo of Yao Delong's voice still lingered in the direction of Chenyun Valley, his figure on the spot had already transformed into a streak of Red-Gold Thunderfire that tore through the sky full of wind and snow!

Fifty miles of space seemed to be suddenly kneaded and shortened by an invisible giant hand!

One moment he was before the soldiers' eyes, and the next, that figure had already crashed into the depths of the vast wind and snow to the southwest.

Only scattered traces of heat from evaporating melting snow remained, along with a distorted sonic boom trail in mid-air that hadn't been fully erased by the wind and snow!

"In the blink of an eye... he arrived?!"

Several soldiers looked at each other, their eyes shifting from respect to horror.

That speed just now... a Soul Transformation Senior?! Or... In Chenyun Valley, the accumulated snow in the mountain hollow weighed down the thousand-year-old Profound Pines.

Blue and white tents with Yin and Yang patterns were distributed in an order.

In the center of the camp stood a towering black flag with gold patterns reaching into the clouds, with the majestic words "Yin and Yang" written on it!

The wind and snow were fierce, and the flag danced wildly like a roaring dragon!

"Who?!"

Two Mid Nascent Soul Stage Inner Sect Elders on duty behind a snow mound at the edge of the camp suddenly turned their heads in alert, their spiritual blades unsheathed by three inches!

A terrifyingly hot fiery Yang Qi aura that tore through the wind barrier without warning had already descended forcefully upon the main gate of the core camp!

Like a falling star crashing onto the snowy plains!

"Enem...!" The warning cry was about to burst from their throats!

"Be quiet!" A low, majestic scolding that couldn't hide its surprise boomed from within the central main tent!

The curtain was lifted!

A surge of majestic pressure, as if burning with the red flames of the earth's veins, fierce and overbearing, gushed out.

It temporarily suppressed the alarm light triggered by those two Elders!

The one who walked out was none other than the Peak Revered Master of Chiyan Peak—Ji Yanshuang!

She wore a flame-red combat robe inlaid with gold, her figure tall and vigorous.

Her Phoenix eyes held authority, and between her brows, there still remained the fierce spirit left by battle and slaughter!

Her gaze was like a pair of glowing hot fire tweezers, grabbing hold of Yao Delong as his figure solidified from the wind and snow.

When she saw clearly that he was alone, Ji Yanshuang's sword-like eyebrows suddenly stood up, her voice carrying fire and incomprehension:

"Yao Delong?! You're just a lone True Disciple?"

She subconsciously looked up at the sky churned by wind and snow, as if searching for more light streaks of flight.

"Is Senior Brother Sect Head driven mad with anxiety? Or are you playing tricks and being lazy, unwilling to even bring out the few remaining disciples of your Luoxia Peak?!"

Her look clearly said: Even dragging along a Golden Core Elder who watches the furnace would be better than you, a hands-off manager, working alone!

Yao Delong could only smile helplessly:

"Senior Martial Uncle Ji, please understand. There are truly few people in the peak. Senior Martial Uncle Sect Head was considerate and ordered me to take charge of a side and set out first.

The main forces of the other peaks... should arrive shortly after."

Ji Yanshuang's anger lessened slightly, and she snorted coldly, "Having few people is no excuse..."

Before she could finish, her usually resolute and sharp Phoenix eyes suddenly contracted like needlepoints! She stared fixedly at Yao Delong's entire body!

It wasn't a Divine Might that was intentionally displayed, but a kind of... heaviness and accumulation, like a silent breathing of starlight and solar essence buried deep at the bottom of a volcanic lake!

During the promotion phenomenon a month ago, that "newness" belonging to one who had just entered Soul Transformation and was showing their sharp edge... had now been tempered and compressed into a heavy divine foundation that made even her feel a faint pressure on her muscles and bones and a blockage in her Qi veins!

"Boom—!" She seemed to hear the illusory sound of a rock-solid wall of perception in her heart suddenly shattering!

"Mid-stage Soul Transformation?!" A thunderous hiss exploded from Ji Yanshuang's throat!

Her heroic face, which remained calm even when facing ten thousand troops, for the first time showed a state of near-absurd loss of composure.

"You kid... are you still human?! One month?! The delay at a small bottleneck in Soul Transformation is measured in decades or even centuries!

You... you think this is like eating or drinking water?!"

Her look was as if she had seen the most ridiculous monster in the cultivation world.

Yao Delong could only respond with a "reserved" smile.

Ji Yanshuang took a deep breath of bone-chilling air to suppress the churning in her heart, glared at him fiercely.

She grabbed his arm as if to verify if this Mid-stage Soul Transformation was a fake person made of paper:

"Get in here and talk! Are you frozen stupid, standing out there like a pillar!"

Inside the main tent, it was warm and cozy, isolated from the howling astral winds outside the valley.

The tent walls were covered with a large topographic sand table light-and-shadow map made of cold jade.

Spiritual energy lines outlined mountains, ice valleys, demonic breath concentrations, known demonic cultivator gathering points, and many other complex data.

In the center, a huge light-and-shadow map of the core Wanjiang region of the Northern Border was flashing with heart-palpitating blood-red spots!

Ji Yanshuang's fingers brushed roughly across the map, stirring up ripples:

"Look closely! The demonic brats are mainly scattered in these ten large areas! Hundreds in a group at most, or elites led by Nascent Souls at least!

Cold Jade River, Profound Fire Ancient Realm..." Her fingertips accurately pointed to two spots marked with extremely dangerous deep red.

"These two places! Space fragments and Earthly Fiend Demonic Pulses are inextricably entangled! More than a dozen scouting teams have been lost!

The losses are heavy! Especially the Profound Fire Ancient Realm, where an unusually fierce Earth-Gushing Fire Fiend impact broke out a few days ago..."

Her tone became extremely solemn and grave.

Yao Delong's gaze was locked onto "Cold Jade River"—that was precisely where his Junior Sister Lin Qingxue's True Disciple assessment was!

And the "Profound Fire Ancient Realm"... the place where Liu Rumei and the others went!

The rolling red and black Devilish Qi spots on the map were like man-eating wounds!

"Senior Martial Uncle Ji," his voice was decisive, even directly interrupting the Peak Revered Master's words, "leave these two places... to me."

"To you?!" Ji Yanshuang's gaze instantly turned from solemn to shocked!

She whipped her head around, her fiery red hair almost throwing out actual sparks!

"The demonic cultivator quantity Rank in Cold Jade River is Grade B! The Profound Fire Ancient Realm is even close to Grade A-minus!

Even if you've jumped to Mid-stage Soul Transformation, you're still just a piece of iron... those two places are giant hammers that can smash through eternal profound ice!

You want to gnaw on two bones alone? Even if you're a gluttonous snake, you'll choke to death! No!" Decisive! No room for discussion!

"Senior Martial Uncle,"

Yao Delong's smile remained unchanged, but under the flickering tent lamp, that smile carried an absolute heat and confidence, like lava flowing over profound ice.

"No matter how many demonic brats there are... aren't they just a bunch of meat shops? Just make the blade sharper and cut faster."

He flicked his finger slightly, and a wisp of invisible, intangible Yin and Yang power—which even made the Chiyan True Core in Ji Yanshuang's Qi Sea core pause slightly—quietly annihilated a wisp of stray earth vein fire fiend beside him.

"Besides..." He turned his gaze toward the vast wind and snow in the southwest direction outside the tent, as if looking through space at those two points.

"There are 'people' there I must go to, and... a 'ledger' waiting to be settled with lives!"

The last few words carried a bone-chilling killing intent, lowering the temperature in the tent by ten degrees out of thin air!

Ji Yanshuang's heart shook violently!

She stared at this young True Disciple, realizing for the first time that she might have always misjudged the Sect Head's intention... and the true depth of combat power of the "monster" before her!

That wasn't just a Realm! It was a will that combined divinity, madness, and a fight to the death!

A long silence.

She slammed her fist onto the table covered with snow fox fur, making a loud bang:

"Fine! Whether you live or die! This old lady won't stop you anymore!"

She suddenly flicked a fist-sized, bone-chilling jade ball from her storage ring.

"Take it! The Ten-Thousand-Mile Frost Breath Shadow Map of the entire Northern Border, the highest precision! It comes with tracking and positioning! Keep it safe!"

"If you dare let me collect your corpse and sew your ash bag afterward... I'll strip your Revered Master's bellyband as compensation!"