200: wake

"They're back!"

Yang Hao was the first to rush forward. When he saw Su Muhuang, unconscious and barely breathing in Shi Tian's arms, his eyes instantly turned red. "Senior Sister! Senior Sister, she..."

Chen Zhengyang also had a solemn expression. He nodded to the Seventh Ancestor and Eighth Ancestor, then looked at Yan Que: "Fellow Daoist Yan Que, thank you for your hard work. How is the Heavenly Maiden's condition?"

Yan Que briefly explained the situation.

Chen Zhengyang immediately ordered: "Quick! Activate the Li Fire Pure Heart Grand Formation! Send the Heavenly Maiden into the array eye, and use the Earth Core Pure Fire along with our clan's treasured Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Jade Dew to first stabilize her injuries and remove the Immortal-Corroding Nether Poison!"

"Eighth Ancestor, Seventh Ancestor, I trouble the two of you to personally act as Protectors!"

"Leave it to this old man!"

"Rest assured!"

Su Muhuang was quickly sent into the Chen Family's most central healing Holy Land.

Shi Tian, Xiao Bufan, Zhao Shanhe, Yan Que, Yang Hao, and the others all waited anxiously outside the Holy Land.

"How is it?"

Not long after, the Eighth Ancestor emerged from the Holy Land.

"This Immortal-Corroding Nether Poison is extremely malicious. Even a tiny bit can lead to demise, and our methods are proving ineffective."

"Ah...?"

Everyone's expressions changed.

"Don't rush, let me finish."

The Eighth Ancestor knew he had scared them and quickly explained, "The strange thing is that the toxins in Little Friend Su's body are actually dissolving on their own. If not for this, she probably wouldn't have lasted until now."

"This old man speculates... it should be the Vermilion Bird Dao power within Little Friend Su's body continuously circulating and neutralizing the toxins."

"There's nothing we can do now but wait for Little Friend Su to dissolve the toxins in her own body. Only then can she wake up."

Upon hearing this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It should be fine... Su Muhuang felt her consciousness continuously falling.

Boundless darkness, coldness, deathly silence.

No direction, no sound, only an extreme pain as if her Soul was being torn apart bit by bit, soaked in filth.

"Where... am I? Why... does it hurt so much...?"

Su Muhuang's consciousness drifted in the darkness, like a lone boat in a stormy sea.

The intense pain almost made her give up thinking, wanting only to sink into deeper darkness and end it all.

"Am I... dead?"

This thought made her instinctively resist.

"No! I don't want to!"

Revered Master's gentle yet majestic face, Elder Nansheng's cold figure, Senior Brother Shi Tian's reliability, Senior Brother Xiao Bufan's liveliness, Junior Brother Yang Hao's shyness... familiar faces flashed in the darkness.

"Revered Master... Elder Nansheng... Senior Brothers... Junior Brother... everyone is waiting for me! I can't die!"

A strong will to live, like the first spark erupting in the darkness, weak but tenacious.

At the same time, the dormant Vermilion Bird Saint power within her seemed to be stirred by this thought, beginning to flow slowly.

The pride and indomitable spirit of the ancient Vermilion Bird, originating from the deepest part of her Bloodline, awakened at this moment.

A point of crimson light illuminated the depths of her consciousness.

The light grew brighter and brighter, gradually transforming into a phantom image of a magnificent Vermilion Bird with feathers burning with eternal flames.

It held its head high, letting out a silent clear cry, and flapped its wings, flying forward.

"Vermilion Bird... are you guiding me?"

Su Muhuang's consciousness, as if finding a lighthouse, tightly followed the crimson light, moving with difficulty through the boundless darkness.

After an unknown amount of time, a soft and warm white light appeared ahead, dispelling all the darkness and coldness.

"Ah—!"

In the core array eye of the Chen Family's Li Fire Pure Heart Grand Formation, Su Muhuang suddenly opened her eyes, letting out a suppressed cry of pain.

Immediately, a brand new power, far more vast and pure than before, erupted from her limbs, bones, and the depths of her Divine Soul!

Crimson-gold Vermilion Bird Divine Fire burst out from her body, enveloping her entirely and transforming her into a giant light cocoon.

Above the light cocoon, flaming runes flowed, and faint Vermilion Bird phantoms circled and soared.

"Crack..."

It was as if some barrier had been completely shattered.

The light cocoon suddenly contracted, completely merging into Su Muhuang's body. Her aura, at this moment, completed a qualitative leap, steadily settling at a brand new level—

Early Earth Immortal Stage!

Moreover, her Foundation was incredibly solid, and her Vermilion Bird Saint power was pure and majestic, faintly carrying the Daorhyme of Nirvana rebirth.

"Junior Sister! You're awake!"

Shi Tian, who was guarding the outermost area, was the first to sense it, rushing forward in ecstasy.

Xiao Bufan, Yang Hao, Zhao Shanhe, Yan Que, and the Chen Family Elders who were presiding over the Formation, also breathed a sigh of relief, their faces showing joy.

Chen Zhengyang sensed Su Muhuang's stable and powerful new aura, a flash of astonishment in his eyes. He stroked his beard and chuckled, "Little Friend Su indeed has profound blessings. To be able to break through and rise from a desperate situation of life and death, and step into the Earth Immortal Stage in one fell swoop."

"To achieve the Earth Immortal Stage at your age, your talent is the strongest this old man has ever seen."

"This time can also be considered... a blessing in disguise."

Su Muhuang slowly sat up. Although her face was still a little pale, her eyes had regained their clarity, even deeper and sharper than before.

She looked at the people gathered around her, especially Yang Hao with his red eyes and Shi Tian and Xiao Bufan who were visibly relieved, and a warm current surged in her heart.

"Senior Brother... what happened? How... are we in the Chen Family?"

Her voice was still a little hoarse.

Shi Tian quickly gave a concise account of everything that happened after she fainted: how Yan Que rescued her, how they were met by the two Chen Family Old Ancestors, how a Senior from the Wending Sect shattered the vermilion bird token with a single shout, and how the Chen Family declared war on the Vermilion Bird Immortal Clan.

Su Muhuang listened, her heart surging with emotions, both lingering fear and gratitude towards her Sect and the Chen Family, as well as cold killing intent towards the Vermilion Bird traitors.

Just then—

"Boom—!"

An indescribably terrifying pressure, like an ancient Vicious Beast awakening from slumber, enveloped the entire Chen Family Immortal City without warning!

The sky instantly darkened, as if obscured by a moving dark cloud!

An extremely dense mix of Demonic Qi, Evil Qi, and bloody Qi caused all Cultivators in the city, regardless of their cultivation level, to feel a suffocating fear, their Souls trembling!

"What's going on?!"

"Enemy attack?! Has the Vermilion Bird Immortal Clan attacked?!"

"Such... such terrifying aura! Has the sky fallen?!"

The Chen Family Immortal City instantly fell into chaos, alarm bells ringing loudly.

In the core area of the Chen Family, Chen Zhengyang, several Old Ancestors, and Shi Tian and others instantly rushed out of the main hall, looking up at the sky, their expressions extremely solemn.

Above the sky, a vast army of Immortal Beasts, dark and oppressive, obscured the sunlight. The weakest among them were at the Earth Immortal Stage, Heavenly Immortals were in groups, and there were dozens of True Immortals!

And at the forefront of the beast horde, a giant wolf, entirely silver-white, incomparably majestic, with a single horn on its forehead, stood silently in the Void Realm.

Its body wasn't particularly enormous, but its heterochromatic eyes sweeping below caused all the Chen Family experts, including Chen Zhengyang, to feel a terrifying suppression originating from a higher life level, their Dao Hearts subtly wavering.

"This... what kind of Yao Race force is this?!"

"Over thirty True Immortals?! And that silver wolf... completely unfathomable!"

"When did such a terrifying power emerge in the Shenhuang Celestial Domain?"

"Could it really be foreign aid invited by the Vermilion Bird Immortal Clan?"

The hearts of the Chen Family members were in turmoil, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The Eighth Ancestor had already reached for his Natal Immortal Blade, and the Seventh Ancestor's body ignited with battle fire.