When they neared the mansion, a massive explosion erupted.
BOOM!
Some group members were terrified, feeling it was too dangerous to proceed, but when the explosion subsided and the dust cleared, they saw the scene before them.
Ye Ling'er stood victorious before a figure slumped against the wall. His clothes were nearly burned away, his body charred black with cracks covering every inch of his skin. He wasn't moving.
Without hesitation, Ye Ling'er entered the mansion.
The group moved forward, following her lead. As they entered the mansion grounds, Ye Xian was about to call out to Ye Ling'er when suddenly.
"ROOOAAAAR!"
The earth shook violently as an enraged man's scream reached their ears like the tolling of a heavy bell. When they turned toward the sound, they saw Ru Shi embracing his dead son's charred corpse, tears of blood streaming from his eyes as rage and anguish consumed him completely.
"MY SON! MY ONLY SON!" he roared, his voice cracking with grief and fury.
The ground beneath them trembled like ripples on water. Massive stone pillars erupted from the earth, then shot forward like tentacles toward the group and Ye Ling'er, who had just entered the mansion.
"SCATTER!" Ye Xian shouted.
Everyone ran in different directions as the deadly stone spears pursued them. Ye Xian hurriedly channeled his profound ki, using all his power combined with Limit Release to condense the energy into his legs.
With a burst of speed that made him blur like lightning, he blinked through the forest of stone tentacles while holding Sheng Qianying protectively in his arms.
Boom!
"Hold tight!" he whispered as they narrowly dodged a massive pillar that would have crushed them both.
Meanwhile, Ru Shi's grief-stricken voice echoed across the battlefield.
"You killed him! You killed my precious boy! I'll bury every last one of you with him!"
Earth walls erupted from the ground to block their path, while pillars shot forward like tentacles pursuing their targets.
Some of the group members, unfortunate enough to be caught in the first attack, were smashed to death, only paste-like flesh and ground bones remaining scattered across the ground.
Boom!
As they fled in different directions, Ye Xian took a sharp turn when a wall suddenly erupted before him, blocking his path. He twisted his body and changed direction, narrowly avoiding the earth tentacles that crushed the wall he had just vacated.
After dodging for what felt like an eternity, he noticed that most of the group had been smashed to death. Only a few had managed to flee deeper into the mansion grounds.
Ye Xian wanted to escape, but all the exits were now blocked by thick earth walls. He was using his spiritual perception continuously to avoid the incoming walls and earth tentacles that shot toward him. The ground was unrecognizable from before, completely transformed by Ru Shi's grief-fueled rampage.
He was sweating profusely as he constantly used Limit Release, condensing and detonating his profound ki for sudden bursts of power.
Suddenly, another wall appeared. Using his spiritual sense, he detected two earth tentacles coming from his left and right, trying to crush him between them.
Sheng Qianying also felt the danger, she didn't possess any speed techniques or movement skills to help in this situation.
Ye Xian used Limit Release one more time, condensing profound ki in his legs. He leaned forward, then detonated the ki in a powerful burst, launching himself over the five-meter-tall wall while avoiding the left and right tentacles.
But ahead of him was another tentacle, and from above, yet another one descended, trying to smash him from overhead.
Ye Xian felt trapped.
'Damn it!' Ye Xian thought as he calculated his options in mid-air. With Sheng Qianying in his arms, his mobility was severely limited.
In that split second, he made a desperate decision.
He twisted his body and drew his sword, slashing downward with full power toward the spot where he had jumped from earlier. The blade embedded deep into the crack earth, creating more cracks from the impact that opened a hole in the ground.
Boom!
Ye Xian quickly channeled his profound ki to form a protective barrier around his body, shielding Sheng Qianying in his embrace. The upper earth tentacle smashed into his back, drilling him into the ground as they were both shoved beneath the surface.
As the tentacle continued drilling, they fell through the ground floor. Ye Xian felt like a truck had smashed into his back, his ki barrier shattered from the impact. He felt his organs shift inside his body and vomited an arrow of blood as they plummeted straight into the underground passages, as if gravity had increased a hundredfold.
When he opened his eyes, he felt pain coursing through his entire body.
"Ahh..." he groaned in agony.
He realized he was on Sheng Qianying's back as she carried him piggyback style. When she felt him awakening, relief washed over her face.
"You're awake!" she said, her voice filled with both joy and concern.
She had been terrified when they were smashed into the underground. Because Ye Xian had shielded her with his body, she hadn't suffered much injury, but he had been unconscious.
Finding themselves in an underground passage, she had carried him on her back as she moved through the tunnels, searching for a way out.
"Qianying... you can put me down now," Ye Xian said weakly. He had been on her back, quietly using the Life Restoration Scripture infused with light element to heal himself. Torn tissue reattached, muscles mended, bones snapped back into place, and the cracks in them disappeared. Even as his body recovered, he couldn't help but feel quietly moved by her care.
"Are you sure? You were out cold for a while," she said, but still crouched to help him down. As he shifted, something hot and hard pressed against her lower back. Her breath hitched, and a flush crept up her neck. She quickly let him go, avoiding his eyes as her heart thudded faster than it should.
Ye Xian tested his footing and winced. His back felt like it had been hit by a mountain, but he could move.
"I'll live. Where are we?"
"Some kind of underground tunnel system beneath the mansion," Sheng Qianying explained.
"I've been following this passage, but I can hear that humming getting louder from this direction."
Indeed, the humming sound they had heard earlier was now much clearer, echoing through the stone corridors.
"The blood sacrifice ritual," Ye Xian said grimly, straightening up despite the pain.
"We must be directly beneath where it's taking place."
"Ye Xian," Sheng Qianying said softly, "thank you for protecting me up there. You could have been killed."
He looked at her, noticing how her usually perfect appearance was now disheveled from carrying him through the tunnels. Her white robe was stained with dirt and his blood, but her ocean-blue eyes still held that determined spark.
"I told you I'd protect the people I care about," he said with a slight smile, then his expression turned serious.
"But we're not safe yet. That Witch Spawn is somewhere ahead, and so is Ye Ling'er."
As they moved deeper into the tunnels, they began to see disturbing sights carved into the walls, ancient symbols that seemed to writhe and move in the red light, and dark stains that looked suspiciously like dried blood.
They moved deeper into the tunnels until they soon reached a chamber. Ye Xian pushed open the heavy door, and their eyes widened at what they saw.
The room was filled with ki stones that shimmered and hummed, constantly disappearing as their energy was consumed. The chamber was dozens of meters wide, and they were both stunned and shocked by such an enormous amount of ki stones,there could be hundreds of thousands of them.
Beneath the pile of ki stones was a large formation that was rapidly consuming their energy. Glowing lines stretched out from the formation to the ceiling, where the entire surface was covered in a circular formation that pulsed with light.
Ye Xian couldn't help thinking that the pillar of light could be powered by these ki stones. If they could stop the formation, it might weaken the white dome barrier above ground.
Ye Xian had an idea as he closed the door behind them.
"What are you doing?" Sheng Qianying asked.
"Opening a path for us," he said with determination.
He moved closer to the formation where hundreds of thousands of ki stones were piled up. He activated his will, and the projection of Reverse Taiji appeared, two fish, one obsidian black and one moonlight white, swimming through the air around him.
Suddenly, threads of ki began emitting from the ki stones, swirling around him like a tornado before entering his body.
The sight shocked and surprised Sheng Qianying even more than discovering the hundreds of thousands of ki stones or learning about the Witch Spawn.
Before her eyes, what looked like a galaxy of shining stars swirled around Ye Xian as they were absorbed into his body.
Ye Xian felt delighted as his recovery speed increased dramatically. He was constantly using the Life Restoration Scripture to mend his wounds, and his cultivation started increasing at an unbelievable pace.
5th stage of Ki Warrior Realm!
6th stage!
7th stage!
8th stage!
9th stage!
And then he broke through into the Element Disciple Realm!
But the ki stones were still there, less than half had been used. He continued absorbing their energy, and at the same time, the white dome above ground started to dim. Holes began appearing in various places.
People seeing this opportunity began dashing out from the barrier. Some figures in white robes, however, dashed inside rather than exiting like the other civilians, taking advantage of the weakened barrier to enter.
Sheng Qianying watched in awe and growing concern as Ye Xian's cultivation soared. The energy swirling around him was so intense that her hair whipped around her face from the spiritual winds.
"Ye Xian, is this safe?" she called out, having to raise her voice over the sound of the energy vortex.
"Never been better!" he replied, his voice filled with exhilaration. His wounds were healing rapidly, and he could feel his power reaching new heights.
1st stage of Element Disciple Realm!
2nd stage!
3rd stage!
The formation beneath the ki stones began to flicker and spark as its power source was being systematically drained. Cracks appeared in the glowing lines that connected to the ceiling formation.
Above ground, the weakening barrier was causing chaos. The white-robed figures who had entered were clearly Moonlight Sect disciples, finally able to breach the dome that had trapped everyone inside.
But Ye Xian wasn't finished. His Reverse Taiji treasure was like a bottomless pit, consuming the profound ki at an unprecedented rate.
The profound ki condensed from gas into liquid form, gradually filling his internal reserves. The first reserve filled quickly. The second took longer, its volume nearly 5 time as large. The third was even more massive, holding several times the capacity of the 2nd. Each stage required more ki, but also brought greater stability and power.
The chamber began to shake as the fundamental formation powering the Witch Spawn's white dome and ritual started to collapse.
"The whole formation is falling apart," Sheng Qianying observed, her eyes wide with realization.
Ye Xian's eyes gleamed with cold satisfaction. "That's the idea. Let's see how that monster handles losing its power source."
From somewhere deep in the mansion above, an inhuman shriek of rage echoed through the stone corridors. The Witch Spawn had realized what was happening to its carefully prepared ritual. The pillar of light surrounding it vanished, and it crashed to the ground with a dull thud.
The real battle was about to begin.