A giant golden palm print unfurled in mid-air, descending with a brilliance comparable to sunlight, instantly forcing the soul corpses and Thousand Soul Insect Silks back several meters.
Though only a few meters, it granted the disciples of various sects a moment to breathe.
"Martial Uncle Tianyu," Yue Ci stepped forward, clasping his hands in gratitude, "Thank you for your timely rescue."
The other sect disciples chimed in, "Thank you, Martial Uncle Tianyu!"
Despite Tianyu's youthful appearance and plain attire, no one present dared to underestimate him. Long before Yue Yuan Gui and Jing Lan became famous in the Divine Enlightenment World, the young Tianyu of the Buddhist sect's Little Kashyapa was hailed as the number one under the Mahayana realm among the younger generation. Of course, more importantly, he had a senior brother, Tian Shu, who was the Buddha Son of the Buddhist sect.
Decades had passed, and no one knew if Tianyu had broken through to the Mahayana realm. However, the palm strike just now had shown everyone the prowess of this Little Kashyapa.
"Martial Uncle Tianyu, do you have a way to deal with these Thousand Soul Insect Silks and soul corpses?" Lü Zi, clutching her severed arm, asked urgently.
Her face was pale and ashen, filled with dread. She couldn't believe her bad luck. She had finally gotten her chance to take Yi'an's place, only to encounter such a disaster!
More than half of the disciples from the Fang Lan Sect had been killed or injured. If this continued, even if she survived the secret realm, Lü Fu Ping would not let her off!
Not only Lü Zi, but everyone else also looked at Tianyu as if he were their savior.
Tianyu's expression remained unchanged. He said faintly, "This humble monk is just an ordinary cultivator, and I do not possess Xing Jin, so naturally, I have no solution."
"Ah..."
A wave of sighs rippled through the crowd.
"Aren't the Buddhist sect's methods the most effective against these evil entities?"
"If even Little Kashyapa has no way, what can we do? We can only wait for death..."
"Are we really going to die in the secret realm? I'm only fifty years old, with such great talent, I was destined for greater heights..."
"Martial Uncle Tianyu..." Yue Ci looked at Tianyu worriedly, concerned that he might be affected by the disciples' words.
To be honest, seeing Tianyu's great divine power earlier, he, like the other disciples, had placed great expectations on Tianyu, and was now very disappointed. However, he understood that it was not Tianyu's fault.
Tianyu waved his hand, unconcerned by their words, "Little Nephew Yue."
Yue Ci twitched his lips. If the timing were different, he would have loved to say that even though he called him Martial Uncle, he was only half a year younger than Tianyu.
"Given the seniority, little nephew, stop struggling." Even in such a perilous situation, Tianyu had the inclination to joke.
However, his smile soon vanished. "I ask you, have you seen the disciples of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion and the Thousand Demons Pavilion?"
The disciples of the First Sect, Second Pavilion, and Third Mountain generally had cultivation levels that far surpassed those of other sects. If they could gather this strength, their chances of survival would increase significantly.
It was just that this lake...
Tianyu's gaze fell on the lake surface, and he sighed softly.
Yue Ci frowned deeply. "The whereabouts of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion's people are unknown, but the Thousand Demons Pavilion's disciples were seen entering the center of the grasslands with the disciples of the Supreme Sect. However, we haven't encountered them. The people from Mount Hua Ling are said to have entered the grasslands much earlier. Mount Qunyu went to the southeast of the secret realm."
"Mount Qunyu is indeed fortunate."
Yue Ci thought of Mount Qunyu's Celestial Star Chessboard, and then of the rumors that Little Kashyapa was skilled in divination. He asked subconsciously, "Does Martial Uncle know something?"
Tianyu nodded slightly and a jade ruler suddenly appeared in his hand. With a sweep of the ruler, the restless Thousand Soul Insect Silks and soul corpses retreated several more steps.
"After arriving in the secret realm, this humble monk discovered that this place is a place of great inauspice," Tianyu's voice was like a spring breeze, yet it sent a chill into everyone's hearts. "The only chance of survival lies to the southeast."
Yue Ci's heart sank.
"Tianyu Martial Uncle, Miao Miao does not agree with that statement," Yue Miao Miao puffed out her cheeks. "The southeast is the direction of life, but man can conquer heaven. How can we know that the many disciples of our Divine Enlightenment Continent cannot break through? That Azure Dragon must surely be dead beyond any possibility of revival, and even if it wanted to revive, the Heavenly Dao would never allow it."
"Miao Miao!" Yue Ci knew Yue Miao Miao's identity and her innate divine abilities, so she wouldn't be lying. It was just her tone that was too aggressive.
Lan Xue Rou stepped forward and pulled Yue Miao Miao away, "Junior Sister, come and help me! These soul corpses have suddenly rushed up again!"
As for the Thousand Soul Insect Silks, for some reason, they suddenly retreated towards the ice river.
However, retreating further back was a good thing.
Just as Lan Xue Rou thought this, she heard the Daoist friend surnamed Bai say, "Daoist friend Lan, be careful!"
Then she was pulled aside, narrowly dodging a soul corpse.
"Daoist Bai, thank you. This is the second time you've saved me."
Yue Miao Miao withdrew her hand that had lagged a step behind, a hint of suspicion in her eyes. Was her speed so slow? Not even a late-stage Golden Core could compare?
However, Yue Miao Miao soon had no time to ponder these things.
A shocked cry drew everyone's attention.
"Look quickly! The lake, the lake is upside down!"
Everyone looked up and saw a vast expanse of emerald green lake water, shimmering and reflecting the light, appearing like a crescent moon hanging in the sky.
The lake water did not fall to the ground, but remained perfectly in place on the lake's surface, as if the ground where they stood and the lake in the sky were two different mirrored worlds.
The sun silently vanished, and a purple full moon appeared in the center of the lake.
A seductive violet, inauspicious, and full of great danger.
Tianyu's expression changed drastically, and he flicked his jade ruler.
"Little nephew, I'll leave this place to you!"
Tianyu leaped up, intending to plunge into the lake, when a powerful force violently repelled him!
"Pfft!"
Tianyu rolled twice on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Martial Uncle Tianyu!" Yue Ci and everyone else was shocked!
What was this that even a powerful cultivator like Tianyu could not approach?
"Retreat! Take everyone and head southeast!" Tianyu, recovering himself, immediately took the lead. "All disciples who wish to live, follow this humble monk and leave quickly!"
The Azure Dragon's strength had recovered faster than he had imagined.
This time, even Yue Miao Miao did not object. However, she said to Yue Ci, "Little Senior Brother, Senior Sister, I want to stay."
"Junior Sister!" Lan Xue Rou disagreed!
Yue Ci also frowned deeply. "Miao Miao, don't be willful."
"Little Senior Brother, Senior Sister, Dao Uncle Bai has entered the lake." Yue Miao Miao's gaze flickered with pain and helplessness. "Whether for the sake of the Mountain Master, or because Dao Uncle Bai saved Senior Sister and me once, Yue Qing Mountain cannot all leave. With my status, it is best for me to stay."
Yue Ci's face became extremely grim. "It's just one..."
"Little Senior Brother Yue!" Lan Xue Rou's gentle face was full of disapproval.
Yue Miao Miao also said, "Little Senior Brother, I know you don't like..." She paused, "But there's no need to take it out on Dao Uncle Bai."
In the end, Yue Ci and Lan Xue Rou could not persuade Yue Miao Miao. They had no choice but to take out their defensive magic treasures and hand them over to Yue Miao Miao, then follow Tianyu with the disciples of Yue Qing Mountain.
No one noticed that a white-robed cultivator had also quietly left the team, silently following Yue Miao Miao.
Nor did anyone see a group of people rapidly flying towards the grasslands from the direction of the desert.
"It's the Ancient Azure Dragon!" Yun You Yue gripped the Obsidian Jun Stone in her hand, feeling the black flood dragon in the contract space tremble, and a fiery gaze towards the Azure Dragon flashed in her beautiful eyes.
But she turned and hid this news from Jing Lan. Instead, she said, "Jing Lan, have you noticed anything unusual? A great demon must have appeared again!"
After some time, having narrowly escaped death, the two had grown closer.
Jing Lan smiled with the grace of refined jade, his voice like falling pearls. "Oh? We're this lucky? Not only did we avoid the Thousand Soul Insect Silk of the ice river, but we also caught the emergence of a great demon?"
Yun You Yue did not mention that she carried Xing Jin. She proudly said, "Of course, my luck has always been good."
She used the word "qi luck" instead of "luck," implying that Jing Lan was merely benefiting from her fortune.
Jing Lan smiled with refined elegance, "Then thank you, You Yue."
Yet, no one who saw these two would have imagined that not long before, one of them had forcibly crushed Rong Xue Lan's jade token, "accidentally" crippled her cultivation, and thrown her out of the secret realm, while the other, when being chased by enemies after snatching treasure from others in the team, had directly used Chen Yi as a human shield to block the killing blow.