Chapter 685: 685 women named Yue Ji
"Please, my lord, spare his life," the old woman pleaded as she fell to the ground, her forehead striking the earth heavily and blurring with fresh blood.
"Granny, don’t beg him. We can die together if it comes to it!" Huayue, seeing the old woman’s head covered in blood, roared furiously with veins popping in her eyes.
"Die together? Do you even have the strength for that?" The Black-clothed Swordsman sneered disdainfully and swung his sword towards Huayue.
At the same time, the barrier unfolded again, enveloping Huayue Zirong and the others completely.
The light patterns shifted, and the Sword Light turned bitterly cold, forming an illusion. A legendary ancient Fierce Beast with endless murderous and bloodthirsty intent appeared, its huge mouth lunging towards Huayue and the others.
"No!" The old woman’s face changed drastically as she let out a piercing scream.
Mu Hanyan’s gaze hardened. No, he could wait no longer.
Just as Mu Hanyan was about to intervene, the sky suddenly changed. Dark clouds gathered overhead like a black curtain bearing down upon them.
A clear whistle sounded close to the ear, piercing deep into the heart.
The originally sparse Heaven and Earth Power around them began to boil like the waves in a storm, violent and chaotic.
Even the Qi coursing through his own body seemed to be pulled by this force, becoming wildly unruly and surging through his meridians. If Mu Hanyan’s cultivation hadn’t reached the peak of the Great Swordsman, he might not have been able to control this frantic Qi.
Beside him, Mu Cheng was already pale with blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. If not for the fear of exposing their whereabouts, he would have probably groaned out loud by now.
Mu Hanyan slapped Mu Cheng’s body, temporarily sealing his meridians and forcefully suppressing his Qi, which helped alleviate some of the pallor in his complexion.
"What is happening?" Astonished, Mu Hanyan looked towards the temple and widened his eyes.
A woman dressed in coarse linen clothes was now standing between the Black-clothed Swordsman and Huayue’s group, her arms stretched out and head thrown back in a long howl. It was Granny Huayue.
But at this moment, who could believe she was the Granny Hua Yue—the old woman from the village with wrinkled face and hunched body?
Her features were clear and beautiful, her silver hair like snow, and her complexion flawless and youthful, appearing not more than thirty-four years old. With her black eyes, straight nose, and a tall, poised figure, she embodied both beauty and valiant grace.
The dark clouds that covered the skies for miles seemed to concentrate directly above her head. A faint black vortex surrounded her, forming an invisible storm that contained terrifying divine might.
"No, impossible, you are just a maid; how could you have such power?" The Black-clothed Swordsman’s face was filled with horror, as if he had seen something inconceivable.
Mu Hanyan was equally shocked. Such a scene was beyond anything she had ever heard or seen.
The sight before her completely exceeded her understanding of a Swordsman.
Divine Temple, shattered continent... Mu Hanyan recalled Han Jinglun’s words, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck her mind: could it be that Granny Hua Yue, also known as Yue Ji, was not from the Holy Court Continent, but from another continent?
"I did not expect that Hua Guanyu actually passed the Divine Hall secret technique to you. However, it’s a pity that this is the Holy Court Continent, without the Divine Artifact of the temple to enhance it, your Storm Sacrifice Technique can’t unleash its true power." After his surprise, the Black-clothed Swordsman spoke disdainfully.
"Is that so? It seems you’ve been away from the temple too long, not even realizing this." Yue Ji smiled slightly, her eyes showing a resolute determination as she intertwined her fingers, executing a series of peculiar Hand Formations.
The Black-clothed Swordsman pondered her words, seeming to realize something, suddenly his face transformed dramatically.
In the sky, dark clouds continually gathered, like massive mountains weighing down upon their heads.
"Death’s abyss, eternal darkness, in the names of the ancient gods, I call upon—Night Storm!" As Yue Ji chanted softly, the thick cloud layer suddenly split open, revealing an endless void within which storms raged, as if leading to another dimension.
Countless hazy points of light escaped from the crack and converged inside Yue Ji’s body; her face showed pain, but her aura was enhancing steadily.
The words of the Black-clothed Swordsman just now confirmed Mu Hanyan’s guess; Yue Ji indeed did not belong to the Holy Court Continent, but came from another land. Due to the different power of Heaven and Earth, her system of cultivation also vastly differed from that of the Holy Court Continent, though there might be similarities, the differences were greater.
Therefore, Mu Hanyan could not determine Yue Ji’s strength, but judging only from this overwhelming aura, it was definitely beyond a Swordsman’s realm; even if not reaching Sword Saint levels, it wouldn’t be far off, and if she continued to ascend like this, surpassing Sword Saint was only a matter of time.
However, from the pained expression on Yue Ji’s face and the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, she seemed to have reached her limit. Continuing like this, she might very well lose her life.
"Yue Ji, you’re mad, to actually use a Forbidden Technique to open the seal barrier of the Divine Continent, borrowing the power of Heaven and Earth from the Divine Continent, do you no longer care for your life?" Seeing this scene, the Black-clothed Swordsman shouted in alarm, only now realizing that Yue Ji was not performing a normal Storm Sacrifice Technique, but a Forbidden Technique of the temple—Night Storm.
Indeed, he had been away from the temple for too long, not realizing this at first.
Mu Hanyan suddenly understood; the Forbidden Technique Yue Ji used was actually to open the seal barrier between the two continents, borrowing the power of Heaven and Earth from another land. No wonder her Qi had become violently unstable earlier, almost uncontrollable; it was because the power enveloping her was not only that of the Holy Court Continent, but also from another Continent. Two types of power, which should belong to the same law of Heaven and Earth, were now incompatible like water and fire due to the separation of the continents.
Mu Hanyan even felt that not only was the Qi within her violently unstable, but even the surrounding power of Heaven and Earth was chaotically tumultuous, like a giant storm vortex.
"Heh, even if I didn’t use the Forbidden Technique, would you give me a chance to live?" Yue Ji said with a dismal laugh.
"What about him, does he not care for his life either?" the Black-clothed Swordsman pointed towards Hua Yue and others, but then suddenly froze.
Mu Hanyan looked up and was also slightly stunned. Inside the Divine Temple, two entirely different types of Heaven and Earth power were entwined and countering each other, becoming extremely chaotic. Influenced by this, both Zirong and Jiang Yuzhe displayed bluish-green complexions, with fine blood threads seeping out from their bodies, evidently caused by the Qi uncontrollably breaking through their meridians.
But Hua Yue seemed just as before, other than appearing pale due to his injuries, he seemed unaffected.
How could this be? Mu Hanyan couldn’t understand—if it wasn’t because he had already reached the Peak of Great Swordsman, being able to withstand this chaotic power, Hua Yue’s cultivation was similar to Zirong’s, and Zirong was nearly tortured to death; how could he be completely unaffected.
"Bastard, he is actually the illegitimate offspring left behind by Hua Guanyu!" The Black-clothed Swordsman suddenly realized, his hair and beard bristling as he screamed both angrily and shockingly.
Was Hua Yue also a person from another Continent? Mu Hanyan was somewhat surprised. And the words of the Black-clothed Swordsman and Granny Hua Yue suggested that Hua Yue’s identity was not simple?
(Shall I say that the story truly begins now, that Hanyan’s identity is slowly being revealed? Tickling my nose, Hanyan’s identity is not simple, I wonder if anyone has guessed even a bit. There were foreshadowings before.)