Chapter 82: Sudden Change

Five miles outside of Zhongdu City, amidst a flurry of wind and snow.

Xu Ziyan’s skin surface had turned completely crimson. Her eyes were bloodshot and bulging outward, and her entire body trembled incessantly.

Inside the Talisman Array, Yang Leng and the others were also extremely anxious. They couldn’t see what was happening outside the array. By now, Yang Leng understood that he was facing a Talisman Array Master. The seemingly ordinary second-grade top-level Talismans had been transformed into something miraculous in the opponent’s hands, arranged into a Talisman Array that trapped them.

He could also imagine that the opponent must have sent someone back to Zhongdu City for help. If they were trapped here just a little longer, Xu Haoran, the Family Head of the Xu Clan, would personally arrive. When that happened, his life would end here.

Therefore, Yang Leng was very anxious at this moment. Initially, he thought that with his cultivation level, even if the opponent had set up a Talisman Array, he could easily break it. And indeed, under his relentless attacks, the Talisman Array trapping them quickly became unstable.

However, just as a look of joy and relaxation appeared on his face, the previously shaky Talisman Array suddenly flared with bright light and stabilized once again.

Yang Leng’s face twitched, and he felt confused about why this happened, but there was no time for further thought. He turned to Yang Linglong and her two subordinates and said curtly,

“Let’s attack together!”

Yang Linglong’s expression also changed. Being clever and perceptive, she immediately understood the situation and quickly signaled her two subordinates to join Yang Leng in attacking the Talisman Array.

Under the combined assault of Yang Leng and the others, the dazzling light of the Talisman Array quickly dimmed. At the same time, the spiritual power within Xu Ziyan’s body found an outlet and surged madly back into the Talisman Array, causing it to shine brightly once more.

Yang Leng was extremely frustrated. He didn’t know why this was happening and could only continue to attack the surrounding Talisman Array incessantly.

Although the spiritual power within Xu Ziyan’s body was being released due to the confrontation with Yang Leng and the others, it still wasn’t enough to resolve the crisis inside her. The skin all over her body gradually swelled up, like a bag filled to the brim with air, on the verge of bursting.

Suddenly, Xu Ziyan clearly heard a crisp “crack” sound inside her body, as if something had shattered. The snowflakes swirling around her were suddenly driven toward her body, swarming in. Along with this came the fluctuation of spiritual energy from heaven and earth. Even though Xu Ziyan already had too much spiritual energy inside her, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth still rushed into her body.

Soon, heavy snow completely covered Xu Ziyan’s body. It piled up thicker and thicker, finally forming a huge white cocoon that tightly enveloped her.

Inside Xu Ziyan, it felt as if another channel had been opened. The previously chaotic and overflowing spiritual power suddenly had a pathway and surged forward in a torrent. One of Xu Ziyan’s meridians was forced open under the pressure, breaking through a cultivation barrier. Her cultivation level directly rose to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.

The surging spiritual power rushed rapidly along the newly opened meridian and the previously opened meridians, heading straight for the Dantian. The vortex of energy within the Dantian suddenly expanded, madly absorbing the vast spiritual power.

However, opening just one new meridian only temporarily eased the spiritual power’s expansion and didn’t completely resolve Xu Ziyan’s current peril. As the vortex grew, her cultivation level rapidly increased, advancing directly to the late peak of the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining and still attempting to break through to the Seventh Layer.

Outside, the falling snow continued to cover Xu Ziyan’s body. The surrounding spiritual energy grew increasingly dense. After the newly opened meridian was filled with spiritual power, the energy within Xu Ziyan began to overflow again.

Under the combined effect of the spiritual power inside and outside Xu Ziyan’s body, the large snowball encapsulating her slowly began to float. Xu Ziyan’s hand was still gripping the Talisman Array. As she floated up, the Talisman Array rose with her, carrying Yang Leng and the others inside it high into the air.

The snow fell heavier, and the wind grew fiercer! The large snowball containing Xu Ziyan drifted with the wind into the distance.

Inside the Talisman Array, Yang Leng didn’t know what was happening. He just kept fiercely attacking the array, hoping to break it sooner.

“Crack!”

Another crisp sound echoed. The overflowing spiritual power within Xu Ziyan’s body calmed down a bit more, surging toward another newly opened meridian. Xu Ziyan’s cultivation level abruptly broke through again, reaching the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining. This wasn’t the end. Her cultivation level soared rapidly, soon reaching the late peak of the Seventh Layer, stopping just before the barrier of the Eighth Layer, gathering strength to impact the Eighth Layer barrier.

As time passed, Xu Ziyan continued to break through. Carried by the wind, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, she had already drifted over a hundred miles away. By now, most of the spiritual power within Xu Ziyan had calmed down, and her cultivation level had reached the late peak of the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining Stage.

“Boom~~”

The large snowball around Xu Ziyan exploded with a loud crash, revealing Xu Ziyan inside with her eyes closed. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around, discovering she was high in the air. Looking down, she saw a dense, deep forest. Xu Ziyan was stunned. After a long moment, she realized that, at some point, she had moved far from the Imperial Highway and been blown here by the wind.

She thought that Xu Lin and the others should have returned to Zhongdu City by now. It was time for her to leave. More importantly, with the increase in her cultivation level, Xu Ziyan now felt a sense of clarity in her Mental State. She knew this was a rare opportunity for Sudden Enlightenment.

She glanced up at the Talisman Array in front of her, hearing the rumbling sounds of attack from within. Xu Ziyan frowned slightly. Suddenly, she felt that this noise disrupted her Mental State. She let go of her hand, her Soul rapidly expanded and merged with the world around her. The mental technique of the Water Ice Art appeared in her Soul. Xu Ziyan’s figure instantly vanished with the wind and snow, wandering amidst the snowstorm between heaven and earth.

Five miles outside Zhongdu City, Xu Haoran stood with a group of the clan’s higher-ups in the wind and snow. Their faces were all dark, especially Xu Haoran and Xu Haobo, whose grim expressions were as cold as ice. Turning to Xu Lin, he asked,

“Are you sure it was here?”

“Yes!” Xu Lin replied respectfully, his face full of anxiety.

“Search!”

Xu Haoran shouted the order. Instantly, more than ten people rose from the ground, flying off in all directions, carefully searching within a fifty-mile radius.

However, the result greatly disappointed Xu Haoran. They found no trace of Xu Ziyan at all.

“Yang Family! Zhou Family!”

Xu Haoran ground out the words through clenched teeth, his fists tightly balled, veins bulging on his forehead. After a long moment, he let out a deep sigh and said helplessly,

“Let’s go back!”

The group of more than ten people flew back toward Zhongdu City using Sword Flight. After arriving at Zhongdu City, Xu Haoran and Xu Haobo looked back desolately toward the area outside the city, their faces filled with grief. They exchanged a glance, the same thought passing through both their minds:

“How are we going to explain this to Xu Haoguang when we get back?”