Amidst the pouring rain, Shen Diexin and Lin Huang raised their heads, their eyes fixed on the elderly man appearing at the other end of the alley. His flame-like red robes fluttered in the heavy rain, his hair flying wildly. Every step he took felt exceptionally heavy.
The heavy rain pattered down, but whenever the droplets neared the old man, they instantly evaporated into billowing steam. Wherever his footsteps landed, the puddles of rainwater began to boil.
"Knowing that Elder Diexin’s Ice Frost Floating Snow Sword Formation is formidable, I specifically invited Elder Qii Yan," Hann Qixiu laughed sinisterly. "To get Elder Qii to step in, I even gave away the Fiery Flame Burning Fire Array."
"Are your Celestial Thunder Sect and Fengyu Tower dead set on making an enemy out of my Piaoxue Palace?" Shen Diexin’s anger erupted, her body exuding extreme cold. The rainwater in the air abruptly condensed due to the majestic frigid energy, forming countless ice spikes that emitted an extremely piercing chill.
"Does the current Piaoxue Palace still deserve to be called one of the Four Great Sects?" Qii Yan laughed boisterously, his flushed red face making no attempt to hide his disdain. "How can Yann Nangui, who has only comprehended forty percent of *Snow Falling on Earth*, compare to the Sect Masters of our two major sects?"
"So, after I die, you’ll finally have the guts to wage war against Piaoxue Palace?" Shen Diexin’s icy pupils narrowed slightly. She hadn’t expected the two major sects to have such wild ambitions, actually harboring the intention of striking Piaoxue Palace’s name from the world.
"Whether we wage war against Piaoxue Palace is yet to be decided. But Elder Diexin, don’t even think about walking out of this alley today," Hann Qixiu chuckled lightly, though his hunched figure gave off an extremely dangerous aura at this moment.
As his voice fell, two more figures slowly emerged in the rain-slicked alley—Hann Shan and Qii Lie!
Behind Shen Diexin, Lin Huang’s mind trembled. Looking at the four people gradually surrounding them, he felt the aura within his body surging violently. Several vigorous and heavy presences pressed down on him, making it extremely difficult to even breathe.
Two major sects, two Array Masters, and four Celestial Element Realm powerhouses had come just to kill one Shen Diexin. Meanwhile, he, Lin Huang, had become the bait, single-handedly pulling Shen Diexin into this trap. Thinking of this, Lin Huang’s cold expression became somewhat twisted.
"Elder Diexin, it’s my fault you’re in this," Lin Huang suppressed his guilt and lowered his voice. "Now, to escape alive, we have to break the array and get help from my master!"
Shen Diexin nodded. She wasn’t someone who overestimated her own strength. Facing the siege of four Martial Artists in the same Realm, with two Array Masters present to boot, it was impossible for her to walk out alive.
"Elder Diexin, let’s meet again in the next life!" Hann Qixiu raised his wrinkled, gaunt face and lightly stamped his dry walking stick, instantly bringing forth a hidden, pitch-black array.
In an instant, a sinister and bone-piercing chill swept through the alley. Amidst the pattering curtain of rain, hundreds of pitch-black longspears slowly appeared. The spear tips stared down at Shen Diexin and Lin Huang like falcons, exuding a malicious aura that pierced straight to the bone.
"Yin Spear Array!"
Looking at the pitch-black spears cramming the alley and unscrupulously emitting waves of yin energy, Lin Huang’s heart pounded. It seemed these old dogs were using their ultimate moves right from the start.
"Kill!" Hann Qixiu’s aged face turned cold. As he spat out the icy word, the hundreds of Yin Spears seemed to come alive. They hissed and vibrated in the air before howling furiously, charging in unison toward Shen Diexin and Lin Huang.
The terrifyingly sharp aura engulfed them like a surging tidal wave.
"Ice Wall!" Staring at the dense barrage of black spears carrying murderous yin energy, Shen Diexin’s beautiful face was as indifferent as if it were covered in frost. With a wave of her fair hands, the air temperature plummeted rapidly, transforming the surroundings into a world of ice and snow.
In the blink of an eye, the vast downpour of rain condensed into a massive Ice Wall, protecting Shen Diexin and Lin Huang within.
BANG BANG BANG...
Violent crashing sounds echoed through the alley as the Yin Spears smashed against the Ice Wall. The powerful impact caused the wall to tremble, sending countless shards of ice flying in all directions. Fortunately, the rain of hundreds of powerful Yin Spears failed to shatter the barrier.
"Elder Qii, it’s your turn to strike!" Seeing that the hundreds of Yin Spears were ineffective, Hann Qixiu’s expression darkened considerably. He naturally knew how powerful his Yin Spears were; even if they couldn’t completely shatter the Ice Wall, they should have left behind countless cracks. The scene before him clearly made him realize that Shen Diexin was not so simple to deal with.
"A trivial matter!" Qii Yan burst into loud laughter. With a furious roar, his body was instantly enveloped in swirling flames. Amidst the torrential rain, he exuded an incomparably scorching heat, seemingly intent on incinerating every blade of grass and piece of wood in the vicinity to ashes.
With a flick of Qii Yan’s finger, a Fiery Flame Burning Fire Array suddenly appeared in the alley. Terrifying waves of heat spread out like a torrent of molten steel, turning everything in its path to ash. Outside the Ice Wall, four flaming tigers condensed from the array appeared. Their entire bodies blazed with bright red fire, and the pillars of flame shooting from their mouths were like searing magma, melting the frozen barrier.
Watching the scene unfold, Shen Diexin’s delicate eyebrows shot up, and she couldn’t help but clench her fists. She realized that Fire Arrays truly were her bane!
"A long delay means trouble! Let’s strike together and break this Ice Wall as quickly as possible!" Hann Qixiu said coldly. He always went all out even against weaker opponents, never giving his enemies the slightest sliver of hope.
Immediately, Hann Shan and Qii Lie made their move. Coordinating with the Fiery Flame Burning Fire Array, they attacked the Ice Wall together.
Seeing the four Celestial Element Realm powerhouses attack simultaneously, Lin Huang’s pupils contracted rapidly. He immediately sat cross-legged, the Primordial Qi in his body circulating at breakneck speed, surging through his meridians like a raging river. He was going to condense the Godslaying One Slash!
Even though his meridians were not yet strong enough to withstand the extremely domineering power of the Godslaying One Slash, he had to take the gamble. If he didn’t risk it now, when would he? Was he just supposed to pathetically hide behind Shen Diexin?
At the same time, Shen Diexin used one hand to freeze the pouring rain into an ice wall while using the other to condense Array Seals. She also needed a highly offensive array to break through Hann Qixiu and Qii Yan’s arrays in succession, hoping to send Lin Huang out for help.
The heavy rain fell like endless strings in the obscure alley. Yet, a massive battle capable of shocking the East Spirit Realm was taking place here—the Four Great Celestial Elements besieging Shen Diexin, the genius Array Master of Piaoxue Palace!
RUMBLE! Deafening crashes buzzed endlessly. The vigorous auras churned like ocean waves within the alley... but neither the sounds nor the presences leaked out in the slightest.
Amidst the rain, Shen Diexin’s black hair was disheveled, making her look somewhat wretched. The Ice Wall surrounding her was tottering on the verge of collapse under the combined assaults of the Fiery Flame Burning Fire Array, the Yin Spear Array, and the attacks of Hann Shan and Qii Lie. Spiderweb-like cracks had long since covered the entire ice structure.
Behind Shen Diexin, Lin Huang looked even worse off. Though sitting cross-legged as calmly as an Ancient Monk, his face was flushed and contorted, the veins all over his body bulging as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. In order to condense the Godslaying One Slash, the meridians inside his body had begun to rupture!
"Elder Diexin, why put up a pointless struggle? Today is your certain death," Hann Qixiu cackled maliciously, his withered old face incredibly sinister. "What’s the point of this stubborn resistance? Wouldn’t it be better to die quietly instead of making yourself look so pathetic?"
Shen Diexin raised her head to look at the four people attacking the ice wall. Her breathtakingly exquisite face was covered in frost. Even without uttering a single word, she radiated a bone-piercing cold.
"Are you ready?" she asked Lin Huang in a low voice.
Behind her, Lin Huang slowly opened his eyes and nodded.
"Kill!" From within the barricade, Shen Diexin let out an explosive shout. Just as the Four Great Celestial Elements launched their attacks, she suddenly withdrew the Ice Wall. Immediately after, an endless barrage of ice frost longswords shot out in all directions, violently piercing through the rain curtain as they rocketed toward the four enemies!
"Retreat!" Hann Qixiu’s expression changed. He hadn’t expected Shen Diexin to suddenly drop the ice wall right as the four of them were catching their breath, unleashing such a powerful killing move the moment she struck.
At the same time, Lin Huang launched himself forward like an arrow released from a bowstring. The longsword in his hand was unsheathed in an instant, a piercing cold light erupting out amidst the gloomy moon and torrential rain before slashing downwards with devastating momentum.
"Godslaying... One Slash!"
An extremely tyrannical killing intent abruptly swept through the alley, like a fierce tiger that had slumbered for ages suddenly opening its eyes. The saber gleam of the Godslaying One Slash drew a ten-zhang-long bloody arc in the air before condensing into a single point, slashing toward the intersection of the Yin Spear Array and the Fiery Flame Burning Fire Array.
"Childish! How could a junior like you at the Personal Element Realm break a Third-Level Array!" Hann Qixiu’s expression turned terrifyingly gloomy. As he retreated, his withered hand fiercely clawed toward Lin Huang’s head.
Shen Diexin’s expression changed, and she dashed toward Lin Huang. Following that, the other three Celestial Elements successively brought out their trump cards, blocking the hundreds of ice frost longswords in the air, and charged murderously toward Shen Diexin.
Within the alley, the situation changed in the blink of an eye!
Having executed the Godslaying One Slash, countless meridians in Lin Huang’s body were damaged, and his internal Primordial Qi was completely depleted. He no longer had the strength to fight. Watching the withered hand rapidly approaching, his pupils violently contracted as he forcibly dragged his body backward.
BANG! Right at the exact moment the massive withered hand was about to crush Lin Huang’s skull, Shen Diexin arrived abruptly, slamming her palm into Hann Qixiu’s shoulder.
In the next moment, Hann Qixiu spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward. Shen Diexin’s expression, however, changed drastically. She stared at her blood-covered hand, which was gradually turning pitch-black under the corrosion of a deadly poison. In the very next second, the three Celestial Elements had already charged over, and Shen Diexin raised her sword to fight once more!
"Flee!" Amidst the torrential downpour, as she fought against the three Celestial Elements, Shen Diexin turned back and roared at Lin Huang. "Even if you have to crawl, you must escape! You are not just Lin Huang, you are Lin Cangxue’s brother! If you’re a man, don’t die on me here!"
Looking at her wretched yet resolutely tragic figure in the heavy rain, Lin Huang stood frozen in a daze.
"With the Four Great Celestial Elements here, how could he possibly escape!" The injured Hann Qixiu laughed uproariously. "Never mind that he can’t walk out of the two Grand Arrays; even if he did, don’t forget that my disciple, Hann Ming, is waiting outside this alley!"
Hearing Hann Qixiu’s laughter, Shen Diexin’s expression changed, and her heart instantly darkened. Looking at the three Celestial Element powerhouses who were unleashing all their lethal moves, a bitter smile surfaced on her beautiful face. "Little girl, I’m afraid your master will never see you again!"
At this moment, bloody frost crept into Shen Diexin’s cold eyes. An endlessly freezing aura rose within the alley, like a dormant behemoth rolling over, causing the expressions of everyone present to change drastically.
"You... you’re actually burning your Martial Soul..." Hann Qixiu was horrified. Staring into Shen Diexin’s icy, blood-red eyes, he felt his entire body enveloped by an extremely dangerous power. He had only ever felt this kind of danger from the Sect Master.
"Lin Huang, you must guard Cangxue well for the rest of your life. Otherwise, even as a ghost, I won’t let you off!" Shen Diexin turned her head, looking at Lin Huang with a sorrowful smile.
Looking at the bloodstained Shen Diexin, Lin Huang’s expression was as cold as frost. His ten fingers dug deeply into his flesh. Gritting his teeth in agony, he nodded fiercely, his eyes overflowing with monstrous killing intent. If he survived today, he would definitely grind these people’s bones to dust and scatter their ashes!
Just as Shen Diexin was completely burning her Martial Soul in exchange for immense power, a faint voice suddenly echoed in the air. "To even dare burn your Martial Soul... you really don’t care about your life, woman."
Lin Huang whipped his head around.
A pitch-black figure holding an Oil Paper Umbrella had appeared at the end of the alley at some unknown point in time, slowly approaching through the wind and rain!