Beside Zheng Chuan, others also made their moves.
A prodigy from the Shenxiao Sect formed hand seals, and a true dragon emerged behind him. His entire body crackled with thunder, resembling a thunder dragon descending into the mortal realm. A dragon's roar echoed across the heavens.
With a soft command, the prodigy unleashed his thunder dragon. It lashed its tail, its ferocious and menacing presence unstoppable as it charged straight at Qin Xueyi.
Cheng Shi from the Giant Elephant Sect was even more terrifying. He resembled an ancient war god reborn, slamming down nine consecutive palms. Each palm radiated dazzling light, surging with red blood energy like an erupting volcano.
The onlookers paled at the sight.
“This is bad,” Qin Xueyi thought to herself. She could handle two, even three opponents at once, but the problem was that there were simply too many adversaries now—eight or nine of them attacking simultaneously.
Each one of them was a young prodigy, a rare genius. Even with the support of a residual formation, she was beginning to falter.
She raised her delicate head, glancing at the battlefield where Li Xun was fighting. Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she said nothing.
She knew that as long as she revealed her identity, Li Xun would immediately come to her aid. But thinking about the enemies she faced, she dismissed the idea.
There were too many enemies.
Revealing her identity now would only make Li Xun their target as well.
Moreover, with memories from her past life spanning ten thousand years, she had long developed a proud and independent personality. She didn’t want to always stand behind Li Xun.
What she wanted was to one day be able to assist him, not rely on him to resolve every danger she encountered.
Qin Xueyi's robes fluttered as she waved her slender hand. The entire slaughter formation rumbled into motion, countless sword lights converging beneath her feet, forming a radiant sea of swords.
With a single finger, she pointed.
An endless storm of sword light surged upwards, clashing with various techniques.
The terrifying aftershocks spread, shattering the summit of the black mountain. Rocks scattered into the air, dust and smoke billowed, and radiant flashes illuminated the chaos.
The formation that had enveloped the entire black mountain vanished completely at this moment.
Qin Xueyi was sent flying backward, landing on the ground. Her face was pale, and a streak of crimson blood trickled from the corner of her lips. She had been fighting against so many opponents stronger than her by an entire level.
Even with her past life's experience, it was still a struggle.
If it weren’t for the fact that she was a reincarnator with memories of her previous life, and was just an ordinary cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Meridian Realm, she would’ve been instantly defeated.
After all, not everyone can fight beyond their level.
“The slaughter formation is broken. What other tricks do you have left?” Zheng Chuan sneered.
With a reverse palm strike, light erupted, and gale-force winds howled. It was as if dark clouds covered the skies, pressing down over an area spanning hundreds of meters.
At the same time, countless sword lights, blade auras, fist imprints, and weapons surged toward her from all directions, sealing off every escape route she had.
Earlier, with the help of the formation, she had already sustained light injuries. Now, without it, no one believed she could hold on. Her defeat seemed inevitable.
“What a pity,” someone murmured softly, closing their eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.
The mysterious figure was incredibly strong, but her opponents were far too numerous. Each one was a prodigy of their sect, an exceptional talent—not someone a Spirit Meridian Realm cultivator like her could easily contend with.
Qin Xueyi’s entire body was shrouded in divine light, making her appear both aloof and enigmatic. She glanced down at the storage ring on her hand.
At this critical moment, it seemed… she might have no choice but to use those two puppets.
However, the problem lay in the fact that the two puppets were beings at the Life and Death Realm. If she deployed them, today’s events would surely not remain hidden and would be discovered by the Great Zhou Empire.
The Third Princess had warned her long ago: in the Phoenix Origin Secret Realm, no items of the Life and Death Realm were to be used. If she violated this rule, the Great Zhou Empire would certainly investigate. At that point, escaping from the Empire’s territory might no longer be an option for her.
As she hesitated, unable to decide, a wave of divine powers fused together into a massive, destructive force. It surged toward her with an aura of annihilation, dazzling to behold yet concealing an unparalleled killing intent that chilled the onlookers to their cores.
Qin Xueyi’s slender figure seemed fragile and helpless against such overwhelming power. She bit her lip and raised her delicate hand. The storage ring on her finger began to emit an unparalleled force.
Just as this force started to manifest, however, an even more terrifying energy descended rapidly from the heavens.
A deafening explosion echoed.
The combined divine attacks of the eight or nine prodigies were instantly obliterated by a black meteor. Before this black meteor, everything seemed as fragile as paper—utterly incapable of even delaying its descent.
The black meteor crashed to the ground, and the earth rippled like the surface of the sea. Black hurricanes, sharp as blades, swept outward in all directions.
Even those watching from a great distance felt as though their bodies were being slashed open by countless wounds. The pain was excruciating.
Zheng Chuan asked, his expression stunned.
The others were equally baffled. They couldn’t comprehend why, just as their attack was about to strike down the mysterious figure, this unexpected turn of events occurred.
After some time, the smoke and dust settled.
Everyone saw a massive black halberd standing upright in front of the mysterious figure.
The halberd was enormous and heavy, and from its point of impact, dense cracks spread outward like a spider’s web.
Its surface was as dark as ink, like a black hole that seemed capable of devouring the mind. Even a single glance made one’s scalp tingle with fear.
“A spiritual treasure…?”
Someone spoke hesitantly.
The moment they saw the halberd, the crowd didn’t feel greed but rather an overwhelming sense of dread. Whoever could wield such a weapon was no ordinary person.
Could it be that someone terrifying was secretly protecting the mysterious figure?
This thought alone made many of the prodigies feel a chill of fear.
Among them, the two attendants of the man in green were the most visibly shaken. They stumbled back two steps, their faces pale with shock, muttering under their breath, “How could she be connected to him?”
“Fellow cultivator,” Zheng Chuan asked with confusion, “who is the ‘him’ you’re referring to?”
The attendant struggled to utter two words:
As soon as the words were spoken, a purple figure descended from the sky.
His hair danced wildly, his gaze sharp as a blade, and golden waves of energy surged around him like a tidal force. He stood in front of the mysterious figure like a supreme heavenly emperor.
In that instant, his presence silenced the world.
Everyone felt as though an immense mountain had settled on their shoulders, so heavy they could barely breathe.