In the heart of Rao Yang Lake, Mu Yue and her three comrades dove like hungry eagles, their heads down as they plunged toward the water's surface at breakneck speeds. The brilliance of their spiritual energy broke the sound barrier, causing the air to shudder and ripple dramatically. Even before touching the water, the surface of the lake dipped several meters, forming a funnel shape.
However, it was at this moment that Mu Yue's eyebrows knitted together; she had spotted the tall tower of the Hundred Rivers Covering Sea Array in the center of the lake.
Previously, they had been too far away for her divine sense to detect it, and with just the naked eye, the tower's clues were undetectable.
Mu Yue had noticed it before but didn't pay much attention because she was worried about Su Jie escaping.
Now that she had entered Rao Yang Lake, a sudden sense of dread filled her heart, its source originating from the tower.
Turning her head for a better look, Mu Yue's pupils contracted as she discovered that the tower was not only filled with an enormous amount of spiritual material, with each level inscribed with arrays but also that it was occupied by numerous array masters.
"This scale of the array... stop right now, let's withdraw," she said urgently.
Mu Yue's face paled as she realized the gravity of the situation.
This array was none other than the famous Great Taoist Formation, whose power could completely obliterate a sect; it was a true sect-destroying and temple-toppling formation. Once deployed, its might would be terrifyingly boundless.
And such a formation, to ensure its successful execution, would undoubtedly be guarded by formidable forces.
No sooner had Mu Yue raised the alarm than Ye Xueyuan, driven by a desire for recognition, threw a punch.
Tons of lake water were blasted away, and Su Jie's severed arm was smashed to pieces, mixing with fish and shrimp turned into mush and blending into the lake.
"Hmm, where did they go?" Ye Xueyuan was taken aback, doubting that a casual punch from her could obliterate someone of the Secret Realm.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before Ye Xueyuan could make sense of the situation, seven figures burst from beneath the surface, radiating a dazzling and robust aura as they stared intently at her group.
"Intruders detected, array masters seek refuge," one announced.
"Send a signal to notify the sect, we need reinforcements. The Hundred Rivers Covering Sea Array must not be compromised."
"Encircle them, don't let them escape. Four devilish women dared to cause trouble here; they're seeking their own deaths."
The seven Secret Realm Elders of Guan Chao Pavilion encircled Mu Yue and her group, regarding them with hostility as if they were looking at the dead.
The leader among them, a middle-aged man with a heavy sword on his back and a fierce glint in his eyes, stood atop a whirlpool of water. He was a Secret Realm Fifth Level cultivator.
The rest were also at the Third and Fourth Level of the Secret Realm, each skilled in their rank and specially tasked with protecting the safety of the Hundred Rivers Covering Sea Array.
The intrusion of Mu Yue and her comrades had instantly alerted these protectors, and seeing the four so-called devilish women at Rao Yang Lake naturally incited hostility from the seven Guan Chao Pavilion Elders.
"This is bad, we've been tricked, that Su Jie deliberately lured us here..."
Mu Yue's face was extremely grim as she realized they had fallen into a trap.
"Where did so many from the Secret Realm come from? That aura... it seems to be those water-loving sages from Guan Chao Pavilion," one commented.
"What do we do now? We're surrounded."
"Sister Mu, we must break through."
Shao Mengzhu, Ye Xueyuan, and Liang Jianlan were trembling with tension. The numerical disadvantage was too great; they certainly didn't have the ability to fight one against two.
"Honored guests, we didn't mean to intrude...we didn't intend to come here…" Mu Yue tried to pull herself together, giving a graceful smile in an attempt to use her beauty to persuade the others.
"How dare you attempt to seduce and bewitch us," the leader with the heavy sword snorted disapprovingly.
He was no young disciple from the Yunling Realm; with a fierce look in his eyes, he drew his heavy sword and slashed through the air.
The pressure from the wind swept the lake water aside, exposing the mud on the lakebed, and a domineering sword qi cut fiercely through the air.
Mu Yue dodged just in time, but Shao Mengzhu beside her reacted a moment too late. She was immediately blown away by the residual sword qi, her left arm and thigh pulverized into mincemeat—absolutely horrific.
"Slay these demonesses," the heavy sword wielder commanded coldly, as six other Guan Chao Pavilion Secret Realm Elders charged at them.
Talismans, magic artifacts, magic—splashes of spiritual power and treasures glittered all across the sky.
Seven against four, with one grievously wounded, such odds left little chance for Mu Yue and her companions to overcome.
The heavy sword wielder, in particular, was ferocious. He wielded his heavy sword, not manipulating a flying sword like the others but rather flinging sword qi.
Under the power of his sword qi, Rao Yang Lake surged with thousands of waves, and towering water spouts rose into the sky.
With the sword qi's passage, countless massive waves would also press down, as if they faced the vast ocean itself. Aside from Mu Yue, Ye Xueyuan and the other two were hard-pressed to defend themselves.
The Guan Chao Pavilion specialized in water-based cultivation techniques, and given the battleground was Rao Yang Lake—thousands of square kilometers of it—turned into the optimal stage for the pavilion's advantage.
Already stronger than the Desire Sect, this put Mu Yue and her group at a disadvantage, forcing them into a desperate scramble for survival as they struggled to even keep their heads up.
Facing this desperate situation, Mu Yue had no time to think about conventional fighting. Regular combat wasn't possibly going to lead to victory; she wasn't thinking about winning but about how to escape—otherwise, this place would be her burial ground.
"Use the Illusion Desire Technique," Mu Yue sent through divine sense, relaying her words directly into the minds of Ye Xueyuan and the other two.
She tore at the fabric of her palace dress, revealing large expanses of her snowy white, beautiful body.
Rings of pink patterns emerged on her fair skin, and just one glance could make a person feel dizzy with vertigo.
This was the Desire Sect's defining Taoist skill, an incredibly powerful illusion technique that was said to be so refined at its peak that even all the gods and Buddhas in the sky could fall into its thrall.