"Die!" The huge wooden door had multiple cracks on its surface and was about to crumble. A loud "boom" rang out after it was. .h.i.t once more, and the entire door collapsed down. The very second the door went down, an entire group of people charged out from within the hall, led by Zhao Ning. It was exactly what Pei Zi Yun had antic.i.p.ated. The minute the door broke, the people within started fighting for their Sect. "Kill them all!" Pei Zi Yun’s sword gleamed as it struck the nearest Daoist around him. Everyone was packed too closely. The Daoist gave out a howl of pain as he fell back. The vines from beneath the ground sprouted out and wrapped themselves around Pei Zi Yun.
"Why"re you so eager to flee? Daoists, didn"t you say something about coming out openly to fight?" Pei Zi Yun mocked coldly.
Raindrops fell, causing splattering sounds as they landed on the green marble floor. Pei Zi Yun’s sword slashed across the air threateningly.
The Daoist was clearly proficient in both martial arts and Dao arts as he narrowly dodged Pei Zi Yun’s blow. He could feel the wind of the sword brush against his skin as the blade slid past his body and teared hole in his robes.
Pei Zi Yun’s struck again, this time disarming the Daoist of his sword which fell noisily to the ground.
"Junior brother, don’t kill him yet. Ask him about the enemies’ situation before you make your next move." Zhang Yun shouted out loudly.
Hearing these words, the Daoist gave a cold laughter, "Haha, I’m afraid your entire Paradise has been destroyed. All of you are finished. You shall become rogue cultivators soon. What use is there in interrogating me for answers? I still have Paradise in my sect, how could I possibly bend to the will of mere rogue cultivators like yourselves?"
As the Daoist spoke, he slammed his entire body into the tip of Pei Zi Yun’s sword, causing ma.s.sive amounts of blood to splash out. Pei Zi Yun had thought of pulling the sword away from him, preventing him from killing himself. But, he suddenly felt his energy being drained from his body, and thus didn’t budge.
"Kill them!" Zhao Ning decapitated the head of an enemy standing in front of him. Free Cloud Sect disciples were led by Zhao Ning as they charged forward fiercely, shouting in intimidating voices, "Kill! Kill them all and spare none! Avenge our fallen sect members!"
"Avenge our fallen sect members!"
Pei Zi Yun heard the killing sounds, before hearing the faint cries of agony slowly dying out. There were less than ten surviving enemy at this point. It was now Free Cloud Sect’s turn to pursue and kill them all. Thinking about their current situation, he realized his body was completely drained of all energy. He forced himself to enter the hall as he whispered to himself, "The rain is getting heavier by the minute."
The raindrops were still falling down mercilessly on the ground, causing a distinct splattering sound as it crashed down onto rocks and pebbles. The entire sky was hazy and seemed to envelop the entire surroundings in mist.
Pei Zi Yun could still see the multiple corpses strewn across the ground. With the relentless rain, the ground was bright red from the blood spilt which was washed down by the rain, gradually lightening the color.
Pei Zi Yun forced a laugh before fishing out a vial from his robes, wanting to consume several regeneration pills. He knew that such pills shouldn"t be consumed in his current condition, but he didn"t have much choice considering how weak he was feeling.
"Junior Brother! Don"t!" Someone stopped him, "Aunt said you mustn"t consume such pills when you"re fatigued. The pills would purge out your energy in reverse and cause damage to your body."
The rain was still pouring down heavily. Someone came in and lit up a lamp. She then slowly turned around, allowing the light to illuminate her features. In that second, the entire hall seemed to come alive with light.
"Chu Xia?"
Under the light from the lamp, Chu Xia was very pretty. Her lips were full as they bent upwards to reveal a gorgeous and innocent smile. Although she still had a certain childish look, she was mostly grown up and was now a beautiful young lady.
Chu Xia then handed him a pork bun and a package. When she undid the package, there was pork beneath the wrapping paper, but it had turned cold.
Pei Zi Yun received the food and devoured it hungrily. He ate so quickly that he almost choked, coughing violently. Chu Xia then spoke out, "There’s no water here but rainwater should suffice."
As she spoke, she went to hunt for an empty vial and brought rain water in for him.
Pei Zi Yun looked at her, "Senior Sister, you"ve grown up."
"I’m already fourteen years old. How could I not be grown up? Only you still treat me like a child." Chu Xia replied gently before handing the vial of rain water.
Pei Zi Yun stopped speaking and drank his water thirstily, before consuming the rest of the pork bun and meat. He then felt better and he turned toward her and asked, "What just happened?"
"The enemy kept attacking fiercely. Elder Zhao knew that we wouldn"t be able to hold them off for much longer. Hence, he instructed us to go down the secret tunnel. That was why we were all underground."
"At first I refused, I wanted to stay and fight. But aunt scolded me very harshly."
Pei Zi Yun nodded his head as if to comfort her. Looking at the present situation, he saw that the tunnel didn’t stretch on for very far before it reached a dead end. If he hadn’t rushed over in time, the enemy would’ve broken through into the Patriarch’s Hall. The rest of them down within the tunnels would’ve been dragged out and slaughtered. The enemy would then raze down the entire hall to the ground, which would ensure Free Cloud Sect’s Paradise would crumble as well. At this point he exclaimed, "The timing when the rest of you from inside attacked was very appropriate!"
"Of course, that’s all my credit. When senior brother Zhang informed us of you arrival, I knew that you would arrive on time. I then rushed down the tunnel and informed Aunt and Elder Zhao."
"Hence the minute you started attacking from outside, we opened our doors and responded by joining up with you."
"Not bad, you’ve done amazingly." Pei Zi Yun hurriedly praised her. At this point, someone walked in, bringing the rainwater along with her footsteps. It was Yu Yun Jun.
Pei Zi Yun cast a glance at her before hurriedly retracting his gaze. It was currently summer, and her robes were thin and white. But since it was raining heavily, and her b.u.t.tons were somewhat undone, her robes were pressed closely to her body, revealing her figure and her undergarments.
Yu Yun Jun seemed to have realized this and she conjured a spell, causing her robes to dry up instantly.
"Master, what’s the situation outside like?"
"Elder Zhao led a group of people and essentially killed everyone who had attacked us. All the wounded enemies were given additional stabs to ensure they were dead. We’ve also managed to rescue several injured disciples."
Yu Yun Jun had sent Chu Xia down the underground tunnel for she knew the chances of them surviving this ordeal was very slim. She thus harboured thoughts of allowing Chu Xia to escape unscathed from today, and leaving her chances to fate. She had been trying to contact Pei Zi Yun repeatedly but failed, and was at a complete loss. Now that both Chu Xia and Pei Zi Yun were both safe and sound, and they even managed to overcome their enemies, she was extremely relieved and glad.
She then sighed, "Our sect had 120 disciples before this. After doing a quick check, those people who’ve been trained in both Dao arts and martial arts number no more than twenty."
"Many of our normal disciples died. We only have ten of them left."
"That means the entire sect, we have less than forty disciples?" Pei Zi Yun regained some energy and whispered out.
"That’s right!"
Pei Zi Yun was about to speak when the statue lit up once more, and the three of them walked over to take a look.
Paradise
The pair of shadows broke apart.
"So you were the Sect Leader of Free Cloud Sect? No wonder I could sense a wave of authority on you. But you’re a fresh soul that just entered Paradise. Your blood still runs warm, let’s see how long you can last in here. If you don’t return, your entire soul would be vanquished." The Earth Immortal"s clone spoke out coldly.
The Sect Leader in Yin Master form glared at the Earth Immortal’s clone, "Didn’t you force me to do this? Since I’m already here, I have no thoughts about returning."
"Boom!" The True Sovereign attacked heavily against the prison which had trapped him in, causing a huge explosion to echoed out.
"The Earth Immortal’s True Blood Prison can even have such effects in our Paradise? That’s scary." The True Sovereign broke out of the prison and glared at the Sect Leader and sighed, "What an idiotic disciple!"
"Heaven, Earth and Underworld transforms into a black mast. Yin and Yang merge and become one…." The Sect Leader started chanting, as a beam of rainbow shot towards his Patriarch, the True Sovereign.
The True Sovereign sighed, as he stretched out a hand to receive the rainbow with a frightening crash. The rainbow enveloped the True Sovereign, causing his wounds to completely recover. He even looked much stronger than before.
"d.a.m.n it!" The Earth Immortal’s clone charged over as the True Sovereign dashed towards him without hesitation as well. For a second, they both looked to be evenly matched, when all of a sudden, there was a change within Paradise.
Both of them looked up towards the heavens in shock. The Earth Immortal"s clone revealed a look of absolute horror for the first time, while the True Sovereign revealed a smile, "Haha, your Dark Altar Sect’s a.s.sault on my stronghold has ceased. I can feel it. Free Cloud Sect has won."
"Without your attack down on earth, all I have to do is wait and my entire Paradise will stabilize itself. You’ve killed so many of my people, let’s see how you shall die!" The True Sovereign was clearly an extraordinary individual. At this point he laughed out sinisterly, his gaze looked like he was ready to kill him and drink his blood contentedly.
As he finished speaking he then spoke, "You Xue, go down and inform the rest of them that our enemy’s earthen altar can be found towards the north of our mountain. Only after destroying the altar will we truly win this war."
"Yes!" A woman replied, and looked to be a young woman who had long flowy hair. At this point she started muttering incantations.
"Ai, dream on!" The Earth Immortal"s clone felt his heart turn cold as he stretched out a hand, causing the woman to groan in pain as she spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Your enemy is me!"The True Sovereign then charged towards his foe, causing the Earth Immortal"s clone to engage in battle once more. A thunder boomed, causing the entire Paradise to shake violently.
The woman connected with the presence of the statue down within the sect’s stronghold. She then flew up into the depths of the sky.
At the same time, the statue within the Patriarch’s Hall lit up with a ray of bright light. Yu Yun Jun and Pei Zi Yun raised their heads and looked up.
A wounded immortal spirit appeared in front of the statue and cast a glance at her surroundings.
"Master!" Yu Yun Jun immediately rushed towards her and pulled Pei Zi Yun, "Hurry, pay your respects to Patriarch!"
Pei Zi Yun then understood that this Patriarch was directly in his line and hurriedly fell to his knees.
They then heard the immortal spirit ask impatiently, "What’s the situation now?"
"We’ve already defeated the enemy, but we’ve suffered huge losses as well. There are only forty disciples remaining." Yu Yun Jun knew it had to be an urgent matter for an immortal patriarch to make her way down.
The young woman then replied, "Are there any skilled fighters left? Dark Altar Sect has erected an earthen altar designed to attack our Paradise. They are now fighting in a deadlock. You have to send someone to destroy the altar, if not, it would be difficult for us to reclaim our Paradise."
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! We don’t have much time left. Paradise is on the verge of collapsing. You have to hurry destroy the earthen altar."
Yu Yun Jun then asked, "Master, where’s the location of the earthen altar?"
"It’s not far away, and is located towards the north of this mountain. Hurry decide who shall go." As she spoke, she couldn’t hold on being here any longer, as the light of the statue faded, and she disappeared into the statue.
"I will call for Elder Zhao to gather some men and go." Yu Yun Jun paused for some time, realizing that her master was just weak and hadn’t actually been destroyed. She then sighed and spoke out.
Pei Zi Yun swept a glance at his surroundings, "Master, Elder Zhao wouldn’t make it in time. But I have a way."
Pei Zi Yun spoke as he stood up and left. In a fraction of a second, the room was empty and still except for the rain. Chu Xia rushed towards the stage, her large eyes looked around, but failed to find Pei Zi Yun.
"Aunt!" Chu Xia looked around once more and started choking with emotions, "Junior brother rushed all the way here and killed so many people. After he’s done, he still has to get drenched in the rain."
"Ai, we have no other option." Yu Yun Jun sighed and hugged her as she looked outside, realizing that the rain was getting heavier.
Pei Zi Yun dashed into the rain and crossed the barren grounds. The mountain which the sect was built on wasn’t very tall, less than a hundred meters. The mountain had a bountiful amount of energy radiating from it, which caused the plants and shrubs to flourish under such conditions.
At this point, the rain was still falling down unrelentingly, and the howling of the wind could be heard. The sounds of the wind combined with the sounds of rain echoed all around. He ran to the edge of the mountain, by a cliff. He then took off the cloth on his back and pointed at it, which transformed into wings of sort. He then glided down the edge of the mountain.
High up in the sky, he could see everything clearly from where he was. Before long, he twisted his body at an angle, swerving sharply as he glided down towards the northern direction.