Chapter 394: A Small World

Translator: Minotauruz

With the sprightly old man watching over them from the side, Jun Xiaomo and the others were hardly too concerned that the alliance between the Dawn Sect and the Eternal Summit Sect would be too much of a threat to them. Besides, with Jun Xiaomo’s powerful formation arrays augmenting their abilities, their battle went incredibly smoothly.

That said, even Rong Ruihan, Ye Xiuwen and Chi Jingtian didn’t expect their combined prowess to be so immense. In fact, they were so strong that several disciples from the alliance were felled within a few breaths of time.

Amidst the heat of battle, the three of them exchanged meaningful glances and formed a tacit resolve between them –

They were going to protect Jun Xiaomo. Nobody was going to harm her.

Perhaps it was an extension of the firm resolve of theirs, but the three men stood shoulder to shoulder and fought with ever increasing rapport and coordination.

As Rong Ruihan, Ye Xiuwen and Chi Jingtian fought more and more valiantly, it became all the more evident just how much the members of the alliance were harbouring thoughts of retreating. Fear and anxiety began to mount on their hearts as the number of disciples and Sect Elders becoming crippled by Jun Xiaomo’s faction only increased.

It was evident that they would be unable to harm a single hair on the heads of Rong Ruihan, Ye Xiuwen and Chi Jingtian even without the sprightly old man’s interference, much less Jun Xiaomo as she continued to be sandwiched among the three.

“Retreat!” Finally, the Third Elder of the Eternal Summit Sect could no longer resist the urge to order a retreat.

After all, things were only going to get worse if they stayed on.

“Trying to run? It’s too late!” Chi Jingtian snorted as he gave chase, deeply intent on striking down his foes.

Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan were hardly any more merciful either. The alliance had gone all out at their throats right from the onset. If not for the fact that their combined abilities were well beyond the alliance’s expectations, and if not for the fact that they had an additional insurance in the form of the old man sitting in the distance and watching over them, they would most certainly have met with a tragic fate had they ended up in the hands of the alliance.

At the very least, they would have been severely wounded and incapacitated. If they were unable to break free of the predicament for an extended period of time, they might even end up perishing to the alliance.

Despair and despondence washed over the members of the alliance in an instant. Just as the Sect Elders of the alliance intended to stake everything on the line and at least drag someone down to hell with them, Jun Xiaomo squinted her eyes and tossed out five talismans.

The five talismans hovered in mid-air, forming a Pentacle Array, trapping and binding everyone within its domain instantly. In fact, the Sect Elders of the alliance almost immediately began to feel an outflow – of spiritual energy from their bodies. When they looked back up at Ye Xiuwen, Rong Ruihan and Chi Jingtian in horror, they noticed that the three were completely unaffected by the formation array at all.

“Demoness! You’re truly a Lady Demoness!” The Third Elder of the Eternal Summit Sect bellowed.

Jun Xiaomo smiled radiantly. There was clearly no intention on her part to deny the label she had just been given.

So what if she were a Lady Demoness? She was more than happy to live her second life as a Lady Demoness as well!

Under the restraining effects of Jun Xiaomo’s formation array, Ye Xiuwen, Rong Ruihan and Chi Jingtian took down the rest of the members of the alliance with ease, before tying up their arms and legs firmly with rope. They didn’t need the sprightly old man’s assistance at all.

“Xiaomo, you could’ve saved the last five talismans you used for another time. We could’ve taken down this bunch of weaklings without your formation array at all. They’re truly too weak!” Chi Jingtian waved his fist in mid-air smugly, stirring the wrath and rage in the hearts of the alliance’s Sect Elders.

Having lived for hundreds of years, how could they possibly swallow their rage after being taken down by a group of young brats?! That said, they could only blame themselves for their inadequate abilities to resist.

Jun Xiaomo chuckled lightly, before tipping on her toes and smacking Chi Jingtian lightly on the back of his head, “I don’t lack talismans in my Interspatial ring to begin with. It’s not a waste at all. Besides, were we really going to have to go through the trouble of catching them one by one? Isn’t it much better to capture them in one fell swoop like this? It’s so much easier!”

Alright, the Sect Elders of the alliance were so infuriated by their banal exchange that they were soon about to choke up blood.

“Xiaomo makes sense. Then, how should we take care of them now? Do we roast them, grill them, boil them or deep fry them?” Chi Jingtian brandished his fists as he asked eagerly.

The veins on the Sect Elders’ necks were all bulging right now as they glared wrathfully at Chi Jingtian – Chi Jingtian’s attitude was a complete humiliation to them.

However, they would very soon realize that the fate which awaited them was far crueler than just the mere humiliation they had received.

“Cripple their cultivation. If we leave them as they are right now, they’re just going to continue bully the sects that are weaker than them. Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine and let them understand with their bones how it feels to be trampled on by others.” Jun Xiaomo smiled smugly as she revealed the punishment that awaited the alliance.

This was a side of Jun Xiaomo that Ye Xiuwen, Rong Ruihan and Chi Jingtian had rarely seen. However, they could completely understand her actions.

After all, anyone who had experienced the totality of Jun Xiaomo’s previous life would never possess much naivete nor mercy in their hearts either.

“You dare?!” The Third Elder of the Eternal Summit Sect was both astounded and infuriated.

“Hmph. Why wouldn’t we? Do you have the ability to resist us?” Chi Jingtian mocked as he walked towards the members of the alliance, basking in the baptism of their wrathful gazes.

Indeed, none of them had any more fuel within them to put up any form of resistance anymore. Quite apart from Jun Xiaomo’s peculiar formation array that was hanging overhead, the mere existence of the sprightly old man watching them from afar meant that there was practically no chance of their escape right now.

This was the first time, and quite possibly also the last time that they had felt so despondent and hopeless. After all, if they were to have their cultivation crippled in such a dangerous environment within an Arcane Realm, was there truly any certainty that they would be able to escape from it alive at all?

“Please...I beg you, let us go...I’ve got a lot of precious treasures in my Interspatial Ring. I can give them all to you. I’ll give them all to you.”

One of the Sect Elders of the Eternal Summit Sect finally broke down in fear and began to cry as he begged for mercy.

“So now you want us to let you off? Then, why didn’t you ever consider letting us off earlier? You were the ones who had hounded us relentlessly time and again before, and even Dai Yanfeng was the one who made the first move against me. His death was only a result of his own actions. And you? Had the tables been turned, would you have given us a way out with our lives intact?” Jun Xiaomo mocked contemptuously as she delivered a firm but powerful palm strike straight towards the Sect Elder.

With that, the Sect Elder’s Dantian was completely shattered. The Sect Elder spat out a huge mouthful of blood, before passing out.

Just like that, the others soon had their cultivation levels crippled as well. Some passed out, while others remained conscious, yet so miserable they wished they were dead.

Crippled. Our entire life has been crippled...had we known this was going to happen, would we have disturbed this Lady Demoness to begin with? How could a woman possibly be so vicious?!

“Let’s go.” The sprightly old man leapt down from the tree and tossed the pit of the fruit he was eating away. Then, clapping the dirt off his hands, he walked off into the distance.

Jun Xiaomo and the rest also followed along, completely turning a blind eye to the ground of despondent people who were still tightly bound and restrained behind.

Ever since then, the Dawn Sect and the Eternal Summit Sect vanished entirely from the cultivation world. Some said that they lost their way within the Arcane Realm and were thus trapped within the same for the rest of eternity. Others said that they stepped on the toes of forces they could never have afforded to cross, and they were thus completely annihilated overnight. And, there were yet others who said that they had the misfortune to stumble upon a powerful trap within the Arcane Realm, and their combined numbers were consumed by the Arcane Realm just like that.

As for the real truth of the matter, who knows? Regardless, nobody within the cultivation world ever identified themselves with the Dawn Sect and the Eternal Summit Sect ever again. Furthermore, the things that each sect left behind were soon after raided and seized by other powers, leaving nothing behind. Thus, just like that, the Dawn Sect and the Eternal Summit Sect ended their chapter in the annals of history.

Jun Xiaomo and the others continued along their way. Along the way, they encountered several foreign powers of all sizes. However, as long as they remained passive, the other was content leaving them be as well. Just like that, they would pass along each other with a tacit acknowledgement of life-preservation.

Additionally, as they fought more and more battles together, Ye Xiuwen, Rong Ruihan, Chi Jingtian and Jun Xiaomo managed to increase their rapport and synergy with each other so much that they were practically invincible against any powers assailing them.

That said, their “invincibility” was naturally only limited to powers that were unable to overwhelm them with absolute strength. In other words, these were battles that didn’t require the sprightly old man’s interference to begin with.

Then, on one fine day, just as they finished their breakfast and intended to be on their way, Jun Xiaomo suddenly paused in her steps and furrowed her brow, “Something’s amiss. The air here isn’t right.”

“Air?” Chi Jingtian sniffed about hard with his nose, “I don’t sense anything wrong around me. The only thing I smell is the scent of fresh grasslands.”

“Let me take a look.” Jun Xiaomo was still ill at ease, so she retrieved a talisman from her Interspatial Ring and waved it about. Instantly, the talisman caught fire in mid-air and burned with a dark-blue flame.

“As I thought. There’s miasma in the air.” Jun Xiaomo exclaimed with realization.

“Miasma?!” Chi Jingtian’s eyes widened slightly.

“If there’s no miasma in the air, the talisman should have burned with a bright-red flame. It’s only because there’s miasma in the air that the flame would burn with a dark-blue hue.” Jun Xiaomo explained.

“Xiaomo, you’re truly incredible to have prepared even such talismans with ancillary effects.” Chi Jingtian gave Jun Xiaomo two thumbs up out of respect.

Chuckling lightly, Jun Xiaomo pushed down his thumbs and responded, “If I didn’t do these things despite having already lived life once, then my previous life’s experiences would’ve been completely wasted.”

Ye Xiuwen and Rong Ruihan knew exactly what Jun Xiaomo was referring to, and their eyes quivered with a trace of bitterness.

Just then, a female voice resounded from afar.

“Brother Du, I’m feeling a little bit tired. Would now be a good time for a rest?”

This voice sounded incredibly melodious and delicate, and it sounded like the owner of the voice was coaxing someone coquettishly. Anyone without a stoic heart and a firm resolution hearing this voice would immediately tremble and get goosebumps all over his body.

Fortunately, Ye Xiuwen, Rong Ruihan and Chi Jingtian were all men with a lady in their hearts, and none of them were tripped up by the coquettish voice.

“This voice sounds familiar.” Ye Xiuwen paused and pondered aloud.

Jun Xiaomo curled her lips into a wry smile, “Martial Brother Ye would naturally find this voice familiar. It belongs to someone we’re both extremely familiar with after all.”

“Familiar...Yu Wanrou?” Ye Xiuwen thought about it for a moment before responding with uncertainty.

“Who else could it be?” Jun Xiaomo smiled coldly, “We’ve traveled far and wide, only to find that the world is a small place after all...”

Rong Ruihan’s gaze flickered slightly as he contemplated a certain possibility...

In the very next moment, Jun Xiaomo blinked her eyes and smiled radiantly, “Since Yu Wanrou is in the Arcane Realm as well, it’s quite likely that she will end up obtaining the map to the Arcane Realm as well. Rather than fly about combing the entire Arcane Realm like a headless fly, why don’t we just tail them discreetly?”

Everyone immediately understood Jun Xiaomo’s intentions.

Follow Yu Wanrou until she obtains the Arcane Realm’s map, before seizing it straight from her.

Even though others might find such actions vile and inappropriate, Jun Xiaomo had never had any qualms seizing resources from Yu Wanrou – ever.

Not only that, she was incredibly pleased by the prospects she could do so.

After all, this could simply be considered a form of “repayment” for what Yu Wanrou had done to her over her two entire lifetimes.