Chapter 567: Alliance

The Sixth Princess had been in a foul mood lately, something her brothers were well aware of. Ever since entering the illusory realm, she had been hunting down opponents wherever she could find them. When she encountered enemies, her brothers wouldn't dare to intervene. However, opponents were hard to find on the first day, so she hadn't had many chances to show her skills.

Finally, on the fourth day, the teams that had been playing it safe earlier began to make their moves, and the Sixth Princess seized her opportunity. After wiping out an entire team on her own, she reveled in the thrill of her victory.

Then, they encountered two groups locked in battle ahead.

This kind of situation was a favorite in the illusory realm, as teams engaging in combat would often fail to watch all angles, making it easy for a third team to swoop in and eliminate both.

So, the imperial family's team moved in to investigate.

Observing from a distance, the Thirteenth Prince whispered, "I think I see Chu Liang. He seems to be injured. One team wants to kill him, while another is trying to protect him."

"We can't let this opportunity slip by," the Sixth Princess whispered back as she raised her hand immediately. "We have to help no matter what!"

"Help who?" a younger member of the imperial family asked from the back, only to be glared at by the Thirteenth Prince.

He deftly took out a bow and placed it in his Sixth Sister's hands.

The Sixth Princess, clad in her Scarlet Flame Chainmail Armor and with the Profound Aetherflame Iron Sword slung across her back, raised the bow with her left hand. With her right hand, she nocked an arrow and pulled the bowstring back, stretching it tight like a crescent moon before releasing the arrow.

Whoosh—

Boom—

The moment the arrow left the string, it ignited with violet-gold divine fire, surging forward with the force of wind and thunder, heading straight for Chu Liang in the distance!

"There's an ambush!"

Strictly speaking, it wasn't much of an ambush, since the powerful arrow could be heard approaching from several hundred zhang away.

Monk Pushan, who had been protecting Chu Liang, sprang into action, summoning a massive Vajra apparition behind him. With a swift motion, the massive Vajra tried to catch the fiery arrow with one palm.

Swish—

Boom—

However, the fiery arrow easily pierced through the Vajra's massive palm and hurtled toward Pushan in an instant.

With the Samadhi True Fire as its arrowhead, the arrow was nearly unstoppable. In a desperate move, Pushan commanded the Vajra to swing its other palm, breaking off a section of the cliff above him. Massive boulders came crashing down, trying to block the arrow's path.

Boom—

The arrow shattered the boulders with a single strike, embedding itself deep into the Vajra's chest before coming to a halt.

"What a powerful arrow. Who could it be?" Monk Pushan muttered, lifting his gaze to see the approaching figures.

The imperial family's team, led by the Sixth Princess, charged forward with a fierce shout, "Kill Chu Liang! Seize the soul crystals!"

The Valley of the Three Absolutes, which had been dominating moments earlier, was suddenly overwhelmed by the imperial family's team, which was clearly much stronger than the Night Saber Sect.

The Sixth Princess was the core of their strength.

The Thirteenth Prince's strength was comparable to Guo Zhanfeng and Guo Zhanlei, placing him on the level of a genius from a small, ordinary immortal sect.

As for the Sixth Princess, wielding the Profound Aetherflame Iron Sword and wearing the Scarlet Flame Chainmail Armor, her power rivaled that of the top prodigies.

The Sixth Princess, a blur of fiery red, charged forward suddenly. She swept her longsword upward, creating a blazing dragon that stretched over a dozen zhang, soaring through the air. In that moment, she cut through the battlefield with such force that no one dared to stand in her way.

A disciple from the Valley of the Three Absolutes tried to block her fiery sword with a black cloth cloak, but the violet-gold flames surrounding the sword surged suddenly. In an instant, they incinerated the cloak and burnt him into ashes as well.

In this level of combat, the Samadhi True Fire was nearly an unstoppable force, making any defense useless. The Valley of the Three Absolutes had already lost one member at the start of the fight. Two disciples rushed to Luo Yao's side, speaking urgently in low voices.

"Head disciple, we should leave; we can't save him."

Luo Yao frowned but immediately responded, "Take the soul crystals and go. I'll stay and retreat with them."

"Head disciple..." one of the disciples tried to persuade her further.

But the Sixth Princess didn't give them a chance to hesitate. Although she couldn't wield the Samadhi True Fire with the same ease as Di Nufeng, she was still unstoppable when she merged the use of it with her weapons.

At the sight of such powerful reinforcements, the members of the Night Saber Sect began to panic. They weren't sure if this formidable team would turn on them after dealing with the Valley of the Three Absolutes.

At that moment, the Sixth Princess called out sharply, "Fight together, and we'll split the soul crystals!"

Hearing this, the Night Saber Sect members immediately stopped hesitating and resumed attacking the Valley of the Three Absolutes.

As the Valley of the Three Absolutes was forced into retreat, Monk Pushan carried Chu Liang on his back and quickly turned to flee. Luo Yao and her two remaining companions followed, but they didn't simply run—they occasionally turned to fend off their pursuers.

One side chased, the other fled, and in the blink of an eye, they had covered a considerable distance.

Suddenly, a burly man leapt forward, brandishing a halberd and shouting, "This road was paved by me! This tree was planted by me! If you want to pass, leave your life behind![1]"

Monk Pushan stood there, momentarily dumbfounded, unsure if that meant they could pass or not.

From behind, Chu Liang called out, "Brother Yun!"

"Brother Chu?" Yun Chaoxian looked over at the sound, spotting Chu Liang peeking out from behind Pushan.

"How did you end up in this state?" Yun Chaoxian asked, his voice filled with surprise.

"It's a long story; we'll talk later," Chu Liang replied. "We've got pursuers on our tail, and could use some help. Are your fellow disciples here?"

"All here!" With a sharp whistle from Yun Chaoxian, Ren Hongdao, Li Fujian, and Tang Shi swooped down from the sky.

"Senior Brother Yun's been here luring people for days, and when he finally manages to lure someone, he gets Young Hero Chu?" Li Fujian remarked, feeling speechless.

"There are plenty of soul crystals! Follow us!" Monk Pushan shouted, leading the Great Astral Sect reinforcements as they turned to counterattack.

Luo Yao, along with a few from the Valley of the Three Absolutes, was covering the rear and was now trapped in a dire situation.

Suddenly, several mighty figures descended from above, disrupting the formation of the Night Saber Sect and the imperial family teams.

The four core disciples of the Great Astral Sect were paragons of might from neck down. Their fierce assault was unstoppable.

If the Night Saber Sect's sabers were merely sharp blades, Ren Hongdao's saber was a true cutting edge. It was at an entirely different level.

With a swing of his long saber, he unleashed a roaring crimson whirlwind, nearly cutting the four Night Saber Sect members in half. The attack sent them retreating dozens of zhang in fear.

Meanwhile, the Sixth Princess, wielding the Profound Aetherflame Iron Sword, faced off with Li Fujian, who wielded a broad, heavy iron sword well-suited for defense. Though the Sixth Princess could easily destroy her enemies with the Samadhi True Fire, Li Fujian blocked her attack with ease using his thick and heavy sword as well as his superb martial arts skills.

Tang Shi intercepted the remaining three members of the imperial family with her long spear. With sweeping arcs, her spear moved relentlessly, cutting through the air like a force of nature. A flash of icy light flickered as she followed up with a thrust as fierce as a dragon, sending anyone who dared block her flying through the air.

Yun Chaoxian, both clever and courageous, circled the field with a keen eye. Whenever he spotted a faltering opponent, he would swiftly dive in, mercilessly targeting the weakest. With this strategy, he became the first of the four to claim a soul crystal.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—

The three men and one woman of the Great Astral Sect unleashed thunderous attacks that immediately shifted the battlefield's momentum.

The Night Saber Sect and the imperial family teams, once the pursuers, were now stunned. In their haste, they turned to flee.

Meanwhile, the Great Astral Sect and Valley of the Three Absolutes closed in, eliminating two more members and collecting an additional two soul crystals. Monk Pushan followed closely behind, shouting wildly to boost morale.

As Chu Liang watched the fierce members of the Great Astral Sect chase their opponents like hunting dogs after rabbits, he couldn't help but think,

It's always the Great Astral Sect brothers you can rely on.

They only stopped after nearly half a day of relentless pursuit, when the dusk began to fall.

Upon tallying their collection, they found they had acquired four soul crystals—two from the Night Saber Sect and two from the imperial family. The members of these two teams, who had weaker cultivation levels, escaped slower and were swiftly taken down by the brothers of the Great Astral Sect.

Holding the soul crystals, Yun Chaoxian laughed heartily and said, "Didn't I tell you my plan would work?"

The other three broke into wide smiles, looking as joyful as if they were celebrating the New Year.

"We owe you a great deal. If not for you, I don't know if we'd still be alive," Chu Liang said as he stepped forward to thank them. Then, unable to hold back, he asked, "But it's only four soul crystals. Is there really a reason to be this happy?"

"Only four?" Tang Shi looked at him, puzzled. "Soul crystals are hard to come by. Our collection has doubled now!"

"Huh?" Chu Liang and the others exchanged surprised looks.

The powerful members of the Great Astral Sect had only managed to collect four soul crystals after all these days?

A quick inquiry revealed what had happened.

It turned out that Yun Chaoxian, as the team's strategist, had played a significant role. On the first day, he suggested a location, reasoning that the inland areas were mountainous and the waters difficult to navigate. Only the coastal plain offered a clear view, making it ideal for an ambush.

So they decided to head to the coastal plain!

The problem, however, was that everyone knew the coastal plain offered no cover, so no one thought to venture there. They spent half a day searching before finally stumbling upon an unlucky team that had also ended up in the same area.

The next day, when they found nothing, Yun Chaoxian proposed another idea.

"Perhaps we're too strong, and everyone who sees us gets scared and runs away. Why don't you all hide, and I'll act as bait? When they attack me, you can all jump in."

So, Yun Chaoxian decided to lure the enemies out on the deserted plain.

They baited enemies for three days until Chu Liang finally appeared.

After hearing their story, Chu Liang couldn't help but feel a bit concerned for Yun Chaoxian's safety. If the Great Astral Sect were eliminated in this way, Yun Chaoxian might end up being kicked out from his sect when he returned.

Just then, Ren Hongdao sighed and said, "Thanks to Junior Brother Yun's plan, we've obtained these eight soul crystals. If our Great Astral Sect can advance this time, it will be all because of Junior Brother Yun."

"Heeh," Yun Chaoxian chuckled humbly. "Eldest Senior Brother, there's no need to say that. This was just a small contribution."

Hearing this, Chu Liang felt so speechless.

After a moment of thought, Chu Liang sighed and said, "Pushan, take out the soul crystals we collected at Misty Waters City. You can divide them among your sect and the other two sects."

Monk Pushan complied, taking out the bag of soul crystals. At a glance, it appeared there were more than a hundred of them.

The four members of the Great Astral Sect stared, their eyes widening in disbelief.

Are soul crystals actually this easy to get?

Back in Misty Waters City, there were four teams, including the Penglai Supreme Sect. The total number of soul crystals needed for all four teams to advance was around one hundred and sixty.

It was unknown as to whether they hadn't gathered enough or if Xi Miaoxian had withheld some, but there were just under one hundred and twenty here.

This meant that there were only enough soul crystals to guarantee that three sects could advance to the next round.

Chu Liang continued, "Divide them among yourselves; there's no need to save any for me."

"That won't do," Monk Pushan replied. "This year's assembly is especially critical for your sect. No matter what, your sect must make it to the next round. It doesn't matter for the Buddhist Cloud Monastery, so I'll give you my share."

"No need," Chu Liang said, shaking his head with a smile. "These are just soul crystals; I can always gather more."

Luo Yao glanced at his immobile form and gave him a look that clearly said,

Don't be stubborn if you can't manage it.

"Even if I can't move right now, you all can," Chu Liang quickly added. "The reason I want you to divide them now is because, in the coming days... I'm hoping we can form an alliance!"

1. This references a famous line said by a character in Chu Renhuo's historical novel Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties. ☜