With more than two hundred cultivators lined up to undergo Soul Search, Aotian knew it could take some time.

As he acquired new Soul Search techniques, he synthesized them all. Even if a nearly perfect technique didn’t emerge, each fusion refined the process, and the extraction coefficient of memories drew closer to the limit of 100%.

Still, the real delay was in digesting the obtained knowledge, taking on average ten minutes for every thousand years of memory.

With 240 cultivators, whose ages ranged from four hundred to nearly four thousand years, he calculated that he would need about five days to read all their minds.

During that time, he didn’t know what the ancestors of the powers might do, but he wasn’t worried. Even if they fled, Aotian knew exactly where they lived.

‘What a pity that the sects of these people are each in distant corners, and I only have less than fifteen days before the mountain spits everyone out. Otherwise, I could skip wasting time reading minds and simply plunder their houses directly.’

He thought with amusement, but soon his gaze sharpened as he focused on the avatars inside the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain.

Driving a sword into the head of a black serpent-shaped beast was the outer elder of the Sword Pavilion.

The creature, which had been hissing fiercely a moment before, suddenly went limp as its brain was severed, and its massive head crashed heavily onto the ground, raising dust and debris into the air. Its gigantic body, even in death, convulsed in violent spasms.

Yang Shi quickly rushed to harvest the herb the beast had been protecting—a golden rose—while some elders restrained the serpent’s body so it wouldn’t crush the plant.

Once that was done, the beast’s corpse was hacked apart and stored in rings.

Aotian already had much combat experience against beasts, thanks to the feedback from the Red Tiger who was seasoned in such battles, along with his own fights against the tiger.

Although he had previously only fought third-level beasts, this had greatly helped in his constant battles against the fourth-level Shadow Beasts of the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain, and he was getting better with each fight.

The ten avatars clapped their hands with satisfied smiles after another well-done task, and were about to continue their march toward a new objective when they felt energy fluctuations in the distance.

Aotian intended to ignore them, but his keen perception picked up something familiar in one of the auras.

The ten glanced at each other… unnecessarily, since it was just Aotian thinking to himself. But since he could, and it was mentally pleasing to exchange peculiar looks, he did it.

Without delay, he controlled the ten avatars to rush toward the source, always keeping cautious amid the dangers of the mountain.

[Mission: Investigate and Interfere in the Discovered Battle

…

Danger Level: Slightly Dangerous]

With such a classification, he felt no concern.

The battle wasn’t close by—the avatars would take a few minutes to reach the site.

Pulling out a high-quality flying boat they had prepared before entering the mountain, they boarded it and sped away.

…

At the source of the conflict were familiar faces.

Mu Luyin ran, launching attacks at her pursuers and blocking strikes while carrying a powerless Lei Yun on her back.

The young woman’s expression was heavy, and she gave her all, while Lei Yun wondered if he shouldn’t just jump down and accept death.

‘Ugh… what humiliation. Who would have thought that I, the sovereign of thunder, would now be carried helplessly on the back of a little Nascent Soul girl.’ He sighed bitterly, watching the attacks coming at them without showing fear.

For someone who once had the power to move rivers and mountains, those attacks seemed pathetically childish. Although deadly to his current Foundation Establishment body, they weren’t enough to frighten him.

His eyes scanned in all directions, searching for solutions. But there weren’t many. His trump cards had already been used, and he had only managed to kill two distracted Nascent Soul cultivators thanks to Mu Luyin—a feat quite impressive given his current cultivation, but not very helpful.

For now, all he could do was serve as support.

[‘At the third tree on the right, hidden in the trunk, there’s an enemy exuding a faint killing intent!’]

He warned firmly, and without hesitation Mu Luyin sent a blade of sword intent in that direction, splitting the tree in half.

“NOOO!! AHHHHH!” a shrill scream echoed as a woman emerged from the trunk, missing both legs, her eyes full of terror as she cried out in pain.

Ignoring the scene, Mu Luyin continued running with Lei Yun on her back, unwilling to finish off the target.

Though her realm was low, Lei Yun’s soul was still far stronger than his current cultivation. Nowhere near what it had been in his past life, but enough to easily detect Nascent Soul cultivators, making him a true battlefield radar.

Even so, the pursuers were many—ten Nascent Soul cultivators in the early stage. And that was after the two of them had already killed several others, using many trump cards. Even with Mu Luyin gravely wounded and low on spiritual energy, her ferocity remained great.

Luckily, the stronger cultivators and the young talents of the 12 powers didn’t have time to deal with them personally after wounding her in the initial ambush, since they were focused on the true objective of coming to the mountain. If they could find the Silent Cadaver Orchid, Mu Luyin—alive or dead—was no longer their concern.

Still, they sent several stronger lackeys to chase them.

Though they could resist for a while, both were already near their limits.

Alert, Lei Yun’s eyes widened and he shouted mentally:

[‘Behind!!’]

Upon hearing the warning, Mu Luyin turned and saw the ten pursuers activating talismans at the same time.

“Damn it!” She pulled out one of her own talismans and activated it, forming a green shield before her.

But the enemies’ talismans were no weaker. They were probably trump cards left by the young masters of the 12 powers.

In a duel of one against ten talismans of the same level, she knew she was trapped. Even if she survived, she would be gravely injured, and Lei Yun’s fate along with hers would be no different.

A trace of regret inevitably flickered in her eyes, for in the end, she would be unable to save him.

Before the shield, a sea of fire, earth, water, wood, and metal energy surged forward with fury.

Mu Luyin only clenched her teeth as she faced her likely fate.

In the face of death, everything seemed to move in slow motion. No one noticed when Lei Yun’s calm, slightly helpless eyes turned to the sky, suddenly gaining a spark of surprise.

In the direction of his gaze, a massive black flying ship plummeted from the heavens, cutting the battlefield in half and tearing through the oncoming elemental forces as it slammed into the ground, embedding its bow into the earth and becoming a crude shield, raising dust and debris skyward.

BOOOOMMMM!!

Devastating explosions of energy battered the ship’s hull—crafted with exceptional quality—which resisted most of the talisman impacts and the crash with the ground before beginning to disintegrate.

The weakened powers tore through the hull and struck Mu Luyin’s shield harmlessly, leaving behind only a trail of destruction as they dispersed against the barrier.

Caught off guard, Mu Luyin only realized the presence of the flying ship when it appeared, cleaving apart the enemy’s attack.

Everyone on the battlefield turned their eyes toward the wreckage of what had once been a beautiful black ship, and then to its source.

There, they found ten figures flying calmly.

Gu Jian, among them, smiled playfully at Lei Yun.

“Need a hand?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in jest. Then he pointed at the wreckage. “And you’ll have to pay us back for our loss.”

Lei Yun’s eyes lit up and he smiled calmly, as if he hadn’t just escaped death.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back a hundredfold,” he replied playfully, stepping down from Mu Luyin’s back, slightly embarrassed, unwilling to lose more face before acquaintances.

Aotian’s avatars had arrived a few seconds earlier. They had concealed their auras, as well as that of the flying ship, and applied illusions to remain hidden.

That was why they managed to throw the ship as a shield so quickly—they had already been there.

Gu Jian nodded, while the avatars landed on the ground and kept their attention on the ten enemies, who frowned darkly.

Without them knowing, Gu Jian transmitted to the pair:

[‘We’ll deal with the five at the 1st level of Nascent Soul first. Can you hold off the other five for a moment?’]

Aotian, controlling the elder of the Treasure Pavilion, asked via sound transmission.

The two, especially Mu Luyin, were stunned. Even with their auras hidden, they still remembered their cultivation displayed earlier—only at the 1st level of Golden Core. And now they were speaking with confidence, as if killing Nascent Souls in an instant was trivial.

Although they imagined that even the earlier realm displayed might have been a disguise, for them to dare act so boldly before the twelve ancestors outside, they would have to be either insanely audacious, or just that powerful.

Still, they decided to trust. After all, they had just been saved by them, and their saviors were clearly anything but simple.

Receiving the couple’s discreet nods, Aotian was about to act when a cold voice rang out.

“You. You’d better not meddle in matters beyond your capacity. If you ally with someone from the Mu family, it will be your ruin. Leave now, and we won’t pursue you. Otherwise…”

One of the cultivators spoke coldly, the threat evident. What Aotian saw, however, was only caution in his eyes. The sudden appearance of the ten was surely alarming in the opponent’s mind, but at the same time, there was no fear in his gaze.

It wasn’t kindness that made him offer advice either—it was merely a wariness of the unexpected. For them, if they could push the ten avatars away, it would be better, since Mu Luyin alone was already a headache, and it was best not to create more problems.

Gu Jian nodded at the man and began to speak.

“In truth, we were just abou—”

[‘NOW!!’]

He shouted to the two, distracting the enemy with his words.

Mu Luyin suddenly charged at the five strongest men in the center, startling them.

Lei Yun, who had dismounted her back earlier, powerless, could only run to the side and hide, avoiding becoming a target and a burden. At the same time, he began setting up a formation to surprise any enemy who might aim at him as the weakest link.

Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the ten enemies focused on Mu Luyin, the greatest threat. That was when the avatars seized the chance and sank into the ground.

The girl unleashed a powerful offensive talisman, throwing the enemy formation into further disarray.

While they dodged and defended, five avatars erupted from beneath the feet of the weaker five men, striking mercilessly at point-blank range with elemental attacks of each element, tearing them apart instantly.

Immediately, with the death of their hosts, five souls emerged from the corpses, eyes blazing with hatred. Without hesitation, they gathered all their energy and rage, preparing to kill those who had destroyed their bodies.

“Die, you bastards!” they roared cruelly, their spectral eyes glowing red.

But unfortunately for them and their vengeance, another five avatars emerged behind them, brandishing swords above their heads, charged with cold sword intent against the helpless souls.

The souls noticed the attack, but they had already committed all their energy into striking forward and were defenseless. In the next instant, they were mercilessly cleaved apart by swift, powerful strikes.

Split in two, they dissipated like soap bubbles, leaving only an explosion of energy behind.

The avatars raised shields, protecting their own bodies before sinking back underground immediately, remaining unscathed in the aftermath of the final explosion.

‘Good thing I performed Soul Search. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known that nascent souls release energy upon destruction. If not for that, the avatars could have been gravely injured by a surprise backlash.’

Aotian sighed in relief upon seeing his avatars beneath the earth unharmed.

Turning his attention back to the last five enemies, who were fiercely battling Mu Luyin, he smiled maliciously.

As for the poor adversaries still alive, they faltered for an instant upon sensing that their allies had fallen in mere seconds at the hands of those ten unknown men.

And worse? The ten had disappeared underground again, with their auras completely erased, leaving behind only corpses.

Cold sweat began to pour down their backs like a waterfall, while they were still being pressured by the tyrannical woman before them.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep