In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 502 The Bell Rings, the Shadow Under the Moon

Watching the few disciples of the Demonic Sect flee in a panic like frightened birds, Mei Jiangxue's lips curled down almost imperceptibly, a trace of contempt flashing across her cold eyes.

She immediately calmed herself down, and the powerful true energy within her body, which had been slightly agitated by her casual strike, quickly subsided.

Mei Jiangxue possessed a ruthless streak from the start, having her legs broken at a young age and then disguising herself as a beggar to hide among the enemy.

After joining the Emei Sect, whether it was Gu Shaoan, Abbess Juequan, or even Zhou Zhiruo teaching Mei Jiangxue, they all used the principle of "a lion using its full strength to hunt a rabbit."

Not to mention that these are not ordinary martial artists, but members of the Great Sui Kingdom's Demonic Sect, whose stances are opposed.

If this were any other day, and these people dared to attack her and Gu Shaoan, Mei Jiangxue's sword energy would surely be aimed at these members of the Demonic Sect.

However, the current situation involves not only members of the Demonic Cult, but also disciples of Cihang Jingzhai.

In Mei Jiangxue's view, if she were to kill the demonic sect disciples at this moment, it would undoubtedly be a way of indirectly helping the people of Cihang Jingzhai.

Therefore, the incomparably sharp sword energy just now was only aimed at the ground as a warning.

Just as Mei Jiangxue's thoughts were turning, the battle in the center of the hall was already in full swing, with shouts of killing and blood splattering everywhere.

The Cihang Jingzhai faction only had a dozen or so people, among whom only Wu Mengci had reached the level of returning to the innate realm in terms of internal energy cultivation.

On the other hand, the black-clad followers of the Demonic Sect surged into the hall like a tidal wave, numbering no less than fifty, and among them were two who had also reached the realm of returning to the innate state.

Not to mention that while the dozen or so people from Cihang Jingzhai were fighting the enemy, they also had to take care of the seriously injured and dying elder and several disciples who were almost unable to fight.

Logically speaking, this should have been a one-sided, decisive victory with no suspense whatsoever.

However, the Cihang Jingzhai group, led by Wu Mengci, actually formed a sword formation.

The sword formation was not a defensive formation, but rather an offensive one, with sword light flowing like a cascading galaxy.

When the dozen or so people worked together, their energy was subtly connected, as if they had become a single entity.

A dozen or so gleaming longswords simultaneously thrust out, parried, blocked, and slashed, their movements perfectly synchronized yet also intricately combined. Each sword precisely targeted the weak points of the enemy's attack or sealed off their escape route.

Although the demonic sect disciples were numerous and fearless, more than ten of them were killed in the face of the seamless, offensive and defensive sword formation.

This scene piqued Mei Jiangxue's interest.

“Senior brother, the sword formation used by Cihang Jingzhai is somewhat similar to the ‘Four Symbols Sword Formation’ that you developed for the senior sisters and uncles in the sect.”

As Gu Shaoan's chess skills reached the master level, in the process of combining his Heavenly Sword Realm and the way of chess to deduce his own martial arts, he also created some special sword formations based on the difficulty, combining the two elements, three powers, four symbols, five elements, six harmonies, seven stars, eight trigrams, nine palaces, and ten directions for use by Emei Sect disciples and elders.

Sword formations can connect the disciples' energy, greatly increasing their strength.

Even martial artists at the Acquired Realm, if they coordinate properly, can use sword formation techniques to exchange blows with martial artists at the Returning to the Innate Realm.

The "Four Symbols Sword Formation" refers to the disciples coordinating their sword formations and the positions of the four symbols, allowing the disciples within the formation to either focus on offense or defense.

At the same time, the four people each occupy the four cardinal directions (east, south, west, and north), and with the help of special mental techniques, the disciples' energy is connected, and the four are as one, so that the movement of one affects the whole.

From what Mei Jiangxue sees now, what Cihang Jingzhai is using is clearly similar to Gu Shaoan's "Four Symbols Sword Formation".

In response to Mei Jiangxue's telepathic message, Gu Shaoan replied, "The Cihang Jingzhai of the Great Sui Kingdom in the Nine Provinces has a profound foundation, no less than Shaolin. In addition, the sect mainly focuses on sword practice. Over the past thousands of years, it is not surprising that some people have combined swordsmanship to create sword formations."

Inside the hall, the remaining thirty-odd disciples of the Demonic Sect were clearly shocked by the terrifying destructive power of the sword formation and the tragic scene of their fellow disciples dying instantly. Their offensive faltered, and their eyes revealed obvious fear and hesitation, making them somewhat timid and hesitant.

Despite the situation, Wu Mengci's expression remained solemn.

Wu Mengci knew that the danger to them was not only the members of the Demonic Cult in the hall, but also the owner of that alluring voice.

Just as Wu Mengci and the other disciples of Cihang Jingzhai were about to break through the encirclement, that charming female voice rang out again in the hall like a ghost.

This time, however, there was a hint of resentment in his voice.

"Seriously, I warned them a thousand times not to stuff any useless people into the Yin Gui Sect. Now they've raised a bunch of good-for-nothings, and they can't even manage a dozen or so of these burdensome people."

The moment the words reached the main hall, Wu Mengci and the disciples of Cihang Jingzhai felt a sudden tightness in their hearts.

"Ding~"

It was also the instant her charming voice fell that...

A clear, melodious bell sound echoed quietly in the lobby at that moment.

"Boom!"

The next instant, a tremendous and terrifying explosion suddenly erupted above everyone's heads. As shattered tiles, broken wooden beams, and falling dust poured down like a waterfall, the roof of the post station was blasted open with a huge hole several feet in diameter by an overwhelming force.

The falling tiles caused the Cihang Jingzhai disciples and members of the Demonic Sect who were fighting in the main hall to quickly use their lightness skills to dodge to the side, so as not to be hit by the falling tiles.

Amidst the swirling smoke and falling debris, a pink ribbon shot through the large hole in the roof at incredible speed and hurtled towards Wu Mengci inside the hall.

Its speed was so great that it left a clearly visible milky-white wave of air ripples in its path, caused by the extreme compression of air.

Wu Mengci's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints, and a strong shadow of death instantly enveloped her, causing the hairs on her entire body to stand on end.

At the critical moment, she let out a clear and resounding shout, and poured all the pure true energy she had gained from returning to her innate state into the longsword in her hand. The sword instantly burst forth with a dazzling blue-green light, and with the momentum of raising a raging fire, it met the pink venomous snake that was shooting towards her.

"Clang~"

When the sword blade collided with the ribbon, the ribbon was not torn apart by the sharp blade. Instead, it produced a loud clang that was not the metallic clang that one would expect when cloth and metal collide.

A violent shockwave also emanated from the point where the ribbon and the sword collided.

The moment the sword blade collided with the ribbon, the hard bluestone slab beneath Wu Mengci's feet cracked with a "crack," and spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread out from where she stood.

Immediately afterwards, Wu Mengci took three steps back in succession. With each step, she left a clear footprint about an inch deep with cracked edges on the cracked bluestone slab.

At the same time, an extremely vicious, cunning, and chilling energy, as if it were alive, forcefully drilled into the meridians of her arm along the sword.

Wherever this force passed, it felt as if the meridians were pierced by ice needles, and the blood seemed to freeze.

Wu Mengci's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and with a "pfft," she spat out a mouthful of dark red blood mixed with ice crystal fragments.

She endured the biting cold and excruciating pain, frantically circulating her internal energy to try to suppress and expel the invading cold energy, while looking up at the large hole blasted open in the roof.

The sky outside had long since darkened completely with the passage of time.

The bright moonlight, like a silver veil, poured down unhindered from the huge hole, dispelling some of the lingering smoke and dust and adding a touch of cold light to the hall.

In the beam of light, where the cool moonlight and the lingering dust intertwined, the pink ribbon seemed to possess a life of its own, deftly and silently retracting upwards.

Immediately afterwards, a small, white, bare foot, unshoes and socks, hovered lightly above the jagged pieces of broken wood and tiles at the edge of the hole.

The gentle moonlight fell upon this jade-like foot, as if coating it with a flowing, hazy, almost transparent, lustrous sheen.

The arch of her foot was beautifully curved and smooth, and her skin was as delicate as the finest mutton fat jade, shimmering with a crystal-clear quality under the moonlight.

However, what is most striking is not the beauty that could make anyone's heart flutter, but the simple and strangely shaped pure gold anklet that is tightly fastened to the slender ankle.

A string of exquisitely crafted golden bells, no bigger than a fingertip, is attached to the golden ring.

At that moment, as her jade-like foot gently touched the edge of the rubble, the golden bell emitted a soft, clear, yet mesmerizing "ding-a-ling... ding-a-ling..." sound.

In the hall, which had just been struck by lightning and was now shrouded in a deathly silence, it seemed exceptionally clear, and also exceptionally... eerie and unsettling.

Everyone looked up and finally saw the owner of that charming voice.

She was indeed a woman who looked no older than 29.

The woman had skin as white as snow, dressed in white and barefoot.

Bathed in moonlight, she resembled a moonlit sprite, her eyes, as lively as grapes, revealing not only cunning but also a hint of subtle indifference.

Upon seeing the woman, Wu Mengci, who had just barely managed to maintain her composure in the lobby, trembled slightly.

"The Holy Maiden of the Yin Gui Sect?"

Upon hearing Wu Mengci's words, the other disciples of Cihang Jingzhai around them also changed their expressions drastically. When they looked at the woman sitting by the large hole in the roof, their faces showed more fear and apprehension.

In the corner, Gu Shaoan and Mei Jiangxue also looked up at Wanwan, who was sitting by the large hole in the roof.

However, unlike Wu Mengci and the others, the two showed no unusual reaction to Wanwan's appearance, clearly having already noticed her presence.

When his gaze fell upon Wanwan, even Gu Shaoan had to admit that, in terms of appearance alone, Wanwan's beauty was truly rare in the world.

She is in no way inferior to Zhou Zhiruo, Yang Yan, Huang Xuemei, and Mei Jiangxue.

After turning his gaze away from Wanwan, Gu Shaoan transmitted his voice and said, "Perfect timing. You can also see in a moment how strong the two most renowned young talents in the Great Sui Dynasty have become."

(End of this chapter)