Divine Root Bone

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the soft light of the morning sun gently bathed the white jade square in front of the main gate of Qingyun Mountain.

Zhang Yang, dressed in a neat blue core disciple's robe, stood ramrod straight at the front of the group. Standing beside him were two beautiful figures: the gentle and graceful Lin Wanqing, and Su Qingyao, a Yunlan Sect disciple who had temporarily stayed in Qingyun, eager to explore its secrets.

Behind the two, twelve inner disciples of the Qingyun Sect stood in formation, their bags, pills, and magical artifacts all ready for departure. Their journey to Blackstone Ridge in the Eastern Region was solely to secure cultivation resources for their sect and alleviate the post-war shortage.

At the mountain gate, the sect leader and seven elders personally saw them off, repeatedly reminding them of the dangers of the journey and to be cautious in all matters. They also reminded them to remember to pass through Shou'an Village, where they could meet up with their personal disciple, Xiao Jingchen, for mutual support.

Zhang Yang solemnly accepted the order, led everyone in bowing farewell, turned around and stepped out of the Qingyun Mountain gate, officially embarking on the eastward journey that spanned two regions.

After days of trekking through mountains and rivers, the group gradually moved further and further away, completely leaving the southern territory and stepping into the uninhabited dense forest where the southern and eastern regions meet.

Ancient trees block out the sky, miasma floats and sinks, and it is a desolate and uninhabited place, a chaotic area that is not governed by any of the three regions, and is the most filthy and evil place where bad people run rampant.

The disciples chatted and laughed along the way, which helped to dispel their fatigue. Zhang Yang stayed ahead, keeping his divine sense constantly on guard against any potential dangers.

Just as the group was slowly making its way through the dense forest, a mournful, desperate, and intermittent female cry, mixed with a chilling, lewd sneer, suddenly pierced through the sound of the wind in the forest and crashed into everyone's ears.

The laughter and chatter came to an abrupt halt.

Zhang Yang raised his hand and stopped in a deep voice. The whole team fell silent instantly. Everyone's face darkened, and they looked in the direction of the sound, their eyes locking onto the clearing in the woods on the left.

The next second, the scene that came into view made all the Qingyun disciples feel cold all over, their blood surge, and their chests explode with boundless anger!

Two villains dressed in the attire of idle cultivators from the Eastern Region stood on the open ground. Both were at the fifth level of Qi Refining, with ferocious and twisted faces, murky and lewd eyes, and an overwhelming aura of violence emanating from them. They looked exactly like desperate criminals.

Two young women from the mortal realm lay sprawled on the ground; both were ordinary girls from nearby villages.

The most outrageous and heinous thing is—

One of the women had already lost all signs of life.

Her clothes were disheveled, her body stiff and cold, her eyes wide open and empty, her face bearing the marks of extreme fear and pain. She had already been tortured to death by these two villains.

The other surviving girl was in an even more tragic and desperate situation.

Another thug pinned her down by the neck, pressing her into the muddy ground. Her body was covered in mud and bruises, trembling violently. Her tears had dried up, and her voice was hoarse, leaving only weak sobs and struggles.

She watched as her companion was brutally murdered, witnessing the most heinous scene in the world, and her mind was already broken. But the villain showed no sign of stopping, grinning as he approached her step by step, about to inflict the same cruelty on her.

In broad daylight, under the clear sky, in the desolate wilderness, these two people treated human life as worthless, committing rape, violence, and cruelty, showing no respect for the dead. Their arrogance, evil, and perversion reached the extreme!

"brute!!"

In the group, Lin Wanqing, who was upright and fierce, suddenly turned pale, her face then covered with extreme frost and anger. Her jade fingers gripped her long sword tightly, and the scabbard hummed and trembled.

She had never witnessed such inhuman and heinous atrocities. A surge of anger almost consumed her reason. Before anyone could speak, she stomped forward, her clear, furious shout echoing through the forest:

"You scoundrels! You have no conscience! How dare you commit such a heinous crime in broad daylight! Stop immediately!"

She had only taken half a step forward when a faster, snow-white figure suddenly darted out from her side!

Su Qingyao's eyes were icy cold, and her usually calm and peaceful gaze was now filled with extreme killing intent and disgust.

She was used to the rules and ethics of the sect, and had never seen such filthy and despicable acts of trampling on living beings. Before Lin Wanqing could make a move, she flashed to the open space like a startled swan. Her palm suddenly gathered spiritual energy, and a fierce wind rushed towards the two villains. She directly blocked them and wanted to severely punish these two inhuman scoundrels!

Su Qingyao's figure soared into the air, her plain white dress fluttering in the wind from her powerful spiritual energy. She was at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and the spiritual energy of the latter three levels of cultivators had already permeated her flesh and blood. A faint, shimmering white light surrounded her body, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth spontaneously converged around her. An invisible and intangible, powerful pressure, like a mountain pressing down, spread out along with the palm wind.

The two villains who committed the evil deeds were only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, belonging to the middle third level of cultivators. Although their dantian vortex was stable, once they faced a being at the last third level of Qi Refining, the circulation of their spiritual power would become sluggish and blocked, making it extremely difficult to even activate spells.

The villain, clinging to the female corpse, was indulging in his filthy acts, one hand still roughly tearing at the tattered clothes of the deceased woman beneath him, large patches of skin exposed, a truly gruesome sight. He heard the sound of wind and suddenly looked up, catching a glimpse of Su Qingyao descending from the sky out of the corner of his eye. A moment of surprise rose in his heart, and before he could stop his attack or mobilize his spiritual energy for defense, the heavy pressure emanating from the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining had already enveloped his entire body.

In an instant, the vortex of energy within the villain's dantian abruptly froze, the flowing spiritual energy as if blocked by silt. A tearing, dull pain shot through his limbs and bones, his strength rapidly dissipated, and his knees buckled uncontrollably, pinning him firmly to the mud, unable to move. He tried to raise his hand to block, but his arms felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he couldn't even muster a trace of spiritual energy from his fingertips. His internal organs churned and stabbed from the oppressive force, a metallic taste rose in his throat, and his face instantly turned deathly pale, filled only with terror. Even a scream was stuck in his throat.

Su Qingyao's cold eyes showed no mercy. She unleashed a palm strike containing nine layers of pure spiritual energy, the shimmering white energy carrying the surrounding spiritual energy of plants and trees, which slammed heavily into the villain's back.

With a muffled thud of bones shattering, the inhuman villain coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body crashing heavily into the mud, splattering the cold female corpse beneath him with blood. His dantian energy vortex had been shattered by the single palm strike, his cultivation foundation utterly destroyed. Excruciating pain and a feeling of suffocation gripped his entire body, causing him to convulse wildly in the mud, even his cries weak and feeble. Su Qingyao landed on the ground, stomping her foot hard on his back. With a slight exertion of her toes, his spine creaked, completely silencing any possibility of struggle.

On the other side, the remaining villain at the fifth level of Qi Refining, who was stepping on the surviving girl's neck and about to commit violence, was shocked and furious when he saw his companion being severely injured in an instant. He forcibly resisted the overwhelming force of the ninth level of Qi Refining and mobilized his spiritual energy, trying to pounce and counterattack.

Before he could take two steps, Lin Wanqing had already rushed forward with her sword. The longsword was drawn, its green light sharp and cold. Taking advantage of the opponent's sluggish spiritual energy, the sword light swept across and directly severed the meridians in his two forearms.

The villain's arms fell limply to his sides, and he screamed in agony. Lin Wanqing's eyes were filled with boundless rage. Without any mercy, she spun around and kicked him in the knee joint. Two crisp sounds rang out in succession, and the bones in his legs bent on the spot. The villain fell heavily to his knees in the mud, unable to stand up again.

Taking advantage of the villain's loss of control, the surviving girl scrambled to the side, trembling all over, tightly wrapping her tattered clothes around herself, her eyes blurry with tears as she gazed at the two men.

The two villains, both at the fifth level of Qi Refining, were suppressed by the overwhelming pressure of Su Qingyao, who was at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining. Their cultivation was reduced to less than one-tenth, and their spiritual power could barely move. They had no chance to fight back at all.

Su Qingyao increased the pressure of her feet, and the villains beneath her feet emitted a hoarse, dying sound from their throats. Her cold voice, carrying a chilling aura, echoed through the forest: "You have committed adultery and murder, desecrated the dead, and harmed the innocent in this desolate forest. Today is your death day."

As soon as she finished speaking, the spiritual energy under her feet suddenly erupted, and the powerful spiritual energy of the ninth level penetrated directly into the villain's internal organs. The villain's body convulsed violently and then became completely lifeless.

On the other side, Lin Wanqing saw the villain on the ground still cursing and swearing wildly. Her anger was hard to quell. She thrust her long sword straight through the villain's dantian, completely crushing his qi vortex. Then, with a twist of her wrist, the sword qi pierced through his heart.

The second thug groaned, his body went limp to the ground, the fierce light in his eyes quickly faded, and he died completely.

In a short while, the two inhuman villains at the fifth level of Qi Refining were both killed.

The shimmering white light surrounding Su Qingyao slowly faded, and the surrounding spiritual energy dispersed and receded. The oppressive ninefold pressure that had been suffocating them gradually dissipated. The two exchanged a glance, then turned and quickly walked towards the huddled, still-shaken girl. They gently comforted her, while simultaneously signaling Zhang Yang to lead his fellow disciples forward to properly care for the woman who had narrowly escaped being harmed.