Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

Yan Ruyan looked at the familiar Yan family guards around her, and her heart turned cold.

Although she was young and inexperienced, she was by no means a naive and innocent girl. On the contrary, she was thoughtful, insightful, and adept at judging people's hearts and assessing situations. But it was precisely because of this that she was even more wary of the methods of the person behind the scenes.

She was certain that these people were the Iron Guards of the Yan family, not some other person in disguise. To be able to silently and without anyone noticing turn these Iron Guards who were originally loyal to the Yan family against their will, to be able to gather them all to her side, and even to set traps in advance, this person's methods were simply unbelievable.

It seems that the plans of the Yan family and the Ghost Spirit Sect were leaked by this person.

First, they used the cultivators from the seven sects to lure away the Yan family's patriarch, then they disrupted the treasure-hunting tournament, forcing the Yan family to mobilize manpower to suppress them. Finally, they revealed their true intentions and targeted their real target, who was her—Yan Ruyan.

But why her?

No one answered.

The six Iron Guards who came with her have formed a new formation – the "Mysterious Origin Heavy Water Formation".

Under their control, several columns of Xuan Yuan Heavy Water swept over and launched an attack on her.

Yan Ruyan is a cultivator with a fire-attribute heavenly spiritual root, and her fire-type spells are extremely powerful. However, she happened to encounter Xuan Yuan Heavy Water, which is specifically designed to counter fire-type spells, and was immediately restrained at every turn.

They tried to retaliate, but all their attacks were blocked by the "Heavenly Gang Mystic Armor Formation," and they couldn't break through it for a while.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. After all, the opponents were just a group of Qi Refining cultivators. Although their formation was troublesome, its power was ultimately limited and posed little threat to her, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But soon she realized something was wrong.

The original restrictions on this secret chamber served to isolate detection and gather spiritual energy, but at some point, they were modified into a spirit-suppressing array that completely blocked spiritual energy.

The eight Iron Guards outside the formation were completely unaffected, but Yan Ruyan inside the formation could only use her own magic power and could not replenish it at all.

This put Yan Ruyan in an extremely awkward situation. If she couldn't break the formation, she might be worn down to death if the time dragged on.

"No, we can't just sit here and wait to die."

Yan Ruyan knew very well that the mastermind behind the scenes had planned so meticulously that there must be more than just this one method waiting for her. If she suffered too much damage here, what would she do next?

Having made up her mind, Yan Ruyan immediately stopped using the Purple Cloud Banner to attack, and instead completely recalled the fire dragon to her side, protecting her completely.

Then Yan Ruyan reached into her storage bag and took out an antique jade box. When she opened the lid, a shimmering silver talisman appeared in front of her.

The talisman depicted a majestic pagoda, and even before it was activated, it already emitted astonishing spiritual energy.

It was the prize for winning this treasure-hunting competition held by the Yan family, which is said to be the family's most treasured artifact left behind by a Nascent Soul expert from the Yan family's ancestor—the Qiankun Tower Talisman Treasure!

"Since you have betrayed the Yan family, prepare to face the wrath of your ancestors!"

Yan Ruyan glanced coldly at the guards around her, and without further hesitation, she poured her magic power into the talisman. Soon, the talisman shone brightly, and a magnificent seven-story pagoda appeared in its true form.

……

Yanling Fortress, a hundred miles away.

With a wave of his hand, Yan Yan shattered the defensive talisman of a cultivator from one of the Seven Sects. With a grab, this cultivator from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage of the Blade-Transforming Valley, whose cultivation was not weak, exploded in mid-air, turning into a cloud of blood mist.

"Hmph, they run pretty fast."

Yan Yan snorted coldly. This person's strength was average, but his speed was quite good. Yan Yan chased him for over a hundred miles before finally killing him.

Unfortunately, he arrived a little too late. By the time he got there, the cultivators from the seven sects had already scattered and fled.

Although the Li brothers and the Ghost Guards pursued them separately, these people were no ordinary individuals. They used every means to survive. Some of them, who were weaker in cultivation and had no escape techniques, were intercepted, but a small number of them managed to escape.

Although he tried his best to pursue them, he could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

"It seems the seven factions will be back soon. We need to evacuate as soon as possible. It's a pity about the resources we didn't recover; we'll have to give them up."

Yan Yan's face was gloomy. Those things were the guarantee for the future development and growth of their Yan family. How could he not feel heartbroken to lose them for nothing?

However, when it's time to make tough decisions, Yan Yan won't hesitate. As long as Yan Ruyan can establish herself in the Ghost Spirit Sect, their Yan family will eventually have a chance to develop.

Yan Yan revealed a cold smile. Just as he was about to search for any other cultivators from the seven sects, his expression suddenly changed, and he turned around sharply, looking towards the direction of Yanling Fortress.

Over there, just now, a majestic and powerful spiritual force exploded out rapidly. Even though it was hundreds of miles away, Yan Yan could keenly sense that something enormous had crashed down, causing the entire world to tremble.

"This is... the Qiankun Tower! How is this possible? Could it be that Yan'er is in danger?"

"not good!"

Yan Yan's expression changed drastically. Before he could think about what had happened, his body transformed into a streak of light and rushed towards Yanling Fortress.

For the Yan Family Fortress in the past, Yan Ruyan, with her Heavenly Spirit Root, was just a junior with great potential, but she wouldn't be of much help to the entire Yan Family until she truly matured.

The Yan family will naturally do their best to nurture her, but if she is not lucky enough to perish along the way, it will not shake the foundation of the Yan family.

But all of this happened before the Yan family joined the Ghost Spirit Sect.

Yan Yan knew very well that in recent days, their Yan Family Fortress had gained a lot of advantages in negotiations with the Ghost Spirit Sect.

The reason this was possible had little to do with the strength of the Yan Family Fortress. The main reason was that Wang Chan, the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect, needed Yan Ruyan to practice the "Blood Spirit Great Art" together. For this, he even offered the condition that the future deputy sect leader of the Ghost Spirit Sect would be a member of the Yan family. It can be said that he was quite generous.

Therefore, Yan Yan valued Yan Ruyan more and more, not only bestowing upon her the Qiankun Tower talisman and many other treasures for protection, but also keeping Foundation Establishment experts and a large number of Iron Guards by her side at all times.

Even so, she still found herself in danger, and was even forced to use her talisman treasure, which shows how critical the situation was.

Yan Yan was quite certain that if something happened to Yan Ruyan at this time, most of the conditions that had been agreed upon would be null and void, and it was even uncertain whether the Ghost Spirit Sect would continue to accept the Yan Family Fortress's membership.

Then, considering that they had already taken drastic measures against the Seven Factions, and that there was no place for the Yan family in the Yue Kingdom, what would become of the Yan family? They feared that they would face annihilation in an instant.

Thinking of the consequences, Yan Yan could no longer remain calm. He immediately activated his cultivation technique, increasing his speed to the maximum, and flew towards Yanling Fortress.

Meanwhile, on the east side of Yanling Fort.

Xuan Ye, who was leading a large number of Yan family iron guards to suppress cultivators from other countries using the power of the formation, also sensed the aura of the Qiankun Tower immediately.

While Yan Yan only thought about the consequences of Yan Ruyan's accident, Xuan Ye thought about much more.

Luring the tiger away from the mountain, sowing discord, escalating conflicts, and snatching chestnuts from the fire!

From the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators' initial setback to the sudden attack by this group of foreign cultivators, the Yan family strategist, known for his wisdom and resourcefulness, quickly pieced together the whole story and figured out all the causes and consequences.

"Stop fighting! We've all been used!"

Xuan Ye roared angrily at his men.

However, the person in the formation ignored him and continued to attack desperately, trying to break the formation. His Yan Family Fortress cultivators wanted to listen to him, but they were already struggling to suppress these hundred-odd cultivators. If they suddenly withdrew, the formation would probably be broken instantly, and the scene would only become more chaotic.

"Damn it! I'm going to rescue them first. You guys hold on, we'll deal with it when the patriarch returns."

"yes!"

After Xuan Ye finished speaking, he dared not linger for a moment and turned to head towards Feiyun Pavilion.