Chapter 556 - 58: No Turning Back, Qingxing in Mortal Danger

The man in black seemed to see through Hex Tai’s thoughts. He let out a scornful laugh and said dismissively, "You’d best discard that naive idea of yours. If I die today, evidence of you colluding with an Evil Demon will be delivered to the Golden Crow Sect and the Celestial Vein Sect tomorrow. When that happens, the entire Lieyang Sect will be buried with me!"

"You!" Hex Tai trembled with rage. He was full of regret now—immense regret.

But there was no medicine for regret in this world. He knew that this time, he had been completely and utterly trapped.

He glared at the man in black and said through gritted teeth, "No matter what, I cannot agree to this condition!"

Hex Tai did indeed hate the Song Clan to the bone, wishing he could annihilate them all, but that didn’t mean he had lost his basic sense of judgment.

The Song Clan of today was not what it once was. Song Xianming had already broken through to the Purple Mansion realm, and they also had a powerful Quasi-Celestial Ship and Yuann Tianshu, a Purple Mansion Tributor.

The defenses of Vast Mist Peak were practically impregnable. With the Lieyang Sect’s current strength, they didn’t stand a chance of breaching them. A forced attack would be nothing more than a suicide mission.

Hearing his words, the man in black gave a cold, sinister smile. He knew that Hex Tai had already compromised.

"I know the Lieyang Sect is currently lacking the strength for such a task, but why don’t you, Fellow Daoist Hex, contact some like-minded friends? In this world, are you really the only ones who wish to see the Song Clan crushed?"

"This..." Hex Tai hesitated.

Seeing this, the man in black pressed his advantage. "Rest assured, I will do everything in my power to assist you and eliminate all your future worries."

A tempted expression immediately appeared on Hex Tai’s face. Although he didn’t know the specific identity of the man before him, he knew this person’s influence was by no means small.

With his cooperation, the chances of success were indeed very high.

’But good and evil cannot coexist. I’ve already made one grave mistake by accident. Am I really going to continue down this wrong path?’

’If this gets out, the consequences will be unimaginable.’

Hex Tai’s heart was in turmoil.

Seeing this, the man in black didn’t press him further. He slowly walked forward, patted Hex Tai on the shoulder, and said, "What you do is entirely up to you, Fellow Daoist. Think it over. When you’ve made up your mind, use this to contact me."

After speaking, the man in black swaggered out. The expression on Hex Tai’s face shifted several times, but in the end, he did not act to stop him.

From the moment the man had willingly revealed his identity, there had been no turning back for him...

「Vast Mist Peak, Soul Lamp Hall.」

Dressed in an elegant, light-colored long dress, Song Qingxi slowly pushed open the hall’s doors. She first went to the spirit tablets of the past Clan Leaders, bowed respectfully, and lit a stick of incense. Then, her gaze fell upon a Soul Lamp located near the back.

The faint blue flame swayed gently, and Song Qingxi couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized.

"Where on earth have you been all these years..." Staring at Song Qingxing’s Soul Lamp, Song Qingxi murmured as if in a daze.

It had been four years since Song Qingxing left the mountain.

’To be honest, for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, this wasn’t a particularly long time.’

But for Song Qingxi, these fifteen hundred days and nights had been agonizing. Since childhood, the two of them had depended on each other on Little Cyan Mountain and had never been separated for so long.

She missed him every moment of every day.

The more time passed, the clearer the face in her memory became.

At first, she had been able to distract herself by completing clan missions, but recently, for some unknown reason, her heart had grown inexplicably flustered. She couldn’t sleep at night and had lost her appetite.

By a strange twist of fate, she had come to the Soul Lamp Hall.

This was the first time she had entered this place in four years. She had a natural fear of these Soul Lamps.

Her father had one, but it had been extinguished over a decade ago. Even his remains were never found.

Song Luhuai had one too, and now it was also extinguished.

She was terrified, terrified that one day Song Qingxing’s Soul Lamp would also be extinguished.

This small Soul Lamp was her only hope and solace now.

Suddenly, as if a gust of wind had passed through, Song Qingxing’s Soul Lamp began to tremble violently. The fingertip-sized flame flickered erratically, looking as though it could go out at any moment.

Song Qingxi’s face instantly turned deathly pale. A Soul Lamp was refined from a wisp of a Cultivator’s soul essence; its flame was their Fire of Life.

There was only one possibility for this to happen: Song Qingxing had suffered a grievous injury and was on the verge of death, his life hanging by a thread!

Song Qingxi’s mind went completely blank. She stumbled out of the Soul Lamp Hall and found Song Xianyun.

After learning of the situation, Song Xianyun’s expression turned grim. He hurried with her to the Soul Lamp Hall and found that Song Qingxing’s Soul Fire had dwindled to the size of a bean.

This was an extremely dangerous sign.

He acted decisively, shouting at the Steward accompanying him, "Notify the Supreme Elder and all other Elders on Vast Mist Peak! Tell them to get to the Soul Lamp Hall immediately! Now!"

After speaking, he reached out, took down Song Qingxing’s Soul Lamp, and quickly bit the tip of his tongue, spitting a mouthful of Essence Blood onto it. The flame, which had been on the verge of extinguishing, immediately brightened a little.

Song Xianyun sat down cross-legged, his hands forming a Seal Technique. Using his own Essence Blood as a catalyst, he channeled his Divine Soul Power to stabilize Song Qingxing’s Soul Fire.

Just as the situation seemed to improve, it quickly took a turn for the worse.

Just then, Song Xianming and the others arrived. Seeing the situation, he immediately shouted, "Activate the Celestial Soul Supplement Array! Twenty-First Brother, fall back, quickly!"

Song Xianming’s hands rapidly formed a series of seals. Lines of fluorescent light surged from all corners of the Soul Lamp Hall toward the center, converging into a complex and profound pattern.