Chapter 68: The Heavenly Twin Stars Return

At the moment the defensive array of the Black Desolation Sect collapsed, deep within the secret realm, the twin empresses were still inside the ancient palace built by Emperor Tianwu, comprehending the stele that contained his insights into Ascension.

Suddenly, both of them opened their eyes.

"This... it seems the sect is under siege, and Gu Yuan is fighting."

Ji Yan spoke in a serious tone as she immediately stood up.

"I’m going out."

She had already risen into the air when Ji Yue’s calm voice stopped her.

"Calm down. Nothing has happened to Gu Yuan. This is also a situation I already predicted."

Ji Yan slowly exhaled and nodded.

The sisters then left the secret realm together, no longer in a hurry.

Waiting for them outside was Peak Master Du Qinghe, who was leading his disciples in controlling the Demonic Beasts and trying to defend the sect, along with the other elders and disciples.

The battle within the Inner Sect seemed to have only just begun, yet it was already obvious how hopeless the situation was.

"This is all within your prediction, right?" Ji Yan asked with a deadpan expression.

Ji Yue coughed awkwardly before laughing it off. "Well, it was a little... no, perhaps a tiny bit more than what I predicted."

Ji Yan didn’t argue with her and simply moved toward Gu Yuan.

Neither of them released their aura. In the middle of such a chaotic battlefield, no one noticed their arrival, allowing the sisters to reach their Dao Companion without interruption.

He might have changed his appearance, but there was no way the twins could mistake him. To them, Gu Yuan was as conspicuous as a beacon of light amid the battlefield.

Watching him cut down other cultivators, Ji Yan finally felt tension leaving her.

"Those two bitches... when the hell are they going to show up and deal with this mess?"

Gu Yuan’s mutter reached the twins’ ears clearly.

Ji Yue blinked before turning toward her sister. "Those two bitches he is talking about are us... right?"

Ji Yan sneered and nodded. "Yes. There can’t be any other two bitches."

The sisters exchanged a glance. In the end, Ji Yan let out a ridiculous laugh and started to descend... only to be stopped once more by her sister.

"His situation isn’t that dangerous. Let him fight and gain some experience."

Ji Yan paused, considered the point, and found herself nodding.

Gu Yuan could gain valuable experience through a real battle like this. Besides, it could also serve as a small punishment for badmouthing them behind their backs.

Ji Yan changed direction and flew toward the cultivators who had come to attack the Black Desolation Sect.

"Then I’ll go deal with those groups of trash. Repair and control the array formation... make sure no one escapes."

"You don’t even need to say that."

Ji Yue’s voice no longer carried its usual gentleness. Clearly, even though she had already expected something like this to happen, seeing the situation with her own eyes still left her far from pleased.

"Oh, and mark those who target Gu Yuan specially. It’s fine for him to gain some experience, but no one can touch my husband and stay alive."

Ji Yan added that as an afterthought.

Ji Yue nodded in agreement, though she still corrected one small thing.

"Yes. Death is a small price for trying to hurt our husband."

Whether Ji Yan heard the correction or simply chose to ignore it was impossible to tell.

What came next, however, left no room for doubt.

A fist of flame suddenly appeared above the battlefield. It was more than ten times larger than the one Ji Yan had summoned when she first broke into the Spiritual Core Realm, and its enormous crimson flames illuminated the entire battlefield.

Before anyone could even determine where the attack had come from, the fist descended.

BOOM!

The sky had already seemed to crack when the protective formation broke.

Now, it felt as though it had shattered for a second time.

The enormous fist crashed into the battlefield, swallowing many cultivators beneath its flames. Some raised defensive treasures, others desperately unleashed their techniques, and some simply tried to flee.

None of it mattered.

Under the overwhelming power of the flames, every defense collapsed, and countless cultivators were reduced to nothing in an instant.

Every gaze on the battlefield snapped toward the source.

Red hair. Golden eyes. And a faint smile.

The moment they saw the woman standing there, everyone froze.

The cultivators who had been fighting moments ago stopped mid-battle. Those who had been shouting curses fell silent. Even those who had been preparing to attack hesitated, their bodies instinctively refusing to move.

Ji Yan looked across the battlefield before casually stretching her body.

"Quite lively."

Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried clearly throughout the entire Inner Sect.

For a moment, none of the Black Desolation Sect disciples seemed capable of reacting.

Then someone finally shouted at the top of his lungs.

"THE HEAVENLY TWIN STARS!"

The cry spread through the battlefield like wildfire.

"The Heavenly Twin Stars have returned!"

"They’re here!"

"THEY’RE HERE!"

The Black Desolation Sect disciples who had been fighting desperately only moments ago erupted.

Some laughed in relief.

Others tightened their grips around their weapons, their exhausted faces suddenly filled with renewed fighting spirit.

Then the elders who had already begun considering whether they should abandon this doomed sect and escape looked toward Ji Yan with complicated expressions.

They had held the line precisely because they knew the twins were still alive and unharmed. Now that truth stood before them, confirmed.

Several of them smiled, privately thanking whatever luck had kept them loyal until this moment. The Heavenly Twin Stars were far more terrifying than every invading cultivator combined.

For the Black Desolation Sect, the return of the two sisters who had carried them to their current height changed everything.

On the opposite side, the reaction was the reverse.

Those who had come specifically because they believed the Heavenly Twin Stars were injured went pale.

"They can fight?"

"Impossible! The information said they were severely injured!"

"Where is Ji Yue?"

Questions came one after another as panic spread through the invading forces.

Among them, the Sect Master of the Silent Valley Sect, who had previously fought Luo Yunjin, stared at Ji Yan with a grim expression.

His eyes narrowed.

So the rumors had been false.

Or, at the very least, they had not been completely true.

He immediately raised his voice.

"Everyone, don’t panic! One of them has appeared, but that doesn’t mean they have fully recovered!"

His voice calmed several of the surrounding cultivators."

Ji Yan is alone! We have more than ten Embryo Realm cultivators, and we even have a Void Realm cultivator among our ranks. There is no way we will lose!"

The cultivators who had been on the verge of losing their fighting spirit gradually steadied themselves.

The mention of a Void Realm cultivator was enough to suppress much of their fear.

They had come prepared to kill the Heavenly Twin Stars, and even with Ji Yan’s return, they still had more than enough powerful cultivators on their side.

At least, that was what they wanted to believe.

The first to attack was Huo Zhengyang, the Sect Master of the Crimson Flame Sect. He charged forward with a roar.

"JI YAN!"

Ji Yan glanced at him and clicked her tongue.

"After sacrificing your Great Elder, you barely managed to escape with your life. Yet you’re still this desperate to die?"

"Don’t think-."

Huo Zhengyang never finished the sentence.

Ji Yan’s figure appeared in front of him before the words could leave his mouth. Her fist drove straight through his chest. His body exploded, turning into a shower of blood that scattered through the sky.

The last time they had fought, Huo Zhengyang had barely survived because Ji Yan had only been at the Golden Core Realm.

Now, she had reached the peak of the Core Creation Realm.

The difference between them was no longer something that could be overcome through desperation, techniques, or sheer numbers. Before Ji Yan’s overwhelming strength, Huo Zhengyang didn’t even have the chance to struggle.

And Ji Yan didn’t stop there.

She didn’t bother waiting for another opponent to come to her. There were simply too many enemies on the battlefield, and she had no intention of wasting time exchanging words with each of them.

Her figure flashed through the battlefield like a streak of crimson.

Everywhere she passed, another enemy fell.

Some were left with barely recognizable corpses. Others were torn apart, leaving only scattered remains behind. The weakest were reduced to ash beneath the flames surrounding her.

Ji Yan didn’t slow down.

She simply continued forward, killing one opponent after another as though the countless cultivators surrounding her were nothing more than obstacles in her path.

Whether it was the Sect Master of the Silent Valley Sect or the countless other cultivators who witnessed her slaughter, they all came to the same conclusion.

This wasn’t a wounded cultivator struggling to fight.

This was a monster that had just returned to the battlefield.

Elsewhere, another group remained completely unmoved by the slaughter. They hadn’t come for the Heavenly Twin Stars. Their gazes remained fixed on the depths of the Black Desolation Sect.

"The twins have returned," one of them said quietly.

"So what?" Another replied without looking away. "Our purpose hasn’t changed."

Their target was the treasure rumored to be sealed somewhere within the Black Desolation Sect.

Whether the Heavenly Twin Stars lived or died was secondary. As long as the battlefield remained in chaos, they still intended to find an opportunity to venture deeper into the sect and search for the rumored treasure.

Not far away, a third group had reached a very different conclusion.

Yunshan watched Ji Yan tear through the battlefield for several seconds before turning toward the grim-faced Royal Princess beside him.

"Then, if you will excuse me, Your Highness, I will take my leave."

Wei Ruyan’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. If the Heavenly Twin Stars are alive, then my Azure Cloud Sect has no business being here."

Yunshan didn’t wait for her to respond. He turned toward the elders and disciples who had accompanied him and raised his voice.

"Everyone, we’re going back."

No one objected.

The disciples and elders immediately began moving toward the way they had entered.

Unfortunately, coming in had been easy... leaving was another matter entirely.

Before long, several disciples who had reached the edge of the inner sect stopped in confusion. The passage they had opened through the sect protective array had apparently been repaired at some point.

"Sect Master..."

They turned toward Yunshan.

Yunshan looked at the repaired formation as well, his expression gradually becoming grim.

He had wanted to leave the moment he confirmed that the Heavenly Twin Stars were unharmed.

But now, it seemed that before the Azure Cloud Sect could leave the Black Desolation Sect...

They would first need permission from the Heavenly Twin Stars.