Chapter 69: The Twin Empresses

Bloodbath.

That was what the battlefield had become the moment Ji Yan appeared.

At some point, a pair of daggers had appeared in her hands, and with one in each hand, she moved through the battlefield like a reaper descending upon the living. Her crimson figure flashed from one place to another, leaving dismembered corpses falling from the sky behind her.

Gu Yuan watched her in a kind of trance.

He was in the middle of a fight himself, surrounded by five cultivators, all of them at the peak of the Golden Core Realm. He could not afford to be distracted.

Yet his gaze kept drifting toward her on its own.

The vigor that had returned to his eyes the moment he saw her had yet to fade, and even the massacre unfolding before him failed to produce the revulsion it should have.

His mind seemed to filter out everything else on its own, leaving only that crimson silhouette dancing through the slaughter.

"In a situation like this, you still have the leisure to stare at that demonic bitch?"

"You think her appearance will save you?"

"Wake up! Your Black Desolation Sect is finished!"

The surrounding cultivators sneered at him, though the fear hidden beneath their confident expressions was obvious.

Gu Yuan frowned.

Not because of their sneering.

Because of the word bitch.

He had used the exact same word himself not long ago, but hearing someone else say it suddenly felt very different.

Two of the cultivators attacked at the same time, their swords closing in on his neck.

Gu Yuan’s figure shifted.

Using Heavenly Shadow Traversal, he slipped past both blades and appeared directly in front of the cultivator who had called Ji Yan a bitch.

Blood Moon.

His saber fell, and the man’s body was cleaved cleanly in two.

Against these five, Gu Yuan hadn’t even needed to use Blood Moon Severing Saber Technique. His Basic Saber Form alone would have been more than enough.

Yet, for some reason, he was far more worked up than he had expected.

He turned on the remaining four. Moving with speed and power that rivaled the Spiritual Core Realm, he cut them down before any of them could mount a proper defense.

Gu Yuan lowered his saber and stood still, his eyes returning to the red-haired figure in the distance. In a low voice, he muttered, "Where is Ji Yue?"

The words had barely left his mouth when two arms suddenly wrapped around his neck.

A soft body pressed against his back, and a melodious voice sounded directly beside his ear.

"Your bitch is here."

Gu Yuan’s expression didn’t change.

In a battlefield where even the slightest distraction could cost someone their life, he had maintained complete concentration from beginning to end.

Yet somehow, against Ji Yue, all that vigilance seemed to mean absolutely nothing.

He calmly turned around, one hand settling around her waist while the other gently touched her cheek.

"I see both of you came out safely from the secret realm."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"I’m really relieved."

As for the word bitch, he already had a pretty good idea why Ji Yue had used it, so he simply ignored it.

His attention instead shifted to the two sisters.

One was currently wielding a pair of daggers and cutting through enemies like an assassin.

The other had appeared behind him without making the slightest sound and hugged him before he had even realized she was there.

Gu Yuan stared into Ji Yue’s purple eyes.

Had these two sisters changed professions while they were inside that secret realm? From cultivators to assassins? He couldn’t help but wonder.

Ji Yue met his gaze calmly, and a retort rose to the tip of her tongue: are you glad that I am safe, or glad that we are here to clean up this mess? But in the end she let the thought pass. She only smiled.

"I’m glad you’re safe too."

Ji Yue would have liked to enjoy their reunion a little longer, but her expression suddenly changed.

She sensed something.

Her gaze moved past Gu Yuan and toward her twin sister in the sky, who was still cutting her way through the battlefield.

"Yan, more enemies are coming. You may need to break through to the Embryo Realm to deal with them. Prepare yourself."

Ji Yan gave a single nod and accelerated her slaughter of the remaining cultivators.

Gu Yuan stood beside Ji Yue, momentarily stunned.

Was the Embryo Realm really something that could just be entered at will? He was about to ask, but Ji Yue had already slipped out of his arms.

"I have to bring the others who are still outside the Inner Sect back here. Let’s postpone our reunion until later."

"Of course. Go ahead."

Gu Yuan didn’t try to stop her.

If the appearance of more enemies was enough for the twins to take the situation seriously, then he had a feeling the real trouble was only beginning.

-----

In the Outer Sect, Shen Lian had already broken through to the Embryo Realm. Alongside her were Luo Yunjin, Peak Master Tie Shan, and Core Disciple Zhou Yucheng.

The four were fighting a group of enemies that had remained behind, and although none of them were in particularly good condition, they still had the upper hand. Given enough time, they would eventually emerge victorious.

They simply needed to finish the battle.

Ji Yue, however, didn’t intend to wait that long.

She appeared directly in the middle of the battlefield.

Without saying a word, she raised one hand.

Above the head of every enemy cultivator, a tiny ice lotus quietly bloomed.

The delicate flowers were almost beautiful. But, in the next instant, they released an overwhelming cold.

Frost spread from the ice lotuses, covering the cultivators’ bodies in the blink of an eye. Before any of them could react, their bodies had already been completely frozen, leaving them as ice sculptures in the middle of the battlefield.

Of the four cultivators whose opponents had just been taken from them, three immediately cupped their hands.

"Sect Master."

Their voices were noticeably more relaxed than before.

With Ji Yue here, they no longer needed to worry about the battle dragging on.

Ji Yue merely nodded before turning her gaze toward the one the fourth member, the one that still had not regained his sanity.

"Zhou Yucheng, do you want me to kill you too?"

Her voice remained calm.

"Regain your senses."

The bloodlust that had clouded Zhou Yucheng’s mind for so long seemed to disperse instantly under those words.

His eyes gradually regained their clarity.

He looked toward Ji Yue and immediately cupped his hands.

"Thank you for saving me, Sect Master."

There was no hesitation in his gratitude.

Whatever his personality might have been, he still understood the basic courtesy owed to the newly appointed Sect Master of the Black Desolation Sect, especially after she had just saved his life.

Ji Yue didn’t dwell on it.

"Let’s go back to the Inner Sect."