Chapter 71: A New Threat

The Inner Sect of the Black Desolation Sect had been turned completely white, making Gu Yuan feel as though he had suddenly been transported into an ice age.

His gaze settled on Ji Yue, who now stood alone in the sky. She looked breathtaking. She had always been beautiful, but at this moment, surrounded by endless frost with her silver hair gently drifting in the cold air, she seemed even more so.

The beautiful scene was suddenly broken when one of the frozen figures below cracked, and a cultivator staggered out from the shattered ice, barely managing to preserve his life and break through Ji Yue’s terrifying technique.

Gu Yuan was as stunned by Ji Yue’s earlier technique as every other disciple and elder present. The difference was that most of them had been too overwhelmed to notice anything beyond the result. Watching her closely, however, he could see the faint signs of strain... the move had taken a noticeable toll on her.

When he realized someone had managed to withstand it, his first instinct was to move over and help her.

"Please spare my life! I’m a wandering cultivator and have nothing to do with this war! I was hired by the sects that gathered here, but I will leave immediately. I truly have no relation to this conflict!"

The proud Void Realm cultivator who had entered the Black Desolation Sect with such confidence now begged the Moon Fairy like a mortal begging for his life.

If the cultivators who had hired him could see him now, they would probably have struggled to believe it was the same person who had entered the sect. There was no arrogance left in his expression, nor any trace of the dignity he had carried before... all that remained was fear.

Ji Yue looked down at him with clear disdain.

To her, this was no different from a hired assassin begging for mercy after failing to take her life. There was no reason to spare him.

Before Ji Yue could make a move, however, the man who had been groveling moments earlier suddenly attacked. His sword swept forward, and the force of the strike was so immense that the sword light seemed to split the entire Inner Sect in two.

"Hahaha! Serves you right!" he shouted, already convinced of his success. "Do you know how I managed to survive all these years as a rogue cultivator? By killing every bastard who looked down on me!"

Even before the sword light reached her, he was already gloating.

Gu Yuan, who had been watching everything from below, immediately rose into the sky. His expression tightened as he moved toward Ji Yue, intending to defend her.

Yet it turned out that he had been worried for nothing.

Ji Yue simply raised her palm.

The terrifying sword strike that had seemed capable of splitting the Inner Sect apart was stopped in an instant, the sword light collapsing beneath her palm as easily as if it had never existed.

The cultivator’s expression froze.

"No..."

Ji Yue struck again.

The man’s face immediately twisted with panic. He tried to retreat, tried to form another defense, and even began begging again.

"Wait! Moon Fairy, please! I was wrong!"

But the second palm landed as if none of that mattered.

His body froze in mid-motion before shattering into lifeless fragments that scattered across the frost.

Gu Yuan let out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw the man die. Even so, he continued moving toward Ji Yue.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, I’m fine."

Ji Yue replied in the same gentle voice she always used, as though the earlier battle had been nothing more than a minor disturbance.

The pair simply stared at each other for a moment. Around them, the disciples and elders of the Black Desolation Sect watched the scene in stunned silence, but neither Gu Yuan nor Ji Yue seemed to notice their gazes.

Gu Yuan was the first to break eye contact. He lowered his head, and his gaze naturally fell upon the countless ice statues that now covered the ground.

Looking at them, he couldn’t help but ask, "Are you going to kill all of them?"

Those struck by Ji Yue’s Eternal Frost did not seem to have lost their lives immediately. Their bodies had been completely frozen, but their life force was still faintly present, slowly weakening beneath the frost. Given enough time they would perish, but for the moment they still lived.

"Yes, I’m going to kill everyone."

Ji Yue answered without hesitation before looking at him. "Why? Did you take pity on them?"

Gu Yuan didn’t answer directly.

"Some of these cultivators didn’t participate in the battle at all."

Ji Yue’s eyes grew colder. "And why should I care? If they didn’t want to die, they shouldn’t have come here."

"It’s not as though everyone is as strong as you two sisters. Everyone has their own circumstances. Weak sects can’t always go against the tide, and weak cultivators can’t simply refuse the orders of those above them."

Gu Yuan sighed before continuing, "I won’t say anything about those who fought and killed disciples of the Black Desolation Sect. But what about the others?"

His gaze moved toward Zhou Yucheng, who was frozen together with Princess Wei Ruyan. Then it moved to the other cultivators who had remained on the sidelines throughout the battle.

Did all of them really deserve to die?

Gu Yuan didn’t think so.

Ji Yue looked at him coldly. "So? What if I insist on killing them? Are you going to stand against me, your Dao Companion, for the sake of people you don’t even know?"

"That..."

Gu Yuan was momentarily at a loss for words.

Seeing his expression, Ji Yue suddenly chuckled.

"Haha~ I was joking. Don’t worry. I’ll only kill those who deserve to die. I’ll spare the rest."

Gu Yuan was left speechless. The tension that had suddenly filled his heart vanished just as quickly, leaving him unsure of what to make of this unfamiliar side of Ji Yue.

She was actually teasing him?

"I was trying to act like Yan. How do you think I did? Did I succeed?"

Ji Yue asked teasingly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Gu Yuan wasn’t sure whether she had succeeded in imitating Ji Yan or not, but his heart didn’t seem capable of enduring this kind of thing a few more times.

"Please go easy on me."

"I will."

Ji Yue stole a kiss from him as she said it.

The sight seemed to shock those watching even more than the earlier scene in which she had nearly frozen the entire Inner Sect.

Yet the shocks of the day had only just begun.

Suddenly, dark clouds began gathering deeper within the Inner Sect, precisely where Ji Yan had retreated. The spiritual energy in the surroundings began to churn violently as the clouds continued to spread across the sky.

Gu Yuan’s expression changed slightly.

It was a Heavenly Tribulation.

Ji Yue noticed it as well, and a smile appeared on her face. Yet the smile had barely formed when it suddenly faltered.

She turned her gaze toward the side, looking toward the edge of the Inner Sect.

Her eyes seemed to pierce through the scenery displayed by the Array Formation, allowing her to see what was happening beyond it.

A moment later, the others heard it too.

Crack!

A sharp sound rang through the Inner Sect as the Array Formation trembled. Once again, cracks appeared across its surface, and this time the damage was far more obvious.

Outside the Inner Sect, new enemies had appeared.

There were only four of them.

But the white-haired man leading them was far more formidable than the countless cultivators who had attacked before.

With a single strike, he had accomplished what all those previous cultivators had needed days to achieve.