After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 33

Because the person she was trying to convince was not Ning Songwu, but herself: convincing herself to relax, to stop being so anxious and clinging to the sole piece of driftwood, convincing herself to believe just once that the Heavens had compassion and would not cruelly separate everyone again.

She was convincing herself to trust Ning Songwu this one time.

She had always trusted her; thus, she did not completely seal off the barrier.

Ning Songwu, act once you have thought it through.

Ran Fanyin casually wiped away the moisture at the corner of her eyes, her gaze fixed on the battlefield. Slowly exhaling, she joined two fingers and held them before her chest, while her other hand wielded her sword and struck, forcing back the people near the barrier before slowly descending.

He Lan Mianmian took the place of a gap left by a disciple. Her fingers moved so fast in the air they almost became a blur. Countless yellow talismans flew out from her Storage Ring, and layers of formations were deployed. Besides defending, they also forced the enemies near the barrier back nearly three feet.

It seemed they held a slight advantage, but a weakness appeared when the opposition brought in a person skilled in the Art of Spells.

Instant casting without incantation was her strength against enemies, but at this moment, the spellcaster who joined the battlefield also required no incantation. Before her ‘Ten Thousand Ice and Remnant Snow’ could fall, it was neutralized by the woman’s ‘Blazing Combustion Art.’ Although there was no metallic clang of weapons where they fought, the explosive sound of their spells was equally alarming.

What was even more exasperating was that the woman on the opposing side had clear, lucid eyes, and her actions were calm and self-assured, conveying four words in her every move: She is intentional.

She had not been bewildered; today, she was intent on breaking through the Shangyun Sect and defeating He Lan Mianmian, this unique half-demon who cultivated Talisman Arts, Formation Arts, and Spell Arts.

With this thought, He Lan could not spare a hand for further counterattack, but she could still provoke the person before her in other ways.

“Hmph!” She spat lightly and took out her ultimate treasure from her Storage Ring. “Old hag, try this!”

A towering Yellow Dragon gradually materialized behind her. The inescapable suppressive might it contained was comparable to that of the genuine Yellow Dragon on the other side of the battlefield. The spellcaster froze for a moment at the sight. Before she could counterattack, another Vermilion Bird idol solidified. As the last drop of flame fell into the firebird’s eyes, the Vermilion Bird suddenly spread its wings and let out a long cry toward the sky.

The two Divine Beasts protected the little Cat Demon between them, one on the left and one on the right. Everyone was astonished by the Divine Beasts’ might, unaware that the Cat Demon had drawn the blood of two Sword Cultivators and exhausted nearly ten years of her own vital energy to create these two talismans.

The purpose was for today.

“Steal a piece of Heaven, Fall!”

He Lan Mianmian joined two fingers before her chest. The writing brush in her hand transformed into a short sword, and as she pressed down gently, the Yellow Dragon and the Vermilion Bird almost simultaneously swooped down, roaring as they rushed toward the slightly stunned spellcaster.

When the mist and dust cleared, there was no sign of a human figure at that spot.

He Lan Mianmian let out a sigh of relief, but her tension instantly returned the next second.

A figure staggered out of the dust, wearing a half-smile. Even through the barrier, her voice could be clearly heard. She said, “This Art of Talismans and Formations is truly convenient! Even such moves can be casually released.”

“But, He Lan Mianmian, this Sovereign is a genuine Spell Cultivator! On what grounds, on what grounds are you forever standing there like a mountain, mocking me! Why!”

He Lan Mianmian slowly displayed a question mark above her head.

When had she ever casually mocked others? To avoid conflict with the traditional three-path cultivation, she had stayed in her peak for all these years, living in seclusion. She pushed off travel whenever possible, but she had to conduct business to sustain an entire peak, so she quietly did it herself and never flaunted it.

So, what was this person talking about?

However, a person completely descending into madness could no longer hear such things. She slowly raised her head, and a pair of dark-golden eyes, even through layers of smoke and dust, startled He Lan’s heart for a moment.

She had thought this person was unaffected just now, but now it seemed she was deeply affected, to the point of merging with the corruption.

The most fundamental effect of this toxin was to magnify greed and obsession. Ning Ning truly did not deceive her.

That being said, she couldn’t cure the poison!

Should she just knock her out and wait for Ning Ning to arrive?

He Lan gripped her brush handle tightly, cautiously responding to the situation.

But the spellcaster, completely fallen into madness, surprisingly became much smarter. She even stopped fixating on her, instead casting spells randomly, using her spiritual power to erode the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation and the surrounding disciples, even though some of her own disciples were there.

The spellcaster solidified another mass of spiritual energy, tossed it into the air, and let out a cold laugh, “This Sovereign wants your Shangyun Sect to suffer a fate even worse than the Myriad Spirit Valley!” With that, she leaped up, intending to scatter this mass of spiritual energy from above to erode more of the Grand Formation.

Don’t you dare!

He Lan chuckled and lightly spat, “The Myriad Spirit Valley incident was entirely suspicious to begin with, but don’t forget…”

A flash of spiritual light. Where the delicate woman had stood, a massive, eight-tailed demon cat gently bared its teeth. Its eight tails whipped and swayed in the air, simultaneously summoning several layers of barriers, one upon the other, propping up the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation and replenishing it at any moment.

“My cultivation is not just for show! Ah Sheng—”

The spellcaster’s gaze froze in surprise at the sight of the eight-tailed demon cat. In that transient moment, a ball of spiritual light was thrown from one of the tails, carrying an unstoppable momentum, and smashed directly towards her dantian (core).

For a moment, she actually forgot to dodge.

After all, the legend that a Cat Demon gains a new tail with every stage of ascension—a phenomenon only believed to exist in legends—had genuinely appeared before her eyes.

A voice involuntarily emerged in her heart, asking her: “In truth, He Lan Mianmian is truly formidable, isn’t she?” But it was quickly suppressed by other noise, leaving no trace.

The spiritual light drew near. The transparent glow around it gradually thinned, revealing the object inside: it was a dark-gold concealed weapon tightly fastened with a small pouch. With a whooshing sound, it firmly embedded itself just outside her dantian.

It seemed to drain nearly half of her power in an instant.

The spellcaster slowly raised her head, her gaze gradually losing focus. The dark-golden spiritual power burning around her instantly dimmed, as the purifying force from the Jue Tian Formation within the pouch drew much of it away. She lost strength and plummeted straight from the air.

He Lan Mianmian finally let out a complete sigh of relief.

This form was the result of her trying her utmost. If she still couldn’t beat this fellow, then this half of the formation would likely have been lost.

Thank goodness. Although she was forced to use her ultimate abilities, it was a good result. It was just a pity for those two life-saving talismans, sniffle.

Luo Sheng ran over, leaped up, and stood beside her. She said in a deep voice, “Master, don’t get distracted. People are still gathering on this side.”

He Lan tched lightly, “So troublesome. These people are utterly foolish, and yet we can’t kill them.”

“After all, not everyone knows the truth. Master, I’ll leave this basket of concealed weapons with you. I’m going to support the other side.”

“Go, go.” The cat tail casually waved, reached over, and grabbed Luo Sheng, directly flinging her across, saving a lot of running time. She, herself, took another deep breath.

Just then, Qin Siyue suddenly leaped onto her back, leaning over and saying, “Junior Sister, let the wind rise.”

【The gourd is definitely not selling good medicine. Do you think I’d believe you’re just making a friend?】

【Subtitles, dear, is the Zonglian Cult in the book?】

【As expected, the scheme is here. Do you want to recruit me?】

【Heh heh… You want to trick me?】

【Aha, let’s play the part fully, you big villain! Watch me act it out!】

Venerable Wu Yan: “Your mistake lies in calling the very thing that can seek supreme benefit for all the people of the Nine Provinces Continent the ‘Toxin of Greed and Obsession’.”

Seeing that there was no way to reason with the two of them, the woman stopped wasting words. With a slight flick of her whisk, another burst of spiritual energy was flung out. The two simultaneously drew their swords and cut the spiritual energy, but the residual shockwave still pushed them back several feet. Amidst the churning in her viscera, a trickle of fresh blood slowly slipped down the corner of her lips.

She stood up, her fingers twirling, and murmured under her breath, “In the name of the Pseudo-Spirit, Ten Thousand Layers of Ice Lotus, rise.”

The spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth seemed to condense at her fingertips. Palm-sized Ice Lotuses swirled around her, flying to Ran Fanyin’s side, forming layers of nimble, small protections.

Most of them could only withstand one attack, but that single attack was enough.

The elders of the Shangyun Sect all came up at this point, each guarding one direction, but…

It seemed one direction was missing, unguarded.

How could that be?

Ran Fanyin stood with her sword, casually supporting a white lotus flower near her hand, a smile playing on her lips, quietly observing the Tribulation-Crossing ancestor fighting and retreating, attempting to break out of the encirclement and regain the initiative.

Wu Yan quickly noticed the person’s abnormality as well, her heart slightly sinking. However, she didn’t want to use too much energy on dealing with this group. After all, she had heard the female voice just now very clearly, and the item Ran Fanyin had produced concerned her even more.

If both spirits were truly on her side, then this battle would indeed be difficult to win.

Forget it, let’s achieve a quick victory.

Wu Yan casually waved her whisk, and rolling thunder clouds appeared above her head, accompanied by fierce winds. Each gust extinguished a layer of the Ice Lotuses, forcing the people behind to forcefully suppress the fishy sweetness in their throats to avoid immediately spitting blood. Even with the Ice Lotuses blocking, the others couldn’t get close an inch and could only clench their teeth and struggle.

Below the cloud layer, the crowd was already stunned.

Wu Yan was about to bring down her whisk when, just at that moment, a faint whooshing sound traveled through the air. Pfft, it tore through flesh and blood. A long arrow shot out from her shoulder blade, passing straight through without stopping, carrying a piece of flesh with it as it rushed toward the clouds.

Wu Yan paused for a moment.

She recognized the fletching: Demon Lord Fenghua. How could she be here?

Or had someone else stolen this arrow?

Unfortunately, the woman’s chilling voice drifted up from below, “Venerable Wu Yan, the two times you colluded to harm the Demon Clan, this Sovereign has yet to properly settle the score with you.”

Fenghua held the heavy silver bow, her lips pressed flat, and she slightly tilted her head to look at the proud, self-assured person.

Fenghua’s appearance had already caused a commotion, but when the phrase “two times of collusion” was uttered, the crowd boiled over.

Two times of collusion. Since Wu Yan had a name and a title, there had only been two instances of conflict between humans and demons in the Nine Provinces: the infiltration after the Myriad Spirit Valley a thousand years ago, and the recent Cult two years ago. This meant this person was behind the trickery in both incidents!

Cen Ran watched the chaos below and lightly spat, muttering, “If these people can’t help, can they at least stop causing trouble?”

Currently, she felt deep resentment toward this crowd, finding everyone irritating.

It was under these circumstances that Ye Wuchen entered the battlefield, shouting, “Listen, Fiendkind of the Lingyuan Abyss! Maintain control of the middle and lower-tier cultivators! Don’t let them descend into chaos! Those at the Body Fusion stage and above, follow this King into battle!”

As if this suddenly awakened the human cultivators’ rationality, the various Body Fusion stage cultivators stepped onto the firmament one after another, completely encircling the person until not a drop of water could leak out.

“Body Fusion?” Wu Yan sneered, yet only half her mouth was moving, “Even those at the Grand Ascension stage are not enough to look at; what does Body Fusion count for?”

Ran Fanyin, who had been silent for a long time, finally took a step forward, casually tossing out the jade tassel, and said, “Body Fusion is indeed not quite enough to look at, but please look closely. Now, this is the genuine—”

“Encirclement and kill.”

【Why is this one also missing? What about the person related to this matter, Ye Su?】

【…You should retire from being a system.】

【I’m pretty scared of dying here too, friend.】

【…】

【So this is the so-called Immortal Master.】

【…Quite good-looking.】