Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 57

The next day, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha stood solemnly inside Feng Nianzheng’s cave dwelling. Since yesterday, she had been waiting for Feng Nianzheng but had not seen her return. She knew Feng Nianzheng had gone to search for news of Immortal Jiyue and Shen Lezhi.

However, the sound transmissions she sent out received no reply, and she could not find any trace of Feng Nianzheng, causing a wave of worry to rise in Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s heart.

“Sister, the tournament is about to start.” Hua Man was also waiting there with her. She looked up at the sky and reminded Disciple-Sister Yun Sha of today’s competition.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha looked outside distractedly, then gently nodded.

She sighed inwardly. However, Feng Nianzheng was always careful and cautious; nothing major should have happened to her.

“Let’s go,” she said softly.

She then rode her sword with Hua Man to rush toward the competition arena.

In the arena, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s opponent was a cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment stage from the Roaming Scholar Academy.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha recognized her; this female cultivator had been close to Shen Lezhi back at the Roaming Scholar Academy.

The female cultivator, named Xin Lan, held a long whip, wore the Roaming Scholar Academy’s uniform, and possessed a beautiful face but sharp and confident eyes.

“Jade Void Sect, Talisman Peak, Yun Sha,” Disciple-Sister Yun Sha greeted with a bow, holding her spirit tool, the Withered Wood Staff.

“Roaming Scholar Academy, Spiritual Herb Hall, Xin Lan,” Xin Lan returned the greeting.

Xin Lan naturally recognized Disciple-Sister Yun Sha; Shen Lezhi had introduced her to Xin Lan at the Roaming Scholar Academy.

Both women had a connection to Shen Lezhi, and unexpectedly, their first match was against each other.

“Begin!” As the referee on the sidelines announced the start of the match, the surrounding spectators focused their attention on the two.

After all, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha was already somewhat famous among the younger generation and was a strong favorite to win the championship this year.

As for the other person, Xin Lan from the Roaming Scholar Academy, they didn’t know much about her, having never even heard her name. Moreover, she was only in the early Foundation Establishment stage, making it virtually impossible for her to defeat Disciple-Sister Yun Sha, who was at the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage and about to form her Golden Core.

However, the two on the stage did not immediately start fighting. Xin Lan was asking Disciple-Sister Yun Sha about Shen Lezhi, saying that she had been trying to sound-transmit to Shen Lezhi but never received a reply.

She knew Shen Lezhi was not the type to suddenly disappear, so she had been very worried that something had happened and figured she would ask when she came to the Jade Void Sect this time.

She had run into Disciple-Sister Yun Sha on the stage today, which she considered fate, so she went ahead and asked directly.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha gave a wry smile and shook her head. Although she knew some of the truth, she could not easily tell others and could only casually brush off the question.

Xin Lan was a little disappointed, but she hadn’t come here just to inquire about Shen Lezhi. Although she was currently facing Yun Sha, a top favorite for the championship, and knew she could not win, she was unwilling to give up immediately.

“Fellow Immortal, please enlighten me,” she said seriously, no longer making small talk, and then adopted an offensive stance.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha immediately understood her meaning, mobilized her spiritual power, and the Withered Wood Staff in her hand was already hovering in mid-air.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha was already famous, and as Feng Nianzheng’s disciple, Xin Lan naturally knew her moves. The long whip shot out swiftly, attempting to interrupt Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s formation-setting hand signs.

But Disciple-Sister Yun Sha was not flustered by the long whip rushing toward her. The Withered Wood Staff continued to rotate in the air. Just as the whip was about to strike her, three spiritual talismans suddenly lit up in front of her, disrupting the whip’s offense.

The talismans did not stop after blocking the whip; they charged directly toward Xin Lan.

Xin Lan’s eyes narrowed. She spun her body, using her strength to drive the whip, and lashed it out again, colliding with the three spiritual talismans.

She successfully blocked the talismans but dared not relax for a moment. She leaped up directly and quickly struck toward Disciple-Sister Yun Sha again.

But it was too late.

The atmosphere in the arena changed instantly. Xin Lan felt heavy all over, and the whip she wielded felt as if it had been filled with iron, too heavy for her to brandish.

The formation was complete.

The Withered Wood Staff hovered high in the air. Xin Lan was already trapped within the confinement formation. The spiritual power in her body was restricted, making her feel sluggish even in her movements.

She knew this was the constraint of a formation. The Roaming Scholar Academy also had cultivators who practiced formations, but none could set up a formation as quickly as Disciple-Sister Yun Sha.

Though Xin Lan was mentally prepared, she was still startled.

However, she wasn’t without a countermeasure. Resisting the spiritual pressure of the formation, she softly chanted an incantation and mobilized her spiritual power.

The seeds of the Exotic Flower instantly grew.

When she had whipped out her weapon moments ago, it was not only to attack her opponent but also to scatter the seeds of the Exotic Flower. The things, which were light as a feather, were carried by the whip’s strong wind to land near the Withered Wood Staff and on Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s hand.

At that moment, the seeds instantly grew into countless vines, wrapping around the Withered Wood Staff and Disciple-Sister Yun Sha.

Upon seeing this, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

She had seen Shen Lezhi use this move before. Seeing the same move again inevitably brought the image of the other woman to her mind.

However, it was not exactly the same. Shen Lezhi could precisely control every seed of the Exotic Flower, only forcing the growth on the opponent.

The Xin Lan before her was clearly incapable of this. After chanting the incantation, all the Exotic Flowers burst forth. However, because they only touched Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s fingers, the vines did not completely trap her after growing, and Disciple-Sister Yun Sha easily struggled free.

But the Withered Wood Staff was tightly wrapped, and Xin Lan’s goal was achieved.

All formations require a formation core to support them. The core is both the source of the formation and the spiritual power that sustains it.

The Exotic Flower has the effect of devouring spiritual power. In just a moment, the core would be depleted of spiritual power, and the formation would be broken.

At this point, she only needed to evade her opponent’s attacks.

But Disciple-Sister Yun Sha did not take advantage of this opportunity to immediately attack Xin Lan. She merely looked at the Exotic Flower in the arena, a nostalgic expression on her face.

Xin Lan knew who she was reminiscing about.

However, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha did not let go of the attacking opportunity because she was reminiscing about Shen Lezhi.

She glanced at the Withered Wood Staff, which was quickly having its spiritual power drained, and smiled gently, “Why would you assume that something so obvious is the core of this formation?”

Cultivators who practice formations and use them as weapons do not possess the swiftness of a Sword Cultivator, nor the perfect synergy between a Tool Cultivator and their spirit weapon.

The proper attacking method for a Formation Cultivator is to lead the enemy into the trap with the formation, control the changes within the formation, and use their advantage against the enemy’s weakness.

Given such a complex method, if one only needs to destroy the formation core to break the formation, how could she possibly set the core up so obviously?

Feng Nianzheng had taught her that the formation core is the Formation Cultivator’s vital point. Who, in their right mind, would straight-up expose their vital point to the enemy?

The concealment of the formation core is the most crucial aspect of a formation. For a skilled Formation Cultivator, the core will not be fixed in one spot but will change instantly, making its location completely unpredictable.

Feng Nianzheng said that Formation Cultivators are people with many tricks, completely different from those reckless Sword Cultivators. How to set up the formation, how to conceal the core, and how to lure others into your trap all require careful thought.

Deception, guidance, and even using oneself as bait—the goal is always to make the enemy fall into your trap without realizing it.

Yun Sha was naturally not yet at that level, but her formation core was still difficult for an enemy to locate.

She would even deliberately make the Withered Wood Staff look like the core when dealing with weaker enemies, allowing them to completely confuse the reality of the situation.

The only exception was her two-person formation with Hua Man. Hua Man was simply incapable of concealing the core. When setting up a formation together, although the two were connected in mind and controlled the myriad changes within the formation, Hua Man’s thought process would still influence her, even when Disciple-Sister Yun Sha was on the verge of breakdown over the inability to hide the core and claimed the lead control.

In the end, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha gave up and simply put the Withered Wood Staff out as the core, since that two-person confinement formation was extremely powerful, and Hua Man had also placed various oddly effective defensive talismans on the Withered Wood Staff, which served as the core.

Therefore, the Withered Wood Staff being wrapped by the Exotic Flower at this moment was merely intentional guidance from Disciple-Sister Yun Sha.

“What exactly is that staff?” Xin Lan was shocked. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered this possibility, but the news that Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s Withered Wood Staff was the formation core was widely known, and some people had even witnessed it themselves.

“It is a weapon, naturally,” Disciple-Sister Yun Sha smiled.

The Withered Wood Staff was her Destiny Spirit Tool, and also a weapon. It could store spiritual talismans, and as long as Disciple-Sister Yun Sha mobilized her spiritual power, the talismans inside could be activated.

This was designed for her by Feng Nianzheng, similar to the effect of the latter’s Destiny Spirit Tool, the Fifteen Commands of Flying Frost.

Flames ignited around the Withered Wood Staff. The Exotic Flower, being a spiritual plant, feared fire, and Xin Lan, possessing a Wood Spirit Root, also had an innate fear of flames.

But she no longer had time to think of a countermeasure. Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s talismans had arrived.

Three Gale Wind Talismans struck directly. When Xin Lan barely managed to mobilize her spiritual power to receive the blow, it felt as though a thousand kilograms of weight had slammed into her. She couldn’t even stand steady, stumbling back repeatedly, nearly falling down.

Is this the strength of the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage?

What made her even more despairing was that she clearly felt Disciple-Sister Yun Sha was holding back.

The Gale Wind Blades just now had all avoided her vital points, and even their paths were entirely within the range of her weapon, as if ensuring she could block them and would not be severely injured.

Furthermore, the pressure of the opponent’s spiritual power in the formation was already like a towering mountain. The opponent even knew her weakness, as sparks of intense fire flashed constantly around her.

Clearly, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha had completely secured the victory and needed only to strike Xin Lan with her spells, leaving Xin Lan powerless to fight back. Yet, she stopped her dense attack when Xin Lan was catching her breath.

It was as if she were waiting for Xin Lan to surrender.

Xin Lan lowered her eyes and sighed, fully aware of the huge disparity between her and her opponent. She understood that being able to breathe at this moment was only because Disciple-Sister Yun Sha was taking it easy. Finally, she lowered her weapon and raised her hands to indicate surrender.

“Jade Void Sect, Talisman Peak’s Yun Sha is victorious.” With the announcement of the match result, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha retracted the formation and nodded at Xin Lan with a smile.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha then turned to step off the platform, but a figure on a sword suddenly flashed overhead.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s expression turned severe, and she immediately leaped a half-step aside.

Because the person was falling straight down from mid-air!

Just as the person was about to crash onto the ground, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha circulated her spiritual power and threw out a Wind Talisman to slow the descent. When the person landed steadily on the arena, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha took one look and her expression became even more serious.

Disciple-Sister Yun Sha recognized this person. She was an Elder of the Jade Void Sect. At this moment, she was covered in blood. Both her arms were severed halfway, her heart had been pierced, and one of her eyes had been gouged out, still ceaselessly gushing blood.

She was dying, staring at the Sect Master on the high platform. She struggled to support herself, and the fresh blood spilling from her mouth could not stop the words she needed to say.

“Jiyue… Immortal Jiyue… killed us. She… colluded with a demonic cultivator. She killed us… when we found out…”

Her words were disjointed but clear, audible to every person present.

The blood throughout Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s body ran cold. Her fingers, gripping the Withered Wood Staff, were white from the force.

She fundamentally did not believe Immortal Jiyue would do such a thing. If the Immortal had truly wanted to kill, how could this person have been left alive to fly on her sword to the competition arena?

And just happen to crash right into the center of the arena?

It was utterly ridiculous.

But then a sudden leap of excitement rose in her heart. The enemy deliberately created this scene, which could only mean that the Immortal and Shen Lezhi had indeed emerged.

Thinking of this, Disciple-Sister Yun Sha’s breathing quickened slightly. The strange phenomenon yesterday was indeed caused by Immortal Jiyue and Shen Lezhi.

Just as the crowd was shocked and discussing the events, the sky suddenly changed.

Snowflakes began to drift down. People looked up doubtfully at the clear sky, only to see the sun high overhead, yet white snow was slowly falling across the entire area.

The snow was intensely cold. In just a few moments, the entire competition arena, including the distant viewing stands, felt an unusual chill.

Some people mobilized their spiritual power to resist the cold, but found that no matter what they did, the cold was unbearable.

Finally, someone realized that the descending white snow was not ordinary natural snowfall; it contained vast spiritual power.

And it was widely known in the cultivation world that the peerless Immortal Jiyue possessed the spiritual power of ice and snow.

Coupled with the words of the severely injured Jade Void Sect Elder on the competition stage, fear rose in everyone’s hearts as they looked at the white snow that suddenly fell from the sky.

Not only that, but within the white snow, a faint dragon’s roar could be heard. The dragon’s low growl resonated throughout the firmament.

Yet, it also felt like a suffocating pressure over everyone’s heads.

People were panicking, and the crowd began to stir. The Sect Master stared intently at the sky above, already anticipating the arrival of a crisis.

Suddenly.

The dragon’s roar instantly grew louder. The deafening sound nearly shattered everyone’s eardrums, accompanied by this earth-shattering roar.

A pale bolt of lightning descended from the heavens with rapid speed!

The lightning struck directly at the Sect Master. Her heart raced, having been on full alert since the white snow began to fall from the sky.

Golden light flared around her body. The lightning strike collided with this golden light, creating a shocking tremor.

The Sect Master was not injured by the lightning due to her protective spirit artifact, but the oppressive force of the impact nearly took her breath away. With just one strike, she was already drenched in sweat.

“Fan Tianyin, this sovereign has come to take your life.”

A cold voice rang out from the sky, piercing through everything and reaching everyone’s ears.

The Sect Master looked up in the direction of the voice.

She saw a woman in white robes, purer than snow, with frost between her brows, and white snow swirling around her body.

She held the Azure Dragon Sword, dominating everything beneath the heavens.

Her eyes gleamed faintly as she looked down on all living beings, exuding the aura of an immortal, inspiring awe and preventing any thought of desecration.

Terrifying pressure surged from around her, carrying a bone-chilling killing intent that caused everyone present to tremble uncontrollably, already gasping for breath under the immense murderous aura.

“Exquisite Heart,” the Sect Master looked indifferently at the immortal figure in the air. Her expression was utterly cold, yet her eyes revealed an intense, distorted, terrifying fear.

It was as if two souls resided within her body, tearing her apart ruthlessly.