Chapter 262: Chapter 257: Everyone Chases the Light
Song Ciwan unleashed the Earth Element Technique. Her True Qi surged, and an invisible wave shot out in all directions. It not only blocked the power of the many Array Flags but, in the next instant, seized control of the ones by the well, abruptly turning their attack.
SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!
Dozens of Array Flags soared through the air, the tips of their poles aligning as they shot fiercely toward Chengxin, who lay collapsed before them.
The Array Flags had turned on their master!
Chengxin’s eyes were filled with intense resentment and disbelief. She stared death at Song Ciwan, asking, "Who... exactly... are you?"
The words had barely left her lips when the Array Flags whistled through the air and shot into her.
THUD THUD THUD!
One after another, the Array Flags pierced her body. Already on the brink of death, Chengxin could no longer hold on.
With a final tilt of her head, an incredibly fine ray of light suddenly shot from her mouth, instantly soaring skyward.
It moved as fast as a bolt of lightning, so fast that Song Ciwan failed to intercept it. The ray of light pierced the protective barrier that had enveloped the small courtyard and shot straight into the vast night sky.
The next moment, Chengxin’s eyes closed, and she was dead.
A cloud of Death Qi, mixed with a Life and Death Seal, lunged violently at Song Ciwan. The Heaven and Earth Scale flew out, collecting both into its Balance Plate.
[Death Qi. From the death of a Qi Refining Great Perfection Cultivator. Two jin and nine taels. Tradable.]
[Life and Death Seal. A karmic seal of life and death planted by a Divinity Transformation Expert. One jin and two taels. Tradable.]
With that, Chengxin, Zi Shan, and Lv Yun—all three Maids—were dead.
Zi Shan and Chengxin had both left behind a Life and Death Seal. However, since Lv Yun had not been killed by Song Ciwan—instead dying when her lifespan was exhausted by the Exotic Treasure, Shao Guang—the seal on her body had not been triggered.
With a wave of Song Ciwan’s hand, the Heaven and Earth Scale spun again, and a whirlwind erupted from the ground. In an instant, everything on the ground—the corpses of the three Maids, the Magical Artifacts they left behind, the shattered Array Flags scattered everywhere...
...and even the miscellaneous rubble and stones, right down to the small courtyard itself. As Song Ciwan activated her Earth Element Technique, the entire courtyard was ripped from the earth, foundation and all!
Song Ciwan collected all of it into the Heaven and Earth Scale.
To say she scoured the place clean would not be an exaggeration; it was a literal description.
Once this was done, Song Ciwan used the Great Derivation Birth Skill to cleanse her aura, shrouding the Celestial Secret and concealing her presence.
Then, using the Earth Escape Technique, she vanished into the ground. She traveled deep beneath the earth, heading east, and disappeared in an instant.
All that remained was an empty pit, stripped of its very topsoil, looking bleak and desolate in the night. A few motes of dust drifted in the wind.
The protective Magical Artifact Lv Yun had left behind had shattered from Chengxin’s dying blow. Naturally, Song Ciwan had collected its remains into the Heaven and Earth Scale before she left.
Now, without the Magical Artifact to conceal it, the abrupt patch of empty land at the end of Erhu Lane was glaringly conspicuous.
The residents nearby were mostly Cultivators as well. Just then, the lights in a neighboring house flickered on. A Cultivator leaped up from his courtyard, whipped his head around to see the scene next door, and gasped. "Wh-what’s going on?" he exclaimed in shock.
At the end of Erhu Lane, on that plot of land that looked as if it had been gouged out, a strange, cold light suddenly began to shine.
The light seemed to emanate from deep within the earth, yet it also seemed to float in mid-air. It was like a wisp of nothingness, yet it also felt tangible.
The light condensed from a point into a line, which then extended and abruptly pointed north.
Seeing this, the Cultivator in mid-air felt his heart begin to pound. For some reason, he felt an inexplicable, powerful attraction to the sight before him.
Involuntarily, he moved, leaping onto a nearby rooftop.
Then, he began to give chase, following the direction in which the thin line extended.
His mind didn’t even have time to process it. ’What was that point of light? Why was the line extending north? And why did he feel compelled to chase it?’
All these questions were subconsciously ignored.
Only a single, powerful Thought remained, guiding him: chase, and don’t stop chasing!
And he was not the only one. Many other Cultivators—be they those who Cultivate Immortality, Martial Artists, or Scholars—whoever was startled awake in the dead of night and saw the line of light was involuntarily drawn to it and joined the chase.
What’s more, if anyone had been able to fly high above Pinglan City at that moment, they would have seen that the line of light from Erhu Lane was not unique.
It was merely the first... or perhaps more accurately, the fuse.
From the moment it extended north, lighting up for all to see, countless other thin lines began to appear throughout the city.
These lines crisscrossed the city; some twisted and wound about, while others shot straight ahead.
But whether straight or curved, all the lines shared one thing in common: they all pointed north!
「East City, Second Young Master’s Mansion.」
From a side hall of Jiankong Hall, there was a sudden CRASH of shattering porcelain.
Immediately after, a plainly coiffed Maid came stumbling out, frantic with panic.
"Sister Qing Feng! Sister Qing Feng! The Life Plates for Lv Yun, Zi Shan, and Chengxin... they’ve all shattered!"
"What?" Qing Feng and the others, who were still standing guard outside the main hall, surged forward. "What did you say?" Qing Feng asked, aghast. "Lv Yun, Zi Shan, and Chengxin... their Life Plates shattered? H-how is that possible?"
The words had barely left her lips when the tightly sealed doors to the main hall suddenly swung open of their own accord.
The Second Young Master, draped in a sable fur cloak, swept out of the hall like a gale. He looked up at the night sky, his voice a mixture of shock and rage. "You wretched scoundrel, you dare harm my Maids? This is a complete disregard for my authority! Qing Feng..."
He was about to order Qing Feng to investigate in South City when a faint, ethereal glow descended from the night sky.
The Second Young Master caught it with a practiced motion. His expression changed slightly. "Shao Guang has emerged! It’s in the South City... Qiyin Square... Erhu Lane! Wait, what is that?"
As he spoke, he swiped his hand through the air, and a Water Mirror materialized before him.
The Water Mirror reflected the image of countless lines of light crisscrossing the city, all heading north.
Qing Feng immediately stepped forward, exclaiming, "Young Master, is this... could this be the Secret Realm that Du Xingheng has been looking for? Is Penglai Immortal Island about to manifest? Is it truly located in Pinglan City?"
The Second Young Master replied, "No. An Immortal Island would only manifest in a place completely devoid of human presence. It would never appear in a bustling, densely populated city. This is not Penglai Immortal Island."
Qing Feng stared blankly. "If not Penglai, then what is it? Why is it that when I see these lights, my heart trembles and I feel a sudden urge to chase after them?"
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