Chapter 365: The Truth about Coloured Stones
Soon after, a dozen or so walked closer to the formation and stood in front of the weakness.
"What are they planning to do?" Someone asked.
"Do they have a formation-breaking treasure?" Another asked.
Unfortunately, no one knew the answer so they could only watch.
"Meng Zihua, this time will be our last fight." A voice spoke and everyone turned to see Shen Ru.
"Shen Ru." Meng Zihua spoke through gritted teeth.
She also wanted to have a final showdown with her mortal enemy.
After defeating Shen Ru, she had a feeling her mental state would improve and her cultivation would benefit.
"You are right. This time will be our last. You will either die or I will die." Meng Zihua said.
"There is no ’or’. You will surely die."
"Don’t be too proud." Meng Zihua stated and ignored the woman.
Instead, she focused on the dozen enemies who were standing closest to the formation.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang, what kind of force is needed to break apart the formation weakness?" She asked.
"Do you think they want to explode themselves to break the formation?" Jiang Yue asked.
"Maybe." Meng Zihua said but she wasn’t convinced.
After all, the disciples of the Death Flower Ascension Front had stepped on others to get their current cultivation and strength.
No matter how she thought, Meng Zihua didn’t think they would selflessly sacrifice themselves for the greater cause.
"I don’t know what they are doing but we should move further from the formation." Wei Ge suggested.
He had noticed that the disciples of the Death Flower Ascension Front were distancing themselves which made him think that something was about to happen.
"We should a message and let everyone prepare for war." Yu Nianzhen said.
"I also think so." Wei Ge said and immediately removed something from his storage ring.
A moment later, he injected a strand of qi into a red talisman and threw it into the air.
Soon after, a red pattern appeared in the sky above the camp and everyone became alert.
At the same time, Yu Nianzhen, Jiang Yue, Meng Zihua, and others released their weapons.
"As soon as the formation breaks, we will bombard the enemy with talismans. After that, we will eliminate the survivors." Wei Ge suggested.
"Remember that the enemy may have the same plan. Activate your defence measures and prepare for initial contact." He reminded.
"We will follow leader Wei’s directions." Many of the gathered immediately accepted the suggestions.
They knew that the coming battle would be unlike the skirmishes they had experienced.
The chance of dying was high and protective measures were indispensable.
"XiaoYue, take this." Yu Nianzhen said and handed over a wooden box.
"What is it?" Jiang Yue asked and wanted to open the box.
However, Yu Nianzhen held his hand and stopped.
[There are one hundred leaves of the Tree of Life in the box.] He said and then explained.
[I hope we won’t be separated in the coming war but if we are, I want you to have enough ways to protect your life.]
[As I thought, you are the most amazing.] Jiang Yue said and smiled.
At the same time, he gave Yu Nianzhen a storage bag.
[It has formation disks.] He said.
In the years they stayed in the trading area of the Nine Treasures secret realm, Jiang Yue accumulated thousands of formation disks.
At this time, he halved his hoard and gave one-half to his Taoist companion.
[Remember that life...] Yu Nianzhen stopped midsentence with a frown on his face.
"What are they holding?" He asked.
"I don’t know." Jiang Yue said and also frowned.
While they were talking, each of the disciples of the Death Flower Ascension Front who were standing closest to the formation released a multicoloured ball.
The ball had a diameter of about ten centimetres and colourful lights were swimming on its surface.
Looking at it, Yu Nianzhen felt the balls were several parts similar to the two-coloured stones he saw in the Great Artisan City or the one he won from Lin Fu during the Ice Palace martial contest.
"I have a bad feeling about this." He suddenly said.
"Me too." Jiang Yue answered with a solemn face.
He always felt that something terrible was about to happen but he didn’t know what.
"Let’s back off a little more." Yu Nianzhen suggested and Jiang Yue didn’t hesitate.
As they retreated, they pulled Xuan Ke to retreat together but the monk didn’t need their guidance.
He also felt that something terrible was about to happen but he couldn’t figure out what.
"Everyone, retreat to at least one hundred metres." Wei Ge said and everyone did so.
However, even after one hundred metres, he still felt a sense of danger and discomfort.
’What’s going on?’ He wondered and turned to Meng Zihua, Yu Nianzhen, Jiang Yue, and Xuan Ke.
Unfortunately, all he saw were solemn faces which assured him he wasn’t imagining the danger.
If the others also felt it, then the danger was real.
"XiaoYue, brother Xuan, let’s enter my sword domain." Yu Nianzhen suddenly said.
"Brother Yu, isn’t it dangerous to enter your sword domain?" Xuan Ke asked.
He had seen what happened to those who entered his sworn brother’s sword domain and he didn’t dare to voluntarily enter.
"Don’t worry, you will be safe." Yu Nianzhen said but didn’t explain.
Since he refined a space core and a space embryo, his sword domain was a small world.
As long as they entered the sword domain, they would be safe since the world outside couldn’t affect the world inside.
Although Yu Nianzhen couldn’t open the small world for too long, he was confident he could hold on until they escaped whatever disaster the other side was about to unleash.
"Okay, I will listen to Brother Yu." Xuan Ke said.
"Fellow Daoist Yu, can you take me in?" Meng Zihua suddenly asked.
In fact, she didn’t like the idea of entering someone’s domain.
However, she couldn’t shake the feeling of danger no matter how far she retreated.
In that case, she could only ask for refuge in Yu Nianzhen’s sword domain.
Although she and Yu Nianzhen weren’t friends, she had known him for many years.
She knew that he loved his Taoist companion and would never risk his life.
Considering that, she guessed the sword domain was special and more secure than the outside world.
"Okay." Yu Nianzhen said after thinking about it for a moment.
Under ordinary circumstances, he wouldn’t agree.
However, he couldn’t stand by and watch everyone be wiped out.
"Those who are willing to enter my Taoist companion’s sword domain to hide from the attack can come closer." Jiang Yue said in a loud voice.
He knew Yu Nianzhen’s thoughts so he quickly spread the word.
"Enter someone’s sword domain? Are you out of your mind?" A male cultivator asked and walked a little further away.
The person was a disciple of the sword sect.
Although his sword intent hadn’t reached the point of condensing a sword domain, he knew the basics.
He knew it was extremely dangerous to enter a swordmaster’s sword domain.
If a person was lucky, they would shed a layer of skin and if they weren’t, they would directly lose their lives.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang, we are all on the same side. Why are you trying to kill our people?" Another asked and also walked away.
Soon after, everyone understood the danger of entering a sword domain and quickly distanced themselves.
They didn’t want to accidentally be placed in the sword domain and lose their lives unjustly.
However, there were a few who stepped closer.
These few were Meng Zihua, Wei Ge, and their people.
"Fellow Daoist Yu, are you confident?" Wei Ge asked.
"I should be able to hold on for a short while." Yu Nianzhen answered and looked at the others carefully.
"Do you know what they are holding?" He asked.
"I know something about the coloured stones but I have never seen the light balls in their hands." Meng Zihua said.
"I have also had about the coloured stones." Wei Ge said.
"We came across a two-coloured stone in the Great Artisan City. Duanmu Qing, the female cultivator who got it, was later captured by the Death Flower Ascension Front. She became a disciple." Jiang Yue said and pointed to the bounty list depicted on the screen in front of the spiritual pools’ blessed land.
"I still have a coloured stone I won from someone." Yu Nianzhen said and removed the stone.
Back then, he decided to wait for Jiang Yue to leave seclusion so that they could open it together.
However, many things happened and he didn’t remember the stone until now.
"The Death Flower Ascension Front seems to have found a way to produce unnatural coloured stones to trick cultivators. Each stone contains a peak-grade spirit stone but something has been added to the spiritual qi within. If you use the spirit stone to cultivate, it will corrupt your origin qi and destroy your foundation." Meng Zihua explained and Jiang Yue turned pale.
[Have you forgotten we have a treasure compass? It’s impossible for such stones to escape its detection.] Yu Nianzhen said and held Jiang Yue’s hand to comfort him.
