Chapter 59: The Mysterious Soul-Summoning Banner

If one wished to survive this ordeal, the only choice was to force mortals or even cultivators into the lake to search for spirit fish, replenishing spiritual energy and seizing the essence of life.

In order to live to see the end of this desperate situation, one had to act with ruthless resolve.

Mercy towards others was cruelty towards oneself.

No one cared about any greater good, for to each person, their own life was the greatest cause.

Survival was more important than anything.

No one had a choice—Xu Shengnan was no exception.

Yet now, even she could not help but entertain a single thought in her mind.

“Brother!”

She gazed at Xu Jingyang, whose face was pale and whose heart was in turmoil. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally spoke up:

“Will we… be able to make it out alive?”

Xu Jingyang turned to her, then, unexpectedly, a wild smile twisted his lips:

“Yes, absolutely. I promise you, I will get you out of here alive!”

Xu Shengnan fell silent, saying nothing. Her grip tightened unconsciously around her sword, her knuckles blanching.

Her elder brother seemed a little unhinged—no, it would be more accurate to say that every cultivator at Azure Lotus Lake was a little mad.

A thunderous crash suddenly shattered her chaotic thoughts.

Xu Shengnan’s pupils contracted as she looked up.

Xu Jingyang was even more startled and enraged, unleashing a blazing palm of sunfire straight at the hall’s ceiling.

A deafening roar shook the space, as pillars of lightning thundered down.

True flame poured forth like molten gold, but it could not withstand the might of the thunder—crimson firelight was instantly devoured by blinding silver lightning.

With a sharp bang, as the thunder cracked, a figure was flung out and slammed heavily against the wall, vomiting blood. It was Xu Jingyang.

“Who could still wield such surging power? How is this possible!”

His heart was seized by indescribable terror, his internal organs wracked with agony, as if they might burst forth at any moment.

He could not understand—it was utterly incomprehensible.

But in the face of life and death, Xu Jingyang had no time for such thoughts. Forcing down the pain, he struggled to his feet and tried to flee.

Gritting his teeth, staggering, he channeled his remaining spiritual power, preparing to rise in flight.

But—

Another thunderous explosion erupted above his head, like a bolt from the blue, descending straight upon him.

Xu Jingyang’s eyes narrowed, his body shuddered, and his spiritual power shifted, forming a fiery shield overhead.

Yet as the thunder crashed down from the heavens, the fire shield shattered instantly. Xu Jingyang could not escape in time—a bolt of heavenly lightning struck him squarely, slamming him into the ground.

A charred crater appeared, surrounded by scorched earth and tendrils of blue smoke.

Within the pit, Xu Jingyang’s clothes had disintegrated to ash, his flesh seared and fissured like a dried corpse.

And yet, even so, his eyes remained open, bloodshot and twitching, staring unblinkingly ahead.

Through a blood-red, distorted gaze, he saw a figure approach, lightning flickering in the man’s palm.

“If I die… you won’t have it easy either!”

He did not know who had come, nor what grudge might exist between them, but by now, none of that mattered.

Xu Jingyang’s body convulsed, and from his throat he forced out a final sentence. No longer restraining himself, his spiritual power erupted in wild chaos, drawing in the world’s spiritual energy and absorbing foul, violent qi.

From his charred flesh, dark currents began to swirl, threads of new flesh twisting as some unknown transformation began.

However—

Shen Yan’s expression did not change. With a wave of his hand, a surge of force seized all the magical artifacts from his foe.

Then, with another gesture, he unleashed the power of Primal Frost, which pierced the void in an instant.

Like a thunderbolt descending, the Primal Frost was swift and razor-sharp.

With a wet crack, it pierced through the void, shattered Xu Jingyang’s skull, and reduced him to a heap of ruined flesh.

Then the Primal Frost returned to Shen Yan’s sleeve, but on Xu Jingyang’s broken corpse, dark currents still roiled, wisps of black mist entwined, and fresh flesh squirmed, growing out from the charred shell.

“So it was not the righteous path after all.”

Without a change in his expression, Shen Yan struck again, summoning another bolt of lightning to engulf the abomination still in the throes of transformation.

With a crash, the monster was blasted to powder.

Having dispatched Xu Jingyang, Shen Yan looked behind him, where dark mist was surging forth.

He said nothing, striding forward, shrinking the distance with a single step, and entered the main hall in an instant.

Within, the darkness roiled violently, and a figure flew at him, unleashing a storm of a hundred sword lights like a torrent of pear blossoms.

Xu Shengnan!

Her eyes were bloodshot, her expression mad.

Her clothing was torn; her snowy skin was laced with bloody tendrils.

Most notably, her right shoulder and arm were completely wrapped in crimson strands of flesh, which even covered her sword, obscuring all trace of human form.

Yet this did not impede her movements—if anything, it seemed to enhance them.

With a wild leap, she unleashed a hundred sword lights in a torrential assault, intent on shredding Shen Yan to pieces.

Shen Yan’s expression remained unchanged. He raised his hand and ended her with a single blow—the female cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refinement perished on the spot.

He did not linger, but turned and left.

After searching through Xu Jingyang’s possessions, Shen Yan instantly understood.

“So that’s how it is—the so-called disappearance of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect was in fact due to an invasion from an outside force.”

“The sect perished resisting this foreign threat. As for the three great families of Little Lan Mountain, they were merely the cowardly disciples who escaped and founded their own factions.”

“The so-called secret treasure was nothing more than a secret realm that reliably produced Foundation Establishment Pills.”

“However, it’s said to contain a Sword Testing Stele with the Azure Lotus Sword Sect’s Qi Refinement techniques. If I can enter, I should take a look.”

At this moment, the air above Azure Lotus Lake was boiling with murderous energy.

Ordinary cultivators would have long since lost their minds and been consumed by this violent qi.

But Shen Yan was no ordinary man. With the Celestial Emperor’s Seal upon him, his spiritual essence was abundant—he had no need to absorb the baleful qi.

Even so, its influence was not entirely absent.

“Something’s wrong—why am I so irritable…”

With a sudden shout, Shen Yan’s power surged, dispersing the violent qi around him.

Just then, a strange figure appeared ahead.

The figure’s garments were in tatters, its entire body drenched in blood.

Its crimson body was covered in white fur, presenting a sight that chilled the heart.

“One thousand seven hundred years! One thousand seven hundred years! Today, at last, I see the light again.”

An ancient, mysterious voice echoed in Shen Yan’s ears, startling him so much he nearly fell into the lake.

“Who are you?”

Staring at this bizarre, withered corpse, Shen Yan was overwhelmed with dread.

“Have I encountered a millennia-old specter?”

He knew full well: a Qi Refinement cultivator’s lifespan was one hundred and twenty years; Foundation Establishment, two hundred; Golden Core, five hundred; Nascent Soul, one thousand.

But this specter claimed to have lived for one thousand seven hundred years—surely his cultivation surpassed even Nascent Soul.

“No need to wonder. I am an elder of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect. I met with disaster and perished, and had no choice but to anchor my soul in this demonic puppet body. Only when the subterranean palace broke open yesterday did I behold the light again.”