A Night of Desperation

Chapter 361: if 1

Zihe Palace.

Dark clouds surged, thunder rolled.

Streaks of lightning occasionally slashed the clouds, illuminating the land below for an instant.

Zihe Palace, originally situated within the mountains, was now completely shrouded in a dense gray mist.

The gray mist thoroughly enveloped the Taoist Palace complex, coiling around the mountain range like a living entity, it didn’t disperse in the wind and even slightly wriggled, as if it was devouring and digesting something.

Hiss.

Suddenly, a beam of purple light punctured the gray mist, like a purple blade, flying towards the distant horizon.

The purple light continued unabated, crossing dozens of miles in a blink of an eye before gently falling into a small black stone basin outside a villa on the outskirts of a city.

Plop.

The purple light settled into the basin in the villa courtyard, trembling slightly then becoming still.

Only now did the purple light reveal its full form – it turned out to be a purple metal talisman with two mechanical wings.

The talisman was covered in shimmering purple light, adorned with countless densely packed runes. At the rear, it also had two propellers resembling fans.

After a brief moment, a gray-robed Taoist walked out of the villa, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and took the talisman out of the stone basin to examine it.

"It’s an emergency drone from Zihe Palace." He turned his head and called into the villa.

"Zihe Palace... report this immediately!" Following his call, a young female Mage came out of the villa, her expression changing at the news.

The two quickly removed a small box from the bottom of the drone and turned to enter the villa.

Before long, an invisible electromagnetic wave traveled across vast distances, directly reaching the Ancestor Court on Yunshu Mountain.

Inside the Yun Light Main Hall of the Ancestral Court Taoist Palace.

The Left Heavenly Master Fang Xiu stifled a yawn as he picked up the emergency communication document that had just been delivered, then walked towards the interior of the great hall.

Not long after, he briskly returned with a reply document and handed it over to a Taoist who was waiting outside the hall.

"The Heavenly Master orders a swift reply."

"Understood!" The Taoist nodded respectfully.

Turning around, he walked quickly down the steps, but after only a few steps, a female cultivator on his right stopped him.

"Cheng Kong, how did the Heavenly Master reply?"

This female cultivator, named Zi Ling, was a Taoist from the Heavenly Master Mansion who had always been on good terms with Zihe Palace, and upon hearing the trouble at Zihe Palace, she decisively came to ask.

"The Heavenly Master has started gathering experts to provide support, but it will take time," the Taoist replied, the document not encrypted, and with few words, its content was quickly apparent.

He handed over the document for her to glance at.

The female cultivator scanned the document and nodded.

"This is a reply after the fact; the mobilization must have already started. What exactly happened that even Zihe Palace had to seek help from the Ancestor Court? With so many Limit-breaking Taoism experts within the palace, not to mention the Sky Stabilizing Plate..." she said, disbelief written all over her face.

"Perhaps the Seven Evil Alliance has damaged the Sky Stabilizing Plate, causing it to crack and rendering it unusable..." the Taoist replied with a grave expression, "Regardless, we’ll know the truth once the reinforcements arrive."

"What about Ku Chan? If even Ku Chan is besieged, the situation is probably dire," she asked again.

"Taoist Ku Chan is not there; he should still be at Lijia Suo carrying out a suppression mission. But now that he has received the message, he should be on his way back," the Taoist sighed.

"Alright, I won’t delay you any further. Send the reply quickly. Don’t keep the friends from Zihe Palace waiting," the female cultivator instructed.

"Yes," the Taoist said, taking the document and hurrying away.

The message was transmitted back to the villa near Zihe Palace at lightning speed via electromagnetic waves.

Then, carried by the purple talisman drone, it soared back to the blocked area around Zihe Palace.

Within the vast gray mist.

The drone pierced through the mist and soon arrived above a group of Taoist Palace ruins that had mostly collapsed.

Here, the beautiful houses, solemn palaces, and lavish decorative fences belonging to Zihe Palace had mostly been toppled and crushed by some immense creature.

Strewn across the ruins, the corpses of Taoists lay indiscriminately scattered on the ground.

Their limbs were twisted, eyes wide open as if they had experienced extreme anger and fear in their final moments.

The drone passed over a small lake littered with broken wooden pieces and quickly arrived at the center, at the only palace that was still intact.

The palace was shaped like a pair of bull horns, with its peak crowned by two purple horns intricately carved with numerous runes.

It was these two horns that were fending off the intermittently appearing massive gray mist enemy from outside.

A large group of Taoists gathered within the palace was now forming a circular Array, pumping their internal Dao Breath, continuously infusing it into the underground rune pathways to supply power to the palace horns.

Hiss!

The purple talisman drone suddenly shot out from the crowd of Taoists and landed steadily in front of Palace Master Yu Qin, who was at the innermost layer.

Yu Qin’s face was pale as she reached out to grab the drone and removed the attached box.

Opening it, she pulled out a small rolled-up document.

After a few glances, her expression relaxed.

"Everyone, hold on! The Ancestor Court has already mobilized people to come to our aid! Left Heavenly Master is already aware of our plight and will be here soon. And my son Ku Chan is also on his way back!"

A sigh of relief came from the crowd of Zihe Palace Taoists.

"As long as the message gets out, we’re safe. In no more than two hours, experts from the Ancestor Court will come to support us!" An elder from Zihe Palace said as he wiped the blood from his mouth, his spirit lifting.

"Master, is there a reply from junior brother?" A beautiful young female cultivator couldn’t help but ask aloud.

"Mm, Ku Chan said he’s rushing back at full speed, rest assured!" Yu Qin saw through the other’s concerns.

"That’s good... that’s good..." The female cultivator’s face relaxed, gently pressing on her lower abdomen.

This action caused Yu Qin’s expression to change, and then with a single hand forming a seal, a stream of Dao Breath transformed into magic, invoking a certain power around, encircling the female cultivator to meticulously inspect her.

A few moments later, his face changed dramatically.

"Wait... Ying’er, you... are you, pregnant!!?"

These words were not spoken softly, and everyone around who were still resisting heard them.

The heavy mood of everyone was inexplicably lifted upon hearing this.

"Mm... it should be... I missed my period this month..." Ying’er lowered her head, replied softly.

Yu Qin exchanged a glance with his wife, both seeing surprise and a touch of joy in each other’s eyes.

"Jin Zhi will be very happy when he knows. It’s just a pity... such happy news, yet so many disciples will never see it..."

Bang!

An elder fiercely punched a stone pillar.

"Seven Evil Alliance... previously, as an old man from the same Taoist Sect, I had no intention of pursuing and killing them, but now... once I survive this calamity, I will immediately join the Sweeping Team and make them face a fate worse than death!"

"Count me in!" one of the Four Swords, a red-haired female cultivator, called out angrily.

"I’m in as well! My poor disciple had just established their foundation, only to be..."

"Damn Seven Evil Alliance! If we escape this calamity, I will exhaust all strength to exterminate these thieves!"

Hearing that support was on the way, the morale within Zihe Palace was significantly boosted.

After cursing for a while, they continued to stabilize the great Array of the Taoist Palace, waiting for support.

Feixia Sword Meng Chengshuang was also among them. She didn’t speak, only silently channeling Dao Breath into the great Array.

At this moment, for some reason, she found herself unexpectedly thinking of the time back in Taizhou.

She remembered the young and talented Taoist from Qingchen Temple.

For some reason, she always felt, if Zheng Rou were here, perhaps there would be a way to break out.

That young Taoist, who was always composed and confident in any situation, had left a deeply profound impression on her.

"What’s wrong, Shuang Shuang?"

Her close friend Xiao Ling asked softly, noticing her being distracted.

"Nothing, just remembered someone..." Meng Chengshuang shook her head. She was still recovering from injuries; otherwise, as one of the Four Swords, she wouldn’t have been standing in this corner.

The Four Swords were the main pillars of combat strength in Zihe Palace. At this moment, the other three were in the center of the Array, while only she was injured and placed in an inner position with lighter responsibilities.

"What? Is it your sweetheart?" Xiao Ling wiped blood from the corner of her mouth and teased through the pain.

"You think too much, it’s just... I suddenly remembered what he used to say..." Feixia Sword sighed, "Long ago, he preached that the Spirit Disaster would become a great affliction, but no one believed him. Everyone thought he was suffering from persecution delusions after being traumatized. But now... I suddenly feel like, what he said seems to make some sense..."

Right then, she couldn’t help but look toward the outside.

Outside the Taoist Palace Hall.

Within the grey fog, large silhouettes of dragon-headed humanoids intermittently appeared and disappeared.

They would sometimes become grey clouds, sometimes solidify into matter, looming over the glowing purple light emanating from the Taoist Palace with an icy gaze.

If anyone could see them, they would hear overlapping commands and kneels.

If one’s spiritual power was stronger, they could also receive an intense and overwhelming Spiritual Shock in a blink of an eye, causing their mind to collapse, their body to be crushed, and fall dead on the spot.

The initial collapse of Zihe Palace had happened for this reason.

Meanwhile, dragon-headed humanoids were encircling the Taoist Palace, closing in, slowly extending their hands.

"Where are the Heavenly Soldiers..."

A deep call echoed through the grey clouds.

Soon.

Beneath them, the fallen disciples of the palace started to twitch, climbing up slowly.

On their skin, fine, tree root-like grey patterns slowly emerged.

*

*

*

In the sanatorium, underground.

"Little Hen, isn’t it not time for visiting yet? Why have you come early this time?"

Quan He’s voice was soft and peaceful, like a breeze that, despite resonating directly in Yu Hong’s mind, caused him no sense of hostility or alertness.

Her voice was as if she was speaking beside him, yet it also seemed to fill the entire underground hall, omnipresent, resonating.

"I just missed you, didn’t I?" Yu Hen, the white-bearded old Taoist, for once showed a clear twinge of shyness and admiration, much to the chagrin of Yu Hong watching.

"You’re always thoughtful. So many children, out of an entire class of over a hundred people, it’s only you few who remember to visit me every so often..."

"However, it seems you didn’t just come to see me, what about this child?" Quan He asked softly.

"This is the most talented disciple in the history of Qingchen Temple, Zheng Rou. Little Hen brought him over, actually, there’s also some selfish reason... Zheng Rou is extremely gifted. Being young, he has already reached a limit-breaking level with only about a year of cultivating Taoist Skills. And that’s not all. The key point is, he once accidentally obtained a secret technique called the Spirit Light Secret Skill, which has a wondrous effect on the body’s functions and old injuries..." Yu Hen explained respectfully.

"Spirit Light..." Quan He mused.

At that moment, within the entire underground hall, the originally intangible massive spiritual power began to slowly converge, focusing on Yu Hong, seemingly examining him.