The cultivator grew annoyed from the white-clothed woman’s response and coldly shouted back, “Shimei Linyun, it was your teacher Qin’nyao who came to beg my shifu of the White Dragon Sect to bring you inside the Mysterious Domain so you could seek out the opportunities within. It was already agreed you’d listen to our commands and help us with your alchemy skills, yet now you’re still trying to delay in making a simple cauldron of detoxifying pellets?”

　　His words caused a complex expression to settle over the white-clothed woman, and her palm lightly shivered as she opened her cauldron. At that moment, a Spirit Stage disciple nearby suddenly laughed and spoke up towards the stern-faced cultivator who’d been scolding the white-clothed woman, “Shixiong Qiao, have you forgotten Shijie Linyun came from the same Qing-Yun Sect…?”

　　The stern-faced cultivator was a bit surprised by this, and he looked coldly towards the white-clothed woman as a possibility flashed through his mind. “Shimei Linyun, you should have been an old acquaintance of that little demon, so to speak? Are you… trying to help him?”

　　The white-clothed woman bit her lips without answering. Suddenly, she opened up the lid of the cauldron, placed a few herbs inside, and activated the flames using her palm to begin the process of pellet crafting. Although the stern-faced cultivator was still suspicious even after this, he stopped asking and simply told a few disciples to keep an eye on her before he returned to urging those trying to solve the formation.

　　During this time, the wind and other people could be heard drawing closer from all directions. A number of cultivators arrived and began watching from the sides of the swamp in the hopes of finding a method of getting inside the formation, and this caused the head disciple of the White Dragon Sect to become even more anxious. He didn’t show it, however, and just ordered his disciples to keep guard over that specific location; as long as other people didn’t discover the path where the formation was weakest, they still had a chance.

　　Time seemed to stretch on from seconds to minutes. The formation was nearly solved, and the white-clothed woman’s pellets were also nearly complete. Flickers of fire inside the cauldron lit up the face of the white-clothed woman and showed a determined expression, and after half a burn of incense later, the White Dragon disciple responsible for the formation let out a low groan of excitement. “Shixiong Qiao, as expected, two of the three flag formations here have already been broken. The last one is nearly broken as well….”

　　As the disciple’s voice rose up, a cry of despair could be heard inside the formation, “Dammit, why the hell am I so unlucky? If you’re so powerful, why don’t you wait just a cup of tea’s worth of time? Just give me that much and you’ll see….”

　　Qiao Yuan’nian didn’t bother with the person in the formation and began thinking as quickly as he could. ‘This little demon doesn’t need much time to recover. This is cutting things too close….’ He increased all of his Qi and yelled towards the white-clothed woman, “Shimei Linyun, hurry and pass over the detoxifying pellets!” He planned on keeping the pellets in his mouth and entering the swamp so he could use all of his strength to break the last formation flag with brute force.

　　At such a crucial point in time, the white-clothed woman opened up her cauldron but unexpectedly revealed only a single blue pellet inside. It flew upward and she immediately grabbed it, placed it under her tongue, and dashed towards that formation like lightning with a cold expression on her face. Qiao Yuan’nian’s face fell when he saw this and he slammed his palm forward, causing it to become a powerful force like a large river covering the heavens and earth.

　　“Qing-Yun Sword: Wide River Lock!” the white-clothed woman crisply shouted while moving her sword to form an image in front of her. A collection of chains extended over a wide river to block off all forces from the palm attack, and the white-clothed woman herself borrowed the force of the chains to fly towards the path’s entrance. She grabbed the White Dragon disciple who’d been solving the formation and tossed him away before brandishing her sword in front of her chest and solemnly declaring, “As long as I am here, I will not allow you inside!”

　　Qiao Yuan’naio had nearly gone mad and closed in on her one step at a time. “Shimei Linyun, do you know what you’re doing?”

　　“What you said is correct. I do indeed know him; he is my shidi, and I am his shijie!”

　　Qiao Yuan’nian’s eyes formed into slits and both of his hands began to secretly activate Qi while remaining hidden in his sleeves. The formation entrance here hadn’t completely opened yet and the others hadn’t seen the changes, so he didn’t dare make things too obvious in case others might notice the path and come fight them over it. The White Dragon Sect was only a mid-sized sect—compared to those large sects, they weren’t an opponent at all.

　　A slippery and sly voice rose up from within the formation once more, “Oi… oi, the chick outside, who are you?”

　　The white-clothed woman kept her sword to her chest while letting out a soft sigh. “Shidi Fang, can you already no longer recognize my voice?”

　　“It does sound familiar….”

　　The edge of the white-clothed woman’s lips curved into a helpless smile. “I am Xu Linyun. Do not break your concentration, hurry up and recover. I am useless and cannot help you much, but I can help you gain a cup of tea’s worth of time….”

　　The voice within the swamp replied with a bit of surprise, “Xu Linyun? Shijie Linyun of the Qing-Yun Sect?”

　　Before Xu Linyun was able to respond, there was another burst of loud noise ahead and the situation seemed to change once more. Although the White Dragon Sect had been guarding this path the entire time out of concern others would discover it, more and more cultivators had been gathering over time which included cultivators with high mastery in formations. Those with mastery began to notice the differences in this spot, and the White Dragon Sect had also been guarding this area a bit too zealously, which was enough to draw suspicion even on its own and cause a lot of people to watch closely from the side.

　　Just as the White Dragon Sect’s Qiao Yuan’nian was about to attack Xu Linyun, an icy cold voice rose up, “Fellow Daoist, seems like you’re rather busy out here. Is there anything I can offer my assistance towards?”

　　Qiao Yuan’nian jumped at this and turned to see a cultivator with long brows and thin eyes gazing coldly at him. Qiao Yuan’nian scattered away his Qi and calmly replied, “Thank you, fellow Daoist, but we can handle it ourselves.”

　　The long-browed, thin-eyed cultivator gave a cold snort. “I suddenly feel the formation here is very interesting….” As he spoke, his body moved closer towards where Xu Linyun was guarding as if he intended to barge inside and see it all for himself. This left Qiao Yuan’nian extremely surprised and he quickly commanded, “Stop him!” while raising his palm to strike towards the cultivator’s back. All the other disciples of the White Dragon Sect began using their own spells and weapons as well, creating the likes of a huge web as they attacked the cultivator from multiple sides.

　　It was difficult for this single cultivator to fend off attacks from so many people at once and he was forced to retreat to his original location. “I knew it! This place has all the flaws!” he suddenly yelled out. “Everyone, this is a slit in the formation! If one wishes to capture the little demon, this is the place to do so….”

　　After seeing he wouldn’t be enough to fight the entire White Dragon Sect alone, the cultivator had decided to muddy the waters a bit more to see if he’d be able to take advantage of it. The effect was rather obvious: as soon as his voice rang out, a few of those who’d been observing from the side quickly began to move towards this unstable area of the formation, and a few of the other cultivators were also lured by his words. After a few loud shouts and yells, everyone began flying in that direction.

　　“Who dares to take the opportunity from our White Dragon Sect!” Qiao Yuan’nian shouted with reddened eyes as he rushed up as well to try to get into the formation.

　　“You want to take the opportunity all for yourself? You’re dreaming!” That long-browed, thin-eyed cultivator chased after him and began attacking from his back, forcing Qiao Yuan’nian to retreat to defend himself. Everywhere outside the swamp suddenly turned into complete chaos, all for the sake of trying to capture this little demon “Fang Xing”.

　　“Where is the little demon? I will have this opportunity…” a dense and thick voice called out as ghostly flickers began to dance in the area. The voice had come from a large spectral head that flew towards the location.

　　When he saw the spectral head, Qiao Yuan’nian was left dumbstruck and his heart began to quiver. “King of Hell….” This person was one of the top masters from the southern borders and had started his own sect even at a very young age. Nicknamed “King of Hell”, he was one of the very top young elites within the past few years and definitely someone the White Dragon Sect disciples dared to offend.

　　Just before the giant spectral head managed to reach the formation, however, a loud and crisp whistle sounded out. Golden flames lit up in the air before a golden shadow thrust over from the side, blowing away the ghostly flames and even pushing the King of Hell aside while the golden flames turned into a golden dragon taking the lead towards the formation. This person’s brows were as sharp as a sword and his eyes were as clear as the stars—it was none other than the prince of Chufung, Prince Chu Huang.

　　“Jajajajaja….”

　　A stream of bizarre laughter rose up as seven small smoke-bomb-sized black shadows flew over towards the formation and turned into small people. Some cultivators recognized them as the seven monsters from a sect in the northern mountains.

　　Tzin tzin tzin ….

　　Three powerful notes of a zither caused all the cultivators in front to become dizzy, and a purple shadow took advantage of the opportunity to move forward. Within her clutches was a zither and her face was stern with a murderous intent hidden within her brows—it was Ye Gu’yin from the Melodic Ice Palace.

　　With the attacks from so many elite masters, the area outside the swamp turned into an ocean of spells and weapons. As powerful forces and spells collided, the wind currents became so strong ordinary cultivators couldn’t withstand them at all. Even the White Dragon disciples were forced back over ten feet away and couldn’t dare to get closer, but the stern-faced Xu Linyun remained standing in front. When faced with the countless numbers of powerful masters, she shut her eyes, held up her sword, and performed the Qing-Yun Sword: Wide River Lock….

　　Compared to the numerous powerful spells and skills being used to attack, Xu Linyun’s attack looked weak and feeble, dim and soft. Amidst the powerful elite masters trying to gain control over the path, none of them were people she cold fend off, and yet even as all of those attacks moved towards the formation in unison, she used everything she could and the most powerful defensive ability she knew to oppose them all.

　　The light from her attack might not be able to fend off the cultivators’ attacks, but it was enough to illuminate her face and the growing resolution upon it.