In the center of the forest, there was a vast open ground. Quite a lot of cultivators were gathering around this open ground. These cultivators were disciples from the three cultivation groups. Right now, each group remained vigilant while glaring fiercely at the other groups.

　　When Mo Tiange and Murong Yan arrived, everyone’s gaze fell on them. However, because everyone was afraid of breaking this equilibrium, no one dared to make any move. Although many Zixia Sect disciples were present, each one of them cherished their lives. The disciples of Yunwu Sect and Jindao School also didn’t dare to make a move under such clearly disadvantageous circumstances. It’d be too much of a loss if they lost their lives in an attempt to kill their enemies.

　　Without minding these people’s gazes, Mo Tiange pulled Murong Yan along and went to search for a secluded spot near their fellow Yunwu Sect disciples.

　　Seeing that the two of them weren’t going to try anything, everyone became disinterested and looked instead at the latest newcomers.

　　Mo Tiange took a careful glance at her surroundings. The loss the Zixia Sect’s headquarters suffered was indeed disastrous; the disciples currently present didn’t even amount to a hundred people. Even if the disciples who hadn’t arrived yet were taken into consideration, their total number probably wouldn’t equal more than 200 people.

　　As for Yunwu Sect and Jindao School, their disciples probably numbered about sixty or seventy people. Moreover, each one of them was bloody and wore vicious gazes on their faces.

　　From among those few cultivators she knew quite well, only Jiang Shanghang was present. At this moment, he was meditating. Obviously, he also experienced some arduous battles. Meanwhile, out of her other friends – Qin Xi, Liu Yidao, and Xu Jingzhi – none of them were there.

　　Mo Tiange frowned, feeling a bit worried. Based on the number of people currently present, the number of dead cultivators would most likely exceed half the original number of people who entered the forest. She really couldn’t be certain that all her friends were still alive.

　　At this moment, Murong Yan softly tugged on Mo Tiange’s sleeve and whispered, “Junior Martial Brother Ye.”

　　Seeing Murong Yan’s pale complexion, Mo Tiange gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry.”

　　Here, Murong Yan already had some-self-awareness that when it came to either means or insight, she wasn’t as good as Mo Tiange, so she obediently listened to Mo Tiange’s words.

　　Mo Tiange raised her head to look at the sky. The sky had started to turn pale and dawn was about to arrive. When it did, the exit formation would appear here, and they would be able to go out.

　　After picking a clean grassy area for her and Murong Yan to sit on, Mo Tiange appeared to be doing the same thing as everyone else – meditating to adjust her breath. However, she was secretly concentrating on watching her surroundings. She believed most people there were also vigilant like her. After all, no one would be willing to lose their lives in the final moment like this.

　　Another group of Zixia Sect disciples arrived. Mo Tiange swept her gaze over them and couldn’t help but frown because she realized that the old man who fled from the poisonous spring was among them. However, she didn’t have any plan to attack him. Firstly, even though they fought before, there was no real enmity between them. Second, the equilibrium would be broken once she made a move and she still wanted to leave this place alive.

　　The old man also discovered her presence. He looked astonished but just like her, he pretended to have not seen her. Presumably, most of the people here were doing the same thing. Revenge could be carried out in the future, but risking their lives now wasn’t worth it.

　　The number of people kept increasing. As they approached the hour of the dragon ¹ , several cultivators came out of the forest from time to time and they would go and stand with their respective groups. Sometimes, opponents appeared at the same time, glowering at each other, but they didn’t move to attack.

　　Just as everyone was expectantly waiting for the exit formation to open, a deafening roar suddenly rang out: “SMELLY GIRL!!! I FINALLY FOUND YOU! RETURN MY BROTHER’S LIFE TO ME!” Right afterward, a silhouette dashed straight towards Murong Yan.

　　Mo Tiange frowned. She pulled Murong Yan aside with one hand and used her other hand to block the opponent with her Green-Wood Sword. After taking a careful look, Mo Tiange found that it was actually the elder brother from the pair of brothers who caught Murong Yan before.

　　Bad!

　　Mo Tiange turned her head to look around. Sure enough, the atmosphere in the area changed. Everyone was staring at Mo Tiange and that man. Quite a few of them had even secretly taken out their spirit tools. She was extremely furious. This idiot! Back when she eavesdropped on the two brothers, she already thought they were foolish, but now, it seemed there was simply something wrong with their brains! Thus, she showed no mercy and used her free hand to take out a Ground-Cracking Talisman and threw it at him.

　　Although this idiot had a slow brain, his reaction time wasn’t slow. He did a somersault to avoid her attack.

　　In an instant, their action was like a fuse to the situation. Several Yunwu Sect disciples wanted to come help as Zixia Sect disciples also made their move. In the end, they started fighting even before reaching Mo Tiange and her opponent.

　　Mo Tiange had no time to worry about the chaos around her. She saw that the idiot had taken out a pigeon’s egg-sized purple sphere and was about to throw it at her.

　　Mo Tiange was frightened and Murong Yan even turned extremely pale. Both of them had personally seen the power of that thing. If it was used, they definitely wouldn’t be able to protect themselves.

　　Under the urgency of the situation, Mo Tiange took out a high-grade defensive talisman. A protective barrier appeared in an instant, enveloping both Mo Tiange and Murong Yan inside.

　　‘BOOM!’ A deafening explosion appeared, followed by other cultivators’ miserable screams. Mo Tiange started to move her spiritual aura, preparing to block the oncoming force of the attack. But, in the next moment, she surprisingly managed to block the force with almost no effort at all.

　　Mo Tiange opened her eyes in a completely dumbfounded state.

　　Qin Xi gnashed his teeth and shouted, “What are you being stunned for!? Come and help!!!” As it turned out, Qin Xi was holding a sword up while pouring his spiritual aura into it, standing in front of them to block the attack.

　　As if she was suddenly jolted awake from her dream, Mo Tiange promptly moved her spiritual aura to share the burden with Qin Xi.

　　After a while, the force created by the attack was finally subdued.

　　Seeing that they unexpectedly withstood his attack, the idiot roared furiously and rushed towards them. Since Mo Tiange nearly lost her life, she naturally wouldn’t be polite and took out a Freezing Talisman. Murong Yan also wasn’t idle as she controlled her spirit tool, directing it towards the idiot. Qin Xi also deployed a Raging Inferno Art.

　　Even though this idiot’s skills weren’t bad, how could he win against the attacks of three people? Because he was avoiding the Freezing Talisman, he was hit by Qin Xi’s spell. Once he moved a step too late, he was directly hit by Murong Yan’s spirit tool. He staggered for a moment before he finally fell down.

　　The three people sighed in relief to see him dead. The power of this purple sphere was seriously extraordinary. Aside from the three of them, other people were all harmed and some were even blown to pieces. Only a few managed to protect themselves.

　　The dead and injured were the disciples of Yunwu Sect and Jindao School. Although the originator had already died, everyone still felt indignant. They picked up their spirit tools and went straight towards Zixia Sect disciples. Zixia Sect had the most disciples, so they naturally wouldn’t be willing to hold back and also rushed towards the disciples of the two other groups. In an instant, spirit tools and spells flew here and there across the sky.

　　“Junior Martial Brother Ye!” After dealing with a sneak attack directed towards him, Qin Xi beckoned Mo Tiange.

　　While protecting themselves, Mo Tiange pulled Murong Yan towards Qin Xi.

　　“Thank you, Senior Martial Brother Qin.”

　　“Don’t waste your time saying thanks.” He liberally pulled out a thick stack of talismans and passed them to Mo Tiange and Murong Yan. “Hold onto these for a while; there’s probably about a quarter hour left before the exit formation opens.”

　　Mo Tiange also understood that now wasn’t the appropriate time for politeness, so she took the talismans he gave her. She then turned around and threw a Blazing-Flame Talisman at oncoming Zixia Sect disciples.

　　This huge melee had the most participants and was also the most intense battle throughout this entire period. The whole sky was filled with flying spells, talismans and spirit tools. It was hard to even clearly see whether others were people on their own side or their opponents. They couldn’t even dodge and could only use spells and talismans to protect themselves. In the end, left with no other choice, the three of them stuck a defensive talisman on their bodies and were subjected to all kinds of attacks.

　　A bright white ray eventually appeared in the center of the open ground. It became increasingly brighter and slowly took the shape of a bright formation that was vibrant with colors and filled with spiritual aura.

　　Everyone stopped their fights as their gazes were drawn to the formation. In a split second, everyone rushed towards the formation like a swarm of bees.

　　Mo Tiange intentionally retreated. In the end, the people behind her rushed against her. A group of people chaotically crammed themselves into the formation.

　　Soon, they were crammed into the formation as well. Dark and bright scenes flashed before their eyes then their surroundings changed. With a glance, Mo Tiange could already see the three ashen-faced Core Formation cultivators.

　　One after another, the disciples were transported to the cliff. Almost everyone was covered with bloodstains and looked completely miserable; some were even heavily injured.

　　Murong Yan walked towards Mo Tiange and whispered, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, are we…”

　　Mo Tiange shook her head and whispered back, “Rest assured.”

　　Although these Core Formation cultivators looked livid, they didn’t seem to have any intentions of killing; they wouldn’t attack Mo Tiange and the others. Besides, after the last melee, the number of disciples alive was probably only a third of their original numbers. If punishments were carried out, they might as well accept another batch of disciples.

　　Once she was away from that murderous environment and no longer had to remain vigilant against others, Mo Tiange finally realized that her whole body was tired. Her body went soft, almost falling on the ground. However, when she turned around, she saw that Murong Yan was engrossed in watching the formation.

　　Mo Tiange suddenly remembered that she hadn’t told Murong Yan about Murong Zi.

　　“Senior Martial Sister Murong…”

　　Murong Yan uttered a soft response but she didn’t turn around to look at Mo Tiange. She was still focused on watching the formation.

　　Mo Tiange took a deep breath. She suddenly felt a bit of self-hate, being the bearer of such cruel news. “Actually, I saw Senior Martial Brother Murong.”

　　Hearing her comment, Murong Yan instantly turned around.

　　Mo Tiange clenched her teeth and said, “Senior Martial Brother Murong passed away.”

　　Murong Yan was stunned and it seemed like she couldn’t believe it but soon after, her face gradually turned pale as she abruptly grabbed Mo Tiange’s sleeve. “Junior Martial Brother Ye, you… say it again.”

　　Mo Tiange sighed and repeated, “I saw Senior Martial Brother Murong and he’s passed away.”

　　Murong Yan’s complexion turned even paler, but she still didn’t let go of her hand and just staring fixedly at Mo Tiange. “Do you have any proof?”

　　This time, Mo Tiange didn’t say anything and just took out Murong Zi’s Qiankun Bag.

　　Murong Yan trembled when she took it, but she still opened it in haste. When she finally saw those familiar spirit tools, her expression filled with grief and her hands covered her face.

　　Although Murong Zi’s death wasn’t her responsibility, in the end, he died when they were fighting enemies together. To see Murong Yan so sorrowful like this, Mo Tiange also felt awful.

　　Qin Xi patted her shoulder and shook his head. It was as if he was consoling her that it wasn’t her fault. She forced out a smile but didn’t feel better in the slightest.

　　“Senior Martial Sister, don’t be too sad. Even in his last moments, Senior Martial Brother Murong always hoped you could build your foundation. You…” Mo Tiange couldn’t continue on. After all, how could several dry sentences of consolation alleviate the pain of losing your close ones?

　　After a long time, Murong Yan finally dropped her hands. There weren’t any tears on her face now, but she was extremely pale and her expression was bleak. She was originally a lovely, charming girl, but after going through this recent series of blows, there wasn’t any brightness and beauty left in her.

　　“I’m sorry, Junior Martial Brother Ye. It’s not that I don’t believe you, I…”

　　“I understand.” Mo Tiange then took out a jade box and gave it to her. “This is Senior Martial Brother Murong’s ashes. Senior Martial Sister mustn’t be too sad – the dead is gone already, and you have to continue on with your life.”

　　Murong Yan took the case and put it inside her Qiankun Bag before showing a sad smile. “Junior Martial Brother Ye, can you please tell me how my brother died?”

　　Mo Tiange said, “When I happened to meet Senior Martial Brother Murong, he was already heavily injured from being ambushed. While he was still recuperating, we encountered a second rank Iron-Teethed Crocodile, and after that, we met three other people. In the end, Senior Martial Brother Murong couldn’t hold on and chose to drag one of our opponents down with him.” After she said this, Mo Tiange felt a bit worried and said, “Senior Martial Sister, don’t worry about taking revenge – this enmity can’t really be resolved.”

　　Murong Yan naturally understood, but she still felt there was a lack of closure.

　　After a long while, Murong Yan wiped the remaining traces of tears from her face. With a firm expression, she said, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, rest assured. I’m no longer that thoughtless me from back then. I know what I should do.” She then showed a self-depreciating smile. “Although we’re not blood-related siblings, ever since we were small, my brother has always loved me. No matter what I wanted, he always thought of a way to give it to me… Now, he also thought of a way to give me a Foundation-Building Pill, but I never thought… the cost would be his own life.”