Chapter 660 546: Rescuing Ji Shenyun (Part 2)

The fiftieth floor of the Inner Palace Tower.

The soul in Blood River Old Ghost's hand suddenly flickered like an unstable candle flame. When he realized Shang Miaoyan had blocked his voice, his expression turned incredibly grim.

'Pei Yuhang is about to fly past the eightieth floor... Is he really going to join his master? Dammit!'

...

"Brother Pei, we're almost there. Miss Nangong told me that the place where Ji Shenyun is sealed is on the eighty-ninth floor."

As Lin Qianyan's voice sounded from beside him, Pei Yuhang released his hand seal. The Silent Sword beneath his feet let out a clear hum and gradually slowed, finally coming to a stop before a chaotic void.

As the Silent Sword carried the three of them into the domain of the eighty-ninth floor, a heavy pressure immediately bore down on them from all directions. The air was so viscous it felt like moving through water.

An extremely sophisticated Jiezimixu Grand Array had clearly been set up here. Space folded and expanded in strange ways, and even Pei Yuhang needed a moment to acclimate.

Shang Miaoyan looked around and found that the scene here was completely different from the splendid, golden-tiled floors they had seen before.

There was only endless, bleak darkness.

Beneath them was not solid ground, but a boundless, viscous, churning crimson swamp. It gurgled, huge bubbles rising to the surface. Each time one burst, it released a dense yet foul Blood Evil Qi.

Overhead, a turbid vortex of endless resentment swirled. Gray-black and dark-red energies intertwined, forming twisted, tormented faces that silently screamed and collided before dissipating and reforming in a ceaseless cycle.

"So this is the 'dumping ground' those Demons use for Cultivators' corpses. All the bodies, and the resentment they generate, are just fuel to power the array."

"Even the Cultivators consumed by the blood fog are channeled here in the form of Blood Evil Qi."

"They're treating all the Cultivators in the Abyssal Sea Palace as nothing more than raw materials!"

Staring at the atrocious scene, Lin Qianyan felt her stomach turn.

"Brother Pei, you're here!"

Just then, a joyful voice called out to them.

Pei Yuhang looked toward the source of the voice.

There, in the center of the sea of blood, nine massive Bronze Square Cauldrons stood, guarding an even larger, pitch-black Main Cauldron at their heart, which was covered in strange Demon Patterns.

And Nangong Jin was standing atop that Main Cauldron, waving at them.

"Jin'er."

Seeing her familiar, elegant figure standing unharmed by the side of the cauldron, wreathed in blood-red mist, the tension coiling in Pei Yuhang's heart finally loosened.

At last, he could confirm the safety of everyone who had been swept into the Abyssal Sea Palace. They had all weathered the danger and were safe.

Pei Yuhang flew over on his sword to join Nangong Jin, asking softly, "Jin'er, what's happening here?"

As he spoke, he glanced down at the Main Cauldron.

"Is Ji Shenyun sealed inside this cauldron?"

Nangong Jin nodded.

"That's right, Brother Pei. Ji Shenyun originally intended to beat Mas... Yuan Tianming to the ninety-ninth floor to seize the body of the Divine King.

But she didn't expect Yuan Tianming to have already laid an array here in wait for her. With her own power suppressed by the Abyssal Sea Palace, she was ultimately trapped in this cauldron."

She paused, her gaze falling on the nine surrounding Square Cauldrons that were constantly drawing energy from the Blood River, and continued to explain:

"Afterward, Yuan Tianming commanded the Demon Cultivators to collect the bodies of Cultivators and unleashed the blood fog to consume the outer labyrinth. The Essence Qi refined from all those living beings was funneled here, becoming the cruel fuel that sustains this suppression array."

As she spoke, Nangong Jin's form slowly floated up, and she landed lightly on the enormous lid of the Main Cauldron.

She lowered her gaze, her eyes landing on the center of the lid.

Pei Yuhang followed her gaze and saw a distinct fist print indented into the heavy lid.

At the center of the fist print was a minuscule fissure that pierced all the way through the lid, from which a heart-pounding aura was leaking in wisps.

"Did... Ji Shenyun do this?" Pei Yuhang asked, a hint of astonishment in his voice.

Nangong Jin nodded.

"Even with all her strength, Ji Shenyun could only create this single fissure.

Someone from the outside could use Transformation Divine Abilities to shrink and enter through the gap, but whoever is inside is suppressed by the Main Cauldron's core power and cannot escape."

She looked up, meeting Pei Yuhang's gaze directly as her tone grew serious.

"She wants you to go inside, Brother Pei... to transfer Pure Yang True Qi to her and help her recover her Primordial Qi. She hopes that with one great effort, she can then throw open this lid completely."

At this, Nangong Jin suddenly took a step forward, subtly closing the distance between herself and Pei Yuhang.

She tilted her head up slightly, the dispassionate, business-like calm in her eyes suddenly vanishing. It was replaced by a look of deep, personal, and urgent worry.

'But Brother Pei... I don't want you to put yourself in danger for her.

'Everything I just said... Ji Shenyun forced me to repeat it because of the Soul Contract.

'Brother Pei, there's still time to turn back and stop our master... I'll find a way to hold her here so she can't get in your way.'

But Pei Yuhang only shook his head at Nangong Jin's warning.

"No... That man has been scheming against the Abyssal Sea Palace for a long time. He even managed to trap Ji Shenyun here. Even if we were to leave and confront him directly, we might not be able to stop him."

"To defeat him, we must use Ji Shenyun's power. We have to set a tiger to devour a wolf."

'Besides, Jin'er... I'm confident I can keep Ji Shenyun in check. Please, trust me.'

His mind made up, Pei Yuhang called Lin Qianyan and Shang Miaoyan over and spoke to them in a low voice.

"Blood River True Monarch will be here any moment. This place is saturated with Blood Evil Qi; we absolutely cannot let him inside. If he enters and uses the environment to his advantage, our chances of defeating him will be even slimmer.

I'm going into the cauldron to free Ji Shenyun. For now, I have to ask you, Qianqian, and you, Miaoyan, to stay outside the eighty-ninth floor and buy me some time."

Lin Qianyan, who always supported Pei Yuhang's decisions, was startled by his words.

"Brother Pei, you're going into the cauldron? You can't! It's too risky. Even Ji Shenyun is trapped in there; how can you just go in so recklessly!"

"Qianqian, if we succeed, Ji Shenyun will become the sharpest sword in our arsenal. This is our only chance."

"But..."

Lin Qianyan wanted to say more, but Shang Miaoyan suddenly spoke up.

"I can sense Blood River True Monarch has reached the eighty-fifth floor. We're out of time. We need to decide now—do we keep running, or do we stand and fight to buy Xiaohan time?"

Lin Qianyan held her breath, her heart hammering in her chest.

Pei Yuhang saw her worry and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. He made no grand promises, only offering a single, sincere sentence:

"Qianqian, please trust me."

"Okay... Brother Pei, we'll buy you enough time."

Sensing Pei Yuhang's resolve, Lin Qianyan stepped forward to give him a brief hug. Then she stepped back, wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, and said to Nangong Jin and Shang Miaoyan,

"Let's go. We'll use the last bit of time we have to go set up some arrays.

No matter what, we can't let Blood River True Monarch set foot in here and interfere with Brother Pei!"

Pei Yuhang watched as Lin Qianyan and the others left. Then he took a deep breath and turned to look back at the Demon Cauldron, which was guarded at the center by the Nine-direction Cauldrons.

'I used to be the last person who would ever want to see you freed. To think I'd be the one to help you break your seal... Funny how things change.'

Pei Yuhang's hands formed a series of seals as he began to cast his Transformation Divine Abilities.

As a Spiritual Light enveloped him, his body transformed into a hair-thin strand of Sword Qi and shot into the fissure on top of the Demon Cauldron, the one that had been punched into the lid.

Heat... Unbearable heat.

The moment he entered, Pei Yuhang felt as if he had been plunged into roiling magma. It was so hot he felt the blood in his veins was about to evaporate.

Under the extreme heat, Pei Yuhang had no choice but to shield his entire body with Spiritual Qi.

However, as he circulated Spiritual Qi to envelop himself, he found that the Demon Cauldron was constantly devouring and consuming it.

'No wonder Ji Shenyun is trapped in here. In this hellhole, you can't even use a third of your strength. At this rate, she'll probably be refined into an Immortal Pill alive!'

After expending a significant amount of Spiritual Qi to insulate himself from the searing heat, Pei Yuhang managed to open his eyes and get a clear look at the cauldron's interior.

It was like a cavern in Hell. Black and red intertwined as rivers of lava flowed from all directions, making the air hiss and crackle with heat.

And at the very bottom, a large, silvery, oval-shaped cocoon was particularly conspicuous.

'That dazzling silver... could it be Ji Shenyun's hair?'