A Chaotic World

The Cauldron of Draconic Force slid open, and invisible threads of energy stretched out to attach themselves to the backs of Ruan Ling, Longshao Wenqin, and Nanlan Qianxue.

It felt like they had consumed a peerless medicinal pill, and a gush of invigorating energy filled their inner worlds in an instant.

Not only was their exhaustion from earlier completely dispelled, they felt even stronger than before, almost as though their cultivation levels had advanced a full boundary!

"What is this? You actually had such a treasure and didn't use it earlier?" Ruan Ling said with a grin as she felt power coursing their her meridians. "I guess you are more useful than you look!"

"So this is what it feels like..." Nanlan Qianxue muttered under her breath in realisation.

This was not the first time that she had seen the Cauldron of Draconic Force, and she already knew what it was capable of. However, this was still the first time she had personally experienced the true effect of the half-step Overlord rank treasure.

She had to admit that it was indeed a fearsome ability. No wonder it brought the Scarlet Moon Army so much trouble back then!

"Don't celebrate just yet. It is still not enough to get us out of this situation," Longshao Wenqin said bitterly. "If you girls have any hidden trump cards, this is the time to use it. Otherwise, we might not have the chance to do so anymore."

Back then during the war, the Cauldron of Draconic Force was especially effective because both sides were originally rather even in strength. Just a slight boost in power on one side would be able to tilt the balance in their favour.

However, they now had their backs against the wall while facing opponents with both greater numbers and higher cultivation levels. No matter how wondrous the Cauldron of Draconic Force was, just it alone was definitely not enough to turn the tide!

"Here," Nanlan Qianxue stretched out her hand which was holding three pills. "Take one each."

"Oh? Sister Qianxue has a cheat item as well?" Ruan Ling took one and consumed it without hesitation.

Longshao Wenqin did the same, and Nanlan Qianxue took the last pill.

But even after taking the pill, none of them felt any changes in their body.

"Sister Qianxue, it is not that I want to complain at this juncture, but where is this pill of yours from?" Ruan Ling felt the corner of her lips twitch. "Could you have been cheated by a quack?"

"They are coming!" Nanlan Qianxue did not answer her question, but shouted in warning instead.

After cornering the trio, the dark figures had held back for a few moments because they had been surprised by the appearance of the Cauldron of Draconic Force. But after taking the necessary precautions, they were finally ready to end this mission and seize the cauldron for themselves!

In response to the approach of the dark figures, the trio immediately summoned their Origin Totems.

They already had their backs against the wall, so there was no reason to hold back any longer!

Illusory strings shimmered into existence behind Longshao Wenqin, weaving together to form something that resembled a spider web. Countless invisible energy threads from the Cauldron of Draconic Force wrapped around his right arm, forming something that resembled a cocoon of energy.

With this cocoon of energy on his arm, Longshao Wenqin punched forward with all his might, aiming for an opponent at the Fifth Cycle Origin Core realm.

"Hmph!" the dark figure snorted in disdain, summoning his own Origin Totem before slashing out with his dagger.

Bang-!

The heavy collision sent both of them staggering back a few steps.

Despite the gap of two full boundaries, Longshao Wenqin was actually an even match for his opponent in terms of absolute strength!

But right at this moment, another dark figure appeared behind Longshao Wenqin and kicked him from the back. Yet to fully recover from the earlier exchange, there was simply no way for Longshao Wenqin to defend. All he could do was to concentrate his Origin Force at his back in an attempt to mitigate as much damage as possible.

"Argh!" Longshao Wenqin groaned in pain as he was sent tumbling to the ground. Even so, he gritted his teeth and quickly got up to face his opponents once more.

He knew that they were outnumbered, and he simply did not have the luxury of time to stay down.

The longer he stayed out of the fight, the worse it would be for his companions!

On the other side, Ruan Ling's expression turned serious.

She possessed a cultivation level at the Fifth Cycle Origin Core realm, the highest among the trio. Because of that, she also felt the heaviest responsibility right now.

Ruan Ling held a treasure mace in her hand as a pair of illusory metallic wings shimmered into existence behind her. At this moment, she looked like a domineering war goddess, completely devoid of the gentleness that she had always been showing in front of Young Master Xuan Hao.

Despite her lower cultivation level, she stood fearlessly before four martial artists at the Sixth Cycle Origin Core realm, staring them down with determination in her eyes.

"Come!" Ruan Ling roared as her aura exploded.

She charged forward gallantly, the inscription symbol on her mace glowing with an intense light. It was obvious that Ruan Ling was activating the inscription on her treasure mace.

Her four opponents exchanged glances and smirked. With that, they executed their movement technique and turned into four different streaks of shadow that circled around Ruan Ling at great speed.

Not only were their movements swift, but they were also completely in sync with one another, forming into a shadow prison around Ruan Ling.

Faced with such a situation, Ruan Ling was forced to stop her mighty advance. No matter how much strength was put behind her mace, it did not matter if she could not keep up with the opponents' movements!

She stood there in the circle, holding her mace at the ready as she tried to see through the opponents' movements.

Slash-!

Blood spurted out from Ruan Ling's arm as one of the shadows cut her with a dagger. Fortunately, Ruan Ling was able to react at the last moment and prevent her entire arm from being cut off.

She immediately swung her mace in response, but the opponent easily avoided it and joined back into the shadow prison.

Damn it!

Ruan Ling cursed in her heart.

If it was just one of them, she would certainly be able to win, especially now that she had the help of the Cauldron of Draconic Force. But the fact that she had to be wary of the other three made it nigh impossible for her to attack any one of them!

She knew that any wrong move would result in the others tearing her apart in an instant!

Behind Ruan Ling and Longshao Wenqin, Nanlan Qianxue took a step back towards the petrified Bo'er and placed a palm on her head.

"Don't resist," Nanlan Qianxue said, and Bo'er could only nod hesitantly. At this point, what else could she do but to agree?

Nanlan Qianxue channelled her Origin Force, and her palm emanated layers of frost that shrouded over Bo'er. These layers of frost quickly took form, creating a dome of ice that encased Bo'er within.

Even though there was a certain amount of air within so Bo'er could still breath, the amount of air was still limited. No mortal would be able to survive within a dome of ice like this for long, but Nanlan Qianxue had no other choice.

This was the only thing she could do to protect the little girl's life for now.

None of them would have the spare time to guard Bo'er anymore. But if she allowed Bo'er to stand there while they fought, just the aftershocks alone would be enough to kill her!

Nanlan Qianxue could only hope that the fight would end in their favour, and in time for her to rescue Bo'er from this prison of ice.

With that done, Nanlan Qianxue turned around and decisively threw out dozens of talismans with a wave of her hands.

This flurry of talismans flew out in an instant, reaching every corner of the fight.

Poof-!

The talismans activated, bursting into a huge cloud of white frost. A biting frost appeared on every exposed surface that the white cloud came into contact with, freezing the entire area over.

If it was a person's skin, the frost would start cutting into the skin like needles. If it was a hard surface, it would also permeate in, making the material more brittle.

As a martial artist skilled in the Law of Ice, she was naturally most adept at making ice-based talismans. These talismans were products that stood at the very peak of her skill level, the strongest type of talismans that she could make!

This white cloud instantly shrouded the entire area, affecting everyone present.

The walls cracked, and the streets frosted over. In an instant, the area seemed to have turned into a mystical world of ice.

Under the effect of this cloud of white frost, the dark figures all felt themselves slowing down, the movement techniques that they prided themselves on no longer as effective as before.

Unfortunately, in this current situation where everyone was already engaged in battle at such close proximity, such a move would not only affect the dark figures. All three of them were inevitably in the area of effect as well!

Ruan Ling and Longshao Wenqin grimaced in pain, but they were too focused in their fight to even voice a word of complaint.

"How pathetic. Not to mention how it is lacking in power, you aren't even skilled enough to control your talismans to affect only your enemies. To think that we were actually afraid of this earlier, what a joke!" the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist scoffed while stepping forward.

He had intended to just stand by the side and let his subordinates finish the job. However, he could not help but feel irritated when he thought about how even he had been afraid of the talismans earlier.

This made him unable to hold back any longer, stepping forward to personally take care of Nanlan Qianxue.

"Suppress!" the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist pressed his hand downwards, and a heavy Origin Force pressure descended upon the entire area.

Under this heavy pressure, not only did the cloud of white frost sink to the ground before harmlessly dissipating, the trio were also subjected to an indescribable mental pain.

"Shit!" Longshao Wenqin cursed as his movements dulled, causing him to suffer numerous attacks from his opponents in an instant.

Ruan Ling did not fare much better either, as multiple cuts quickly appeared all over her arms and legs.

As for Nanlan Qianxue, she gritted her teeth and braced herself for the incoming opponent.

An illusory ice flower shimmered into existence behind her. It looked like a beautiful ice sculpture, born of only the most delicate of hands. Yet at the same time, it also felt unbelievably real, as though it was condensed from the very essence of the world itself.

Along with the appearance of the illusory ice flower, the frost aura coming from her Frost Jade Sword was further amplified, resonating with her Origin Totem as though they came from the same source. At this point, even Nanlan Qianxue's body started emitting an aura of coldness, bringing a chill to everyone present.

If Ruan Ling looked to be an unstoppable war goddess, then Nanlan Qianxue would be an elegant ice queen that ruled over her own frozen kingdom.

"It's useless," the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist was completely unfazed by Nanlan Qianxue's showing. "Stop struggling and just accept your fate. That way, I can at least make it painless for you."

With a flick of his wrists, multiple daggers flew out towards Nanlan Qianxue.

"Watch out!" Ruan Ling anxiously called out.

Seeing that Nanlan Qianxue, the one with the lowest cultivation level among them, was actually forced to face the enemy with the highest cultivation level, Ruan Ling could not help but feel guilty.

She should have been the one in Nanlan Qianxue's place!

Yet no matter how much Ruan Ling wanted to just rush over and help Nanlan Qianxue, but she simply could not extricate herself from the fight with her four opponents.

As for Longshao Wenqin, he was in an even worse situation. It took all that he could just to hang in there, and he simply did not have the spare time to even notice the situation that Nanlan Qianxue was in.

After all, he was simultaneously facing eight different opponents that were two full boundaries above him!

Nevertheless, Nanlan Qianxue did not blame them.

This was a real battle, one that could determine their life and death.

How could she expect to be constantly protected by her companions when they were in just as much danger?

Nanlan Qianxue reacted immediately to the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist's move, skilfully parrying the daggers one by one with her Frost Jade Sword as she continuously retreated.

Each dagger carried with it a powerful momentum that no Second Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist would be able to withstand.

Even for Nanlan Qianxue, she was retreating not of her own will, but because she was being pushed back by the volley of daggers!

However, it was not as though she was completely helpless. As she retreated, white lotuses bloomed with each step that she took. This was due to her executing the Seven Steps of the Frozen Lotus, a movement technique that she had obtained from the Blue Ember faction's skills repository.

This movement technique allowed her to manoeuvre with great agility, dodging the majority of the daggers and only having to parry the few unavoidable ones.

Alas, the difference in their cultivation levels was still too huge.

Stab-! Stab-!

Blood spurted into the air as two daggers impaled Nanlan Qianxue, one at her shoulder and one at her left arm, directly pinning her against the wall!

"You actually did better than I thought, but this is it," the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist flicked his wrists, pulling out another dozen daggers that hovered in the air before him. "Don't worry, you are the first, but you definitely will not the last. Your companions will be joining you soon enough!"

With that, the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist pointed his finger towards Nanlan Qianxue, directing all twelve daggers towards his unfortunate victim.