The tension between the two sides was on the verge of exploding.
The next instant, a beam of sword light slashed out first from the direction of the Taihua Sword Sect.
Xuan Yi raised a hand and shattered the sword light.
Battle erupted instantly.
The Soul Transformation elders of the Xuanxiao Sect and the Taihua Sword Sect charged at Xuan Yi through Xuan Shi simultaneously.
The ten Shadow Guards did not shrink back either, swiftly stepping forward to meet them.
A fierce collision of spiritual power detonated midair in an instant.
“Boom!”
The thunderous roar echoed in all directions.
Dark clouds in the sky were ripped apart by spiritual power, and massive fissures split the nearby ground.
Flashes of spiritual light flickered continuously across the sky as magic treasures collided with sword Qi again and again, sending powerful shockwaves sweeping outward.
The two hundred Golden Armored Guards formed a battle formation, holding back the Nascent Soul elders and direct disciples of both sects.
Although their individual cultivations were not at an advantage, their coordination was seamless, moving and retreating with disciplined precision.
For a moment, the two sides actually held a balance.
Just as Yun Heng prepared to reinforce Xuan Yi and the others, an elder from the Taihua Sword Sect barred her path with sword in hand.
That elder’s cultivation had already reached the peak Nascent Soul Realm.
His longsword came straight for Yun Heng, carrying sharp, fiercely oppressive sword Qi.
Yun Heng side-stepped to dodge the strike. Lacking the Tianheng Broken Sword, she could only draw a spare spirit sword given to her by Xuan Zheng.
Blade clashed against blade, producing a grating screech.
The Taihua Sword Sect elder had cultivated for many years; his foundation was solid, and his sword technique highly seasoned.
Yun Heng, meanwhile, retaliated continuously using the Tianheng Sword Art and the Void-Stepping Movement Technique.
The two exchanged dozens of moves in rapid succession, neither gaining a clear upper hand.
Forcing her opponent back with a sword thrust, Yun Heng quickly swept her gaze over the surrounding battlefield.
Xuan Yi through Xuan Shi had individually intercepted the Soul Transformation cultivators of both sects.
The Golden Armored Guards were also relying on their formation to hold off a large number of Nascent Soul cultivators.
Though chaotic, the situation remained evenly matched for now.
Right at this moment, Lu Xuanwei, who had been standing at the rear of the battlefield, finally moved.
He raised his head, no longer concealing the deep and restrained aura around him.
A pressure far surpassing that of a Soul Transformation cultivator erupted with a crash.
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth shuddered all at once.
The fighting Nascent Soul cultivators nearby froze in their movements, while some with weaker cultivation even plummeted directly from midair.
The onlookers watching from afar underwent drastic changes in expression.
“This aura...”
“It’s not the Soul Transformation Realm!”
“Sect Master Lu has already broken through to Void Refinement!”
Before long, a Soul Transformation cultivator discerned Lu Xuanwei's true cultivation level.
“Mid-stage Void Refinement Realm!”
The moment those words were spoken, the crowd instantly erupted into an uproar.
“Sect Master Lu is actually a mid-stage Void Refinement cultivator?”
“No wonder he was in secluded cultivation for so long—he was breaking through to the Void Refinement Realm!”
“And it's not just the early stage—he has actually reached mid-stage Void Refinement!”
“The surviving Void Refinement cultivators in the Eastern Region currently count fewer than five, and now there is one more.”
Although only a single major realm separated Soul Transformation and Void Refinement, their strength differed as night and day.
Even ten Soul Transformation cultivators joining forces might not necessarily defeat a mid-stage Void Refinement cultivator.
What was more, Xuan Yi through Xuan Shi were already tied down by the Soul Transformation elders of both sects.
Once Lu Xuanwei joined the fight, the balance Yun Heng's side had barely maintained would inevitably crumble in an instant.
The gazes of the onlookers watching Yun Heng changed once more.
“I’m afraid Yun Heng’s side is about to fall into a disadvantage.”
“The gap in cultivation realms is too wide; numbers might not be able to make up for it.”
Sure enough, after releasing his true cultivation, Lu Xuanwei gave Yun Heng’s side no time to react and attacked Xuan Yi through Xuan Shi directly.
A surge of powerful spiritual energy slammed down from midair.
The defensive barrier jointly constructed by several Shadow Guards shattered with a crash under Lu Xuanwei's attack.
Xuan Yi, Xuan Er, and Xuan San were thrown back simultaneously, multiple wounds splitting open across their bodies.
The other Shadow Guards tried to step forward to support them, but were tightly pinned down by the Soul Transformation elders of the Xuanxiao Sect and the Taihua Sword Sect.
Lu Xuanwei struck again.
An even stronger wave of spiritual energy swept across.
In mere breaths, all ten Shadow Guards were significantly injured.
Yun Heng took all of this in, filled with equal parts worry and anxiety.
If this continued, her side would undoubtedly lose.
Once the ten Shadow Guards lost their fighting capacity, it would be impossible for the two hundred Golden Armored Guards to hold back the remaining powerhouses of the Xuanxiao Sect and the Taihua Sword Sect.
While fending off the attack from the peak Nascent Soul elder in front of her, Yun Heng quickly pondered a strategy.
“System!” she called out urgently in her sea of consciousness. “Is there any way out now?”
The System’s notification chime sounded in response.
[Detected that the host’s current Awe Points have surpassed eight thousand.]
[The Fragmented Guard Summoning Order Card satisfies the completion conditions.]
[Host may spend eight thousand Awe Points to complete the Guard Summoning Order Card and summon Yun Zhao.]
Yun Heng’s movements faltered slightly, nearly getting struck by the sword Qi in front of her.
She hurriedly side-stepped to dodge, wild joy swelling in her heart.
The Guard Summoning Order Card could finally be completed?!
Eight thousand Awe Points?
A small sum.
As long as she won this battle, why worry about not gaining more Awe Points later?
Yun Heng did not hesitate in the slightest.
“Complete it!”
[Expending eight thousand Awe Points.]
[Guard Summoning Order Card completion successful.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining Five-Star Character Card: Yun Zhao.]
A complete Five-Star Card appeared on the System panel.
The light on the card’s surface was dazzling to the extreme, within which a figure standing deep in a sea of clouds was faintly visible.
Yun Heng didn't have time to carefully examine Yun Zhao’s information and immediately shouted in her mind:
“Summon!”
The complete Five-Star Character Card suddenly erupted with brilliant radiance.
In the next instant, the landscape between heaven and earth shifted drastically.
Layers of dark clouds surged in from all directions, blocking out the entire sky completely.
Heaven and earth quickly grew dark.
Wild winds swept across the ground, raising sand, stones, and fallen leaves alike, while the surrounding spiritual energy began to oscillate violently.
“Rumble—”
A few low rumbles of thunder resonated from deep within the clouds.
The thunder was not particularly loud, yet it felt as if it struck directly upon everyone’s hearts, giving every cultivator present an indescribable sense of oppression.
Lu Xuanwei, who was engaged in battle, suddenly stopped his movements.
He raised his head, looking toward the sky with a grave expression.
Wei Quechen and the Soul Transformation elders of both sects also noticed something amiss and ceased their attacks one after another.
Xuan Yi through Xuan Shi took the opportunity to pull back and fall back to Yun Heng's direction.
The two hundred Golden Armored Guards pulled in their formation simultaneously, protecting the wounded in the center.
Everyone’s gazes turned toward the exact same spot.
In midair, space suddenly underwent a subtle distortion.
A figure appeared there without warning.
The newcomer was a young female cultivator.
She wore dark black robes with no superfluous adornments on her sleeves or skirt. Her jet-black hair fell naturally, free of hairpins, bound simply with a hair ribbon of the same dark color.
Her appearance had not changed in the slightest.
Her brows and eyes were cold and distant, her expression calm, yet her entire being radiated an aura that made one shrink from looking directly at her.
It was none other than Yun Zhao.
Compared to the phantom image that had appeared on the Heart-Interrogation Platform of the Xuanxiao Sect a year ago, the Yun Zhao before them was visibly far more solid.
Yet the moment she appeared, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
Yun Zhao lowered her gaze, sweeping over the battlefield below.
With just a single glance, the spiritual energy that had been violently churning moments ago seemed to be struck by an invisible pressure, grinding to a halt all at once.
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