Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 487: Li Yan, Saved

When Yun Ruoyan heard Zhuo Yifeng’s words, her eyes gleamed as she looked at the silver dragon statue.

“Protect the shrine!” a guard called out, and Yun Ruoyan and Zhuo Yifeng were instantly surrounded by the gathered guards.

“Make way.” Yun Ruoyan stood up, releasing her spiritual aura for all to see. Her long, black hair seemed to fan out in a breeze no other could feel, and her dark eyes burned red.

“Mistress, you’ve broken through to a third-rank sword saint!” Qiuqiu shouted in excitement. At the same time, its fur seemed to turn an even brighter red. Qiuqiu and Yun Ruoyan were contracted, so when Yun Ruoyan advanced, Qiuqiu would also be strengthened.

Yun Ruoyan nodded, then reached for Yin Xiao, who was still saddled over Qiuqiu’s body. A suction force instantly drew him to her palm. “Move aside, or I’ll kill him!” Yun Ruoyan warned.

“Move aside!” Yin Xiao’s neck was held in a viselike grip by Yun Ruoyan, and his face was slowly turning red. “Quick, move!”

However, the guards remained where they were. “Young Master, the first elder instructed us not to let anyone within the temple regardless of what happens.”

Yin Xiao panted, “If you don’t move aside, she’ll kill me! Father won’t spare any of you if I’m dead!”

One of the guards replied icily, “The elder told us that if you were to end up as a hostage, to give you a painless death.” A silver blade shot through the air and penetrated Yin Xiao’s heart, killing him on the spot.

Yin Xiao widened his eyes at the guard who had killed him, unable to believe his father’s orders to his dying breath.

As expected, the silver dragon elder’s a heartless monster. Yun Ruoyan released her grip, and Yin Xiao’s body slumped to the ground.

“Mistress, we can’t waste any time. The young master’s in danger!” Qiuqiu shouted, getting ready to charge at the guards.

“We’ll charge them together.” Yun Ruoyan spread her arms wide, forming numerous sparks of flames all over her body. Meanwhile, Qiuqiu opened its mouth, shooting out a flaming dragon.

However, the guards didn’t back down. They drew silver shields to counter the flame, and Qiuqiu’s attack couldn’t break their ranks.

“Qiuqiu, let me try,” Yun Ruoyan said.

Qiuqiu nodded and moved aside. Yun Ruoyan stepped forward, and the sparks of flame all over her body all jumped with her.

“Attack!” Yun Ruoyan called out, and the sparks that she had gathered all shot forward. Before the silver dragon warriors could relax at having successfully blocked Qiuqiu’s attack, explosions sounded by their ears.

The guards felt a staggering pain by their palms, and then nothing at all. Their eyes were blinded by light and flame; when the explosions finally stopped, they found their silver shields glowing orange with heat, their palms and arms scorched black.

Shouts and groans of pain immediately splintered their ranks.

“Mistress, you’ve… advanced to a fourth-rank sword saint!” Qiuqiu shouted again.

“Ruoyan, you—” Zhuo Yifeng glanced at Yun Ruoyan in shock. Her advancements had always been linked to moments of great peril, but breakthroughs had grown impossibly difficult as a sword saint. To have broken through two ranks at once despite the handicap was a feat nearly unparalleled in history.

Yun Ruoyan didn’t seem to have heard Zhuo Yifeng or Qiuqiu’s comments. She strode toward the shrine and exploded it to pieces, revealing a smoking passageway.

“Qiuqiu, let’s go.” Yun Ruoyan entered the passageway, and Qiuqiu and Zhuo Yifeng followed suit.

In the underground chamber, the second elder pointed at the holy maiden with his sword. “Quick, place this child at the eye of the formation and active it!” The second elder’s calm face finally seemed unsettled.

“Second Elder, I’ll ask again: aren’t you afraid of heavenly retribution?”

“The heavens will surely strike down the first elder first. I’m just acting on his orders!” The second elder cackled maliciously. “This child’s the highest-quality ingredient for refining holy water, and we’ll both benefit from it. Don’t make me force you into activating the array!” He pressed the point of his sword against the holy maiden’s neck, and a trickle of blood dripped out from the wound.

“Holy Maiden, don’t be silly. Why give up your life for someone you barely know? Remember your identity and position—you’re the holy maiden of the silver dragon clan!” The second elder’s eyes opened wide, glowing in all the colors of the rainbow. “Look at me, Holy Maiden. This blood formation might be evil, but it’s an old formation passed down the clan, something that our ancestors left us. What we’re doing now is strengthening the clan—even if it goes against the teachings of heaven! Now, quick! Place this child in the eye of the formation!”

“I—I can’t!” The holy maiden desperately tried to resist the second elder’s mental technique, but her cultivation was far weaker than the second elder’s. “I—I’m the holy maiden of the silver dragon clan, and I must accept my responsibilities.”

“Exactly! As the holy maiden, you must accept your responsibilities!”

Her mind in a daze, she mechanically activated the blood formation. Long Yin was jolted awake by the sudden activation—in general the rites would only be performed once every six months, and it had only been a month since the last set of rites. Now that the blood formation had been activated again, the other demonic dragon descendants were all stirring in unease.

They had had no time to recuperate after the last blood transfusion, and many more would soon turn to withered husks.

“There’s no need to worry,” the second elder called out. “We’re not here to draw your blood, but to send you a companion, haha!”

He raised Li Yan up into the air, who began to struggle and cry. Long Yin, still trapped within the center of the formation, looked at the baby in shock. His previous conversation with the silver dragon elder replayed in his head: “Your grandson possesses both the demonic and silver dragon bloodlines, and he’s a top-quality ingredient for refining holy water. I’m doing my best to capture him at the moment, and when I do so, I’ll bring him here to be your companion, hahaha!”

“Could this boy be my grandson…?” Long Yin murmured. “No matter what, he’s not entering this formation!”

Outside the formation, the holy maiden was conjuring a twin to the blood formation in her hands. When it was fully formed, a beam of light arced from the eye of the blood formation to the formation in her hands.

“Soon, our goals will be accomplished!” The second elder placed Li Yan within that beam of light.

“Brothers!” Long Yin suddenly shouted mentally from within the pillar. “This child’s my grandson, who was kidnapped from the Chenyuan continent. Please, I beseech my fellow brothers to help me save his life!”

“As a demonic dragon descendant himself, we surely have to save him from our fate. What say you, brothers?” another voice spoke up.

“At worst, we’ll give up our own lives for his!”

“I’ve had enough of this damned torture! Giving up my life would be a relief!”

“Anything to foil the silver dragons’ plans!”

The other demonic dragon descendants quickly came to an agreement.

Li Yan was being transported to the center of the formation through the beam of light when a counteracting force came from the blood formation.

“What’s the matter?” the second elder murmured.

“Where’s that silver dragon bastard?” Long Yin shouted, using everyone’s spiritual energy to defend against the holy maiden’s connection to the blood formation. “We’ll give up our lives before we let the silver dragon’s plan succeed!”

Many more demonic dragon descendants withered into husks, their bloodline and energy completely used up.

“Ignore him, Holy Maiden! Continue the transferral!” the second elder urged.

Just then, a woman’s voice thundered from behind the second elder, “Return me my child, and I’ll give you a painless death!”

The second elder turned back to see a man, a woman, and a red, flaming lion-like creature standing not a hundred feet from him.

“Who are you?”

“Return me the child!” Yun Ruoyan ignored his question and strode forward, releasing her full aura.

“Hold it!” the second elder shouted, then pushed the holy maiden aside and grabbed Li Yan for himself. “If you step forward, I’ll kill this child.”

“If you dare do so, I’ll level the entire castle!”

Li Yan was looking her way with wet, lustrous eyes. He reached out to her with two chubby hands, calling out, “Mother, Mother!” Yun Ruoyan clutched her chest, her eyes burning.

“I won’t hurt your child, so stay where you are,” the second elder called out again, then began to retreat. He pressed a hidden spot on the wall, causing an exit to appear from thin air. Just as he was about to leave with Li Yan, a sharp arrow whizzed by Yun Ruoyan’s hair and shot toward the second elder.

Before the second elder could scream in pain, the arrow had penetrated his skull, knocking him against the wall of the cavern.