Chapter 91: A Night of Change by the Lake

The sun was sinking in the west. Night was about to fall.

A young boy in a yellow robe stood on a branch, smiling toward the direction of Star Pool.

"What a beautiful flower valley..."

"How unfortunate that after tonight, it will all wither away."

Liang Feng sat cross-legged beneath the tree, eyes closed, silent. He drew a long breath.

"Today's valley excursion is over. The Foundation Establishment cultivators of Frostflower Valley and the Yan family will be leaving for now to visit the Shooting Sun Sect."

"We cannot afford to hesitate, Brother Liang."

"You won't regret it, will you?"

Liang Feng slowly opened his eyes, and within them lay nothing but resolve. "I never regret anything."

He rose and walked toward the valley.

The young boy in yellow narrowed his eyes and chuckled softly. "Heh, some Star Pool spirit pearl..."

"Calling themselves lovers of flowers, yet they cannot even recognize a mature lotus seed from the ancient Moon-Offering Lotus."

"Such a treasure, used only as a spirit vein to nourish an entire valley of spirit plants. How foolish."

"Still, this is fine..."

Faint yellow spiritual light slowly appeared around the boy, and his robe fluttered without wind.

He rose slowly into the air and looked down toward Star Pool.

Spiritual power gathered in his palm.

"Treasure buried in dust..."

"Let the worthy take it!"

...

Night had fallen over the valley, serene and hushed.

Inside the bamboo grove courtyard, Song Yan was controlling the Seaboat That Does Not Tie, practicing the basic sword forms from the Essentials of Swordsmanship.

There were no conditions for peaceful seclusion at the moment, so he might as well train his sword techniques and hope to comprehend sword intent sooner.

Just as he finished a move, he suddenly sensed that Xiaohe's scales had bristled, and the little creature poked its head out from his sleeve.

"Hiss--"

Its snake eyes were fixed on the southeast side of the flower valley.

"Xiaohe?"

Song Yan withdrew his flying sword and asked, "What is it..."

"Yanyan, I heard a strange sound."

His gaze sharpened. He immediately expanded his divine sense to the limit, yet detected nothing unusual.

"It seems to be..." Xiaohe said. "In the direction of that big peach tree."

The ancient spiritual peach tree?

On the way back from Butterfly-Chasing Spring, Yan Xun had specifically led them past it.

It was the very center of Frostflower Valley, by the lakeshore of Lakeview.

What Song Yan first thought of was not that something major had happened.

It was that Xiaohe's perception could reach so far.

Perhaps beasts were innately sensitive to fluctuations in natural spiritual power.

Just as Song Yan was about to step out of the bamboo courtyard, an abrupt change erupted.

"Roar--"

A shrill beast's cry tore through the night sky, and the bamboo courtyard began to tremble violently.

"Mm?"

From the distance, a streak of long rainbow light could be seen flying toward the ancient spiritual peach tree.

"Senior?"

In midair, the rain-soaked true one flew to the tree and looked at the strange changes here.

A formation...

The handiwork of demonic cultivators.

It seemed this had been planned long ago.

Suspended in the air, looking out from afar, the sea of flowers surged like waves.

The flower spirits and spirit beasts of the valley suddenly abandoned their meek, intelligent nature and went mad, attacking people.

"The Five Ghosts Chaotic Spirit Formation..."

The true one's gaze turned cold. "Demonic cultivators of the Yellow Spring Path."

By now, cultivators from both sects and the stationed disciples of Frostflower Valley had already arrived at the shore of Lakeview.

A cool voice came from above. "Each of you guard one direction around the ancient spiritual peach tree. I will break the formation."

Lu Ziye said solemnly, "Yes, Senior."

"Song Yan, Qingfeng, Qingqing, the three of you guard the north. I will go to the east."

Yan Xun and Wu Duo and the others hurried to the west.

The two from the Shooting Sun Sect and some of the Frostflower Valley disciples rushed to the south.

With this pillar of support, all the cultivators remained calm in the face of danger.

...

Restricted ground of Frostflower Valley, Star Pool.

Liang Feng sat at the pool's edge, a pale yellow talisman between his fingers.

At this moment, the beasts had been thrown into disorder by the formation and were surging toward Lakeview.

The disciples stationed here had also already been sent away by him under the pretext of needing reinforcements.

He gently stirred his spiritual power, igniting the talisman.

Two pale yellow streams of spiritual power slowly extended from his hand and sank into Star Pool.

A moment later, a treasure pearl radiating faint green luminescence was slowly lifted upward.

Feeling the rich vitality within the pearl, Liang Feng could not help feeling a surge of delight, and he murmured under his breath.

"There is hope..."

"There must be hope..."

Time would not wait. He placed this "spirit pearl" into a small box and hurriedly left Star Pool.

By Lakeview.

Fortunately, most of the beasts in Frostflower Valley had never been particularly aggressive to begin with, so even after being thrown into confusion by the formation, they could still be controlled.

Because these flower spirits and spirit beasts were all raised by Frostflower Valley, everyone held back.

A slash of sword energy struck, and with a sudden burst of wind and thunder, a flower spirit immediately collapsed to the ground.

Song Yan had wind and thunder power attached to his fingertips, and with several sword energies unleashed at once, he was very efficient at restraining the beasts.

"Ooh-ee--"

The crazed Purple-Striped Pixie Pig had blood-red eyes and charged recklessly about.

Li Qingfeng swallowed a "spirit rice" pill, and spiritual power surged wildly around him.

This time, he did not draw a cleaver, but instead pulled out that flying spirit artifact, the black wok.

He rushed forward at a sprint, charging straight at the purple-striped pig, spiritual power sweeping out as he collided head-on with it.

Clang!!!

A wok to the face.

The colossal pig swayed, staggered several steps, and then crashed to the ground.

"?

Song Yan was stunned. He had truly never imagined that a wok could also be used in combat.

At that moment, a disturbance came from above the towering ancient tree.

Everyone looked up and saw four streams of water descending to the four directions around the tree.

Then From Rain True One formed a hand seal, and from her fingertip shot out a vast blue spiritual radiance, piercing forward like a bolt.

Buzz--

With the array eye broken, the cultivators in the valley felt the order of heaven and earth abruptly reverse.

"This chaotic spirit evil formation is truly bizarre," From Rain True One said with a slight frown.

As the final trace of disorderly spiritual energy returned to normal, she seemed to sense something and turned over a small bronze bell in her palm.

Whoosh--

Vast spiritual energy suddenly gathered toward her hand.

With her left hand forming a seal, she softly uttered a single word.

"Purifying Rain."

Ding-ling...

The bell rang.

Boom!

A torrent of water vapor exploded outward.

It was as though rain had suddenly begun to fall across Frostflower Valley.

The frenzied beasts suddenly stiffened, the blood-red in their eyes melting away like spring snow.

From Rain True One then cast out a water-blue flying sword, which turned into a streak of light and sped toward the valley entrance.

Seeing this, Lu Ziye immediately sent a voice transmission to everyone around him: "Qingqing, Qingfeng, and the two from the Shooting Sun Sect, stay here and continue assisting our friends from Frostflower Valley in calming the beasts."

"Xiao Song! Come with me!"

"Yes, Senior Brother."

Song Yan's skill with flying sword control and sword energy truly amazed Lu Ziye. With this old senior leading the pursuit, at the very least he would be safe enough.

Unaware of the fat boy's hidden prowess, Senior Brother Lu simply thought it safer for the other two to remain here.

"..."

Among the cultivators of Frostflower Valley, Yan Xun and Wu Duo suddenly exchanged a tacit glance and asked the same question at the same time.

"Where is Brother Liang Feng?"

Wu Duo frowned slightly and slowly shook her head. "No sign of him."

She said, "You stay here and stabilize the situation. I will follow the senior to the valley entrance."

"Ah, Sister Duo, I'll go too."

Yan Xun stepped forward. "Most of the beasts here have already returned to normal. There is no need to worry."

Wu Duo pondered for a moment, then nodded. "...Very well."