Li Yao knew that, relying on her own strength alone, she could not directly stand against two Golden Core cultivators.
But she had just obtained the inheritance of a mighty expert, and her spatial ring contained no shortage of treasures.
With a wave of her hand, a long sword radiating a chilling aura appeared in her grasp.
“An upper-grade spirit treasure!”
The eyes of the two Golden Core ancestors lit up, and greed appeared on their faces.
As Golden Core ancestors, they each possessed only one lower-grade spirit treasure—and those were even the treasures that safeguarded their respective sects.
Yet Li Yao had casually produced an upper-grade spirit treasure. It was clear just how great an opportunity she had obtained in the inheritance grounds.
Without wasting a word, the two Golden Core ancestors attacked with all their strength at the same time.
Li Yao was not the least bit afraid. She charged straight at them.
The battle erupted in an instant.
Qingxu and Li Yao, one pair against two Golden Core cultivators, fought back and forth evenly.
Although Li Yao was only at the peak of Foundation Establishment, she relied on her special constitution, along with various magical treasures, pills, and talismans, to forcibly withstand the attacks of the two Golden Core cultivators.
However, in a four-against-two battle, the two of them could not afford to fight a war of attrition.
If things continued this way, they would eventually be dragged to death.
“Ancestor, catch this!”
Li Yao found an opening and took the opportunity to approach Qingxu, handing him an upper-grade spirit treasure.
With the power of the upper-grade spirit treasure, the situation gradually began to turn around.
Relying on the treasure’s might, Qingxu slowly regained the upper hand.
“Stop holding back. Finish this quickly.”
Seeing this, the four Golden Core elders had no choice but to reveal their trump cards.
The situation, which had just been reversed, was pulled back once again.
Li Yao was at the peak of Foundation Establishment, and facing two Golden Core ancestors in the early stage, she had reached her limit as well.
She gritted her teeth and flashed in front of Shen Xueyin.
“Give this to Master.”
She took out the storage pouch containing the Phoenix Immortal Seal and sent her a voice transmission. “This is the most important inheritance in the secret realm. You must deliver it to him personally.”
Shen Xueyin froze for a moment, but determination soon appeared in her eyes.
“I will definitely deliver it to Master personally.”
Li Yao nodded and said solemnly, “Go. Leave this place to me.”
A cold chill filled her eyes.
This attack would require her to give it everything she had—even to fight to the death.
That was why she could only entrust the Phoenix Immortal Seal to Shen Xueyin.
It was not that she did not trust Zhang Fan. But in the face of the temptation of immortality and imperishability, she could only be cautious.
As for why she had chosen Shen Xueyin, it was simply because she had seen her own shadow in Shen Xueyin.
“Go!”
Seeing the two Golden Core ancestors pursuing them, Li Yao shouted and completely released the power of her Myriad Ice Origin Physique, preparing to fight to the death.
Shen Xueyin gritted her teeth, turned decisively, and flew toward the imperial city.
Zhang Fan saw that Li Yao was about to unleash her full strength. He turned and pursued Shen Xueyin.
He did not know what was inside the storage pouch, but it was certainly no ordinary object. His strength was insufficient to help Li Yao, so all he could do was escort Shen Xueyin.
“They have something in their possession! Chase them and don’t let them escape!”
The disciples remaining from the various sects shouted one after another, wanting to follow.
“Ice Seal—Ten Thousand Miles!”
Li Yao shouted. The entire sky was instantly frozen, blocking the path of every cultivator.
“A mere trick. Break!”
The two Golden Core ancestors attacked together.
But this time, it took them quite a while to break through the ice.
By then, Zhang Fan and Shen Xueyin had already flown a great distance away.
“Catch up to them and take back that storage pouch!”
The two Golden Core ancestors issued the order while continuing to besiege Li Yao. They believed that she was still hiding even more treasures on her person.
The disciples remaining from the various sects immediately mounted their swords and pursued them.
Li Yao had just unleashed that attack, and she could no longer stop them again. All she could do was watch helplessly as the cultivators chased after Shen Xueyin.
Zhang Fan flew at top speed with Shen Xueyin, but he was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage. There were no shortage of peak Foundation Establishment experts among the various sects.
Half a day later, several peak Foundation Establishment experts were the first to catch up with Zhang Fan and Shen Xueyin.
“You go on ahead. I’ll hold them off.”
Zhang Fan did not know what exactly was inside the storage pouch, but he knew it was certainly important.
The only thing he could do was buy them time.
“Thank you.”
Shen Xueyin gritted her teeth and decisively flew toward the imperial city on her sword.
If she had not been carrying that storage pouch, she definitely would not have abandoned Zhang Fan and fled alone.
But now, her mind held only one thought: deliver the storage pouch into Lin An’s hands.
“I wonder if I can hold out against them.”
Zhang Fan looked at the several peak Foundation Establishment experts chasing after him and sighed helplessly.
However, his gaze soon grew sharp, and the dejected middle-aged-man appearance he had worn before vanished completely.
Shen Xueyin did not look back as she flew toward the imperial city.
The journey was peaceful, and she did not encounter any more pursuers.
Seeing that she was almost at the imperial city, her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
“We’re almost there. Almost there.”
She did not know what inheritance was inside the storage pouch.
But since Li Yao valued it so highly and had specifically instructed her to deliver it to Lin An, the item inside had to be extremely important to him.
Perhaps it could even allow Lin An to embark on the path of cultivation.
That was why she had to protect the contents of the storage pouch and personally place it in Lin An’s hands.
However, just as she was thinking this, dozens of figures suddenly rose from below, flying toward her on their swords.
“Hahaha, the information was right. You really were heading back to the imperial city.”
“This trip wasn’t in vain. We finally managed to wait for you.”
“Hahaha, Empress of Da’an, if you know what’s good for you, hand over the contents of that storage pouch immediately. Otherwise, don’t blame us for showing no mercy to a beauty.”
A large group of cultivators surrounded Shen Xueyin.
Most of them were at the middle or late Qi Condensation stage.
Shen Xueyin’s aptitude was ordinary. Although resources had pushed her cultivation to the seventh level of Qi Condensation, her foundation was unstable. Dealing with a single cultivator of the same level was already her limit.
Now, with dozens of Qi Condensation cultivators surrounding her, she had no chance of breaking through.
“Move aside.”
“Otherwise, the Azure Mystic Sect and the Da’an Kingdom will never rest until one of us is dead.”
She gripped the storage pouch tightly, fury filling her eyes.
She was only a step away—only a step away—from reaching the imperial city and delivering the storage pouch to Lin An.
She absolutely could not be trapped in a place like this.
“Hahaha, the Empress of Da’an certainly has quite the commanding presence.”
“You’re only a seventh-level Qi Condensation cultivator, yet you really think you’re so powerful?”
“If not for the Azure Mystic Sect, do you think you could have held on to your imperial throne?”
“Enough with the nonsense. Everyone, attack! Whoever takes the storage pouch gets to keep it.”
The surrounding cultivators did not take Shen Xueyin’s words seriously at all.
Under normal circumstances, they might have shown her some respect for the sake of the Azure Mystic Sect. But now, all they wanted was to seize the storage pouch in her hands.
Dozens of cultivators attacked at once. A huge number of flying swords and magical treasures filled the entire sky.
Facing the dense barrage of attacks, Shen Xueyin knew she could not block them.
There was only one thing she could do—fight with her life.
She took a pill from her own storage pouch and tossed it into her mouth.
The instant the pill entered her stomach, its tremendous medicinal power erupted. Her strength instantly rose to the peak of Qi Condensation.
“She took a Blood-Burning Pill! Everyone, attack together and don’t give her a chance to escape!”