THIP Chapter 35 V2

In that moment, Mingli’s aura grew colder and more distant, but as soon as her gaze met Mu Liuyin’s, all that iciness melted into warmth.

Sensing the disruption of the formation, Mu Liuyin immediately stepped forward and pulled Mingli into her arms, taking her away from the scene.

Having just broken through to the Mahayana stage, Mingli’s spiritual energy was still unstable. Mu Liuyin briefly explained that Ye Fengjue and the others had already tracked them down and ordered Xiao Jiu to immediately locate the best possible hiding place.

“There’s a secret realm opening up not far from here,” Xiao Jiu said urgently. “There’s no cultivation level requirement, so you can take the target inside to hide. Once it opens, the entrance will close within fifteen minutes and won’t open again for thirty years.”

“But Ye Fengjue and the other thirteen cultivators are in hot pursuit. They’ll catch up in about nine minutes.”

Gritting her teeth, Mu Liuyin pushed her spiritual energy harder, speeding up their escape. Her face, already pale, turned ghostly white before their eyes.

After traveling for quite a distance, the secret realm Xiao Jiu mentioned finally appeared before Mu Liuyin. She surged forward, intent on reaching it—only to see a streak of cold jade-colored light shoot past and transform into a massive jade tablet shaped like a book, sealing the entrance.

“The Celestial Tome!”

Mu Liuyin’s dark eyes widened slightly. Behind her, Ye Fengjue and his party had already surrounded them.

The scene was painfully familiar—except now, there were four more cultivators in the group, all at the Tribulation Stage, while Mu Liuyin was still gravely injured and hadn’t recovered.

It was a death trap.

“Huan Xi,” Ye Fengjue said coldly, eyes gleaming with malice, “hand over the reincarnation of the Demon Realm’s ruler and surrender. We’ll spare your life. How about it?”

Mu Liuyin didn’t even acknowledge him. Instead, she felt a bitter, mocking sorrow. Mingli was the only one with the potential to break the curse that had kept cultivators from ascending to the immortal realm for a thousand years. Yet the rest of the cultivation world trusted only in the Celestial Tome’s prophecy.

She spat out a mouthful of blood, her eyes sharp as frost.

“As long as I, Huan Xi, still draw breath, none of you will lay a finger on Mingli!”

“Master!” Mingli’s usually calm eyes turned misty. She wanted to tell her master to give her up, but faced with Mu Liuyin’s unwavering determination to protect her, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

Stepping out from Mu Liuyin’s embrace, Mingli said firmly,

“Master, no one can kill me while you still stand.”

“A mere early Mahayana-stage cultivator dares talk big?” one of them sneered, seeing Mingli draw her sword.

The battle erupted instantly. Despite her exceptional talent, Mingli was newly advanced and had neither the cultivation experience nor the strength to match thirteen Tribulation-stage cultivators.

Struck down once more, she hit the ground hard, blood spilling from her mouth. Amid her battle with the others, Mu Liuyin caught sight of a cold jade-colored gleam—the same hue as the Celestial Tome—forming into a sword, shooting straight toward the fallen Mingli.

Mu Liuyin tried to rush to her, but Ye Fengjue blocked her path. Her once-calm eyes now burned with fear and hatred. Burning through the last of her spiritual energy, she forced Ye Fengjue aside with a powerful strike and, in the final moment, shielded Mingli from the Celestial Tome’s sword.

“Master!” Mingli’s eyes widened in horror as two streams of tears fell uncontrollably down her cheeks.

Mu Liuyin tried to raise her hand to comfort Mingli, to stroke her hair and tell her everything would be okay—but all that came from her lips was endless blood.

The cold jade sword had pierced straight through her heart.

Her vision blurring, Mu Liuyin whispered in her mind,

“Xiao Jiu… did we fail the mission?”

There was no reply, but she didn’t care. She only looked at the crying, silent Mingli with soft eyes and whispered:

“A-Li… live on… live well…”

Each word brought more blood from her lips. In that moment, Mu Liuyin thought—
Even if Mingli walks the path of demonic cultivation… it doesn’t matter anymore. As long as… she lives.

She had even forgotten that failure meant the timeline would reset.

The entire cultivation world had wronged Mingli. How could they still expect her to follow the righteous path? This mission—it was far too cruel for her.

Mu Liuyin’s blood dripped onto Mingli’s body. The crimson lotus mark at Mingli’s collarbone bloomed, vivid and lifelike, like it had been painted in fresh blood.

Kneeling on the ground, Mingli held Mu Liuyin’s now lifeless body in her arms. Two streaks of blood-tears traced down her cheeks, and when she looked up again, her once-clear eyes were now blood-red. The cinnabar mark between her brows blazed like a drop of fresh blood.

At that moment, her aura surged rapidly—within seconds, she had broken through to the late Tribulation Stage.

Everyone stared in shock.

One cultivator tried to strike her down while she was distracted, but before he could even touch her, his body dissolved completely in the overwhelming demonic energy surrounding her.

Mingli rose, still holding Mu Liuyin, as dark demonic energy engulfed the area.

Her blood-red eyes swept coldly over them, her voice hoarse but chilling to the bone:

“Don’t even think about escaping. Every last one of you will pay.”