Wu Huang let out a sigh of relief as he saw that strange entity vanish. Without wasting a second, he retrieved a communication talisman from his storage ring.
As soon as he felt the connection establish, and before the other party could utter a word, Wu Huang bellowed in desperation: "MASTER, WE NEED HELP!" His voice, heavy with urgency, shattered the silence.
"What has happened?" she replied immediately, sensing from her disciple's tone that the situation was critical.
"Something has escaped from the Secret Realm. Its cultivation level appears to be in the Nascent Soul realm. Junior Brother Su and Junior Sister Lin's safety is in grave danger!"
Aboard a majestic spirit ship, the Master leapt to her feet. Without a word, she threw herself into the void, transforming into a streak of light that streaked across the firmament at a blinding speed.
The elders and disciples, who had been summoned for an emergency, watched in awe as their Sect Leader departed toward the horizon with such impetus. Without hesitation, the elders rose from their seats and followed, deploying their own movement techniques.
"Grand Elder, stay with the disciples," one of them ordered while lunging forward.
The Grand Elder nodded in silence. She took control of the spirit ship and, channeling her energy into the ship's core, accelerated toward the Secret Realm to support the rest of the cultivators.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Wu Huang's complexion turned pale the moment he noticed the entity returning. "Everyone down! We must avoid being noticed!" he ordered in a choked voice. However, seeing the expressions of absolute terror on his companions' faces, he turned his head with a grim foreboding.
Cold sweat ran down his back. That strange thing, a human-shaped figure shrouded in spectral fire, had appeared before him as if materializing from the shadows. Wu Huang swallowed hard, feeling the crushing pressure of a superior cultivation, and immediately knelt in an act of desperate submission.
"May I ask Your Excellency, what is it that you desire?" he asked humbly, trying to hide the trembling of his hands.
But the entity did not respond with words. Before he could react, the creature seized him with supernatural strength. "SENIOR BROTHER!" the disciples screamed, terrified to see their leader captured.
"LEAVE! RUN!" Wu Huang roared with all his might.
Despite the fear gripping his heart, his duty as a Senior Brother prevailed. He would not allow his junior sisters to be harmed as long as he had one last breath of life.
"Aaaaagghh!" Wu Huang's cry of pain tore through the air.
The spectral fire began to consume his clothes and sear the skin of his face. The entity watched him with absolute indifference as it rose several meters above the ground. From below, the female disciples gazed at the scene with suffocating helplessness, paralyzed by the enemy's aura.
Being so close, Wu Huang was able to scrutinize the being's face through the strange flames. His eyes widened in horror: "A... corpse?"
Though the silhouette was anthropomorphic, the details were unmistakable. It was not a living being, but an ancient body preserved by sinister energy. The corpse extended a hand toward the void and, out of nowhere, an abyss-black halberd materialized in its grasp.
In that instant, Wu Huang felt an indescribable chill. A strange bond vibrated between him and the weapon, but it was charged with a sense of resentment so vast it made his stomach churn. "A halberd... it is a villain's weapon," he whispered, horrified.
"Master... not... want me?" the corpse asked. Its voice did not emanate from vocal cords; it was a harsh, forced vibration that seemed to sprout from the earth itself.
Wu Huang's pupils contracted. In that moment, he understood the terrifying truth of what was happening. But before the horror could consume him entirely, a voice charged with divine authority rang out from the heavens: "Release my disciple, monster!"
The corpse detected a massive presence approaching at an incredible speed. Unfazed, it released Wu Huang, who began to fall into the void, and swung the heavy black halberd in a devastating arc toward the source of the voice.
A golden sword enveloped in a scarlet aura collided violently with the black halberd, which released an extremely oppressive purple vapor. The clash of energies made the air vibrate for an instant before the halberd was forcefully repelled. The corpse flew back several meters, spinning in the air, before recomposing itself with unnatural agility.
"Are you alright, my disciple?" the Master asked. With a fluid movement of her sleeves, she gently set Wu Huang on the ground.
He, with his chest heavy and his face pale as paper, nodded with difficulty. "I am fine... just a bit exhausted," he managed to say, trying to stabilize his breathing.
"Recover. I will deal with this abomination."
"You don't have to do it alone, Sect Master," a powerful voice resonated.
Immediately, four elders landed on the spot, forming a defensive semicircle. Their presences were like immovable mountains.
"And the disciples?" the Master asked without taking her eyes off the enemy.
"The Grand Elder is guarding them. We can focus entirely on eliminating this thing before anyone else joins the 'fun'," an elder commented with a fierce smile, though his eyes remained vigilant.
"Do not lower your guard," the Master warned. "That weapon is erratic, and its fire is by no means weak."
"It looks like a living corpse," another elder observed, analyzing the entity's withered skin. "Perhaps it tried to extend its longevity through forbidden arts and ended up in this deplorable state?"
The elders began to deduce the creature's origin, but their hands never strayed from their spiritual treasures. The tension on the battlefield was almost tangible.
"Enough talk," the Sect Master declared as she raised her golden sword, pointing it toward the sky. "Our disciples are in danger, and there are still two more trapped inside the Secret Realm. Let us end this now."
In unison, the elders nodded and unsheathed their weapons. The glow of five high-level experts illuminated the wasteland, preparing for the final assault.