"Brother!" Seeing Zhang Tianzhi aging rapidly before her very eyes, Yuge could not help but shout from within the formation.
Though her heart ached for her brother's plight, she was a sensible person and knew that going out would not help. She could only watch with tear-blurred eyes as her brother suffered.
The Bamboo Attendant was feeling smug when a massive streak of firelight suddenly flew over from the distance. It was a giant Fire Phoenix, sweeping toward the demonesses with an imposing aura that threatened to incinerate everything.
They had not expected an attack from behind. Caught off guard and with no time to think, they scattered in all directions.
A red figure flashed past, gripping a fiery-red immortal sword with a sharp, imposing edge. Under the cover of the Fire Phoenix, the figure chased after the Bamboo Attendant, who was carrying Zhang Tianzhi and Yurou.
Holding two people, the Bamboo Attendant could not fight back. Left with no choice, she let go, tossing the two toward Su Miaoqing to force her into a rescue. She intended to use that opening to attack Su Miaoqing.
Who could have expected that Su Miaoqing would also ignore the falling duo? Her figure brushed past them as she continued her pursuit of the Bamboo Attendant.
Having grown up together, Xiao Yifeng and Su Miaoqing had long developed a tacit understanding. In an instant, he transformed into a streak of red light and rushed out of the formation.
He caught Yurou with one arm and grabbed Zhang Tianzhi with the other. The remaining two demonesses, seeing that Xiao Yifeng had finally emerged, gripped their weapons and struck at him.
Xiao Yifeng paid them no heed, completely ignoring what was happening behind him as he flew straight back toward the formation. Just as expected, after Su Miaoqing forced back the Bamboo Attendant, she pulled out a golden Talisman. Spiritual power instantly surged into it.
With Su Miaoqing's current Foundation Establishment cultivation, she could activate a Golden Core Talisman. This was exactly one of the life-saving talismans Lin Ziyun had given her.
Countless streams of sword qi burst forth from the golden Talisman. The sword qi was dense and chilling, carrying an astonishing aura completely unlike the attacks of Xiao Yifeng and the others. This gave the three demonesses a terrible fright, forcing them to frantically fend off the dense barrage.
Xiao Yifeng and Su Miaoqing seized the opportunity to dart back into the Formation. Fast as lightning, they instantly slipped back inside. The moment they entered, Su Miaoqing pulled out a formation disk engraved with dragon patterns and slammed it heavily over Xiao Yifeng's original Formation. Layers of profound runes unfurled.
The hovering fire crows were instantly submerged, only to transform into massive fire dragons. It was a Golden Core Formation-the Nine Li Fire Dragon Array.
The originally precarious Formation stabilized in an instant after Su Miaoqing's replacement, becoming as solid as a fortress.
Su Miaoqing's series of actions flowed together in a single breath, displaying outstanding combat awareness. It was a stark contrast to the days when she had been forced into a miserable state by a small snake.
"Senior Sister, why are you here?" Xiao Yifeng asked happily.
"Go away, I do not want to talk to you!" Su Miaoqing did not even look at him, her attention still entirely focused on reinforcing the Formation.
"Brother, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Seeing the two rescue Zhang Tianzhi, Yuge immediately rushed over, supporting him and asking frantic questions.
Xiao Yifeng also hurriedly took out a pill to stabilize his foundation and nourish his source, feeding it to him. Zhang Tianzhi's paper-pale face only then regained a fraction of color. Yuge, however, continued to sob uncontrollably.
Zhang Tianzhi had aged many years. Originally a man in his prime, he now looked like a middle-aged man nearing his forties. A smattering of white hair had even appeared on his head.
Seeing him in this state, both Su Miaoqing and Xiao Yifeng sighed softly. Once lifeforce was stolen away, it was exceedingly difficult to replenish.
However, Xiao Yifeng's body suddenly jolted. Was this not the Xiao Tian he had been searching for? It was just that the Xiao Tian he remembered was even older than the current Zhang Tianzhi. So the person he was looking for was him!
Xiao Yifeng finally understood everything. If he had not arrived early, Zhang Tianzhi would have been the only one to visit Qingyuan Pavilion that night.
Without his presence, Crown Prince Dai Yun would not have gone to Qingyuan Pavilion to vent his frustrations, and naturally, Zhang Tianzhi would have claimed Yurou's red flower.
The two of them were likely captured by these invading demonesses afterward, though he did not know how they later escaped to live in hiding under changed names.
Sharing hardships together, the two naturally became husband and wife! No wonder they loved each other so deeply despite the apparent difference in their ages.
And in his previous life, he had also heard Xiao Tian mention an early-departed younger sister. Every time he spoke of her, he would choke up with sorrow.
Xiao Yifeng had never connected that sister with Yuge. Most likely, in his previous life, Yuge had perished early on, whether due to her constitution or during the pursuit.
Now that everything was strung together, Xiao Yifeng instantly understood that the couple he had encountered in his past life was none other than Zhang Tianzhi and Yurou after they had fallen into hardship.
At this moment, he felt alternating waves of cold and heat within his body as vast medicinal power erupted inside him.
He still forced himself to ask, "Brother Tianzhi, Princess Yuge, these demonesses have been chasing you relentlessly. What exactly do they want?"
Only now did he realize that something was amiss. The enemy had actually sent out three Golden Core cultivators to capture Zhang Tianzhi and Yuge. This was clearly too large of a force.
Yuge looked at Zhang Tianzhi and spoke up, "To tell the truth, when we escaped, we had already prepared for the worst. We brought many of the palace's heavenly resources and earthly treasures with us. If the situation turned grim, we intended to find a place to hide and wait for an opportunity to restore our kingdom."
But Xiao Yifeng knew that heavenly resources and earthly treasures alone could never attract the pursuit of four Golden Core cultivators. There had to be something hidden among the items that they were unaware of, and it was highly likely to be the immortal mansion's jade pendant.
He spoke through his mounting pain, "Among the items you are carrying, there must be a true treasure of your kingdom. Only that could draw the covetous gaze of four Golden Core cultivators, making them pursue you across oceans and borders at any cost."
"When they tortured me for answers, they asked for our kingdom's supreme heirloom, the Sword Immortal Pendant," Zhang Tianzhi said hoarsely.
"Sword Pendant?" Yuge seemed to recall something. She reached for her neck and pulled a red string, drawing a jade pendant out from under her clothes.
Xiao Yifeng took one look at it-it was indeed one of the immortal mansion keys. He never expected that this jade pendant had been worn by Yuge the entire time. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
He felt completely unable to suppress the boiling medicinal power within his body. Without speaking another word to the two, his face flushed red as he sat cross-legged. Blazing flames ignited across his body, occasionally accompanied by the swirling of wild winds. The ground beneath him began to continuously sprout new shoots, as phenomena of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth appeared in sequence.
Only then did Su Miaoqing notice his abnormal state. She asked nervously, "Xiao Feng, what is wrong with you? Why does this feel like the aura of Foundation Establishment?"
Xiao Yifeng coughed up a mouthful of blood and said, "I took the Foundation Establishment Pill I refined myself for Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment. I refined it myself, so I do not know if I made a mistake."
"How could you be so foolish? You actually dared to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill yourself and swallow it so recklessly!" Su Miaoqing stamped her foot in anger, abandoning her previous grievance with him as sheer anxiety took over.
It must be known that Foundation Establishment Pills required specially commissioned alchemy Masters to refine. No one acted like Xiao Yifeng, directly refining the raw materials and swallowing the entire medicine down.