The Blazing Sun Gate Attacks Again

Yan Yun found herself assigned to the ‘Gold Arena,’ a peculiar place where she knew no one.

‘How strange,’ she mused. ‘Why isn’t there a single familiar face? My wife, my mother, Second Brother, and Old Xie—none of them were matched to the same arena as me? This feels quite odd.’

Yan Yun’s gaze swept around, searching the surroundings.

She had already been here for half an hour.

The Gold Arena was a vast space almost entirely composed of weapons of varying sizes. She sat perched on the blade of a colossal sword, idly toying with the Purple Jade Spirit Blood Sword she had acquired the day before.

‘How utterly boring,’ Yan Yun grumbled to herself. ‘Why isn’t anyone coming to bother me? Someone, anyone, please come so I can have some fun. I promise not to use any treasures.’

Ever since she had unleashed a fifth-tier talisman treasure yesterday, hardly anyone dared to provoke her. In fact, they treated her like a harbinger of ill fortune; wherever she went, people immediately gave her a wide berth.

There was no helping it; she was currently a walking time bomb, ready to detonate at the slightest provocation.

Little did she know, the Lieyang Gate’s influence stretched far and wide. The reason she hadn’t been matched with any acquaintances was that the Lieyang Gate had bribed the Immortal Alliance’s drawing referee.

What was ostensibly a random draw was, in fact, entirely manipulated. When participants received their tokens, they appeared blank, only revealing their assignments after spiritual power was infused into them.

Naturally, the Lieyang Gate wasn’t the only faction to bribe the referees. Bai Zhihua had also leveraged her connections, ensuring that Xie Yuyan and Yang Lu were assigned to the same arena.

For these Immortal Alliance cultivators, their own interests undeniably came first. Besides, facilitating such minor adjustments was merely a trivial matter.

Thus, even as Yan Yun sat there, several Lieyang Gate disciples kept a watchful eye on her. All of them were at the Spirit Transformation Realm, led by a Great Perfection Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator who was far from ordinary.

This individual was named Ding Hui, whose aptitude and combat prowess ranked among the top three disciples of the Lieyang Gate participating in this event.

He possessed a high-grade spirit root, had reached Great Perfection in the Spirit Gathering Realm, achieved Great Perfection in the Cavern Heaven Realm with seven cavern heavens, and had cultivated his Qi Sea into a Spirit River within the Spirit Transformation Realm.

The unique cultivation of the Spirit Transformation Realm involved transforming one’s Qi Sea into a Spirit Spring, which would then evolve into a Spirit River, and finally a Spirit Sea.

“Senior Brother Ding,” a female Lieyang Gate disciple remarked with a worried expression, “this woman possesses powerful treasures. I fear we might be unable to complete the mission the sect entrusted to us.”

In a one-on-one fight, if she refrained from using her treasures, they might stand a chance. The problem, however, was that Yan Yun already knew about their connection to the Lin family, making it impossible for her to grant them any opportunities.

Today’s and tomorrow’s matches represented their final opportunities. The last five hundred contestants would face off in one-on-one arena battles, leaving them with even less chance to strike.

As for tomorrow’s match, since the number of eliminated participants would be announced, the Immortal Alliance, to ensure a certain elimination rate, would hold only one mass brawl. A Golden Core Realm cultivator would personally intervene, eliminating the weakest five hundred contestants.

Realistically, even tomorrow’s major event offered little chance, and with thousands of participants, the referees would face much less scrutiny.

They had paid a significant price to ensure all of Yan Yun’s acquaintances were assigned to different arenas.

“Today is our only chance,” a male disciple surnamed Ding stated gravely. “To be frank, before the event began today, our Old Ancestor bestowed upon me a Divine Venerable Talisman. It contains the full power of a Divine Venerable Realm cultivator’s strike. If I can unleash it, this demonic woman will surely die.”

A Divine Venerable Talisman was a consumable artifact condensed by a Divine Venerable cultivator’s power. Such an item inflicted a certain degree of damage to a Divine Venerable’s fundamental essence, which was why cultivators of that realm rarely created them.

However, after Lin Zhentian witnessed the sheer number of treasures Yan Yun possessed, he realized that their previously prepared methods would be utterly insufficient to kill her.

Furthermore, the more formidable Yan Yun proved to be, the more imperative it became that she not be allowed to live. Without exaggeration, Yan Yun now wielded the power to annihilate the Lin family.

However, the Lin family was situated in the Royal Capital, and Yan Yun currently dared not leave the Yunhua Sect alone.

She was certain that the moment she ventured out by herself, someone would immediately attempt to assassinate her.

The Lieyang Gate disciples pondered for a long time before finally devising a plan.

“I have a method that might just work,” Ding Hui suddenly declared.

The others immediately grew curious.

“What is it?”

Ding Hui let out a cold chuckle.

Their plan was to provoke Yan Yun into developing murderous intent towards them first, prompting her to unleash a killing move. This would then grant them legitimate grounds to activate the Divine Venerable Talisman.

In this way, even if they killed Yan Yun, the Immortal Alliance would have little to say.

“That’s a good plan,” someone else questioned, “but what if she doesn’t fall for it?”

Ding Hui shook his head.

“We will force her to fall for it, no matter the cost. There’s no other way. Just watch me later.”

Having spoken, the group began to move.

Yan Yun, who had been sitting on the colossal sword, suddenly felt her divine sense stir. She promptly leaped up just as a series of fireballs rained down from above, blasting the spot where she had been moments before.

The force of the impact shattered the colossal sword into countless fragments.

Floating in the air, Yan Yun surveyed her surroundings, only to discover that she was once again encircled.

“Hah? It’s you Lieyang Gate people again,” Yan Yun scoffed. “You truly have no fear of death. The relationship between the Lin family and your Lieyang Gate can’t possibly warrant such desperate efforts, can it?”

A powerful aura emanated from Ding Hui, a Spirit River formed from fire-attributed energy swirling around his body. He slowly descended from the sky, landing directly before her.

His lips moved, but no sound escaped them, for he was communicating through divine sense.

[Demonic woman, do you know that our Lieyang Gate has already dispatched powerful cultivators to Qifeng City today?]

The moment these words were uttered, Yan Yun’s previously composed expression drastically changed. Her eyes instinctively flared with murderous intent.

[You… are you defying the King’s orders and making an enemy of the Yunhua Sect?] Yan Yun immediately retorted via divine sense. [Do you understand the consequences of such actions?]

The group of young men let out a strange laugh.

[Rest assured, our Lieyang Gate will ensure the Royal Family and the Yunhua Sect never learn it was us. While we may not be able to deal with you and Jiang Yao directly, dealing with your two families will be utterly simple. Once today’s event concludes, you should receive news that the Yan and Jiang families were attacked by unknown powerhouses, and their entire clans annihilated. Hahahaha…]

Yan Yun found herself unable to remain calm. While she didn’t harbor deep affection for the Yan family, she would absolutely not permit anyone to harm either the Yan or Jiang families.

“You are courting death,” Yan Yun’s expression turned exceedingly grim.

But just then, Yan Lingyun spoke up.

‘Kid, don’t panic,’ Yan Lingyun advised at once. ‘I don’t believe the Lieyang Gate has the audacity to do this, because it’s simply not worth it. I sense they are deliberately trying to provoke you.’

Yan Yun was no fool; she, too, likely found their actions highly imprudent.

Yet, in a matter such as this, who could dare to disbelieve entirely? If it were someone from the Lin family speaking to her, she would certainly dismiss it. But the Lieyang Gate, with their ability to dispatch any Divine Soul Realm cultivator to sweep through both the Yan and Jiang families, left her no choice but to consider it true.

There was a saying: ‘Better to believe it might be true than to dismiss it entirely.’

What was even more frustrating was her current inability to stop any of it.

‘I understand,’ Yan Yun replied in a low, firm voice, ‘but these Lieyang Gate scoundrels truly deserve to die. Whatever their scheme today, I will eradicate them.’

Yan Lingyun immediately fell into deep thought.

‘Then you must be careful,’ Yan Lingyun speculated. ‘Perhaps they possess some trick, specifically designed to force you into killing them, so they can then unleash their own technique.’

This was not difficult to analyze: the opponents, knowing full well that Yan Yun possessed formidable weapons, still dared to attack her. This strongly suggested they had even more powerful methods awaiting her.

Bound by rules, they couldn’t directly employ their ultimate technique. Instead, they intended to provoke Yan Yun into murderous intent, making her strike first in deterrence. Only then would they unleash their own methods, and even if they killed Yan Yun on the spot, they could claim self-defense.

“You few have successfully infuriated me,” Yan Yun declared, her gaze turning icy.

With that, Yan Yun raised her hand and waved, sending five Golden Armored Puppets lunging at the five Lieyang Gate disciples.

They, of course, had long been aware of the five Golden Armored Puppets Yan Yun carried.

“Retreat!” They immediately fell back, splitting up to separate the five puppets. There were six of them, and Ding Hui directly charged towards Yan Yun.

“Angry now? Your anger is useless,” Ding Hui sneered, raising his hand as streaks of fire, like falling meteors, hurtled towards Yan Yun’s position. “You, a demonic woman, lack the ability to protect your family, yet you insist on offending those you shouldn’t. Both the Yan family and the Jiang family have been annihilated because of your arrogance and hubris, leaving you with nothing but impotent rage.”

Sensing the formidable power of her opponent, Yan Yun swiftly activated a third-tier talisman, conjuring a barrier of energy before her.

Simultaneously, she activated an offensive talisman, unleashing a flock of water birds that surged towards Ding Hui.

Ding Hui, observing the incoming swarm of water birds, let out a cold laugh.

“I am not those Spirit Transformation cultivators you faced before.” He raised his hand, and a massive fireball rapidly condensed in his palm, instantly engulfing the entire flock of water birds.

The power of this fireball, after dissolving Yan Yun’s offensive talisman treasure, slammed forcefully into the energy barrier, causing cracks to spiderweb across its surface.

‘So strong,’ Yan Yun analyzed inwardly. ‘Far more formidable than any Great Perfection Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator I’ve encountered before. This guy’s attack has already reached the Divine Mark Realm. A third-tier talisman treasure won’t hold up against him.’

“Break!” Ding Hui clenched his hand, and the fireball exploded, simultaneously shattering Yan Yun’s defensive talisman treasure.

Yan Yun immediately activated a teleportation talisman, whisking herself away from the fireball’s blast radius to a spot dozens of meters away.

“You certainly have many talismans,” Ding Hui continued to provoke. “But merely hiding like this won’t avenge your Yan and Jiang families. I don’t mind telling you, you’re likely the first among your group to have no acquaintances around, and that’s precisely how it should be. Our Lieyang Gate paid a hefty price to scatter all of you. Not only will the Yan and Jiang families be annihilated, but your mother, your woman, and your siblings—they will all die.”

Yan Yun was incandescent with rage.

“Is that so?” Yan Yun retorted, her murderous intent surging even stronger within her. “If your Lieyang Gate truly harms those close to me, I promise you, it won’t be long before your sect is erased from Jiang Country. Of course, you won’t live to see that day.”