NOVEL WEB Chapter 37: Nine Curve Yellow River Array
Sacred Mother Wudang frowned. She barged into the World Nexus because she had the confidence to escape thanks to her Beidou Sword, but what about the Ladies of Three Skies? If they were surrounded, they could be killed or captured.
However, even if they fled now, it would be too late. Sacred Mother Wudang tightened the grip around her sword.
Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao flew faster, ignorant of Sacred Mother Wudang's thoughts. The youngest sister of the three, Bixiao, was the first to attack. She waved her hand and expended a large amount of qi to carve a giant hole in the ground. From the hole, nine grooves extended over ten thousand kilometers in twists and turns.
Qiongxiong unleashed her spell next. She formed several hand seals and then pointed at the giant hole created by Bixao. A massive amount of water gushed from her fingers and quickly filled the hole, extending into the grooves. Very soon, nine branching rivers formed.
Finally, Yunxiao took action. In her hand was a golden chalice exuding the aura of an innate spiritual artifact. This was the Chaos Chalice, an artifact bred on Threesky Island, and as such, had an intimate relationship with all the Ladies of Three Skies.
The chalice flew above the newly-formed lake, and a dark viscous liquid began to bubble and fill it. The black liquid spilled over and dripped into the crystal clear water of the lake. It changed the clear water into a haunted yellow that soon spread into all nine branching rivers.
"Rise Nine Curve Yellow River Array!" Yunxiao shouted.
A haunting light arose from the yellow rivers and covered the surrounding expanse in a giant formation. A maze-like structure formed of the yellow light appeared, trapping everyone within its confines. Inside, strength left the Tengri humans’ bodies, absorbed by the Nine Curve Yellow River Array. Soon, they and their horses collapsed onto the ground as nothing more than skin attached to bones.
As the corpses piled up, Sacred Mother Wudang appeared in the safety of the core area where the Ladies of Three Skies waited. "Why are you here? Don't you know it's dangerous to enter here in your restricted state?"
"We saw that you were in danger, so we rushed over to reinforce you," Yunxiao explained.
"I have a method to escape should any accident occur." Sacred Mother Wudang sighed. "Forget it, what's done is done. Is this the Nine Curve Yellow River Array you told me about?"
"Indeed," Qiongxiao answered.
"Isn't it powerful?" Bixiao asked, her eyes asking for praise.
Instead of praising them, Sacred Mother Wudang asked, "Didn't you say that the formation needed to use a water vein?"
"Yes," Yunxiao admitted. "But as you saw, we can form an artificial water vein, but the drawback is that we must fuel the formation with our own qi."
"Eliminating the biggest disadvantage of an array."
Yunxiao nodded. "However, due to the special nature of the Nine Curve Yellow River Array, it'll use the sapped essence of the victims to fuel itself, mitigating the cost somewhat."
"What about the shamans?" Sacred Mother Wudang asked.
Yunxiao frowned. "The array is draining essence from them, but they are constantly receiving a flow of energy from somewhere. At this rate, the array will collapse before they die."
"What do we do?" Bixiao asked with some urgency. "If we had our full cultivation base, we could last far longer, but we're going to run out of qi soon."
"Leave it to me," Sacred Mother Wudang said. "Didn't you say that the Nine Curve Yellow River Array could regress the cultivation of those trapped within? As long as they're weakened, I can kill them."
"Then we'll rely on Senior Sister," Yunxiao said.
Sacred Mother Wudang nodded and walked out of the core of the Nine Curve Yellow River Array. Following the sisters' guidance, she reached the shamans one by one. Inside the array, the most one group had was three, and coupled with their drained power, Sacred Mother Wudang easily killed them all.
Finally, only the eagle shaman was left.
"Чи янхан!" the eagle shaman yelled upon seeing Sacred Mother Wudang. She had already transformed into her beastwoman form, clad in blue feathers and electricity.
Sacred Mother Wudang did not intend to use the Second Sword - Tianji on the shaman again. She didn't want to test if her master could save her again, so she settled for the next best thing.
The seventh star on the Beidou Sword lit up. A beam of light erupted from the sword's tip and pierced the shaman's forehead. Sacred Mother Wudang had killed the eagle shaman with the same technique she used before, Seventh Sword - Yaoguang.
The eagle shaman's face was twisted into hatred as she collapsed. Her body turned into a blue light that flew back to the Tengri Chaos World regardless of the Nine Curve Yellow River Array's obstruction. Soon after, the maze-like walls of haunting yellow disappeared as Yunxiao canceled the formation.
"Senior Sister." Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao glanced at Sacred Mother Wudang.
"Let's hurry and return, we have no time to waste," Sacred Mother Wudang said as she flew back toward the Three Realms without giving time to rest.
The Ladies of Three Skies glanced at each other. Yunxiao nodded, and they flew after Sacred Mother Wudang. All three of them were running low on qi and wanted to restore some of them before moving, but they obeyed Sacred Mother Wudang's lead.
However, the three's expressions dimmed when they saw what stood between them and the Three Realms. Sacred Mother Wudang's expression was grave but not surprised. "As I expected."
An army of ten million strong awaited them. What was worse was the two thousand shamans standing in front of them. Even if they only had the strength of the weakest Earth Immortals, it was more than enough to defeat the four Interception Sect disciples in their worn state.
"W-what do we do?" Bixiao, the only one to openly show her fear, asked.
Sacred Mother Wudang unsheathed her sword. "We take down as many as possible and make them pay the price."
Qiongxiong gritted her teeth and prepared herself. Yunxiao stayed silent but suddenly said, "Senior Sister, you should escape by yourself."
Sacred Mother Wudang paused and turned toward Yunxiao. Not just her, but Qiongxiao and Bixiao looked at her. "You said earlier that you had a method of retreat. Instead of dying with us, you should escape and take revenge for us."
Qiongxiao said nothing as she stared at Sacred Mother Wudang. Bixiao also looked at her, even though fear radiated off of her, she didn't say anything. At the moment of death, no one wanted to die alone, but they couldn't put down their pride and beg Sacred Mother Wudang to waste her life here.
They could only blame themselves for being too rash. Had they not charged in, Sacred Mother Wudang would have been able to retreat safely despite losing the battle.
"Are you mocking me?" Sacred Mother Wudang asked. "I am Saint Redcloud's third disciple. You want me to flee like a coward while abandoning my junior sisters? I'd rather die. Enough, speak no more of this."
Sacred Mother Wudang turned toward the Tengri army. While they were discussing, the two thousand shamans had already started making their way over. The one absolute advantage that they had over the shamans was the ability to fly. Very rarely did a shaman possess the ability to fly, but that didn't mean the four Interception Sect disciples could flee as they liked.
"I'll go first," Sacred Mother Wudang said. She exuded a silver glow, and soon, her figure appeared in front of the shamans. She slashed her sword down and killed two shamans instantaneously before reverting the time around her.
Her actions stunned the charging shamans, giving her time to breathe and continue her offensive.
"Sister, should we set up the Nine Curve Yellow River Array again?" Qiongxiao asked.
Yunxiao shook her head. "No, we'll only drain our qi faster. See how far the mortals are from the shaman? Even if we had enough qi, the range of our array would barely reach them. That is if we can even muster enough qi to form the artificial river vein in the first place."
"We only used the technique once in the World Nexus, yet they were able to know its range and weaknesses in such a short amount of time," Yunxiao lamented. "I never thought they would possess such an advanced information network."
"Then w-what should we do?" Bixiao asked.
Yunxiao gazed at Bixiao. Although the three of them were nearly the same age, Bixiao was still the most immature of the three. Perhaps it was the way they and Zhao Gongming pampered her. "We do as Senior Sister said. Even if we fall here today, we must make them pay the price. We, the Ladies of Three Skies, are the disciples of a Saint, and we must not cower and allow the world to scorn us."
Bixiao bit her lips as tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. Still, she unsheathed her sword and glared hatefully at the Tengri mortals and shamans. She and her sisters charged behind Scared Mother Wudang.
The four Interception Sect disciples cleaved through the shamans, culling one every few minutes, but they were just too much. After felling a hundred of them, the four took to the skies to dodge the ranged attacks of the shamans. The number of attacks had grown too numerous, leaving no room for them to counterattack.
If this continued, they would be struck down and captured or killed by the Tengri aliens. Even if they only dodged, their qi would start to dwindle, eventually leaving them helpless.
Finally, one of them was struck by the shamans' ranged attack. Qiongxiao bit back a scream as a blue bolt of energy struck her arm, altering her trajectory and placing her in the path of more bolts. Just as she prepared to withstand the blows, a silver-robed figure stood in front of her and deflected the incoming bolts.
"Senior Sister!" Qiongxiao cried out as Sacred Mother Wudang grunted. One of the bolts slipped through her sword strikes and landed solidly on her abdomen.
"I'm fine," Sacred Mother Wudang said as she wiped the trail of saliva trailing down her chin.
Qiongxiao didn't ask anymore, and a hint of despair entered her eyes as she and Sacred Mother Wudang split to dodge the blue bolts again. Although they had already prepared themselves for death, the accumulating hopelessness gave rise to despair-fueled terror.
Sacred Mother Wudang tightened the grip around her sword. Her qi reservoir was nearing zero; she could become powerless at any moment. "I'd rather die than become helpless!"
Sacred Mother Wudang stilled and held the sword in front of her. The first star, the one closest to the hilt, on the Beidou Sword started increasing the intensity of its radiance. "First Sword - Tians—!"
Her words halted in her throat as a change in the situation occurred. Screams of pain and terror erupted from the Tengri army's backline as thousands of them were blasted into the air and to their deaths. Not only that, but many of them started to fall with abnormal colors sprouting on their skin. Some coughed out blood first before they fell dead.
"Senior Brother, Senior Sister!" Sacred Mother Wudang called out upon seeing who had arrived.
Daoist Duobao charged through the army with numerous spiritual artifacts circling around him. Beside him, Sacred Mother Jinling wielded a large halberd and shredded through the mortals of Tengri.
A sense of calm and safety appeared in Sacred Mother Wudang's heart. She trusted the two's judgment. Since they dared to save her, then they had a method of retreat. She turned toward the Ladies of Three Skies. "Just hold on for a bit longer!"
The intensity of the shaman's attack increased. They needed to kill or capture Sacred Mother Wudang, Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao as soon as possible. Perhaps because of the poison or disease Daoist Duobao unleashed, the Tengri army was thrown into disarray and could no longer provide belief for the shamans.
"Junior Sisters!" Daoist Duobao shouted as he and Sacred Mother Jinling charged through the shamans. With a wave of his hand, a thatched boat the size of his palm grew until it could house all six of them. "Hurry and enter, we need to leave as soon as possible."
Sacred Mother Wudang and the Ladies of Three Skies obeyed. None of them had thoughts of overturning the situation and achieving a victory, even with the addition of Daoist Duobao and Sacred Mother Jinling. The number was just too skewed.
Under Daoist Duobao's control, the thatched boat soared toward the Three Realms. Everyone inside sighed in relief, especially the Ladies of Three Skies. Their escape was all but assured.
However, just as they sighed in relief, everything stopped. From the flowing breeze, a swaying stalk, or a bird's wings, nothing moved, including the Interception Sect's disciples inside the thatched boat. They couldn't even move their eyes, but their mind spun rapidly.
They felt this pressure before, and once in recent memories. They could never forget the coercion of Saints. Did the Tengri Chaos World's Saint appear just to deal with them?
The sky above the thatched boat began to distort until it formed a gigantic humanoid clothed in wolf fur. None of the occupants inside the thatched boat could see behind their heads, but all of them could instinctually sense the Skyfather reaching for them.
An even more profound despair assaulted the Ladies of Three Skies and Sacred Wudang Mother. If before, they could at least choose whether to die or be captured on the battlefield; now, they had no choice at all.
At this time, a roar came from the Three Realms. "Tengri, do you think that I, Redcloud, don't exist!"
Sacred Mother Wudang and the other Interception Sect disciples cried out with joy as they felt the invisible shackles around them shatter, returning their freedom. Without concealing anything, Daoist Duobao pushed the thatched boat to its maximum speed.
"Сул дорой," a booming voice reverberated across the World Nexus. Everyone’s bones vibrated with the resonance.
The Interception Sect disciples, who thought they had a chance at escape, froze once more. Yet, the sensation of danger didn't assault them again. Tengri turned his gaze away from them and into the distance, where a silver light materialized. The silver light transformed into a twenty-meters-high humanoid figure with butterfly wings wrapped around her like a shawl.
Upon gazing at the white-robed figure, Sacred Mother Wudang entered a daze. The Law of Time surrounding the white-robed figure overwhelmed the Golden Immortal.
Shitian raised an eyebrow at Sacred Mother Wudang's stupor. "It seems you are quite lucky. Just glancing at me allowed you to save time on your comprehension of the Law of Time for who knows how many years."
Tongtian's Past Incarnation waved her hand, and a silver light encapsulated the thatched boat, teleporting it out of the World Nexus. Then, she turned toward the sole god of the Tengri Chaos World.
With a wave of her hand, a segmented sword appeared in her hand. This was the innate spiritual artifact, the Kunwu River Sword, reforged by Tongtian using the fragmented Kunwu Sword and Kunwu Whip. As Shitian swung, the segments split, turning into a whip sword and kept together only by silver qi.
Her butterfly wings unfurled, spreading silver dust around her and distorting the time flow in the area. Shitian slashed the Kunwu River Sword, launching a vortex of silver crescents toward Tengri.
In response, Tengri clenched his fist and punched forward. The silver crescent lacerated his skin and revealed the empty innards of his body, but the punch didn't stop. It crushed the vortex and struck Shitian, causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood as she was launched tens of thousands of kilometers.
When Shitian came to a halt, her form drifted between illusion and reality. She wiped the trailing blood from her chin, and the Kunwu River Sword returned to its dormant state. Her gaze never left Tengri as her form dissolved into the air, this time voluntarily.
Tengri's gaze lingered at the spot where Shitian disappeared before his form dissipated and became the sky once more.
On the Throne of Heaven, Tongtian opened her eyes as she felt Shitian return to her. 'Powerful, far more powerful than me. Only Second Brother is comparable in power to Tengri.'
Tongtian didn't dwell on her discoveries for much longer, looking at her guests. They were Daiost Duobao, Sacred Mother Jinling, Sacred Mother Wudang, Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao, who her Past Incarnation rescued.
As the eldest disciple, Daoist Duobao stepped forward. "We thank the Heavenly Lord of the Immeasurable for taking action and saving our lives."
Tongtian smiled. "No need, your master was already rushing toward the World Nexus when Tengri appeared. I was simply nearby and saved you for convenience’s sake."
"Be that as it may, we shan't forget this grace," Daoist Duobao continued.
Tongtian chuckled, amused. Her eyes drifted to Sacred Mother Wudang before averting them. "Alright, Redcloud should arrive soon."
Her words proved true as Shuixing led Redcloud Ancestor and Sacred Mother Guiling into Eminence Heaven Palace.