The Tide Turns Overseas – Betrayal

“Do it.” The middle-aged man’s low murmur was followed by a hand seal. The ghost head before him howled, opened its fanged maw, and lunged ferociously at Extreme Yin Ancestor.

At the same time, the magic tools and treasures of Han Li and the others launched forth, a torrent of light sweeping toward the traitors of the Sublime Sound Sect across the field.

Opposite them, Elder Zhao and the others were not about to stand idle. They shot out their own streams of color to meet the assault.

In an instant, a chaos of artifacts and treasures intertwined.

Extreme Yin Ancestor cast a faint glance at the scene, then turned his gaze to the ghost head flying toward him. A cold smirk touched his lips. He released the two black fireballs from his hands.

The fireballs warped in midair, turning into two finger-thick ink-black serpents. With a whistling sound, they darted like arrows into the ghost head’s gaping maw.

The middle-aged man’s face shifted. He knew something was wrong.

The ghost head halted. Its skull began to distend. With a bang it exploded, spewing a torrent of black demonic flame.

At the sight, the middle-aged man’s complexion turned pale. But he drew a deep breath and a resolute look settled on his face.

He slapped the back of his own head, and a thumb-sized orb slowly emerged from between his brows—delicate, flawless white, radiating a faint, misty chill.

“Brother Redflame, this old fiend’s Heavenly Corpse Fire can only be checked by an extreme-Yin, ultimate-cold treasure. I’ll use this ‘Cold Dawn Pearl’ to draw his attention; you find an opening to trap him with your Profound Water Demon Art. Only then do we stand a chance.” After the orb appeared, the middle-aged man immediately transmitted his words to the Crimsonflame Elder hidden in the dark cloud above.

A low, muffled “hm” came from the cloud, lifting the middle-aged man’s spirits.

He hesitated no longer. Opening his mouth wide, he spat out a ball of blood mist that enveloped the pearl.

The pearl spun once, absorbing the blood mist completely. Then the white aura contracted and expanded, condensing into a massive silver orb a full yard in diameter—blinding, imposing.

“Old fiend, taste the power of a Cold Dawn Pearl forged from abyssal crystal!” The middle-aged man ground his teeth at Extreme Yin Ancestor, his expression twisted with venom.

He pointed at the Cold Dawn Pearl and spat a single syllable: “Go!”

The silver orb trembled lightly, then issued a clear hum. In an instant it transformed into a white python as thick as a bowl, hurtling toward Extreme Yin Ancestor.

“Oh?” Extreme Yin Ancestor betrayed a flicker of surprise.

But the emotion vanished as he sneered dismissively. He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, and eight streams of black qi, thick as earthenware bowls, surged from his back.

The streams of qi were remarkably agile; after tumbling once in the air, they turned into several wolf-type demon beasts of different shapes, claws outstretched as they shot toward the white python.

The middle-aged man’s eyebrows shot up. He shouted and continuously flicked his ten fingers, sending seals of every color striking the python.

The python’s eyes flashed green. It coiled itself and spat out a thick sheet of white freezing mist, which erased the wolf-shaped beasts in an instant and continued to surge toward Extreme Yin Ancestor without pause.

Now Extreme Yin Ancestor betrayed a hint of genuine interest. But without any change in expression, he casually traced a line before him with one hand. With a soft puff, a thick black wall of light rose from the ground, blocking the freezing mist.

“Now, Brother Redflame—strike!” Seeing that the white freezing mist had momentarily drawn Extreme Yin Ancestor’s full attention, the middle-aged man hastily transmitted to the Crimsonflame Elder in the cloud.

“Good!” The Crimsonflame Elder’s voice came without hesitation.

Abruptly, a loud thunderclap sounded above the middle-aged man’s head. The dark cloud swelled rapidly and began to roil and churn, then crashed downward like a thunderbolt.

“Crimsonflame, you…” The middle-aged man let out a horrified cry before the endless black cloud, a hundred yards wide, swallowed him.

At the same time, Extreme Yin Ancestor let out a cackling laugh. A massive black hand shot out from the blinding white fog, appearing before the white python in an instant. It grabbed the python and squeezed with brutal force. The python’s form dissolved, reverting to its original pearl.

But the pearl flickered madly in the giant hand, releasing cold—unwilling to yield.

Within the thunder and flame, the middle-aged man’s enraged roar echoed out.

“Old fiend! Redflame! You two have conspired together all along!” His voice dripped with bottomless regret and venom.

“Hmph. You were simply too stupid. Play a while with Redflame. I’ll finish off the others first, then return to reminisce about our master-apprentice bond.” As these words fell, the black hand’s light faded, revealing Extreme Yin Ancestor.

He gave a cold glance at the dark cloud, then looked at the Cold Dawn Pearl in his hand. Without hesitation, he opened his mouth and expelled a wisp of black qi that wrapped around the pearl.

The pearl’s light immediately dimmed, its brilliance lost.

Seeing this, Extreme Yin Ancestor’s icy face showed a trace of smugness. With a flip of his hand, the pearl vanished without a trace.

From the Crimsonflame Elder’s sudden betrayal to Extreme Yin Ancestor pocketing the Cold Dawn Pearl—it had all happened in the blink of an eye, but it left the Meng brothers and their allies, who had believed themselves victorious, staring dumbfounded.

Zi Ling’s beautiful eyes held an expression of utter disbelief.

But most of them quickly grasped the situation. They exchanged glances and immediately withdrew their treasures, which had been pressing Elder Zhao and his group, then scattered in silence in every direction.

None of them were fools. In this situation, fighting head-on meant certain death.

Scatter and flee—each man for himself.

The fastest to escape were, of course, the several Core Formation cultivators.

Yet surprisingly, the three female cultivators—Zi Ling, Madam Fan, and Zhuo Ruting—had somehow combined their power into a single stone-tablet-shaped artifact, riding a tricolor beam of light at a speed that rivaled the Core Formation cultivators.

But the fastest to move were Han Li and Qu Hun, who had already been poised to bolt.

Almost the moment the Crimsonflame Elder ambushed the middle-aged man, Han Li and Qu Hun withdrew their treasures and, without a word, transformed into yellow and green streaks of light—already fleeing ahead of everyone.

By the time the other cultivators reacted and took flight, Han Li had already covered thirty or forty yards. He turned his head to glance behind him.

What he saw made him furrow his brow.

The Core Formation cultivators of the Hidden Kill Sect had not all fled. Instead, the four who had appeared with the middle-aged man had united to launch a furious assault on Crimsonflame Elder and Extreme Yin Ancestor. A frantic, suicidal mania burned in their eyes—they were attacking without any thought of defense.

For a moment, the two old fiends were actually thrown into disorder and could not extricate themselves.

Han Li’s heart leaped with joy.

“Good! I didn’t expect them to all be Demonic Core projections. In that case, I’ll grant you your wish!” Extreme Yin Ancestor’s enraged laughter rang out.

In the next instant, one of the four cultivators let out a miserable scream. Black flames surged over his body, and he turned to nothing.

A chill ran down Han Li’s spine. He dared not look any longer. He turned back and urgently poured mana into his Green Ember Sword.

But he could not help casting a strange glance at Qu Hun.

Those words—“Demonic Core,” “projection”—finally shattered the vague barrier in his mind.

He had long suspected that the “Profound Yin Art” that Wuchou practiced was somehow connected to the Profound Yin Scripture mentioned in the Yue Emperor’s jade slip.

Now, hearing Extreme Yin Ancestor say “Demonic Core, projection,” his suspicion was confirmed.

One was in Tiannan, the other in the Chaotic Star Sea—the link was probably through the ancient teleportation array. Most likely the same one he himself had used to come here.

Now he thought about it, the five-colored skeleton beside that ancient teleportation array was indeed highly suspicious.

Besides, though he had sensed something was off, the Crimsonflame Elder’s sudden betrayal had truly taken him by surprise.

Here he was, having just formed his Core, and his first real fight had ended just as ignominiously as when he was at Foundation Establishment—fleeing for his life.

Bitterness welled up in his chest. This was absurdly frustrating.

But he could not shake the feeling that this situation was eerily similar to the hunt for the Koi Infant Beast. Two supposedly hostile parties, and then one side suddenly switched allegiance and started butchering their own allies.

He could not help but recall that token carved with a vicious ghost head.

He felt that everything might somehow be connected to it.

But he could only think so far. Behind him, two more screams rang out, tightening the knot in his heart.

Now the only thing that could save him was if Extreme Yin Ancestor’s overconfidence had truly prevented him from laying any hidden stratagem.

(Whew! Sorry for the delay—had to finish up other matters first. I’ll keep writing as usual!)

(End of chapter)