Even hybrid monsters have their day

"No, those were things the demons did in secret. I've confronted Haotian about it more than once, but he completely ignores me. I feel like he's doing something big..."

Unifying the six realms—how could that not be a major event? Geng Miaowan thought to herself. Then she asked, "Was it also you who arranged for Sect Leader Miao to be injured by the demons?"

Upon hearing this, he shook his head repeatedly, "No, I watched Renfeng grow up, how could I let them attack him? I don't want to hurt anyone..."

If Geng Miaowan hadn't known his feelings for the Green Mountain Sect, she really wanted to punch him again. For such a small matter, so many Green Mountain Sect disciples had died unjustly, and even the sect's thousand-year-old foundation was at risk. However, when she saw the desolate expression on his face, she couldn't help but feel sad. Everyone has selfish desires; he had hurt so many people because of his wrong decision. He must have been more heartbroken than anyone else.

After speaking, Yin Qianze coughed up a mouthful of blood due to anger and frustration. His whole body swayed and trembled like leaves on an autumn tree, as if he might fall at any moment.

At this moment, the spiritual energy within the formation trembled slightly, and the vitality within it also quivered gently.

"This is..." Yin Qianze's face turned even paler than before, almost as pale as Haotian outside, as she seemed to have thought of something. "I will absolutely not let the Green Mountain Sect be destroyed by my own selfish desires."

Even if it costs me my life, I would not hesitate!

His perpetually cloudy eyes had never been as bright as they were now.

Geng Miaowan sensed a change in the atmosphere around her. She looked at Yin Qianze, who was gathering his energy beside her, and asked, "What are you trying to do?"

"There's another way to activate the mountain-protecting formation. Although the effect will be reduced, it won't be a problem to drive away those demons outside," he said, as if talking to himself.

"any solution?"

Yin Qianze did not answer her directly, but only said to her, "If you see Renfeng, please apologize to him for me, and please apologize to all the disciples of the Qingshan Sect for me."

These words sounded ominous, like a deathbed message. He looked at her, seemingly waiting for her answer. She could only nod.

Yin Qianze then closed her eyes with relief, muttering something under her breath.

A moment later, a burst of red light erupted from his body, the immense energy shoving Geng Miaowan back several steps. As the red light appeared, Yin Qianze's face visibly paled. Even his exposed hands began to wither rapidly.

Geng Miaowan was startled. "What are you trying to do!"

She actually knew what he was doing. He was forcibly squeezing out the essence and blood energy in his body at the cost of burning his own life. As the spiritual energy became thicker and thicker, even the surrounding air began to churn.

Without thinking, she tried to rush over to stop him, but the spiritual energy formed a vortex around Yin Qianze, forcibly isolating her. With his last ounce of will, Yin Qianze glanced at Geng Miaowan and said, "Miss Geng, there's no need for this. I will naturally make amends for the sins I've committed." After a moment, he murmured, seemingly with a sigh, "It's just that I won't have the chance to go down below and apologize to those Qingshan Sect disciples who died unjustly..."

The tone of his voice made Geng Miaowan feel a pang of sadness, and her eyes stung. She knew what he meant, because the person casting this spell would burn away their soul along with it, only in this way could they release greater energy.

At this moment, everyone on the training ground clearly felt a powerful spiritual force surging out from the direction of the main hall, containing enormous energy. Miao Renfeng, who was familiar with Yin Qianze, unconsciously frowned; he sensed that the energy seemed to belong to Yin Qianze.

Burning his life? Why would he do that?

Suddenly, a dark figure darted out from the direction of the main hall. He focused his attention and his expression changed drastically. The dark figure was carrying the Green Mountain Sect's most precious treasure. The box was covered with a special restriction, which he had sensed with just a slight probe.

Before he could give chase, the dark figure leaped into the darkness and disappeared into the night as soon as it left the main hall.

Miao Renfeng looked towards the main hall, and suddenly understood why Yin Qianze had done this. His face was filled with a mixture of overwhelming emotion and grief. He turned and glared at Tian Hao, his eyes blazing with fury.

Haotian was also taken aback by the astonishing energy. He could sense that someone was releasing energy at the cost of their life, because there was a trace of a soul within that energy. However, he didn't know what that person wanted to do, and he had a vague feeling that something bad was about to happen.

He was about to gesture to his men to retreat when Miao Renfeng interrupted him with a flick of his whisk. Huangfu Aoran and Xu Ruwen also seized the opportunity to launch another attack on him.

Geng Miaowan had been forced into a corner by that energy, the air currents it created making it almost impossible for her to open her eyes. Finally, Yin Qianze could no longer utter a single word. The energy entered the base of the Heavenly Mystery in a strange manner, where there was a small black hole, which was probably meant to hold that stone.

The hole looked small, not even as big as a fist, but it seemed like a bottomless pit, rapidly absorbing energy from the outside. In just a few breaths, it had sucked in all the turbulent energy in the air.

After the last bit of energy was absorbed into the cave, the huge magic circle drawn on the ground suddenly lit up, each character radiating a strong, spiritual white light. The white light then took on the shape of characters and slowly rose into the air, intertwining and shifting in the air.

More and more white light joined in, and it gradually contracted inward, becoming smaller and smaller, yet brighter and brighter, so dazzling that it was like the sun in the sky, making it impossible to open one's eyes. Finally, it formed a ball of light the size of an egg, and then entered the base of the celestial mystery again.

As soon as the energy storm in the air disappeared, Geng Miaowan rushed to Yin Qianze's side and found him smiling as he looked in the direction of the heavens, motionless and no longer breathing.

At this moment, a dazzling light shot out from Tianji, slowly opening up at the top of Tianji to form a transparent barrier that covered Tianji from above.

Is this the mountain-protecting formation that Yin Qianze mentioned? Geng Miaowan glanced at the spiritual energy barrier with a puzzled look. Although she could sense a strong spiritual energy inside, she didn't know how it was supposed to drive away those demons.

Just then, the barrier suddenly trembled, and then trembled again after about two seconds. This repeated several times. Geng Miaowan noticed that each time it trembled, the area it covered expanded a little. The barrier that originally only covered the Heavenly Secrets now covered half of the magic array.

She thought to herself, "Could this thing keep getting bigger and eventually cover the entire Green Mountain?"

The intervals between the barrier's tremors became shorter and shorter. Once it covered the entire magic array, it rapidly expanded outwards at the speed of a gust of wind.

Things happened exactly as she expected, yet they also exceeded her expectations. (To be continued.)