Ms. Diviner: The Prodigal Daughter's Return Chapter 1456: Little Qiongqi’s Furious Assault

She recalled how, in the past, she had poured her own blood into the Heavenly Destiny Star Plate to save Ye Yanran. When her drop of blood mingled with Ye Yanran’s, it transformed into a droplet of golden essence.

Despite the intricate and malevolent nature of the black-clothed figures' dark arts, their ultimate objective remained the same.

What could be the underlying cause for this?

One by one, the figures in black slashed their own wrists, allowing their blood to spurt forth like a geyser, cascading into the Blood Pool.

Their violent trembling clearly indicated the immense agony they endured, yet their incantations intensified, becoming more fervent and possessed, exuding a morbidly eerie aura.

Mu Hanyan found the scene unsettlingly familiar. Reflecting, she remembered witnessing a comparable altar during the prior annihilation of the Guiyu Clan, although the Guiyu Clan's altar was considerably smaller. While she hadn't observed their use of dark sorcery firsthand, it seemed unlikely the methods would differ significantly.

However, at that time, the Guiyu Clan was obliterated by his blade, and their remains were subsequently taken by Yun Qianmo. How could the dark sorcery of the Guiyu Clan manifest here?

"You detestable fiends, how dare you inflict harm upon the descendants of the Xia family? I shall fight you to the bitter end!" From a distance, Xia Youchen's anguished cry reverberated.

Mu Hanyan and the others, jolted from their stupor by the bizarre ambiance surrounding the altar, snapped back to awareness. Glancing up, they beheld Xia Youchen, consumed by fiery rage, his longsword a blur of wild slashes and chops. After a period of absence, Xia Youchen's power had finally been restored to the Great Sword Master Realm, yet his body was now riddled with wounds, blood streaming profusely, evident signs of severe injury.

A dozen Sword Masters, similarly clad in black sword attire and veils, encircled them. The prowess of these individuals was palpably inferior to Xia Youchen's; the most formidable among them attained only the Seventh Rank Sword Master level. Under Xia Youchen's ferocious, tiger-like assault, they too sustained numerous sword gashes and abrasions, but surprisingly, only faint traces of blood seeped from their wounds, with no gushing to speak of, and their combat effectiveness remained undiminished.

Sword Spirit Puppets! Mu Hanyan's heart gave a slight lurch.

Previously, at Flying Peak, she had encountered Fourth Miss Zhao's Death Spirit Sword Slave, an artifact painstakingly refined from the residual essence of a potent soul. Sword Spirit Puppets bore a resemblance, though they were forged from living beings. While they, too, had relinquished their self-awareness, their might remained entirely unimpaired, vastly surpassing that of Death Spirit Sword Slaves. Consequently, their creation was inherently more barbaric.

Due to the excessively cruel and wicked methods employed in the refinement of death spirits, this practice was rigorously forbidden by the nations of the Holy Court Continent many years prior, and the refining techniques were subsequently lost.

It was entirely unexpected for Sword Spirit Puppets to surface here.

Fixing his gaze upon the aged woman positioned on the altar, Xia Youchen's eyes seemed poised to erupt. With a sudden surge, he ascended into the air, breaking free from the encircling Sword Spirit Puppets, and charged directly towards the altar.

Several Sword Spirit Puppets, without hesitation, rose to intercept him, their movements devoid of any semblance of reverence or fear, appearing utterly vacant and detached despite Xia Youchen's significantly superior might.

Xia Youchen unleashed his longsword, a piercing torrent of Sword Light savagely raking across their torsos. Several of them tumbled as if broken kites, their strings severed. Nevertheless, this momentary delay allowed several frigid sword edges to carve into his back, eliciting sprays of blood.

Xia Youchen stumbled, collapsing onto the ground, once again ensnared by the dozen Sword Spirit Puppets. Those previously sent hurtling away now careened back, their chest wounds horrifyingly deep, exposing stark white bone, yet their combat efficacy appeared entirely unaffected by their movements.

This precisely illustrated the terrifying attribute of Sword Spirit Puppets: not only were their capabilities preserved, but they were impervious to pain and fear, retaining a degree of intelligence while utterly lacking self-awareness.

Dozens of longswords descended simultaneously towards Xia Youchen. Although his strength had been reinstated to the Great Sword Master Realm, he was now on the verge of complete exhaustion, utterly incapable of repelling these relentless, fearless Sword Spirit Puppets.

Mu Hanyan, naturally, would not stand idly by while Xia Youchen met his demise before her very eyes. With a sharp, clear cry, she propelled herself towards him.

"Nine Heavens, Star Fall," Mu Hanyan enunciated with crisp determination.

Five Sword Spirit Puppets abruptly lifted their heads, their longswords raised defensively before them.

The piercing radiance of the Cold Sky Sword swept forth in a diagonal arc, sending several of them spiraling away.

Even without engaging the might of the Five Great Magical Instruments, Mu Hanyan was, in essence, a true Great Sword Master. Logically, these Sword Spirit Puppets, possessing only the strength of Sixth or Seventh Rank Sword Masters, should have suffered shattered internal organs and ruptured meridians, leaving them with no possibility of survival had they borne the brunt of such a direct assault.

However, as the Sword Light flashed past, it inflicted only a foot-long, bone-deep gash beneath their ribs, a wound so profound it revealed bone, yet strangely, not a single drop of blood emerged.

Alongside her, Huayue and the others also deployed their innate divine skills in unison. Ribbons of Sword Light danced, repelling the remaining Sword Spirit Puppets. Despite their efforts, Mu Hanyan found herself unable to fell them, and with their Eighth and Ninth Rank Sword Master strength, delivering a fatal blow to these Sword Spirit Puppets seemed an impossible feat.

Those few Sword Spirit Puppets merely recoiled a few steps. Then, with their flesh and bones laid bare by the sword wounds, they menacingly continued their assault on Xia Youchen, seemingly indifferent to Mu Hanyan and her companions. This grim persistence was another terrifying characteristic of Sword Spirit Puppets: once commanded to attack, they would relentlessly pursue their objective, even with their last breath, unless utterly annihilated.

Xia Youchen, now consumed by overwhelming grief and fury, coupled with the profound blood loss from his injuries, found his mind growing somewhat disoriented. Witnessing the Sword Spirit Puppets advance once more, he let out a loud laugh, charging directly at them, utterly disregarding his own life and death in a desperate bid for mutual destruction.

"Awooo..." Just then, a beastly silhouette streaked like a whirlwind; Little Qiongqi had leaped onto the battlefield.

Little Qiongqi’s fur bristled, its entire form appearing to inflate, radiating an aura of immense majesty with its elegant yet formidable posture, reminiscent of the legendary arrival of a Beast God standing guard beside Xia Youchen.

All around them, sword shadows flickered incessantly, weaving a virtual net of blades to ensnare the pair.

Mu Hanyan questioned herself, musing that if she were to be caught in such a relentless sword net without relying on brute force, escaping would prove challenging even with her advanced movement techniques. Yet, within this swirling vortex, Little Qiongqi remained unfazed. It let out a furious roar, spinning with astonishing speed like a top, tracing a path that was both graceful and sinuous.

Every longsword that lunged towards it narrowly missed its mark. Its claws whipped through the air with incredible speed, launching potent Wind Blades propelled by the momentum of its rapid spin, creating a tempest of formidable Qi Blades.

"Szzzzz..." Amidst soft hissing sounds, Wind Blades tore through the Sword Spirit Puppets. Though no blood flowed again, deep, crisscrossing wounds appeared, some even severing entire sections of flesh. These remnants were then pulverized by the dense Wind Blades, cascading down like a shower of lethal raindrops.

Mu Hanyan’s stomach churned violently, almost provoking her to vomit.