155 The Four Seasons and the Four Maidens

The fluctuations of magical power around Ye Bing gradually returned to calm.

Until... her vast and boundless magical power completely converged and vanished!

Losing all support, her entire body suddenly plunged downward.

Pang Yue hurriedly flashed forward and caught her soft form in a horizontal embrace.

The beautiful matron seemed to have fallen into a deep slumber.

Only the snowflake imprint between her eyebrows bore an eerie trace of purple, flickering uncertainly.

Pang Yue furrowed his brows deeply, summoned the Grand Dao Desolate Pagoda, and carried the matron inside.

On the crystal-white jade bed, Ye Bing lay motionless.

Pang Yue stood at the head of the bed, his gaze shifting thoughtfully.

"Senior Yi?"

He asked as if speaking to himself.

"What is it?"

A cold and languid voice resounded within his sea of consciousness.

Pang Yue asked, "Is there a way to save her?"

"There is."

Yi Ling replied indifferently.

Pang Yue's expression stirred, and he said with joy, "Please, Senior, impart your wisdom."

Yi Ling sneered, "Why should I?"

Pang Yue chuckled softly, "Are you tricking me, Senior Yi? Why don't you tell me first how to save her?"

Silence hung within the sea of consciousness for a moment.

After a while, Yi Ling's voice sounded once more: "Her sea of consciousness has been invaded by an alien demon attempting to seize her soul. Although the demon is currently at a disadvantage, they are clearly still locked in a stalemate. To save her, you must rely on external force—ideally, you entering her sea of consciousness to lend her a hand."

"Since you were able to refine the Universe Light Heavenly Demon into a demonic talisman avatar, your attainments in soul mastery must be extraordinary. Saving her should not be a difficult task for you."

Pang Yue nodded slightly: "The method of saving her that Senior mentioned is the technique of soul projection into another's body, is it not?"

"Correct."

Yi Ling said proudly: "This technique is exclusive to my South Sea Qianluo Palace. Aside from Buddhism's Great Dream Heart Scripture, Heavenly Demon Demonic Intent, and alien demon divine abilities, which bear some similarity, there is no other art like it in the world."

Pang Yue stated plainly: "Since that is the case, Senior, state your conditions."

Ye Bing's situation was critical; the longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be.

Seizing the opportunity to extort him, Yi Ling demanded, "Lift the restriction on my soul, and I will pass this divine ability to you."

Pang Yue laughed in spite of himself: "Then there is nothing to discuss. Rest well, Senior, and I shall think of another way."

"Then let us change the condition."

Yi Ling smiled faintly: "How about refining a certain type of pill for me?"

Pang Yue was surprised and asked, "For healing wounds?"

Yi Ling answered, "Correct."

With that, the names of dozens of rare spiritual herbs appeared within Pang Yue's sea of consciousness.

Every single one of them was unimaginably precious.

Yet the most crucial recipe was not revealed.

Pang Yue pondered for a moment and said, "Deal."

"You truly are a seed of deep affection..."

Yi Ling chuckled and immediately transmitted the divine ability into Pang Yue's sea of consciousness.

Disregarding Yi Ling's teasing, Pang Yue directly drove the Primordial Wuji Stele and quickly comprehended the divine ability.

Soul leaving the body, soul entering the body.

What Yi Ling had said was indeed true; this divine ability was truly exquisite beyond compare.

At the same time, Pang Yue verified that Yi Ling had not left any hidden traps or malicious tricks within the technique to harm him.

Immediately afterward.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, formed hand seals with both hands, and a dark golden radiance flashed briefly across his forehead, sinking into Ye Bing's brow.

...

A boundless ocean formed entirely of purple thunder.

Floating above it were four enormous, crystal-clear, ice-blue snowflakes.

These four snowflakes rose and fell within the sea of thunder, heavily battered by endless lightning, showing faint signs of shattering.

A tall, handsome man clad in dark golden ceremonial robes appeared above the sea of thunder.

It was none other than Pang Yue's soul.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked at the scene before him and sighed, "The Three Tribulations of the Golden Core are indeed unfathomably strange and perilous to the extreme."

Who would have imagined that a grand cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core realm could fall into such a state without the slightest power to resist?

Rumble!

From within the ocean of thunder, a giant hand of purple lightning suddenly reached out, violently grabbing toward Pang Yue.

Without making any extravagant movements, Pang Yue caused a sword intent capable of splitting the void to appear out of thin air.

The purple thunder hand was instantly split in two and dissipated into the air as bolts of lightning.

After a brief, probing test, the sea of thunder subsided, ignoring Pang Yue and instead surging with even more ferocious brutality toward the four snowflakes.

Those crystalline and delicate snowflakes drifted up and down like small boats amidst stormy seas, colliding and emitting brilliant brilliance.

Pang Yue's figure flickered as he arrived directly above one of the snowflakes, quietly dropping into it and vanishing from sight.

...

Pang Yue felt his vision blur before he found himself in an unfamiliar realm.

Spring was bright and sunny.

A scenic plain came into view.

Across the plain, fragrant grass stretched out endlessly like embroidery.

Sparse groves of trees dotted the grassland here and there, forming green canopies or bursting with full-blossomed flowers of brilliant purples, dazzling reds, and delicate yellows.

The weather was clear, gentle, and the daylight delightful.

In the distance, cloud-capped peaks supported the sky, rising abruptly from flat ground, crowded with stone bamboo shoots and lush moss showing various shades of green, looking as though they were dripping with moist vitality.

Further ahead lay a pond of clear, pellucid water, bottomless and tranquil.

Beside the pond stood a ring of tall, straight ancient pine and cedar trees, with a carpet of green grass beneath them, creating an exceptionally pristine and open vista.

Above the pond, a dozen rays of spiritual light collided in fierce combat.

Looking closely, it turned out to be a dozen youths in purple robes jointly besieging a young girl of about seven or eight years of age!

The little girl's facial features vaguely resembled those of Ye Bing.

Whether it was the young girl or the purple-robed youths, all of them exhibited combat prowess at the early Golden Core stage.

Those purple-robed youths struck with peerless ruthlessness, employing ancient, bizarre, and immensely powerful thunder techniques.

Struggling desperately to hold her ground, the young girl relied solely on a ball of ice-flame to protect herself, dealing with the assault in sheer exhaustion.

With tear-stained cheeks, the little girl fought while sobbing softly, her ice-flame repeatedly shattered by bolts of lightning, leaving her in a wretched state.

Pang Yue stepped through the void, realizing that his own strength was also confined to the Third Revolution of the Golden Core.

He vaguely guessed that this was due to the nature of this realm; once a soul entered here, cultivation levels were uniformly matched.

He appeared a hundred feet away.

Two purple-robed youths silently broke away from the battle circle and charged toward him.

Pang Yue raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

Clang!

A bell chime rang out.

Dark golden light ripples spread across the air.

The two purple-robed youths were instantly frozen in the void.

Then, Pang Yue pointed a finger.

A brilliant sword beam sliced through the void, and the two figures were instantly chopped into four sections!

Fighting with souls had one distinct advantage for Pang Yue: he could unreservedly unleash the Supreme Nine Swords, the ultimate foundational technique of the Heavenly Sword Sect!

Although his true physical body practiced this supreme swordsmanship, his soul had long since mastered its sword intent.

Coupled with the Universe Light Heavenly Demon, he truly wondered how many cultivators of the same rank in the present era could stand against him.

Seeing this, the remaining purple-robed youths abandoned the little girl and launched a joint attack. A tempest of purple lightning intertwined across the sky, crashing down toward Pang Yue.

Pang Yue laughed aloud, his form instantly transforming into a fiercely sharp sword beam that vanished abruptly before the wave of lightning could fall.

The next moment.

Flashes of sword light flickered continuously across heaven and earth.

With every flash, a purple-robed youth perished.

Shortly after.

The realm returned to serenity.

The pervasive purple lightning vanished.

Pang Yue materialized his form and looked at the little girl.

Raising a hand to wipe away her tears, the little girl looked at Pang Yue with curiosity and asked in a crisp, childish voice, "Mister, are you an immortal sent from heaven to save me?"

Pang Yue was stunned.

Curious, he asked, "Don't you recognize me?"

The little girl shook her head earnestly, a look of recollection crossing her delicate face as she said, "It seems we've never met before."

Uncertain of what to make of this, Pang Yue muttered to himself, wondering if Ye Bing's soul had suffered damage and caused amnesia.

Meanwhile, the little girl flew over to the edge of the pond, sat down on a cyan stone, and dipped her tender, fair little feet into the pond water, splashing ripples as she complained with a wronged expression, "I don't know where those bad guys came from, barging in here for no reason and trying to kill me..."

"Mister, won't you stay here and keep me company?"

She looked at Pang Yue with pure, bright, and pitiful eyes, pleadingly.

Pang Yue stepped to her side, gently patted her head, and said softly, "Don't be afraid. Mister still has to go save someone else elsewhere. Once Mister beats away all the bad guys, I'll come back and accompany you, alright?"

The little girl pouted, tears falling like broken pearls.

"Daddy left, and Mommy left... Mister, are you going to abandon Bing'er too?"

Pang Yue sighed, bent down to wipe away her tears, and coaxed, "Be a good girl, Bing'er. Mister will be right back."

Subconsciously clutching the corner of his garment, the little girl whispered, "Mister, you must remember to come back and protect Bing'er, alright? Bing'er is scared..."

Pang Yue nodded, gave her a gentle hug, and then soared straight up into the sky, vanishing from sight.

Outside the snowflake.

The ocean of thunder continued to churn endlessly, though its might had diminished significantly.

Especially around the snowflake Pang Yue had just entered, the lightning had grown much calmer and weaker.

Without stopping, Pang Yue entered the second snowflake.

...

Torrential rain poured down.

Beneath a gloomy sky, an ice-blue ray of spiritual light tangled with more than twenty streaks of purple lightning, repeatedly bursting into dazzling brilliance.

Pang Yue appeared amidst the curtain of rain.

His power was now at the Sixth Revolution of the Golden Core.

Just like him, the twenty-odd presences locked in fierce combat were also at the mid-Golden Core stage!

Within that ice-blue ray of spiritual light was actually a young maiden.

Around sixteen or seventeen years of age, she possessed pretty facial features and the makings of an absolute beauty, clad in a watery-green skirt and possessing a slim, slender figure.

Using frost to condense various weapons like axes, halberds, hooks, forks, sabers, spears, swords, and shields, she defended herself against the enemy. Her expression showed a trace of panic, but her strikes were quite methodical as she fought and retreated simultaneously.

Yet Pang Yue saw at a glance that she was already at the end of her tether.

Boom!

A deafening roar echoed.

The maiden was swallowed by purple thunder, perishing on the spot.

Yet the next moment, frost gathered in the air, and the maiden's form reappeared.

Only this time, her aura was considerably weaker.

Pang Yue grew contemplative. With a flick of his finger, a bell chime rang out.

Dark golden light ripples spread outward...

Within a hundred miles, raindrops froze in place.

The purple-robed youths and the maiden all stood motionless.

A flash of sword light swept past, dispatching all the purple-robed youths in a flash.

The dark golden ripples dissipated.

With a look of curiosity, the maiden turned her gaze toward Pang Yue.

"Who are you, and why are you in my sea of consciousness?"

Her voice was crisp, melodious, and pleasing to the ear.

Her starry eyes and fair, pretty face bore some resemblance to Ye Bing. At the moment, she looked at Pang Yue with guarded vigilance and coldness.

"I am here to save you."

Pang Yue had no choice but to speak the truth.

The maiden said indifferently, "Thank you, but you may leave now."

Amidst the torrential rain, her slender figure appeared lonely and diminutive across layers of raindrops.

Pang Yue said nothing further and departed on his own accord.

...

Inside the third snowflake.

It was sunset.

The sky was vast and clear, the zenith an expanse of unblemished azure.

Red clouds at the horizon scattered like fine brocade.

In the distance, the sea and sky met in vast expanse, waves roared into the ears, stretching out boundlessly.

Twilight haze hung heavy, and evening shadows closed in from all sides.

The autumn wind was not cold, yet frost was everywhere.

"The first two worlds were spring and summer, so this must be autumn!"

As Pang Yue appeared in this realm, an epiphany arose in his heart.

His magical power realm had already reached the Ninth Revolution of the Golden Core!

At the edge of the sky.

A cold, aloof, and stunningly tall woman was engaged in battle with a group of purple-robed youths.

The woman possessed an icy, noble temperament, a graceful figure, and a peerless face that could be described as breathtakingly beautiful.

She moved gracefully amidst more than a dozen purple-robed youths, wielding a frosted willow branch whose leaves glittered with crystalline light.

While effortlessly blocking her enemies' attacks, she occasionally launched counterattacks, using the sharp willow leaves to decapitate her foes.

The moment Pang Yue appeared in this realm, her sharp, knife-like gaze darted toward him.

"Go elsewhere. You don't need to concern yourself with this place."

The woman commanded with proud lightness.

Pang Yue asked curiously, "Do you know me?"

While speaking, he pointed out a strand of sword light.

The sword light rent the sky apart, carrying a terrifying and heart-palpitating might, faster than lightning, like an illusion before the eyes, vanishing in an instant.

The next moment.

All the purple-robed youths stood frozen in place, split in two!

Surprise appeared on the woman's face as she furrowed her brow and asked, "Who are you?"

Her tone carried a few more shades of respect.

The opponents she had struggled so bitterly against were slain with a single sword strike by the newcomer—it was truly somewhat unfathomable.

Looking at her graceful, proud curves and stunning face, Pang Yue smiled gently and said, "Naturally, I am the one who has come to save you."

With that, without waiting for the woman to say anything more, he soared straight up into the sky and vanished.

The woman looked up into the sky, her beautiful eyes shimmering.

...

Inside the fourth snowflake.

Surrounded by mountains, snow lay white everywhere.

An enormous frosted willow tree connecting heaven and earth stood at the edge of the sky.

Thousands of frosted willow branches lashed and danced, willow leaves sweeping in a tidal wave as they fought against a single purple-robed youth.

Beneath the frosted giant willow stood a beautiful, graceful, and stunning matron.

Looking around thirty-odd years of age, she wore a magnificent long dress, her hair swept up into an elaborate bun, looking radiant and captivating.

At this moment.

The strength she displayed was already that of the Golden Core peak.

The purple-robed youth was equally formidable.

Compared to those within the previous snowflakes, the difference was as vast as clouds and mud!

He had condensed an eerie beast eye in the void beside him, and from within its pupil, boundless lightning erupted, fighting the matron's frosted giant willow to a complete standstill.

Pang Yue quietly appeared in the sky.

The purple-robed youth suddenly sighed softly and said in a clear voice, "Fellow Daoist, you go too far!"

Pang Yue wasted no words.

A grand bell chime resounded through this realm.

Dark golden light ripples rippled forth, blanketing the sky!

With a solemn expression, the purple-robed youth rapidly formed hand seals, causing the beast eye before him to suddenly burst forth with intense, dazzling lightning!

A strange fluctuation rigidly held back the dark golden ripples.

It bought the purple-robed youth merely the fraction of a breath of time!

Yet without the slightest hesitation, he pointed a finger from afar toward Pang Yue!

The next moment.

The dark golden ripples washed over.

The purple-robed youth froze in mid-air, only to be sliced through by a slashing sword beam...

Suddenly feeling a pang of terror in his heart, Pang Yue looked down and saw his own chest suddenly burst open, a bolt of purple lightning blooming within his ribcage like a miniature sun!