The Legend of the Princess' Counterattack

Chapter 424: Tracing the Roots, a Turning Point Appears

Yun Yao and Chu Mochen temporarily stabilized the situation at the spiritual vein. Looking at the thick black fog that was surging and seemed to swallow everything, they were filled with solemnity. The roar of the resentful souls that kept coming out of the black fog was like a devil's sound filling their ears, making people uneasy, as if demonstrating to them, announcing the difficulty of this crisis.

Yun Yao raised her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were still firmly fixed on the black fog, thinking to herself: This evil thing is so difficult to deal with, and it is not only difficult to succeed if we just use brute force to attack it, but it may also cause the sect to fall into an irreparable situation. There must be a way to restrain it, but it has not yet been discovered.

At this moment, the familiar and mysterious prompt of the system sounded quietly in Yun Yao's mind: "There are secrets in the ancient books, hidden in the pavilion. If you look for them, you will have a chance to survive." Yun Yao's spirits lifted, as if she had caught a ray of light in the darkness. She turned to look at Chu Mochen and said anxiously: "Chen, the system prompts that there are clues to deal with this evil thing in the ancient books. Let's go to the library!"

Chu Mochen's eyes flashed with light, and he nodded without hesitation: "Okay, Yao'er, let's go!" At that moment, the two of them moved and rushed towards the library like a gust of wind. Along the way, the sect was still filled with a depressing atmosphere. The disciples looked panicked, gathered in groups of two or three, and whispered about this sudden disaster. Seeing Yun Yao and Chu Mochen passing by, the light of hope ignited in everyone's eyes, and they consciously made way.

The library, this usually quiet and solemn palace of knowledge, seemed to be shrouded in haze at this moment. The heavy door was closed tightly, and the runes around it flickered with a faint light, as if resisting the erosion of the darkness from the outside world. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen came to the door, looked at each other, and stretched out their hands at the same time, injecting spiritual power into the door. With a series of "creaking" sounds, the door slowly opened, and a stale smell came to the face.

Entering the library, one sees rows of towering bookshelves filled with all kinds of ancient books and volumes, dazzling yet disorganized. The dust of the years dances in the dim light, as if telling stories of the past. Yun Yao takes a deep breath, turns on the system's auxiliary perception, and scans the surroundings with a sharp gaze, trying to find the key book from this vast sea of books.

Chu Mochen was not idle either. Relying on his familiarity with the sect's collection of books, he quickly shuttled between the bookshelves, his fingers gently brushing across the ancient books, muttering to himself: "The demon cult from a thousand years ago... sealed..."

Time passed by, and the two found nothing. Anxiety crept in. Yun Yao's forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and she was secretly worried: Since the system gave a hint, it couldn't be that there was no clue. What was the oversight?

Suddenly, Yun Yao caught a glimpse of a half-covered dusty book in the corner of the bookshelf. The book was ancient and yellowed, and the words on the cover were blurred and difficult to read, but it exuded a mysterious atmosphere. Yun Yao's heart moved, and she quickly stepped forward, carefully picked up the book, and gently blew away the dust on it.

"Chen, come quickly!" Yun Yao called out. Chu Mochen came to her side in an instant, his eyes fell on the fragments, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes: "This aura... maybe it is it!"

The two of them could not wait to come to a desk and spread out the fragments. What came into view were ancient and obscure rune patterns and dense, crooked words. These words seemed to be an ancient language that had long been lost, revealing a mysterious charm.

Yun Yao activated the system's analysis function, blue light flashed in her eyes, and she read word by word. As she read deeper, her face became more solemn, while Chu Mochen watched her nervously, not daring to breathe.

After a long while, Yun Yao raised her head, her eyes full of shock and realization: "Chen, it is recorded here that this evil creature is actually the remnant of the Demon Cult that was sealed by several powerful people thousands of years ago! The battle back then was so fierce that it shocked the world and made the gods and ghosts weep. Countless heroes died on the battlefield before the Demon Cult was suppressed. But now, after years of erosion, the seal has loosened, and it took the opportunity to come out, trying to use our sect's spiritual veins to be reborn and set off a bloody storm again."

Chu Mochen clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "We must not let such an evil thing succeed! Yao'er, do you have a way to crack it?"

Yun Yao pointed at a spot on the fragment and said solemnly, "Yes, but it is extremely difficult. We need to find three ancient artifacts and use their divine power to re-strengthen the seal. One of these three artifacts is called the Ice Soul Divine Needle, hidden deep in the Arctic ice field, where it is freezing cold and the environment is extremely harsh, and there are guardian beasts lurking; one is the Flame Soul Jade Seal, sleeping at the bottom of the abyss of the South China Sea, where the water pressure is huge, the undercurrent is surging, and it is mysterious; and there is another one..." Yun Yao paused, frowning, "The whereabouts of this last one is not clearly mentioned in the fragment, it only says that it is related to the power of the stars, and the clues are too vague."

After hearing this, Chu Mochen frowned deeply, weighing the difficulty of this task in his mind. But after a moment, his eyes were filled with determination, and he held Yun Yao's hand and said firmly: "It's okay, Yao'er, even if there are many difficulties, we can't back down. First, go to the Arctic Icefield and the South China Sea Abyss to search for known artifacts. There will always be a way out. Maybe in the process of searching, the clues to the last artifact will surface."

Yun Yao felt the power transmitted in her hands, and warmth flowed in her heart. She nodded slightly: "You are right, Chen. Let's set off now. Time is running out. The safety of the sect depends on us."

After that, the two of them made some preparations, took some necessary elixirs and magic weapons, and resolutely stepped out of the library, rushing towards the outside of the sect. As soon as they left the mountain gate, a gust of cold wind blew in their faces, as if foreshadowing the hardships ahead.

They headed north, traveling day and night. The further north they went, the lower the temperature became, and the cold wind was like a knife, cutting their faces painfully. The mountains and rivers along the way were gradually covered with ice and snow, a vast expanse of white with no end in sight. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen used their spiritual power to resist the severe cold, but even so, their bodies still felt bursts of biting cold.

A few days later, they finally reached the edge of the Arctic ice sheet. Looking around, they saw a world covered in silver. Huge icebergs rose from the ground and towered into the clouds. The ice ridges shone coldly in the sun. The whistling cold wind carried ice and snow particles, which flew freely in the air, forming white curtain walls that blocked people's vision.

"This place is indeed dangerous." Yun Yao tightened her cloak, but her eyes were shining with fighting spirit.

"Yao'er, it's better to be careful." Chu Mochen protected Yun Yao behind him and stepped into the ice field first.

As soon as they stepped in, the ice beneath their feet made a "crackling" sound, as if it would crack at any time. The two moved forward cautiously, relying on their keen perception to avoid the cracks hidden under the ice. Suddenly, a strong blizzard hit, and in an instant, the sky and the earth were covered in white, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you.

Yun Yao was startled, and just as she was about to speak, she felt a huge force coming from the side. She dodged to the side, and saw a huge snow leopard jumping out of the snow, opening its bloody mouth, revealing its sharp fangs, biting towards her. Yun Yao drew her sword, and the spiritual power on the sword surged, and she instantly fought with the snow leopard.

Seeing this, Chu Mochen quickly joined the battle, and the two of them joined forces to engage in a fierce battle with the snow leopard. The snow leopard had thick skin and agile movements, and was like a fish in water in the ice and snow. Every attack was powerful. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen cooperated tacitly, one attacking from above and the other from below, and for a while, they fought the snow leopard to a draw.

However, as the battle continued, they gradually discovered that this snow leopard seemed to be no ordinary beast. Its attacks contained icy spiritual power that could freeze a person's spiritual power. Yun Yao's hands and feet became slower and slower, and she secretly said in her heart, "Chen, this snow leopard is weird, we can't fight it for long!"

Chu Mochen also sensed the danger. His eyes fixed, and he suddenly shouted. The light of the sword in his hand suddenly increased, and he performed a powerful sword technique. Wherever the sword moved, the ice and snow melted, and the snow leopard was forced to retreat. Taking advantage of this gap, the two hurriedly pulled away and ran towards the depths of the ice field.

The snow leopard was chasing them relentlessly, and the two fought and retreated, encountering many dangers on the ice field along the way. There were ice spike traps, where sharp ice spikes suddenly pierced the body if one was not careful; there were also ice fog obstacles, and once you fell into them, you would lose your sense of direction and could only spin in place.

But with firm belief and strong will, Yun Yao and Chu Mochen overcame danger again and again. Finally, at the foot of a huge iceberg deep in the ice field, they felt a strong icy air coming towards them. The air was pure and majestic, completely different from the surrounding cold.

"Could it be the aura of the Ice Soul Divine Needle?" Yun Yao was delighted and quickened her pace to run forward.

After passing the iceberg, an ice cave appeared in front of them, with a strange blue light flashing at the entrance. The two looked at each other and walked into the ice cave carefully. The cave was freezing cold, and the walls were covered with ice ridges, like a crystal palace. At the end of the cave, a long needle was suspended, which was crystal clear and emitted a blue light. Runes were flowing on the needle. It was the Ice Soul Divine Needle!

"Found it!" Yun Yao shouted excitedly.

However, before they could be happy for too long, a roar came from all directions. The ice around the ice cave began to melt, and ice element creatures slowly emerged. They had different shapes, some were humanoid, and some were like beasts. They were all made of pure ice, with cold blue light flashing in their eyes, and they gathered around Yun Yao and Chu Mochen.

"It seems that in order to get the artifact, we have to pass this level." Chu Mochen gripped the sword tightly, stood side by side with Yun Yao, ready to face new challenges.

Yun Yao took a deep breath, and her spiritual power was running to the extreme. The system also gave auxiliary prompts at the critical moment. The two of them used all their strength to fight the ice element creatures to death. These ice element creatures were not afraid of physical attacks, and they could only be destroyed by crushing them with powerful spiritual power. Every attack was like hitting a hard iron block, and the arm was numb.

The battle entered a fierce stage, Yun Yao and Chu Mochen were injured in many places, and their spiritual power was mostly consumed. But they gritted their teeth, supported each other, and with a tenacity that refused to admit defeat, they approached the Ice Soul Needle step by step.

Finally, with her last bit of strength exhausted, Yun Yao rushed forward and reached out to grab the Ice Soul Divine Needle. Instantly, an extremely cold force surged into her body, and her body was instantly covered by a layer of ice, but Yun Yao gritted her teeth and endured it, circulated her spiritual power to tame this force.

After getting the Ice Soul Needle, the two did not dare to stay any longer, and quickly left the ice cave, found a secluded place on the ice field, and began to regulate their breathing and recover. After their spiritual power recovered a little, they rushed to the South China Sea Abyss without stopping.

The South China Sea was turbulent and boundless. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen flew over the sea with their swords. The waves below were surging, and from time to time huge sea beasts broke out of the water, causing waves of turbulent waves. They carefully avoided the sea beasts and headed towards the deep sea.

As the depth increased, the water pressure became greater and greater, and the light became dimmer and dimmer. Yun Yao and Chu Mochen had to use their spiritual power to form a protective light shield outside their bodies to resist the water pressure. Even so, their bodies still felt extremely heavy, and every action became extremely difficult.

After diving for an unknown amount of time, a deep darkness finally appeared before his eyes. That was the South China Sea Abyss. Yun Yao's hand flashed with light, and he sacrificed a lighting orb. The weak light barely illuminated a small area around him.

As soon as they approached the edge of the abyss, a strong suction force came, as if to drag them into endless darkness. Chu Mochen grabbed Yun Yao, and the two of them steadied their bodies and slowly sank to the bottom of the abyss.

Along the way, they saw many strange deep-sea creatures, some of which were ghostly and flashing strange lights; some were huge, baring their teeth and claws, which made people tremble with fear. But at this moment, they had no time to care about them, and they had only one goal in mind - to find the Flame Soul Jade Seal.

Suddenly, a black shadow rushed out from below at high speed and pounced towards Yun Yao. Chu Mochen was quick-witted and swung his sword to cut it off, and the black shadow disappeared instantly. But before they could catch their breath, more black shadows followed. These black shadows seemed to be condensed by dark energy, invisible and intangible, but they could erode spiritual power.

Yun Yao and Chu Mochen continued to dive while resisting the black shadow. Just when their spiritual power was about to run out, a red light appeared at the bottom of the abyss, which was particularly eye-catching in the darkness.

"It's the Flame Soul Jade Seal!" Yun Yao was so excited that her voice trembled.

The two swam hard towards the red light, but before they could get close, a huge octopus monster as big as a mountain jumped out from behind the reef nearby. Its tentacles danced, stirring up powerful water currents, blocking Yun Yao and Chu Mochen's way.

This octopus monster is not only extremely powerful, each of its tentacle contains huge water pressure, which can easily crush boulders. It can also spray ink, which contains corrosive toxins. Once contaminated, the spiritual power protective light shield will be corroded instantly and holes will appear.

Yun Yao and Chu Mochen were in a desperate situation, but they did not give up. With the help of the system, Yun Yao discovered that the octopus monster's weakness was a crystal core on its head. The two of them formulated a strategy, with Chu Mochen distracting the octopus monster's attention while Yun Yao waited for an opportunity to attack its crystal core.

The plan was implemented. Chu Mochen used a sharp sword move to attack the tentacles of the octopus monster, causing the octopus monster to roar angrily and focus most of its attention on him. Yun Yao took the opportunity to go behind the octopus monster, condensed all the spiritual power in his body, and stabbed at the crystal core on its head.

With a "puff" sound, the sword pierced the crystal core, and the octopus monster screamed and its body trembled violently. Yun Yao took the opportunity to grab the Flame Soul Jade Seal and quickly fled with Chu Mochen.

After successfully obtaining the two artifacts, Yun Yao and Chu Mochen were exhausted, but their hearts were filled with relief. They surfaced and found a deserted island to rest. On the island, the two of them healed their wounds while thinking about the whereabouts of the last artifact.

"The power of the stars... This clue is too vague. Where should I start?" Yun Yao looked at the night sky, with the stars twinkling, and her heart was confused.

Chu Mochen also frowned, thinking hard. Suddenly, his eyes lit up: "Yao'er, do you still remember the Star Peak we visited during our training? The spiritual energy there is rich and seems to be related to the power of the stars. Maybe we can find clues there."

Yun Yao was cheered up after hearing this: "Yes, why didn't I think of that? Let's go now without further delay."

The two set off again, rushing towards Xingchen Peak. Along the way, they were full of hope, hoping to solve the mystery of the last artifact at Xingchen Peak and completely save the sect from this crisis...