At a critical moment, a large group of white mist suddenly surged from the ground, quickly obscuring everyone’s figures.

In the depths of the mist, Cheng Yulan nervously held the formation flag, preparing to unleash a powerful attack. They were already not far from the peak of the sacred mountain, so the beasts they encountered along the way became increasingly difficult to deal with. For example, these fire ants, each possessing the strength of the Heart Demon Realm, and what’s even more dangerous is their endless numbers. Under their relentless attacks, ordinary methods were useless.

“If you don’t have a suitable method to deal with them, the siege of this army of fire ants would exhaust a team of hundreds of cultivators, leaving them drained and eventually wiped out,” said Muling.

“Let me try,” said Qing Muling.

A huge blue lotus phantom appeared around Qing Muling, enveloping everyone within it. Not only did it isolate the presence and aura of the senior sisters, but it also shielded all connections, whether tangible or intangible, such as fate and causality.

As a price, Qing Muling’s mana quickly depleted, and his own luck was also continuously consumed. However, as long as it wasn’t used for a long time, there wouldn’t be any problems.

This move indeed worked. The swarm of fire ants that rushed over immediately lost their target of attack. In their perception, the intruders in front of them had completely disappeared and no longer existed in this small world.

The army of fire ants hesitated for a moment before slowly retreating. In no time, they disappeared into the depths of the blue mist, leaving no trace behind.

“That was close!” The senior sisters finally breathed a sigh of relief. With the lineup of the fire ant army just now, any group of cultivators that encountered them would have to shed blood and suffer heavy casualties. Unless they had special means like Qing Muling, it would be impossible to deal with them.

“Junior Brother, are you okay? How much longer can you hold on?” Xuebing Xuan asked with concern. This special ability definitely had a significant consumption, so it had to be used at the most critical moment.

“For now, there’s no problem. I should be able to ensure that we reach the peak of the mountain as soon as possible and obtain the opportunities inside,” Qing Muling replied.

The continuous consumption of luck was unavoidable. After all, there were only eight people in the team, and even if each of them was a genius-level prodigy, their combat power couldn’t be measured by common sense. They couldn’t possibly fight against the endless high-level beasts here.

Moreover, even if they could kill all of them, it would still consume a lot of time and heavenly medicine resources. By the time they reached the peak of the mountain, they might find that people from other Dao Lineages had already arrived. How could they compete with teams of hundreds or even thousands of people?

“That’s good. Let’s speed up!” The senior sisters no longer hesitated. With Qing Muling’s ability, they could perfectly bypass all the formations and traps along the way and reach the peak of the sacred mountain safely.

As expected, the journey up the mountain became extremely smooth. They no longer encountered any beasts or triggered any natural formations along the way. As they got closer to the peak, the surrounding blue mist gradually dissipated.

At the highest point, a stone palace exuding the aura of time could be seen from afar. It didn’t look particularly magnificent, but it was bathed in a bright golden light, emitting a strong and mysterious Dao rhyme. It carried an unparalleled majesty that made all intelligent beings who saw it involuntarily feel awe and dare not show any disrespect.

Yueyi Heavenly Lord looked around with her beautiful eyes. She could already see several stone paths nearby, all leading to the peak of the mountain. However, she didn’t find any teams of cultivators from other Dao Lineages.

Luo Wanqing smiled and said, “It seems that our Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace’s team is indeed the fastest. Those guys are probably still struggling with the beasts halfway up the mountain. I wonder how many people have died!”

“Well, let’s not worry about others. Let’s hurry up!” Yu Lingzhou said nervously, her gaze fixed on the stone palace at the peak. If they could really find the legendary Heavenly Medicine or opportunities of the same level inside, it might completely solve her major injury, which meant that the high-end strategic power of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace could be partially restored.

Qing Muling nodded and followed the senior sisters, with the blue lotus phantom always enveloping everyone, connecting their auras and ensuring that they wouldn’t be detected by the natural restrictions here.

After a while, the team finally reached the end of the stone path and stepped onto a flat square. The majestic stone palace was located on a nine-level platform thousands of feet away.

On the square, patches of motionless red clouds several feet wide and several feet long, as well as numerous sparkling and flickering lightning balls, were suspended in mid-air. There were also numerous immortal swords, sabers, pillars of fire, thunder pools, and the phantom of the Immortal Slaying Platform, occasionally accompanied by the unknown towering phantoms of high-level beasts wandering among them, causing the hearts of the women to shudder.

They were all part of the natural restrictions. As long as there was the aura of an outsider approaching, they would automatically activate and launch the most fierce attacks against the intruders.

Qing Muling silently evaluated the situation. If they were to forcefully attack, even a team of thousands of cultivators wouldn’t be able to make a splash. They could only rely on their wits. It was likely that the teams from the Supreme Dao Lineages had some special means; otherwise, it would be difficult for them to even reach the edge of this square.

They continued to move forward, carefully avoiding those terrifying restrictions, gradually approaching the main entrance of the stone palace.

Luo Huan pondered for a moment and asked, “Junior Brother, how many cultivators from various sects do you think will ultimately make it here?”

Unconsciously, Qing Muling had become the unquestionable core of this team, even though his cultivation level was the lowest.

Qing Muling thought for a moment and replied, “There are quite a few people who came this time, so there will definitely be some teams from the Dao Lineages that had bad luck and were wiped out halfway. Some Dao Lineages will only have a few survivors left, losing their qualifications to compete for the final opportunity. The Dao Lineages that can preserve more power and have a chance to reach the entrance of the stone palace won’t exceed ten.”

Qi Yalan frowned and said, “In that case, if we encounter the cultivators from those Dao Lineages head-on, we won’t stand a chance. Are we supposed to admit defeat and give up?”

Yueyi Heavenly Lord sighed, “It’s not a matter of whether we can win or not. Even if we can win, do we want our sect to be in the spotlight?”

The senior sisters fell silent. In the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, due to various rules and restrictions, and with Qing Muling present, the Supreme Dao Lineages indeed couldn’t do anything to the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace. However, this didn’t mean they were out of options.

If they truly found out that a disciple from the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had obtained the Heavenly Medicine, an unparalleled opportunity, would they, in their anger and humiliation, join forces and march on the Main Altar of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace? A legendary Heavenly Medicine was already worth starting a war over for the Supreme Dao Lineages.

Although the strength of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had somewhat recovered, it still couldn’t withstand a large-scale war with the Supreme Dao Lineages. Winning wouldn’t bring much benefit, but losing could potentially lead to the loss of the sect’s foundation, and even Qing Muling might not escape unscathed.

As for disguises and other tricks, they might fool inexperienced independent cultivators, but it was absolutely impossible to deceive those from the Supreme Dao Lineages.

Qing Muling calmly said, “So our only way out is to seize the opportunity in this stone hall before anyone else sees it, and then leave without anyone noticing, without making contact with outsiders. This way, we can ensure that nothing goes wrong!”

The women’s spirits lifted. This outcome sounded somewhat incredible, but with Junior Brother present, it wasn’t as difficult to achieve as they had imagined.

Proceeding with caution, they finally reached the steps of the stone hall after a quarter of an hour, with Qing Muling protecting the senior sisters. The main entrance of the hall was now within reach.

At this time, the team from the Calamity Fate Palace was also nearing the end of the gravel path. Compared to when they set off, their team had shrunk by a quarter, and nearly half of the remaining disciples were injured.

“We’re almost there, everyone hold on a little longer.”

At the front of the team, Mei Qingfeng’s cold voice rang out. The bronze array plate in her hand was still imposing. Along the way, most of the crises they encountered were resolved with this powerful sacred object. Otherwise, the death toll would have been much higher.