"Stop!"

Zhao Gongming bellowed, as myriad beads, each the size of a fist, appeared around him.

There were as many as twenty-four of these beads, all round and bright, emitting a haze of five-colored brilliant light.

The moment the twenty-four beads lit up, the entire world seemed to freeze in time.

Zhao Gongming took the opportunity to transmit a message to Yu Yuan, urging him to leave immediately with Golden Spirit Saint Mother.

However, in a flash, the frozen world was shattered by a flick of the finger from the Sect Hierarch, and fine cracks appeared on all twenty-four Ocean Stabilizing Pearls. Zhao Gongming's aura also instantly wilted.

"Now it's your turn, my dear grand-disciple!"

Sect Hierarch walked towards Yu Yuan, his face thick with murderous intent.

Yu Yuan quickly activated the power of the Chaos Bell to shield himself.

"Do you really think you can stop me with that? Utterly laughable!"

The Sect Hierarch chuckled coldly, pointing his forefinger gently towards Yu Yuan.

As his mocking laugh echoed, myriad mysterious and complex powers of Dao Laws surged forth like a river, weaving into a vast vortex, sweeping towards Yu Yuan, leaving him nowhere to hide, no escape.

Left with no alternative, Yu Yuan struggled to survive under the protection of the Chaos Bell.

But the Chaos Bell, not being in its complete form and merely a supreme Innate Spiritual Treasure, was no match for a Saint.

In just a moment's effort, numerous cracks appeared on the bell wall of Chaos Bell, and the cracks were rapidly increasing in number and size.

If this continued, his Chaos Bell would soon fracture.

But Yu Yuan had no way out at this moment; he could only forcefully stir his spirit, pushing the Chaos Bell to its limits, barely sustaining it with the robust strength of his vital energy.

Golden Spirit Saint Mother struggled to get up from the ground, looking at the Sect Hierarch with a face full of disappointment and pain, questioning, "Master, what has happened to you? This is not you! How could you become like this?"

The Sect Hierarch did not answer, but looked coldly at Yu Yuan, advancing step by step towards him.

Yu Yuan exerted all his strength to drive the Chaos Bell, sending out a deafening bell sound.

But no matter how the bell tolled, it could not break through this domain of heaven and earth, unable to directly traverse the space to escape from this place.

Seeing this, Golden Spirit Saint Mother felt an overwhelming anxiety, shouting, "Yu Yuan, get out of here quickly!"

With that said, she touched her hair and a small golden sword appeared in her hand.

She hesitated for a moment, ultimately unable to bring herself to strike her benefactor.

Yu Yuan chuckled bitterly, helplessly saying, "It is I who have dragged you into this. You are the ones who should leave."

Without any hesitation, Golden Spirit Saint Mother said, "How could I abandon you and flee alone?"

Hearing this, Yu Yuan's heart warmed, and he laughed aloud, "Then our master-disciple pair shall advance and retreat together; if we are to die, let's die together!"

Zhao Gongming: "..."

Listening to the conversation between Yu Yuan and Golden Spirit Saint Mother, Zhao Gongming couldn't help but shout, "Go, I will hold off your master for you!"

"None of you can leave!"

The Sect Hierarch snorted coldly and, abruptly drawing the Qingping Sword, stabbed Yu Yuan in the chest, deeply piercing his torso, with the fierce and malevolent energy continuously tearing at his flesh and Primordial Spirit.

Yu Yuan grunted, retreating continuously and nearly falling to the ground, his aura weakened to an extreme, like a flickering candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.

Naturally, he was not going to perish just like that.

However, Golden Spirit Saint Mother did not know this.

She cried out loudly and turned into a golden light, arriving beside Yu Yuan and extending her hand to support him.

"Why?" She stared blankly at Tongtian, the Sect Hierarch, "Why have you become like this in the end?"

The Sect Hierarch remained silent, his gaze gradually becoming lucid, as if he remembered something.

"It's the Fallen Saint Pill..." The Sect Hierarch's body trembled slightly, a wry and bitter smile appeared on his face as he whispered, "After taking the Fallen Saint Pill, my evil corpse, which had long dissipated, began to stir, struggling for control with me... Run! You all must run!"

"So that's how it is..." Yu Yuan murmured, a bitterness rising in his heart.

Now he understood why the Sect Hierarch had become so abnormal after returning from the Outer Heaven Chaos, even changing his entire temperament.

It turned out to be the mischief of the Fallen Saint Pill.

This Fallen Saint Pill, he had heard of it in his past life.

It was at the end of the Sealing God Tribulation when Hong Jun, the Daoist, had the Sect Hierarch, Yuanshi Tianzun and Taiching Saint each take one, claiming that if the three of them were to fight again, they would die on the spot.

If Hong Jun wasn't bragging, then the power of the Fallen Saint Pill was truly terrifying, able to instantly kill even a Saint!

However, from what the Sect Hierarch had just said, it seemed that the Fallen Saint Pill had also revived his evil corpse.

As a disciple of Hong Jun, the Sect Hierarch naturally practiced the Cutting Three Corpses technique and had successfully cut out his good and evil corpses, but he couldn't manage to cut out the third one, so he eventually chose to become a saint through merit.

After attaining sainthood, he returned his good and evil corpses to their original state, allowing the scattered good and evil thoughts to return to his Primordial Spirit.

Unexpectedly, after taking that Fallen Saint Pill, his evil corpse jumped back out, seizing the initiative and choosing to obey the orders of Hong Jun.

Clearly, all of this was Hong Jun's manipulation.

Only Hong Jun knew the mysteries of the Fallen Saint Pill!

The Sect Hierarch didn't truly wish to slay Yu Yuan, but having lost control, he was not only unable to stop the evil corpse, which nearly killed Yu Yuan and the others on the spot.

Realizing this, Yu Yuan felt even more gravely somber.

In that case, was Hong Jun the person who truly wanted to eliminate him in order to feel relieved?

But why did he have to eradicate him?

Firstly issuing divine decrees, and then using the Fallen Saint Pill to control the Sect Hierarch!

Most importantly, if he did wish to get rid of Yu Yuan, why didn't he do it himself?

For an existence like him, normal Immortal Gods are beyond imagining.

To eliminate a Quasi-Saint powerhouse should hardly take much effort, right?

Yet, he seemed to not care about the trouble at all, disturbing these Saints time after time to try and eliminate Yu Yuan through their hands.

If he were really the Taoist Ancestor, would he bother with such troubles?

Yu Yuan couldn't wrap his head around this question.

However, there was one clear answer in his mind.

That was, while the Sect Hierarch was lucid, escaping hastily was the most critical matter.

So while he pondered, he didn't forget to unsheathe the Qingping Sword and fling it to the side, then spurred the Chaos Bell to break through the boundaries of Heaven and Earth.

"You all shall not escape!"

The voice of the Sect Hierarch once again became fierce, a touch of ferocity flashed in his eyes, "No matter what, you all will die today..."

Before he could finish, a loud "clang" of the bell rang out, Yu Yuan had already fled with Zhao Gongming and the Golden Spirit Saint Mother.

...