Breaking Free from the Cage, A New Understanding of the Dao Heart

As night deepened, the wind of Yanyu Mountain, carrying a chilly mist, swept across the rugged mountain walls.

Xiao Yunsheng, Shen Lingxi, and Su Mobai escaped from the canyon under the cover of night, avoiding the patrols of the Jade Toad Sect along the way, and finally stopped in a secluded mountain hollow sheltered from the wind.

The valley is flanked by steep cliffs with only one narrow path for access, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, perfect for a temporary rest.

Su Mobai first changed the dressings for his two injured junior brothers and settled them in the cave to rest before returning.

Shen Lingxi was leaning against the stone wall, regulating her breathing. The innate sword imprint in her dantian was slightly warm, helping her dispel the lingering poison she had picked up along the way.

Xiao Yunsheng squatted on the ground and spread out the defense map that he had taken from the Jade Toad Sect's array eye completely on the flat stone surface.

The flickering light of the fire folding device illuminated the densely packed Gu formation markings, patrol routes, and red circles marked with cinnabar on the map. Each red circle was a hunting trap set by the Jade Toad Sect.

His fingertip finally stopped at the center of the defense map, on a mark surrounded by three layers of Gu formations—the Cage Formation.

"People are imprisoned here." Xiao Yunsheng's voice was deep as he tapped the mark lightly with his fingertips. "The Jade Toad Sect has imprisoned disciples from various sects they hunted here to refine Gu poisons."

Su Mobai leaned closer for a look, his face instantly turning deathly pale, his fingers clenching tightly: "This is Black Wind Valley! This is the last place where news of our seven missing junior brothers from Green Bamboo Mountain was sent!"

Shen Lingxi also came over, looking at the markings on the defense map with a furrowed brow: "Three interconnected Gu formations, plus two patrol teams rotating day and night. The valley entrance is narrow, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it's a dead end. The Jade Toad Sect built this place deep inside the mountain because they calculated that no one would dare to break in, and no one could break in."

She turned to look at Xiao Yunsheng, her voice tinged with worry: "We're barely able to protect ourselves right now. The Jade Toad Sect has discovered the loss of the defense map and will soon be searching the entire city for us. Besides, there are at least twenty disciples trapped inside. If we force our way in, it's like walking into a trap."

She thought Xiao Yunsheng would hesitate and choose to take a detour.

After all, their purpose in coming here was to find out the truth and avenge their blood feud, not to save a group of strangers from various sects who might even become a burden to them.

But Xiao Yun Sheng simply raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Black Wind Valley. The light from the fire folding lamp fell into his eyes, reflecting not hesitation, but an increasingly firm and cold determination.

"They, like me, are outcasts in the eyes of the sect."

His voice was soft, yet every word was clear: "Just like my father, just like Senior Brother Qin and Senior Brother Li, just like the disciples of Green Bamboo Mountain who died by the Cold Pool. No one saved them; they could only wait to be refined into Gu poison and die without knowing why."

That phrase, "Even the life of an abandoned child is a life," wasn't just a momentary impulse; it was an obsession etched into his very bones.

He entered Yanyu Mountain initially to investigate the cause of his father's death, but now, something else has taken place in his heart.

Shen Lingxi looked at him, and her heart suddenly trembled.

She had seen too much hypocrisy from the sect's higher-ups and too much indifference from talented disciples, but she had never seen a disciple in blue robes, in dire straits, dare to save a group of complete strangers when he himself was in danger.

She suddenly understood: a person with a steadfast heart will never lose their way.

She took a deep breath, her voice unwavering: "If you want to save them, I'll go with you!"

Su Mobai knelt down on one knee and bowed deeply to Xiao Yunsheng, his voice choked with emotion and unwavering resolve: "Senior Brother Xiao, if you can save my junior brother from Qingzhu Mountain, my life, Su Mobai's life, will belong to you from this day forward! I will brave mountains of knives and seas of fire, even unto death!"

Xiao Yunsheng reached out to help him up, shaking his head slightly: "No need to thank me, I just don't want to see anyone die in these mountains for no reason again."

His fingertips landed on the defense map again, his eyes sharp as an eagle. In just a few breaths, he had figured out all the flaws in the prison formation, and a complete plan of strategy had been formed.

"The three Gu formations in Black Wind Valley are maintained by the Gu Mother. Every two hours, at midnight and 3 AM, the Gu Mother will be replaced. During the interval between the replacements, there is the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, during which the Gu formations are at their weakest."

"Brother Su, use the plant tracking technique of Qingzhu Mountain to stir up the poisonous plants on both sides of the valley entrance before the shift change at Yin time, create miasma, interfere with the Gu worms' perception, and lure away half of the patrols outside the valley."

"Junior Sister Shen, you break the formation. Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn after your shift ends, you must accurately break through the core of the three Gu formations and open the entrance for us."

"I'll cover the rear, enter the valley to rescue people, and hold off the Jade Toad Sect disciples left behind in the valley."

The three exchanged glances, then had no further objections. They each adjusted their breathing and prepared, waiting for the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) to break the deadlock.

As the hour of Yin approaches, the night grows darkest.

At the entrance of Black Wind Valley, the Jade Toad Sect's shift change team arrived as scheduled. The buzzing of the Gu formation suddenly weakened, entering a period of weakness lasting about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

This is the moment!

Su Mobai made a hand seal with his fingertips, and activated the Green Bamboo Mountain Herb Technique at full power. The poisonous grass on both sides of the valley entrance grew wildly in an instant, and thick white miasma surged out, instantly covering half of the valley entrance.

"Enemy attack! Something's happened!"

The patrols outside the valley were thrown into chaos, with half of them rushing toward the source of the miasma, falling right into the trap of a diversionary tactic.

At the same instant, Shen Lingxi leaped to the front of the formation, fully activating the Innate Sword Seal. Three golden sword patterns flashed past her eyes, and three pure sword breaths pierced through the air, accurately striking the core of the three Gu formations!

"Snap—!"

The chain of Gu formations instantly cracked open, and all the Gu worms at the formation's core perished!

"Walk!"

Xiao Yunsheng let out a low shout and his figure moved like lightning, rushing into the valley through the gap.

The four Jade Toad Sect disciples left behind in the valley didn't even have time to react before he struck them one by one with his sword, accurately hitting their paralyzing tendons, and they collapsed to the ground on the spot.

The cage was in the center of the valley. More than twenty disciples from various sects were locked in the iron cage. They were all emaciated, weak, and filled with despair.

Xiao Yunsheng swung his sword, severing the iron chains, and said in a deep voice, "Those who can walk, follow me! Those who can't, help each other out, and we'll take you out!"

The seven disciples of Qingzhu Mountain saw Su Mobai and their eyes instantly reddened. They choked up and called out, "Senior Brother Su."

The rescued disciples looked at Xiao Yunsheng with gratitude and admiration in their eyes. No one expected that in the depths of Yanyu Mountain, where no one could cry out to heaven, someone would dare to break into the prison of the Jade Toad Sect and save them, these abandoned children.

In less than half an incense stick's time, everyone had evacuated Black Wind Valley.

By the time the Jade Toad Sect members reacted and rushed into the valley, it was already deserted, leaving only the broken Gu formation and the disciples who remained collapsed on the ground.

Under the cover of night, the group slipped into the dense forest in the distance.

The rescued disciples stepped forward and bowed to Xiao Yunsheng, Shen Lingxi, and Su Mobai, their voices filled with gratitude for surviving such a calamity.

"Many thanks to my senior brothers and sisters! I will never forget their kindness!"

Looking at the twenty-odd disciples from various sects before him, and seeing the rekindled light in their eyes, Xiao Yunsheng's grip on the Flowing Cloud Sword grew even stronger.

He finally understood that the curse of chaos that his mother had told him to avoid before she died was never the backlash of the Burning Fortune Golden Scale, but rather the world that treated the lives of lower-class disciples like dirt.

What he sought to break was not the curse upon himself, but the curse upon all the abandoned children in the world.

What he didn't know was that, at the same time they rescued everyone, a disciple of the Jade Toad Sect had already crushed the communication jade talisman inside Black Wind Valley.

Inside the Jade Toad Sect's stronghold nestled in the heart of Yan Yu Mountain, Toad Jiuyuan's face instantly turned ashen upon seeing the message. He slammed his fist on the stone table: "Useless! A bunch of useless trash! They can't even hold a simple prison formation!"

Beside him, the Sword Pivot Academy Commander, wearing a bamboo hat and holding a token with purple cloud patterns, slowly spoke, his voice hoarse and cold:

"A disciple in blue robes possesses such great skill. It seems we should prepare a grand gift for him."

In the dense forest, Xiao Yunsheng looked up towards the depths of Yanyu Mountain, where the dark clouds grew even thicker.

An even greater crisis is quietly brewing.