In the lingering shadows before her eyes, like an unknown realm, Li Fei, in her dazed state, seemed to see her long-absent master. He was still wearing that old patched robe, carrying a gourd of wine on his back. Despite his shabby appearance, he insisted on putting on an immortal-like air.
“Master!” She couldn’t contain her joy and rushed before him, complaining, “How could you suddenly leave me all alone?”
Her master looked at her with a smile, suddenly reaching out to pat her head. “Xiao Bang Chui, have you found your senior brother?”
Li Fei’s heart suddenly jolted. That’s right, she needed to find her senior brother. She had entered the academy just to find him, but she had asked everyone she could, and no one knew her senior brother. The world of immortals was even vaster than she had imagined. How much longer would it take to find him?
“Soon, I’ll hurry, Master. Please wait for me!” she said urgently.
Her master pinched her now delicate cheek. “Who asked you to find me? I’m drinking every day, living a carefree life! Having you around is just troublesome! Once you find your senior brother, I can hand over this hot potato to him! Ha ha, I’ll be free then.”
With that, he turned to leave. Li Fei quickly chased after him, “Master, wait a bit longer before you go! I… I still want to talk with you!”
But his figure gradually faded away, only waving a hand, “You’re a good child, take care of yourself.”
She couldn’t catch up to his hunched figure no matter how hard she tried. Suddenly, she began to cry again, hot tears falling on her cheeks. Her skin began to melt away like snow under intense flames. Terrified, Li Fei quickly covered her face, only to find the skin on her hands also cracking and breaking. In her shock, she couldn’t help but scream, and suddenly woke up.
The pain and itching of her skin cracking in the dream seemed to linger. Li Fei screamed again, frantically touching her face and hands, finding everything smooth and intact, without even a small scratch. She finally began to calm down.
What a terrifying dream…
She sat up and looked around. Her eyes met varying shades of lush green. She was sitting in a patch of extremely dense and thriving green grass, surrounded by a deep forest. There were no insect sounds or bird calls, similar to the forest during the second selection. The difference was that the trees in this forest were extremely bright green, and the surrounding mist and miasma were much heavier than during the second selection. Glowing specks of miasma floated everywhere, and even the wind seemed to have thickened. Every movement felt like being surrounded by a thin paste.
Was this the academy’s forbidden area at the bottom of the abyss? She remembered being knocked off the stone sword and falling. It seemed three people had fallen together, but she didn’t know who the other two were or where they had landed. Ri Yan had been telling her to jump down, and now she had come down so quickly. Falling from such a height, she was surprisingly uninjured, not even a scratch. It must have been due to the thick miasma slowing her fall.
“…Is anyone there?” Li Fei called out. The dense miasma seemed to slow even the transmission of sound. As she suddenly spoke, there was a rustling sound from the bushes and grass behind her. She immediately felt countless gazes focused on her.
Li Fei couldn’t help but shudder. She looked around anxiously. Behind the thick miasma, in the bushes and trees, countless unseen things were hiding. Murky and cold gazes fixed on her. She suddenly stood up, gathering her courage to call out again, “Who’s there? Come out!” As she spoke, she walked towards the bushes.
The rustling sound grew louder. As she got closer, more than a dozen dark shadows darted out from the bushes, scattering away as if afraid of her approach. Li Fei’s sharp eyes caught a glimpse of one of the shadows with peculiar features, seeming neither human nor beast. Could it be a demon?
She recalled what Hu Jiaping had said about this being a forbidden area where demons and monsters roamed freely. She became frightened but bravely retreated, crouching in the bushes to feel around. Fortunately, the stone sword hadn’t fallen too far and she found it. She immediately tried to throw the stone sword to fly away, but to her surprise, the sword had no reaction at all and fell back into the bushes with a thud.
What’s going on? Li Fei was shocked. Why couldn’t she use the sword to fly? She tried throwing it a few more times, but the stone sword still did not react. She had a few talismans in her possession, and she tried to channel her spiritual energy to activate them, but the talismans also did not react, falling limply to the ground—did spiritual techniques not work here?
Even when she tried to use Spirit Absorption, the absorption of spiritual energy was extremely slow, just like when her body first started automatically absorbing spiritual energy. It seemed as if the Five Elements’ spiritual energy in the world was blocked by this dense miasma.
Feeling those countless murky gazes of the demons still fixed on her, which was extremely uncomfortable, Li Fei gripped the stone sword tightly in her hand and quickly turned to leave.
The glowing specks of miasma danced around her like countless small insects. The purple-black miasma couldn’t penetrate within several feet of her. She felt as if the entire world was shrouded in darkness, with only a small lamp illuminating a few feet around her, accompanying her through this endless darkness.
Along the way, the grass was mostly taller than her, and in some dense areas, even higher than her. The trees were unimaginably thick. She once tried to make a mark on a tree trunk with her small knife, but these trees, long nourished by the miasma, had bark harder than steel. She couldn’t even leave a mark.
What should she do? Where should she go? Would someone come down to find her? Both the black-veiled woman and Mo Yanfan were in the forbidden area, would she encounter them? Should she find an open area to wait, or continue walking?
Suddenly, a roar sounded from far away, fierce and mournful. It was hard to tell if it was a tiger’s roar or a wolf’s howl. The wind suddenly picked up, causing leaves and grass to rustle loudly. The dense miasma rippled like water. The invisible gazes around her suddenly disappeared, and the small demons hiding in the darkness began to flee. It seemed that the roar came from a powerful demon.
Li Fei was about to avoid it when she suddenly thought she heard someone shouting, though it was indistinct. She hurriedly ran towards the source of the sound. After climbing over a small hill, she saw a huge centipede demon standing in the clearing opposite, several zhang tall, much larger than the one her master had subdued before. Even more terrifying was that its hard shell and countless legs were all a bright green color, looking incredibly ugly.
The centipede demon was coiling and twisting, roaring continuously. One of its eyes seemed to have just been gouged out, with demonic energy fluctuating and blood everywhere. Opposite it stood a boy, who turned out to be Ji Tongzhou. He was holding a long tree branch, struggling to fight against its numerous legs. This young lord wasn’t quiet in battle either, shouting while fighting, “So disgusting! Get away!”
Those tree branches were as hard as steel, and it wasn’t clear how he had obtained them. The centipede demon’s blinded eye was probably his doing. Seeing him struggling, Li Fei immediately went forward to help. Ji Tongzhou heard footsteps and was startled to see her, his expression a mix of joy and anger. In this moment of distraction, he was swept by the centipede demon’s long tail. He rolled countless times, crashing hard into a tree, and cried out in pain, clutching his right leg.
“Ji Tongzhou!” Li Fei rushed over with the stone sword. Although they had some conflicts usually, she couldn’t possibly stand by and watch him be killed by a demon. In the heat of the moment, she charged forward, but then remembered she didn’t know any sword techniques. The sword techniques Mo Yanfan taught were all for strengthening the body, not for subduing demons. To her surprise, the centipede demon seemed extremely afraid of her. As she approached, it kept retreating but seemed unwilling to leave completely. It stayed about ten zhang away, wailing miserably, its remaining eye staring at her intensely.
Li Fei stood with her sword in front of Ji Tongzhou, urgently asking, “Where are you hurt?”
Ji Tongzhou was holding his right leg, his face pale with pain and covered in sweat. He managed to say, “You… you troublemaker… if you hadn’t suddenly appeared… I think my right leg is broken!”
Li Fei put his arm around her neck, struggling to help him up. “Quick! Let’s get away first!”
His injured leg couldn’t bear any weight at all. As soon as he stood up, he fell again, nearly causing Li Fei to fall with him. Ji Tongzhou said in a trembling voice, “I can’t make it! We can’t escape! You go first! With all this commotion, maybe Mo Yanfan and that black-veiled woman will hear. There might still be a chance of survival. If two people stay here, we’ll both die!”
Without thinking, Li Fei pulled him up and hoisted him onto her shoulder. He was tall with long legs, hanging like a sack of potatoes, as uncomfortable as could be. To make matters worse, she ran slowly while carrying him. The demon hadn’t even started chasing yet, but he was already about to vomit from the jostling.
“Put me down quickly!” Ji Tongzhou shouted, “I’m going to throw up!”
“You’re so noisy!” Li Fei frowned. It was already very difficult for her to carry him, and he was still yammering on the side. “Instead of yelling, why don’t you check if it’s chasing us!”
Ji Tongzhou was furious, but this wasn’t the time to show off his princely authority. He had to endure the pain and look back. The huge centipede demon had remained in place, seemingly not pursuing them. He was immediately surprised, “It’s not chasing us! Why?”
“The East Yang True Person from Wuyue Court once gave me a string of demon-repelling fragrant beads. I guess it’s this treasure that’s scaring it.”
“The East Yang True Person from Wuyue Court?!” Ji Tongzhou’s knowledge was broader than hers. “Such a powerful and famous immortal would give you a treasure?!”
“We’ll talk later, shut up now.”
He was furious again but kept his mouth tightly shut, not saying another word.
Those annoying gazes from the demons continued to follow them like shadows. Li Fei struggled to carry Ji Tongzhou for a long time. Suddenly, she saw what appeared to be a cave ahead. As they moved forward, the gazes became fewer. By the time they reached the cave entrance, those clinging gazes behind them finally disappeared.
Li Fei breathed a sigh of relief and carefully examined the surroundings. The front of the cave was piled with fallen leaves and branches, untouched for who knows how many years, with no signs of anyone having been there. The cave was filled with chilly air, but there was no sense of malevolence. She carried Ji Tongzhou into the cave and had just put him down when he suddenly vomited, leaning against the wall. He had held it in for so long on her back, only throwing up now. She was almost starting to change her opinion of this young lord.
Ji Tongzhou vomited for a long time, finally collapsing weakly on the ground. After panting for a while, he spoke feebly, “…It’s no use… I can’t draw spiritual energy into my body… The miasma here is so heavy…”
As he spoke, he closed his eyes, looking as if he was about to fall into a deep sleep. The purple-black miasma began to coil around him like a living thing, entering through his facial orifices. This terrifying sight immediately reminded Li Fei of the girl who had been eliminated in front of them during the second selection.
She quickly took off the demon-repelling fragrant beads from her wrist and put them on his hand. Although her immunity to the miasma was due to her constitution, surely the treasure given by the East Yang True Person would be of some use. Otherwise, how could it be called a treasure?
Sure enough, the miasma retreated far away from Ji Tongzhou. He had only been asleep for about the time it took to burn an incense stick when he was suddenly awakened, probably from the pain in his broken leg, groaning in agony.
“Bear with it, I need to set your bone and bind it, otherwise it will heal crooked.”
Li Fei took the tree branch from his hand and examined it. The branch was as hard as iron, fortunately growing very straight. She felt around his broken leg for a long time. Ji Tongzhou was in so much pain he almost passed out, but remarkably, he didn’t make a sound, gritting his teeth to endure. By the time the branch was tied in place, his lips were bitten bloody.
After a long while, he finally caught his breath and spoke weakly, “How… how are you here too… Ah! Don’t tell me you knocked me down here!”
Li Fei replied calmly, “I was knocked down by someone too. It’s an unfortunate coincidence.”
He always suspected there was some hidden meaning in her words, subtly mocking him, but he had never been so miserable in his life. He couldn’t show off his princely demeanor now. After a long pause, he said, “No spiritual techniques work here. When I woke up, I found myself surrounded by demons. Fortunately, they were just cautiously watching me from the side, not coming to harass me. Who would have thought I’d encounter that centipede demon…”
She had saved him, but he couldn’t bring himself to say thank you no matter what, so he just stopped talking.
The two sat in silence for a while. Suddenly, they heard the roar of a demon not far outside the cave. Both children’s faces changed. Ji Tongzhou said urgently, “Could it be the demon that lives in this cave coming back?!”
When they were about to enter the cave earlier, he had sensed very strong residual demonic energy near the cave, which was why the nearby demons didn’t dare to approach. If the cave’s occupant returned and found them squatting in its nest, they would probably really die this time.
Li Fei made a gesture of silence and shook her head. She quietly peeked towards the cave entrance and saw the green leaves on the treetops being blown about like waves by demonic energy. Suddenly, a boy wearing a red and white disciple’s robe darted out from the bushes like lightning—Lei Xiyuan?! He had fallen too? His sword flying had been so strange earlier, it must have been him who knocked her down!
Li Fei was about to call out to him when she suddenly saw a huge tiger demon with mottled fur chasing closely behind him, roaring. This tiger demon was even more pitiful than the centipede demon from before. Not only were its eyes blinded, but it was also covered in blood, with one ear cut off. Judging by how it was relentlessly pursuing Lei Xiyuan, the one who had done this must be him.
Lei Xiyuan ran extremely fast, seemingly aiming for this cold cave. He narrowly avoided the tiger demon’s huge claws, rolled on the ground, and just managed to enter the cave. Seeing Li Fei about to rush out, he was startled for a moment, but then said in a low voice, “Quick, get inside!”
He pushed her hard and then sprinted deeper into the cave himself. The tiger demon roared madly outside for a long time but didn’t dare to enter the cave, eventually leaving in frustration.
The three children in the cave were all still recovering from the shock, looking at each other speechlessly. In this strange place where no spiritual techniques or talismans worked, these proud disciples of immortal sects were reduced to fighting demons with their bare hands, truly a sorry sight.