After racing an unknown distance, Li Fei felt the wind whistling in her ears as the scenery flashed by like flowing water. Lei Xiuyuan finally slowed down, his chest heaving violently as if exhausted. Just as he was about to find a clearing to stop, strange cries suddenly erupted from all around. They saw over a dozen winged serpents circling them, their forked tongues flicking in and out, occasionally letting out eerie calls. They looked extremely ferocious.
Li Fei hurriedly prepared to descend. These were vicious beasts called Ming Snakes, known for their agile movements, swiftness, and poison. She needed to cast the Bronze Wall Technique.
Suddenly, she saw Lei Xiuyuan open his right hand. Golden light flickered in his palm, and a dull, ancient-looking sword slowly materialized—was this a sword created by the Tai’a Technique?
The next moment, the wind’s whistle intensified in her ears… No, it wasn’t the wind, but a sharp sound like a bamboo whistle coming from the sword. In an instant, the sword’s body blazed with brilliant light, too dazzling to look at directly. It shot out, incredibly sharp. The Ming Snakes’ bodies shattered immediately upon the slightest contact.
Li Fei suddenly remembered her master saying that the ultimate form of the Gold Element Celestial Magic was the ability to create countless swords rivaling divine weapons using only the Tai’a Technique, without the need for forging. Had Lei Xiuyuan already glimpsed the essence of this? Although it was only one sword, it fought in all directions, invincible and heroic. The sharp whistle-like sound reminded her of the sword wielded by Dragon Jingyuan Jun back in Qingqiu. It seemed that all divine weapons made such a howling sound as if they were alive.
The sword danced gracefully in a circle, then suddenly flew back, spiraling up and down, left and right around the two of them. Finally, it dissolved into a streak of golden light before them. The Ming Snakes that had surrounded them moments ago were now cut into pieces, their broken bodies raining down in a shower of black blood.
Lei Xiuyuan slowly descended to the ground. He suddenly released Li Fei and took out a communication fire bullet from his robes. These were given to them by the elders, three per person, to call for help if they became separated.
The communication fire bullet was thrown up with a “whoosh,” and a cyan flame shot into the sky, lingering without dispersing.
Lei Xiuyuan let out a long breath and slowly sat on the ground, his face pale. He said softly, “Don’t worry for now. With Deng Xiguang and Su Wan’s cultivation, they shouldn’t be in mortal danger. I need to rest for a moment.”
“Are you alright?” Li Fei crouched beside him, probing his eight extraordinary meridians. Fortunately, there was no internal injury, just excessive spiritual energy consumption.
He was always like this, showing off. Ji Tongzhou only competed verbally, but Lei Xiuyuan said nothing and just acted. She wasn’t sure which was more annoying.
Li Fei cast a concealment technique, then gently gripped his wrist, slowly infusing Wood Element’s spiritual energy to nourish and stimulate his energy. After a while, she felt his gaze seemingly fixed on her. She looked up at him and asked, “What is it?”
Lei Xiuyuan suddenly smiled and said softly, “Your cultivation is not bad.”
Again with the “not bad”? Li Fei shook her head, “You’re just being perfunctory.”
“Do you want to hear a long discourse?”
“…No, save your breath.” She knew nothing nice would come out of his mouth.
He indeed fell silent, but his gaze remained fixed on her. Li Fei suddenly felt nervous. What kind of look was he giving her? Why was he looking at her? If she looked up now, what kind of gaze would she see?
She suddenly felt a sense of anticipation, though she didn’t know what she was anticipating. Mustering her courage, she looked up to meet his eyes, but he averted his gaze.
…What an annoying person.
Li Fei couldn’t describe how she felt at that moment. It was a mix of reproach and disappointment, hoping for a definite, enthusiastic, affirmative response, only for him to avoid it. The time and place weren’t right for such thoughts, but she couldn’t help it. She even felt a vague sense of grievance.
Lei Xiuyuan was an annoying person, she concluded in her heart. But it was as if another voice quietly asked her: Do you dislike him?
She couldn’t say. Since childhood, she has always been decisive in her actions and relationships, embracing what worked and discarding what didn’t. But whenever it came to Lei Xiuyuan, everything became a mess. Clear principles and logic turned into a tangled web. She couldn’t tell if she was rejecting this feeling or deeply attracted to it.
After an indeterminate time, when her Wood Element spiritual energy was almost depleted, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly spoke, “Those two earlier probably weren’t bronze bulls. They might have been enchanted by some strange celestial magic to guard the hall. They would attack immediately upon sensing spiritual energy from touch, likely to deal with intruders. The Yimin Tomb is probably similar to the academy’s forbidden areas, off-limits to unauthorized entry. But once we left the seal, we should be fine.”
Li Fei was stunned for a moment. He had so suddenly and naturally shifted the topic back to their mission. Her mind followed, but her heart hadn’t caught up, and she responded vaguely, unable to think of what to say next.
Suddenly, a cyan flame shot up in the far distance, seemingly from Su Wan’s direction.
Lei Xiuyuan immediately stood up, “Let’s go meet up with them.”
Li Fei agreed again, still at a loss for words. Just as she was about to take to the clouds, she heard a gust of wind behind her. In the blink of an eye, several Wuyue Court disciples landed in the forest clearing. It was Ying Yuankai and his group. Upon seeing Li Fei, they were first surprised, then delighted.
With demonic creatures all around, Ying Yuankai quickly cast the Bronze Wall Technique. The male disciples behind him reacted swiftly as well, some restraining, some attacking. In an instant, they cleared the surrounding area of several demonic creatures. Ying Yuankai cut off the fangs of the creatures and approached with a smile, “Junior Sister Jiang, Junior Brother Lei, are you alright? We were passing by and saw the communication fire bullet, so we came to check.”
He handed the fangs to Li Fei, “We’ve already collected enough fangs. These are for you two.”
Li Fei was stunned. What was this about? They had killed the demons, yet they were giving her the fangs? She immediately declined, “Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother Ying, but we prefer to collect the fangs ourselves.”
Ying Yuankai wasn’t embarrassed. He looked back at Lei Xiuyuan, noticed his pale complexion, and said gently, “Junior Brother Lei, you don’t look well. Are you injured?”
The male disciples behind him secretly laughed. They had heard that Lei Xiuyuan had broken through the second bottleneck and was a formidable genius. But seeing him now, pale-faced and seemingly depleted of spiritual energy, even using a communication fire bullet for help, they couldn’t help but feel contemptuous. Some genius! He ended up in this state! He even dragged the most beautiful junior sister into his group, putting her in danger too. How unreliable!
Lei Xiuyuan replied coolly, “Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. We have companions waiting for us elsewhere. We won’t stay long.”
How could Ying Yuankai and his group bear to let them go? They had finally encountered a stunningly beautiful junior sister and got to see a genius in a sorry state. Ying Yuankai hurriedly said, “There are many demonic creatures in this area. Why don’t we escort you there?”
Without waiting for a response, the group took to the clouds. Indeed, in the far distance, another cyan flame still lingered. Flying to the flame’s location, they saw Su Wan in a forest clearing, covered in blood and leaning against a tree. Beside her lay Deng Xiguang, with a bloody hole in his right abdomen. A healing net was placed over his wound, and he was groaning in pain. Seeing so many disciples suddenly arrive, the two looked extremely surprised.
The disciples, upon seeing that Lei Xiuyuan’s team had two female disciples, felt both envious and jealous. This guy’s abilities weren’t great, yet he dared to bring two female disciples! Everyone knew that outstanding female disciples were extremely rare, with most being a burden. Now they were injured! He didn’t know how to cherish and protect them!
Ying Yuankai immediately set up a healing net. As a true Water attribute master, his healing net was exceptionally effective. Su Wan’s wounds visibly healed, and even the bloody hole in Deng Xiguang’s right abdomen was slowly closing at a visible rate.
Su Wan stood up to stretch, explaining, “I had just found Senior Brother Deng when those two bronze bulls chased us. I flew with him for a long time before we escaped the seal. After that, we encountered two more demons, but fortunately, they weren’t strong, and I killed them both. By the way, Senior Brother Ying, why are you all here?”
Ying Yuankai smiled faintly, “Junior Brother Lei called for help. As fellow disciples, how could we stand idly by? The two junior sisters must have been frightened.”
Su Wan gave him an extra glance but said nothing. She turned back to tug at Li Fei’s sleeve and lowered her voice, “Would Junior Brother Lei ask him for help?”
Li Fei laughed dryly. She had originally thought Ying Yuankai was steady and eloquent, reminiscent of Ye Ye’s demeanor, and had felt some goodwill towards him. Who knew he was worlds apart from Ye Ye? But they had come to help, which was kind. Deng Xiguang’s abdominal wound was almost healed, thanks to him.
Ying Yuankai wanted to persuade the two junior sisters to go with them with his silver tongue, but he couldn’t think of a convincing excuse at the moment. As he pondered, he suddenly sensed an extremely overbearing demonic aura rapidly approaching from the southwest. Everyone reacted quickly, immediately taking to the clouds.
The demonic aura approached with incredible speed, about to reach them in the blink of an eye. As the wind howled and dust clouded their vision, Li Fei and Ying Yuankai immediately cast the Bronze Wall Technique and Mist Illusion. Suddenly, they heard bursts of arrogant laughter from the forest behind them. A deep, hoarse voice said between laughs, “You’ve chased me all the way here alone. I’ve been merciful, not wanting to fight you out of chivalry. Do you think I’m afraid of you?”
Upon hearing the voice, everyone’s expression changed.
A demon capable of human speech meant it had developed spiritual intelligence. An intelligent demon was a great demon, certainly not something young disciples like them could handle alone. Who was this person the demon spoke of, chasing a great demon alone? Was she mad?
Suddenly, the sound of a zither rang out from the forest. The melody was graceful yet filled with a chilling killing intent. The low notes lingered, rippling like water, interspersed with high notes. As the disciples listened, they felt their hearts racing and their internal energy becoming slightly chaotic.
The great demon in the forest continued to laugh, “Useless, useless! If old lady Qingle came herself, it might have some effect! But you?”
Several loud crashes echoed from the forest as large swathes of trees fell, branches and leaves flying everywhere. The disciples felt terrified. The display of power was too frightening!