Chapter 100: Digging Up Ancestral Graves?

Si Nidie berated both Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang, making them lower their heads in shame, which finally vented some of her pent-up anger.

Turning her head to look at Luo Buqi, who was standing smugly to the side, she rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Fellow Daoist Luo, don't be too happy yet. At least Wendao Sect still has two junior sisters, while your Bailing Sect doesn't have a single disciple."

Luo Buqi's upturned lips froze.

Just as Si Nidie said, in the small world trial he participated in, all the disciples of Bailing Sect had been eliminated, and he could only wait and see if any disciples from other small worlds could advance.

The Foundation Establishment competition area has twelve small worlds. Only the top three disciples in each small world can participate in the second round of the arena competition. In other words, the number of people who advance is limited to thirty-six.

Thousands of disciples competed for a spot in the second round, and the elimination rate was predictably high. Basically, disciples from different sects would start fighting whenever they met, and the originally empty square was gradually filled with disciples.

"Fellow Daoist Si, don't be smug. Failure in this small world trial does not mean that disciples of the Hundred Spirits Sect cannot qualify for the arena in other small worlds," Luo Buqi said firmly, his expression changing several times.

Seeing his displeased expression, Si Nidie felt a sense of satisfaction. Although Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang had their faults, it was not the place for the outer sect disciples to mock them. She crossed her arms and said, "I will wait and see."

Luo Buqi couldn't stand the joke. He scoffed, flicked his sleeves, and returned to the ranks of the Hundred Spirits Sect disciples.

Lou Yuqing was unaware of the conflict outside the small world. She called out to her senior sister several times but received no response. Knowing that Si Nidie had been eliminated, she looked helpless.

Just now, when she was sucked into the magic array, she immediately felt a force on her body, trying to tear her apart. At the critical moment, her protective magic treasure saved her life, allowing her to successfully break through the magic array.

Senior sister doesn't have any magical artifacts that can withstand the magic array, so she'll probably kick the bucket as soon as she enters it.

As for Ling Yunxiao and the other two, they were quite capable, so how could they have fallen for a treacherous scheme and had their bodies replaced? If it weren't for the protective magic treasure given to them by their master, their entire team would probably have been wiped out.

Lou Yuqing extended her divine sense, quickly enveloping the entire Xuejia Village. The imposter wearing Shen Lijun's body was gone; she was very vengeful.

Suddenly, she sensed two cultivators, a man and a woman, flying rapidly toward the village. They seemed to have detected her spiritual probe and were heading straight for her.

Lou Yuqing frowned and remained quietly in place, waiting for them to come to her. Trying to use their numbers to deal with her wouldn't be so easy.

"call out!"

The howling wind grew closer, and two streaks of light of different colors burst into view.

Lou Yuqing immediately recognized them as disciples of Medicine King Valley. To her surprise, the two of them had a look of panic on their faces, as if they were being chased by someone.

"Fellow Daoist, lend a hand!" the male disciple shouted loudly upon seeing Lou Yuqing, as if grasping at a straw.

A strange look appeared in Lou Yuqing's eyes. What made this person think she would save him? If they died immediately, she would only applaud.

The female disciple sensed Lou Yuqing's thoughts and said urgently, "Fellow Daoist, don't think about standing idly by. The person chasing us is very powerful. Even if the two of us join forces, we are no match for him. If we die, you will be next!"

Lou Yuqing wanted to say something upon hearing this, but then noticed that the people chasing them were close behind. The face was very familiar; it was none other than Shen Lijun's face.

"You won't escape my grasp. Just accept your fate!" The imposter Shen Lijun laughed loudly, but suddenly stopped halfway through, staring in shock at the unharmed Lou Yuqing. "You're still alive?"

Lou Yuqing narrowed her eyes and became serious: "I'm sorry to disappoint you. Your magic array can't do anything to me. It's time to settle this score!"

Upon hearing that the two seemed to have a past grudge, the two disciples from Medicine King Valley exchanged a delighted glance, stopped fleeing, and came to Lou Yuqing's side, forming a counterattack.

Lou Yuqing did not reject them; having more people was a good thing for her.

The male disciple spoke very quickly: "We are seriously injured and cannot exert our true strength. How about you take the lead in the attack, and we will provide support from the side?"

Lou Yuqing nodded indifferently. The auras of these two were indeed somewhat weak. She didn't know if it was because they were too weak or because the imposter Shen Lijun was too strong.

Two against one, and we still can't win?

Lou Yuqing concealed her thoughts very well, preventing them from seeing through them; otherwise, this fragile alliance would probably have ended by now.

The imposter Shen Lijun sneered at Lou Yuqing: "So what if you survived by chance? Breaking the formation will come at a great cost. I wonder how much strength you have left!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a ball of lightning rushed towards him, transforming into a lightning net over ten feet in size as it flew through the air, crackling with purple lightning. Anyone who came into contact with it would surely suffer.

"Then you'll see how much strength I still have!" Lou Yuqing said coldly as she hurled the lightning bolt from her hand.

The imposter Shen Lijun's expression changed slightly. He dared not take the spell head-on and began to dart and weave along the village road. In an instant, a series of afterimages appeared in front of Lou Yuqing.

"Trying to dodge?" Lou Yuqing made a hand seal and pointed, and the lightning net quickly split into countless strands of electric arcs, rushing towards the phantom. The phantom collapsed upon contact, disappearing without a trace after being struck by the electric arcs.

In an instant, the imposter Shen Lijun's true identity was revealed.

His expression turned serious. The illusory shadows were meant to distract Lou Yuqing, but he hadn't expected them to be neutralized so easily.

Lou Yuqing raised her hand and pointed, and the lightning net shot out towards the target. Because of the split electric arcs, its power was weakened considerably, but its momentum was no less than before.

"Bang!"

The imposter Shen Lijun couldn't dodge in time and was bound by the lightning net. Electric current flowed through his body, bringing an endless feeling of numbness. Then, the disciples of Medicine King Valley used their vine technique to bind him tightly and tighten it inwards.

The next moment, the imposter Shen Lijun collapsed to the ground, convulsing and spitting out a mouthful of blood, staining a small patch of the ground red, looking utterly pathetic.

"Fellow Daoist, your skill is remarkable!" The female disciple looked at Lou Yuqing in surprise. If the other party had not paralyzed the enemy with lightning, their vine technique would most likely have been ineffective, since it had been dodged one after another before.

Now that Lou Yuqing has restricted the enemy's movements, they can easily cast spells on the enemy as if they were shooting at a stationary target.

The male disciple also looked on with admiration.

Lou Yuqing glanced at the two who were paddling, then opened and closed her hands in front of her, creating a ball of lightning about a foot wide. She shouted, "Enough nonsense, press your advantage!"

The two men from Medicine King Valley turned serious. They knew this was a critical moment, so they stopped being distracted, knelt down on one knee and placed their hands on the ground. Suddenly, green light rippled, and countless vines burst out of the soil, waving their thick bodies and covering the enemy with a bang.

The imposter Shen Lijun had just recovered from the numbness and, before he could resist, was submerged in a sea of ​​vines.

From a distance, these vines look like a green cage, trapping the other person inside, and this green cage is constantly tightening.

The tightening process went smoothly at first, but after a while, a piece of the green cage would occasionally bulge out, clearly the imposter Shen Lijun was resisting with magic.

It shouldn't be long before he breaks free from his cage.

Seeing this, the female disciple looked a little embarrassed and nudged the male disciple with her elbow.

The male disciple, forcing himself to speak, tried to save face for Lou Yuqing: "Fellow Daoist, this technique could have killed this person, but we were injured and our strength was greatly reduced, which affected the power of the Wooden Cage Technique. We still need to ask you to subdue this person."

Lou Yuqing's lips twitched.

I won't give him a chance.

After saying that, she raised her arm and waved it. The ball of lightning in front of her expanded and shot out joyfully, expanding several times its original size in the wind, becoming five zhang in size, larger than the surrounding houses.

The lightning ball struck the green cage with a loud bang. The moment they made contact, the vines collapsed as if scorched by fire, turning into charred dust that dispersed into the air.

Before the imposter Shen Lijun could even rejoice at being freed from his restraints, a chill ran through him as he saw the colossal creature that dominated half the sky: "No..."

The lightning ball exploded, turning into countless arcs of electricity that roamed in all directions, forming a region resembling a lightning pool centered on him. The thunderous roars drowned out his screams.

Medicine King Valley disciple: "..." What a terrifying attack.

They looked at Lou Yuqing with fear and trepidation, their eyes filled with apprehension.

"Are you going on your own, or should I see you off?" Lou Yuqing asked calmly, ignoring their stares.

The disciples of Medicine King Valley were on the verge of tears. This was a blatant threat. They had come this far with great difficulty and were truly unwilling to be eliminated.

Thinking this through, the male disciple's expression hardened: "We cannot activate the jade bracelet on our own. If you want to eliminate us, then defeat us yourself!"

"That's right, the disciples of Medicine King Valley would rather die standing than live on their knees." The female disciple immediately chimed in, her gaze fixed intently on Lou Yuqing. "Fellow Daoist's attack just now was quite impressive. I wonder how much strength you still have left?"

Lou Yuqing's eyes were subtle; it was as if she had just heard those words before.

"Not much, not much, just half." She conjured a ball of lightning in her hand and tossed it around playfully, with an unhurried attitude. "It wouldn't be a problem to do it again. Can you handle it? Anyway, that person couldn't."

Lou Yuqing pointed to the imposter Shen Lijun, who had turned into a corpse on the ground.

"..."

The two from Medicine King Valley immediately lost their temper: they couldn't hold on any longer.

They originally thought that Lou Yuqing had only used up 20% or 30% of her spiritual power, so they could still risk using secret techniques and fight back. But now it seems that was wishful thinking.

Goodbye, and goodbye forever.

The two smiled and pressed their hands on the bracelets, about to teleport away, when suddenly an arc of electricity knocked their hands away.

Lou Yuqing raised her chin: "Don't leave yet, tell me everything you know."

The two: "..."

Keep dreaming.

The male disciple was filled with resentment. With a flick of his finger, he sent a burst of spiritual energy into the jade bracelet. The next moment, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground. In his despair, he caught a glimpse of the female disciple also collapsing, and his despair intensified.

Lou Yuqing's hands were crackling with electricity, clearly indicating that she had just struck. She sneered, "I knew you wouldn't listen. I'll ask you one more time. Will you talk or not? If not, I'll keep shocking you until you do."

The two: "..."

"I'll tell you," the female disciple finally succumbed to his tyranny, "what do you want to know?"

Lou Yuqing asked, "What is the hint from the small world?"

"It said we are spirit farmers searching for snow lotus and that we need to complete the autumn harvest task," the female disciple said honestly. There was no point in hiding this; the other party might already know. If what she said didn't match up with what she said, that would be interesting.

Indeed, they have different identities.

Lou Yuqing kept them there for questioning precisely because she had noticed the difference in their identities.

Herbalist, demon hunter, miner, and spirit farmer – these four identities represent four storylines, each offering clues about the snow lotus.

Lou Yuqing thought for a moment, then cast a soundproof barrier to keep the male disciples out, and asked, "Have you found the snow lotus?"

The female disciple thought to herself that he was cunning, and confessed, "I found him. The Snow Lotus is in the White Rock Sect." With no chance to collude, she decided to tell the truth.

"Besides you, who else is there? Why are you being hunted down? Where did the news about the Snow Lotus come from? What secrets does Xuejia Village hold..."

Lou Yuqing used various methods to ask questions, and after getting answers from the female disciples, she went to ask the male disciples. Their testimonies were consistent, which greatly increased the credibility of the story.

According to them, there were 21 disciples who came here, three from each sect. Their task was to hand over the full amount of spirit rice. Some people found that the amount of spirit rice was not enough after harvesting the spirit fields, so they stole the spirit rice from others, which led to a conflict and many people died.

To this day, only five survivors remain. Apart from the two of them, the other three are disciples from different sects: Yunxiao Sect, Haotian Palace, and Xingchen Pavilion.

Although Medicine King Valley has two members and thus a numerical advantage, if they attack one of the other three, the three will band together to resist, since they are bound to be vulnerable if one of them is eliminated.

However, the three did not trust each other and did not want to eliminate the disciples of Medicine King Valley, lest the balance be broken and they themselves face the crisis of elimination. Thus, they maintained this situation.

They got the information about the snow lotus from a spiritual farmer in the village named Lao Ji. Not long ago, his spiritual fields were trampled by disciples of the Baiyan Sect, and he was beaten to the point of near death.

When the disciples of Medicine King Valley came to his door to subtly probe him, Old Ji, filled with resentment towards the White Rock Sect and knowing he wouldn't live much longer, and unafraid of the White Rock Sect's retaliation, revealed the secret buried deep in his heart to them.

After learning of Xue Lian's whereabouts, they repeatedly inquired about the Baiyan Sect and learned that on the day of the autumn harvest, the spiritual farmers of Xuejia Village would have the opportunity to go to this sect.

Today happens to be the harvest season, and their original intention was to sneak into Baiyan Sect to pick snow lotus. However, halfway there, the imposter Shen Lijun suddenly appeared and chased after the two of them, while the other three were also chased and killed.

"Everyone here is a mortal. I thought there were no secrets, but when we were being chased just now, the spiritual energy in our bodies suddenly became sluggish. I don't know when we fell into a trap." The female disciple sighed.

Lou Yuqing looked at her and knew that she was being tactful, implying that they were not weak, but that someone else had sabotaged their fight, resulting in the two of them being unable to defeat one.

Where does Lao Ji live?

Lou Yuqing grasped the key point. Based on her previous discussion with her companions, anyone who told her about Xue Lian's whereabouts was suspicious, and this Lao Ji should be no exception.

The female disciple pointed in a direction: "He's right there. He has difficulty moving around, so he stayed in the village and didn't leave."

Lou Yuqing raised an eyebrow: "Isn't he going to deliver the spirit rice?"

The female disciple replied, "If you can't pay, you're just waiting to die."

Lou Yuqing thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you know who the owner of this stone house is?"

The female disciple asked in surprise and doubt: "I met him once before. He said he was a hunter who catches snow rabbits. What, is there something wrong with him?"

"Whether there's a problem or not is none of your business."

After Lou Yuqing finished speaking, she asked the same question to the male disciples, and then eliminated the two of them from the small world.

A prompt appeared before my eyes.

[Survivors: Six]

She still has five opponents.

If the team had been intact, they would have been the ultimate victors, regardless of whether they found the Snow Lotus or not. Unfortunately, she was the only one left to die.

Just as she was pondering, the communication jade slip suddenly moved, and her eyes lit up with surprise: "Ling Yunxiao, you're not dead?"

After fighting Hu Ruoyan, Ling Yunxiao realized he couldn't defeat her in a short time. He used his shadow clone to return to the inn and immediately contacted Lou Yuqing. Hearing her voice, the tension in his mind eased: "Yes, I'm not dead."

Lou Yuqing was completely bewildered: "What's going on with you guys?"

There is one explanation: Ling Yunxiao plotted against Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang, and then set his sights on her and her senior sister, wanting to wipe them all out in one fell swoop, but she knew that Ling Yunxiao was not that kind of person.

Ling Yunxiao naturally sensed the trust in her words, and with a smile on his face, he explained everything from beginning to end.

Lou Yuqing exclaimed in surprise, "What? Hu Ruoyan is the mastermind, and Xue Lian is her mother? The Xue Lian we're looking for is her mother?!"

After saying that, she looked conflicted: "Then wouldn't we be digging up the Hu family's ancestral graves?"

"Cough cough."

Caught off guard, Ling Yunxiao choked a few times, then said with a wry smile, "I have a guess. Besides planning to kill all the Hu family members on the day of the ancestral worship ceremony, Hu Ruoyan may also be planning to bring her mother back to life."

“Resurrection…” Lou Yuqing murmured, suddenly understanding. “Yes, the more she hates the head of the Hu family, the more she loves her mother. Over the years, she may have developed such thoughts. Ling Yunxiao, what’s wrong with your brain!”

Ling Yunxiao: It should be a compliment.

He feigned composure and said, "You'll understand if you think about it more. We'll infiltrate the Hu family on the day of the ancestral worship ceremony, and everything will be clear then. I don't think the small world will let us snatch a corpse."

Lou Yuqing looked at him strangely: "But, snatching a living person doesn't seem very normal."

"..."

Ling Yunxiao paused, he actually knew it too, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "There must be more to this than meets the eye, but we don't have enough clues to analyze anything further for now."

Lou Yuqing greeted them, "A clue, right? You've come to my place. Xuejia Village is no ordinary place." She then explained the situation of the Medicine King Valley disciples' spiritual energy being stagnant.

"I'll be right there."

Lou Yuqing smiled and said, "Okay."

At least she's not alone anymore.

During the wait, the notification kept appearing before my eyes.

[Survivors: Five]

[Survivors: Four]

[Survivors: Three]

Lou Yuqing felt a sudden tension as she looked at the death knell-like notification. Could these three eliminated people be the disciples who were intercepted and killed after handing over their spirit rice?

Just then, a commotion in the distance reached their ears.

Lou Yuqing extended her divine sense to observe, and suddenly her face darkened. There were two unfamiliar spiritual energy fluctuations, and the aura of the person who came was extremely unfriendly. To put it bluntly, they came with murderous intent.

Her spiritual power recovered to about 70-80% in a short time, giving her the strength to fight, but she was not at her peak, and it was uncertain whether she could withstand their attacks.

Ahead, the imposter wearing Chu Qingyang's disguise and a middle-aged man came into view. Blood splattered on their faces made their expressionless faces appear even more cold-blooded.

Lou Yuqing glanced at the imposter Chu Qingyang, not surprised by his appearance. She had never seen the other middle-aged man before. He looked honest and simple, but his murderous aura was stronger than that of the imposter Chu Qingyang.

She asked, "Who are you?"

"The man who will kill you!" the middle-aged man shouted.

Lou Yuqing sneered: "Arrogant and conceited."

The middle-aged man stopped making threats, but his murderous aura grew stronger, as if it were about to materialize, making people feel a heavy weight on their hearts.

He and the imposter Chu Qingyang flew over, intending to surround Lou Yuqing from both sides. Lou Yuqing pulled her body to one side, thwarting their plan, and the three of them immediately formed a pincer movement.

This position was advantageous to her, but she was still trapped in a situation where she had to fight or flee. Because they arrived too quickly, she lost the initiative and had no choice but to fight!

A thunderous roar erupted, and Lou Yuqing's spiritual power surged out of her body, forming a ball of lightning in her hand. Before she could gather more power, the attack from the other side had already arrived.

She calmly made a hand seal and released the power of lightning, which transformed into a shield two zhang in front of her. The opponent's attack crashed into the shield with a bang, and arcs of electricity scattered everywhere, displaying astonishing power.

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and a spiritual energy shield appeared, enveloping her entire body. The next moment, a jet-black dart struck the spiritual energy shield with a bang.

She looked at the middle-aged man who had thrown the dart, her expression changing slightly. If she hadn't reacted quickly, the dart would have hit her head.

The middle-aged man's sneak attack failed, and a look of regret flashed across his face. Several darts suddenly appeared in his hand, emanating an unsettling black aura. He coldly stared at Lou Yuqing, and the darts immediately soared into the air, shooting out like arrows.

To his surprise, Lou Yuqing hadn't taken any significant precautions. How could that fragile spiritual energy shield possibly withstand his attack?

Is it too late or...?

The middle-aged man's expression changed, and he realized something was wrong.

Just then, he felt a chill down his spine as a small spiritual dagger pierced his chest.

Seeing his unwilling expression, Lou Yuqing put her hands on her hips and said smugly, "You're allowed to have helpers, but I'm not allowed to have helpers too!"

The middle-aged man slowly turned around and saw a young boy who had appeared behind him at some point. He asked with difficulty, "Who... are you?"

Ling Yunxiao smiled slightly at him: "The one who killed you."

The middle-aged man stared wide-eyed, then died.

After his death, his body mysteriously disappeared and turned into a snow-white flower with dull petals, as if it had lost all vitality.

It looked exactly like the snow lotus they were looking for.

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Author's Note: I changed the cover, so don't get lost! [doge]