Chapter 19 A Battle of Life and Death: What kind of person do you think the Immortal Venerable is? ...

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions immediately turned extremely ugly.

"Why is this happening? Didn't the elder say that crushing the jade talisman would send us out?"

"Are we all going to die in this secret realm?"

In the crowd, someone whispered something in a trembling voice.

In an instant, a cacophony of voices rose up like a tidal wave.

Some disciples frantically searched through their storage bags for life-saving talismans, only to find that the cinnabar runes on all the talismans were slowly fading.

Some disciples didn't believe in superstitions, saying, "Maybe there's something wrong with your jade talisman."

As he spoke, the disciple flipped his hand, revealing his teleportation jade talisman. With the activation of spiritual power, the talisman emitted a blue light. Everyone's gaze focused on the jade talisman in his hand. Just then, Lou Jing suddenly made a hand seal, and a sword intent flew past, causing the jade talisman in the disciple's hand to crack abruptly.

"Senior Brother Lou, what are you doing?" The disciple looked up, slightly agitated.

"What's the panic?" Lou Jing frowned. "Don't lose your composure."

"Senior Brother Shi Lian." The disciple turned to look at Shi Lian again, unwilling to give up.

Shi Lian forced a smile and reached out to pat the disciple's head. "Don't be afraid."

Before Lou Jing completely shattered the jade talisman, Shi Lian had already noticed cracks, but the talisman still didn't react. It could only be said that even if everyone present crushed the jade talisman, not a single disciple would be able to escape.

If the other disciples find out, it will probably make the already demoralized group even more fearful.

It's better not to say anything.

The other disciples, who were in the late Foundation Establishment stage, also noticed something amiss, but quickly looked away and went to comfort their fellow disciples.

Lou Jing squatted down, picked up a pinch of sand that shimmered with a faint blue light, and slowly spread it in his palm. "I'm afraid we're not in the Yunlai Immortal Abode. I remember that in the book my master gave me before we entered the country, the soil in the Yunlai Immortal Abode was suitable for light-loving spiritual herbs. But the soil in my hand feels like it's been soaked in water, and if you smell it carefully, you can also faintly smell a fishy odor."

After hearing his words, the others followed his example, scooping up handfuls of soil from the ground and smelling them. "It seems there really is some."

Lou Jing's expression was serious. He looked around at the surrounding vegetation, "Furthermore, look at the patterns on these tree trunks. They're different from the trees outside, on the contrary..."

He paused.

Shi Lian replied in a deep voice, "Like fish scales."

Lou Jing nodded. "Yes."

He said, "It seems we have entered the Yin-Yang Secret Realm, but we don't know what kind of secret realm this is."

Even Lou Jing, who was at the second level of the Golden Core stage, didn't know, and the others were even more clueless.

Everyone had their own thoughts, and just then, an ethereal song drifted from the depths of the mist.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Lou Jing raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"Bang--"

"Bang--"

In the deathly silence, the deafening sound of someone's heartbeat seemed to pound in everyone's ears.

"ah!!!"

Suddenly, a disciple was startled and screamed, staggering backward as he pointed behind him with a trembling finger, "There...there...something is moving."

Everyone turned around in horror, only to see a dark figure slowly approaching from the thick fog. Lou Jing and Shi Lian immediately drew their swords and assumed a defensive stance.

Until the dark figure drew closer, revealing a familiar face.

“…Xie Linzhao?” Shi Lian was taken aback and subconsciously called his name.

Xie Linzhao's face was ashen, blood trickling from his lips. Hearing Shi Lian's voice, he looked up, a look of disgust in his eyes, as he stared at the crowd in front of him.

Xie Linzhao, son of the Demon Lord Xie Wuwang, is known to everyone on Jianming Immortal Mountain.

Upon seeing that it was him, everyone's tense nerves relaxed and they breathed a sigh of relief.

Lou Jing sheathed his sword, looked at the boy who was leaning against the tree trunk for support, and said expressionlessly, "You are seriously injured, you should get it treated first."

Xie Linzhao was enveloped in demonic energy. His face was cold, his eyes were deep, and he uttered a few words in a hoarse voice, "No need, get lost."

Upon hearing this, the disciple beside Lou Jing retorted sarcastically, "Who do you think you are, daring to be so disrespectful in front of Senior Brother Lou!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly mounted his sword and rose into the air, the blade gleaming coldly, aiming straight for Xie Linzhao's heart.

"Stop!" Shi Lian flashed and used her sword sheath to block the disciple's attack. "Although he is a demon, he is still a disciple of Sword Bright Immortal Mountain. How can you kill him so casually?"

The disciple holding the sword was filled with resentment. "But he is a demon. We might as well take this opportunity to kill him, so that he won't be a nuisance in the sect all day long."

"Enough." Shi Lian felt a strange sense of irritation rise in his heart. He looked around and found that no one was on his side. Even Lou Jing, who had always doted on him, frowned and his eyes were full of disapproval.

Xie Linzhao was used to it, but the disciples blocking his way, though he didn't recognize them, didn't stop him from disliking them just as much.

He chuckled softly, his voice hoarse, "...hypocritical."

A mocking glint flashed in Xie Linzhao's eyes, as if he had already anticipated this situation. He tried his best to leave, but as soon as he took a step, he swayed and was completely engulfed in darkness.

...

"Hey, Mingjian, what do you usually do?" Gu Zhi was so bored that she picked a blade of grass and put it in her mouth, asking Mingjian in a muffled voice.

Along their journey, they hadn't seen any living creatures other than themselves, except for the countless fireflies. It was as if the entire world had shrunk to just the few of them.

Song Heyu wasn't a talkative person, and Xiao Bumian was even less so. Gu Zhi didn't have a good impression of Song Yao, so he could only bother Mingjian from time to time.

Mingjian was quite tired from walking, and he was also feeling restless. Sometimes, when he was in the mood, he would talk to Guzhi, saying, "Hmm, cultivating, sleeping, carrying water, and chopping bamboo."

Gu Zhi nodded, but after a while, he didn't get a reply from Ming Jian.

That's it?

Mingjian shook his head. "That's all."

Gu Zhi was shocked. "Aren't you bored?"

"Not boring."

"That's terrible." Gu Zhi's expression was solemn, and it was clear that he was on tenterhooks.

Mingjian asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Gu Zhi raised her eyes solemnly, "Of course it's inappropriate. You've been cultivating all day, yet you're only at the sixth level of Qi Refining."

Mingjian: "..."

Damn it.

He stopped talking to Gu Zhi.

Gu Zhi laughed for a while, clutching his stomach. After a quarter of an hour, he couldn't sit still anymore and poked Mingjian's waist with his sword. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have laughed at you."

Ming smiled insincerely, "Senior Brother Gu is joking. What you're saying isn't mockery; you're just telling the truth."

Although Gu Zhi wasn't as quick-witted as Song Heyu, she wasn't oblivious to Ming Jian's sarcastic remarks. Her eyes darted around, and she suddenly bent down to rummage through her Qiankun bag. After a while, she pulled out a bottle of pills and handed it to Ming Jian. "Here, have a bottle of Foundation Establishment Pills. My master gave them to me when I was establishing my foundation. There were two bottles in total. I didn't finish them, so I kept one."

Upon hearing this, Mingjian smiled and said, "What would you like to talk about, Senior Brother Gu? As your junior brother, it's my duty to offer you pills if you wish to chat."

As he spoke, he took the pill from Gu Zhi's hand, and fearing that Gu Zhi might change her mind, he quickly threw it into his pocket.

Gu Zhi remained silent for a while, then, adopting the demeanor of a senior brother, patted Ming Jian on the shoulder and said, "Your senior brother should praise you for at least putting on an act."

Mingjian: "You're too kind."

The two of them kept calling each other "senior brother" and "junior brother." Song Heyu shook his head helplessly, while Xiao Bumian smiled sincerely at Ming Jian and then glanced at the pills he was holding in his arms.

Does that little good-for-nothing like that thing?

He had never used Foundation Establishment Pills before, but if the little good-for-nothing wanted them, he could refine some. It seemed he once owned a copy of the Mysterious Heaven Pill Record.

Besides the Foundation Establishment Pill, there are some other interesting pills that you can try on this little good-for-nothing.

As if he were thinking of a scene that would lift his spirits, Xiao Bumian's lips slowly curved into a smile, and he chuckled softly.

As Mingjian walked ahead, he inexplicably felt a chill on the back of his neck.

He was now blinded by the free bottle of pills he had gotten, and his mind was full of thoughts about how to get a few more from Gu Zhi. He said things that Gu Zhi wanted to hear, "Senior Brother Gu is truly knowledgeable and erudite. If you hadn't deduced that this place was a thousand-year-old merman ruin, we would probably still be clueless."

Gu Zhi smiled slightly, "You're not bad either, being able to realize in time that this isn't Yunlai Immortal Abode."

The two exchanged words back and forth for several rounds.

Just as Mingjian was about to spout some more mindless boasting, he suddenly caught sight of Xiao Bumian's gloomy gaze.

Mingjian: "..."

He suddenly stopped.

Xiao Bumian's face looked so bad, could it be because he took credit for it? After all, it was Xiao Bumian who first discovered that this was the ruins of the merfolk, not the Yunlai Immortal Abode.

He silently stuffed the newly mined pills from Gu Zhi into his Qiankun bag.

With Xiao Bumian's cultivation level so high, he definitely doesn't need any pills anymore. No one can trick him out of any pills.

I believe Lord Xiao Bumian is magnanimous and will not make things difficult for him.

Ming felt inexplicably guilty, and the words he was about to say were cut off. He was so quiet that he seemed like a completely different person from before.

Seeing that he had fallen silent again, Gu Zhi assumed that he had run out of things to say, so she very considerately found him a new topic, "You go to Evernight Mountain every day to fetch water for the Immortal Venerable, have you ever seen the Immortal Venerable?"

Mingjian clearly wanted to kill Guzhi, so why did he have to bring up Xiao Bumian?

He gritted his teeth, pretending not to hear.

Gu Zhi thought his voice was too soft, so he repeated it.

Mingjian: "..."

It's a small question; anyone can play dumb. He'd rather die than answer that question.

Gu Zhi didn't need to explicitly reply to him; he spoke happily on his own, "Although I have never seen the Immortal Venerable, five hundred years ago, the Immortal Venerable's Spirit-Slaying Sword wiped out tens of thousands of demonic cultivators, its sword energy traversing thousands of miles. To this day, no demon dares to step into the cultivation world."

As he spoke, his voice was firm: "One day, I will become a cultivator like the Immortal Venerable, and protect the Dao of the world with the sword in my hand."

Mingjian: "…………"

That's well said, but don't say it again.

Mingjian's feelings were quite subtle. He suppressed the urge to dig out several houses on the spot and pointed to the ceiling, saying, "Look at those fireflies gathered together, don't they look like fire unicorns?"

Gu Zhi looked up and said, "It does have some of that, but I feel it's more like a Taotie."

"Mmm." Mingjian nodded absentmindedly. He was just pointing randomly, how would he know what it looked like?

Seeing that Gu Zhi's attention had been diverted, Mingjian breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this guy isn't the type to pry.

Suddenly, Xiao Bumian's voice came from behind. He smiled, his long eyelashes were black, and warm yellow fluorescence intertwined with dark blue, falling between his eyebrows and eyes. His expression was gentle and compassionate. He asked softly, "Junior Brother, didn't you hear me? Just now, Senior Brother Gu asked you what kind of person you think Hanwei Immortal Venerable is."

Mingjian's body stiffened, and tens of thousands of horses galloped through his mind.

He forgot that Gu Zhi wasn't, but Xiao Bumian was.

Moreover, Gu Zhi asked whether he had met him or not, not what kind of person he thought he was.

A note from the author:

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