Chapter 52 The Little Spirit Beast is Actually a Liar.

Inside the dark cave, a male and a female cultivator were fending off the demon's attack with their swords. The demon was covered in scales, impervious to swords and spears, and instead, it sent sparks flying as it struck the cultivators' swords.

"...I'll lure it to attack, and while it pounces, you stab it three inches under the ribs with your sword, severing its heart meridian."

The two cultivators were about to be cornered when the woman used her sword as a shield. A flash of sword light slashed horizontally, preventing the demon from getting close for a moment. As she swung her sword, the female cultivator explained the battle plan to the male cultivator beside her. Her calm voice echoed in the cave, clear and melodious.

"If it goes berserk, can you withstand a head-on attack?" The male cultivator still had doubts.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Upon hearing this, the male cultivator no longer hesitated. The opportunity could not be delayed, so he immediately leaped out and flew to the side of the demon.

That's how it is among cultivators. When fighting side by side, as long as the strategy works, they must execute it decisively, regardless of how much firepower each of them bears, and they are responsible for their own lives.

The female cultivator pierced the demon's forehead with her sword, which indeed enraged it, causing it to lunge at her with its massive body. The female cultivator didn't dodge immediately; she deliberately gave the demon some time, allowing it to believe it could kill her with a single blow.

While waiting, the female cultivator channeled spiritual energy into the sword in her hand, and the sword gradually began to glow.

When the demon raised its arm to its highest point, revealing a small acupoint under its ribs, the sword in its hand shone brightly. It swung out, the sword light crisscrossing like lightning, the fine and sharp sword energy causing blood to gush from the demon's eyes.

At the same time, the male cultivator, who had been waiting for an opportunity to strike, thrust his sword three inches into the demon's ribs. The entire sword was embedded in the demon's body, severing its heart meridian inch by inch.

The massive body crashed to the ground, its demonic energy dissipating, and it transformed into a small pangolin. The pangolin, now devoured of demonic energy, quickly disappeared into a mountain crevice, leaving only a small fragment of jade on the ground.

Legend has it that these are fragments left behind when the gods destroyed the four pillars of heaven during the time of the severing of the connection between heaven and earth. Ordinary animals that eat them can grow into evil demons, and their usefulness to cultivators is self-evident.

"Same as always, split it 50/50."

As the female cultivator spoke, she was about to use her sword to split the fragment in two.

The male cultivator immediately stopped him, saying, "You put in more effort, so you should get more."

"No need, the price we agreed on before we came is the price we'll pay."

Before he could say anything more, the female cultivator cut the pieces into five pieces, no more and no less.

The male cultivator could no longer refuse and took the fragment, placing it in his pocket. He looked at the female cultivator before him; her ponytail was tied high, and a few stray hairs on her forehead were separated by a headband. An irregularly shaped blue jade was adorned on the headband, adding some color to her pale face, but the jade exuded a chilling aura, just like her eyes when she looked at people—devoid of warmth.

This person joined Kunlun Mountain seven years ago and became a member of the long-declining Zhenyang Mountain lineage. In those seven years, no news of her had been heard. Like Zhenyang Peak, she was unknown on Kunlun Mountain. But the sword technique she used just now was clearly... Why does such a person never show off in the sect?

Unable to contain his curiosity, on the way back, the male cultivator tentatively asked, "If I'm not mistaken, was Junior Sister Jiang's move 'Sun and Moon Shining Together'?"

Jiang Yuhuo sat down by a stream and washed his sword in the flowing water. He was taken aback when he heard the question.

She didn't know this move had such a name. When her senior brother taught it to her, he always referred to it as "Sword Move One" or "Sword Move Two." This move was now "Sword Move Seven," which she had just learned.

The male cultivator sat on a rock nearby, waiting for her. The person by the stream responded indifferently, "Not really," and continued washing her sword. After the bloodstains were removed and the blade was cleaned, its luster was not particularly dazzling; it was just an ordinary iron sword, not even a spirit sword forged from spirit stones.

The sword-washing man suddenly turned around and asked, "Senior Brother Lin has also learned 'Sword Move Seven'? I mean, um... 'Sun and Moon Shining Together'."

Lin Wuwang immediately waved his hand, "No, no, I haven't cultivated to that level yet."

He had cultivated to the middle third level, making him one of the best among his peers. However, "Sun and Moon Shining Together" was already a sword technique that had entered the upper third level of Kunlun. Even he had only seen his master, the Lingxiao Mountain Man, use it once. And this man had only been in the mountain for seven years.

Lin Wuwang remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was in turmoil. He continued to probe her situation, "Junior Sister Jiang has achieved so much in just a few years. She must have received all the knowledge and instruction from Master Zhenyang."

"You mean Master?" Jiang Yuhuo rinsed the entire sword in the water one last time, then shook her head. "My swordsmanship was all taught by my senior brother."

Lin Wuwang was even more astonished. Her senior brother? That notorious sect scoundrel?

As they washed the sword, the stream water grew increasingly cold.

Jiang Yuhuo simply washed her face in the stream; the cool water felt very comfortable on her face.

However, it was already late spring, and the days were getting warmer, but the stream here was as cold as an ice spring in winter, which was not normal, and the water temperature was not this cold when she first washed her sword.

Jiang Yuhuo looked towards the upper reaches of the stream.

Could there be something wrong upstream?

Her new body failed to resolve the heat syndrome that she originally had. In recent years, the more she cultivated, the more frequently it flared up. Fortunately, her senior brother found her a piece of cold jade, which she wore on her forehead every day to suppress the heat syndrome in her body.

However, cold jade is not a one-time solution. Each piece of cold jade has an expiration date. Once the expiration date is over, the coldness disappears, and it becomes no different from an ordinary stone. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly search for new pieces for backup.

"A stream this cold must contain some kind of treasure." Jiang Yuhuo thought to himself as he wiped his face and got up to swim upstream.

Suddenly, a handkerchief was handed to me; the blue handkerchief was embroidered with a subtle bamboo pattern.

Jiang Yuhuo looked up and saw Lin Wuwang.

"If Junior Sister Jiang doesn't mind, you might as well use this to wipe yourself."

Jiang Yuhuo naturally wouldn't complain; the handkerchief was clearly a fine piece, far better than the ones she used on Zhenyang Peak. Zhenyang Peak was sparsely populated, with meager stipends. It was a rare treat to have a new disciple, and she was an orphan like herself, completely unlike disciples from aristocratic families who received a fortune upon entering the sect. The entire Zhenyang Peak lineage, from top to bottom, shared a consistently stingy and poor attitude.

"Thank you." Jiang Yuhuo accepted it generously and wiped the water off his face. "I will return it to Senior Brother Lin after I wash myself off. However, I have other matters to attend to, so I will not be returning to Kunlun with Senior Brother Lin."

As he watched his handkerchief brush against her fair cheeks and neck, Lin Wu's ears turned slightly red. Seeing that she was about to take her leave, he quickly asked the question that had been on his mind, "...In the future, could we go down the mountain together to exorcise demons again? So that I can ask you for advice on swordsmanship."

Jiang Yuhuo cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, a faint smile on his face. "Of course."

Lin Wuwang's encounter with her was purely coincidental. He first discovered the demon's trail, but not knowing its true nature, he dared not venture in. At that moment, Jiang Yuhuo also happened to have tracked it down. With the two of them facing the demon, their chances of success increased significantly, so they decided to split up and enter the cave together.

He originally thought that he would need to take care of this junior sister who was unknown in Kunlun during the battle, but he did not expect that her strength was far above his own.

She didn't seem to take his advances to heart.

I don't know when we'll meet again.

Lin Wuwang left, feeling utterly dejected.

Jiang Yuhuo, with a sliver of hope, went upstream.

The upstream current is more rapid, with scattered rocks on both banks and trees blocking out the sun, casting dappled shadows through the trees.

This scene bears a resemblance to the mountains and forests of Liyue Village in those days.

Jiang Yuhuo slowed his pace.

A silver shadow floated in the stream like light, twisting and turning with the current, but moving at an extremely fast speed.

Jiang Yuhuo hadn't noticed it at first, but the shadow was so bright in the sunlight that she couldn't help but look over. She then saw a small silver snake swimming towards her in the clear stream, its scales shimmering dazzlingly.

The little snake swam to her location and then stopped, remaining coiled in the stream.

Jiang Yuhu squatted down and extended a finger. Sure enough, the silver snake coiled around her fingertip. The moment it coiled, the cool and abundant spiritual energy clung to her skin, making her mind feel refreshed.

It turns out this little guy was the one who made the stream water cool.

Jiang Yuhuo raised her hand, and the silver snake also looked up. The two stared at each other, one big and one small. She stretched out a finger and touched the top of the snake's head. The silver snake immediately twisted its body and rubbed against the back of her hand, flicking its tongue and licking the back of her hand as it twisted.

So, did you rush over here excitedly because you want to recognize her as your master? Having such a cool and icy accessory would be quite nice.

Jiang Yuhuo lightly touched the top of the silver snake's head with her fingertip to probe its spiritual sea. If it agreed, she could form a pact with it.

To her surprise, when she probed inside with her spiritual sense, she found that a contract had already been formed inside, binding her tightly, and the marks indicated that it had been there for quite some time.

She pretended to be angry and flicked its forehead. The little spirit beast was actually a fraud.

The silver snake shuddered, lowered its head further onto the back of her hand, and looked up at her with its eyes. Jiang Yuhuo actually sensed a hint of grievance in its small eyes.

Since it belonged to someone else, she shouldn't get involved with it anymore. She put her hand back in the water and waited for it to swim away.

But the silver snake didn't leave; in fact, when it touched the water, it seemed afraid of falling in and wrapped its arms around her hand even tighter.

Jiang Yuhuo was also quite helpless, but since the contracted spirit beast was here, its master should be not far away, judging from the direction it came from, which was upstream. Oh well, she would do a good deed and send it back to its master.

The further they went, the quieter the surroundings became; the chirping of birds and the calls of animals were almost inaudible. Jiang Yuhuo stopped in his tracks.

She can't go any further; someone has set up a barrier here.

"Go back to your master."

Jiang Yuhuo immersed her entire hand in the stream, but the silver snake remained coiled around her. Just as she was about to push the unruly little snake away, she suddenly heard a whooshing sound from upstream, and out of the corner of her eye, an ice arrow shot straight toward her.

Jiang Yuhuo was caught off guard, but immediately drew her sword to block.

"bite--"

The iron sword cut through the ice arrow.

Jiang Yuhuo opened her sword-wielding hand. The immense impact of the ice arrow made her hand go numb. Although the ice arrow was severed by her sword, the force of the remaining half of the arrowhead still left a deep gash on the back of her hand.

What a powerful gust of wind!

If she hadn't parried in time, the arrow would probably have pierced right through her body.

No second arrow was fired, making the warning meaning of this arrow self-evident.

In a short while, the silver snake had returned to the water. It looked back at her with reluctance, but it was forcibly dragged upstream by a force and soon disappeared.

It must have been because its owner thought she was going to do something to this spirit beast that she suddenly attacked it.

It's understandable, but this person's style is too cold-blooded.

One arrow was enough to tell that this person's cultivation was definitely above hers, but she was not a pushover to be easily manipulated.

Before leaving, Jiang Yuhuo did not immediately stop the bleeding from her palm. A few drops of blood fell outside the barrier, and she added another fire spell.

In the cold pool upstream of the stream, a person who had been submerged in the water slowly rose to the surface, stirring the mirror-like water into fine ripples, revealing a face of unparalleled beauty. The person's icy blue eyes sharpened, and their brows furrowed, showing their displeasure. Beneath the clear water, a huge fish tail swayed gently.

Jia Yue held the silver snake wrapped around his hand. The silver snake was the same color as the silver ring on his finger, and the two shone brightly in the sunlight on his beautifully shaped hand.

But the next moment, her slender, well-defined fingers suddenly tightened, slowly applying force, squeezing the silver snake in her hand until its eyes rolled back in its head.

With a cold face, he washed the silver snake countless times from head to tail in the pool, and then used his spiritual energy to cleanse the aura that had clung to its body.

The little silver snake felt its beautiful skin wrinkling and its whole body drooping. It thought it was over, but the mermaid master's next words were so cold that they made it tremble.

"If you dare to go out and stir up any more filth, I'll skin you alive."