Chapter 66: Killing Meng Yikang and Reuniting with Shi Heming

Struck at its weak point, the black flame python rolled its body, circling rapidly, attempting to strangle the damned cultivator. A powerful pressure appeared; of the three, only Chen Yuanxiu was unharmed, while Song Yin and Meng Yikang both let out muffled groans and blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.

Song Yin took out the pill and swallowed it immediately, which made her internal injuries much easier to heal.

Meng Yikang: "Hey, give me one pill."

It went in one ear and out the other; Song Yin ignored Meng Yikang completely.

He didn't get the elixir, but his body was in excruciating pain, as if his internal organs were being crushed.

"If you don't give me medicine to heal my injuries, how am I supposed to help Brother Chen?" Meng Yikang said with difficulty, enduring the oppressive aura.

Song Yin kept a close eye on the battle situation and analyzed favorable opportunities.

Chen Yuanxiu had many wounds on his body. The next moment, he was slapped hard and rolled twice on the ground. Then he stood up and wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand. Even though he was in pain, he did not drop the sword in his hand and stood proudly.

Song Yin took out a pill and used her spiritual energy to send it to Chen Yuanxiu.

"Healing."

Chen Yuanxiu swallowed the pill decisively and said, "Thank you."

The pain disappeared, and the wound healed at a visible speed. Chen Yuanxiu was amazed by the efficacy of the elixir. This was definitely not the effect of a first-grade elixir; it was at least a third-grade one.

Having regained his peak condition, Chen Yuanxiu once again drew his sword and charged forward.

Meng Yikang gritted his teeth in pain: "He has one too, give me one too, I'm going to die!"

Catching the key words, Song Yin turned her head and said, "Then go die."

"Fine! Very well! We'll settle the score with you after we get through this!"

"Don't you have spirit stones to buy pills? You're so possessive of my pills, how shameless."

When his sore spot was hit, Meng Yikang's face turned so dark it looked like ink could drip from it.

Chen Yuanxiu was the main fighter against the Black Flame Python. The Black Flame Python didn't seem to take the two Foundation Establishment stage novices seriously and mainly attacked Chen Yuanxiu.

Song Yin distanced herself from Meng Yikang because she saw another brown snake attacking him. Although it wasn't as big as the Black Flame Python, it was still quite large.

Song Yin: "Did you stir up a snake's nest?"

Meng Yikang: "I crushed a nest of snake eggs."

Song Yin: ...

Meng Yikang, that idiot!

One demon beast Nascent Soul and one golden core were found, and Song Yin's vision went black again and again.

She had a sliver of hope; she needed to escape. If she stayed any longer, her life would be in danger.

Chen Yuanxiu was a good person. Song Yin transmitted her voice to him: "Meng Yikang crushed a nest of snake eggs. Snakes are vengeful. One of them is a Nascent Soul cultivator and the other is a Golden Core cultivator. You are the only Golden Core cultivator among us. The difference in strength is too great, so running away is the best policy!"

After transmitting her message, without waiting for Chen Yuanxiu's reply, Song Yin stepped on her spirit sword and fled in the other direction.

The Golden Core demon beast was fixated on Meng Yikang; it wanted Meng Yikang dead!

Meng Yikang struggled for a while, then realized something was wrong. He quickly looked around. Where were Song Yin and Chen Yuanxiu? He spread his divine sense and found that Song Yin and Chen Yuanxiu were running in two different directions.

Meng Yikang gritted his teeth and finally chased after Song Yin. Chen Yuanxiu was stronger and might run even faster; it would be terrible if he couldn't catch up halfway.

Two demonic beasts chased after Meng Yikang, trying to kill him.

Song Yin fled towards the depths of the secret realm, betting that there were still Nascent Soul demon beasts there, and that the Black Flame Python would not dare to set foot in the territory of other Nascent Soul demon beasts.

There was a cliff right in front of them, and below the cliff was a vast plain. Unless the Black Flame Serpent could also fly, it would only fall off the cliff.

Since Meng Yikang was chasing after Song Yin, the Black Flame Python tacitly agreed that the two were in cahoots and both wanted to escape to other territories. It dared not easily provoke those demonic beasts, but it could not let go of the person who crushed the snake eggs.

The black flame python's long tail lashed out at the two fleeing figures, its speed far exceeding its previous attack. Abandoning its prey-teasing intent, it aimed to kill them both with a single flick of its tail.

The enormous snake tail attacked the two with overwhelming force.

Song Yin had no time to escape, and her attempts to dodge were futile; she was struck by the snake's tail along with Meng Yikang.

The two figures lost their ability to fly and fell off the cliff like kites with broken strings.

Having confirmed that both prey had fallen from such a height and were certain to die, the black flame python lingered at the edge of the cliff for a moment, a hint of apprehension flashing in its eyes as it looked at the plain. Then, it turned and led the other demonic beast back into the forest.

"Cough cough cough!"

At the bottom of the cliff, Song Yin coughed up a mouthful of blood. Fortunately, she was protected by the fifth-tier magic weapon, the Burning Moon Heart-Protecting Mirror, which her master had given her before. That tail just now almost took half her life.

He took out a fourth-grade healing pill from his spatial storage and took it. His injuries began to heal rapidly, and the pain subsided.

The spirit sword before her was broken into three pieces and could no longer be used. She stepped forward and put the fragments into her storage bag. She then took out the sixth-tier spirit sword, Qieman. Fortunately, she had it with her, so she was not afraid of being without a sword.

She activated her divine sense to search for Meng Yikang's figure. Once she found him, she withdrew her divine sense and walked towards him. As she walked, she cast a cleansing spell on herself, and after cleaning up, she appeared as if she had never been injured.

Meng Yikang also had a magical artifact that protected his life. It was because he bought this artifact that he didn't have any extra spirit stones to buy pills.

Having the magical artifact to protect him was only a narrow escape from death; his injuries were becoming increasingly severe, and without treatment, he would surely die.

Meng Yikang tried to sit up cross-legged to regulate his breathing and heal his injuries, but every time he tried to prop himself up a little, he would lose his balance and fall to the ground in a sorry state. He tried again and again, but all his attempts failed.

A pair of exquisite shoes appeared before him, and Meng Yikang looked up at them.

Song Yin stood before them, holding a new spirit sword, completely unharmed.

Meng Yikang stretched out his hand: "Help... I need, I need medicine... Huff... Puff!"

Song Yin kicked him three meters away. Meng Yikang, injured again, coughed up a mouthful of blood. His whole body was covered in blood, and his chest was soaked with blood that had slid down from his chin.

Song Yin looked down at him, "Where do you get the nerve to ask me to save you?"

Although I am standing here perfectly fine, the injuries I just suffered are real, and the pain is excruciating.

"Please... save me..." Meng Yikang no longer cared about saving face; he had only one thought: to live.

Song Yin spoke up: "Wait a minute."

Meng Yikang looked at her with suspicion. What did she mean? Was she telling me not to call for help? Or was she telling me not to move because my injuries were too severe?

The sword moved with the heart, a flash of silver light.

Meng Yikang stared at Song Yin with his eyes wide open, the simple ring on his finger gleaming brightly in the sunlight.

Remember, this is the world of cultivation; physical death is not true annihilation. Song Yin skillfully took out a small gourd, extracted Meng Yikang's soul, and sealed it within the magical artifact.

As usual, we'll deal with the sealed soul when we get back to the sect.

As for the remaining corpses... Song Yin looked away, thinking that the skilled burial workers were on strike today.

Having fallen into the plains, she roughly knew where she was.

The communication stone told Shi Heming its location, and Shi Heming acknowledged receipt and rushed over.

Chen Yuanxiu arrived before Shi Heming. After the crisis was over, he thought of the pills that Song Yin had given him. Song Yin was a good person and should not have been killed by Meng Yikang. Moreover, he wanted to kill Meng Yikang to vent his anger.

Thinking of this, he went to chase after Song Yin.

"Fellow Daoist Song."

Chen Yuanxiu landed, "It's good to see you're alright, but he..." The corpse on the ground was impossible to miss.

Song Yin: "Oh, he and I were hit by the black flame python together. We fell from the sky. I was lucky to survive. It's a pity for Fellow Daoist Meng, alas."

Chen Yuanxiu re-examined the person before him. If he could misjudge Meng Yikang, could he also misjudge Song Yin? Admittedly, Meng Yikang was covered in wounds, but he could recognize the sword wound on his neck at a glance. There was no one else around except Song Yin, so it was obvious who had inflicted that sword wound.

Chen Yuanxiu: "I want to continue deeper into the secret realm, shall we go together?"

Song Yin: "Thank you for your kindness, Daoist Chen, but since my friend is coming to find me, I will stay here and wait for him for the time being."

"Then farewell."

"May Fellow Daoist Chen have a safe journey."

After watching Chen Yuanxiu leave first, Song Yin turned around.

Leaving the corpse exposed like this was too conspicuous; it wouldn't be good if someone passing by aroused suspicion. Song Yin put two fingers together and lured the surrounding weeds and leaves to pile them up in front of the corpse.

Song Yin nodded in satisfaction.

After waiting for about an hour, Shi Heming finally arrived.

"Song Yin".

"You've finally arrived! Did you encounter any danger on the way?"

"I'm fine, but are you injured? When I came over, I saw signs of a battle; there was clearly a fierce fight going on around here."

"Do I look like an injured person?" Song Yin spread her arms and spun around in front of him. "Seeing is believing."

Shi Heming felt relieved and asked, "Do you have any plans for the future?"

Song Yin: "Of course I have a plan. I want to go to the deepest part of the secret realm. What are your plans?"

Shi Heming: "Collect some rare and precious natural treasures from outside the secret realm and take them out. Your goal of going to the deepest part of the secret realm does not conflict with mine. Why don't we set off now?"

Things are not uncommon on the outskirts of the secret realm; the truly valuable items are only found deep within it.

"Let's go then. If we don't fly, we can walk instead. Flying in the air makes it easy to miss the good things on the ground."

“Okay.” Shi Heming naturally had no objections.

Just as they had thought, walking was to discover good things on the ground. After walking a hundred meters, Song Yin found a spiritual herb in the grass.

She couldn't resist picking the spiritual herbs, and since they were small this time, Song Yin knelt down and carefully picked them one by one.

Shi Heming squatted down to help collect the materials.

"Senior sister, we've already gone quite far. Going any deeper might be very dangerous."

“It’s alright. I was prepared to risk my life when I entered the secret realm. But Shen Rong is right. It’s very dangerous to go further in. The demonic beasts we encounter will be at the Nascent Soul level. Among our group, only Zhu Guanghao and I are at the Golden Core stage. Even so, I can’t guarantee everyone’s safety. So I suggest that Zhu Guanghao and I travel together for the rest of the way. We can leave the magical artifacts we bought together for your protection.”

"Well... alright, I'm sorry, Senior Sister. I'm too timid. I just want to find some good things on the outskirts of the secret realm and wait for it to teleport us out." The male cultivator in the group followed his heart.

The female cultivator named Shen Rong said with a reckless expression, "I'll stay with Senior Sister and Senior Brother Zhu."

“Chen Rong, you should stay on the outskirts with Wang Hu. I know what you mean, but you're only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Going into the depths of the secret realm is tantamount to suicide. I can't just watch you do something foolish.”

Shen Rong, with tears welling up in her eyes, said, "Senior Sister..."

Song Yin put all the newly picked spiritual herbs into her storage bag, got up, patted the dirt off her palms, and took the opportunity to see who was putting on a tearful farewell act.

Well, it turns out they're family.

All ten of them were wearing the disciple robes of the Immortal Cloud Sect. Shen Rong even held her senior sister's hand, telling her to be careful and pay attention to safety.

"Here, take this to wipe yourself." Shi Heming handed over a handkerchief.

The soil was a bit wet, and even after patting it off, a lot of it was still sticky on her hands. Song Yin took a handkerchief and carefully wiped her fingers and nail crevices. After wiping, she cast a dust-removing spell on herself.

"Who is it?" The ten people looked over when they heard the noise.

Song Yin: "You can continue. You're all from the same sect, so don't worry."

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Author's Note: Song Yin: Remember, this is the cultivation world. After killing someone, you must also deal with their soul. [Glasses]

Upon entering the secret realm, all sorts of demons and monsters appear, caring little for whether you're from the same sect or not; they only want to seize the good stuff.

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[Empty bowl]