Chapter 148

"Nightmare Lord!"

Seeing that the situation was not right, Lang Yu and his companions hurriedly flew over on their swords.

The black-clad lord looked behind Ji Tang and said with a hint of contempt in his teasing, "The cultivation of these little kids is not even as good as that of my third-level black-clad believers, but they seem to have some courage to dare to come here."

There was a murderous look in his eyes, and his attacks were also filled with murderous intent.

With his level of cultivation, he could kill several people on the spot with just one move.

They knew it, but when the magic came at them, no one retreated. They cast defensive spells and summoned defensive magic weapons, without stopping, and continued to run towards Jitang.

The black-robed lord's eyes showed even more interest. He was in no hurry to attack again, but watched the spell getting closer and closer to them as if he was teasing a small animal.

Just when the spell was about to hit a few people, it was suddenly forced back by a thick nightmare aura and then dissipated.

The black-robed lord's interest was disturbed, but he had no time to care. He was slightly surprised and looked down at the person in front of him.

Jitang was already unable to take care of himself, yet he still had to protect a few juniors.

She hadn't known when she had broken free from the shackles of her ice marrow and spoke with difficulty, "I'm not dead yet. Don't even think about touching me."

The black-robed lord hid the astonishment in his eyes and said with a smile, "You were able to regain control of the Ice Marrow's first eruption. You truly have more potential than I imagined. It's a pity that you've refused to submit to me, which really annoys me."

Jitang was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

The black-robed lord's expression was slightly stiff.

He heard Jitang ask, "Why don't you kill me?"

At this time, Lang Yu and others also came to Jitang. When they heard Jitang's question, they felt anxious.

Their hearts were in their throats and almost jumped out. They didn't even have time to check her injuries. They immediately stood in a row and blocked her way.

The black-robed lord narrowed his eyes, scanning the three people before settling on Ji Tang. "Want to die? I can grant you that."

The black-robed lord's aura was extremely terrifying. Just by standing in front of him, the few people felt their bodies being squeezed infinitely and their sea of consciousness was spinning.

His sharp breath violently split the air, following their breathing and being sucked into their bodies. At the same time, the breath turned into a sharp blade, rushing through their bodies, constantly cutting their nerves.

Several people were tense and their bodies were shaking uncontrollably, but no one backed away.

Ji Tang secretly clenched her fists, trying her best not to let the black-robed lord see any more flaws, and she said without showing any sign of weakness, "You can give it a try!"

She was gambling that the Lord in Black wouldn't really want her life—at least not now.

She is the core of the Jiuzhou formation. How could the black-clothed lord destroy her at this time when his plan has not yet been completed?

The black-robed lord pursed his lips, and the spiritual power emerging from his hands was mixed with a few wisps of immortal energy. The overwhelming pressure from the immortal world was so great that it was terrifying even before it was exerted.

The two sides confronted each other silently, and he did not take action in the end.

Ji Tang felt relieved, knowing that he had made the right bet.

Lang Yu and his companions were almost unable to breathe in this confrontation. Just when their bodies could no longer withstand the overwhelming pressure, the black-robed lord suddenly stopped and the energy in his hand disappeared.

The black-robed lord spoke faster and faster, sounding as if he was suppressing his frustration. "Jitang, you will get what you want soon. I'll wait and see."

After he said that, he broke through the space crack, retreated into the darkness, and disappeared in an instant.

Ji Tang finally let out a breath that had been held in her chest for a long time, and her breath came out intermittently as she fell heavily to her knees.

"Yanzun!" Several people gathered around anxiously.

Jitang murmured something.

They leaned in to listen carefully.

Then I heard her say weakly but without showing any weakness: "Why is this old guy pretending with me? If I wanted to kill him, I would have killed him long ago. And he got what he wanted. I'm going to kill him! When I get better, I will beat him to death. He is so pretentious and pretends to be dead..."

Her voice became lower and lower, and at the end, she fell to the ground.

Several people were so frightened that they were shaking in their hearts, and at this moment the feeling of fear suddenly surged up.

Tan Wen spoke his mind frankly, "Even Nightmare Lord is like this, and he still doesn't want to let me off the hook."

Lang Yu: “…” He actually understood it deeply.

Several people hurriedly helped Jitang to the side and let her sit against the boulder.

Lang Yu moved carefully and slowly adjusted her posture, while Tan Wen seized the opportunity to contact the Immortal Master.

Only Yang Xiaoluan noticed Luo Chanzhi not far away. When he looked over, he met the other party's happy and vicious gaze, and then frowned.

"What about them?"

Tan Wen had just finished delivering the message when he paused, his eyes involuntarily looking towards Cui Ranmei who was still unconscious.

Lang Yu noticed his reaction. Compared to Yang Xiaoluan, Tan Wen could be said to be more deeply in love with Cui Ranmei.

He reminded: "Did you hear what Nightmare Lord said earlier?"

Tan Wen lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "Yeah."

Lang Yu said helplessly: "Then let's wait for the Immortal Venerable to make the decision."

Tan Wen nodded. If it was the Immortal Venerable... he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Su Jinzhou arrived very quickly. As soon as Tan Wencai sent a message using the communication stone, Su Jinzhou cut through the void and appeared in the secret realm where he had located.

Several people saluted together: "Immortal Lord."

Su Jinzhou had no time to care about the juniors and quickly walked to Jitang.

He wore a nightmare-transforming knot on his hand. The knot was woven by Ji Tang himself. It had the same effect as the soul-transforming bracelet and could transform spiritual power into nightmare energy.

While controlling the power of his soul to probe into Ji Tang's body to check, he used the transformed nightmare energy to heal her wounds.

Lang Yu was the most patient among the group. While Su Jinzhou was treating Ji Tang's injuries, he reported all the important matters to him.

Su Jinzhou was willing to look away and glance at the two people not far away.

Luo Chanzhi waited for a long time and finally received the Immortal Lord's gaze.

She weakly stretched out her hand towards the Immortal Lord, her eyes filled with pleading for help, "Immortal Lord, please help me..."

Before she could finish her words, the spell suddenly fell, and her fragile body turned into powder in an instant.

Su Jinzhou's cold eyes did not stay on the powder floating in the light for a second, but turned sideways to look at another female cultivator.

It all happened so fast that before anyone could react, Luo Chanzhi had already lost his mind.

Tan Wen's body moved before his brain. He knelt tremblingly in front of Su Jinzhou and begged, "Please, Immortal Venerable, have mercy! She is just a small disciple of the Yuxiu Sect and has never attacked the Nightmare Venerable. Please, Immortal Venerable, spare her life!"

He no longer dared to think that the Immortal Lord would show mercy. He felt too relieved before.

It happened that Ji Tang woke up at this time, so Su Jinzhou ignored the female cultivator.

As soon as Ji Tang opened her eyes, she saw the worry in Su Jinzhou's eyes. She raised her head, sighed, and cursed slowly: "That damn old man..."

Su Jinzhou: "What exactly is going on?"

"The ice marrow of the extremely cold plant," the black-clothed lord only said it once, but Ji Tang remembered it. "This is the poison that appeared in Senior Sturgeon and my adoptive mother, and it is also the poison in my body."

Su Jinzhou's brow furrowed. "Dr. Dragon diagnosed that there was very little poison in your body. Why is it so serious?"

Ji Tang had already guessed that the Black Lord had mentioned this as 'awakening.' "I think this ice marrow is like a Gu. If it's just planted in the body without awakening, then during diagnosis, only a small amount of poison will be detected, making it easy for people to be careless."

“And when the Black Lord awakens it, it will play its true role. Over time, it will become like Senior Sturgeon and his stepmother.”

Su Jinzhou subconsciously tightened his hand around Jitang's shoulder.

Ji Tang felt it, so he patted the back of his hand, touched his bulging blue veins with his fingertips, and rubbed it gently in a soothing manner.

Ji Tang: "The appearance of my poison is strange in itself. The most likely time for the poison to be administered was during the four hundred years of my sleep. I don't know how the Black Lord found me, but this shows that my life-defining magic weapon cannot be hidden from him. This is a hidden danger."

Su Jinzhou nodded silently.

Ji Tang then said, "But we won't be as passive as before. At least we know that this poison comes from the extremely cold plant. As long as we know its name, we can find its source."

Su Jinzhou was not optimistic.

He was in a heavy mood and was covered in gloom.

If the extremely cold plant comes from the fairyland, then Ji Tang’s poison is unpredictable, right?

As soon as this thought appeared, it spread rapidly like wildfire, enveloping him in uneasiness and anxiety, as if it wanted to drag him into darkness and devour him completely.

He even found it difficult to breathe.

But he couldn't say it.

Jitang would not have failed to think of this, but she chose to keep silent about it.

Su Jinzhou leaned over and hugged her. Only in this way could he hide his vulnerability where she couldn't see.

He could hardly control his expression, and the emotions in his eyes could hardly be hidden.

Ji Tang was completely enveloped by him, his eyes looking aimlessly at the sky.

At this moment, she also didn't need to hide anything, but she didn't dare let herself think further, so she could only let it go.

The younger ones waited quietly by the side.

The coldness on Nightmare Lord's body had not yet completely faded away, and this chill enveloped the two people who were hugging each other, like a silent punishment.

They just felt suffocated.

*

The journey to the secret realm ended. Although Su Xuanzong seemed to be breaking the formation step by step, he had actually already focused on Ji Tang, trying every means to find the origin and traces of the extremely cold plant.

Everyone knew that as long as the ice marrow in Ji Tang's body was released, the "core" of the Jiuzhou general formation could be broken, and the source of the shock that had shaken the cultivation world until now would no longer exist.

It is precisely because of this knowledge that I am more cautious. It is true that this is a matter of concern to the overall situation, but it is also closely related to Jitang.

Ji Tang had just fought a battle with Jiu Ming Yuan before, and no matter what Liu Wushu and the others said, they would not let Ji Tang face the undercurrent alone this time.

They understood that when their lives were at stake, even if the opponent was a Nightmare Lord, cultivators would make a choice without hesitation to protect themselves. This was understandable and understandable, but Liu Wushu and the others would never let this happen.

Liu Wushu directly issued a gag order, and all those who knew the truth handed over their soul seals to him without exception.

Not only that, Su Jinzhou also sent a message to Huan Mang and Sha Qi, asking them to search together, and told them that no matter what, protecting Ji Tang was the top priority and no one could afford to lose.

Ji Tang suddenly became a treasure that could not be blown by the wind or exposed to the rain. Except for those who were familiar with her, even the disciples of the same sect could not get within a hundred meters of her.

Jitang stayed in Qitang Pavilion every day, never leaving the main gate or the secondary gate. This time, she gained a new understanding of the Jiuzhou General Formation, and no longer felt that time was difficult to bear. She spent every day writing and drawing.

However, this is not a long-term solution. She cannot stay in seclusion in Su Xuanzong forever.

The poison was clearly in her body, yet she was the one with the least time. She wasn't one to hide, and it was even more impossible for her to just sit there and do nothing while her friends and fellow disciples ran around for her.

Just at this moment, a message came from the Nightmare Fantasy Valley, asking her to return to the tribe.

The message was sent by Rao Jin. It contained three layers of secret orders from the Nightmare Clan. Ji Tang opened them one by one and learned that Cen Weichu had reached a critical juncture where he would enter the Nightmare Abyss for the assessment of being the clan leader. He hoped that Ji Tang could be there in person. If Cen Weichu could walk out of the Nightmare Abyss alive, he would officially designate him as the next young master of the Nightmare Clan.

This is an important test for the Nightmare Clan to select the future clan leader. It concerns the future of the Nightmare Clan and is a very important matter for the Nightmare Clan.

As the only pure-blooded member of the Nightmare Clan, Ji Tang promised the first clan leader in the secret realm of inheritance that she would keep the Nightmare Clan safe forever. It is reasonable for her to go back.

After thinking about it, Jitang sent a message to Su Jinzhou, who responded immediately.

His image appeared in front of Jitang. Judging from where he was, he should be in a sparsely populated valley or dense forest.

Seeing that she was still staying obediently in Qitang Pavilion, Su Jinzhou asked, "Are you free now?"

He knew that Jitang had been studying the Jiuzhou General Formation for a while, sometimes even forgetting to eat and sleep. Although Jitang had long since left the world and could make up for the slight loss of sleep by practicing alone, he was still worried.

Ji Tang smiled slightly, "Brother, can I discuss something with you?"

Su Jinzhou was surrounded by dense leaves, with no sunlight to be seen. Ji Tang felt that his temperament was cold and his whole body was chilly.

Her smile became more obvious, with a touch of softness and flattery.

A smile flashed across Su Jinzhou's eyes, but his expression remained unnoticed. He simply asked, "What's the matter?"

Ji Tang: "I'm going back to the Nightmare Clan."

Su Jinzhou frowned slightly, "Does Rao Jin want you to go back and make things look more impressive?"

"That's not the case," she finished explaining Cen Wei's assessment, "I should go back at a time like this."

Su Jinzhou: "Okay, wait for me for two hours. I'll be back after I finish searching here. Let's go to the Nightmare Clan together."

Ji Tang achieved the purpose of the communication, and then he cut off the spiritual communication stone.

She thought about it, and came to Su Jinzhou's magic weapon cave, where she picked out a few magic weapons that she had used before and were quite handy. She planned to give them as a gift to the younger generations when she returned.