Chapter 18 Struggle A figure appeared, his body like a ghost, with a beard...

Brother Luo was stunned.

“Miss Zhou, I was just joking. We’re still escorting you, how can you be so ungrateful?!”

Zhou Fuling: "Is that so? Then I must correct you. You escorted me because my senior brother had done a favor for your mountain lord; it was something my senior brother asked for in exchange. You were also ordered by your mountain lord. Second..."

She continued with a smile, her almond-shaped eyes bright, "I was just joking."

"I'm straightforward and I speak my mind. Can't you take a joke?"

"..." Luo Xiushi's face turned ashen.

-

Xiarang Yuntai.

He Yin was covered in cold sweat and felt uneasy, knowing that she could not stay here for long.

My hand was suddenly grabbed.

The blind old woman declared vehemently, "Don't go! Don't go! Go back to Dongzhou! Go back to Tianji Gate! You will suffer. You will suffer greatly, bleeding and skinned alive, half-dead!"

He Yin knew that this blind old woman was eccentric and that Zhou Fuling used to play with her.

She wasn't involved and didn't want to take it seriously.

Hearing her say that now, I felt a chill run down my spine.

But the old man added, "However, you can live... If you insist on going, your friend, that little girl, will save your life!"

"who?"

"Her!"

The blind woman took out a blue-faced, gold-embroidered amulet and whispered, "It's the 'she' who gave me this amulet."

He Yin was taken aback. She recognized the talisman; it was the one Zhou Fuling had given to everyone.

She was drenched in cold sweat and extremely nervous.

Hearing the blind woman say this, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief—a weight lifted from his heart.

She was stunned.

How could anyone possibly know the future? Those who could foresee the future are all sitting on the Heavenly Platform.

Fuling... Fuling has no power.

Now she knew perfectly well that the blind woman was talking nonsense.

"Hahahaha, hahaha." Perhaps due to excessive tension, He Yin covered the injury behind her ear and used a wry smile to ease the tension. "You're wrong. Xiao Ling is a mortal who cannot cultivate, and she's not here either."

"It was me who protected her."

"If she can come back, I will continue to protect her."

He Yin shook her head and left.

She slowly walked to the center of the cloud platform, gritting her teeth as she released a Reflection Pearl.

The Illusion Pearl can be placed in a specific location to disrupt the Illusion Array that the Immortal Alliance has placed in the Myriad Cloud Forest.

The location that He Yin previously presented was on this cloud platform.

Releasing this illusionary pearl will reveal the crimes of that vile woman...

He Yin casts a spell.

My hand was suddenly grabbed.

Those hands were like iron hoops.

He Yin looked up in alarm.

My hands and feet are cold.

The reason was that the person who captured her was Ning Chaoxue's father, Ning Tingyue, the sect leader of Yun Ning Sect.

He was imposing and his eyes were sharp and piercing, yet his gaze was like that of a venomous snake.

He scrutinized her.

I was recognizing her.

"..." He Yin opened her mouth.

Snap!

Ning Tingyue slapped her hard across the face.

He Yin collapsed and wailed.

She was shrouded in mist, and no one noticed her disappearance.

In despair and pain, He Yin fainted.

...

[Junior Sister Fuling has been delivered to Master Miao. She will be sent to Yu Miao Mountain.]

"Young Master Xu, what are you doing?" Ning Chaoxue followed behind Xu Qingning, who put away the jade tablet, his phoenix eyes cold.

Ning Chaoxue: "We've been assigned to the same place."

The two were walking in a secluded mountain cave.

Just now, after the discussion on protecting life concluded, the cultivators were to set out to slay the demon. The compass determined the direction in which they would fight the demon.

Xu Qingning and Ning Chaoxue were assigned to the same direction.

System: [Host, a friendly reminder: the fourth item, "Puppet Needle," appears in the "Broken Dragon" cave ahead. Danger level: Level 5 (Potentially life-threatening).]

Xu Qingning stepped into the passageway.

...

Ning Chaoxue followed Xu Qingning carefully.

Xu Qingning stood tall and elegant, holding the Changming Sword. His clear, dark eyes were like pearls shining in the clouds, and his snow-white Taoist robes fluttered slightly in the wind, just like jade trees and precious branches.

Ning Chaoxue couldn't help but recall the first time she saw Xu Qingning.

A hundred years ago, at the Wanshan Banquet Qingyun Trial, a young sword cultivator, dressed in a snow-white Daoist robe and matching boots, wielded the Everlasting Sword and a jade flute, precisely stepping through each array, full of vigor and ambition.

"Do you remember the first time we met, Brother Qingning?" Ning Chaoxue looked at him.

Xu Qingning walked forward indifferently, but summoned a golden compass in front of him to investigate the location of the demon.

“We fought for the championship in the Qingyun Trial,” Ning Chaoxue said. “But then, Brother Qingning framed me, saying that I poisoned you so that you would win.”

Xu Qingning slowly turned his head, his gaze icy, like a quenched sword.

Ning Chaoxue was intimidated by his gaze for some reason, took a step back, and bumped into the stone wall.

"Alright, I was just joking... Everyone knows that it was you, Xu Qingning, who exposed my poisoning back then."

Ning Chaoxue said, "But I've never understood why, a hundred years ago, when you saw me being brought to Tianji Gate by my father to kneel and beg for punishment, you pleaded with your uncle on my behalf?"

"Yesterday, when I saw you pleading for Hua Yuliu, I was very curious why you still haven't changed your hypocritical habit?"

Xu Qingning stared at the golden compass without uttering a word.

"..."

Ning Chaoxue felt a bit aggrieved. "I see you talk a lot to your junior sister Zhou Fuling, but why don't you have anything to say to me?"

Xu Qingning's figure disappeared into the stone wall.

Ning Chaoxue gritted her teeth and followed.

She swept her gaze coldly across the surrounding landscape, where stone walls stood on all sides, and the compass needle swung faster and faster.

Ahead... lies "Elong".

According to her mother, Elong is a Kun-level demon with three Qilin heads and seven long snake tails. It loves water and is good at setting traps to imprison cultivators in the water, forcing them to reveal the truth and release their immortal energy.

This allows cultivators to force their enemies to tell the truth.

Perfect, it's something her father asked her to do, she should do it well!

If Xu Qingning refuses a polite toast, she'll have to suffer the consequences; don't blame her for being impolite!

Ning Chaoxue conjured a spell in her hand.

The elixir fire shone as brightly as day, and at the same time, several divine talismans lay beside her, their exquisite patterns flowing.

Ning Chaoxue smiled.

This is a divine symbol drawn by her mother and father together.

Last time, when she met Xu Qingning at Kanghuangzhai, she used this talisman to cause Xu Qingning to be afflicted with the Soul Thorn.

She still remembered how powerless and helpless he looked back then. She looked up, her eyes filled with hatred.

Ning Chaoxue decided to use the same trick again.

Amidst the pervasive demonic aura ahead, just as Xu Qingning stepped into the passageway, Ning Chaoxue summoned a divine talisman once more.

"ah!"

Suddenly she screamed in agony, and as the world spun around her, her hands and feet were grabbed by the snake's tail and dragged downwards.

Amidst the rumbling thunder, she saw several sword energies trapping her inner fire.

With a deft and skillful motion, Xu Qingning's Everlasting Sword sliced ​​open the divine talisman.

He floated in the air, his black hair swirling in the breeze and sword energy, gazing at her with a hint of contempt and mockery in his eyes.

A thunderclap struck, and Ning Chaoxue was knocked into the pool.

The snake scales grazed her skin, but only briefly before the three dragon heads bit into her body, rendering her immobile!

Ning Chaoxue felt her spiritual energy dissipate, and her consciousness gradually became unclear.

Ning Chaoxue looked up, shocked, and said, "Xu Qingning, how could you possibly break the divine talisman? You were clearly ambushed last time and couldn't resist..."

Upon seeing Xu Qingning's cold and clear gaze, he seemed to have a talisman in his hand, and he lowered his head.

A flash of lightning struck her mind, and Ning Chaoxue said in a trembling voice, "No, you schemed against me? You've been scheming against me from the very beginning?!"

Xu Qingning spoke for the first time, her voice cold: "I have a few questions."

"……What?"

...

The pool rippled, and Xu Qingning looked at Ning Chaoxue, who was floating high in the sky, using an array to protect herself from being attacked by the E'long in the pool.

Xu Qingning had long heard of the demonic dragon's methods, such as wagging its tail.

He now held a blue talisman, shrouded in a heavy demonic aura; it was the quest item he had obtained more than a month ago.

At that time, the system said: [[...Congratulations, host, you have found the second item in the prerequisite quest, the "Qi-Seeking Talisman." With this talisman, you can use the Blood Curse to find out who sent the message to frame your uncle back then.]]

Xu Qingning smeared the blood on the talisman.

Qi refers to the foundation of human form, and each cultivator's Qi is different.

Xu Qingning has also figured out what this "Qi-Seeking Talisman" is during this time. It is a rare item sent by the system.

By applying the remains of the deceased to this talisman and then offering the owner's own blood as a sacrifice, the Qi-seeking talisman will react to those connected to the deceased's death.

The more relevant it is, the brighter its light shines; the closer it is to people, the brighter its light shines.

Facing Ning Chaoxue, Xu Qingning saw the "Qi-Seeking Talisman" light up, but the light was not extremely bright.

"Xu Qingning, what are you doing?!" Ning Chaoxue cried out in a sorrowful voice.

Xu Qingning asked, "Firstly, thirty years ago, there was a commotion at Tianjue Gorge. Your Yunning Sect sent a message saying they were in danger at Chenshi Gorge, which is why my Tianji Sect went to their aid. However, my disciples entered the most dangerous eastern formation due to a false message. Who was the one who sent the message back then?"

"How should I know... Ah!"

Ning Chaoxue, controlled by the dragon, was losing consciousness and her spirit was gradually dissipating. She uttered the answer, "I don't know either, but I... I saw that my mother seemed to have seen a celestial being from the Dragon Pool. I don't know who it was, but I saw a dragon carriage..."

...Dragon Pool.

Xu Qingning remained silent for a moment. He actually already knew, but Ning Chaoxue couldn't say any more details.

E'long twisted around Ning Chaoxue.

She was telling the truth.

Ning Chaoxue's gaze was sometimes clear and sometimes hazy. Xu Qingning knew that time was running out, so she continued to ask:

"Twenty days ago, what were you doing at Kanghuangzhai besides using the Soul-Slaying Thorn?"

Ning Chaoxue: "I don't know... Ah!"

The aura of the serpent affected her, and she said in a mournful voice, "My father sent me to Kanghuangzhai... to investigate, to find out who disturbed that matchmaker ghost. Someone is using a magical artifact to restore the ghost's memories from its previous life..."

Why does your father care about this?

"Because, because, that matchmaker was killed by my father!"

Xu Qingning raised her eyes, paused, and asked, "Then why did your father kill the matchmaker ghost?"

"I don't know, I don't know..."

"Have you found out who went to awaken the great demon?"

“We’ve found out…” Ning Chaoxue’s voice gradually became indistinct, “Hua…He…”

Xu Qingning's pupils constricted slightly.

Hua Yuexi, Hua Yuliu? He Yin?

What's going on?

They were actually connected to Kang Huangzhai?

What is the relationship between Ning Tingyue and Kang Huangzhai?

Ning Chaoxue's gaze grew increasingly clear.

Seeing that time was running out, Xu Qingning asked only one question: "Was it you who attacked Zhou Fuling in the cold pool that day?"

"Yes!" Ning Chaoxue struggled in the pool, her eyes clear but growing weaker, unable to withstand the dragon's biting strength. "But it didn't work... But today, Father, Father told me to capture you. As for Zhou Fuling, he will personally..."

Her voice faded away.

Xu Qingning's expression changed drastically.

"What?"

But then Ning Chaoxue let out a miserable cry, and she fainted and sank into the water.

Xu Qingning was standing in the air, intending to jump into the water and lift Ning Chaoxue up to ask her questions.

However, the serpent seal on his forehead flickered, and although he sensed the "puppet needle," he could not find it using his object-finding technique.

Xu Qingning said coldly, "System, the so-called 'puppet needle' is not here. The 'puppet needle' is yin in nature; it can manipulate corpses and emit the stench of decay. However, its aura is fleeting."

Where exactly is it?

[...]

However, a sudden burst of fierce flames rushed in from outside the cave.

The flames roared, and in an instant, the cave became like a steaming oven or hell!

In Naruto, a figure appeared, moving like a ghost, and suddenly shot a needle at Su Qingning!

Xu Qingning:

...The villain?

A note from the author:

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