Chapter 43 Do you have a Daoist partner yet? What do you think of me?

Ling Shu and Yin Yu exchanged a glance. Should they open the door or not?

Yin Yu had no answer, so Ling Shu looked at Zhuang Jinfu again, and Zhuang Jinfu immediately understood what she meant.

She stood there, flicking her fingers, and the latch was pulled away. Three yellow talismans squeezed in first, followed by a gray figure that pounced in face down on the ground, with a cloud of black mist stuck to her back.

Bang. The door slammed shut and latched.

The black mist-like thing, trapped inside the room, suddenly jumped off her back and charged towards Zhuang Jinfu.

Zhuang Jinfu lowered his eyelids and glanced at the thing. Ice crystals, which seemed to have formed from nowhere, pierced through its body, screamed hoarsely, and then dissipated.

The woman got up from the ground and looked at Zhuang Jinfu.

Zhuang Jinfu spoke first: "Dan Qi?"

"It's definitely me, no doubt about it." Dan Qi patted the hem of her gray Taoist robe, with several frayed threads hanging down from the bottom, indicating that the hem had been worn through. She turned and walked towards Zhuang Jin Fu, where two patches could be seen on each elbow.

"Down on your luck?" Zhuang Jinfu asked.

Ling Shu looked at the two of them. Even the immortal venerable, who was usually indifferent to worldly affairs, had moments of caring for others. Thinking back to when she was rescued by Hai Gu after experiencing a killing formation, and Hai Gu's cold attitude towards her, Ling Shu felt uncomfortable.

"Hey, I'm doing this to save someone. I treated a girl whose spiritual roots had been dug out, and I just figured out how to save her. Life is right in front of me, I can't give up."

Zhuang Jin replied, "If your spiritual root is dug out, you can only use a large amount of spiritual energy to remedy it. Even if you exhaust the spiritual energy of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, you can barely save him, but it will only temporarily keep him alive for a month. You have only a mortal spiritual root and are just a Golden Core cultivator in the early stage. How can you save him?"

Dan Qi chuckled twice, then pointed to herself with her right thumb: "That's what makes me so clever."

She leaned closer to Zhuang Jinfu and said mysteriously, "I discovered that there is an extremely yang spiritual herb in the Tongxuan Realm. It contains a large amount of spiritual energy. Ordinary people will bleed from all seven orifices if they eat it, but for people like Zhuang Jinfu who have had their spiritual roots dug out, it can nourish their bodies and keep them alive. With the help of other medicines, they can recover without any problem. However, they will not be able to cultivate anymore."

Zhuang Jinfu nodded, then asked, "Is the token with you?"

Dan Qi's eyes darted around, glancing at the three people behind him before settling on Ling Shu. This girl had fox ears on her head; was she a fox demon? With alluring peach blossom eyes, rosy lips and cheeks, and arched eyebrows that curled upwards at the ends, she seemed to be a bold and mischievous person.

"You asked for her, right?" Dan Qi patted Zhuang Jinfu's shoulder meaningfully.

"We are here on official business," Zhuang Jinfu said, ignoring him.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Dan Qi circled around her, looking her up and down. "I told you long ago that your path of ruthlessness was doomed to fail, and cultivating the path of ruthlessness was a dead end. But you insisted on believing that your will was strong and that you would not be tempted by love. Now look what happened. Let me ask you, is your Dao heart unstable?"

"Stop talking nonsense, is the token with you?"

Ling Shu was startled. Zhuang Jinfu's Dao heart was unstable? Because of her?

“Yes, yes,” Dan Qi said, leaning on Zhuang Jinfu’s shoulder as if no one else was around. “But I have conditions.”

Zhuang Jinfu stepped back, like a nun who had been provoked by a vixen, carefully adhering to the rules and regulations, afraid of getting involved in any romantic entanglements: "What are the conditions?"

"Help me collect soil and support the grass."

"Where is it?"

"Next to the nephroid process."

"I will leave at daybreak tomorrow."

"no."

Hu Shi didn't understand and asked, "Nian?"

Yin Yu explained, "When a ghost dies, it becomes a 'Nian'. 'Nian' is an extremely yin creature in the Tongxuan Secret Realm. These are the things that are wandering outside the gate now. They feed on yang energy. Only living people have yang energy. That's why the village chief told you not to go out at night. They are afraid of light and will die as soon as the sun comes out. Therefore, most 'Nian' come out to hunt at night and return to their nests before dawn."

Ling Shu asked, "Since the Earth-supporting Grass is an extremely yang substance, why don't they just eat the grass directly?"

Dan Qi put one hand on his hip and said smugly, "Good question. Children who love to learn are good children."

"The 'Nian' is a yin creature and cannot digest the extreme yang energy of the Tu Fu grass. The yin and yang in a living person are in harmony, and the yang energy is moderate and gentle, which is the best food for them."

Ling Shu then asked, "Then why can't we go to collect them during the day?"

Danqi got annoyed when he talked about this: "Ugh, this 'Tu Fu Cao' only grows at night and dies as soon as it gets light, turning into dry weeds that are useless."

Ling Shu said, "So we can only venture into the 'Night Snake Nest' to dig for spirit herbs at night when the 'Night Snakes' are out hunting."

"So clever, you're A-Fu's little apprentice?"

The fact that she dared to address him directly as "A-Fu" suggests that she is a senior and has a close relationship with Zhuang Jin-Fu. Ling Shu understood this in her heart and still gave her a friendly look: "It's me."

"Not bad, huh? Do you have a cultivation partner yet? What do you think of me?"

Ling Shu: ?

Zhuang Jinfu said unhappily, "You better behave yourself!"

Ling Shu: "No."

Zhuang Jinfu: ?

Dan Qi flashed over, perched on Ling Shu's shoulder, and looked at Zhuang Jin Fu with amusement: "Master can't interfere with which Daoist partner his disciple chooses."

Zhuang Jinfu said coldly, "What are you babbling about? Let's go!"

Ling Shu and the others set off, but after taking just one step, they heard Zhuang Jinfu say gently, "You stay at home, I'll go with her." He glanced at Ling Shu, then subtly looked away.

Ling Shu didn't try to be brave. After Zhuang Jinfu and the other person had been gone for a while, she suddenly realized something: Zhuang Jinfu was a fairy, so wasn't she the one with the most yang energy?

She's a sitting duck!

Ling Shu broke out in a cold sweat, clutching tightly in her hand the communication talisman that Dan Qi had left behind before he left.

They left at the hour of You (5-7 PM), and now it's already the hour of Zi (11 PM-1 AM), when Yin energy is at its peak, yet they haven't returned.

Suddenly the communication talisman lit up.

A weak voice came from inside: "Is there anyone coming to save our lives...?" Ling Shu immediately replied: "I'll be right there!" Then Zhuang Jinfu's stern voice came from the other end: "Don't call her!" Then the two of them bickered.

"If you don't come soon, your yang energy will be completely drained!"

"I can save myself."

"Pah! Your limbs are all tied up now, how can you..."

The sound stopped abruptly.

Yin Yu and Hu Shi, who were standing by, heard this and immediately prepared to set off.

As soon as the door opened, dozens of gnats swarmed up and clung to the three of them. Yin Yu raised its tail and flicked it, a white light cleaving through the path ahead. Yin Yu led the way, while Ling Shu and Hu Shi walked and swatted away the gnats clinging to their bodies. They could feel their yang energy being gradually drained away, and their limbs began to weaken.

Yin Yu slashed again with all her might, gritting her teeth and saying, "This is just the beginning."

Hu Shi surprisingly did not complain.

Once this stuff gets on you, it's really hard to get rid of. Ling Shu regrets not having a sword; if she had one, things would be much easier.

Outside the village, on Lynx Mountain, in the dense, dark forest, float the serpents whose eyes and mouths are all visible. They have no feet and float ethereally in the air, then stealthily pounce on people, opening their large, green, fiery mouths to bite their bodies and then hold on.

The closer you get to the main nest, the stronger the power becomes. In the village, the green fire in the mouth of the worm was not enough to burn people, but it was different here. It would burn the skin like fire when it touched it.

The three of them built a defensive barrier together and pushed it upwards little by little.

Some bent, withered branches appeared before me, and I followed them deeper into the woods. Suddenly, an ice crystal leaped over, like an ice crystal overflowing with magical power.

It's right ahead!

"Help!!!" Dan Qi's shout came from above.

She climbed up the tree and hugged it, while the elves on the ground absorbed her yang energy from a distance, growing stronger and stronger around the tree roots.

The silver rain struck the swarming swarms under the tree, but couldn't disperse them; instead, even more swarmed around. Hu Shi asked her, "Have you gathered enough of the earth-supporting grass?"

"That's more than enough."

Hu Shi leaped up, pulled Dan Qi down, and placed him inside the defensive barrier, saying, "Let's go back."

Ling Shu said unhappily, "My master hasn't been saved yet!"

Hu Shi said indifferently, "What does this have to do with me?"

Give me the token.

Dan Qi refused, and said unhappily, "How can you do this?" After saying that, Hu Shi lifted Dan Qi up a tree and threatened her from a branch, "Give me the token, or I'll throw you down."

Ling Shu shouted, "Don't give it to her!" Ling Shu also rushed up and grabbed Dan Qi's wrist, struggling with Hu Shi.

A flash of silver light appeared, and Hu Shi held his sword to Dan Qi's neck, threatening him, "Give me the token."

Ling Shu dared not act rashly, fearing that she would become enraged and kill the hostage.

Dan Qi said, "I don't have a token! I was lying to you!"

Hu Shi said, "What tricks are you playing? Hand them over honestly."

Dan Qi said frantically, "I didn't give it to anyone. I'm an outsider like you. The Mirror Master isn't stupid. She wouldn't give the token to someone like me who can leave at any time. The token must be in the hands of Tong Xuan."

Hu Shi sheathed his sword and glanced at the stalkers who had gathered around him.

Seeing that the person was about to fall, the creatures below opened their large green fire mouths to wait. One of them was the largest, formed after absorbing a large amount of yang energy. Its green fire was rolling and would surely burn the person to death.

Hu Shi's face turned fierce, and he shoved Hu Shi.

"Ahhh!"

Hu Shi was hanging upside down in the air.

Turning around, she saw Ling Shu grab her foot: "Thank you so much. I have no way to repay your life-saving grace but to offer myself to you."

Ling Shu let go.

"Aaaah, you have no sportsmanship!"

Her legs were grabbed again, and a ball of pinkish-purple magic enveloped her, flipping her over in the air before throwing her into the defensive barrier between Yin Yu and Hu Shi.

Dan Qi landed steadily, squatted down, covered his ears, and apologized: "I'm sorry..."

Hu Shi rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "It's great that you're not dead."

Ling Shu snapped at her, "Where is my master?"

Danqi crouched down and moved around. He patted the ground, and the dry maple leaves lit up like candlelight, converging into a bright path leading to an altar.

The four of them followed.

There was a long pillar on the altar, and at the top of the pillar hung a skeletal bull's head. Zhuang Jinfu was bound by three black things, and his head drooped down, as if he were in a deep sleep.

"This is the execution altar, the execution altar of ghosts, and also the place with the heaviest resentment. This place is most detrimental to people with strong yang energy," Yin Yu said.

Hu Shi could be quite humane at times: "How could a guardian immortal of a realm be dragged there when she was perfectly fine?"

"To save me..." Dan Qi cowered to the side, "I was captured and dragged away, then I escaped, and she fell for it."

Ling Shu said anxiously, "Stop talking nonsense, how are we going to save them?"

Yin Yu said, "In the mortal realm, cultivators are either yang or yin, and demons are either yin or yang. Go and save them." Ling Shu asked Hu Shi to lend her a sword without thinking, but Hu Shi refused, fearing that the sword would be damaged. Ling Shu had no choice but to rush over alone.

As soon as they stepped out of the barrier, the entire group of demons surrounded them.

Ling Shu endured the scorching heat of the rampaging demonic power and unleashed her demonic magic. A dazzling pinkish-purple light swept across, and a pinkish-purple barrier firmly protected Ling Shu. The demon opened its mouth wide and bit into the barrier, only to be pierced through by the barrier's magic power.

She cleaved the three black threads binding Zhuang Jinfu with a single palm strike.

Zhuang Jinfu lost his support and fell into her arms.

Ling Shu hugged him tightly and was about to leave when she heard Zhuang Jinfu softly call her name.

"Master, I am here."

"Ling Shu, I will not marry you."