Chapter 44 Too gentle, too dreamlike

Zhuang Jinfu's usual cool aura was so faint as to be almost imperceptible.

Without a word, Ling Shu hoisted the person onto his shoulder and returned to the barrier to leave. Just then, a chilling wind blew up, sending shivers down everyone's spines.

Green flames flickered and glowed faintly in the pitch-black forest.

A tiger- and leopard-shaped creature approached stealthily from the darkness.

A chilling wind blew in, and the cold air was bone-chilling.

There was a familiar scent of Ling Shu in this coldness.

It is solemn and stern, yet it contains a trace of compassion for humanity.

It was Zhuang Jinfu's scent.

Ling Shu suddenly realized what they were facing.

That was a demon that had absorbed Zhuang Jinfu's yang energy, and possessed the same level of magical power as Zhuang Jinfu.

Their opponents are Yan and Zhuang Jinfu.

In terms of magical power, only by defeating Zhuang Jinfu can one guarantee defeating the Nian.

Zhuang Jinfu, an ascended fairy, is at the pinnacle of cultivation. There are eight levels of cultivation: Body Tempering, Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, Mahayana, and Ascension. Each level is further divided into early, middle, and late stages.

The demonic power contained in the thousand-year-old demon core belongs to the Mahayana stage, while Ling Shu's own realm is at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Fully mobilizing the demonic power means that the demonic power in her body will be out of control. If it is completely out of control, her demonic nature will overflow, and her innate bloodlust will be aroused, causing her to go on a killing spree.

Ling Shu dared not do that.

This is an impossible task.

Ling Shu placed the unconscious Zhuang Jinfu on the ground. Dan Qi immediately reacted, "What do you mean? You really want to fight?"

Ling Shu said, "We can't beat them even if we fight them. They have absorbed Zhuang Jinfu's yang energy and become stronger by more than a little."

"You actually dare to address Master by his name?" Dan Qi asked in surprise. Hu Shi slapped her on the head: "That's not the point!" He then asked Ling Shu: "How strong is he?"

Yin Yu replied, "Strength equivalent to that of an Immortal Venerable."

Hu Shi stared in disbelief, intending to escape on his sword, but he couldn't jump onto it. He was anxious and said, "If you can't beat them, why aren't you running away?"

Yin Yu said seriously, "We can't escape. Once the 'Nian' has locked onto its prey, it won't let go. When we arrived here, all the 'Nian' on the mountain had already discovered us. We can only wait until dawn and wait for the 'Nian' to return to their nests to avoid the sun."

Ling Shu knelt on one knee beside Zhuang Jinfu, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, and carefully wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Hu Shi got off his sword and cursed, "You still have the mind to wipe your sweat? This damn thing has come knocking on our door."

In the blink of an eye, a black tiger with green eyes and a green mouth pounced, biting and cracking the barrier. Ling Shu didn't even raise her head, but instead unleashed a burst of pinkish-purple magic power upwards. Instantly, the crack disappeared, and the barrier was strengthened threefold.

Ling Shu calmly stopped and continued to gently wipe Zhuang Jinfu's sweat.

Hu Shi immediately shut up and silently strengthened the barrier.

It's midnight now, the time when yin energy is at its peak. This barrier won't last long.

Outside the barrier, there was practically a full complement of tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves. They silently locked onto their prey, and when one or two rushed forward and found they couldn't break through, they would attack in packs.

The sharp fangs in the green flames bit into the barrier, leaving holes one after another, and then the next one would bite into the next spot and leave a hole.

After a 15-minute stalemate, the barrier already showed signs of collapsing.

Ling Shu had no choice but to enhance her demonic magic to the Nascent Soul stage. Hungry swarmed around them, while further away, a dense mass of eerie green flames flickered and moved.

The mana was increased to the level of the late Nascent Soul stage.

Ling Shu's demonic power had gone berserk, and his whole body was burning hot as if he were being refined in Laozi's alchemy furnace, with white smoke rising from his palms.

The Nascent Soul stage is the final limit; she cannot unleash all her demonic power. She is still rational and clear-headed, and Zhuang Jinfu will not allow her to commit murder for the sake of saving her own life, after all, this is the peace that Zhuang Jinfu wants to protect.

Dan Qi stepped forward to perform acupuncture on Zhuang Jinfu, trying to wake her up. Then he took out the Tu Fu grass he had risked his life to gather from his bag, and then took out a pill-refining furnace from his storage space. He put the Tu Fu grass in, refined it with his magic power, and said, "May the Heavenly Venerable grant me boundless blessings. I'll take a gamble!"

Ling Shu suddenly grabbed Dan Qi's wrist and asked urgently, "What are you doing?"

Dan Qi didn't break free and said, "Relax, loosen up, it hurts so much. We can't beat her anyway. The only one who can truly beat herself is herself. I'll use this extremely yang substance to refine a pill and give her a strong boost of yang energy."

"What are the consequences?" Ling Shu loosened her grip slightly.

"She doesn't need that much yang energy. There will be a lot of yang energy left over, accumulating in her body, which will block her meridians. She has an ice spirit root and a cold constitution. If her meridians don't flow and her five energies stagnate, she will feel cold all over, as if she were in a cold polar pool."

Ling Shu gripped Dan Qi's hand tightly again: "Don't use soil to support the grass!"

Dan Qi said with difficulty, "Oh my little aunt, if we don't wake her up, we'll all die here."

Hu Shi gripped Ling Shu's hand tightly, glaring at her, and said, "Is her life precious, but ours isn't? She has excess yang energy and her meridians are blocked, but at least she's still alive. If we don't save ourselves tonight, we'll all die here together!"

Ling Shu forced herself to weigh the pros and cons and finally let go.

The alpha wolf howled, and the pack responded, their howls rising and falling in waves. Tigers roared incessantly, and packs of hyenas roamed the mountains, one circle after another, densely packed and covering the entire landscape.

Roar! After a tiger's roar, the sound of glass cups shattering came from the barrier. A hole was opened in the barrier, and the tiger rushed in, pouncing straight at Zhuang Jinfu.

Ling Shu flashed in front of Zhuang Jinfu to block him, and the fox demon's form appeared, as large as an adult tiger. The red fox opened its sharp teeth and mouth and tore at the tiger. Its movements were unpredictable. In the blink of an eye, it flashed behind the tiger, grabbed the tiger by the scruff of its neck, and threw it out of the barrier.

The red fox circled around Zhuang Jinfu as if guarding its territory and preventing intrusion.

With a flick of its tail, Yin Yu quickly filled the gap just as the tigress pounced in. Yin Yu remained silent and serious, quietly playing its role in stabilizing the barrier.

Ling Shu suddenly felt a chilling, upright aura assaulting her from behind.

Turning around, she saw the Plum Blossom Sword stuck in the ground, Zhuang Jinfu kneeling, her left hand supporting her on the ground, her right hand tightly gripping the hilt of the sword, a lock of hair hanging down her right shoulder, the cold wind blowing her clothes and hair fluttering, and her long jade earrings swaying violently beside her face.

His murderous intent was palpable.

She flashed out of the barrier, stepping onto the soft tips of the reeds. In a clear, solemn voice, she said, "Ling Shu, Shangqing Sword Technique, watch carefully."

With a whoosh, the figure flew out.

His movements were swift yet deliberately slow, sometimes tight and sometimes loose, perfectly controlled and effortless. His sword thrusts, knee raises, sword flips, and sword turns were as fluid as flowing water. Dressed in white, he moved through the black darkness like the brightest morning star.

Farewell to darkness, hello to light.

"Ling Shu!" Zhuang Jinfu turned and stood up, one foot dangling from the starting point. "Catch the sword, it's your turn!"

"Good!" The Plum Blossom Sword was thrown from the air, and Ling Shu leaped up, grabbed the hilt, and plunged into the swarm of jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards.

Zhuang Jinfu stood steadily to the side, observing Ling Shu's movements.

When Ling Shu entered the horde of worms, she felt fear. She wasn't fighting the hungry worms; she was fighting Zhuang Jinfu. From his appearance to his inner self, he was nothing like Zhuang Jinfu, but the aura surrounding her truly felt like Zhuang Jinfu's.

As if possessed by an inner demon, she hesitated somewhat when swinging and thrusting her sword.

Piercing a worm is like stabbing Zhuang Jinfu with a sword.

She even heard Zi say to her in Zhuang Jinfu's voice, "Lingshu, I love you."

So gentle, so dreamlike.

"Ling Shu, the venomous insects can bewitch people's minds, don't be fooled," Zhuang Jinfu warned.

Ling Shu suddenly realized that this was not Zhuang Jinfu, she was not a jackal or tiger, not a filthy creature like a venomous beast, she was a pure and ethereal immortal!

He raised his sword again, unwavering, each move as if he were born with it. He mastered the Shangqing Sword Technique by defeating the enemy time and time again!

Ling Shu exclaimed with delight, "Master, I've learned it!"

Mei Xu is truly a fine sword; a single strike from it can generate the mana intensity of someone in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

Seeing that it was safe, Ling Shu then got into a playful act. He stabbed the serpent without killing it, pulled out all the vines climbing on the ancient trees in the forest, used his magic to bind the serpents to them, and then grabbed the vines in the air and swung them over the heads of the serpents below, pulling the vines with the serpents tied to them to another tree and hanging them there.

Wait until dawn, then let the leeches be scorched to death by the sunlight.

She did it many times, until Zhuang Jinfu finally couldn't take it anymore: "Stop playing around, come back!"

Ling Shu, carrying Mei Xu, fought her way back and obediently returned to the barrier, handing the sword to Zhuang Jinfu with both hands.

Zhuang Jinfu ruffled Ling Shu's fox ears and said helplessly, "You, you. Even with Master's protection, you can't just wander around recklessly."

Ling Shu dodged away, covering her ears and blushing slightly, saying, "My ears are sensitive, you can't touch them."

Zhuang Jinfu chuckled and withdrew his hand.

The mountain was teeming with swarms of serpents, and they couldn't get out. With Zhuang Jinfu backing them up, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and simply sat down on the ground to wait for dawn.

Dan Qi had a sudden inspiration: "Since the Immortal Venerable is alright, why don't I go and gather some more Sophora flavescens!"

The remaining four said in unison, "You still dare to go!"

Dan Qi chuckled awkwardly, "Since we're already here..."

Ling Shu rolled her eyes: "Nobody's going to save you."

Yin Yu questioned, "Do you think you have too much time on your hands?"

Hu Shi crossed his arms and scoffed, "He deserved to die."

Dan Qi looked at Zhuang Jinfu with hopeful eyes, but Zhuang Jinfu said seriously, "I won't save you."

Dan Qi called out "A-Fu" in a coquettish voice, but Zhuang Jinfu said coldly, "Being coquettish won't work. I won't joke with your life."

Ling Shu was displeased by these words. She stared intently at Dan Qi and then said in a gloomy tone, "If you nag again, I'll kick you out."

Dan Qi felt a chill run down her spine. She looked up and saw Ling Shu smiling at her, and for some reason, she felt a sinister glint in her eyes… Terrified, she said, “I won’t go…”

Zhuang Jinfu suddenly stood up and sat down next to Ling Shu. Her fingertips, as cold as polar ice, touched Ling Shu's wrist, causing a shiver to run through her. She turned Ling Shu's wrist over and placed it on her knee to take her pulse.

After a while, Zhuang Jinfu silently withdrew his hand and cast a spell to calm the rampaging demonic power within her.

Because of the consumption of the Tu Fu grass, this magical power is twice as cool as usual.

Ling Shu let her soothe his demonic power, then looked up at her and asked, "Master, how are you feeling?"

"I have nothing to report."

Dan Qi interjected, "Nothing to worry about? Excessive yang energy, blocked meridians, and a bone-chilling cold throughout the body."

Zhuang Jinfu: "...I won't die."

Why did Danqi open his mouth too?

Ling Shu grabbed Zhuang Jinfu's cold hand in return, and Zhuang Jinfu instinctively tried to break free.

Ling Shu held on tightly, not daring to look into her eyes, afraid that she would lose her courage if they met. She looked down at the bite marks on the back of her jade hand and said softly, "Master, I feel hot."

Her cool, jade-like fingertips twitched slightly, and she gently grasped her hand in return.