Chapter 22 Skinning and dismembering, I hope Lord Fish Witch will show mercy.
He said they were coming; the enemy usually arrived immediately.
Lin Jianyu was so frightened that she clung tightly to Lu Jiao's arm.
Lu Jiao: "..."
I really want to chop off her hands.
"release."
"Wait, wait, I'm a little scared." Lin Jianyu's voice trembled slightly with nervousness.
"Won't I scare you?" Lu Jiao asked.
Lin Jianyu was initially quite afraid of him because when he choked her, it instilled in her a fear of death. But that was the only time; after that, he no longer threatened her life, at most making her fly away.
She had been absorbing spiritual energy these past few days and had already gained some cultivation. Although flying out would be very insulting to her, it wouldn't cause much harm. She felt that he was just a paper tiger and nothing to be afraid of.
Of course, she couldn't say that, lest he turn around and tell her why the flowers were so red. She said, "Yes!" and then hugged him even tighter.
Lu Jiao: "..."
Lu Jiao believed her lies!
He tried to pull his arm away, but couldn't, so he let her be, because the group that was chasing them had arrived.
The group was very fast; they immediately formed a circle around them and surrounded them.
Yun Dan and the others all took out their weapons and entered combat mode, while Lu Jiao remained calm and composed, seemingly not taking the other party seriously, while Lin Jianyu clung tightly to his arm.
Lu Jiao: "..."
So annoying, I feel like killing someone!
There were eight people on the other side. Lin Jianyu could only make out one of them by the light of the flashlight. It was the female cultivator who had attacked them a few days ago and was wielding a master's sword. The other side had already launched an attack on them, and various physical and magical attacks came one after another. Lin Jianyu was dazzled by what he saw.
Yun Dan and his group were clearly no match for them. Before long, someone was sent flying backwards. Lin Jianyu knew without looking that it was Zhu Liu.
After getting up, Zhu Liu did not rejoin the fight, but instead clung tightly to Lin Jianyu's arm.
Lin Jianyu: "???"
What are you doing?
"They're too strong, I can't beat them." His cultivation level wasn't much higher than Lin Jianyu's, and the lowest cultivation level among this group was about the same as Xuan Zhan's. He was no match for them at all. If he continued fighting, he would only be throwing his life away.
"Useless."
“You’re so successful, don’t cling to the big boss’s arm!” Zhu Liu said.
"I'm useless too," Lin Jianyu said, though he was arguing his point.
Lu Jiao didn't bother arguing with these two good-for-nothings. With a thought, he shot several ice arrows at the group.
"It's here! The boss's ice arrow!" Zhu Liu exclaimed excitedly.
At the same time, the female cultivator who had been injured by the ice arrows shouted, "Watch out for these ice arrows!"
These cultivators were stronger than the previous attackers and were on guard, so they weren't injured by the arrows. Even the female cultivator whose cultivation was damaged managed to dodge them with the help of her companions.
But these arrows weren't just something you could dodge and be done with; they seemed to have a tracking effect, turning around and attacking again the moment they were dodged.
The leading cultivator used his sword to cut an arrow in half, only to find that instead of falling, the arrow split into two shorter arrows that continued to attack them. He realized that if this continued, they would be injured by the arrows sooner or later, and they had to deal with the person controlling these arrows first.
After that, he ignored the arrows and charged at Lu Jiao with his sword. Several other cultivators who shared his idea followed closely behind with their own weapons.
Soon, they attacked Lu Jiao from all directions, forming an encirclement.
Lu Jiao remained calm, but Lin Jianyu, who was clinging to his arm, clung even tighter. Zhu Liu did the same, holding Lin Jianyu's arm tightly, intending to run away with her if things went wrong.
Having two children hanging from his arms had absolutely no effect on Lu Jiao.
Oh, it does have an impact; it affects his mood.
His mood became increasingly agitated, and his urge to kill grew stronger.
This caused great distress to those who attacked him.
He set up an invisible barrier around himself. When those who attacked him got close, they saw that he was completely unprepared. Almost everyone tried their best to deliver a fatal blow. Various colors of spiritual energy bloomed on the barrier, and then reflected the damage back at 100%.
Not everyone can withstand a fatal blow delivered with all their might, especially when it happens unexpectedly. Several people were hit by the backlash of their own attacks, some flying backward, others falling to the ground, with muffled groans and screams echoing through the air.
That wasn't the end of it. After they were attacked, the arrows, which seemed to have a tracking effect, shot towards them one after another, either piercing their bodies or pinning them to the ground, rendering them unable to move.
Of the group, only the leader managed to withstand the backlash from his own attack and dodge the arrows shot at him, but he still suffered internal injuries and had blood on the corner of his mouth.
Zhu Liu, who had wanted to drag Lin Jianyu away, saw their miserable state and silently withdrew.
Sure enough, staying by the big boss's side is the safest place; his junior sister was right.
"You were able to withstand their attacks at the same time and even deflect them all back. That's amazing!" Lin Jianyu said excitedly.
"Let go," Lu Jiao said. "Otherwise, you'll be the next one to fly out."
Lin Jianyu believed he could keep his word, so he almost immediately let go of his hand, but he didn't back away. He stayed close to him, ready to grab his arm again at any time, until the enemies on the field fell one after another, leaving only the leading cultivator still struggling.
Lu Jiao seemed to have lost patience, raised her hand in his direction, and then gently shook it.
Lin Jianyu remembered that the last time he did this was when... ptooey! It was when he was killing the sea creature undead. She still hadn't forgotten the shrill scream of the sea creature undead before it died.
The cultivator who was also "gently grasped" by him, although not crushed on the spot like the sea creature undead, was not much better off.
The moment Lu Jiao's hand grasped it, he felt as if something was gripping his neck, and then his body was lifted into the air. He instinctively reached out to grab what was gripping his neck, but it felt like water and he couldn't hold on to it at all.
Looking at him, Lin Jianyu sighed, "It's just like when a big shot grabs me by the neck."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Liu, who was standing next to her, casually asked, "Is this how the boss chokes you?"
“No.” Lin Jianyu shook his head. “He didn’t even raise his hand.”
Zhu Liu: "..."
With Lu Jiao's abilities, killing her wouldn't even require lifting a finger.
Among all the powerful cultivators present, the only one who could make Lu Jiao raise his hand was the one who looked the most powerful.
"This is the bedbug the big shot was talking about."
"What?" Lin Jianyu was a little confused.
"A dragon," Zhu Liu reminded him.
"Pureblood?" Lin Jianyu asked.
"Probably." Zhu Liu wasn't entirely sure either.
"Even pure-blooded dragons can't get close to the big boss." Just what kind of heaven-defying existence is a pure-blooded merman? Does he even allow other races to live?
“He’s strong, but the big boss is even stronger,” Zhu Liu said.
"Is he stronger, or is Second Master Uncle stronger?" Lin Jianyu asked.
"Of course Second Martial Uncle is stronger." Zhu Liu proudly raised his head. "Don't underestimate Second Martial Uncle just because he's not a pureblood. He's stronger than many purebloods."
"The bloodline of the Merfolk is truly powerful," Lin Jianyu remarked. "Isn't there any race that can rival them?"
“Yes!” Zhu Liu said, “Many long-lived races can rival them, such as the Dragon Clan, the Kunpeng Clan, the Huashe Clan…” He gave many examples.
After listening, Lin Jianyu asked, "Is the dragon you're talking about the one whose neck was being strangled by the big boss?"
"Of course not." Zhu Liu glanced at the cultivator whose neck was being strangled by Lu Jiao and shook his head decisively. "The dragon race I'm talking about is the dragon race itself. Every race has strong and weak members. Just like our sect, there are strong members like our second senior uncle, and there are also weak members like you."
"Use yourself as an example, thank you."
"You are weaker than me."
"Could you let go of my arm before you say that?" Lin Jianyu asked.
Zhu Liu: "..."
Let go if you want.
He hugged her arm not because she was strong, but because he didn't dare to hug Lu Jiao's arm.
The enemy was basically immobilized, and the only one who could move was being held by the neck by Lu Jiao, so he no longer needed to hold her arm.
On the other hand, it seems that Lu Jiao had been strangling the cultivator's neck for quite a while, yet the cultivator was still alive. It just goes to show that he truly lived up to the reputation of the Flood Dragon Clan.
"How long is the big boss planning to keep him under control?"
"I don't know." Lin Jianyu shook her head, then asked Lu Jiao, "How long are you planning to strangle him? You're not going to strangle him to death, are you?"
“You can’t strangle bedbugs,” Lu Jiao said. “They only die if you twist their heads off.”
As he said this, Lin Jianyu had the strange feeling that he was going to twist the cultivator's head off, and quickly stopped him, saying, "No, no, no... it's too bloody." She was still a child and couldn't bear such a bloody scene. "Let's leave him with a whole corpse!"
"Aren't you going to try to persuade me to let him go?" Lu Jiao turned to "look" at her, seemingly surprised that she hadn't pleaded for him.
“You’ve already let them off once. If you let them off a second time, they won’t be grateful to you. They’ll think you’re a horse handler and keep coming back to you.” Lin Jianyu herself wouldn’t break the law, but she wouldn’t use their law to restrain him either.
Firstly, they couldn't be restrained, and secondly, every time the other party came, they genuinely wanted to kill them. The reason they didn't die wasn't because they showed mercy, but because they were less skilled.
She believed that if they were the ones who were less skilled, they would have been dead long ago.
Repaying kindness with enmity is something only saints would do. She herself is just an ordinary person, so what right does she have to demand that the inherently cruel Lu Jiao be a saint?
“This isn’t a good idea.” Lu Jiao’s thoughts were clearly different from hers. “This world is lacking in spiritual energy. If I want to regain my peak power, I have to spend a lot of time cultivating in different places. Isn’t it better for them to actively deliver spiritual energy to me to absorb than for me to go around looking for places with abundant spiritual energy and then spend time cultivating?”
After saying this, he began to absorb the spiritual energy from these cultivators.
Lin Jianyu watched as beams of light entered his body and suddenly felt a wonderful fragrance.
"Could I absorb some too?" She had never actively absorbed spiritual energy from a cultivator before and didn't know what it felt like.
“You can give it a try,” Lu Jiao said.
Lin Jianyu couldn't immediately understand whether he meant she could try, or that trying would lead to her death.
Just as he was about to ask for clarification, he heard Xuan Zhan say, "Don't try it. You've only just started cultivating, and the spiritual energy you can absorb is limited. If you're not careful, you'll explode and die."
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu knew that Lu Jiao wasn't that kind-hearted.
"If you really want to absorb it, then absorb mine. I can help you control the amount you absorb," Xuan Zhan added, afraid she would do something reckless.
"I don't want to absorb it anymore." She just wanted to experience the joy of absorbing spiritual energy; she didn't want to court death.
"The feeling of absorbing spiritual energy is actually the same as the feeling of us transferring spiritual energy to you." Yun Dan satisfied her curiosity.
“It smells really good,” Lin Jianyu said.
The spiritual energy they channeled into her would take her several hours to absorb if she were to rely on the surrounding spiritual energy herself, and that would only be in the mountains where the spiritual energy would be relatively concentrated.
"So, are you planning to release these people again?" she asked Lu Jiao.
Lu Jiao didn't answer her, but instead looked at the cultivator whose neck he was choking and asked, "Where is Xian Ting?"
The cultivator had just had his spiritual energy absorbed and was on the verge of death, without even the strength to struggle. Upon hearing this, he suddenly raised his head to look at him, his eyes filled with surprise and fear, as if he hadn't expected that the cultivator would know this name.
As for what to fear...
Lin Jianyu didn't know either, only that it didn't seem like he was afraid of Lu Jiao.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Lu Jiao clearly didn't believe it and raised his hand again.
The cultivator felt the pressure on his neck tighten, almost suffocating him. But as Lu Jiao had said, simply strangling him wouldn't kill the dragon clan.
"I really don't know," he said with difficulty, his voice hoarse.
As soon as he finished speaking, he let out a shrill scream.
"ah……"
Lin Jianyu didn't know why he suddenly screamed. Just as she was about to turn around and ask Lu Jiao what was wrong, she saw a gray, slightly glowing, blood-stained, scale-like thing fall to the ground.
"What is that?" she asked in surprise.
“Dragon scales,” Zhu Liu said.
Just as Lin Jianyu was about to ask why the dragon scale had fallen off, he heard the cultivator let out another shrill scream, followed by another blood-stained scale falling to the ground.
"Where is Xianting?" Lu Jiao asked again.
Lin Jianyu suddenly realized that the other party's dragon scales must have been forcibly ripped off by him. Although he did not see any other movements, this person was a "master of willpower" who could kill with a single thought, let alone just ripping off dragon scales.
"I don't know, I really don't know." The monk's voice sounded somewhat broken.
Lu Jiao clearly still didn't believe it. With a thought, the other party let out another shrill scream.
Strangely, this time no blood-stained scales fell to the ground, and the other's screams were no longer brief as before, but continuous, as if he were undergoing some kind of torture. Drop after drop of blood dripped from his body onto the ground, quickly staining the ground beneath his feet red. The indescribable pain even made him let out a dragon's roar.
The voice was quite loud and seemed to carry a sense of pressure. Lin Jianyu lost her footing and almost fell to the ground, but fortunately she managed to grab Lu Jiao's arm in time.
Lu Jiao turned his head to "look" at her.
Lin Jianyu quickly let go and retreated several meters away, hiding behind Xuan Zhan.
Zhu Liu, who was still in place, hurriedly followed.
"How scary." Lin Jianyu patted his chest, then whispered to Xuan Zhan, "What is he doing? Why is that bug screaming so pitifully?"
Xuan Zhan didn't know what Lu Jiao was doing, but he soon found out because he saw a gray, glowing object fall to the ground.
"That's... a dragon's tendon!"
"Skin him, skin him alive." Lin Jianyu suddenly realized that Lu Jiao was not the paper tiger she thought he was. Although he hadn't killed anyone, he would skin him alive.
"I'll ask one last time, where is Xianting?" Lu Jiao seemed to be losing patience, his voice revealing impatience.
"I……"
"You only have one last chance. If you don't speak now, you'll never speak again," Lu Jiao warned.
“Min, Minjiang River, it is said that he, he is at the bottom of Minjiang River.” He did not know where Xianting was, but he had heard rumors about him.
Legend has it that there is a mysterious world at the bottom of the Minjiang River, where Xianting sleeps. However, for hundreds of years, countless members of his clan have sunk into the Minjiang River, but none of them have ever seen this mysterious world, including himself, who once explored the Minjiang River.
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Lu Jiao didn't make things difficult for him anymore.
After the restraints around his neck disappeared, the cultivator collapsed to the ground, barely alive. His hands and neck glowed faintly. Lin Jianyu examined them closely and found that the patterns of the light resembled scales.
"Why is he glowing?" she asked Xuanzhan.
"He's probably about to lose his human form," Xuanzhan said.
"Because the dragon tendons were pulled out?"
“Not entirely,” Xuanzhan said. “He first lost his spiritual power, and then the big boss plucked his dragon scales and pulled out his dragon tendons, which is why he couldn’t maintain his human form.”
"However, that dragon tendon wasn't a complete one. The big boss must have shown mercy; otherwise, he would be dead by now." A dragon might not necessarily die without its dragon pearl, but it would certainly die without its dragon tendon.
"Terrible!" Lin Jianyu said, but after confirming that Lu Jiao was done, she took a flashlight and began to clean up the battlefield.
A total of eight cultivators came this time, each carrying a magical artifact. Even the female cultivator whose master's sword she had stolen last time brought a new master's sword. Lin Jianyu was almost overwhelmed by the choices.
"This sword is not bad." Lin Jianyu picked up the dragon's sword, which was quite light in his hand. "It's better than the magic sword from before."
“This is his natal magic weapon. He can summon it back once his spiritual power recovers. It’s useless for you to take it,” Yun Dan said.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Personal magical artifacts are such a hassle; you can't take them away, and unfortunately, she doesn't have one herself.
After picking and choosing again, she found that the magical artifacts of this group of cultivators were either ones that she could not control, or they were their natal magical artifacts. In the end, she only got a master's sword.
"This battle was a bit of a loss!" It would have been better to fight the previous one.
“It’s worth it,” Zhu Jin said. “These magical artifacts are all top-quality and have a huge market. If you don’t need them, pack them up and send them to Pengcheng for my master to sell. They’ll definitely fetch a good price. There are also dragon scales and dragon tendons, which are all valuable items, priceless. Whether you make them into magical artifacts yourself or sell them, you’ll make a fortune.”
"As expected of one of Third Master Uncle's right-hand men, you really know how to do business." Lin Jianyu gave him a thumbs up.
After scavenging around, they obtained quite a lot of things, including several magical artifacts, as well as pills and talismans. They kept what they could use and packed up the rest together, planning to send them to Pengcheng next time they went to replenish their supplies.
After cleaning up the battlefield, they set off again, their destination the Minjiang River that the dragon had mentioned.
The Minjiang River is the largest river in the Minyue region, with a total length of over 500 kilometers and a drainage area that accounts for half of the Minyue region. Finding Xianting's location is not easy, especially since the idea that Xianting is at the bottom of the Minjiang River is just a rumor.
However, the direction Lu Jiao sensed happened to be where the Minjiang River flows. They planned to go there first and if they couldn't find it there, they would search along the Minjiang River.
"By the way, has any of you heard of Xianting?" Lin Jianyu asked Yun Dan and the others.
"No, I've never heard of it."
"I feel that he is also a very scary existence."
“The use of ‘also’ is very clever,” Zhu Liu said.
"I'm talking about strength," Lin Jianyu said. "To survive being hunted down by big shots, one's strength must be considerable."
"That's true." The dragon that had just overwhelmed all of them was like a bug in front of Lu Jiao. Lu Jiao could crush it with a flick of his finger. And the most important thing is that this was not even its peak power.
It's easy to imagine how terrifying Xian Ting must be to have survived being hunted down by him at his peak. No wonder the dragon looked terrified when Lu Jiao mentioned Xian Ting.
"There are so many powerful cultivators in Minyue, and there's also Xianting whose whereabouts are unknown. If my master really comes to Minyue, will he be captured by the people of Wuxu Mountain?" Judging from the Wuxu Mountain cultivators' obsession with Lu Jiao, one can imagine that if Lin Jinshui, who is also a pure-blooded sea race, were to encounter them, he would definitely be entangled by them.
"No." Zhu Jin shook his head. "If a pure-blooded Mountain and Sea Clan member falls into the hands of the people of Wuxu Mountain, they will be devoured on the spot by other pure-blooded Mountain and Sea Clan members, and they will not have any chance of survival. Pure-blooded individuals like the boss who only absorb spiritual energy and do not eat pure-blooded Mountain and Sea Clan members are actually very rare."
"Does my master eat?" Lin Jianyu asked.
“I won’t eat it,” Zhu Jin said. “The sect leader’s junior uncle is different from ordinary pure-blooded mountain and sea race members. He can’t increase his cultivation by absorbing the spiritual power of others, so he can only rely on absorbing spiritual energy.”
"However, his two natal swords are capable. Every time he kills a member of the Mountain and Sea Clan or an undead, he has his two natal swords absorb the spiritual power from them, so both of his natal swords are very strong."
"How does my master's strength compare to the two groups of cultivators who attacked us?" Lin Jianyu asked again.
"In a one-on-one fight, Junior Uncle of the Sect Leader might have the upper hand, but against four or eight opponents, his chances of winning are slim, especially since one of their people is a pure-blooded sea creature," Zhu Jin said frankly. "Don't be fooled by how easily that dragon was defeated by the big shot; he's actually very strong. Junior Uncle of the Sect Leader doesn't have a 100% chance of winning against him, not to mention he has a group of strong helpers."
"I hope my master didn't come to Minyue, or that he didn't encounter the people from Wuxu Mountain." After saying that, Lin Jianyu said with some annoyance, "I was so busy cleaning up the battlefield that I forgot to ask those people if they had seen my master."
“Minyue is very large. The people of Wuxu Mountain are basically based around the Minjiang River. The junior master of the sect has an unfavorable birth chart and will not easily go to the water's edge. He probably won't go to the Minjiang River area. The probability of encountering people from Wuxu Mountain is actually not high,” Zhu Jin said. “It is a low-probability event for us to encounter people from Wuxu Mountain. We can only say that they are unlucky.”
"Is this place far from the Minjiang River?" Lin Jianyu asked.
"It's not far now, we'll arrive in another two or three days."
Two or three days passed in the blink of an eye, and they finally arrived at the Minjiang River.
Lin Jianyu looked at the river and asked Lu Jiao, "How do we find it? Should we go into the water? I can't swim." Her master's horoscope wasn't strong enough, and she rarely went near water.
"I can swim, but I'm not very good at diving," Zhu Liu said.
"I'm good at diving, but whether I can find the person is another matter." Zhu Jin has the blood of Ran Yi, so diving is not a difficult task for him.
“He’s not here,” Lu Jiao said.
"Then how do we find it? Along the Minjiang River?" Lin Jianyu asked.
Lu Jiao did not answer her question; he simply turned and walked downstream.
Lin Jianyu thought he was going to search along the Minjiang River, so he quickly followed.
After walking for about two hours, Lu Jiao suddenly stopped.
Just as Lin Jianyu was about to ask him if Xianting was here, the river suddenly erupted, startling her.
"Wow, what a huge show!" It's as if they're afraid others won't know how fantastical this world is.
“They’ve arrived,” Xuanzhan said.
Upon hearing the familiar lines, Lin Jianyu wanted to grab Lu Jiao's arm again, but when she thought that Xian Ting might be coming, she was afraid of being caught in the crossfire. After hesitating for a moment, she finally chose to hide behind him and stay away from the riverbank.
Just as they had taken cover, another splash erupted on the river, and a golden dragon flew out of the water.
Upon seeing the true form of a dragon for the first time, Lin Jianyu was so shocked that he cursed, "Holy crap!"
The golden dragon circled once in mid-air and transformed into a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old. The girl wore a bright yellow dress, and her eyes were the same gold as her original form. There were also some fine lines on her fair face that shimmered with golden light, resembling the shape of dragon scales, but this did not detract from her beautiful appearance.
Upon seeing Lu Jiao, she almost gritted her teeth and shouted "Lu Jiao!" Instantly, a halberd appeared in her hand, and she lunged forward to attack Lu Jiao.
"Could this 'Xianting' be the boss's ex-lover?" Lin Jianyu, who had been hiding behind Lu Jiao, was now dozens of meters away from him.
Beside her was Zhuliu, who was just like her, good for nothing but running away.
"I don't know if there's any past affection, but there's definitely some old grudge." To launch a deadly attack the moment you meet, how deep must that grudge be?
Moreover, the opponent was very strong, far stronger than the previous dragon. Even Lu Jiao, who rarely took action, had to fight her and fortunately did not fall into a disadvantageous position.
"I don't think we've retreated far enough," Lin Jianyu said, looking at the large crater blasted out of the ground by spiritual energy not far in front of them.
Zhu Liu felt the same way, so the two of them retreated several hundred meters together.
This location seems quite safe for now, but it's too far away, and Lin Jianyu can't see very clearly. She's only just started cultivating, and her eyesight hasn't improved much yet.
"Isn't this place too far?"
"No," Zhu Liu said. "This is just right." Going forward would risk being caught in the crossfire, and he couldn't see clearly behind him.
"I'll move forward a little further." Lin Jianyu couldn't see clearly anymore, so he decided to risk moving forward another hundred meters or so.
Unable to stop the tide, I could only risk my life to accompany the gentleman.
After moving forward about a hundred meters, Lin Jianyu still couldn't see clearly, so she moved forward a little further, until she was next to Yun Dan and the others.
Yun Dan and the others were watching the match when they saw the two of them coming over. They asked in surprise, "Why are you two back?"
"It's too far away, we can't see clearly," Lin Jianyu said. "Won't anyone notice such a loud commotion?" Although there was no one around, the noise from Lu Jiao and his group's fight was so loud that it would explode every now and then, either on the river or on the ground, and could be heard from a great distance.
"No, there's a barrier here." It was Xuan Zhan who said this.
"Barrier? What's that?" Lin Jianyu asked him.
“A protective shield that protects or blocks a specific space is usually constructed from spiritual energy. The invisible wall that the big boss used to reflect damage was a type of barrier,” Xuan Zhan said. “You can think of it as a place that is isolated from the outside world and undisturbed.”
"Oh." Lin Jianyu understood, then turned to ask Yun Dan, "How is the battle going?"
"Can't you see it yourself?" They're both standing together, and you still expect him to broadcast it to her? Are eyes just for looking good?
"I don't understand." Lin Jianyu could only see that they were fighting fiercely, but she couldn't tell who had the upper hand.
"Currently, it's mainly 'Xianting' that's attacking; the boss isn't retaliating, he's just defending," Yun Dan said calmly.
"Is 'Xian Ting' that strong?" Even someone as terrifying as Lu Jiao didn't have a chance to fight back.
"Quite strong," Yun Dan said. "He's no less than my second senior uncle, but he's probably no match for the big boss."
"Didn't you say that the big boss was beaten so badly that he didn't even have a chance to fight back?" How come you're saying now that 'Xian Ting' shouldn't be a match for Lu Jiao? Isn't that a contradiction?
"When did I say that? I said that the big shot didn't fight back, he was just defending. Don't misinterpret me," Yun said, giving her a disdainful look.
"Not fighting back, just defending, doesn't that mean he can't fight back and can only defend?" Lu Jiao came to kill Xian Ting. How could he just defend and not attack after the fight started? That doesn't make sense.
It's impossible that they actually have a past relationship, right?
Lu Jiao's claim that he wanted to kill Xian Ting was a lie; his real intention was to win Xian Ting back.
It doesn't seem impossible.
Just as I finished thinking that, I heard Yun Dan say, "The big boss has started his attack."
Upon hearing this, Lin Jianyu immediately turned his gaze to Lu Jiao.
Damn it, the speed was so fast that she couldn't see it clearly. She could only see a red afterimage flashing in mid-air. By the time she could see it clearly, "Xian Ting" had already fallen to the ground from mid-air, as if he had suffered internal injuries and had even coughed up blood.
However, she didn't seem to care. Holding her halberd, she was about to charge forward again when, at the same time, an ice arrow carrying a chilling aura shot towards her. It was so fast that she didn't even have time to dodge and could only watch helplessly as the arrow shot towards her forehead.
Just when Lin Jianyu thought Xian Ting was finished, a heavy wooden fish was struck, and everything around seemed to freeze for a moment. A moment later, the ice arrow shot at "Xian Ting" shattered into ice shards, and then an old voice rang out.
"The young prince is young and ignorant, we hope Lord Fish Witch will show mercy." The voice seemed to be far away from them, yet it also seemed to be right beside them, sounding a little eerie.
Lin Jianyu looked around but saw nothing, so he asked Xuanzhan, "Senior Brother Xuanzhan, do you know where the person who spoke is?"
Xuan Zhan shook his head.
Since Lin Jianyu couldn't see who was speaking, he turned his gaze to Lu Jiao.
After that voice rang out, Lu Jiao stopped attacking and coldly asked, "Where is Xian Ting?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Jianyu subconsciously glanced at the person lying on the ground, whom she thought was Xian Ting, and thought to herself, "So this isn't Xian Ting after all!"
At the same time, the aged voice rang out again.
"The master left this place a few days ago, and I don't know where he went."
Lu Jiao listened and didn't ask him anything more, but simply said to Lin Jianyu, "Let's go."
"You're leaving already?" Aren't you going to look for Xian Ting?
"Okay," Lu Jiao replied, then turned and left.
Seeing that he was about to leave, the woman in yellow quickly got up from the ground and shouted at his back, "Lu Jiao, you are not allowed to leave."
"Your Highness, please stop fooling around. Your master will be angry if he finds out." The old voice rang out again.
Upon hearing this, the woman in yellow tightened her grip on the halberd, but ultimately did not stop Lu Jiao from leaving. As she turned and brushed past Lin Jianyu and the others, her gaze seemed to linger on Lin Jianyu for a moment, but Lin Jianyu did not notice.
Fearing that the woman in yellow wouldn't be able to kill Lu Jiao and would instead target innocent people like them, she practically ran to Lu Jiao's side.
After walking a short distance with Lu Jiao, she couldn't suppress her burning gossip spirit and asked him in a low voice like a thief, "Boss, who was that woman just now?"
“The princess of the Jiaolong clan,” Lu Jiao said.
No wonder that old voice called her "Little Princess"; she really was a princess.
Why did she want to kill you?
"Probably because I slaughtered her father and brothers," Lu Jiao said casually.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
It turns out it was a feud involving the murder of his father and brother; no wonder the other party wanted to kill him the moment they met.
However, he didn't seem to intend to kill the other party; otherwise, he wouldn't have stopped just because of a single sentence from that old voice.
"Who was that aged voice that stopped you from killing her?"
"An old turtle."
"A real turtle?" Not some kind of bedbug or something.
"Um."
If it were a real turtle, it must have been hiding in the water just now, no wonder they couldn't see it.
"Should we continue looking for Xian Ting?"
“I won’t look for him,” Lu Jiao said. “He will come looking for me.”
"So where do we go next?"
Lu Jiao did not answer her question immediately. He seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Go find the person who gave you your heart's blood."
"Give me your heart's blood? Who?" Lin Jianyu was a little flustered.
"Water, water," Yun Dan reminded her.
"My master? When did my master give me heart blood?" Lin Jianyu understood heart blood to be the blood flowing from the aorta in the center of the heart, which was actually no different from ordinary blood, but she always felt that the heart blood Lu Jiao was talking about was not ordinary blood.
“When I used forbidden techniques to save you, I needed a drop of his heart’s blood,” Yun Dan said. “And the soul jade he gave you, the drop of blood inside it is also his heart’s blood.”
What is heart's blood?
“Heart’s blood is essence blood. You can think of it as the essence of the blood in his heart. A single drop of heart’s blood requires several years of his cultivation to produce,” Yun Dan explained.
"Several years of cultivation." His master was only a teenager when she gave him her heart's blood. Even if he started cultivating from a young age, he would only have a little over ten years of cultivation. She still gave him two drops. "Does condensing soul jade with soul power also consume cultivation?"
"Yes." Yun Dan nodded.
Lin Jianyu's eyes reddened; she really wanted to cry, but she held back.
"Can you please return the Soul Jade that my master gave me?"
"You're dreaming." Lu Jiao glanced at her and said.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu felt that she was about to break down.
“When the Soul Jade was absorbed into the Big Boss’s body, it was already fused with him. In other words, the Soul Jade no longer exists,” Yun Dan said. “Even if the Big Boss wanted to return it to you, he couldn’t.”
Lin Jianyu broke down.
She crouched down and buried her face in her arms.
Zhu Liu, who was walking behind her, did not expect her to suddenly squat down and almost kicked her.
Are you taking a dump?
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu's defense, which had just been breached, was almost instantly repaired.
"I'm totally out of control, so shut the hell up."
"Are you crying?" Zhu Liu heard a faint sob in her voice, so he went around to her side and squatted down to face her.
"No," Lin Jianyu denied.
"Even with the voice like this, it still hasn't stopped." Zhu Liu didn't believe it. "You know how much your junior uncle, the sect leader, dotes on you. Besides, the Soul Jade wasn't lost in just a day or two. What's there to be so worried about?"
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu has broken through the defenses.
"Are you trying to comfort her or hurt her?" Yun Dan kicked Zhu Liu's butt and said.
Zhu Liu thought for a moment and asked him, "Is there a difference?"
Yun Dan thought about it for a moment and realized there was no difference... Pshaw! He almost led her astray.
"Get out of here and stop causing trouble."
"Oh." Zhu Liu moved aside to make room for him.
After waiting a while and seeing Yun Dan not squat down, he tilted his head and asked, "Aren't you going to squat?"
Yun Dan looked at his and Lin Jianyu's somewhat unseemly posture, hesitated for a moment, and then squatted down.
"Losing the Soul Jade isn't entirely a bad thing for you; at least you've awakened your talent," he said. "The reason Shui Shui condensed the Soul Jade for you in the first place was because you lacked cultivation talent and your body couldn't withstand the damage caused by the mutation. She could only use the Soul Jade to suppress your mutation. Now that you have cultivation talent, if Shui Shui were alive..."
"Shut up too!" Lin Jianyu interrupted him before he could finish speaking.
"Alright!" Yun Dan stood up and said to Zhu Jin and Xuan Zhan, "I can't coax them either, you two do it."
Xuanzhan had never lied to anyone, and silently watched Zhujin.
Just as Zhu Jin was thinking about how to coax her, she saw Lu Jiao grab Lin Jianyu by the back of her collar and lift her up.
Lin Jianyu, who suddenly felt suffocated: "..."
If I can't break through their defenses, I'll die if I do.
"Put me down, I'm not going to break down anymore, let's go now."
Upon hearing this, Lu Jiao readily let go.
Lin Jianyu's legs went weak and she almost lost her balance, but fortunately Xuan Zhan caught her in time.
Seeing that her eyes were red and there were still wet tear stains at the corners of her eyes, clearly she had been crying, he dryly comforted her, "Don't worry, Junior Martial Aunt of the Sect Leader will be fine."
Mentioning Lin Jinshui made Lin Jianyu want to break down again, but she held back and said nothing, continuing to walk forward with her head down.
After walking for several miles, she finally composed herself, moved closer to Lu Jiao, and said to him, "See the backpack I'm carrying? It has a handle. Next time you want to lift me up, don't grab me by the back of my collar, grab me by this handle."
"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Lu Jiao turned his head to "look" at her.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu turned to Yun Dan and the others and asked, "Who taught him that?"
"Who else could it be but yourself!" Zhu Liu said.
Lin Jianyu denied it: "I don't even remember saying that."
"Only you would say something like that," Yun Dan said calmly.
Lin Jianyu thought about it carefully, and it seemed that they really wouldn't say such things, so it really was her who taught them?
"Don't learn the bad things and only learn the good ones."
"Do you have any good ones?" Lu Jiao asked seriously.
Lin Jianyu: "..."
Lin Jianyu listed his own strengths and found that he didn't have a single one that he could be proud of, which was ridiculous!
"Are you serious about going to find my master?"
"Um."
"What do you want with my master? You don't know he's a pure-blooded sea creature and want to absorb his spiritual power, do you?" Lin Jianyu suddenly became wary.
"Why not kill him?" Lu Jiao asked instead of answering.
"You would never do that." The cruelest thing she had ever seen him do was skinning and pulling out tendons, and he only pulled out half of the tendons, without killing anyone. And that was on someone who wanted to kill him. Her master had no grudge against him, so he had absolutely no reason to kill him.
“I told you, don’t think you know me well,” Lu Jiao said. “However, I really won’t kill him, because he wasn’t going to live long anyway.”
"What do you mean by that?" Lin Jianyu suddenly grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.
"The literal meaning." Lu Jiao's tone remained completely unchanged, as if he were talking about something insignificant, showing no awareness of his desire to make a scene. "Let go!"
Lin Jianyu didn't let go, holding him tightly as she asked, "You mean my master is still alive?"
Lu Jiao: "..."
Wasn't the main point of his words that her master wouldn't live much longer?
"Yes, but he's about to die," he emphasized.
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