Chapter 63 Clues... Something's not right with the Qingyuan Sect.
Yin Lisheng carried Fu Yunshu on his back and stood with the others in front of the golden maple tree. The maple tree was dozens of feet tall, its entire body shimmering with golden light, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding blood-red maple forest.
"Is this the entrance?" Duan Xuan reached out to touch the tree trunk in confusion, but was repelled by a gentle force.
Lu Yanci tapped the ground lightly with his jade staff: "It requires a specific method to activate."
Chu Yu tried playing the long flute, but the sound waves touched the golden maple tree and disappeared without a trace.
"What are we going to do? So many years have passed, and we younger generations haven't even heard of Youxu. Who knows how the passages inside were opened?" Duan Xuan sighed.
Upon hearing this, Yin Lisheng's eyes lit up. "Since outsiders don't know, perhaps asking those living inside will provide some clues."
While Chu Yu and the others were still somewhat puzzled, Fu Yunshu had already turned his gaze to the Blood Soul Sword hanging at Yin Lisheng's waist.
"You know that, right?"
The Blood Soul Sword remained completely unresponsive. Strangely enough, ever since leaving that place, the Blood Soul Sword had remained unusually quiet, a stark contrast to the menacing sword in Yu Lingzi's hand.
Fu Yunshu gently stroked the Blood Soul sword. "Perhaps as a disciple of the Qingyuan Sect, my words are not very convincing, but I still believe that Master Chi Du is not a treacherous person."
"For so many years, Senior Yu Lingzi has been trapped in this place, suffering excruciating pain every day. Do you really want him to be trapped in this desolate place forever, unable to even know the truth?"
The Blood Soul Sword trembled slightly, emitting a low hum.
Fu Yunshu continued, speaking each word extremely slowly but clearly, "Blood Soul, please help us, please help Senior Yu Lingzi, okay?"
"I want to give him the truth."
The Blood Soul Sword trembled more and more violently, and the red light on the sword body flickered.
"Clang—"
It suddenly unsheathed itself, its chilling sword aura pressing towards the golden maple tree, the tip of the sword pointing directly at it. The blood essence circled the maple tree three times, each circle creating a crimson whirlwind.
The golden maple tree seemed to be awakened, and the veins on its trunk began to flow, as if it had come to life.
The leaves rustled, and the sound was no longer an obstacle, but rather like some kind of ancient chant.
"It listened," Duan Xuan exclaimed in surprise.
The Blood Soul Sword finally stopped directly in front of the maple tree, its blade gently touching the trunk. A beam of red light shot from the sword tip into the trunk, instantly making the golden maple tree shine brightly. The trunk slowly split open from the middle, revealing a passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.
The passage was deep and dark, with a glimpse of a completely different scene at the other end—a maple forest, its leaves a deep, rich red, almost as if stained with blood. A faint, eerie, sweet fragrance wafted through the air, casting a shadow of unease.
“Blood Maple Forest…” Yin Lisheng murmured, “It seems that Blood Soul has chosen to believe.”
After completing all this, the Blood Soul Sword flew back to Yin Lisheng's side, its light dimmed considerably, clearly indicating that it had consumed a great deal of energy.
"Let's go," Fu Yunshu said softly.
He leaned against Yin Lisheng, the black aura spreading up to his neck, clearly indicating that he had used up a lot of energy just now.
The moment they passed through the portal of light, everyone felt dizzy. When they looked again, they found themselves in a completely new world.
Once inside, the group discovered that it was even more dangerous than they had imagined—the maple trees here could move.
“Be careful,” Lu Yanci’s jade staff emitted a shimmering white light, “these maple trees form a natural maze.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the maple trees around them suddenly moved rapidly, separating the group.
In the face of danger, Yin Lisheng instinctively tightened his grip and carried Fu Yunshu steadily on his back.
Countless maple leaves shot towards him like sharp blades, forcing Yin Lisheng to parry with his sword.
However, the maple leaves did not dissipate after hitting the barrier. Instead, they clung to the two of them like leeches, greedily absorbing their spiritual power and making a sickening sucking sound. Yin Lisheng felt his spiritual power leaking out like a burst dam.
Yin Lisheng gritted his teeth, his Duan Yuan sword wielding with impenetrable speed, yet he could not cut down the endless stream of maple leaves.
"This can't go on..." His breathing was already somewhat disordered.
Just then, Fu Yunshu, who had been lying on his back, slowly uttered a word: "Stay."
The falling maple leaves came to an abrupt halt. Fu Yunshu patted Yin Lisheng's head and said with a hint of helplessness, "Sometimes, can you rely on your master a little more?"
He picked up a maple leaf, and the leaf immediately and greedily absorbed the spiritual energy in Fu Yunshu's body, with the veins of each leaf bulging to a terrifying degree.
They were like ravenous wolves that hadn't eaten for hundreds of years, frantically devouring the delicacies before them.
Little did they know, this hard-won delicacy was poisonous.
"break."
A single word, written lightly, seems to carry a weight of a thousand pounds.
An invisible ripple suddenly spread outwards from the two of them. The surrounding maple leaves froze instantly, then turned into dust and dissipated into the air. The wildly moving maple trees around them also seemed to be frozen in place.
Yin Lisheng watched this scene in shock.
Fu Yunshu's breathing was still somewhat weak. He leaned close to his disciple's ear and said in a low, hoarse voice, "This maple forest... feeds on spiritual energy. The more spiritual energy you use, the more frenzied it becomes."
"Unfortunately, my spiritual energy is not so easy to absorb."
Yin Lisheng swallowed hard, but was still somewhat worried. "Master, wasn't your strength suppressed? Won't casting such a spell worsen your injuries?"
Fu Yunshu shook his head. "My strength is still at the Mahayana stage, but I can't fully unleash it here. It doesn't mean that my cultivation has dropped to the Nascent Soul stage. I still have the spiritual power of the Mahayana stage within me."
“These maple leaves all came to absorb my spiritual energy on their own. How easy is it to absorb the spiritual energy of someone in the Mahayana stage?” Fu Yunshu smiled sarcastically. “They walked right into my trap.”
After hearing these explanations, Yin Lisheng felt somewhat relieved.
Fu Yunshu raised his left hand again. This time, a faint golden light swirled around his fingertips, swiftly outlining an ancient rune in the air. The moment the rune took shape, the entire maple forest seemed to ripple violently, as if a pebble had been thrown into the water.
"Let's go." Fu Yunshu only said this one word.
Yin Lisheng dared not be negligent. He held his master tightly and followed the golden light extending from the runes, hurrying forward.
Wherever it passed, the maple trees automatically parted to make way, and the blood-red leaves all gave way, as if they had encountered some terrifying being.
The sounds of fighting came from ahead. The two followed the sound and saw Chu Yu and Duan Xuan locked in a fierce battle back to back, with maple leaves raining down all around them. Duan Xuan's jade flute was cracked, and the sound barrier was on the verge of collapse.
Fu Yunshu's gaze narrowed slightly, and with a gentle wave of his left hand, a new jade flute appeared before Duan Xuan.
"Thank you so much, Immortal Venerable!" Duan Xuan was overjoyed.
She immediately took it and began to attack. This new magical artifact was clearly a superior work, and the sound waves it emitted suddenly increased several times. Chu Yu and Duan Xuan worked together to shatter all the surrounding maple leaves.
The four followed the direction indicated by the golden light. The deeper they went into the maple forest, the more eerie the colors of the surrounding maple trees became, gradually turning from bright red to dark purple. The sweet fragrance in the air was mixed with a faint, almost imperceptible, smell of blood.
"This smell..." Duan Xuan frowned and covered her nose, "It's very unpleasant."
Suddenly, the sound of clashing weapons came from ahead, mixed with a familiar voice.
"Gu Zhinan, to the left!"
"Know!"
Yin Lisheng's eyes lit up: "It's the Sect Master and Peak Master Gu!"
The group quickened their pace and passed through a tangled thicket of trees, where they saw Gu Zhinan and Song Wenzhuo locked in a fierce battle, back to back.
Gu Zhinan's wounds seemed to have reopened during the fight, and blood was seeping through the bandages wrapped around his chest, but the long sword in his hand remained sharp.
Song Wenzhu manipulated his spiritual power to weave a large net in the air, blocking all the incoming maple leaves.
Upon seeing Fu Yunshu, a hint of excitement flashed in their eyes, but when they saw that he was being carried on Yin Lisheng's back, their expressions instantly turned cold.
Their grandmaster seemed to be injured. No, they had to end the fight as soon as possible. The two thought to themselves.
Chu Yu and Duan Xuan also stepped forward to help, and the maple leaves here were quickly cleared away.
Song Wenzhuo anxiously walked to Fu Yunshu's side.
"What's wrong with Grandmaster Uncle?"
Yin Lisheng briefly explained what had happened.
Gu Zhinan stood up, clutching his wound. "Let's go to Mirror Lake."
Whatever the conspiracies and schemes behind it all, the answers can surely be found at Mirror Lake.
Duan Xuan noticed his injuries: "Peak Master Gu, your injuries..."
“He won’t die,” Gu Zhinan said calmly, but his gaze fell on Fu Yunshu. “The most urgent task is to save our grandmaster.”
Fu Yunshu felt somewhat helpless. Couldn't they take care of themselves first? He wasn't going to die so easily.
He gave Song Wenzhu a look, and Song Wenzhu pursed his lips and quickly re-bandaged Gu Zhinan's wound, his movements as practiced as if he had done it a thousand times.
Duan Xuan silently watched Yin Lisheng, who kept turning his head to stare at Fu Yunshu, and then glanced at Gu Zhinan, who was silent but seemed a little awkward, and blinked gently.
Hmm~ Something's not right with Qingyuan Sect!
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