Chapter 12 I'm straight... You must be secretly having an affair with the sect leader...
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through Xiao Huaiyuan's heart, and his wrist trembled unusually. The tortoise shell slipped from his grasp and shattered into pieces.
Fortunately, Xiao Huaiyuan had studied various Taoist divination techniques since childhood, and immediately switched to using three copper coins to cast a hexagram.
What were the results of the divination?
"A very bad omen."
"Is it the Demon Lord who has reignited the war?"
"Yes and no."
He glanced around at the elders of the immortal sects present. The current situation was somewhat stable, and all the sects were stepping up their recruitment efforts to fill the gaps. Unless something major happened, the Immortal Alliance meetings were never fully attended, and most of those who were present were absent-minded. They only became serious when they heard the word "ominous sign".
"The divination indicates that the location is in the Immortal Realm, but this matter is related to the Demon Realm. If there are any abnormalities, we will need your timely assistance."
Xiao Huaiyuan pressed his hand to his left chest, the lingering pain still present. His mind was now connected to the soul lamp, and the sudden, unexplained movement made him fear that something might have happened to his senior brother.
...
The figure reflected in the black gold flashed by, and Fu Ming and his group sped off in the direction from which the arrow had come.
The mine tunnel extends layer by layer along the vein, with only a few wooden stakes hanging along the edge, making it look rather unstable.
"System, can you detect the location of the Demon Realm Rift?"
"Beep...beep, insufficient permissions, cannot find meow."
Insufficient permissions? Does that mean I could search if I had sufficient permissions? Fu Ming pondered.
Just as he expected, the system did indeed possess a godlike perspective beyond ordinary people, but it was subject to certain limitations. Since he activated the system, his encounters along the way seemed to have been preordained. If a beast tide was inevitable, how would he cope with it with his Foundation Establishment stage body?
Fu Ming unconsciously rubbed the hilt of his sword with the pad of his thumb, a habit he had always developed while thinking.
Never mind, there must be an antidote within a hundred paces.
Xu Yan charged forward rapidly through the narrow cave like a wild horse. However, the person who had shot the arrow retreated extremely quickly and was very familiar with the terrain. Every time he reached a fork in the road, large or small boulders would come crashing down on him.
So he fled, he chased, he threw stones, he used his sword to deflect them—the mine was filled with a cacophony of booming and clanging noises.
After smashing another boulder, a huge cavern, about three stories high, suddenly appeared before them, with dozens of openings scattered throughout, resembling anthills.
Which way should we go?
As they were scouting and preparing to split up to scout ahead, a beast resembling a bull suddenly sprang out from a cave in their blind spot behind them. It had four horns on its head, three eyes on its forehead, and was covered in white fur.
With a powerful push of its hooves, the bull charged forward with its two sharp, curved horns, aiming a headbutt at the sword cultivator's rear end.
Wooooooo!
What kind of idiot would raise monsters in a mine?!
A piercing howl echoed through the sky. Everyone was on high alert, staring at their senior brother's pitiful buttocks bleeding from all four orifices. If the previous Chongming bird had a strategy of picking on the weak, then this bull was charging around haphazardly. Sometimes it would relentlessly pursue an unlucky fellow, and sometimes it would suddenly turn its spearhead and pounce straight at another. Beneath its wildly shaking head, clouds of demonic energy spewed out from its nostrils.
Despite the chaotic scene, Fu Ming still managed to maintain his elegant demeanor. He used half of his sword to propel himself into the rock, hanging upside down in the air. Once the bull's horns turned, he adjusted his posture and leaped to another point, moving forward and backward with ease.
"Junior Brother Ming, your lightness skill is truly impressive. Did the sect leader teach you?"
"I want to learn, how about you consider becoming my...master's disciple?"
Fu Ming raised an eyebrow, and with a smile, he narrowly avoided the black energy swirling up from the charging demonic beast. After his hair ornament fell off, he hastily tied up his long hair with a hairband, but after a series of leaps and bounds, the hairband was loosely stuck at the end of his black hair, and probably wouldn't hold for much longer.
"Hey, you're trying to steal my man while I'm still here? Come on over and lend a hand!"
Xu Yan unleashed eight swords simultaneously, forming a sword formation that surrounded the enemy from all sides, leaving only one opening. When their senior brother's buttocks once again became the target of the bull-like beast, they finally had the perfect opportunity to lure him into their trap. The beast, its fur bristling, charged forward with all its might, but its target flashed before it, and it plunged headfirst into the cage, becoming a pincushion riddled with thorns from various swords of different styles.
Fu Ming leaped down from the height, landing precisely in front of the demonic beast. Its body was filled with an even denser demonic aura than the Chongming Bird, yet it wasn't concentrated in a single point, suggesting it wasn't demonic aura that it had accidentally acquired.
"Something's not right. I thought this monster was in the late Nascent Soul stage, but now it seems to be only fluctuating at the early Nascent Soul stage."
The enormous head of the monster was poked and swayed back and forth under Xu Yan's sword.
Demonic energy, realm. Sufficient concentration of demonic energy can stimulate a cultivator to forcefully improve their realm. Fu Ming suddenly had a flash of inspiration and took out the stone fragment he had found in the mud pile from his mustard seed bag.
He held the stone shard, hovering it two inches from the monster's head. Two streams of energy intertwined and merged, seemingly attracting each other—that was it.
"I understand."
Fu Ming chuckled, releasing the stone fragment as it flew diagonally upwards. He then used his spiritual power to pull it back around his finger, drawing a small, finger-length, rhomboid fragment into his palm. This fragment was made of the same material as the stone, and felt slightly warm to the touch. It had originally been embedded in the center of his third eye, identical to the vertical pupil of a beast.
"These demonic beasts were deliberately placed here by someone with ulterior motives, who used these fragments that can stimulate demonic energy to drive them mad and induce them to overdraw their life force to increase their power. If I'm not mistaken, the stone fragments should have been taken from the vicinity of the Demon Realm Rift."
"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm a local from Yongcheng on the border. It's perfectly normal for me to know these things, isn't it?"
The worst thing was when the air suddenly fell silent. Fu Ming, receiving probing gazes, shrugged and spread his hands in an innocent gesture. He placed the larger stone fragment in his palm, closed his eyes to feel the source of gravity, and continued walking in this manner.
"Look, this is the real entrance."
Fu Ming, supporting himself on the narrow passage that could barely fit one person, turned back and smiled brightly.
Just then, a dangerous situation arose.
A vine stretched out silently, and the instant it touched the light, it tightly bound his waist, then dragged the unresponsive Fu Ming into the cave!
The mine was not only narrow, but the rock walls were also covered with sharp and messy mineral crystals. As he dragged along, he bumped and bruised his clothes, tearing them in several places. Fortunately, he protected his face with his arms in time, otherwise he would have been disfigured.
Although he was only dragged across a few side paths, it felt like ten thousand years had passed. Without sufficiently powerful spiritual energy, even the best sword couldn't cut through these vines as hard as refined steel. Fu Ming had never regretted his low cultivation level so much: why didn't he create his avatar at the Golden Core stage? The Foundation Establishment stage was still too weak.
Cough, cough, cough. Fu Ming's efforts to protect his appearance were ultimately in vain. When he was thrown into the stone chamber, he landed face down and rolled several times, his face covered in dust and blood.
"Oh dear, isn't this our show-off Mingchen? Tsk tsk tsk, how come he looks so pathetic and weak now?"
The malice-filled, shrill voice sounded strangely familiar. Before Fu Ming could recall which person he had offended, an immense pressure descended upon him.
Damn, this guy stepped on his head.
"If the sect leader finds out, he'll be heartbroken. He might even punish me. I'm so scared! Too bad you won't have a chance to go back and complain... Hahahaha."
Fu Ming felt an unusual buzzing in his left ear; the mocking words came in waves, sometimes loud and sometimes soft, making them difficult to hear. However, cultivators needed to temper their bodies, and he hadn't seen many fat people in the entire cultivation world. Judging by weight, there was only one answer.
“It’s you…Chen…Chong.”
He struggled to open his mouth, then turned his head and spat out another mouthful of black blood. Chen Chong's words and physical attacks were not very powerful; what would truly kill him was the dense demonic energy here, comparable to that of the Demon Abyss.
Based on his experience, this person should already be half-possessed by demons, and in the way that most likely leads to death by exploding.
Chen Chong pulled Fu Ming's disheveled black hair to straighten his face. Even with his face covered in blood, he had to admit that Fu Ming was quite handsome. Bright red blood slowly trickled down from his eyebrows, past his trembling, butterfly-wing-like eyelashes, and down his tightly closed, bloodless lips to his thin collarbone. So, this hateful, vile, despicable poor wretch, whose only redeeming quality was his appearance, what made him superior?
"I know, I know," Chen Chong repeated frantically, pulling the exhausted Fu Ming closer.
"You must have secretly slept with the sect leader, didn't you?"
ah?
Fu Ming was deeply shocked when he finally heard a sentence clearly. This madman's words greatly shook his mind. From any perspective, he should be a straight man, so how could such a huge accusation be suddenly dumped on his head?
"I……"
"Chen Chong, that's enough. Xu Yan is hot on our heels and will be here in no more than half an hour. Go and stir up the beast tide right now, and then you can do whatever you want with Xiao Huaiyuan's apprentice."
"Yes, but sir, do you think I could throw this wretched woman into the Demon Realm Rift? There's raging lava there, perfect for disposing of the body and erasing all evidence."
The title of Xiao Huaiyuan's disciple once again stung Chen Chong's heart. He responded to the "sir" with a forced smile, but every word he uttered was forced out through gritted teeth. Originally, he should have been the sect leader's disciple.
Before the mysterious figure could reply, the entire stone chamber suddenly shook, and stalagmites fell from the ceiling. Chen Chong's arm ached from the impact, and although he hadn't vented his anger by beating him a few times, he could only toss Fu Ming, this heavy burden, into a corner.
Outside the hundred-foot-long mine tunnel, Xu Yan, unable to find his way, was leading a group of sword cultivators in a forced demolition!
The method to trigger the beast tide is extremely simple: just place a sufficient amount of demonic rift rock fragments into the opening of the dark chamber, and then inject spiritual power imbued with demonic energy to activate the array. The cavern leading to the dark chamber houses a group of demonic beasts of the Golden Core level or above, which are regularly replaced and nurtured with demonic energy. When needed, they can be released and transported via the underground river of the cavern to the Tai Xuan Mountain region, and then to the various sects of the Xuan Luo Sect.
The only price to pay for this method is the person who activates the formation. If their spiritual power has already combined with demonic energy, what sect would be willing to take them in? In the end, they would only be left to die of old age in the mine, never seeing the light of day again.
As Chen Chong channeled spiritual energy into the array plate, he cursed inwardly those he hated: Lin Han, Chen Cheng, his uncle, and this damned Ming Chen—all of you, go to hell!
...
"Stop, not this way."
"Xiao Huaiyuan, when did you arrive?"
Xu Yan, who was working hard, was swept up by the gentle spiritual energy. When he turned around, he saw Xiao Huaiyuan floating behind them alone, his hair disheveled, looking travel-worn, and carrying a glass lamp in his hand.
"This is Mingchen's soul lamp. Go this way."
A note from the author:
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