The sky was covered with dark clouds, and there was a hint of heavy rain. Yun Xian and the other three stood by the haystack, staring intently at the several disciples of the Sword Sect who were guarding the place, and whispered to each other.
"I'll take care of these two, and Fellow Daoist Xue, take care of the two. Lingshan, you'll be responsible for finishing off the enemy, and Fengye, you... why don't you just watch for now?" Yun Xian said cautiously, "Try to knock them out immediately without making any noise."
Everyone nodded quietly.
While the two northwestern regions were still fighting fiercely, Yun Xian carried the unconscious Liu Linshuang back to the battlefield, and then brought a group of people here.
The illusion is indeed hard to find. From a distance, there is nothing here, blending into the yellow sand. Only extremely slight fluctuations in space can reveal its abnormality.
Qiao Lingshan couldn't help but ask quietly, "Yun Xian, how did you know the camp was here?"
"Lingshan, you're still too young." Yun Xian also replied quietly, "Brother Xue, isn't he curious? Fellow Daoist Xue is almost dying of curiosity, but you see, he doesn't ask. This is the wisdom of an adult."
Xue Lingxiu: “…”
If Yun Xian could stop being so noisy, he would rather spend a hundred high-grade spirit stones every day to shut her up.
Seeing that the wind began to howl, it was time to take action. The three of them looked at each other and dodged at the same time.
Those Jindan disciples were only at the middle level of cultivation. In the past, Yun Xian and his companions might have had to fight them for a while, but now that their realm has been raised, they can knock people out much faster.
Practice makes perfect, and Qiao Lingshan readily helped the fallen person to the pile of rocks on the side of the road so that she could smell the fragrance of the urine of the passing monster.
"..." Yun Xian felt something was amiss. "Lingshan, there's no need to learn this. It's not a good idea."
"Huh?" Qiao Lingshan looked up, bewildered. "Wouldn't it be placed in a conspicuous place so that someone would come to rescue you faster?"
Yun Xian suddenly realized: "So that's how it is!"
Qiao Lingshan: “?”
The carriage and the masters were waiting outside. The three of them took the tokens from the guards and deducted the points. Then they cheered up and entered the cave.
Although there are only a few hundred of them, a mosquito leg is still meat no matter how small it is.
The sand cave was rugged and dim, making it difficult to discern. Dao Zong had embedded several firefly beads into the sand walls, which shone faintly. Yun Xian and the other two walked straight ahead and discovered a forked road ahead.
Left, right, left, and right again...
Soon, the three of them returned to the fork in the road where they started.
"Hmm?" Yun Xian frowned slightly, "There is a formation."
Qiao Lingshan said, "We encountered this formation before on the plains. Now it seems that it was set up by the Sword Sect."
It seems that Liu Shizhen has made a lot of preparations to ambush Foxiang.
Yun Xian stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "This formation..."
Xue Lingxiu paused. Could it be that she also had some knowledge of battle formations? "How?"
"I don't understand it at all." Yun Xian was clueless, but frankly said, "Do you know how to do it? We definitely don't. We don't teach academic subjects at Jiange."
"..." Xue Lingxiu didn't know why she still had illusions about Yun Xian, so she swallowed her anger and said, "I'll try."
Although the Xingyan Sect is the expert in playing with formations, all major sects will teach their disciples some basic formations. Xue Lingxiu is not very proficient in this formation, but at least he can slowly explore it for a while.
"This formation is different from the ones on the plains. It was set up temporarily by those at the door." Xue Lingxiu said as he looked for an opportunity to break it. "I think it's just to delay time."
According to Liu Shi's purpose in setting up camp here, he would return regardless of whether he won or lost. If he lost, that would be fine. Compared to the small shrimps in the southeastern and northern regions, he would definitely devote himself to the Buddhist Township; if he won...
When the time comes to settle the score, I guess this group of people will be in big trouble.
"Qi Zhiye, you have to work hard." Yun Xian must have thought of this and silently cheered him on from behind.
"Come to think of it, Master Mingguang seems to have given him quite a few magical weapons." Qiao Lingshan learned this information from a stranger. "The Dongji Staff was the weapon the master used when he left the mountain. He just gave it to him like that."
Yun Xian: "Does Buddhism also practice hereditary succession?"
"...It's probably just to curb his temper." Xue Lingxiu's men kept moving as he spoke, having already broken most of the makeshift formation. He said coldly, "But I see he's impatient and has no patience, like a fighting cock. I think it's just his nature. He won't be of much use."
Yun Xian noticed something: "Brother Xue, you don't seem to like him very much?"
"It's not that I don't like him." Xue Lingxiu lowered her thin eyelids and stood up, "It's just that his clothes are too colorful and they dazzled my eyes."
The formation shattered, revealing the cave's true interior. Before them lay a long, narrow, winding path leading to a vast stone chamber, dimly lit as daylight. This place, truly a place overflowing with spiritual energy, was so abundant that the three didn't even need to actively absorb it; the spiritual energy seeped into their bodies, constantly filling their Dantian and Nascent Soul.
Xue Lingxiu didn't want to continue this topic, "Let's go."
"I understand, Brother Xue, you don't like men who are too gorgeous."
Qi Zhiye was indeed handsome and arrogant, the complete opposite of Xue Lingxiu, who was a smiling tiger bathed in the gloom. No wonder he had a bad impression of her. Yun Xian followed behind Xue Lingxiu and kindly comforted her, "You two are different types. He's a full banquet, and you're just a simple dish. Occasionally, when I get tired of looking at him, I have to look at you for a change of pace. Don't take it so seriously."
Qiao Lingshan looked up suddenly. This was too comforting!
Xue Lingxiu was shot in the chest with an arrow, and the veins on his forehead throbbed. He forced a smile and said, "...Miss Yun, can you please shut up?"
The three of them walked into the stone chamber, but the scene before them was somewhat unexpected.
On the stone platform in the room, several weapons were placed, gleaming faintly. Next to them were piled some rare medicines and natural treasures. The three people took in the sight, but each had a different focus:
Yun Xian: "Black Golden Bowl? Is this directed at Buddhism?"
Qiao Lingshan: "Iron Toad? How come there's a hidden weapon? So sinister..."
Xue Lingxiu: "The purple jade heart protector can break the illusion. Illusion? Demonic cult?"
It seemed the Sword Sect had come well prepared, their purpose obvious. After all, they were participating in a major war, and no one knew what would happen. Even if they were to bring weapons, they would definitely bring something they were comfortable with and versatile. How could they possibly bring all the weapons?
The most obvious one is the black golden bowl, which is specialized in the Buddhist Golden Bell Cover and has no effect on other sects. It is just a bowl for eating.
These are not the most precious things. The most important things must be in Liu Shi's storage ring. I think he doesn't intend to expose it. The purple gold bowl is hidden here. If he wins, it would be best not to waste too much energy. If he loses, he can come back and get it. The plan is quite thorough.
The three of them continued to move their gaze and saw a pile of familiar hemostatic herbs.
Yun Xian: “…” Back to the starting point, where the dream began.
Every action has its effect, and I am your retribution.
Xue Lingxiu looked at Yun Xian with a questioning look in her eyes. She was still thinking about which ones to take. Just as her fingertips touched the folding fan, she heard her wave her hand majestically: "Move them all away!"
At the command, before Xue Lingxiu could react, Qiao Lingshan rushed out like a well-trained person and started putting things into her storage ring one by one, her little hands moving extremely quickly.
Yun Xian also began to make room in her storage ring, pouring out a lot of red bellybands and melon seed shells, and bringing a bunch of apples. It's not good to have fewer people. Even when entering the secret realm, everyone's weapons, magic tools, and herbs are limited. With so many people in the Sword Sect, they would bring many times more than they did.
Xue Lingxiu tightened her fingers.
How ungraceful!
"Yun Xian, we're here to change the decoy and cut off the support from the Sword Sect camp." He raised his voice slightly to remind them, "We're not here to buy supplies!"
Yun Xian turned a deaf ear and threw something over, "Brother Xue, catch it!"
Xue Lingxiu grabbed the herb in her hand and identified its medicinal properties at once.
The giant lin flower has no other advantages, but it is very juicy and emits a clean soapberry fragrance.
“…………”
Xue Lingxiu also started to put it into her sleeves.
The jade seal emitting a faint glow was buried in a corner that no one cared about, piled together with cheap and useless herbs, and was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.
It seems that Liu Shi was just being clever here, and the effect was just as he expected. The three of them focused their attention on the table, and did not pay any attention to this area.
But he probably never dreamed that some people could be so desperate because of poverty, and take things for granted, taking everything they wanted. When they left, they even didn't let go of the pile of unwanted herbs, and packed them all up and took them away.
At this time, about half an incense stick of time had passed since the three of them left the battlefield.
Half an incense stick is neither long nor short, but the battlefield is not too close to here. Unless Liu Shiju follows the three people here, they will not meet unless something unexpected happens.
"It's all empty, stop pretending. Are you even going to move other people's soil?" Xue Lingxiu hooked her finger at Yun Xian, looked at Qiao Lingshan, and said in a calm voice, "Come over and find the center of the formation together."
It's said to be looking for someone, but how could it be possible to find two sword cultivators who failed in the cultural subjects? But Xue Lingxiu obviously just wanted to find something for these two to do so that they would not be too idle and would not hang around anymore to avoid causing trouble.
But he didn't expect that while he was searching so hard, Yun Xian and Qiao Lingshan were still whispering in his ears:
"Yun Xian, isn't it bad for us to take other people's things like this?"
"It's not good. So what? Is he going to report it to the police?"
"I don't know why, but I feel a little panicked. I always feel like I've overlooked something."
"Hiss, come to think of it, I think so too. You know, I really didn't intend to tie up Liu Linshuang at first—"
At this moment, the sound of sudden footsteps came from outside the cave, accompanied by the whistling wind. Then, Liu Hui's solemn voice said: "Someone is invading!"
Three people: "!!!"
I remember it!
Liu Hui, as the second-in-command of Liu Shi, was not on the battlefield or in the camp just now. No one knew where he had gone. Now he has made a surprise comeback and returned early!
It happened suddenly. I don't know how many people he brought with him. The three of them looked at each other and hid directly behind the narrow sand wall deep in the cave.
Sure enough, the sound of hurried footsteps approached, revealing the turbulent indignation within their masters. The Dao Sect disciple behind Liu Hui couldn't hold back his breath and asked anxiously, "Brother, what should we do if that thing is taken away?"
"Impossible, we've already thought of this." Liu Hui flashed in with a gloomy face, "The most dangerous place is the safest place. Even if someone enters, they will never notice... Holy shit?! Who is it?? They must have died of poverty in their previous life and took everything???"
Because of this sudden surprise, the pitch instantly rose, just a step away from breaking.
If there weren't a few disciples of the Sword Sect lying at the door, he would have suspected that he had come to the wrong place.
The three people hiding: “…………”
Now Qiao Lingshan has also developed a thick skin, and the burden of blushing slightly falls on Xue Lingxiu's shoulders.
Judging from the footsteps at the scene, fortunately there were only two or three people behind Liu Hui, so they could easily deal with it.
"How could this be!" the Sword Sect disciple said in panic, "Not even a blade of grass is left, and the Jade Seal is gone. This is a serious matter, and we must report it to Senior Brother Liu Shi immediately!"
Liu Hui's voice sank, and he said, "Let's go!"
The rustling footsteps that had just hurried over hurriedly returned along the same route. It seemed that they were running as fast as they could to report to Liu Shizheng.
Yun Xian and the other two hid behind the sand wall for a long time, their faces were almost deformed, and no one looked over here.
Yun Xian whispered: "By the way, Feng Ye is still outside, right?"
"Don't worry." Qiao Lingshan said, "He can escape faster than you."
As a zither practitioner, Feng Ye's only advantage now is his exceptional hearing. He can hear footsteps from a long distance away and then tell everyone to hide quickly... When Qiao Lingshan described this, Yun Xian always felt that he was like a mole spirit that was extremely frightened at any time and place.
Yun Xian waited cautiously for a while until there was no more sound outside, then waved his hand to signal someone to go out.
As if it weren't bad enough, no one expected that as soon as they sneaked out of the cave, they would meet Liu Hui at the corner.
The two groups of people clashed head-on, unable to defend themselves, and fell silent for a moment: "......"
Alas.
It's a little embarrassing.
"You." Yun Xian still had time to ask him, "Aren't you going to report to Liu Shi?"
"Just send one person?" Liu Hui still had time to reply, "With that temper, whoever goes to spread the news will be in trouble. Am I crazy? I'm asking for trouble."
Yun Xian: "Is that so?" It turns out that people who can stay with Liu Shi for a long time are different and wise.
Liu Hui asked word by word: "Why did you come out from inside?"
"That's what you just said." Yun Xian blinked twice innocently and said, "The most dangerous place is the safest place."
The air was silent for a moment. Liu Hui drew his sword angrily and roared to the sky, "Are you the ones I'm talking about?! Give me back what you have!"
It seemed that this battle had to be fought. Yun Xian knew that there was no way to avoid it, so he could only draw his sword hurriedly and wink at Xue Lingxiu and Qiao Lingshan.
Go, go, go! Hurry!
For some reason, she couldn't blink just one eye. When she blinked, both eyes blinked together, and her expression became extremely vivid. Xue Lingxiu was stunned and even wanted to laugh at an inappropriate time.
"Do you think I'm blind?!" Liu Hui was so angry that he fell backward, his voice trembling. "Want to leave? You'd be happy if you did!"
Two more disciples of the Sword Sect also drew their swords.
There is nothing more to say, so we can only fight.
Liu Hui's understanding of Yun Xian was still above the sixth level of the Golden Core. He was a little dismissive at the beginning, but now he became more and more frightened and panicked as the fight went on.
The swordsmanship of the man in front of him was so ethereal that it was impossible to find the pattern or even tell where the next move would come from. His speed was also incredibly fast, with afterimages coming like waves. For a moment, Liu Hui could only see the bright white sword shadows flashing before his eyes, changing between reality and illusion, and he could only barely resist.
With two "swish" sounds, he spun around in panic to avoid the blow. The sword blade cut through his collar, and the energy left a faint red mark below his neck. He couldn't help but blurt out: "When did you become so strong?"
Yun Xian paused and said, "What?"
"I say," Liu Hui gritted his teeth and dodged the attack, saying, "When did you become so strong?"
To be able to suppress him like this, he must have reached the ninth level of the Golden Core Realm, but when he entered the secret realm, he was only at the sixth level. Why...
Yun Xian seemed to be hard of hearing: "What? What did you say?"
Liu Hui roared, "I say! What kind of adventure did you have? Why are you progressing so rapidly?"
Yun Xian finally heard it: "Praise me again, I love to hear it."
Liu Hui: “…………”
I'm so angry that I'm fainting.
But when one is unlucky, even drinking cold water will make one's teeth ache. Originally, Liu Hui only managed to delay Yun Xian for less than a moment before he was quickly knocked to the ground by Yun Xian's backhand with the hilt of his sword. Just as Yun Xian was about to knock down their opponents with two swipes, blood suddenly surged in the sky. The rest of the Sword Sect's troops were approaching, and an extremely angry shout was heard from afar: "Yun - Xian -!"
Liu Shi fell in front of everyone at an extremely fast speed, and the handle of the knife hit the ground heavily, making a deafening sound.
Yun Xian: “Oh wow.”
Caught on the spot.
To the naked eye, it was hard to tell which side won in the end between Liu Shi and Qi Zhiye. After all, Liu Shi was now covered in blood, his clothes were torn, and there was not a single intact part. The smile at the corner of his lips was cruel - but with the two black circles under his eyes caused by Qi Zhiye's bare hands, the deterrent effect was a little lacking.
He landed on the ground, slowly stood up, and his cold gaze fell on Xue Lingxiu.
Although Xue Lingxiu's obsessive-compulsive disorder and tendency to be pretentious had been adequately treated by Yun Xian recently, he began to flare up again when facing Liu Shi. He waved his folding fan and chuckled, "What a coincidence."
He noticed from the corner of his eye that Feng Ye and the group of masters appeared on the nearby hillside, closely watching the battle situation here.
"What a coincidence?" Liu Shi sneered. "Xue Lingxiu, I used to think you had a problem, but now I think it's more serious than ever. To go against me, you're even hanging out with someone like this? Don't you think that's quite degrading?"
Xue Lingxiu paused for a moment, feigning confusion. "Downgrade? Are you referring to the one in front or the one in the back?"
Liu Shi: “?”
It took him a while to realize that Xue Lingxiu was beating around the bush again: "..."
Liu Shi looked at Yun Xian, but before he could speak, Yun Xian said, "Are you sure you want to say more?"
"Stop being so pretentious." It would have been fine if Yun Xian hadn't spoken, but once he did, his anxiety was completely exposed. Liu Shi's eyes darkened as he slowly raised his sword. "Is there anyone else who will come to your aid? Think about it, who else? Is it Qi Xingye, who I severely injured, or Jimo Shu, who you've deeply offended? Or perhaps the Body Refining Sect from the same Northern Realm?"
Yun Xian's eyes narrowed and he frowned fiercely.
Qi Zhiye...actually lost?
"This is the fate of those who oppose the Dao Sect. No one is exempt." Seeing her eyes suddenly change, Liu Shi chuckled with satisfaction and said solemnly, "Yun Xian, you've escaped so many times by luck. Now you'll return the favor."
The atmosphere suddenly changed and the two were in a stalemate.
Xue Lingxiu still appeared calm on the surface, but the knuckles holding the fan kept tightening.
There were many men and horses, and their fighting spirit had not yet subsided, so they were even more ferocious.
Is this going to be a fight here? Even if Liu Shi is injured, can Yun Xian defeat him? What if he can't? What if he can? The best outcome is the return of the jade seal. While the number of experts he hired will be greatly reduced, it will at least cover his retreat. The worst outcome is that he will crush the jade talisman and teleport out, wasting all his efforts.
Yun Xian probably understood this as well. Her expression had never been so solemn before. Her fingertips touched Qi Shuang and she whispered, "Then, come on."
"The Sword Pavilion has been secluded from the world for many years and is not well-known in the outside world. However, the skills hidden within are as vast as the sea. Among them, I practice the heavenly sword technique taught by the headmaster himself, the Qingyan Dianpu."
As she spoke, she slowly drew her sword and held it across her eyes. Her fingertips brushed the thin, silvery surface hard, and drops of blood oozed out and landed on the tip of the sword, like a cluster of red plum blossoms in the snow.
Extremely cold, extremely gorgeous, and extremely warm.
"No one has ever seen this last move, because..." Everything is self-evident. Yun Xian's eyes turned cold and he whispered softly: "Swallow Revolving Eighteen!"
Qishuang was vibrating and humming like crazy, and the amazing spiritual energy was infused into the sword body, but it could not bear it and was about to crack.
There was a hint of a will to perish together in her resolute gaze, which made people tremble with fear. Liu Shiben was already seriously injured, so he naturally did not dare to take it lightly. Now, as if facing a formidable enemy, he frantically urged all his spiritual power and was about to use the last move of the sword technique to resist with all his might: "Everyone defend! War God Sword Technique·Final Form..."
Before he finished speaking, Qi Shuang trembled and flew into the sky. Yun Xian mentioned the still confused Xue Lingxiu, turned around and disappeared into the sky in an instant: "Because I don't know how to do it at all~"
Liu Shi gathered his strength to the apex, then suddenly released it: "?"
"Ah, he ran away!" Liu Linshuang, who was standing nearby, looked up at the sky with his mouth open, and couldn't help muttering, "He ran away so naturally! He ran away without any burden at all!"
"...I want you to explain?!" Liu Shi slapped him on the forehead, furious: "Hurry up and chase him!"
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