Struggle
The room was resplendent with gold and jade. Gu Youan touched the pillars made of golden nanmu wood and couldn't help but sigh, "The Emperor's Mansion is really rich."
Jiannan took out his fan and waved it lightly, "This is our training area, and all the equipment here is the best."
Gu Youan turned to look at Jiannan, her surprise barely concealed. "The outside is dilapidated, but the inside is magnificent!"
Jiannan smiled slightly, "Those who can enter here are all candidates for the Twelve Envoys."
Gu Youan was stroking the pillar with both hands when, without knowing where he pressed, an arrow shot straight behind him.
"Xuanji, don't move!" Jiannan roared, leaping into the air with a powerful push. He grabbed Gu Youan's shoulder and lifted her up. "Grandma, don't move."
He landed gently, while Gu Youan stumbled and landed as well. Boyan smiled gently, "There are many traps here, so you two be careful."
Jiannan released her, and she fell to the ground. "Boyan, why did Wangshu let her in? Can someone like her become one of the Twelve Envoys?"
Boyan gently helped her up, saying, "I trust Wangshu's judgment."
"Jiannan, she may be the only woman of our generation, so don't you dare bully her."
Jiannan looked up and sized her up. "Just because she's beautiful? There are plenty of women who are beautiful but have no ability. Do you think she can become one of the Twelve Messengers?"
Boyan gently tugged at her, "That's enough, Jiannan."
Gu Youan stood up, leaning against a pillar. "Now that I've entered this place, it proves that my abilities are no less than yours."
Jiannan suddenly turned his head and said, "Since that's the case, then show me your strength. There are many traps here, so don't die here."
"Alright, Jiannan, since we're all selected, let's not fight amongst ourselves here."
“Who wants to fight with him? If he looks down on me so much, why did he bring me along?” Gu Youan stared with her round eyes, showing no fear whatsoever.
Jiannan snorted coldly, "There aren't three of us, there are seven. The other six of us were all tested before we got here. What makes you, a newcomer, qualified to be here?"
Boyan looked at him coldly, "Jiannan."
Jiannan looked at Boyan and said, "Wangshu's taste is getting worse and worse."
Gu Youan pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. She pulled out a dagger from her bosom and held it to Jian Nan's neck. "In that case, let's fight."
"Oh, we were just a little late and almost missed such a wonderful scene. Jiannan, why did you force your junior sister to fight you?"
Gu Youan turned her head to look at the doorway, where a handsome man appeared in front of her.
She looked down at the tokens on their bodies; these were the four people Jiannan had mentioned.
Gu Youan sheathed her dagger and tilted her head slightly. "What, are you all going to attack at once?"
Xingxiu stretched out its long, slender claws and walked up to the three of them. "Save your energy, everyone."
Feng Yun smiled at the group, "I had long heard that Lord Ru Mei had taken in a woman, but I never expected her to be such a feisty one."
Bai He smiled slightly, "It's going to be lively in the back mountain."
Tianji remained calm. "Alright, let's keep the peace and stop arguing. Let's set off."
Gu Youan glared at Jian Nan and stood angrily at the far side.
Bai He gently tugged at Gu Youan's sleeve, "Jian Nan is just too reckless, he won't harm you."
Gu Youan raised her hand, "You don't need to defend him. He's just jealous of me, and he can't kick me out."
Everyone says that only women are cunning, but when men get cunning, they can be even more terrifying than women.
The seven people stood in front of the Bagua formation when a sudden gust of wind blew up. Gu Youan closed her eyes, and Bai He gently tugged at her sleeve, saying, "Don't worry."
After the storm passed, Gu Youan slowly opened her eyes. Everyone else was gone, and only Bai He was by her side.
As his name suggests, Baihe has bright, long, narrow eyes.
They were in a Bagua formation, which was constantly changing. The white crane looked at her and said, "Hold on to me, don't get separated."
Baihe tied a red rope to each of their wrists, saying, "This place is fraught with danger, don't get separated."
The stone slab in front of them kept changing shape. Gu Youan held his breath and countless arrows flew towards them. Gu Youan pushed Bai He away, and the two of them rolled around in the middle of the stone slab.
The stone slab spun rapidly, leaving afterimages. Gu Youan watched the constantly changing formation, trying to find the vital point in the illusion so that they could escape the formation. The formation changed hundreds of times, and the place protected by the formation was the real breakthrough point. Suddenly, a sword was thrown over, and Gu Youan reached out and caught it.
Bai He said softly, "One person's strength is insufficient; only by the two of us joining forces can we escape this formation."
Gu Youan looked at Bai He with resolute eyes, "Do you really believe in my abilities?"
Bai He tilted his head and smiled at her, "Xuanji, the formation here suppresses ordinary people. Once you enter, you will no longer be weak."
This world isn't afraid of you losing, it's afraid of you not wanting to win. Anyone who can stand here is already a martial arts genius.
Bai He's eyes sparkled when he looked at her. From the moment he looked at Gu You'an, he knew that the person in front of him was no ordinary person.
The Bagua formation combines Yin and Yang, and in this back mountain, Yin prevails over Yang, which is why so many men participated in the selection of the Twelve Messengers.
"Host, the vital point of this formation needs your blood to open."
Gu Youan's eyes darted around as she coldly considered the system's words. If she used her blood to feed the array, there might be serious trouble in the future.
Gu Youan calmed herself down and looked at the constantly changing stone door. She was surprised. "System, the seven of us are scattered inside different doors. Everyone wants to get out. At this time, we should not attack the strongest point, but the weakest point."
Gu Youan took a deep breath. All she could see was an illusion. She gently closed her eyes and felt the gravity impacting her.
Suddenly, she raised her sword and pointed it straight ahead, shouting, "Break!"
The sound of the stone door breaking rang out, and Gu Youan slowly opened her eyes. Everyone was standing opposite her.
She smiled softly, and small pebbles from the broken stone gate fell on her.
Jiannan stepped forward and patted the pebbles on his shoulder. "Congratulations on breaking through the first level."
Boyan turned around and said, "Congratulations to everyone for breaking through the first level."
Suddenly, there was a loud crash overhead, and the beam snapped in two. Rain poured down. She looked up and thought, "Not again?"
Jiannan took her hand and asked, "Can you swim?"
The words had barely left his mouth when the rain filled the room. Gu Youan looked at his arm and said, "You're living in my arm, how am I supposed to swim?"
Jiannan chuckled and said, "I forgot. Be careful."
The water gradually rose to her waist. Gu Youan glanced at Bai He, who nodded at her. Gu Youan raised her sword and thrust it fiercely into the ground. The traps here wouldn't kill them.
The white crane suddenly rushed towards her, grabbed her hand, and pressed it hard against the ground, causing water to flow slowly into the small hole in the ground.
Gu Youan and Bai He smiled at each other. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept the three of them up. Gu Youan was thrown heavily onto a pillar and then fell to the ground. She reached up and touched her back; blood had soaked through her clothes.
Seeing stars, she dazedly looked up at the ceiling. "System, can you give me a break? It hurts too much."
"Host, don't be too impatient. These are almost tailor-made for you."
Gu Youan's eyes widened slightly. "No, they used me as a pretext."
She got up, picked up her sword, and walked step by step toward Bai He, the sword clanging on the ground. "Did you do all this?"
Bai He stepped back slightly, spitting out a mouthful of blood that stained her clothes and dripped down her left hand. There were only the three of them here; the others had been swept away by the water and their whereabouts were unknown.
Jiannan watched in horror as the two faced off. He scrambled forward, crying out, "Xuanji, are you in pain?!"
Gu Youan did not answer him. She pointed her sword at the white crane and said, "You know I am the core of the formation, right? You have been guiding me into the formation."
As the sword drew closer, Jian Nan blocked her path, saying, "Attacking a fellow disciple is punishable."
Gu Youan's eyes were red, and her clothes were already stained red, making her look like a blood-soaked figure. Jian Nan was afraid that she would do something she would regret, "Xuanji, you can't do this."
Gu Youan struck him with a palm strike, saying, "If you stop me, I'll kill you too."
Jiannan stared at her in astonishment, "You're a mid-level geomancer?"
She held the sword to the white crane's neck. "Why did you harm me?"
Bai He smiled coldly, "Harm you? Miss Xuanji has quite the imagination. Miss Xuanji is naturally alluring, making her the most suitable to be a female assassin. The mechanisms in this back mountain were tailor-made for you. Only you can activate these mechanisms, and only you can make them work to their full potential."
She raised her sword and stabbed Bai He fiercely. Jian Nan suddenly turned her head, her black hair falling to the ground. Bai He looked at her sarcastically, "Xuanji, Wang Shu tried to stop you. Knowing there are tigers in the mountains, you still went to the tiger's den. I want to know why a dignified young lady of the Gu family would come here to suffer."
Gu Youan's sword slowly slid down and pierced his heart. Jian Nan suddenly rushed up and grabbed her hand. "I don't know what grudge you have against him, but if Hao Yue finds out that you, as a member of the academy, assassinated your fellow student, I don't think he will let you off the hook."
Gu Youan chuckled softly, "Jiannan, if you try to stop me, I'll kill you too."
She held Jiannan's hand and pressed it down, the sword piercing in three-tenths of an inch, and Baihe's martial arts skills stopped at the level of the Celestial Master.
She had already exploited Bai He's weakness: "I am not someone who can be outsmarted. If you try to outsmart me, you will pay the price."
Bai He laughed desolately, "So young yet so ruthless. You must have something special about you to have caught Ru Mei's eye."
She lowered her head and placed a finger on his lips. "Don't speak. If you aggravate the wound now, your skill will be stuck at the Earth Master level."
Jiannan looked at her in horror, "What did you do to him, Xuanji!"
She swung her hand and struck Jiannan with a palm strike, "Stop talking nonsense. If you speak, I will cripple your internal energy as well."
A ruthless glint flashed in her eyes. Jiannan swallowed hard. "You've gone mad with cultivation."
Suddenly a figure appeared in front of them, and Qingyang knocked Gu Youan unconscious with a single palm strike.
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