Chapter 20 Test (XI) The struggle for the Mirror of Past Lives leads to the discovery of outsiders…
Click—
A crisp sound came from below, like the sound of some kind of porcelain shattering. It felt as if something hard had bumped into the sole of her foot. Qingxing stopped moving and looked down.
In the soft mud where footprints had been made, a pile of completely transparent glass shards lay quietly. If Qingxing hadn't stepped on it, it would have originally been shaped like a complete maple leaf.
"This is..." Gudako landed to the side and looked at it closely, "It looks so familiar..."
It moved closer, but its image wasn't reflected on the shiny glass. Instead, a colorful halo appeared, like a vortex that could suck in anyone in front of it.
Qingxing had only ever seen this strangely shaped object in books—it was a legendary mirror that allowed cultivators to glimpse their past lives.
"Mirror of Past Lives!"
Su Lin, who was engaged in a heated competition over there, noticed the strange occurrence at some point. He shouted, swung his sword and slashed away a demon, then charged towards Qingxing with bloodshot eyes, resembling a handsome bull.
"This idiot, is she crazy for winning?!" Guda cursed, but then turned and shoved Qingxing, trying to get her to pick up the Mirror of the Past from the ground—morality didn't matter, only the winner had the right to speak.
“Ah…” Qingxing didn’t move, but just looked at the empty ground and said softly, “It’s gone.”
"Huh? What's gone?" Gudako smacked Qingxing's ear in exasperation. "Can it grow legs and run away on its own?!"
But when it circled around to the front and saw the empty ground, it couldn't say a word.
"You were right." Qingxing looked up, glanced at Su Lin running wildly in the distance, and then her gaze locked onto a small, flashing dot in front of her—the Mirror of Past Lives had actually returned to its original state while Qingxing was looking back, and had run away in a flash!
Guda followed her gaze and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
This mirror actually has legs!
"Don't talk next time." Qingxing picked up her feet and followed after him. "I even doubt that you can see the future."
"No way!" Gudako shouted, grabbing her clothes tightly. "Besides, I'm not that capable!"
The two people and the spirit book darted through the forest at high speed. As Qingxing stepped aside the bushes blocking her way, she thought: I wonder what kind of magic Jiuchaoying cast on the Mirror of Forgotten Dust, it runs faster than us Golden Core cultivators.
"Has this mirror become intelligent?!" Guda, having endured the northwest wind all the way, was truly dizzy and its eyes were practically rolling into two big circles. "Master, could you... cast a fishing magic circle or something to catch it directly..."
"I'm afraid not," Qingxing narrowed her eyes slightly to fend off the small flying insects in the air, "There's also Senior Brother Su ahead."
She didn't want to drag this person into it as well.
"Who cares about Senior Brother Su, Senior Brother Li, or Senior Brother Wang!" Guda almost vomited. "Just kick them away!"
Upon hearing this, Qingxing briefly considered the feasibility of this method: the area was relatively open, with no dangerous creatures like the Earth God Bamboo; the Taihua Token hadn't lit up, so there were probably no demons either. If Su Lin were kicked away... he probably wouldn't suffer any serious injuries.
So she nodded and said, "Okay."
As soon as he finished speaking, his right hand, which had been gathering power, suddenly released a large amount of azure light, which solidified into a strange shape. Su Lin, who was focused on chasing Qianchenjing, did not notice the movement behind him at all. When he took a moment to turn his head slightly, he was greeted by a large azure hand with clear lines.
Su Lin: ?
He looked at Qingxing, whose face remained expressionless at the point where their hands were joined, and cursed, "Qingxing, are you fucking crazy?!"
Qingxing replied casually, "No."
After speaking, he clenched his fist and slammed it straight at Su Lin's face. The latter raised his sword to block, but his hand changed its target. He deftly extended his little finger, gathered all his strength, and heavily "kicked" Su Lin.
Thud—
Su Lin felt the force on his waist and abdomen, he groaned, and slid a deep mark on the ground before being thrown several feet away.
"Wow," Guda seemed to have been slapped by the giant hand as well, its whole body aching, but its dizziness was gone. It turned to Qingxing and asked, "Where did you learn so many strange formations?"
"The Record of Strange and Wonderful Formations"
As Qingxing calmly answered, she followed the Mirror of Past Lives around the corner and plunged into a grove of low trees.
Perhaps tripped by a small pebble on the road, the Mirror of Foreseeable Past shook and slowed down a bit. Qingxing seized this opportunity, leaping over nearby low bushes in two quick movements. While picking a few old leaves with her left hand, she made a hand seal with her right hand. Once the seal was complete, she threw the leaves out with a "whoosh whoosh whoosh".
"A net of heaven and earth, be formed!"
Enveloped in spiritual energy, the old leaves became as sharp as hidden weapons. They swiftly flew above the Mirror of Forgotten Past, forming a circle. A magic array instantly materialized, layer upon layer, with the innermost circle emitting a blue light, about to capture the Mirror of Forgotten Past—
"Something feels off," Guda finally caught her breath, glancing around at the empty space with a puzzled look in her eyes. "Hey, where did Shen Wan and Xie Yuzhou go? I remember them..."
Before he could finish speaking, a thin, orange-red sword flew in, passing through the middle of the magic circle without any resistance, and severing the spiritual energy link with a "crack".
"Senior sister, the Mirror of Past Lives is mine now!"
Like a rabbit emerging from the bushes at dusk, it still had a few leaves on its head.
Qingxing threw out the Endless Wood directly, her tone calm, as if she were having a casual chat with her rather than arguing over a magical treasure: "No."
"Don't be so stingy, Senior Sister." Shen Wan smiled, bent down to avoid the Endless Wood, and summoned her sword back, "Nine Seas!"
The slender sword made a sharp turn and landed steadily in her hand.
At the same time, the Endless Wood attacked again, but this time it failed to reach Shen Wan and was instead driven back by a figure that suddenly appeared.
Xie Yuzhou made a clean and swift move, blocking Shen Wan's path with his sword, like an unshakeable mountain.
Qingxing was forced to stop and looked at the calm person in front of her. Even someone as composed as her couldn't help but complain, "I'm a little impressed."
Why do these people seem to be inexplicably bound to her, always managing to suddenly appear and oppose her?
"Sigh, at least I didn't run into Senior Sister." Gudako was also speechless, and said with a wry smile, "You should be secretly happy."
"Stop talking, you little jinx."
As Qingxing spoke, she was too lazy to fight Xie Yuzhou. She sent the Endless Wood to rush towards him, while she used the teleportation array to flash in front of Shen Wan and struck her with her right palm.
Shen Wan reacted in time and also swung a palm.
When their palms touched, an extremely strong light wave burst forth, causing the nearby grass to bend over and all the stray hairs on Qingxing's forehead to fly up.
"Wow!" Shen Wan's eyes lit up with surprise. She withdrew her hand and took half a step back. "Senior Sister is so amazing!"
"Overpraise."
Qingxing shook her numb hands and ignored the two of them. The Mirror of Past Lives had already run far away, so she sat on the Endless Wood and began to chase after it, leaving a trail of cool breeze.
"She has too many bizarre magic arrays. I think we can't catch up with Senior Sister Qingxing." Shen Wan stood still, smiling as she looked at Xie Yuzhou walking towards her. "What should we do, Senior Brother?"
Xie Yuzhou remained calm, glanced at Su Lin who had already gotten up and was hurrying to catch up in the other direction on his sword, and said indifferently, "Do it this way."
After speaking, the two of them leaped up simultaneously, transforming into sword energy to chase after Su Lin.
Qingxing kept accelerating, and the scenery around her had turned into blurry phantoms. All she could see was the mirror of the past.
The glass shard shimmered in the sunlight. It seemed to have exhausted its energy and gradually slowed down. Seeing this, Qingxing bent down and reached out her hand to it.
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the Mirror of Past Lives, a talisman flashed by. Qingxing caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye and subtly turned her hand. The yellow talisman grazed the back of her hand, leaving a faint red mark.
As she grasped the cold object in her hand, dozens of talismans flew towards her from all directions. Qingxing couldn't dodge in time and tumbled off the Endless Wood. She spun around on the ground a few times before stopping, bracing herself with her hands, panting slightly, and looking ahead.
"Hand over the Mirror of Past Lives, and I'll spare your life!"
A boy who looked to be about thirteen years old strolled out of the woods, holding several talismans in his hand, and looked at Qingxing with a rather arrogant expression.
"Where did this little brat come from?" Guda said, her gaze shifting downwards to catch sight of the bag at his waist. A memory flashed through her mind, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Duanmu Tingzhu?"
Qingxing had some recollection of this name; Gudako had mentioned it before, saying that he was one of the disciples who had qualified for the imperial examinations in previous lives.
Since he's so young to have made it into the imperial examinations, his strength must be considerable. But the Mirror of Past Lives is already in his hands, and giving it up is out of the question; Qingxing would rather fight him.
She slowly got up, put the mirror into the cloth bag, and carefully tucked in the corners.
He then gripped the inexhaustible wood tightly and said calmly, "I won't hand it over."
"Huh?" Duanmu Tingzhu was clearly surprised that his threat had no effect. He paused for a moment, then said incredulously, "I think you're really stubborn!"
Qingxing didn't answer. She thought that if she stayed on Jade Tiger Peak for even a moment longer, something bad might happen. She didn't want to get entangled any longer, so she jumped onto the Endless Tree and ran away.
Guda grabbed her collar, turned around and made a face at Duanmu Tingzhu:
"Kid, you should go back and study idioms properly!"
Enraged, Duanmu Tingzhu stuck a talisman that allowed him to travel a thousand miles in a day onto himself and quickly caught up: "Shameless!"
According to the rules previously read out by the elders, obtaining the Mirror of the Past is not enough; it must be delivered to the summit and handed over to Elder Mo Tingyu.
The Earth God Bamboo is usually located slightly above the bottom of the mountain. After the chase, Qingxing guessed that she should be halfway up the mountain. While dodging the talismans thrown by Duanmu Tingzhu, she carefully calculated the route in her mind, trying to find the fastest shortcut.
"Where does this kid get his superhuman strength?" Guda accidentally burned his bottom with a talisman and howled in pain. "He's been running for so long and he's not even out of breath!"
Qingxing gathered her spiritual power, forming a protective layer on her right hand. She tried to maintain her speed while extending her right hand and easily picking up a talisman.
Above is a string of messy incantations drawn with a vermilion pen.
"The handwriting is a bit...not very good." Qingxing commented casually, then tossed it aside. The talisman, having lost its spiritual power, scattered in the wind.
"Hey!" The talisman floated in front of Duanmu Tingzhu and stuck to his shoulder. He angrily tore it off, fuming with rage. "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated, don't you know that?!"
Taking his talisman was one thing, but throwing it away was another!
He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and without caring about anything else, he pulled out a handful of talismans from his bag and threw them all at Qingxing's back.
He came on fiercely, with talismans exploding constantly. Despite her efforts to dodge, Qingxing was still injured. She sighed and glanced to the side out of the corner of her eye, thinking that this junior brother was going to keep going. If she didn't come up with a solution soon, he would probably keep blasting her all the way to the top of the mountain.
Just as they were hesitating, Guda suddenly shouted, "Nine Yin Tree!"
Looking up, Qingxing saw rows of tall, dark trees with branches waving.
A thought struck her: Yes, the Nine Yin Tree is just as troublesome as the Earth God Bamboo. If she could lure Duanmu Tingzhu there, she might be able to escape.
Thinking of this, she simply jumped off the Endless Tree and stepped onto the flying talismans beside her, heading straight towards the Nine Yin Forest.
Duanmu Tingzhu didn't notice the strange thing in front of him. He only felt that this person was quite impolite, daring to step on the talisman paper that he had painstakingly drawn for three days and three nights. So, he felt sorry for him and was also very angry. Ignoring his sore legs, he insisted on sticking another talisman that could travel a thousand miles a day on himself.
Seeing that he had taken the bait, Qingxing, holding Guda, mustered all her strength and leaped into the air. Midway, she stepped on the waving branches of the Nine Yin Tree, somersaulted upwards, and at the same time pointed one hand at the tree heart, whispering, "Lieque Pili, break."
whoosh whoosh whoosh—
The Nine Yin Tree also had a temper. It had never been bullied like this before. It immediately sprang up and whipped wildly in all directions, leaving several deep marks on the ground around it.
"Terrible." Gudako and Qingxing were already in a safe area. Looking at Duanmu Tingzhu who had been stopped, Gudako couldn't help but shudder. "If I get a spanking, I won't be able to sit down for days."
"I don't know, I haven't tried it." Qingxing patted the inexhaustible wood that had followed closely behind, glanced at Duanmu Tingzhu who was stomping his feet in anger, and turned to walk up the mountain.
The higher they went, the denser the forest became, and the fewer unusual species there were. The Nine Yin Tree's outburst was only temporary and shouldn't be able to trap Duanmu Tingzhu for long. Qingxing sped up, trying to reach the summit before sunset.
"It's so dark."
Guda sighed. Just now at the foot of the mountain, at least there were some rays of light between the treetops and some fireflies in the forest. But now there was nothing here. It was truly "pitch black," as if he had disappeared into nothingness.
The green apricot made the Wood God Pearl light up, illuminating the way forward and making its flight smoother.
The two, one human and one book spirit, continued their journey for a while. Guda, using the light from the Wood God Pearl, suddenly spotted a huge black shadow ahead and asked in confusion, "What is that?"
Qingxing didn't stop: "What?"
Gudako squinted and shook her head: "No, that seems to be..."
"Knock knock, knock knock, knock knock."
Footsteps interrupted Guda's words, and Qingxing had a bad feeling. Without hesitation, she stopped in her tracks.
A figure, the complete opposite of the tall shadow, slowly emerged. His disciple's robes were tattered, his cheeks were sunken, his face was deathly pale, and his eyes glowed with eerie purple flames.
The token at her waist suddenly lit up. Qingxing looked at the newcomer and frowned slightly: "Li Xu?"
A note from the author:
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The youngest member of the six-member group is here! [droopy-eared bunny head]
Duanmu likes to use idioms (but he often uses them inappropriately).
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! No update tomorrow! [Loud-eared rabbit head]
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