Chapter 26 Zhong Jiuli, who was guaranteed to be alive, hurriedly raised her hand to block Bai Ye's smooth skin...
Bai, wielding a heavy sword, charged into the mycelium.
There were no fancy sword moves, no spiritual power to enhance them; he wielded the heavy sword with only his physical strength.
As the heavy sword was swung, the sound of it cutting through the air was like muffled thunder or the roar of a dragon. Wherever it passed, the mycelium was severed. With each sweep of the sword, the mycelium that came one after another was crushed into dust.
The heavy sword, which she had initially found heavy, was now gradually becoming easier to handle, as if it had been tailor-made for her.
She and this sword were a perfect match from birth.
The dark light on the sword grew even stronger, like a ferocious beast that had been parched for a long time finally awakened in this carnage.
Later in the fight, Liu Xianyue even withdrew and sat cross-legged next to Zhong Jiuli to protect her, leaving the battlefield to Bai Ye alone.
"Junior." Xiao Jin's voice suddenly rang in Bai Ye's mind.
Bai Ye paused in his sword-wielding hand. "Little Jin, what's wrong?"
"Life-or-death battles are the best whetstone for sharpening your sword. Watch carefully, I will only demonstrate the nine forms of the heavy sword once."
After Xiao Jin finished speaking, a jet-black heavy sword appeared in his hand, exactly the same as the heavy sword in Bai Ye's hand.
She carried the heavy sword and performed nine sword moves in Bai Ye's mind.
"First move... Break the formation!" Xiao Jin roared, sweeping his heavy sword out horizontally.
With a simple horizontal slash, Bai seemed to see thousands of troops vanish into thin air before the sword's edge.
Before the sword technique was finished, Xiao Jin flipped his wrist and used the next move, "Second move, Mountain Split."
The heavy sword slashed down from top to bottom, as if the entire sea of consciousness was about to be split in two by this sword.
Bai Ye's mind was immersed in her sea of consciousness, watching intently as every sword move Xiao Jin made was imprinted deep within her soul, waiting for her to slowly comprehend it.
By the seventh move, Xiao Jin's figure had become one with the heavy sword, as if she were the heavy sword itself, truly achieving the unity of man and sword.
"Ninth move... No Return!" Little Gold roared.
The moment the sword was thrust out, Bai's eyes flashed with images of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and stars falling. This sword seemed to pierce through the river of time and space.
The resolute intent contained in the sword strike caused her eyes excruciating pain; it was a sword strike with no return, a vow not to return until the enemy's head was severed.
After completing the final move, the heavy sword in Xiao Jin's hand vanished. It stood with its paws behind its back, adopting the demeanor of a hermit tiger, and said, "Now, let me see how much of the power of the heavy sword you can comprehend."
"Watch closely!" Bai Ye's lips curled into a smug smile. "This is the first time in my life that this genius has ever used a sword technique!"
After uttering a few words, Bai closed his eyes and concentrated. In an instant, nine astonishing sword moves flashed back in his mind like a revolving lantern.
The moment Bai opened her eyes, her entire demeanor had completely changed. The heavy sword that had previously been used in her hands like a fire poker, only knowing how to smash things, now resonated with her.
It's as if the greatsword has come to life.
"Break the formation!"
With a clear shout, Bai Ye swept his sword horizontally. Wherever the sword passed, the mycelium within a hundred feet instantly froze in place. After the sword light dissipated, the frozen mycelium turned into dust and scattered all over the ground.
Watching from afar, Liu Xianyue was so astonished that her eyebrows furrowed, her red lips parted slightly, and her eyes were filled with surprise. She murmured to herself, "Could he really be a genius? He can comprehend such extraordinary sword techniques as soon as he picks up a sword?"
If Bai Ye knew what she was thinking, he would definitely shout, "If you had a cheat code, you could do it too!"
However, she was already immersed in comprehending the sword techniques and was completely unaware of what was happening in the outside world.
The mycelium of the Spirit-Eating Demon became Bai Ye's whetstone.
She practiced the Nine Forms of the Heavy Sword over and over again. With her current cultivation level, apart from the Formation Breaking Formation, the other moves were merely in form. With the spiritual power in her dantian, she was simply unable to unleash the power of the other eight forms.
As Bai Ye practiced the sword moves again and again, a wonderful realization welled up in his heart. These sword moves seemed simple, but in fact they contained the profound truth of returning to simplicity.
Every move and every technique represents the ultimate control of power.
Bai fought with increasing ferocity, severing countless mycelia from the Devouring Spirit Demon's belly. This sword practice lasted for three days.
Bai Ye only stopped when Zhong Jiuli woke up from her meditation. The moment she sheathed her sword, she was so exhausted that she could barely stand. She swayed and leaned on her heavy sword to steady herself.
She wielded this massive sword weighing ten thousand pounds for three whole days, and the amount of energy and blood she expended was unimaginable. If her physique had not reached its peak, she would probably have died from exhaustion by now.
Bai didn't even bother to recover his breath. He stared intently in Zhong Jiuli's direction, a bright smile spreading across his face, and his clear voice reached Zhong Jiuli's ears.
"Zhong Jiuli, are you healed?"
Zhong Jiuli raised her eyes and looked at Bai Ye in the distance.
The slender boy wore a white undergarment. His full head of silver hair, which was originally tied up high with a red ribbon, was now mostly loose, with the loose strands hanging messily beside his cheeks. Instead of looking sloppy, it gave him a kind of unruly beauty.
She held the heavy sword, which was almost as tall as her, in one hand. Her slender fingers gripped the hilt, and the veins on the back of her hand, which were well-proportioned, were bulging with beautiful blue veins from the effort. The dark hilt made her fingers appear even whiter and more like jade.
The boy's beautiful eyebrows curved into crescent moons, his amber pupils were filled with starlight, and the upward curve of his lips carried a hint of youthful arrogance.
The smile was so bright that Zhong Jiuli felt a tremor in her heart. The feeling was inexplicable, like a ray of bright sunlight shining into a deep pool that had never seen the sun for years. The cold water in the pool became slightly warm because of the arrival of this light.
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Bai Ye realized she couldn't hold on any longer. So she simply sat down cross-legged, took out a dragon scale fruit from her spatial storage, and started eating it without even wiping the peel.
After finishing one fruit in a few bites, Bai took out another and continued to gnaw on it.
The sweet fragrance of dragon scale fruit filled the cave, and the mycelium, which had just calmed down, began to stir again.
Liu Xianyue smelled the fragrance of the fruit and called out from afar, "Little guy, give me one, I'll help you support the mycelium for a while."
Bai also grabbed two fruits from Xiao Lü's space and tossed them over, "Give one to Zhong Jiuli."
"You don't need to tell me." Liu Xianyue muttered, carefully wiping the dragon scale fruit clean before handing it to Zhong Jiuli.
She wasn't in a hurry to eat, but the mycelium in the cave started to swarm around her again. The little guy had been holding on for three days, and it was time for her, the Grand Pavilion Master Liu, to take action.
Bai also ate five Dragon Scale Fruits in a row. The abundant spiritual power filled her parched meridians. In the past three days, her dantian had long been dry, and by the end, she had no spiritual power left. She was only able to persevere by relying on her physical strength.
At this moment, spiritual energy entered her body and surged wildly within her. She could no longer suppress her cultivation level and directly broke through to the eighth level of Qi Refining.
She didn't want to break through so quickly. Based on what she had heard, breaking through too quickly during cultivation was not a good thing, as it would lead to an unstable foundation.
However, at this moment she could no longer suppress it, and the breakthrough seemed to come naturally and in an instant.
She looked at the heavy sword beside her. For three days, she had been fighting without sleep or rest. Every swing of the sword was a tempering of her body and soul. After such a thousand temperings, her foundation should be very solid.
Bai stopped thinking about it and stood up. Seeing that Liu Xianyue was able to handle it, he didn't rush to join the battle. Instead, he went straight to Zhong Jiuli's side and sat down, asking with concern, "Are you still injured?"
Zhong Jiuli held the dragon scale fruit in his palm, turned his head to look at her, and said softly, "She's fine now."
"That's good, then I can rest assured." Bai let out a long sigh of relief, leaned back, and lay down next to Zhong Jiuli.
With her hands behind her head, she looked at the scarlet mycelium hanging from the cave ceiling and grinned, "Once I catch my breath, we'll set off, find the Soul-Eating Demon's core, and cleave it in two with one sword. That way, we can get out of this hellhole."
This statement sounds rather careless, as if finding the core of the Soul-Eating Demon is as simple as eating and sleeping.
Looking at her confident demeanor, Zhong Jiuli said with amusement, "Do you know that no one has ever killed the Spirit Devourer?"
"Then we'll be the first people to create this world!" Bai Ye stood up, leaned close to her ear, and whispered mysteriously, "Believe it or not, as long as we get up, wander around, and have a casual fight with the Spirit Devourer, its demon core might just be knocked out."
As Bai spoke, his warm breath fell gently on Zhong Jiuli's ear, carrying the fragrance of dragon scale fruit, making the tips of her ears turn slightly red.
Zhong Jiuli hurriedly raised her hand to touch Bai Ye's smooth forehead and pushed her away a little.
"Speak properly, there's no need to get so close." Zhong Jiuli turned her face away, casually tossing her long hair to cover her reddened ear tips.
Bai blinked, then suddenly grinned mischievously and leaned even closer. "Oh, so now you know it's not good to get this close? What about all those times you used to hug me and watch me shower all the time?"
Zhong Jiuli glanced at her. "Times have changed. Back then, you were just a child, and I treated you like one, so it was natural for me to hold you."
"But I'm still a child now. I haven't really grown up. This body is just a form I created using the Formless Technique."
"That won't do either." Zhong Jiuli directly refused her approach.
"Alright, alright, I won't stand next to you." Bai Ye finished speaking, stood up, picked up his heavy sword, and rejoined the battlefield, working with Liu Xianyue to clear the mycelium from the cave.
Perhaps they were jumping around too much inside the Soul Eater's belly, because after they fought for a while, the ground beneath their feet began to shake violently.
The tsunami-like waves crashed in again, and Bai plunged her heavy sword into the ground to steady herself. She looked around and found that the walls were beginning to shrink and the hole was getting smaller.
"Oh no, is the mushroom spirit about to poop?" Bai exclaimed.
Liu Xianyue and Zhong Jiuli's expressions both changed, and they said in unison, "Shut up!"
Both of them were like fairies, and they couldn't imagine being expelled from their bodies by a mushroom spirit like defecating from a strange part of their bodies.
"I'll fight it to the death!" Liu Xianyue shouted, and crimson lotuses flew out from her palm, exploding one after another on the fungal wall.
Wherever the Red Lotus Karmic Fire reached, the wriggling fungal walls emitted a sizzling sound, and the smell of burning instantly filled the entire space.
Bai was somewhat distracted as she watched the screaming mushrooms. She remembered how mushrooms would scream when they stuck to the hot pot when she ate hot pot. It turned out that the mushroom spirits in the cultivation world made the same screams as the mushrooms she had eaten.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up." Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed by someone. Zhong Jiuli held her wrist and led her to follow Liu Xianyue, who was clearing the way.
After running a few steps, Bai suddenly turned back and said, "Wait, I haven't taken my clothes yet."
The clothes were a gift from Zhong Jiuli, and she liked them very much, so she didn't want to leave them here.
Zhong Jiuli held her wrist tightly and said quickly, "I took it. It's in my storage ring. Run!"
Flames soared into the sky inside the passage, and the surrounding walls were shrinking rapidly; if you were not careful, the passage would be blocked.
The three of them fled in a sorry state inside the Soul-Eating Demon's body, as the writhing fungal walls around them constantly squeezed their escape route.
The ancient demon's true form was so enormous that all around were scarlet fungal walls, making it impossible to distinguish east from west. Furthermore, even divine sense couldn't penetrate this place, leaving them no choice but to flee haphazardly, as if navigating a maze.
Bai Ye cleaved through the encircling fungal mycelium with his sword, panting heavily as he said, "This can't go on. This mushroom spirit is clearly draining our strength."
Upon hearing her words, both of them turned pale; they had noticed it too.
The three of them stood back to back, forming a triangle to face the mycelium attacking from all directions, which would conserve their energy to the greatest extent possible.
The spiritual energy here is consumed at an unimaginable rate. The spiritual energy that has just been replenished will be drained in no time, and in the end, one still has to rely on physical strength to fight.
"You stinky tiger!" Little Green's divine sense suddenly transmitted, "Do you need my help?"
Bai Ye paused in her sword-wielding hand. Even a fool could tell that this guy was after the remaining dragon scale fruits. She readily agreed, "Here, take them all, take them all. Can you help us find a way out?"
"Who cares about those fruits? I've had enough." Little Green snorted. "I want the demon core of the Spirit-Eating Demon."
"I can't make that decision. What if Zhong Jiuli also wants the demon core? Then I'll definitely give it to her."
Little Green snapped, "You stinky tiger, are you kidding me? I'm the one who can save you, not Zhong Jiuli. Why did you just give her the demon core because she wanted it?"
"Don't rush, let me ask." After Bai finished speaking, he turned his head and whispered a few words in Zhong Jiuli's ear.
Zhong Jiuli lowered her eyes to look at her dantian. She knew that there was an extraordinary plant growing in the little tiger's body. She couldn't tell what its true form was, but it was clearly not an ordinary thing.
Liu Xianyue looked at them with a hesitant expression, "What little secrets do you have that I can't hear?"
“I have a way to get you out of here, but I need the demon core of the Spirit-Eating Demon. I’ll ask her if she agrees,” Bai said.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xianyue immediately urged, "You really have a way? Then hurry up and use it. I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place anymore."
"Don't worry, with me here, I guarantee you won't be dragged out," Bai assured him, patting his chest.
"Stop fooling around, little one. Tell me quickly, how are we going to get out?" Liu Xianyue was exasperated; she didn't want to hear those strange words again.
Without Bai Ye even needing to ask, Xiao Lü was already giving him directions.
She sensed the location of the Spirit Devourer's core as early as three days ago when she woke up. At that time, she had not yet fully digested the spiritual power of the Dragon Scale Fruit, and was not sure whether she could devour the Spirit Devourer, so she did not make a sound.
She is now 30% confident of swallowing the Spirit-Eating Demon. As for the remaining 70% chance of failure, that will naturally depend on the adventurous little tiger and her two good older sisters.
However, Little Green wouldn't tell them that she wasn't entirely confident; it was a fight to the death anyway. If they didn't get out, they would all be worn down to death inside the Soul-Eating Demon's belly—it was just a matter of sooner or later.
"You stinky tiger, don't turn, just break through this mycelium wall in front of you." Little Green's divine sense transmitted to Bai Ye's mind.
Bai, who was about to walk forward, immediately stopped. She swung her heavy sword forward and slashed. It has to be said that this heavy sword was really useful for cutting mushrooms. With one strike, it could cut a path.
After breaking through the mycelial wall in front of them, Xiao Lü's divine sense transmitted again, "Turn left, continue breaking through the wall."
Bai obediently did as he was told, and the three of them continued to traverse the layered labyrinth of mycelium. With each sword strike, a new passage unfolded before them.
Even with the constant repair efforts of the wriggling mycelium, it still can't keep up with the rate at which the fungus destroys the plant.
"This is it. After breaking through this wall, we must be quick and not let that cunning mushroom escape." Little Green's voice was filled with excitement. She couldn't contain her excitement at the thought of obtaining the Soul-Eating Demon's body.
Bai gave the two of them a look, signaling them to get ready, as they were about to meet the person in charge.
She raised her heavy sword and slashed fiercely at the mycelium wall in front of her. The moment the wall broke open, a dazzling red light poured out from the hole.
The three of them stared intently at the scene in the cave, momentarily stunned, as the view before them was quite different from what they had imagined.
A crystal-clear, blood-red mushroom floated silently in the air, its entire body carved like the finest ruby. An eerie red light flowed across the surface of the mushroom, and upon closer inspection, mysterious golden patterns flowed on the cap, like natural array runes.
In short, she was unbelievably beautiful, completely unlike the disgusting guys they had seen before.
"Don't just stand there, get to work!" Little Green's voice boomed in Bai Ye's mind.
She snapped out of her daze and charged into the cave with her heavy sword in hand.
As soon as Bai stepped into the area illuminated by the red light, he sensed something was wrong. His blood and qi were boiling, and his life force was flowing toward the little mushroom.
"Don't come in!" she shouted, turning around abruptly. "This red light will devour life."
Almost instantly, several obvious wrinkles appeared on Bai Ye's hand holding the sword, and his once flowing silver hair lost its luster, turning pale and gray.
Zhong Jiuli's expression changed, and the worry that welled up in her heart was instantly suppressed. She raised her hand and pointed in the air, and the silver light at her fingertips spread out into the cave like ripples.
"Condense!"
The moment the sound fell, time in the entire cave froze. The red light emitted by the Spirit Devourer and the mycelium cleaved by Bai Ye's sword tip all solidified in that instant.
At the same time, the fire lotus in Liu Xianyue's hand had taken shape. She rubbed out dozens of crimson lotuses in one go and smashed them all onto the body of the Spirit Devourer.
With a deafening roar, towering waves of fire filled the cave.
Bai Ye's heavy sword struck the crystal mushroom in mid-air at that moment.
The three attacks worked simultaneously, and the cave fell silent. When the firelight died down, they all stared wide-eyed.
The Spirit Devourer floated in the air completely unharmed, without even moving an inch.
"Mere ants..." The Spirit Devourer suddenly spoke, its voice still as grating and unpleasant as ever, "Do you really think you can harm me?"
"Shut up!" Bai Ye roared and swung his sword down again. "You're so good-looking, but your voice is so disgusting. You're making me lose my appetite."
The heavy sword, carrying the force of wind and thunder, slashed down, but before it could touch the Soul-Eating Demon, it was blocked by the red light and couldn't reach it at all.
"You little tiger, you look quite appetizing. I'll start with you as an appetizer." The Spirit Devourer let out a shrill laugh.
The eerie red light surged instantly, engulfing Bai like a tidal wave.
In the red light, Bai Ye's body shrank at a visible speed, and she could not even maintain her standing posture.
Little Green said anxiously, "Stinky Tiger, you have to break through the mushroom spirit's protective red light. Once you break through its defenses, I can eat it."
Bai also knelt on one knee, his heavy sword deeply embedded in the ground to support his swaying body.
"noob."
"Little guy."
Zhong Jiuli and Liu Xianyue exclaimed in surprise at the same time. Neither of them expected that the red light would drain away all life force so quickly.
Bai turned to look at them, his once bright eyes now clouded, and even his voice was hoarse: "Don't come in. You can survive. I told you, you're guaranteed to live. Trust me!"
The moment she finished speaking, her withered fingers suddenly exerted force, and she abruptly lifted the heavy sword, using the last bit of her life force to unleash the ninth move of the heavy sword technique.
"No return!"
Bai roared angrily, wielding his heavy sword with unwavering determination, giving it his all, truly making it a one-way trip.
She became one with the dark, heavy sword, transforming into a black lightning bolt that shattered everything in its path.
"boom!"
The sword struck the red light heavily, the blinding light exploding within the cave. A tiny crack appeared at the tip of the sword.
At the same time, Zhong Jiuli and Liu Xianyue rushed into the cave. They unleashed their strongest attacks without holding back, striking the Spirit Devourer.
The extremely small crack was bombarded and made larger.
In that split second, with a "whoosh," the little green sprout pierced through the crevice, and its supple roots quickly wrapped around the Spirit Devourer's body.
In an instant, a dazzling green light burst forth, carrying the aura of creation, pure and peaceful, directly overshadowing the eerie red light.
The Spirit Devourer struggled frantically under Little Green's restraints, but no matter what it did, it could not break free from the seemingly delicate but actually incredibly tough root system.
"Ah!! What the hell is this?!" The Spirit Devourer let out a shrill roar, the sound so sharp it seemed to pierce eardrums, causing the blood and qi of the three people present to surge.
"You stinky mushroom, how dare you call me something? I'll take you in!" Little Green's arrogant voice rang out simultaneously. The moment her words fell, the emerald light became even more dazzling, while the Soul-Eating Demon's screams grew even more terrified.
"You rascal, thankfully you didn't disappoint me." Bai murmured softly, a smile playing on her lips. She could no longer maintain her balance, her knees buckled, and she fell straight forward.
"Bai Ye!" Along with the voice came that familiar, cool fragrance.
Bai also fell into a soft embrace. Looking at Zhong Jiuli's anxious expression, he squeezed out a wrinkled smile on his aged face and said in a hoarse voice, "I told you, Bao could take you out!"
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Author's Note: Bai Ye: My wife hugged me! √ [hugs][hugs][hugs]
Nine Forms of Heavy Sword √
In summary: Today was another very rewarding day!
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