Chapter 124 Life and Death Showdown:
Madam Mei suddenly interrupted, startling Zhao Dajiang so much that he took a step forward and almost dropped what he was holding.
"Incense burner!" Rong Xie exclaimed.
Zhao Dajiang quickly held the incense burner tightly. The incense inside was still burning. As long as Zhao Dajiang poured spiritual power into it, the incense burner would continuously produce fragrant mist, minimizing the influence of the external illusion array.
At this moment, Zhao Dajiang also understood that the root of the illusion array lay in the mimosa flower. In fact, they knew this as soon as they entered, but they were distracted by things like modifying the furnace, the foundation of the ruthless path, and the chaotic relationship with their old lover, and forgot about it.
Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief: "Don't worry, as long as the incense burner is working properly, the mimosa flowers won't affect us. Have the team members all stand within the range of the incense mist."
Zhao Dajiang nodded, cautiously carrying the incense burner away from Madam Mei, and beckoned his team members to stand closer.
Rong Xie looked at Madam Mei, then suddenly tugged on the chain. Madam Mei involuntarily crashed into the invisible barrier set up by Lu Yingqi, cried out "Ouch!" and blood flowed from her mouth again.
“You don’t need to lie to us. With these chains binding you, you can’t use your magic. Without the power to activate the mimosa flower, it can’t attack us and can only create illusions indiscriminately,” Rong Xie said.
Madam Mei spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered, "Young Master Rong is truly knowledgeable; nothing can be hidden from you. But how do you know that I'm the only one here who can activate the illusion of the mimosa flower?"
Rong Xie's heart tightened. He glanced at the people behind Madam Mei, then looked down at them, and said calmly, "Oh? There's actually a second person here who can activate the illusion of the Hehuan Flower? I thought only Madam Mei knew about the Hehuan Sect's business of modifying furnaces."
“How could that be?” Madam Mei laughed. “Do you really think the Lu family is so innocent, that they know nothing, and that I can do whatever I want? That old bastard Lu Yuanzong is slippery. Little one, I advise you to take your child and run away.”
"You should save those words for when you confess your crimes in the Mirror Palace." Rong Xie slowly wrapped the silver chain around his hand a few more times.
Seeing that he remained unmoved, Madam Mei rolled her eyes and changed her tone, saying, "You don't really think Shen Bingsi can defeat our young master Qi, do you?"
Rong Xie did not answer.
Madam Mei's spirits lifted, feeling as if she had found an opportunity to break the chains: "Although both of them are Nascent Soul cultivators, Young Master Qi is at the late Nascent Soul stage, while Shen Bing Si is at the mid-Nascent Soul stage... or even the early Nascent Soul stage?"
As Madam Mei spoke, she looked at Rong Xie with a probing gaze. Rong Xie remained expressionless. Madam Mei continued, "I remember that Shen Bing Si has only been an adjudicator for a few years. She is truly a prodigy. At such a young age, she is both a Nascent Soul sword cultivator and one of the three adjudicators of the Mirror Palace."
"..."
"What a pity, what a pity. In terms of future prospects, Shen Jiansheng should have a brighter and more promising future than our young master Qi. It's a pity that he was so muddle-headed and stumbled in such a remote corner for such a small case involving our Lu family."
Mrs. Mei shook her head, looking quite regretful.
"Have you said enough?" Rong Xie took out a stack of talismans from his pouch. "I have enough silencing spells here to keep you quiet until next year. Do you want to try?"
"Hehe, if you really want me to shut up, just use a talisman. Little guy, let me give you some good advice: many things in this world shouldn't be taken too seriously. The more serious you are, the faster you'll die. For example, in my case, you can just release me and wait for Young Master Qi to finish interrogating me before arresting me. That way, you won't have to confront Young Master Qi head-on, and you can smoothly bring me to justice. Isn't that better?"
Mrs. Mei smiled.
"What a pity, what a pity! You insisted on a head-on confrontation, and the bright future of Sword Saint Shen is about to be ruined today. Do you know that the higher the realm, the greater the difference in strength between different stages? In the Nascent Soul realm, the gap between the early, middle, and late stages is even greater than the gap between Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul! It's easier for an early Nascent Soul cultivator to crush a Foundation Establishment cultivator than to crush an ant. And a late Nascent Soul cultivator against an early Nascent Soul cultivator is about the same."
If Shen Bingsi really was going to fight Lu Yingqi to the death, Rong Xie would have stopped him immediately. But Shen Bingsi's secret telepathic message before leaving let him know that Shen Bingsi was not reckless and brave. He was only doing this to break through Lu Yingqi's blockade and send the message back to the Mirror Palace.
Once Shen Bingsi successfully sends out the message, he will stop and return here. What Rong Xie needs to do is hold back the chains for him and keep an eye on Madam Mei as he rushes forward.
Rong Xie said indifferently, "So what? What you're saying is common knowledge to any cultivator. Can you say something new?"
"..." Madam Mei choked, not expecting that after all her efforts, Rong Xie remained unfazed. Madam Mei, usually adept at manipulating people, had repeatedly met with resistance from an unknown nobody. Furious, she pressed herself against the invisible wall of energy, glaring hatefully at Rong Xie. "Aren't you worried about Shen Bing Si at all? Your relationship with him should be like that of Xiao Zhi and Young Master Qi, right? Even if you weren't that close, you grew up together. Don't you care about his future, or even his life? Just let me go, release this chain, and I guarantee Young Master Qi will immediately end the fight. Even if he doesn't, I'll find a way to make him end it..."
Rong Xie looked up at the sky, where the collisions of golden and white light became more and more frequent, and the rumbling explosions were incessant.
“Of course I’m worried,” Rong Xie said, “but I…I believe him.”
No matter what difficulties she encounters, Shen Bingsi will find a way to overcome them.
Even when facing adversity, they are always looking for ways to break free.
Even when faced with the world-destroying Heavenly Demon that the entire cultivation world could not contend with, even when faced with a desperate choice that would shatter the Dao heart of anyone, Shen Bingsi never backed down.
"I believe in him," Rong Xie said firmly.
Madam Mei stared at him for a long while, then shook her head: "The most foolish thing in the world is to trust others. However, foolish people are always steadfast, so it seems I can't change your mind..."
Suddenly, gasps filled the air. The treasure-hunting team and the Lu family, who had been locked in a stalemate, stopped what they were doing and all looked up at the sky.
Two huge orbs of light appeared on either side of the dark cloud, one side being gold and the other white. The orbs of light slowly moved away from each other and withdrew from the dark cloud.
The luminous object, which was originally shrouded in dark clouds, revealed its distinct shape—two giant swords, one gold and one white!
The trivial skirmishes have ended, and now it's time to test our strength. The two Nascent Soul sword cultivators have gathered their life's power and are going to clash head-on with their natal swords to determine the winner.
Such a duel, regardless of who wins, will be a devastating blow to both sides. Unless the struggle has reached a point of life or death, a Nascent Soul cultivator would not risk making such a move.
Rong Xie's heart jumped, and in an instant, many thoughts flashed through his mind.
He thought of Shen Bingsi as someone who pursued power recklessly, someone obsessed with swordsmanship, someone who wanted to challenge every legendary swordsman, and someone who would show an eager expression whenever he encountered Lu Yingqi…
Rong Xie suddenly wavered for a moment. What if Shen Bingsi got carried away and decided to fight Lu Yingqi to the death? What if he thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and put everything else aside, forgetting about sending the message?
Rong Xie felt a chill run down his spine, and his palms began to sweat. A variety of terrible consequences were tearing at his mind...
"boom--"
The two giant swords collided in mid-air, and a huge shockwave spread out instantly, tearing the towering cloud mountain in half and turning it into pieces.
The heavens and earth shook simultaneously, and people on the ground could barely stand. Amid the chaos, screams and cries of shock filled the air.
Rong Xie felt as if he were a small boat floating on a broken wave. He was dizzy, and the scenery in front of him was blurry. The people around him were rising and falling, sometimes near and sometimes far. The only thing he could be aware of was that he was still holding the silver chain in his hand.
...
I don't know how much time passed, but the tremors finally stopped.
Rong Xie remained in a defensive posture, half-crouching beside the invisible barrier that held Madam Mei captive. He felt a stinging pain in his arm, as if something had scratched his skin, but thankfully, the silver chain was still firmly gripped in his hand.
He lowered his arms and looked to the side. Madam Mei was still tightly bound. Because he couldn't use his magic, he had no defense and was directly knocked unconscious by the impact of spiritual energy, collapsing into the invisible barrier.
Rong Xie breathed a slight sigh of relief, but soon his heart started racing again.
Has the duel ended...?
It should be over. The dark clouds that had been pressing down on his head had dispersed, and Rong Xie could feel the afterglow of the setting sun filtering through the broken clouds and falling over his head, his eyelids heavy with the golden-red light.
But he dared not look up, dared not check the outcome of the duel. What if Shen Bingsi lost? What if…
Just as Rong Xie was lost in thought, a pair of black boots came into his field of vision.
Rong Xie recognized the boots; there was a small mirror mark on the inside of the boots, indicating that they were the standard uniform of the Mirror Palace's adjudicators.
He suddenly looked up and saw an unfamiliar face.
The man looked to be in his forties, with a short mustache and a somewhat unkempt appearance, yet he possessed a carefree and open-minded air. When he looked at Rong Xie, a look of surprise appeared in his eyes.
"Young man, why are you squatting here? Where is Shen Bingsi?" the man asked.
"You...you're from the Mirror Palace..."
Rong Xie couldn't describe his feelings. Shen Bingsi's message had been successfully sent out, and the people from the Mirror Palace had arrived to meet her. Throughout the process, he hadn't let go and hadn't given Madam Mei a chance to escape. Now, Madam Mei, this heinous criminal, had finally been captured and brought to justice. Everything was going as smoothly as he had planned.
The only exception was that Shen Bingsi didn't return in the usual flurry.
"Yes, my surname is Jiang, and they all call me Brother Jiang." Brother Jiang smiled, and with a flick of his hand, the barrier set up by Lu Yingqi shattered. "You can call me that too. —Is this the person Shen Bingsi wants to capture?"
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Bingbing will be here soon [doge emoji]
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