Chapter 178 Misty Rain Pavilion (Part Six)
Jiang Gu's group set off from the east toward the ruins of the Fuquan Ancient Temple. Wu Yi, who was leading the group, walked at the front, followed by Wu Ren, Feng Yisanjiu, and Lei Jiusan, while Jiang Xiangyun, Lin Feibai, and several other cultivators from Pingze lagged behind. The two groups were clearly separated.
"Why do we have to split into four teams to go to the ancient temple? Going to the ancient temple ruins together obviously increases our chances of winning," Hu Jingchen asked, puzzled.
Lin Feibai said, "The entrance to the ancient temple ruins will be in four directions: east, south, west, and north. The danger level of each entrance is different, but usually there will be a relatively easy entrance. If we all enter from the same direction, it is very likely that everyone will be trapped inside."
"What about the people at the other entrances..." Hu Jingchen frowned, "I wonder if the eastern entrance we chose will be easy to get in."
"Heh, let's see if you can even make it to the entrance alive first." Lei Jiusan, who was walking in front, turned around upon hearing this and looked at Hu Jingchen with a mocking expression. "A piece of trash who hasn't even entered the Trial Realm."
"You—" Hu Jingchen was about to make a move in a fit of anger, but Lin Feibai grabbed him from the side, so he could only clench his fists and glare at him angrily.
"Either good-for-nothings or just pretty faces, what bad luck." Lei Jiu San scoffed at the sight, glancing deliberately in Jiang Gu's direction before turning and continuing on his way.
Lin Feibai shook his head at Hu Jingchen, signaling him to prioritize the overall situation. Hu Jingchen suppressed his anger and did not speak further.
Jiang Xiangyun, who was walking at the back, glanced at Lei Jiusan and then turned to look at Jiang Gu.
Jiang Gu didn't react to this. He released a little spiritual power to gather the restless black mist on his wrist. However, before he could completely gather it, the black mist rushed into the black jade bracelet, leaving only a ghost pattern quietly wrapped around his wrist.
"Seventh Brother—" Before Jiang Xiangyun could finish speaking, a deafening roar suddenly came from afar, startling a large flock of birds and spirit beasts in the forest, and even the ground began to shake slightly.
Almost simultaneously, everyone present released their divine senses to investigate, only to be blocked and repelled by an even more powerful divine sense. Hu Jingchen, whose cultivation level was the lowest, was even knocked back several feet and nearly vomited blood.
"It's a Grade A spirit beast, let's go!" Wu Yi was the first to react. He raised his hand and activated the teleportation array, jumping in first. The others followed suit and jumped into the array.
Jiang Gu was the last to enter the magic array. Before jumping in, he glanced back and saw a fiery red spirit beast rushing towards them. This spirit beast was nearly ten feet tall, with a rugged appearance. A pair of sharp fangs occupied most of its face, like a large ball of burning flame. As it saw them enter the magic array, it seemed to let out an angry hiss.
The spiritual energy near the ancient temple ruins was unstable, and the teleportation array was filled with chaotic spiritual energy. After entering, the group was almost scattered. Seeing this, Wu Ren summoned a spatial magic item and shouted, "Quickly, hide inside!"
As soon as the words were spoken, a huge beast's paw tore through the turbulent spiritual energy and grabbed at Feng Yisanjiu. Feng Yisanjiu couldn't dodge in time and was struck on the cheek. The sharp nails almost pierced half of his head. Hu Jingchen, who was closest to him, summoned his natal sword and slashed fiercely at the paw. The spirit beast loosened its grip in pain. Immediately afterward, Wu Yi, who was far away, nocked an arrow and shot it. The arrow pierced the spirit beast's paw, just grazing Feng Yisanjiu's scalp. Jiang Xiangyun appeared behind them, grabbing one of them with each hand and jumping into the spatial magic treasure opened by Wu Ren. The spirit beast was unwilling to give up and attacked again with another paw. Lei Jiusan and Lin Feibai jumped up to block it at the same time, and then turned around and fled back into the magic treasure.
Angry howls of beasts echoed from outside the spatial artifact.
Feng Yisanjiu collapsed to the ground, clutching his bloodied and mangled face. Hu Jingchen's face was deathly pale. "What on earth is this thing?"
"The spirit beasts appearing within the ancient temple ruins are divided into five levels: A, B, C, D, and E. Level A spirit beasts are the most dangerous. Under the influence of the residual divine power of the ancient temple, they have developed intelligence. They now consider the temple their private property and are extremely ferocious towards trespassers. Moreover, they absorb not only the spiritual energy of heaven and earth but also the residual divine power of the temple, making them exceptionally difficult to deal with. The Level A spirit beast we just encountered was at least at the Taiyi Realm. In this situation, running away is the wisest choice." Wu Yi put away his bow and arrows, his expression serious. "We're probably being targeted by it now."
Wu Ren said, "We must get rid of it as soon as possible, otherwise we will only face death."
"We can use a divine artifact to lure it away." Jiang Xiangyun was healing Feng Yisanjiu when he heard this. "Since it is sensitive to divine power, the divine artifact is more tempting to it than us."
Perhaps because he, Lin Feibai, and Hu Jingchen had helped them earlier, Wu Ren and Wu Yi's attitude towards them had softened considerably. Wu Yi said, "That's not a good idea. We only have this one artifact. If it were to devour us, it would be a huge loss. We haven't even entered the Ancient Temple yet."
Lei Jiu San looked at Jiang Xiang Yun with disdain, "That's easy for you to say. Without the divine artifact, we wouldn't survive more than half an hour in the ancient temple."
Jiang Xiangyun wasn't annoyed and said with a smile, "It's okay, you can use mine first."
With a flick of his wrist, half a piece of Netherworld Bone appeared in his palm, emanating a faint divine power and slowly absorbing the spiritual and turbid energy of heaven and earth. The people around him were stunned at the sight.
Jiang Xiangyun finished bandaging Feng Yisanjiu's wounds, patted him on the shoulder, and was about to release the Netherworld Bone from his spatial magic treasure.
"You should think this through," Wu Ren said disapprovingly. "Divine artifacts are hard to come by, and yours is very likely to be devoured by that spirit beast."
"No matter what, let's survive first." Jiang Xiangyun smiled, and the Yin Bone, sensing its master's will, transformed into a stream of light and flew out of the space.
Not only Wu Ren and Wu Yi, but even Lei Jiu San's gaze towards him changed slightly.
As the Nether Bone flew out, the howls of beasts outside the spatial magic treasure began to fade into the distance, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Wu Yi and the others couldn't help but show their regret. After all, it was a divine artifact. None of them were ranked very high in the pavilion, so they didn't have the chance to own their own divine artifact. Because of this, their attitude towards Jiang Xiangyun and the others improved a lot. Feng Yijiu San, who was saved by Hu Jingchen, even thanked him somewhat awkwardly, which eased the atmosphere considerably.
Apart from Jiang Gu, who had been observing coldly from the sidelines.
After chatting with everyone, Jiang Xiangyun walked over, raised an eyebrow and said, "Seventh Brother, you should cooperate a little. We're a team, so we should help each other out when needed."
Jiang Gu lifted his eyelids to look at him, and said succinctly, "Find it yourself."
"Ouch." Jiang Xiangyun made a face as if he had a toothache, clutching his heart and said, "Little brother, if you keep doing this, I'll really be heartbroken."
Jiang Gu was too lazy to talk to him this time.
Jiang Xiangyun was naturally not foolish enough to actually use his divine artifact. This was merely a means for him to win over people's hearts. Back in the first realm, the Netherworld Bone was split in two. Each half of the bone could sense the other's existence and location, and could even forcibly summon the other half. However, this connection was forcibly sealed by them using an array, and naturally there was a way to break it.
Jiang Xiangyun smiled and reached out to put his arm around his shoulder, but a cloud of black mist suddenly appeared, and a sharp pain shot through his entire arm, forcing him to withdraw his hand. He looked at Jiang Gu with a heartbroken expression, "Seventh Brother—"
"..." Jiang Gu raised his hand to gather the black mist, but the other party seemed to be frightened and scrambled back into the black jade bracelet, not even letting him touch its tail.
Jiang Gu curled his fingers, his expression growing even colder.
Jiang Xiangyun, with a look of schadenfreude, said, "You can't teach your apprentice anything without a good beating. Seventh Brother, if you keep spoiling him like this, he'll suffer a great loss sooner or later."
His response was a menacing cloud of black mist that tried to strangle him.
——
In the end, Jiang Xiangyun managed to retrieve his half of the Netherworld Bone, although the price he paid was quite high.
Aside from the first Grade A spirit beast they encountered, they came across several Grade B spirit beasts. After the group worked together to kill them, they devoured their primordial spirits. Jiang Gu, on the other hand, stayed on the edge of the group and didn't get much of their primordial spirits, which he threw into his black jade bracelet.
However, there was no movement in the space of the black jade bracelet. When the team was resting, Jiang Gu took the opportunity to send a wisp of his primordial spirit into it.
The spirit beast's damaged primordial spirit was carelessly tossed on the ground. Jiang Guxin's cave dwelling within the space was also intact, and the clear spiritual energy was not polluted by the turbid air at all. A wooden puppet's body was being nurtured by the spiritual energy, but the inside was empty, with no sign of the primordial spirit.
Finally, Jiang Gu found Wei Feng's primordial spirit in the open space behind the cave.
He was meditating and cultivating according to the method Jiang Gu had taught him. He must have sensed Jiang Gu's presence, because he slowly opened his eyes, then got up from the ground and respectfully bowed to Jiang Gu, saying, "Disciple greets Master."
The illusion on his primordial spirit was somehow removed, revealing a hideous, scarred primordial spirit. It was almost impossible to see the original appearance of that face. He lowered his eyes slightly, looking down at his nose and mind, as if he didn't care at all how he looked in Jiang Gu's eyes.
"The spirit beast's essence is highly nourishing and will benefit your injuries," Jiang Gu said.
"Thank you, Master." Wei Feng thanked him politely, but his voice was distant and indifferent.
Jiang Gu frowned. "You don't need to do that."
Wei Feng lowered his head even further and bowed, saying, "Since I have made a promise to you and sworn a solemn oath to the Heavenly Dao, I should keep my word. I will only regard you as my master in my heart. I will cultivate diligently and take good care of you."
He addressed Jiang Gu with the respectful "you" and pretended to be filial, which made Jiang Gu's face grow colder and more somber.
Without speaking, Wei Feng also fell silent, standing respectfully to the side. Jiang Gu glanced at him and said, "Eat that spirit beast's primordial spirit."
"Yes." Wei Feng turned around and walked towards the place where the spirit beast's primordial spirit was placed, even carefully taking a detour so as not to touch Jiang Gu's clothes.
He transformed into black mist and quickly devoured the primordial spirits. Some crumbs remained on the corners of his mouth, which he casually wiped away. His pale lips turned crimson, and he subconsciously licked them. As if remembering Jiang Gu's presence, he pursed his lips uncomfortably. "Master, I'm done eating. You can go about your business now."
Jiang Gu experienced for the first time what it felt like to be driven away by his own apprentice—and in such a respectful and impeccable way.
He glanced at Wei Feng indifferently, and seeing that he didn't say anything more, he turned and left.
You bastard.
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