Chapter 30 Firefly, Save Me! A Trio of Extremely Protective Friends...
system?
In that critical moment, Chi Yang's brain was working at lightning speed.
If that person has a system, then all that's needed is to free up one of the interfered slots, and Little Firefly's predicament can be easily resolved.
She quickly left the crowd, giving Shi Liuying enough space to perform.
Above the white jade platform, one of the eighteen guardian elders had half his face obscured by a phantom, leaving only his eyes partially hidden by stray hairs.
After seeing Chi Yang's departing figure, the ball of spiritual energy gathered in his palm dissipated like smoke.
The closer Shi Liuying got to the burly man, the clearer the sound became.
[Warning! High-priority interference entity "Shi Liuying" has been detected actively approaching!]
[Urgent Mission Issued: Eliminate the Source of Interference!]
Remember this name, remember this name! This will be the sole objective of the long-term mission!
[Mission Description: This individual poses a serious threat; their abilities can cause the system's mission failure rate to spike abnormally. They must be completely eliminated before they grow stronger! The priority of the Nine-Turn Lotus Essence mission is temporarily downgraded; eliminating the source of interference is the top priority!]
[Additional explanation: You can trample on her, humiliate her; she is your possession, an object you can bully at will. You can inflict all your dark and lewd thoughts on her!]
Come on, don't hold back your killing intent, embrace the highlight of your life!
The moment the burly man heard the system notification, a terrifying red light flashed in his eyes, and his giant hand, which was originally reaching for the lotus flower in the air, abruptly changed direction.
The five claw-like fingers, carrying overwhelming murderous aura and resolute killing intent, shrieked as if tearing through space, and viciously grabbed at Shi Liuying's slender neck!
His speed exceeded his previous performance: "You're dead!"
Shi Liuying flew through the air like a sugar glider, her eyes bright.
She felt as if a pen had appeared out of thin air in her hand, or as if someone had handed her a weapon.
But would you use it to fight this burly man?
She practices swordsmanship, and this pen doesn't look very hard...
In just two seconds, Shi Liuying knew what the pen was for.
The system audio that he had just clearly heard transformed into three-dimensional words, arranged and combined in the air, right above the burly man's forehead.
Shi Liuying gripped her pen tightly and asked loudly, "What's your name?"
The burly man grinned lewdly: "I'm going to kill you, yet you speak to me so sweetly."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you die knowing why."
"Little sister, you won't be lonely even after you die. I'll take good care of you!"
With his thick eyebrows raised and his voice full of vigor, he declared, "I am Situ Tang, and I will not change my name or surname while sitting down!"
A glint of light appeared in Shi Liuying's eyes as she sincerely said, "Thank you very much, Situ Tang!"
Chong Cang's silvery-gray demonic power arrived first, attempting to intercept Situ Tang's fatal blow, but he saw Shi Liuying standing there, neither dodging nor avoiding.
Taking the initiative is her style; there must be a reason why she's being so passive.
Chong Cang slowed down his demonic power and formed a sturdy protective shield around Shi Liuying.
Upon hearing Shi Liuying's gratitude, Situ Tang curled his lips into a smile, believing himself to be so dashing that even the woman about to die at his hands had fallen for him.
He only saw the woman in front of him make two empty gestures with her hands, as if flirting with him, and then she stood in front of him without making a single move.
Then everything changed.
The system within his body that had given him a surge in power and allowed him to live a carefree life for so many days began to go into chaos.
[Warning! High-priority interference entity "Situ Tang" has been detected actively approaching!]
A hint of confusion crept into Situ Tang's sinister eyes.
Come on, don't hold back your killing intent, embrace the highlight of your life!
"Ugh!" Situ Tang let out a monstrous, childish cry, feeling the power within his body grow even stronger!
His strength progressed from Golden Core to Nascent Soul to Deity Transformation, each stage stronger than the last, with incredible endurance! After hitting his head, he'd hit his chest, and after his chest, he'd hit his Demon Orb!
You can beat them up again, you can beat them up anywhere!
Gasps of breath rose and fell from all around.
"That's a nine-level advancement! Nine levels!"
"A genius! This is an unparalleled genius! Doesn't the Pill Sect need someone like this?"
"What harm is there in giving him a mere lotus flower to attract talent?"
"This golden-core girl's life is about to end!"
"Who can argue with that?"
"No, something's not right."
After Situ Tang flattened his outstretched hook hand and, without hesitation, smacked himself on the forehead, the fervent atmosphere around him receded like a tidal wave.
Despite the vast competition venue and the massive crowd, not a single person uttered a word.
Although some people were astonished, they remained as quiet as chickens.
This act of self-destruction was more intimidating than the three seconds the homeroom teacher had spent peering through the classroom window.
Situ Tang not only destroyed himself, but also wept bitterly.
He stretched out his hand, as big as a palm leaf fan, one arm around her waist, the other around her neck: "Suckling, my little beauty~~~"
The expressions on everyone's faces were beyond words; they were horrified.
Only Situ Tang was crying.
Why would he do such a thing in public? The one being stared at by all the major sects and rogue cultivators in the cultivation world, and even his former enemies, felt no pleasure whatsoever; he only wished he hadn't slapped himself to death earlier.
What is he doing?
"You're so obsessed with women, you've gone crazy."
"This scene is so realistic that all his enemies would laugh out loud if they saw it."
"Take a picture with the photo stone, then post it online. Hot to book."
No one knew what had happened to Situ Tang except for Situ Tang himself.
He heard the system's voice clearly.
[Additional explanation: You can trample on her, humiliate her; she is your possession, someone you can bully at will. You can inflict all your dark and lewd thoughts on her!]
This supplementary explanation, taken alone, doesn't present any task issues, but the person responsible for the task has changed from "Shi Liuying" to "Situ Tang".
In that instant, Situ Tang, who had done so many bad things, was thankful that he wasn't a woman, otherwise he really didn't know what he would do to himself.
【%……&*&（@#……You can trample on her? System error! System error!】
Shi Liuying looked at the constantly flashing panel, cleverly and quickly reached out, crossed out "she" and changed it to "he".
That's right!
Situ Tang has resumed his attack mode, and now his Demon Orb is really going to suffer.
Some of the people present gasped and turned away in empathy.
Situ Tang remained conscious as he performed some irrational actions, and even as he collapsed into a pool of blood and lost his breath, he was unable to close his eyes.
The sickening sound of bones clashing against each other emanated from his body again, and he quickly withered away.
"So, advancing nine ranks in a row is an evil technique."
"Thank goodness he's dead."
"If you practice evil magic, you must be prepared to suffer the backlash."
"He brought it on himself, he deserves it."
Unnoticed by anyone, a wisp of black mist seeped out from Situ Tang's back, burrowed into the ground, and rapidly converged towards the area closer to the formation.
Amidst the jeers and sighs, Chi Yang rode a ferocious beast with long, red fur into the arena.
The crowd automatically parted to make way for Chi Yang.
Chi Yang jumped down, used her spiritual power to lift Shi Liuying up and put her on the head of the red-haired beast.
The ferocious beast lowered its head docilely.
Shi Liuying hesitated for a moment: "Is this a fat rabbit?"
Chi Yang blinked: "Yes, isn't that a bit surprising?"
Shi Liuying nodded: "It's much bigger than I imagined." She wanted to reach out and touch the rabbit's fur, but found that the soft fur became incredibly hard as it grew larger.
After realizing Shi Liuying's intention, the Blood Rabbit relaxed its muscles, and the fur on the top of its head became soft, like a long, soft tail.
Shi Liuying grabbed the furry creature and sat down, not worried at all about falling off.
"Is this what a beast tamer is?"
"It's so cool to have your own spirit beast."
"Isn't this just like a free ride?"
"The tall one looks like he's from the Heavenly Beast Sect, but the short one doesn't have a Beast Taming Bell on him?"
"Who knows who she is? Was she the one who caused that madman's unusual behavior just now?"
Chi Yang ignored everyone else and looked only at Shi Liuying: "It seems that even though I'm late, you can still clean up this trash."
Although he was only looking at Shi Liuying, he was speaking to everyone.
After scanning the crowd, Chi Yang addressed the Dan Sect's chief elder on the stage: "If she hadn't stopped it, your Dan Sect's treasure would have fallen into someone else's hands."
"Given her strength, asking for a Nine-Turn Lotus Pill wouldn't be unreasonable, would it?"
Before the presiding elder could speak, Elder Jiang, who was in charge of all matters related to the competition and had been threatened late at night, jogged into the arena and said, "It's not an overreaction, it's not an overreaction!"
He finally had a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow: "Phew..."
It almost scared an old man to death.
It seems that the Venerable One who launched the night raid must have known something beforehand, which explains his impolite behavior that night.
How rude! That was a divine reminder!
Who would have known how tired and exhausted he was, running around all day mediating conflicts between various parties?
After mediating your own issues, he continued mediating his own. Initially, everything was still under his control, but...!
Who would have thought that a heretical cultivator would suddenly appear and rise nine levels in a row?
Without saying a word, this evil cultivator went straight for the biggest attraction of the competition: the Nine-Turn Lotus of Nourishing Meridians.
The situation is now completely out of control.
If that evil cultivator hadn't suddenly gone mad, he wouldn't know what would have happened next, or how this competition would have ended.
If the Nine-Turn Lotus Pill can be successfully refined this time, at least three pills can be produced from that batch of pills.
Old Jiang stroked his beard, looking at Shi Liuying with kind eyes.
Although it's unclear whether this person is indeed the sister the Venerable One spoke of, given his discerning eye, it's highly likely to be true.
Even though she was standing there doing nothing, why did the evil cultivator lose control the moment he got close to her?
Moreover, it's an open secret that this female cultivator is on good terms with the Heavenly Beast Sect!
Behind her stood a demon cultivator with extremely high explosive power and unfathomable strength.
Although this Nine-Turn Lotus Pill might not be enough to make her a guest elder of the Pill Sect, it's always good to befriend someone like that.
“Young friend, since you have repelled that evil cultivator, you should also receive one of the Nine-Turn Lotus Pills that are about to be produced.”
Old Jiang was satisfied, and Shi Liuying's two "guardians" were also satisfied. Just as the matter was about to be finalized, a voice rang out from the crowd.
"Who said that evil cultivator was definitely killed by her?"
"Yeah, did anyone see her make a move?"
"She was just lucky to rush over and happened to stand next to that evil cultivator."
"Since no one saw her make a move, it doesn't count as her achievement! Don't you all agree?"
Among those present were many independent cultivators, who lacked cultivation resources and for whom the opportunity to obtain the precious pill was extremely rare.
Driven by self-interest, everyone who has the potential to share in the profits is selfish.
"How could a mere Golden Core cultivator like her possibly defeat a heretical cultivator in the Integration stage? Don't be delusional."
"She's getting all worked up over calling her fat. I could kill ten of those naive girls who're protected by a sect with one punch!"
Just as the scene became chaotic and out of control, a fragrant aroma, carried by the wind, spread to every corner of the arena.
"Buzz—"
A clear, melodious sound, neither gold nor jade, emanated from inside the alchemy furnace.
"Could it be..."
The dim, ancient patterns on the alchemy furnace lit up, and a faint light appeared on the edge of the furnace lid. Then, the light burst forth.
Above the sky, rays of light shone in countless directions.
The elixir is complete!
The alchemy furnace at the very center of the light was lifted up by an invisible force. The furnace lid opened, and a pill the size of a longan slowly rose up, with nine pill patterns swirling on its body.
"A Heavenly-Rank Pill that is close to a Divine Pill!"
"Fortunately, that female cultivator didn't get a pill for nothing."
"Only the strong are worthy of possessing such a treasure!"
"Only such elixirs are worthy of my attention."
Almost everyone looked at the completed pills with covetous eyes, but no one was willing to be the first to step forward.
Everyone understands the saying "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down," meaning that the first person to stand up also has the most rivals.
Just then, a clear, crisp sound rang out.
Shi Liuying once again transformed into a leaping sugar glider, hovering in the air and standing right in the center of the arena.
She stood tall and proud, radiating confidence, her eyes exceptionally bright. She didn't say much, simply and decisively uttering two words—
"Let's fight!"
"Little firefly!"
Chi Yang looked at her with some surprise: "The first one to appear gets hit the hardest. Are you sure you want to come out now?"
Shi Liuying pursed her lips, her cheeks puffing out a little more, and said seriously, "Yes!"
“What they said just now was very unpleasant. My grandfather told me that the cultivation world is a place where you have to fight with your fists, so now I’m going to put my fists out.”
In that instant, Chi Yang felt that Shi Liuying was glowing.
I raised my fist because I didn't like it.
So straightforward and direct, without considering the feelings of others or needing any further explanation.
As Chi Yang gazed into Shi Liuying's eyes, a surge of boundless pride suddenly welled up within him.
She knew that Shi Liuying only had the cultivation of a Golden Core cultivator, and that there were many experts present, so she would definitely encounter someone she couldn't defeat.
If this were her own situation, she might hesitate repeatedly, worrying about this and that, but this is Xiao Liuying.
This isn't youthful arrogance; it's youthful spirit. Even if it is arrogance, so what? She wasn't confident and timid in front of the system, but in this cultivation world, as the chief of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, she had the strength to protect Xiao Liuying.
Chi Yang leaned against the Blood Rabbit, raised her chin, and said very reassuringly, "Go, Little Firefly, I'll stay here and watch over you."
Chong Cang glanced at Chi Yang with his dead fish eyes: "You're not saying I won't be here watching."
Shi Liuying felt a surge of warmth in her chest, a warmth reminiscent of the sweet soup her mother rewarded her with when she chopped three days' worth of firewood in one go on a bitterly cold winter day before she began cultivating immortality.
The girl's clear voice echoed above the Myriad Realms Platform. It carried the resolute determination of a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, and an unquestionable firmness.
After a brief silence, various sounds erupted from the crowd—some sneered, some were surprised, and some were even admiring of the courage.
"How dare you utter such arrogant words, a mere Golden Core cultivator?"
"Commendable courage, but unfortunately... not quite right in the head."
"Let her see the cruelty of the cultivation world!"
The first to leap onto the stage was a sword cultivator in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. He stood with his arms crossed, his tone somewhat dismissive: "Little girl, it's not too late to admit defeat now, lest you say I'm bullying you."
Shi Liuying didn't speak, but silently drew the sword given to her by her senior sister Rong Yan.
When she first met her senior sister, she secretly vowed to become a cultivator as powerful as her senior sister.
Now she is on the path to becoming more powerful, with the sword forged by her senior sister as her witness.
Shi Liuying's eyes held a sharpness and edge she hadn't shown during the freshman trials. She gripped her sword hilt tightly, a great battle about to erupt.
That mid-stage Golden Core cultivator didn't take Shi Liuying seriously at all.
He even made a gesture to his brothers behind him, pinching his thumb and forefinger together and raising the other three fingers: "Take down the little Golden Core early stage!"
When he faced off against Shi Liuying, he realized that he had been too happy for too long.
This female cultivator's swordsmanship was unexpectedly cunning and unpredictable, quite unlike her seemingly easy-going and kind-hearted appearance.
Knowing she lacked strength, she compensated with agility and skill, her movements like a swallow on a turbulent sea, always managing to avoid a fatal blow at crucial moments and find opportunities to counterattack.
After thirty moves, Shi Liuying found an opening and precisely struck her opponent's wrist with the tip of her sword, knocking his knife away.
A swordsman without a sword in battle is like a helpless person squatting in a toilet without toilet paper.
"I have lost." The proud swordsman lowered his head and said embarrassedly, "I can feel your sword intent, which is pure and tenacious, with a kind of fierce determination that refuses to admit defeat."
He picked up the knife from the ground and gave Shi Liuying a deep look: "Given time, you will surely achieve great things."
After saying this, he didn't wait for Shi Liuying's reply, but instead clasped his hands in a fist salute and stepped off the stage.
"A resounding victory in the first battle!" Chi Yang stood up excitedly, nudged Chong Cang with his elbow, and the bell jingled. He was even happier than if he had won himself.
Chong Cang, unusually, refrained from making any sarcastic remarks, and a faint smile appeared in the eyes of the silver-gray fox.
Now, no one present dared to underestimate this girl who was in the early stage of the Golden Core realm.
Those who can fight against opponents of higher ranks are all formidable characters.
Following that, challengers came up one after another: there were talisman cultivators skilled in magic, body cultivators with overwhelming strength, and sword cultivators like her.
Shi Liuying seemed tireless. Her spiritual power gradually became richer amidst rapid consumption and recovery. Her tiger's mouth was also cracked, and blood stained the sword hilt, staining her light blue dress with dark red spots.
But her eyes grew brighter and brighter, like burning stars.
She was repelled time and time again, but she stubbornly rose again and again. Her swordplay gradually became more refined from its initial sharpness, and even under pressure, she showed faint signs of a breakthrough.
High above, among the suspended guardian elders, the man whose face was half-covered by a phantom, leaving only a pair of deep eyes, kept his gaze fixed on Shi Liuying.
Beneath his stray hairs, a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of admiration and pride flashed in his eyes.
She was growing up much faster than he had expected.
With a slight twitch of his fingertips, an extremely subtle wisp of spiritual energy, imperceptible to anyone, silently merged into the surrounding world, calming the excessively violent energy aftershocks without interfering with the battle in the slightest.
The tag-team battle continued. Shi Liuying, relying on astonishing perseverance and increasingly refined swordsmanship, defeated six opponents in a row! Among them was even an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!
The entire audience was deeply moved. The previous mocking voices had vanished, replaced by profound shock.
"This woman... is extraordinary!"
"A Golden Core cultivator fighting a Nascent Soul cultivator, remaining undefeated for seven consecutive matches! What incredible perseverance!"
"Her sword spirit is terrifyingly pure!"
However, just as Shi Liuying was leaning on her sword, panting heavily and almost exhausted, a terrifying pressure descended like a towering mountain!
A sinister voice rang out: "You ant-like creature, how dare you lay your hands on the divine elixir? This ends here!"
A powerful cultivator at the Integration Stage disregarded all dignity and attacked directly!
He didn't go on stage; instead, he pointed a finger from afar, and a beam of extremely refined black light, containing the laws of destruction, shot towards Shi Liuying's brow like a venomous snake. This was clearly an attempt to kill her on the spot!
Shi Liuying's pupils contracted sharply as the shadow of death loomed over her once more, and she was powerless to escape it!
At the critical moment—
"Buzz!"
The venomous black light, less than three inches from Shi Liuying's brow, vanished silently as if it had struck an invisible, absolutely solid barrier, without even causing a ripple.
High in the sky, the mysterious elder's robes fluttered, his imposing aura rose, and a cold glint, unnoticed by anyone, flashed in his deep eyes.
The powerful cultivator at the Integration Stage stared in shock at the sky, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
At the same time, two figures, one in silver and one in red, appeared in front of Shi Liuying as if they had teleported, firmly protecting her behind them.
Chong Cang's silver-gray fox eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, his demonic power surging, and his voice was icy cold: "Normal sparring is a matter of life and death, left to fate. As a powerful cultivator at the Integration stage, it's not right for you to resort to such a sneak attack to kill a junior."
Chi Yang's usual harmless smile vanished completely, the bell on her wrist jingled sharply, and she looked sharply at the person who had made the move: "You think the younger one can get revenge just because you lost? You probably weren't sitting at the children's table during the banquet."
This scene was too much for many of the surrounding cultivators to bear.
"That's really going too far! It was just a friendly spar, why resort to such deadly tactics?"
"This young friend has already proven his strength by fighting against Nascent Soul cultivators with only Golden Core cultivation. Why should such a genius be eliminated?"
"A dignified cultivator at the Integration Stage behaving like this, aren't they afraid of being ridiculed by the world!"
"That's too much, really too much."
The surrounding area was filled with mocking voices. The Nascent Soul stage expert's face turned ashen, but he hesitated to make another move because the aura emanating from the three people was in no way weaker than his.
Damn it, who is this woman? Why does she have so many powerful figures protecting her?!
The situation reached a brief stalemate.
However, just when everyone thought the crisis was temporarily over, another unexpected event occurred!
The surrounding air suddenly became damp, a wave of water forcefully parted the crowd, and a reproachful yet icy voice rang out: "Sister, you promised to only stay with me, and you've abandoned me again..."
The sticky and eerie sound froze Chi Yang in place.
Why does the interference ability still fail even when Xiao Ying is alone with only her and Chong Cang?
She could feel a jet of water, cold and creeping up her calves, binding her ankles.
The water god has arrived...
The most terrifying thing was not that the water god had come, but that not only had the water god come, but the demon god was still by her side.
Her cold hand was now being held by a large, strong hand, so strong that it made her hand bones ache.
Chi Yang swallowed hard and forced a glance at Xuan Yuan, only to see that his deep purple eyes were even tinged with red, unfathomably deep.
The usually tyrannical Demon Lord actually managed a strange smile: "My Demon Queen, aren't you going to explain who he is?"
The systems inside my body are screaming wildly.
[Warning! Warning! The highest level of alert (red line) has been raised!]
[An extremely high concentration of undiluted, all-natural, additive-free "battlefield" energy has been detected gathering around you!]
Chi Yang mechanically turned her neck, looking helplessly at Shi Liuying: "Save me, save me, save me, save me!"
-----------------------
Author's Note: The Chi Yang System malfunction wasn't because of Senior Brother; he'd been maintaining a safe distance the whole time. [droopy-eared rabbit head]
Random red envelopes will also drop in this chapter [pat on the head]
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