Chapter 70 I'll Give You a Chance to Open It (Bonus Chapter at 20,000 words)
Yu Sui held her breath and submerged. The water pressure and current had little effect on her. As she approached, the clear river water in her eyes was ignited by the golden light of the mountains. When she swam into the golden light and entered the barrier, the river water dissipated, the air became dry, and she landed steadily.
After landing, Yu Sui looked up at the mountains and realized how enormous they were, like towering mountains. He could hear the faint, ethereal yet rhythmic sounds of the mountains moving, like the rustling of leaves in the wind.
Above, the water flows, and the light from the mountains makes it appear golden, creating concentric golden ripples.
Yu Sui raised her hand to wipe the water from her face, snapped her fingers, and tried to use the Eight Trigrams Life-Generating Technique. The Zhou Tian Fire burned beside her, but was quickly extinguished by her.
It can be used, and is not restricted by the river.
She surveyed the mountains before her as she walked deeper into the mountains.
Each of the underwater mountains was larger than the ones she had seen in the capital of Qingyang, and similar in size to the mountains she had seen at the Communication Academy in Taiyi. However, the horizontal bars on the rotating golden mountains were covered with more strange runes.
Such runes symbolize a kind of Nine Schools of Arts that is in operation.
Yu Sui used to find it strange that the mountain was covered with countless arts and techniques, and that he was able to decipher their meanings even when he was still a layman. Later, he realized that it was due to the Divine Eye of Heaven.
The smaller mountains are arranged in a circle around the three larger mountains, with the three larger mountains in the center being Tianyuan, Jiguang, and Changsheng.
Yu Sui arrived before the three central mountains, watching their densely packed horizontal bars and colorful ribbons constantly rotating. A glimmer of beauty appeared in her dark eyes. She took out the Wind-Listening Ruler, affixed it to the Tianyuan Mountains, retrieved countless coded messages, and then infiltrated the communication array before her. (Cantonese song)
The communication array was built through the collaboration of three schools of thought: Taoism, Yin-Yang philosophy, and esoteric arts.
The Yin-Yang School is responsible for the relationship between the sun, moon, and the five elements; the Taoist School is responsible for the operation of numbers such as the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches; and the Fangji School is responsible for the changes of stars.
When the three schools unite, they can unleash the most wondrous effects of the Nine Schools of Arts.
Yu Sui rolled her eyes and noticed the rotating runes on the horizontal bar. Last time, she was unable to enter Taiyi's Communication Academy and had no contact with Shushan, so she had to rely on ciphertext to infiltrate, which took a lot of time.
Now, standing before the mountain range, all the information flooded into her eyes. Yu Sui was already familiar with every aspect of the mountains, and at this moment, the Divine Eye of Insight ruthlessly broke through all defenses, materializing everything in Yu Sui's mind:
Deep within her consciousness, where she was all alone, the world was vast. Beneath her feet, countless runes swirled. All the mountains, rocks, and forests of the Dragon Slayer Cave appeared before her eyes. They were winding and twisting, both enormous and insignificant. Every flower and tree by the roadside, or the teleportation array buried in the cave entrance, the five elements flowing in the river, even the wind blowing and the rain dripping outside were all sensed and recorded in the mountains.
The communication array in front of us only records the changes in the five elements within the Dragon Slayer Cave.
The Wind Listening Rulers worn by the Thirteen Realms instructors responsible for patrolling and supervising were used to locate them. In the terrain of the Dragon Slaying Cave in Yu Sui's mind, he could see where the Thirteen Realms instructors were.
If a disciple is injured and unable to continue the challenge, and destroys the exquisite mechanism, that disciple will be located by the mountains and then teleported to the instructors of the thirteen realms, who will then take away the disciple who participated in the challenge.
Tianmu opened up a new world for Yu Sui.
The Five Elements Qi circulate within the Dragon Slayer Cave, forming its own world. It is also aided by various schools of martial arts and the construction of mechanisms, which is why it has taken on its current form.
Each corresponding node, teleportation array, armor formation, trial ground, etc., is marked with its own name by the Nine Schools of Famous Techniques.
Yu Sui can see both publicly available and unavailable information from the academy.
The mountain exists by absorbing and connecting the five elements. When the consciousness of Yu Sui, the Divine Eye, merged with the mountain, she also became a part of the mountain and a part of the Dragon Slayer Cave.
But Yu Sui wants more than that.
Yu Sui went back halfway through her research, worried that if she stayed too long, Yan Xiaochuan might come out looking for her.
Yan Xiaochuan, who was guarding the cave, kept glancing at the water and then at Su Tong, his face full of worry. He was calculating the time in his mind, and if Yu Sui did not return, he would have to find a way to look for her.
Ripples spread across the dark water, and a dark shadow rose to the surface, breaking through the water. The sound of splashing water attracted Yan Xiaochuan, who turned his head to look. He was on guard. Zhou Tianhuo illuminated this area, and even the water surface reflected the orange-gold light of the flames.
Yu Sui's face was covered in water streaks, her long hair clinging to her cheeks was wet, and the ends of her hair were scattered and bobbing in the water. The gold hairpin holding her hair in place shone brightly in the firelight, and her snow-white skin appeared even smoother because of the firelight. Warm light collided in the undulating water.
She winked at Yan Xiaochuan, and glistening water droplets fell from her long, dark eyelashes.
Yan Xiaochuan felt his heart pounding even faster and more nervously than when he was on guard because of the sound of splashing water.
She looks just like the beautiful mermaids described in books who live in the deep blue sea!
If the eyes were a clear, light blue, it would look even more like the real thing!
They're so beautiful and well-behaved, it makes you want to raise one.
Yu Sui floated in the water, gently raised her chin towards Yan Xiaochuan, and asked in a gentle voice, "How is Senior Sister Su?"
Yan Xiaochuan shook his head frantically to clear his mind. He remained squatting on the bank, looking at Yu Sui in the water, and said, "She's still not awake, but the bleeding has stopped. Apart from the lightning seal, there's nothing seriously wrong for now."
After answering, she asked with concern, "Princess, are you alright? Does the burning from the lightning mark hurt? Will it feel better in the water? What were you looking for? Did you find it? Do you need my help?"
Yan Xiaochuan continued asking a barrage of questions without stopping.
Yu Sui seemed puzzled by the question and tilted her head slightly to express her confusion.
Yan Xiaochuan covered his mouth.
hateful!
She's so cute!
“I need to stay in the water a little longer. There are a lot of things I need to find, but they are very useful.” Yu Sui raised her hand and gestured, looking like she was trying to explain but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “Senior Sister Su’s injuries are quite serious. We still need to go back to the teleportation point and then find a medical disciple we know to help remove the lightning seal.”
Yan Xiaochuan's mind cleared instantly: "Yes, it would be too slow if we didn't rely on the teleportation point. There's no way that a medical disciple could remove the lightning seal from the dragon's tail. But judging from Wen Yanghui's words, he seems to be guarding the teleportation point. Besides, we don't know where the river has taken us."
"I'll handle it." After saying that, Yu Sui waved to Yan Xiaochuan, "Stay here and watch over Senior Sister Su. Don't worry about me being in the water for too long. I'll be back as soon as I'm done."
Yan Xiaochuan waved to her, then watched Yu Sui disappear into the water. After a moment, he came to his senses, looked at his hand, and muttered, "Strange, what could the little princess possibly do?"
But she also seemed very reassuring.
Yan Xiaochuan racked his brains but couldn't figure it out, so he decided to ask Yu Sui again when she came back next time.
Yu Sui returned to the underwater communication array. The ciphertext continued to infect and invade several mountain ranges. The terrain of the Dragon Slayer Cave was too large, and there were too many and too complicated things. She still needed to spend time understanding it little by little.
Especially the teleportation array routes.
Yu Sui was certain that she was currently at the dragon's tail, while her target was the dragon's head, Yechi.
There are many teleportation arrays inside the Dragon Slayer Cave. Yu Sui doesn't know which ones are public and which ones aren't, but she's calculating which path is the shortest.
The names and coordinates of the teleportation arrays were analyzed by Tianmu, and they were densely packed together. Even in the dragon's tail, there were many teleportation arrays that were not publicly disclosed or discovered.
The entire map of the Dragon Slayer Cave materialized in Yu Sui's mind. It was too novel for her, and there was too much she wanted to remember. She spent an entire night just looking at the teleportation array. By the time the strange fire had dissipated, she knew it was already dawn outside.
Yu Sui retrieved the Listening Wind Ruler that he had placed on Tianyuan Mountain. The cipher text had completely infected and invaded this communication array.
"Tianyuan," one of the three core data mountains, is responsible for positioning.
Yu Sui slowly stretched out her hand, her eyes reflecting the rapidly spinning horizontal bar of Tianyuan, segment by segment, cutting around the mountains from top to bottom. Her slender fingers gently touched the horizontal bar, tracing the characters and incantations that appeared on it, changing some of the instructions.
Only when the challenging disciple's exquisite mechanism is triggered will the location be monitored by the mountains.
This indicates that the mountain can detect the existence of the Intricate Mechanism. Yu Sui adjusted the command so that it doesn't necessarily have to be triggered to be detected.
As she made the changes, Yu Sui opened the Listening Wind Ruler again, and the information obtained after connecting to the communication array was projected onto the map of the Dragon Slayer Cave in her mind, which appeared with dense red dots.
The black markers wandering along the edge of the map represent instructors from the Thirteen Realms.
Extending from the dragon's tail to its belly, the dense red dots represent the Taiyi disciples who are still alive in the Dragon Slaying Cave.
This is the third day of the Dragon Slayer Cave challenge. The person who has progressed the furthest has only reached the middle of the dragon's belly. Behind them is a large number of red dots, and the competition for the top spot is very fierce. Some red dots disappear after a while.
Compared to the almost motionless red dots on the dragon's tail, the battle on the dragon's belly was far more intense.
The exquisite mechanism alone is not enough to detect the disciple's identity; otherwise, Yu Sui could have found out where Shi Yuezhen was.
Once Yu Sui determined her location, she noticed a significant gap between herself and the leading disciple. If she wanted to close the gap, she would have to use the teleportation array to reach the very front, which was the closest teleportation point guarded by Wen Yanghui.
Shushan received the circulation and changes of all the five elements within the Dragon Slayer Cave. Although the Dragon Slayer Cave is a world of its own, the dragon is dead, that is a fact. The current vibrant scene is half due to the mechanical arts.
No matter what, this is at least half a man-made landscape.
Yu Sui lit the extinguished Wind Listening Ruler, a guess forming in his mind: any man-made landscape could be manipulated.
Shushan visualized the changes within the Dragon Slaying Cave as various character runes, and Tianmu visualized these character runes as real scenes in Yu Sui's mind. They already existed and were in operation. Yu Sui only needed to find the corresponding character runes and modify or move them.
As long as it is a human-made setting, its settings can be changed directly from the data mountain.
To confirm his guess, Yu Sui found the corresponding river rune, erased the characters that restricted the Eight Trigrams Life Technique, and then left the communication array and came to the outside of the barrier.
The icy river water enveloped her. It was daytime, but she was too deep in the water to see more than a glimpse of the white light shining through the rippling water above.
Yu Sui attempted to use the Kan trigram's life-generating technique to cross the water, but was not restricted by the five elements of the river water. He moved freely like a swimming fish.
After confirming that the five elements of the rocks and forests within the Dragon Slayer Cave could be altered, Yu Sui returned to the communication array barrier.
Yu Sui watched as new characters and runes continuously appeared on the horizontal bar, his eyes flashing slightly, and he began to modify them.
While changes could be made, they couldn't be too drastic, otherwise it would raise suspicion and alert the thirteen realm instructors patrolling the Dragon Slayer Cave. As for the Dragon Head, because some of the potentially triggered secret realms were extremely dangerous, and a Saint was present to oversee them, she had to be very careful.
Yan Xiaochuan had been waiting for Yu Sui for a long time.
If Yu Sui hadn't come back before, he would have jumped into the water to look for her long ago.
Su Tong woke up at this moment, and Yan Xiaochuan hurriedly asked her how she was feeling. Su Tong frowned; although it hurt, she could bear it. Fortunately, the five elements of her energy hadn't been disrupted by the golden lightning; only a lightning mark remained.
"What about Nangong Sui? How is she?" Su Tong vaguely remembered that she had also been hit by the golden lightning.
“She said she’s in better shape than you.” Yan Xiaochuan sighed, took out some usable water from his storage box and poured it for Su Tong to drink. “The little princess went to look for something in the water and hasn’t come back yet.”
"Go into the water?" Su Tong froze, holding the cup, her brows furrowing deeper. "Is it night or day now?"
"It's probably dawn now. She went into the water last night, but she came back earlier, which means she wasn't swept away by the river," Yan Xiaochuan reassured her. "She promised she'd be fine and refused my offer to go into the water to help her look for her. She insisted on going herself, so I had no choice but to stay here and wait for you, Senior Sister Su, to return, Princess."
Su Tong was afraid that Yu Sui might be eliminated due to an accident. It was only the third day. If she and Mei Liangyu's junior sister were eliminated on the third day of the Dragon's Tail, she would have no face to enter the Dragon Slaying Cave in the future.
"How long has she been gone? Has she not come back yet?" Su Tong took a sip of water to moisten her throat, and when she raised her head, it aggravated the wound on her shoulder, causing her to gasp in pain.
"Senior Sister Su, drink slowly, don't panic." Seeing Su Tong's face contorted in pain, Yan Xiaochuan became even more uneasy. He rummaged through the mechanism box, "I have a new bamboo tube here, you can drink through the bamboo tube."
He inserted the slender bamboo tube into Su Tong's water cup.
Su Tong finished drinking the water through the bamboo tube, and her dry, itchy throat finally felt a little better. She said, still holding the bamboo tube in her mouth, "I'll give you a new one when we get out."
Yan Xiaochuan waved his hand: "Why would I need to return such a small thing?"
Su Tong leaned against the stone wall and glanced at her bandaged shoulder. Yan Xiaochuan quickly said, "It was the little princess who helped bandage it."
"That Wen Yanghui guy," Su Tong frowned and cursed with a look of disgust, "We're not usually enemies, and we're both in the tail of the dragon, so none of us have the same fighting style as him and would compete with him. Yet he actually made the first move and tried to eliminate us!"
Su Tong was unaware of the hostility between Gu Gan and Mei Liangyu at this time. She only remembered that Wen Yanghui usually addressed Mei Liangyu politely as "brother," but Mei Liangyu didn't pay much attention to him. Apart from knowing that he was the young master of the Wen Yang family, she had never had any interaction with Wen Yanghui.
Yan Xiaochuan nodded and joined her in cursing, "He even said he wanted to seize the teleportation point! How dare he? Does he really think no one in Dragon Tail can punish him?!"
Su Tong asked, "Can you beat them?"
Yan Xiaochuan scratched his head tactically: "If it's a one-on-one fight, it's not that I don't have a chance. Although I'm not a top-level disciple, I'm still at the eighth level. But there are five of them, plus that Yin Yang family princess and the others."
“Wen Yanghui seems to be at the ninth level, a first-class disciple of Taoism, and his strength is not bad.” Su Tong pondered. “Putting aside his Taoist ninth-class techniques, what we should be most wary of in Wen Yanghui is his mechanical skills.”
Yan Xiaochuan sighed, "If we want to go back and take revenge, we'll have to divide them up to make things easier."
No sooner had they finished speaking than they heard the sound of water breaking ahead. The two of them looked at the water at the same time. The surface of the water, illuminated by the Zhou Tian fire, showed Yu Sui floating closer.
"Thank goodness, Princess, you're finally back." Yan Xiaochuan squatted on the shore and reached out his hand to Yu Sui. "Are you alright? How's the burn from the lightning seal?"
"I'm fine, where's Senior Sister Su?" Yu Sui floated to the shore and heard Su Tong, who was leaning against the wall, say, "I'm fine too, why did you come back from the water?"
When Yu Sui saw that Su Tong had woken up, she shook off the water after getting ashore, returned the sacred wood talisman to Su Tong, squatted down next to Su Tong, and said obediently, "Thank you for the sacred wood talisman, Senior Sister Su. I was not swept away by the river when I went into the water."
“Before coming to the Dragon Slayer Cave, my master and senior brother told me a lot of things to be careful about. They also said that in some places the river water carries the five elements, which will restrict some of the Nine Streams Techniques.” Yu Sui explained while wringing out the water from his clothes. “My master said that the Dragon Slayer Cave is a world of its own, with many places worth exploring. There are restrictions, but there are also ways to remove them. I saw a mechanism array underwater before, and I thought it might be related to the river water restricting the Nine Streams Techniques, so I went to find it and figured out how to unlock it. Now I can use the Eight Trigrams Life Technique and other Nine Streams Techniques in the water.”
"Really?" Yan Xiaochuan said, then reached into the water and felt that the five elements energy in the water had decreased significantly compared to before. He tried to use the Zhou Tian Fire, and a large string of flames emerged from the water.
"Ha!" Yan Xiaochuan turned around, looking at Yu Sui with eyes full of admiration. "Little Princess, you're too smart!"
"I just remembered what Master said, so I went to try my luck," Yu Sui said honestly. "After all, Senior Sister Su and you have taken care of me all this way. Last night, Senior Sister Su was injured while saving me, so I should do something in return."
Su Tong also praised her, saying, "Thanks to you for not overlooking the details in the water, we were able to break the limitations of the Bagua Life Technique. At least we were able to leave the water in a more dignified manner and find our way back to the teleportation point once we reached the shore."
Yu Sui said, "I tried using the Bagua Life Technique in the water before, so I went to check on the surface and found that we were not too far from the mountain pass from last night, just nearby."
The river had originally carried them quite far, but she changed the terrain so that once they emerged from the river, they would be at the teleportation point at the mountain pass.
After hearing this, Yan Xiaochuan put his hands together and looked at Su Tong: "That must be thanks to Senior Sister Su's divine wood divination stick, which turned bad luck into good and saved us from the fate of the flowing river."
Su Tong guessed that Wen Yanghui hadn't expected them to be so lucky, so he didn't go into the water to chase them, or maybe he did chase them but didn't catch them.
“Last night I gave the Divine Wood talisman to Sui Sui, and I also gave her the Zhu Zhan talisman. This is her good luck, much better than your jinx.” Su Tong said, then looked sternly at Yan Xiaochuan. “From now on, say something nice. If you don’t want to say something nice, just keep it to yourself. I feel like you really have the constitution of a living magician.”
What you say comes true.
Yan Xiaochuan said sullenly, "Senior Sister Su, being a jinx and being a living word master are two different concepts. Becoming a living word master is the ultimate goal of every disciple of a famous school."
Su Tong: "You admit you're a bit of a jinx, right?"
Yan Xiaochuan silently covered his mouth.
Hearing their discussion, Yu Sui decided to return to the teleportation point guarded by Wen Yanghui. Su Tong wasn't the type to just endure being beaten; since Wen Yanghui had taken the initiative, she wouldn't maintain a peaceful coexistence.
Moreover, Su Tong's abilities are suited to taking the initiative, so she needs to prepare in advance.
Yan Xiaochuan went to explore the water first, while Yu Sui stayed behind to watch over Su Tong and let her rest for a while.
Yu Sui asked Su Tong what to do about the lightning seal and whether she should ask Sister Yuezhen for help.
“Yuezhen should be at the forefront. We can’t catch up, and we can’t make her turn back.” Su Tong shook her head, her eyes reassuring Yu Sui. “Don’t worry, I can handle it. But you, this Thunder Seal is a real burden for someone at the First Realm…”
“I can handle it too,” Yu Sui said earnestly.
Although she has the Thunder Seal, she doesn't feel the pain of being struck by Golden Lightning.
Su Tong knew how painful the lightning seal burns, but seeing Yu Sui's perseverance, she couldn't help but admire how much this junior sister could endure.
Yan Xiaochuan and Su Tong's understanding of Yu Sui came only from snippets of information obtained from others. They had no real experience of participating in Yu Sui's life as a practitioner of magic for the first eighteen years of her life. They only remembered that she was a first-level cultivator and a disciple of the Ghost Dao Saint.
The two of them had a deep impression of Yu Sui's senior brother, Mei Liangyu, and had witnessed how powerful and extraordinary Mei Liangyu's abilities were. So they were not too surprised that Yu Sui could solve underwater mechanisms.
The Dragon Slayer Cave is fraught with danger, but also with opportunity; whether it brings fortune or misfortune is a matter of balancing the two.
Moreover, it's normal for Su Tong to have given the sacred wood to Yu Sui, resulting in "good fortune" and "favorable" outcomes for Yu Sui.
Yu Sui looked at Su Tong's two sacred wood talismans and said, "Senior Sister Su, will missing one sacred wood talisman have any effect on you?"
The third sacred wooden divination stick was broken by the golden lightning last night when Su Tong was resisting it, and it fell into the water and its whereabouts are unknown.
"It's alright. After we get out, we can go to Fang Ji's tall tree garden to find a branch of the sacred wood and make another one." Su Tong stretched her neck, her complexion slightly better than last night. "I change my sacred wood divination sticks frequently. Because I use them so often, the power stored in the divination sticks is also greatly depleted."
Yu Sui consciously guided Su Tong to talk more about divination by practitioners of magic arts: "Senior Sister Su, can practitioners of magic arts see specific scenes in their divinations?"
“No, precognition can only vaguely sense related things, but it is also related to the level and strength of the sorcerer,” Su Tong said. “Some people are highly talented and can sense some ‘predictable things’ by nature, just like before a crisis comes, there will be a certain feeling and sign.”
Yu Sui rested her chin on her hands, as if sighing, "That's too vague. We have to guess. What if we guess wrong? It would be great if we could see exactly what will happen in the future."
Su Tong was amused by her statement: "To see it directly, even a saint couldn't do that. Nowadays, divination can only go as far as guessing and prediction. It can't directly see what will happen in the future."
Yu Sui asked innocently, "Even the celestial secrets of the Fangji family won't work?"
“As far as I know, there is no such Heavenly Secret Technique.” Su Tong thought for a moment. “Divine Secret Technique is possible, but there are too few records, so it’s uncertain what kind of ability it is.”
"What is the Divine Mechanism Technique?" Yu Sui asked innocently.
Su Tong patiently explained to her what Divine Mechanism Technique is. It is an innate, extraordinary skill that cannot be cultivated or acquired. There are no different schools of thought. One can only judge which school a Divine Mechanism Technique is closer to based on its materialized skills.
“Arts like the Nine Schools of Arts and the Heavenly Secrets Arts can be obtained through personal cultivation, but they cannot be taken away by others. However, the Divine Strategies Arts can be taken away,” Su Tong said. “For example, the ability to foresee specific scenes, which you just mentioned, might be possible with the fifth-ranked Divine Strategies Blessing the Heart.”
She turned to the side, leaning against the stone wall with her uninjured shoulder, and recalled: "Once upon a time, there was a man from the Dan Kingdom who possessed divine wisdom but was unaware of it. He discovered that he could see other people's futures, so he made a living by doing so, charging money for divination."
Yu Sui covered her mouth in surprise and whispered, "Could it be that they've discovered it and the Divine Strategist Technique has been stolen?"
Su Tong laughed and said, "No, it's because this person's divination was so accurate that it became more and more legendary. At that time, the Dan Kingdom was in turmoil, and the feudal lords were fighting each other. He relied on his foresight and divination to join the future emperor, helping him clear obstacles, quell the internal strife, and ascend the throne."
Yu Sui blinked, about to express her surprise, but then saw Su Tong's eyes crinkle with cunning as she said, "The emperor trusted him immensely, but one day this man told the ministers that he foresaw that he was the future emperor of Dan Kingdom and that he was the only one who could lead Dan Kingdom to prosperity. So the ministers believed him and killed the emperor, making him the emperor."
This is truly a story full of twists and turns.
Yu Sui opened her eyes wide, her eyes filled with shock.
Su Tong found her dazed look both endearing and amusing, and laughed, "But that was hundreds of years ago. You might be able to hear it again from your instructors when you take the courses of the Fangji family. The historical records about Shenji Zhuxin are quite interesting. Moreover, this person really did become the emperor of Dan Kingdom for a long time, and finally died peacefully in his old age. His life can be described as smooth sailing."
"Once you master this power and make good use of it, it's possible for you to become a hunted exiled beggar or the ruler of a country."
This emperor of the Dan Kingdom from several hundred years ago had all the advantages of favorable timing, geographical location, and popular support.
Yu Sui nodded blankly, but kept the divine wisdom in mind.
Yan Xiaochuan returned after a while. He surfaced from the water, making a splashing sound, and chuckled at the two people on the shore, "Senior Sister Su, the little princess is right. It's not far from the teleportation point pass after you go out of the water. Wen Yanghui's mechanical painting from last night is still on the river, and the bridge is still there."
Su Tong asked, "Where is Wen Yanghui?"
Yan Xiaochuan got out of the water: "I guess he's in the cave. I didn't see him, but I did see Princess Shangyang, and her little followers were there too."
Su Tong thought for a moment and said, "I can use the trigrams to trap Shang Yang. Although she is a Yin-Yang master, as long as she doesn't use the star array but the trigram array, she should be able to hold her off for a while."
“If Wen Yanghui is guarding the mountain pass, then we still have to fight.” Yan Xiaochuan wiped the water off his face and fell into deep thought with Su Tong. “I can withstand his golden lightning, but I’m afraid he has other tricks up his sleeve, such as throwing out a few more projected images.”
Yu Sui slowly raised his hand and said, "Perhaps we don't necessarily have to defeat him; we just need to lure him to the riverbank."
"By the river?" Yan Xiaochuan and Su Tong, one standing and one sitting, looked at Yu Sui at the same time.
“Hmm!” Yu Sui gestured with his hand in a pretentious manner, “The mechanism I found in the water can adjust the five elements of energy covering the water. After strengthening the coverage, he will not be able to use any of the five elements of energy to materialize the nine streams of magic in the river, and the river will also become fierce and will take the initiative to attack.”
"There's such a trick to it, that's really impressive." Yan Xiaochuan stroked his chin. "It's just that leading people to the riverbank is a bit easier."
"How do you trigger the mechanisms in the water?" Su Tong asked.
Yu Sui said, "I will come up and tell you after I trigger it in the water."
"Alright! Let's give it our all!" Yan Xiaochuan said with great enthusiasm. "Let's first cooperate with Senior Sister Su to get into the Wenyang Pass Divination Formation."
Yu Sui reassured him, "If something goes wrong, don't panic. At worst, we can jump into the water and run away. He won't be able to catch us."
Su Tong supported herself against the stone wall and stood up, her body radiating protective Five Elements Qi. She looked towards the river and said, "Let's go."
The three entered the water and floated upstream with the river.
Yan Xiaochuan took the lead and went ashore from a distance. Because all three of them used the Five Elements Qi to protect their bodies, they did not get wet.
Hidden behind the trees, they observed their surroundings.
Su Tong needed some time to set up the formation, and she was also injured, which extended the time required for casting the divination spells.
She used the sacred wooden divination stick to draw a simple landscape map on the ground, outlining their location. Strange characters and incantations were scattered throughout the landscape map. Yan Xiaochuan and Yu Sui would glance at it from time to time, then they would look at each other, their eyes filled with a few words they couldn't understand.
Su Tong studied military divination, which allows him to alter the proportions of the five elements within the scope of divination, thus controlling the feng shui and terrain within that area.
"To counter Wen Yanghui's golden thunder, the power of the Kun and Gen trigrams is needed. How well do you two understand this aspect?" Su Tong asked.
Yan Xiaochuan said confidently, "Don't worry, Senior Sister Su. I know a lot of the life-generating techniques of the Kun and Gen hexagrams, and I also know the nine stream techniques beyond the sixty-four hexagrams."
Yu Sui was out of luck. Because the Breath of Earth was competing with her to absorb the Five Elements Qi, it happened to seal the power related to these two hexagrams, so she couldn't absorb either.
"Senior Sister Su, my skills are not yet proficient," Yu Sui said expectantly.
Su Tong said, "It's fine, it's the same if we leave it to Yan Xiaochuan."
Yan Xiaochuan encouraged Yu Sui: "Little Princess, you still have a long time to cultivate. You are so smart, and your future is promising. We will need you to activate the key mechanism array underwater later."
Yu Sui nodded.
Su Tong was very focused on the divination. Given enough time, Wen Yanghui would definitely be eliminated today.
The originally clear sky gradually turned gloomy, dark clouds covered the sun, and the sky instantly darkened. Beneath the dark clouds lay the area covered by her divination array of mountains and rivers.
Inside the Dragon Slayer Cave, sudden changes in the sky are common, but most of the time they symbolize some kind of ominous change.
Princess Shangyang was chatting idly with her friends on the mahogany arch bridge. Pointing at the river, she asked Nangong Sui where she would be swept away, wondering if she had been struck by lightning and had voluntarily withdrawn because she couldn't bear the pain of the lightning mark.
Jinzhi and the others didn't know what she wanted to hear, so they could only guess at all sorts of possible fates for Yu Sui.
Suddenly, Jinzhi exclaimed in surprise, pointing to the jungle on the opposite bank: "Princess, look!"
Princess Shangyang turned her head and caught sight of Yu Sui using her wind manipulation technique in the forest. She was shocked and exclaimed, "She's still here!"
Princess Shangyang chased after her without hesitation, and Jinzhi and the others followed, calling out to the princess.
After Yu Sui led Princess Shangyang away from the riverbank, Yan Xiaochuan crossed the river on the mahogany arch bridge. The mountain pass was directly opposite the riverbank. Thick green vines climbed all around the dark entrance, hanging densely above the mountain pass like a green curtain.
Wen Yanghui, who was studying the teleportation array inside the cave, heard Jinzhi and the others calling for the princess outside. He went outside and happened to meet Yan Xiaochuan, who was about to go inside. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Hey." Yan Xiaochuan greeted him with a smile, "We didn't decide a winner last night, let's continue now."
As soon as they finished speaking, golden five-element energy ignited around both of them, protecting them, and they attacked simultaneously.
Wen Yanghui was not one to waste words. He immediately unleashed the Taoist Heavenly Secret Technique, the Five Thunders of Heavenly Gang. Golden thunder shot straight into the sky, its deep rumble filled with awe.
Before he attacked, Yan Xiaochuan exhaled in a deep voice, "Heavenly Wind, Thunder, and Fire."
The use of three different powers in a single word demonstrates his extremely precise mastery of the five elements.
The same golden lightning bolts exploded, the two bolts clashed, the explosive sound brought a strong wind, and the other bolt of golden lightning also contained a few poisonous flames.
Yan Xiaochuan appeared behind Wen Yanghui in a flash, clenching his fist. Wen Yanghui reacted first, turning around to defend. The golden lightning bolts of the two appeared and disappeared with the speed of their battle, so fast that it was dazzling. While preventing the enemy's fist and foot attacks, they also had to guard against the golden lightning that followed.
Dark clouds appeared above their battle area. Wen Yanghui could clearly feel that the speed of his Wind Control Technique was being suppressed. He glanced at the dark clouds in the sky and the instability of his Golden Lightning Power, and then his expression darkened.
Su Tong's landscape painting with divination array.
I thought she had been eliminated, but I didn't expect her to still dare to endure the burning pain of thunder and fire and continue to consume the five elements to set up the divination array!
If they continue to stay in the divination array, she will drain all the five elements' energy.
Su Tong hid behind the bushes on the opposite bank of the river. The pink and white flowering trees in front of her seemed to be living in peace and tranquility, because they were flowers that came out of a projection painting and would not fade with time, but were forever frozen in a certain moment.
At this moment, she held the divine wooden divination stick and made a horizontal cut in the landscape painting on the ground, continuing to draw upon the five elements of Wen Yanghui's energy to suppress his power.
Wen Yanghui was surrounded by lightning, temporarily repelling Yan Xiaochuan. He then threw out several lightning talismans to counter Su Tong's divination array. The lightning talismans flickered, and the power overflowing from them connected and shot straight into the sky, illuminating the dark clouds for a moment.
Su Tong coughed, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. When she used the Five Elements Qi, the burning from the thunder and fire became even more intense.
She placed one hand on the lightning line that appeared in the landscape painting, continuing to maintain the divination array.
We've already fought this battle, we can't let it all go to waste.
As Yan Xiaochuan waved his hand, thin lines of fire surrounded the suspended lightning talismans. Wen Yanghui instantly appeared to stop him from destroying the lightning talismans. During the exchange, he sneered, "I underestimated you."
"Underestimating the enemy is indeed a big mistake." Taking advantage of the moment when Wen Yanghui's strength was reduced by the divination formation, Yan Xiaochuan exerted his strength and swept his lower body with one leg. Wen Yanghui retreated to create distance, but was caught up by Yan Xiaochuan again.
A fierce wind, carrying sparks and heat waves, ignited all the thunder talismans that Wen Yanghui had thrown out.
Giant boulders rose from the ground, forming a long stone passage to welcome Wen Yanghui's golden lightning, yet they remained standing.
Wen Yanghui, trapped in the giant stone passage, changed his expression slightly. The scroll in his sleeve slid out, but Yan Xiaochuan, with his sharp eyes, snatched it away, not giving him a chance to use the mechanical scroll.
Su Tong's side won't be able to hold out for long.
After Yu Sui shook off Princess Shangyang, she returned and, to prevent any accidents, altered the paths in the woods to ensure that even if Princess Shangyang broke the divination array, she would not be able to find her again. By the time she left the array, she would have already been sent to the farthest point of the dragon's tail.
At this moment, the river is flowing gently, its water clear and bright, reflecting even the dark clouds and flashing lightning in the sky.
Yu Sui lightly tapped the Listening Wind Ruler with his fingertip, connecting his consciousness with the underwater mountains. As the Nine Streams Technique was activated by the group, the mountains also materialized these powers into character incantations and recorded them within.
She found the incantation representing Wen Yanghui Jin Lei and extracted it.
Yan Xiaochuan and Wen Yanghui are vying for the mechanical scroll. As Su Tong's divination array weakens his power, Wen Yanghui's golden lightning gradually weakens, but the protective five elements energy has not yet been broken.
The mechanical scroll, which was flicked out from the sleeve, fell from the sky and spun continuously.
Wen Yanghui flicked his fingers, and another talisman flew out, knocking Yan Xiaochuan back. After retreating a few steps, Yan Xiaochuan burned the talisman and instantly appeared in front of Wen Yanghui.
Just then, Wen Yanghui caught the falling scroll and was about to unfold it when he caught a glimpse of golden light out of the corner of his eye. From behind, Yu Sui's fingertips flashed with black runes.
"Let's get it done."
Wen Yanghui's Five Elements Qi was briefly frozen for a moment, and Yu Sui instantly took the mechanical scroll from his hand. When Yan Xiaochuan saw Yu Sui appear and Wen Yanghui's Five Elements Qi protection was useless, he clenched his fist and punched him away with the power of wind and thunder.
The boulder passage restricted Wen Yanghui's escape route, and Yan Xiaochuan's punch sent him flying to the riverbank.
After Yu Sui finished his work, Wen Yanghui rekindled his protective Five Elements Qi. The punch to his abdomen earlier had left him feeling unwell.
Yan Xiaochuan and Yu Sui stood on high boulders, with thunder and lightning and fire lines swirling behind them.
Wen Yanghui looked up at the two of them, his porcelain-white skin reflecting the lightning. His dark eyes stared at Yu Sui, who had taken the mechanical scroll, before turning to Yan Xiaochuan: "The tactic of using numbers to bully the few is not bad."
Yan Xiaochuan ignored all of this and raised an eyebrow, saying, "What are you talking about? Didn't you also fight five against three last night? Besides, neither the young princess nor Senior Sister Su made a move last night."
“Su Tong is seriously injured, and her divination array won’t last long.” Just as Wen Yanghui finished speaking, a hole appeared in the dark clouds in the sky, and sunlight broke through the clouds.
Yan Xiaochuan's expression changed slightly.
Wen Yanghui smiled faintly, then slowly took out a black scroll from his sleeve and played with it in his hand, his gaze sweeping over Yu Sui with amusement: "Are you going to give it back to me now, or should I snatch it back?"
Yu Sui said, "I'll give you a chance to open it."
Wen Yanghui frowned, clearly not understanding where Yu Sui got her courage.
Yan Xiaochuan said in a low voice, "Little Princess, aren't we making grand pronouncements a bit too early?"
Yu Sui spoke softly, without a hint of malice, and her dark eyes held a hint of a smile: "Open it, I also want to see what happens."
It seems like it really was just curiosity.
Wen Yanghui thought to himself that even if Gu Gan cared a lot about Nangong Sui, he wouldn't be polite to her this time. At most, he would not hurt her and would make her die in one blow and be eliminated.
He held the scroll and floated it open. With a crisp sound as the scroll unfurled, Yu Sui put the incantation representing Wen Yanghui Golden Thunder back in.
Before the scroll was fully unfurled, a bolt of golden lightning appeared without warning above Wen Yanghui's head, accompanied by a low rumble of thunder as it struck his back, causing him to shudder. When he looked up, his eyes were filled with disbelief.
His eyes reflected the regretful look on Yu Sui's face as she looked at him.
The river roared and surged, crushing the mahogany arch bridge, shattering the projected image, and causing the crimson flowering trees on both banks to collapse, their branches trembling, and the resulting rain of petals swept back into the clear river.
The giant wave swept Wen Yanghui into the river, and the heavy impact of the fall almost shattered all the bones in his body.
He uncontrollably coughed up blood from his throat, and was shocked to be pulled down by the surging river. He could not feel any of the Five Elements Qi at all, and was powerless to resist. Before he lost consciousness, his exquisite mechanical heart also shattered.
Wen Yanghui exited the Dragon Slayer Cave and landed at the teleportation point outside the academy. There were many injured disciples who had just emerged from the open space, and they were cursing and swearing as they regained consciousness. Many instructors of the thirteenth realm were helping to treat them.
The time outside was the same as inside the Dragon Slayer Cave; there were no dark clouds obscuring the sun, but it was already sunset.
As soon as Wen Yanghui sat up, he felt a sharp pain in his back and the burning sensation of lightning. He frowned and was covered in sweat, but he couldn't figure out what had happened or whose golden lightning it was.
Another person has arrived?
Or is it Su Tong's divination array?
Or perhaps you'll be unlucky enough to encounter some low-level magic in the Dragon Slayer Cave?
Most importantly, he was actually eliminated from the Dragon Slayer Cave by Su Tong and the other two.
Thinking of this, Wen Yanghui's delicate face, still wet with water droplets, was now filled with gloom.
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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