Fighting
Following behind Wen Gaoyuan and the others, Ruan Qingyu was like an invisible person, silent and unnoticed. Except for a few other male cultivators who would occasionally turn around to glance at her and then deliberately burst into laughter.
The journey was relatively uneventful, with Ruan Qingyu constantly extending her divine sense to observe the surrounding environment. Along the way, many cultivators went out and returned.
It's clear that this road is indeed a place frequently visited by cultivators in the Lesser Saint Realm. Further afield, you can even see daring cultivators setting up stalls specifically for spiritual tea.
Sure enough, no matter where they are, cultivators, even if they don't feel hunger, will still need some place to pass the time or rest.
Turning her gaze away, Ruan Qingyu met the eyes of the male cultivator who had turned to look at her again, her face remaining expressionless. This immediately caused the male cultivator who had been secretly watching her to twitch at the corner of his eye and open his mouth.
"Stop pretending. Don't be scared to tears when the monsters come." The male cultivator finished speaking and grinned.
Immediately, the others who had been listening to the commotion also started laughing.
"Don't worry, junior sister. I cried quite a lot when I first saw Warcraft, hahaha."
Slowly lowering her eyes, Ruan Qingyu felt the token at her waist vibrate. Her divine sense quickly scanned the information within; it was from Lin Yu: the team can be changed at any time, costing 100 points.
Inside the Holy City, Lin Yu put down his token and muttered to Zhao Zhao, who was maintaining his spirit sword, "We forgot to ask Senior Sister Ruan about her team when we came in. I just heard her ask about how to switch teams. We'll invite her to join our team when she comes back!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhao paused in wiping the spiritual liquid with his hand, then looked up and said, "Are you stupid? You could have just said it directly when you sent the message."
Immediately, a mournful howl came from inside the Xuantian Sect's residence.
Ruan Qingyu, who had just put down the token, sensed its unusual movement once again. She raised an eyebrow, scanned it with her divine sense, and the corners of her mouth immediately curved into a smile.
With a flick of his fingertip, a message flew out from the token.
The surrounding environment gradually changed, with many ruins appearing and many tall ancient trees reduced to bare branches reaching towards the sky.
With Wen Tingting in his arms, Gao Wenyuan glanced at Ruan Qingyu, who remained calm, a sinister malice creeping onto his gloomy face.
“Now that a newcomer has arrived, it’s not appropriate for him to stay hidden behind his fellow disciples. After all, he’s here to gain experience.” As Gao Wenyuan spoke, he waved his hand, and the male cultivator beside him immediately nodded.
Seeing this, Ruan Qingyu looked at the group warily, but then another person suddenly threw out a pile of powder from the side.
Instantly, divine fire surged around Ruan Qingyu, blocking the powder. However, the powder did not seem to be poisonous; upon contact with the divine fire, it dispersed even more violently.
In the blink of an eye, there was a sudden thud of something heavy falling to the ground in the distance, followed by hurried footsteps.
"Don't worry, junior sister, this thing is just to lure magical beasts. We would never do anything to harm our fellow disciples." Gao Wenyuan's voice came from afar, and the group actually put hundreds of feet away from Ruan Qingyu.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ruan Qingyu saw the group gradually disperse and continue to sprinkle the same medicinal powder around her.
"Miss Ruan, that stuff should be some kind of powder used to lure magical beasts. But judging from the quantity, they don't want you to have an easy time." Wutong's zither music continued to surround them, and she quickly informed them after noticing the approaching magical beasts.
Ruan Qingyu had anticipated the current situation.
“Killing one magical beast is the same as killing a group of magical beasts,” Ruan Qingyu said coldly, summoning the Wutong Qin from her dantian.
Looking again at Gao Wenyuan and the others, they had vanished without a trace. Ruan Qingyu's killing intent intensified, but right now she had to deal with the group of demonic beasts first.
Two magical beasts were the first to rush out of the forest, their mountain-like bodies heading straight for Ruan Qingyu.
On the other side, several more monsters rushed out. Their heads resembled those of fierce tigers, their mouths were wide open, their fangs gleamed coldly, and the venom dripping onto the ground corroded the soil, creating a depression.
A moment later, the previously bright sky suddenly darkened. Suddenly, a group of winged demonic beasts appeared on the horizon, roaring as they charged towards Ruan Qingyu.
At the foot of the mountain, a hundred feet away, Gao Wenyuan withdrew his gaze and glared fiercely at the group who had been sprinkling the powder: "You all sprinkled it!"
From the beginning, he only thought of making Ruan Qingyu suffer a bit, and then he would step in to save the beauty. Was he afraid he wouldn't be able to win over this ice queen?
The male cultivators exchanged glances and shook their heads in a panic: "No, senior brother, we all took the powder we had prepared in advance. The powder seller must have given us the wrong thing!"
"Yes, yes, the seller of the medicine powder must have given us the wrong one!"
At this moment, the group felt a little regretful. If they had given just a little bit of that powder, they could have attracted one or two magical beasts, and the group could have dealt with them together.
However, it seems that the current situation cannot be resolved amicably.
Wen Tingting, curled up in Wen Gaoyuan's arms, smirked, then fearfully snuggled closer to him: "What do we do now, Senior Brother Gao? Let's go save Junior Sister. She's new here, I'm afraid we can't handle her."
Upon hearing this, Gao Wenyuan frowned deeply: "What's there to save? Let's just go back. We haven't left the city today!"
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
The four of them didn't even look in Ruan Qingyu's direction and quickly retreated in the other direction.
As the tacit understanding between the zither and Ruan Qingyu improved, the originally blue body of the zither gradually turned golden red, resembling a constantly burning flame from a distance.
With a press of the string, a clear, resonant sound rang out.
In an instant, a ring of red flames appeared around her, forming a barrier. The first monster to rush nearby slammed into the barrier, and immediately began to repeatedly ram it with its companions.
They knew nothing of obstacles, only of the pleasant smell within. They were determined to smash through the barrier at all costs, just to get inside and devour that human cultivator.
Temporarily shifting her gaze from the magical beast outside the barrier, Ruan Qingyu looked up at the fleshy-winged magical beast that was now very close.
With a light step, her dantian rippled violently as if a tornado had swept through it. The Fiery Phoenix Rises Through the Heavens technique slowly took shape, and a flame-shaped phoenix appeared behind Ruan Qingyu.
The fire phoenix raised its long neck and charged towards the demonic beast swooping down from the sky. The black demonic beast and the golden-red phoenix tore at each other relentlessly, both creatures undaunted by death.
Gradually, sparks and the blood and flesh remains of monsters began to fall from the sky.
With a flip, Ruan Qingyu sent the Wutong Qin into the air, her spiritual energy flowing like fingers as she struck the strings. The music sang softly, rushing towards the demonic beasts outside the barrier.
The crimson zither music, enveloped in divine fire, surged towards the demonic beasts outside. After numerous battles with the demonic beasts, she gradually discovered that, compared to pure martial arts techniques or zither music attacks, divine fire seemed to be more effective in suppressing these beasts.
Meanwhile, a team had just killed a group of magical beasts and was on their way back to Holy City. From afar, they could see the magical beasts entangled with a firebird in the sky.
They immediately stopped in their tracks, watching the battle unfold in the sky with cautious expressions.
"What's going on over there? How come so many magical beasts have gathered?" the leading female cultivator asked. Soon, one of them broke away from the group and went to investigate the area where the battle was raging.
A moment later, a male cultivator rushed back, somewhat alarmed, and said, "There are about dozens of demonic beasts surrounding that area. I couldn't see the exact number. The cultivators fighting are probably fire-attribute cultivators. The fire is spreading and surrounding that area. I'm worried that if we go any further, the demonic beasts will discover us."
Turning around, the female cultivator was about to speak. A woman in white beside her reached out and tugged at her sleeve: "Senior Sister Lu, there are too many demonic beasts over there. We just came out of a battle. If we go to help now, I'm afraid the junior sisters and brothers won't be able to handle it."
Upon hearing this, Lu Siyao was stunned and looked up at her fellow disciples who were waiting for her decision.
At the same time, a huge explosion suddenly came from the place where the flames were raging, and everyone turned around in fright.
A huge red cloud rose into the sky, and the air was filled with the stench of burning.
Ruan Qingyu coughed twice, and the magical beasts disappeared from the sky. Only a small ball of divine fire remained, slowly landing on her shoulder.
With a helpless smile, Ruan Qingyu's sharp gaze turned to the demonic beast on the other side, still trying to break through the barrier. She had already exhausted most of her spiritual power to finally defeat the demonic beast in the sky.
The token at her waist was trembling constantly. Without even looking, Ruan Qingyu knew roughly how many points she had received.
Wutong's gentle yet powerful voice rang out: "Miss Ruan, are you alright?"
Nodding, Ruan Qingyu's tone became slightly passionate: "Very good, continue!"
With a soft chuckle, Wutong seemed to radiate a fighting spirit, a faint blue light emanating from the small wooden puppet and landing on Ruan Qingyu and the Wutong zither in mid-air.
In an instant, the person and the zither seemed to gain even stronger support, and their already powerful attack became even more ferocious. Countless phoenix divine flames suddenly sprang forth from the barrier that had originally only served as a barrier.
The monsters, still crashing into each other, were enveloped, and their roars instantly drowned out all other sounds.
Looking at the monsters still eyeing them menacingly on the other side, Ruan Qingyu smiled, clasped her hands together, then suddenly released them, throwing two fire lotuses at the still-gathering monsters.
"Boom boom—boom boom—" Two deafening explosions shattered the ground, and the trees that were still bare instantly collapsed.
"Hoo—" Ruan Qingyu sighed deeply. There were no more living magical beasts in sight. Only the divine fire on the ground was still burning, turning the remaining magical beast corpses into ashes little by little.
Sensing the spatial fragments brought by the returning divine fire, Ruan Qingyu missed the anomaly in the space behind her. Suddenly, a spatial rift as tall as a person appeared, enveloping the weary Ruan Qingyu.
The chilling aura of the space appeared for only a moment, and the divine fire on the ground, now devoid of its original form, vanished in an instant.
After struggling for a long time, Lu Siyao still brought some of her disciples who still had the strength to rush over, only to find a pile of ashes.
Immediately, Lu Siyao frowned. Was she too late? And what was this ashes on the ground? This method of disposal looked very familiar.
"Senior sister, are we too late? Did that senior finish things off beforehand?" The cultivators breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they wouldn't have to fight a fierce battle.
Shaking her head, Lu Siyao felt inexplicably uneasy.
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