Chapter 306 (Five chapters, 10,000 words) Qingwei and Yuqiongshan
Zhu Cang felt more like a sleek snake than a vine, and her leaves felt more like a sponge when stepped on. The star-speckled leaves didn't look large, but Luo Xuanyi curiously plucked one and discovered its secret—a single leaf was as thick as a brick.
It seemed that due to the unique habits of the Zhucang, every night they would grow wildly in all directions, blending into the night sky. If Luo Xuanyi had not witnessed the spread of the Zhucang with her own eyes, in the already pitch-black night, she would have mistaken the dark purple earth for an abyss and stopped in her tracks.
Luo Xuanyi continued to pick up the stems and leaves of Zhu Cang as she walked, storing them in her storage bag. Zhu Cang could be used to refine sixth and seventh grade elixirs, and the supply was practically inexhaustible at the moment, so she certainly couldn't miss out.
Seeing Luo Xuanyi happily picking up the jujube, Shougou and Longyue also tried to bite off some stems and leaves with their mouths, but they ended up spitting out the bitterness and still followed Luo Xuanyi obediently.
They continued to pick up things all the way to Dongye Mountain, where a bright moon was already high in the sky. The night sky on Dongye Mountain was as dark as ink. Luo Xuanyi peeled away the thick vines on the ground, revealing a large, intact black boulder beneath Zhu Cang.
The entire Dongye Mountain is a huge rock, with endless Zhucang growing on it, covering the surface of the rock.
Luo Xuanyi listened intently. Aside from the faint sound of wind blowing through the vines, the mountain was almost completely silent. She released her deathly aura to explore, then, determined not to give up, she scoured the entire mountain on foot, confirming that no living creature was hiding within.
"Looks like we'll have to wait."
Luo Xuanyi didn't expect to be so lucky as to encounter Feng Que right after arriving at Dongye Mountain. She circled Dongye Mountain, pulling out dozens of Living Soul Gold Papers, sending them in and out, and giving orders to the Living Souls.
"If any spirit beasts, demon beasts, or living creatures approach Dongye Mountain, immediately report what you see back to me."
After being taken in by Ronggui, the living souls could not resist Luo Xuanyi's orders and obeyed respectfully. After setting up this invisible sentry formed by souls, Luo Xuanyi followed the direction of the dead energy's exploration and found a valley formed by vines, where she sat cross-legged.
This place was surrounded by Zhu Cang on three sides, so it wasn't a very good viewpoint. However, it was difficult for anyone to immediately detect Luo Xuanyi's presence. Furthermore, with the Living Spirit tipping off, Luo Xuanyi didn't need to constantly monitor external events, and could use this opportunity to clean up the inventory.
The two living souls of the formation cultivators who were harvested in the previous robbery have not been searched yet. If they are not searched now, they will be forgotten.
While fighting against the Huzhe, Luo Xuanyi discovered that, beyond simply executing the formation, simply mastering the star's trajectory had many uses. Disrupting the Taixu Star to conceal one's form during escape, and so on, could be accomplished simply by waving the formation flag at the star's trajectory, a feat quite convenient in actual combat.
However, she is not yet at the age to learn the twenty-four-star formation flag, and can only master eight stars relying solely on the inheritance of the upper observer.
If you want to continue to expand more stars, you either have to spend time observing them yourself, or use the array plate to gain insights, or just like Luo Xuanyi, directly intercept and search the souls of other array cultivators.
Luo Xuanyi was reluctant to use the formation yet, at least she had to get to a safe area.
Pulling out the two pieces of gold paper for formation repair, Luo Xuanyi began to perform the soul-searching technique.
As Luo Xuanyi began to fiddle with her things, Shougou and Longyue exchanged a glance. The two beasts, restless, decided to patrol the mountain on their own.
Longyue disliked the Huzhe on its back as a hindrance, a potential snag on the vines. It stole a glance at Luo Xuanyi and, with a nimble kick of its four thick legs, swatted the chains away. The skinny dog, undeterred, grabbed the Huzhe with its jaws and tossed him to the ground. The two beasts, like thieves, quickly leaped into the vines and fled.
The sleeper on the ground rolled around and finally caught the gold chain that Luo Xuanyi was wearing in his hand. He then lay on the ground covered in dust, hugged the necklace happily, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
“Hmph…Ah…”
Amidst the strange voice of the caller, Luo Xuanyi was concentrating on sensing the memories of the two formation cultivators.
The two formation cultivators were a Jindan-stage medical cultivator and a Jindan-stage security cultivator, both of whom had just reached the formation path of twenty-four formation flags. The cultivation scenes and even the insights gained from refining formations that had been invisible to Luo Xuanyi before she embarked on the formation path were now fully visible to her.
The medical monk has twenty-six formation flags, and the knowledge covers thirty stars, which is almost unrelated to the eight stars mastered by Luo Xuanyi, and is just right to supplement.
Even if I can't create a medical array to save people, at least I can see that the other party is saving people and then make trouble.
When Luo Xuanyi was reading the memory of the medical array cultivator's comprehension of the medical array, she suddenly discovered that in addition to the medical array of the Eight Formation Flags and the Twenty-Four Formation Flags, the medical cultivator had also learned a universal array.
Luo Xuanyi's understanding of formations was gradually supplemented. From this medical formation cultivator, she finally distinguished the concepts of Taoist formations and basic formations.
Generally speaking, after a formation cultivator chooses a Dao Mark to cultivate, they will obtain the corresponding formation method in the relevant Dao Mark. This formation method is the Dao Formation, and only formation cultivators who have cultivated this Dao can perform it.
No matter how many formation flags there are, only one Taoist formation can be built at a time.
The number of Dao formations depends on whether there have been any innovations during the inheritance of the Dao. Luo Xuanyi, for example, only has four Dao formations, which can only be comprehended at the Eight Formation Flags, Twenty-four Formation Flags, Forty-eight Formation Flags, and One Hundred and Eight Formation Flags, respectively.
In addition to the Taoist formation, all formation practitioners can use formation flags to construct the basic formation, also called the universal formation.
Basic formations generally utilize only eight formation flags corresponding to eight stars, and they require no Daoist cost. As long as the star positions don't overlap and there are enough formation flags, basic formations can generally be stacked and constructed. Most formations offer guaranteed hits. Therefore, even if a formation practitioner has only just established their foundation elixir, they are generally considered capable of defeating cultivators of a higher realm.
Luo Xuanyi had once considered what would happen if two formation cultivators simultaneously sought to utilize the same star. This medical formation cultivator's accumulated knowledge provided Luo Xuanyi with the best answer: unless all 6,570 formation cultivators simultaneously utilized all 6,570 star orbits on a star, that star would still be usable by formation cultivators.
Formation cultivators' control over the stars was superior to that of other Taoist practitioners. Just as Luo Xuanyi had used a formation flag to replace the Grand Void Star to break the Caller's immobilization technique, as long as a formation cultivator replaced a star with a fake one, the Taoist magic performed using the star would inevitably become ineffective.
The topic has gone too far. Anyway, Luo Xuanyi just felt that she only had the Inter-World Soul-Falling Formation, which was too few to be able to adapt to changing circumstances. Unexpectedly, the medical formation cultivator had a basic formation in his mind that she could learn.
With the help of the brain memory and experience gained from the medical formation, Luo Xuanyi quickly learned this basic formation, which was many times more efficient than comprehending the Soul-Falling Formation in the Interworld.
The medical array cultivator helped Luo Xuanyi to complete the steps of observing at least 6,570 trajectories of eight stars.
As she gained comprehension, the aura of the Dao of the formation resurfaced. Among the tens of millions of gray droplets of liquid floating within Luo Xuanyi's body, one slowly lit up and began to carve simple yet mysterious patterns.
Luo Xuanyi's foundation was too strong. Almost at the same time as the soul search ended, she raised her hand slightly, and the eight-star basic formation simulated by the death energy appeared in her hand.
This basic formation is a basic defensive formation, called the Golden Wing Formation.
According to the medical array cultivator's memory, the Golden Feather Array was created by an ancient array cultivator who was inspired by the nearly invulnerable feather armor of the Golden Feather, a half-blood descendant of the mythical beast Golden-winged Roc.
The range protected by the Golden Wing Formation is roughly enough for two people to sit cross-legged. As long as the spiritual power of the person who sets up the formation is not exhausted for a moment, the defense of the formation will remain unbreakable and as solid as a rock.
Luo Xuanyi really wanted to try out how impregnable the so-called impregnable fortress was, since she had plenty of time anyway.
She stood up, pulled out a Living Soul and casually threw it on the ground, allowing it to transform into a human form.
"If you suffer any harm or sense any disturbance, please explain it to me in detail through speech."
After instructing the living soul, Luo Xuanyi took out eight formation flags and threw them, and the flags immediately disappeared into the clouds.
The defensive formation Golden Wing Formation involves eight paths, namely the main space Taoism, the real Taoism, the water Taoism, etc. Among them, the real Taoism of the main real Taoism takes the star as the main star, which means confusing the real and changing the concept.
The flags in the sky replaced the trajectory of the stars, and Luo Xuanyi on the ground marked the scope of the formation by walking. Once the living soul was brought into the scope, golden light like a feather flashed simultaneously between heaven and earth, and the Golden Feather Formation was completed.
Luo Xuanyi looked at the living soul in front of her shrouded in golden light and began the experiment.
She first struck casually with only death energy, then injected half of it into the same spot and continued striking, finally concentrating on a single powerful strike. But no matter how hard she struck, the Golden Wing Formation remained unshaken, and the Living Soul showed no reaction.
Luo Xuanyi's current charged attack is powerful enough to penetrate several mountains and rivers, while the Golden Feather Formation remains motionless. This alone is worthy of praise.
Luo Xuanyi then tried burning with the flames of the Bewitching Servant and blowing in the poisonous gas of all things, but none of them harmed the living souls in the formation.
Until she drew out the magic killing method, found a place that had not been hit before, and chopped it down. The Golden Wing Formation shook violently, scaring the living souls inside.
"There's wind blowing from the formation!"
The fake stars in the sky flickered wildly. In front of the formation, Luo Xuanyi felt that the death energy in her body was being drawn out in large quantities by the formation to fill the gaps created by the killing path.
To prevent the gap from being completely filled, Luo Xuanyi raised the hilt of the sword and slashed at the same location twenty times in a row! The Golden Wing Formation didn't even have time to drain Luo Xuanyi's death energy, and was directly chopped to pieces along with the living soul!
The eight formation flags dimmed and fell from the clouds, floating into Luo Xuanyi's body. She played with the half-broken Demonic Blade Killing Dao, already satisfied with the strength of the eight-star basic formation.
The Killing Dao itself was exceptionally powerful, yet even it required twenty-one strikes to completely destroy the Golden Wing Formation. This proved that the Golden Wing Formation's strength was not an exaggeration, but rather a slight exaggeration.
If she were trapped in a desperate situation, Luo Xuanyi could use her flesh-body alchemy furnace to continuously produce soul-restoring pills while using the Golden Wing Formation to buy time. Although she probably wouldn't need it normally, it wouldn't hurt to learn it.
The medical array cultivator and another guard array cultivator whose soul has not been searched yet are both from the law enforcement guards. Maybe the other person can also bring some surprises to Luo Xuanyi.
With such anticipation and curiosity, Luo Xuanyi turned his sword around, put away the magic sword and continued to search the soul of the second alert array cultivator.
Luo Xuanyi was more curious about the Guard Formation Cultivation than the Medical Formation Cultivation. In his memory, he had just completed the twenty-four formation flags before setting out to carry out the transport mission.
But Luo Xuanyi read through his memory and found that he actually knew the orbits of forty-two stars, which was more than the medical array cultivator with twenty-six array flags.
In addition to practicing two Taoist formations, the warning formation cultivator also learned two basic formations, namely the quest-type Baixiao formation, and the human formation transformation formation - sound formation.
The Baixiao Formation, categorized as a quest formation, can interpret information attached to items, but can only be used once per formation. The sound formation is a variation of the human formation, used on the cultivator themselves, and can convert all sounds containing information into the cultivator's own language. Both are quite practical.
Moreover, if she mastered the sound array, Luo Xuanyi could at least understand Long Yue's words and thus obtain more information. As for whether the barking of the skinny dog with the inscription could be translated, Luo Xuanyi was skeptical.
Regardless, she tinkered with it with great enthusiasm, not noticing that three days and nights had passed, and even ignoring the occasional sand and pebbles that fell on her.
-
Shougou thinks Longyue is a little too cute.
For the past three days, Luo Xuanyi had done almost nothing but study the formation, not to mention paying attention to them. The two beasts had basically considered themselves patrol kings, patrolling several times a day to kill time.
As a demon beast, Longyue was initially a bit afraid of Shougou. But by the third day, Luo Xuanyi hadn't given Longyue a meal yet. Shougou, who didn't need to eat himself, had forgotten that Longyue needed to eat, and kept urging Longyue to go up the mountain for her fourth patrol.
Long Yue was finally so hungry that he started to bark at the skinny dog, then suddenly jumped into the pile of Zhu Cang and wanted to hide, ready to risk his life to secretly attack the skinny dog and have a big fight.
But the skinny dog couldn't understand Longyue's barking at all. Its communication with Longyue was one-sided, and no matter what Longyue said, it would misinterpret it according to its own ideas.
It took a lot of effort to finally realize that Longyue was hungry and wanted to quit, and promised Longyue that it would take it down the mountain to catch monsters to eat. Longyue hesitantly agreed and tried to jump out of the pile of jucang, but found that the roots of the jucang had dug into her legs.
Long Yue was so frightened that she kicked her leg, breaking the entire rock into pieces and jumping out. The mountain began to shake, but the dense swarm of Zhu Cang surrounded it, so the mountain did not collapse completely, and only some fine sand and rocks rolled down.
Below, it seems that is where Bo Huixiao is staying.
The skinny dog shuddered all over and immediately ran as far as he could with Longyue, and stopped only at the east side of the mountain.
If it really was Bo Huixiao, there would be no need to run. There was no time to run.
It sighed and looked back, trying to recall her name. But it couldn't. It would still call her Bo Huixiao. They were pretty much the same, anyway.
And to it and its caller, only the sky is important.
Retracting his gaze, the skinny dog decided to teach this five-eyed toad, whom he had already regarded as his younger brother, a lesson, to let it know that following its big brother was more important than eating. Unexpectedly, he saw Long Yue staring blankly downwards.
What is this idiot looking at?
Out of curiosity, the skinny dog followed Longyue's gaze and looked down. It discovered that they were now standing on a platform similar to the edge of a valley. There was a large valley about twenty or thirty feet below. Although the valley was still covered with dark purple chrysanthemums, it was slightly different from other places.
A light blue figure, occasionally with white, kept flashing on the platform.
It seemed to be picking out a leaf of jujube, and finally found one it liked, and stopped to reveal itself. A small fluffy ball, what else could it be but a wind sparrow?
Skinny Dog made a quick decision and asked Longyue to stay behind to watch over Fengque, and then he rushed towards Bo Huixiao. Before he turned into the valley, he saw Bo Huixiao running towards him.
Before it could stop hastily and start writing words with its feet, Bo Huixiao immediately said, "Wind Bird?"
"Woof!"
Without time to speak, the man and the beast scurried onto the platform, where the windbird was still nibbling at the leaves of the jujube tree at the bottom of the valley. The skinny dog breathed a sigh of relief, glancing at Bo Huixiao, who was concentrating on watching the windbird's thoughts, his eyes curved slightly.
-
Luo Xuanyi noticed that there was something wrong in the skinny dog's eyes, but her mind was now focused on the wind sparrow pecking at food on the ground.
Just as the windbird darted into Dongye Mountain, Huohun caught a glimpse of a blue-white light streaking across the sky. Although he thought it might be an illusion, he still transmitted the image back to Luo Xuanyi's mind, as she had ordered.
Luo Xuanyi was experimenting with the sound array when she received the news. She immediately thought it was most likely the Wind Bird and was about to run towards the direction of the living soul. Unexpectedly, she ran into the skinny dog who came to report the news.
Now looking at the group of blue and white birds jumping around right below, Luo Xuanyi was thinking about how to get them to help locate Yuqiong Mountain without scaring them away.
At least make sure it can't escape.
Luo Xuanyi waved at the skinny dog and whispered in its ear, "How did you and the caller track my whereabouts before? Can you track the whereabouts of this wind bird?"
There's so much weeds here that there's no soil to write on. The skinny dog shook his head, raised his front paw, and pointed toward the valley. He meant that without the caller, it couldn't be done.
In this case, Luo Xuanyi pondered for a moment and whispered, "Then go around to the opposite platform and hide yourself so that the wind bird won't notice you. If you sense that the wind bird is about to escape, immediately release your spiritual power to cover the valley entrance."
The skinny dog nodded in agreement and ran away silently along the flat ground. Following Luo Xuanyi's instructions, he hid in the Zhucang bushes and kept a close eye on the wind bird's every move.
Seeing the skinny dog arrive, Luo Xuanyi hugged Longyue again and whispered to it, "Go down and see the wind bird first. But don't jump in all at once. Stick your head out from the edge first. Once it has noticed and confirmed it's you, then slowly climb down along the vines."
Longyue was about to nod when she heard her stomach rumble. Luo Xuanyi blinked, not reacting, and Longyue shyly crawled away.
As Luo Xuanyi instructed, it climbed to the edge of the platform and stuck half of its head out, trying to get the windbird to lift its head from the food. But the windbird was still concentrating on pecking at Zhu Cang.
Seeing the windbird eating so happily, Longyue felt a little angry and used her two front legs to hold the main body of Zhucang's vine and shook it hard.
The swaying vines shook the entire valley, and the windbird had no choice but to be vigilant. It left Zhu Cang behind and fluttered its wings slightly. Just as Luo Xuanyi was about to get worried, the windbird stopped its flight and tilted its head in confusion.
Fengque recognized Longyue as one of its hybrid offspring, the Five-Eyed Toad. Even if they weren't descendants, Longyue, a demonic beast, was no match for a mid-level spirit beast like Fengque. Therefore, Fengque hesitated, then picked up Zhucang and began pecking at him again.
Seeing that the windbird showed no signs of flying away, Longyue faithfully followed Luo Xuanyi's steps and began to slowly climb down the Zhucang vine. Its plump body made the entire vine tremble as it climbed down. The windbird glared at it sideways as it hopped onto another vine farther away.
Seeing that Longyue was struggling to climb, Fengque couldn't help but make a sound: "Chirp?"
Luo Xuanyi heard the sound array she had placed on herself for the experiment, and it was working. Feng Que said, "What are you going to do? Are you looking for me?"
Since Luo Xuanyi didn't say that she could communicate with Fengque, Longyue continued to climb down, panting, and finally landed at the bottom of the valley, and began to stare at Fengque.
Seeing that Feng Que was becoming more and more confused and no longer as vigilant as before, Luo Xuanyi took a deep breath, put on a familiar and gentle smile, walked to the edge of the platform and looked down, with surprise in her eyes.
"Longyue, why are you here?"
She leaped down from the platform and slid down the vines to the valley floor. With a gentle, yet slightly reproachful expression, she tapped Longyue's head gently and fed it another bottle of Linghuan Powder. Longyue, starving, immediately drank obediently, creating a harmonious scene.
Perhaps infected by this wonderful atmosphere, Fengque did not run away immediately when he saw Luo Xuanyi as he would have done when he saw a cultivator, but looked at this side curiously, and kept pecking at Zhu Cang with his mouth.
"Did you make the five-eyed toad your beast servant?" Fengque asked suddenly.
The Five-Eyed Toad is the descendant of the Wind Bird. Although the Wind Bird's tone was merely curious, Luo Xuanyi also replied cautiously: "No, we are more like friends. I didn't sign a contract with it."
This is the truth. Feng Que didn't show any attitude after hearing this, but just ate the whole piece of Zhu Cang into his mouth, and then started to pick up the Zhu Cang at his feet.
Looking at Feng Que, who seemed to have no resistance, Luo Xuanyi's eyes revealed a sincere smile. She placed a hand on her chest and said softly, "I forgot to introduce myself to you. My name is Bo Huixiao, and my friend is Longyue. What about you?"
"I am the Windbird. If you must distinguish us, just call me Bluetail." Bluetail jumped happily and turned around, shaking the three beautiful tail feathers behind him. Sure enough, the color was a darker blue than the light blue on his body.
"But, Bo Huixiao, why did you use such a strange name?"
Luo Xuanyi remained calm and said, "This is the name my parents gave me. It's a bit strange, but I have no choice but to call it that."
Qingwei's little head spun left and right, his two black eyes rolling around as he looked at Luo Xuanyi. Suddenly, he started to laugh happily, skipped closer to Luo Xuanyi, and asked again, "What are you doing in Dongye Mountain? Are you here to pick jujube? It's a great season now!"
As soon as these words fell, Long Yue recalled the bitter taste in Zhu Cang's mouth and couldn't help but shudder.
Luo Xuanyi's eyebrows fell slightly, and she pursed her lips, saying somewhat disappointedly, "Actually, my destination isn't Dongye Mountain. I just want to find a mountain called Yuqiong. My friend and I have an appointment to meet there. However, I can't find Yuqiong Mountain."
“So, I’m trying to find a way to get there.”
"Ah, I see." Qingwei took over the conversation proudly, his hair all over his body shaking. "You want me to use astrology to help you find that, Yuqiong? Yuqiong Mountain!"
It seemed that Qingwei had no objection to this request. Seeing Qingwei take the initiative to talk about using astrology, Luo Xuanyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and a look of anticipation appeared on her face.
"Aobi, can you help us?"
"Hmm——" Qingwei jumped a few steps closer, suddenly flapped its wings, and flew onto Luo Xuanyi's shoulder.
"Let me smell you, you smell so good. Do you have anything delicious with you?"
Luo Xuanyi let the ball of blue and white fur slide down her shoulders and into her sleeves. "Do you like the smell?"
"Yes!" Qingwei rolled out of his sleeves in disappointment after failing to find the source of the fragrance, and landed on the ground, stomping his paws unwillingly.
"In that case." Luo Xuanyi found a pill recipe in her mind, mobilized the pill furnace in her body, and soon a scarlet pill came out and fell into Luo Xuanyi's hand.
Squatting down and handing the vermilion pill to Qingwei, Luo Xuanyi smiled and said, "Then I'll give this to you. This pill is called Vanity Pill. Smell it."
Qingwei didn't hold onto his guard and jumped directly onto Luo Xuanyi's palm, lowering his head to sniff. After sniffing twice, he immediately and happily grabbed the Vanity Pill in his paw.
"That's the taste! How did you know I like this taste?"
Luo Xuanyi smiled silently. This Vanity Pill was actually a sixth-grade elixir, developed by the Zang Yao Sect to weaken inner demons. Its additional benefit was allowing people to smell the scent they most desired. But there was no need to tell Qingwei about this.
“Because I really want to get together with my friends.”
Playing with the Vanity Pill lovingly, Qingwei finally nodded.
"All right!"
"Well, besides the name Yuqiongshan, is there anything that can give me some visual impression? I want to use it to perform astrology."
"Yes." Luo Xuanyi immediately took out the map she had kept close to her. Qingwei spread it out on the ground, then jumped on it while looking down.
"What an old map." It muttered, spinning the Vanity Pill under its feet non-stop.
“…Is it not possible?”
Sensing the disappointment in Luo Xuanyi's voice, Qingwei immediately flew over and assured her, "It's possible! It just takes a little time—watch me perform the spell!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qingwei suddenly spread his wings. A breeze from nowhere ruffled his feathers, mixing blue and white together, and suddenly a spot of light floated from the light tips of his feathers.
A hand reached out from the light.
It was a very soft hand, with slender fingers and light blue sharp claws on the fingertips that Luo Xuanyi had never seen before, but it was not scary at all.
Qingwei gathered into a puff of blue and white clouds and emerged from the light, transforming into a young girl in a blue and white dress. She smiled sweetly at Luo Xuanyi, her face still revealing Qingwei's agility.
She took a green feather from the hem of her skirt, clasped it in her palm, closed her eyes, and devoutly murmured a prayer towards the sky. However, her voice was too low for Luo Xuanyi to hear clearly.
Luo Xuanyi stood aside, waiting quietly.
As Qingwei finished chanting her prayer, her entire body suddenly darkened. Her once fair skin and beautiful, pale feathers gradually faded into the thick night. Her body resembled a deep, starry sky, with countless stars illuminating, flickering, and dimming.
Spreading her hands, the feathers in her hands transformed into a blue butterfly. Starlight continued to fall from the butterfly's wings. It circled around the map on the ground, then slowly flapped its wings and melted into the night sky within Qingwei's body.
The starlight falling from its wings exploded upon contact with the stars in the night sky, and the stars disappeared one by one. As the butterfly continued to flutter, the entire beautiful and dazzling starry sky gradually dimmed.
But amidst this destruction, one star remained, just one.
With only this single star left, butterflies swirled around it, then quietly melted away. The melted white, pale blue, and cyan slowly overflowed, coating the surface of Aobi. The night sky vanished from Aobi's body, and she returned to her beautiful form.
Qingwei opened his eyes and looked towards Luo Xuanyi, saying happily, "We found it! Yuqiong Mountain is south of the core area, 1,300 miles due south of here!"
She ran over lightly and stood beside Luo Xuanyi, raising her hand and pointing towards the south in the sky: "Do you see that star? That is Yuqiong Mountain, as indicated by astrology. The stars will guide you until you reach there."
Luo Xuanyi blinked, then quietly moved a little further away. Qingwei was a small bird, after all, and was used to being approached. Luo Xuanyi had no problem with her bird-like, furry form approaching, but she wasn't used to her human form getting too close.
"Thank you, Qingwei. I'll be on my way now." Luo Xuanyi reached out and held Qingwei's hand, shifting it so their arms were no longer touching. She looked down at Qingwei's eyes with gratitude, "If it weren't for you, I'd probably be lost in these mountains for a long time, breaking my promise to my friend."
Suddenly having his hand held, Qingwei did not struggle, but tilted his head and asked curiously: "Do you value your promise to your friends?"
Luo Xuanyi hummed softly, loosened her hand, took a step back, and smiled with her hands behind her back: "For me, friends are very important and rare. Of course I have to cherish them."
Suddenly his hand was released. Qingwei lowered his head and scratched his empty palm, then suddenly raised his head and looked at Luo Xuanyi seriously.
"Then, can I be your friend?"
Luo Xuanyi paused.
If she wanted to tell someone something to deceive them for her own benefit, Luo Xuanyi would say it without hesitation, even saying she loved them. But facing Qingwei, who had already helped her and whom she might never see again, she couldn't say "yes" without batting an eyelid.
But she wouldn't explain to Qingwei.
Therefore, Luo Xuanyi simply said with a gentle apology: "Perhaps, it is possible."
But Qingwei didn't seem to notice Luo Xuanyi's tactful attitude. She stepped forward, grabbed Luo Xuanyi's hand, and smiled cutely.
"Then let me be your friend first!"
"Whenever you feel ready, you will be my friend!"
Qingwei puffed out his chest proudly, seeming quite pleased with himself for coming up with this logic. Luo Xuanyi, always finding it difficult to cope with such passionate and straightforward people, could only smile wryly.
"By the way, since we are friends now, let my clan take you to Yuqiong Mountain!"
Unable to tolerate Luo Xuanyi's refusal, Qingwei raised his hand high and uttered a roar. The clear sound, accompanied by a powerful spiritual force, resonated across the entire Dongye Mountain, instantly extending into the distance.
“Woo—”
Just as Luo Xuanyi looked up to see where the sound came from, the entire sky suddenly began to solidify.
It was as if the sky had been placed in an olive-shaped white glazed jar, with clouds drifting within. At first glance, one couldn't see the beginning or the end.
The strange cloud whale responded to Qingwei with a humming sound and slowly lowered its head into the valley. Luo Xuanyi finally saw its mouth.
The giant mouth opened slightly, enough to swallow the entire Dongye Mountain. As it lowered its head, the sky began to surge inside its body. Then, a little cloud was about to overflow with the blue color, but it was sucked back into its mouth.
With a gentle suck, the entire Dongye Mountain's Zhucang was almost uprooted, almost all of it falling into the mouth of the strange cloud whale. Qingwei angrily put his hands on his hips and said, "You big idiot! Don't eat my Zhucang!"
"Hmm-hmm-hmm-" The strange cloud whale cried a few times in grievance, and the breath it exhaled almost blew away the clouds on the ground.
Qingwei snorted and let it go. He turned to Luo Xuanyi, a smile on his face as he introduced, "Let's go to Yuqiong Mountain in its belly. It may be slow, but it's big. It can easily cover a thousand to five hundred miles in a day."
Looking at the huge but well-behaved cloud whale in front of Qingwei, Luo Xuanyi was a little unable to connect it with the image of "slaughtering the clan in anger" as described by Yu Du.
But objectively speaking, the Vision Cloud Whale does have the potential to massacre entire clans. As long as it lands on a place, the destructive power will definitely be at the level of a natural disaster.
Luo Xuanyi thanked Qingwei for his kindness, but she said helplessly, "I'm afraid that's not possible. Longyue, the other two, and I don't believe in the celestial beast, Quanqian. Even if we use the spirit beast to travel, we will be drawn into Quanqian's aerial domain."
Hearing this, Qingwei suddenly laughed and waved his hands: "Haha! Who says you have to believe in Inu Akane! Humph, those cowardly fence-sitters."
Qingwei opened his arms and lightly spun around on the ground, showing Luo Xuanyi: "Look, neither I nor the Vision Cloud Whale have changed our faith, but we can both walk freely on the earth and in the sky."
"You don't need to believe in anything. Just let it swallow you. The blessing it carries will allow you to travel freely."
"Faith." Luo Xuanyi asked curiously, "Then what is your faith?"
Talking about faith, Qingwei's face darkened slightly, but she looked at Luo Xuanyi firmly: "What I believe in is the greatest celestial beast in the world."
"King Lai-sama."
Looking in the mirror, Luo Xuanyi had never thought of this answer.
The celestial beast Jinglai that was killed by Yu Lu ten thousand years ago? Yu Lu obtained Jinglai's power and passed it on to the Yu family bloodline. Jinglai's corpse was also made into a Dao branch for use.
"Come to think of it, I just smelled Master Jinglai's scent on you. I missed it so much."
Qingwei carefully picked up the Vanity Pill and rubbed it gently against his face.
"I thought I had forgotten the smell of Master Jinglai, but as soon as I smelled it, I was sure that this was Master Jinglai."
She turned and looked at Luo Xuanyi with curiosity and anticipation: "Have you ever met Lord Jinglai?"
I've seen its corpse. Luo Xuanyi swallowed the words and shook her head.
"Really? Perhaps it's just a coincidence." Qingwei lowered her eyes in disappointment, but the depressed expression never stayed on her face for too long. "Even if we haven't met, it's okay! Perhaps Master Jinglai led you here to meet me."
Luo Xuanyi suddenly had a complex mix of thoughts in her mind. However, these thoughts were very disorganized and dissipated at the urging of Qingwei's voice.
"Alright, alright, hurry up and jump into the mouth of the Vision Cloud Whale. This guy is very impatient."
Putting her thoughts aside, Luo Xuanyi thanked Qingwei once again and stepped into the mouth of the strange cloud whale with Longyue. Unlike the vast ocean or the humid heat she'd imagined, standing inside the strange cloud whale felt like being in the real sky. A refreshing breeze blew, clouds drifted beneath her feet, and she could even feel the warm sunlight shining down from nowhere.
Sensing that Luo Xuanyi had jumped in, the strange cloud whale began to slowly close its mouth.
Longyue suddenly remembered something.
"Quack? (It seems the boss and the caller haven't come up yet?)"
Luo Xuanyi smiled and touched its head without saying a word.
“Woo!”
Unfortunately, things didn't go as Luo Xuanyi had hoped. From a distance, Luo Xuanyi saw the skinny dog, clutching the struggling caller's sleeve, sprinting from the platform, leaping onto the lip of the strange cloud whale, and rolling in breathlessly.
"Oh, I forgot!" Luo Xuanyi slapped her head, pulled out a gold bracelet that had been prepared long ago from her sleeve and threw it to the crying Huzhe, who immediately behaved well.
The lips of the strange cloud whale were about to close completely. As it gradually rose into the sky, the waving Qingwei below gradually became smaller. Luo Xuanyi looked down at her and suddenly spoke.
"Qingwei, if you want to see Jinglai, you will definitely see him again."
Qingwei, who was waving her hand, was stunned for a moment, then responded with an even brighter smile. She put her hand to her mouth and shouted at Luo Xuanyi.
"Please come see me again!"
"Next time, tell me your real name!"
The strange cloud whale closed its lips and dived into the sky. The green tail on the ground was completely invisible. Luo Xuanyi stood for a while, then sat down next to Longyue.
"Woof?" The skinny dog, panting on its side in the clouds, half-raised its head and barked in confusion. Sure enough, its voice wasn't translated by the sound array. Luo Xuanyi, feeling a rare lack of energy, cast her gaze toward the southern stars in the sky, the direction the strange cloud whale was heading.
Aobi?
Keeping this name in mind, Luo Xuanyi exhaled the foul air in her chest and stopped thinking about these trivial emotions.
She turned her attention back to the Yu clan ruins, concentrating on the surrounding scenery to determine where she was moving.
The strange cloud whale was almost completely transparent. Not only was it transparent, it could even allow flowing clouds to pass through it. The vast mountain range beneath it was like an ink painting, slowly unrolling and unfolding before Luo Xuanyi's eyes.
Luo Xuanyi originally thought that the entire Zhongqu Mountains were equally clear and crisp, but when the strange cloud whale floated into the core part of the Zhongqu Mountains, she immediately knew the difference.
The core of the Zhongqu Mountains wasn't the lush vegetation and rivers typical of its edges; instead, it was a desolate and dead place. Each peak stood alone, as if plowed through its surroundings. Occasionally, one could sense a gaze that made one's hair stand on end, but no living creature appeared.
Further south, past the core area, the situation improved slightly. To the south lay a vast, boundless lake surrounded by a vast mountain range. In the middle of the lake stood a solitary island, like a pillar of heaven reaching deep into the clouds.
They flew across the lake and headed south. After the stars in the sky flickered and disappeared, they finally saw a mountain.
Compared to this mountain, Luo Xuanyi first saw a tragic ancient battlefield.
The battlefield was only a hundred miles in radius, but there was hardly a single intact valley or hill left within that area; they had all been filled in and blown up.
Even after countless years, the ground covered with debris still retains its dark red color soaked in blood. The smell of blood rushes straight into the sky, as if the resentment of the dead has never dissipated.
Yuqiong Mountain is the only standing mountain in this battlefield of a hundred miles.
This mountain seemed to have absorbed all nutrients and was built up from the corpses left behind on all the ancient battlefields. Countless hands stretched out from it, and blood still flowed continuously from the wounds.
This mountain that is still bleeding is Yuqiong Mountain, Luo Xuanyi's destination.
Luo Xuanyi felt a strong evil thought emerging from the blood and blowing into her body, making her feel refreshed all over.
Five more chapters have been completed~ It's great that I didn't hit midnight~
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