The rest of the journey went smoothly; they didn't encounter any monsters or run into Han Jinliang and his group again.
Lingyin chatted with Mo Junqian as they walked, but she did most of the talking; she would say ten sentences and Mo Junqian might not be able to answer a single one.
They found another patch of Sky Grass by a stream. Lingyin bent down to pick some, her mouth never stopping: "You're so quiet, you never say a word. What girl will like you in the future?"
Mo Junqian: "I'm curious, with so much talk, will any men like you?"
Lingyin simply sat down on the ground and retorted, "Who said no one likes me? I'm the most beautiful girl on the whole street in my hometown! Lots of suitors come to propose to me, but I have high standards and I don't like them."
Her proud little expression and the words she spoke were quite mismatched with her appearance.
Lingyin noticed the suspicion in his eyes, quietly moved closer, and whispered, "I'll tell you a secret. Actually, I'm in disguise. I didn't originally look like this."
Mo Junqian wasn't interested in her original appearance. He walked to the stream and scooped up some water to quench his thirst.
Lingyin slowly leaned closer and said, "Do you want to know what I look like? I know you're younger than me, but if you call me 'sister,' I'll let you see, okay?"
Mo Junqian ignored her, looking down at the stream, his expression thoughtful.
Lingyin continued cheekily, "Oh, just say it once, just once, let me have a go too." She moved closer step by step, her arm almost touching Mo Junqian's.
Suddenly, a loud bang was heard in the distance. Mo Junqian stood up abruptly, and Lingyin was startled. She swayed and fell headfirst into the stream, splashing up a cluster of waves.
*
In the distance, two people were working together to fight a fiery red monster.
One of them wielded a large sword with a transparent blade, clearly formed from condensed spiritual energy.
While dodging the flames spewed by the magical beast, the man anxiously said, "Brother Xia, this magical beast has powerful spiritual energy, unlike a low-level magical beast. If this continues, we will both be in great danger."
The person who spoke was Gu Xiao, who had previously calculated when he would die, and Xia Yixuan was fighting alongside him.
Xia Yixuan's thoughts raced, and before he knew it, his robes were burned by the fire spewed by the monster.
He quickly stepped aside and looked at the injured Qin Yu under the big tree in the distance. He said to Gu Xiao, "Brother Gu, you take Qin Yu and leave to a safe place. I'll take care of things here."
Gu Xiao flipped over and stood in front of him: "How can I do that? You're no match for a monster by yourself. How can I abandon you?"
Xia Yixuan said, "The three of us have been traveling together, and you have helped us a lot. I am already very grateful. Now that Qin Yu is injured, if we delay any longer, none of the three of us will be able to leave. I don't want to lose this trial, so I have no choice but to go all out."
After speaking, without waiting for Gu Xiao's response, he flashed away, his palms overflowing with spiritual power, and rushed towards the demonic beast.
Gu Xiao naturally couldn't let Xia Yixuan deal with the magical beast alone, so he bent down and put a pill into Qin Yu's mouth, and then set up a simple defensive array around him.
After everything was done, he looked up and carefully observed the monster's movements, trying to find its weakness.
Although the demonic beast possessed formidable spiritual power and was ruthless in its attacks, it was still a beast and not very bright. In the current confrontation with Xia Yixuan, although its moves were vicious, it always managed to avoid getting more than three inches below Xia Yixuan's neck.
It seems that its neck is its weak point.
Gu Xiao had a plan in mind, but this magical beast was covered in fire, so getting close to it would not be easy.
With a slight unease, Gu Xiao moved around to the back of the magical beast and sent a telepathic message to Xia Yixuan, asking him to cooperate.
Xia Yixuan was quick-witted and guessed Gu Xiao's purpose in an instant. She stopped dodging and put her hands together, which suddenly transformed into countless vines. The vines seemed to come alive and suddenly wrapped around the monster.
Flames raged, and the vines couldn't hold out for long. At this critical moment, Gu Xiao suddenly appeared in front of the monster from behind, his broadsword filled with spiritual power, and with a whoosh, he stabbed it towards the monster's neck.
Its weakness was naturally its softness; Gu Xiao easily pierced the monster's throat with almost no effort, killing it instantly.
Sparks flew everywhere, and Xia Yixuan's vines were completely burned.
Both men had wounds of varying degrees, and despite their disheveled appearance, they still managed to win.
The two smiled at each other and walked together to sit down under the big tree to regulate their breathing.
Qin Yu clutched her chest and struggled to sit up, saying to the two of them, "Although I don't want to admit it, you two were absolutely stunning just now!"
Gu Xiao laughed heartily: "Thank you for the compliment. Brother Xia cooperated very well."
Xia Yixuan smiled gently: "Not at all, Brother Gu is truly courageous and resourceful."
The two of them praised each other wholeheartedly, completely ignoring Qin Yu, who was lying on her chest, looking weak and injured.
"Hey, it looks like someone's coming from over there." Qin Yu pointed ahead.
The two turned to look.
A tall, handsome man and a disheveled, plain-looking woman walked toward them.
The woman held her soaked coat in her hand, muttering to herself, "It's all your fault! You didn't even pull me out of the water when I fell in, you made me climb out on my own. You have no chivalry at all!"
She kept nagging all the way, but Mo Junqian didn't even glance at her. He just kept walking forward, leaving Lingyin behind.
Lingyin stood there stamping her feet, cursing at the indifferent back: "You stinky ice block, would it kill you to say something!"
But there was nothing he could do but keep up.
Looking at the area in front of him, which was engulfed in fire and still had a few embers, it was obvious that he had encountered a monster.
He said to Gu Xiao and the others, "Did you kill that demonic beast?"
Gu Xiao looked him up and down a few times but didn't go up to say anything. Xia Yixuan stood up and said to him, "It was us. That magical beast was very powerful. It was not a low-level magical beast. It was also ruthless. Every move it made could kill. We had no choice but to kill it."
Mo Junqian's heart sank slightly. Wasn't it a low-level magical beast?
Xia Yixuan spoke up, "We were wondering, the seniors of the Qingyun Sect have said that the valley is full of low-level magical beasts and their strength is not very high, so what's going on?"
Qin Yu also wondered, "Yes, could it be that the people from the Qingyun Sect are lying to us?"
Before he could finish speaking, Mo Junqian suddenly said, "The Qingyun Sect would never lie."
With an icy expression and sharp eyes, Qin Yu was suddenly stunned and dared not say another word.
Gu Xiao was a little annoyed: "It's just a hypothetical scenario, why are you in such a hurry?"
Mo Junqian's pupils contracted slightly as he stared intently at Gu Xiao. Gu Xiao, not to be outdone, met his gaze, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.
Xia Yixuan found it strange. These two people had never crossed paths before, so why did they act like enemies the first time they met?
Before she could even begin to mediate, Lingyin flung her soaking wet coat between the two of them, splashing water droplets onto their faces, and said, "Hey, haven't you two stared enough? Do you have to be so lovey-dovey at first sight? Do you think I'm dead?!"
Xia Yixuan couldn't help but laugh out loud. Are girls these days so bold in their speech?
The atmosphere eased, and Mo Junqian and his companion had no intention of lingering. Just as they were about to take their leave, they suddenly felt the ground tremble and heard strange noises coming from afar.
Mo Junqian frowned slightly and looked into the distance.
The booming sound grew louder and louder, the ground trembled more violently, and a strong wind rose in the distance, carrying dust that obscured what it was.
As they drew closer, Mo Junqian's eyes narrowed sharply, and he said in a deep voice, "Not good! It's a horde of beasts!"
Xia Yixuan and Gu Xiao obviously saw it too, and without delay, they each picked up Qin Yu on one side and ran forward.
"Quick! Run! If we get caught in the herd of beasts, we're doomed!"
Mo Junqian grabbed Lingyin and turned to run, ignoring her shouts and screams.
The beast horde was fast and powerful. Although it was not as strong as a beast tide, it was not to be underestimated. If they were to force their way in, they would only end up as food for the magical beasts.
The screams of the cultivators echoed from behind; everyone was running for their lives, determined not to become victims of the demonic beasts.
Some even shouted, "We've been tricked! This is definitely not a low-level magical beast! The people from the Qingyun Sect have deceived us!"
The others also shouted at the top of their lungs, all of them condemning the Qingyun Sect. Some even smashed the Sky Piercing Jade and withdrew from the trial.
Once one thing leads to another, and one after another, people shattered the Sky-Piercing Jade. Faced with death, they did not hesitate to choose to withdraw.
Lingyin was carried by Mo Junqian and ran hundreds of meters away in an instant, but the beast horde was too fast and they were about to be caught.
Gu Xiao and Xia Yixuan, who were lagging behind him, couldn't run fast at all because they were carrying a sick person. Qin Yu was also pale and weak from running so fast due to her injury.
He gasped for breath, "Please...please put me down, I really...can't go on!"
Xia Yixuan gripped his arm tightly, her breath coming in gasps, "No, I can't leave you. We came from our hometown together to become disciples, so naturally we should enter the sect together!"
Qin Yu looked at him, her eyes filled with gratitude: "Yi Xuan, you've helped me so much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have had the chance to leave my family! Actually... actually, you're more talented than me. Once you join a sect, you'll definitely have a bright future! Unlike me, I'm just a burden..."
Xia Yixuan suddenly looked at him, her eyes sharp: "Who said you're a burden! Listen to me, I won't abandon you! We're going to join the sect together, do you hear me!"
Qin Yu stopped talking; he was running out of strength. Taking advantage of Xia Yixuan's inattention, he quietly took out his Sky-Piercing Jade.
Gu Xiao noticed his subtle movements and was about to speak when Qin Yu shook his head slightly at him, his eyes pleading.
Gu Xiao opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing and loosened her grip slightly.
The next instant, Qin Yu used the last bit of strength in his body to break free from Xia Yixuan's grip on his arm.
Xia Yixuan was stunned for a moment. When he turned around, Qin Yu had already broken free from the two of them and fallen behind!
Just as the beasts were about to trample him, he suddenly shattered the Sky-Piercing Jade. With a flash of white light, he vanished from the spot.
"Qin Yu!"
Xia Yixuan called out anxiously, then froze on the spot. Gu Xiao quickly pulled him up and comforted him, "He's doing this for your own good. Don't let him down!"
Xia Yixuan said helplessly, "I know, but we grew up together, and we promised to become disciples together and cultivate together. He just gave up like that..."
Gu Xiao wanted to comfort him, but the timing was not right, so she could only pull him along and run as fast as she could.
Mo Junqian turned around; he had naturally seen what had just happened.
Mo Junqian touched the Void-Piercing Jade in his arms, and his eyes suddenly became firm.
No, he can't give up!
For himself, for his deceased adoptive parents, for...
For that, the first ray of light in his life.
Qinghe...
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