Chapter 102 Leaving 1: Luring the Snake Out of its Hole
"Haven't you gotten it yet?"
Inside the Hall of Punishments, Kan Yuansi sat at the head of the table, one hand supporting his head, his brow furrowed, his face radiating coldness. His exposed skin was cracked and split into a net-like pattern, with drops of dark red blood falling to the ground.
Kan Yuanyi was also worried about her brother's injuries and explained, "Brother, the sect leader paid some attention to that sword cultivator a while ago. After the sect competition, he personally met with him and rewarded him with a lot of spirit stones. Moreover, Jin Chu is keeping a close eye on him, so I really can't find an opportunity."
Seeing Kan Yuansi's displeasure, she assured him, "Don't worry, that sword cultivator accepted the mission yesterday and will be coming down the mountain in the next couple of days. I'll definitely bring him back for you this time."
"Don't keep me waiting too long."
Back at Extreme Fire Peak, Kan Yuanyi looked at Zhu Xingyou and said, "I'll go with you. If we still can't capture that sword cultivator, we'll exchange your daughter for him."
Zhu Xingyou lowered his eyes, "With you personally taking action and that person helping, there will definitely be no problems."
...
Compared to the Weapon Refining Academy, Xu Xing had a much better impression of the Alchemy Academy. Although many alchemists were indifferent to her, the elders took good care of her, especially Master Gu, who treated her like his own disciple and would think of her whenever he obtained any good spiritual herbs.
So when Xu Xing received Gu Hongguang's message, he immediately agreed. Unexpectedly, he saw a familiar person at the alchemy academy.
"Senior Sister Yun? It's been a long time."
Xu Xing still remembered this senior sister with whom he had once dug for spiritual herbs in the Spirit Plant Academy. So she was a cultivator from the Alchemy Academy?
"Long time no see," Zhu Fangyun nodded with a smile, "How are you and your sword cultivator senior brother?"
Upon hearing this, two blushes instantly rose on Xu Xing's face. It wasn't just okay, it was absolutely wonderful.
Since that night the two of them...
After that, the senior brother suddenly seemed to have a breakthrough and often hugged and kissed him, which made Xu Xing, who prided himself on being influenced by modern ideas, a little awkward.
In addition, Senior Jinlong would occasionally mutter about the benefits of dual cultivation and the fusion of spiritual consciousness in her mind, which made Xu Xing's thoughts wander. Sometimes he didn't even dare to look directly into his senior brother's dark eyes.
Fortunately, although her senior brother was often intimate with her, he always kept to himself and never overstepped the bounds. Although Xu Xing was concerned about the influence of the Erosion Abyss Qi on her senior brother, since the two were often together and there was no immediate danger, she suppressed her wandering thoughts and did not act as Jinlong had suggested.
However, once their master returns and they hold their Daoist Couple Ceremony, naturally...
Seeing that the young female cultivator in front of him was clearly distracted when she heard about her senior brother, Zhu Fangyun's smile deepened, thinking to himself: Young people are really interesting.
"Dean Zhu, all the materials are ready. Fellow Daoist Xu can refine the pills whenever he wants."
Shui Huazhi's apprentice came over to remind her.
Xu Xing snapped out of his daze. Dean Zhu? So this Senior Sister Yun was actually...
Zhu Fangyun smiled slightly, without offering any explanation, but quietly winked at Xu Xing.
After all, the two of them had only taken care of the spiritual herbs together, nothing more, so Xu Xing naturally didn't mind that she had concealed her identity back then.
As agreed, she refined several pills in the alchemy academy, and as expected, she once again garnered the astonished gazes of the surrounding alchemists and the dazed expressions of the new disciples.
Gu Hongguang was very satisfied and took the opportunity to educate his greatly discouraged disciples, "Now you know what it means to be outdone by others, and to have a world beyond your understanding, right? You are still far from being able to do it!"
As Xu Xing watched this scene, he couldn't help but recall the days when he was refining pills in Shuiyun Immortal Capital. He wondered how Qianqian and the others were doing now.
At this moment, Zhu Fangyun suddenly patted Xu Xing on the shoulder, signaling her to follow.
Upon arriving at the back mountain, Xu Xing realized that the Alchemy Academy also had a vast medicinal herb field.
Zhu Fangyun squatted down, waved to Xu Xing, and without saying anything, began tending to the spiritual herbs. Xu Xing thought for a moment, then followed suit and began clearing away the weeds around the spiritual herbs, just like they had done in the spiritual plant garden years ago.
Xu Xing stayed in the alchemy courtyard all day until dusk. Zhu Fangyun finally got up, turned her head and looked at Xu Xing, who was immersed in the herb field and even more engrossed than she was, and smiled slightly.
"Xu Xu, may I call you that?"
"Dean Zhu..."
Zhu Fangyun wiped her hands and said slowly, "I prefer you to call me Senior Sister Yun."
"These three days are the best time to harvest the Dew-Gathering Grass, so you can stay and help me. This batch of newly sprouted Dew-Gathering Grass is of excellent quality; feel free to use it if you need it."
"No problem!" Xu Xing's eyes lit up, and he readily agreed. "Thank you, Senior Sister Yun! You can call me whatever you like!"
Without any hesitation, she immediately began picking the Dew-Drenching Grass. This spiritual herb was very difficult to cultivate, and she could transplant some of it into her own space.
Zhu Fangyun stood quietly to the side watching her movements until Xu Xing had picked a whole plant. Only then did she speak slowly, "I have a question I'm curious about. Could you please answer it for me, Xu Xu?"
Seeing Xu Xing nod repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice, she smiled again, "Back then, were the Foundation Establishment Pills you sold in your shop refined by a demon alchemist named Wei Shengyue?"
Xu Xing's upturned lips slowly faded, and she was somewhat embarrassed. She could sense that Zhu Fangyun meant no harm, but the matter of the Guixu Secret Realm could not be easily told to outsiders.
She didn't deny it immediately, but Zhu Fangyun already knew the answer in her heart.
Her smile faded slightly as she took out a lustrous elixir and whispered, "When I heard of her passing, I refused to believe it. It turns out it's true."
In her youth, Zhu Fangyun, possessing exceptional talent in alchemy, was always arrogant and disdainful of others. However, during a grand alchemy competition, she encountered a genius alchemist from the demon realm. At that moment, just like the young disciple being reprimanded by Gu Hongguang today, she realized that there are always people more capable than herself.
After her crushing defeat, her pride prevented her from approaching the demon who had defeated her to seek guidance, but her love for alchemy inevitably revealed a hint of her feelings in her gaze towards Wei Shengyue.
Despite being a esteemed alchemist, that demon was lazy and unserious. Instead of mocking her, his defeated opponent, he chatted with her in a very familiar manner, "Little Yunyun, don't always have such a long face. Come and have a calming pill to cool down your temper~"
At that time, Zhu Fangyun pursed her lips and left without looking back. Who knew that they would meet again in a secret realm later.
She reached out to a peculiar black herb, but a cold, long sword blocked her way.
A familiar figure emerged from behind the cold and indifferent swordsman, his ever-smiling face full of mockery. "You can't touch this. It's called the Soul-Severing Grass. If you touch it, I can't save you."
Upon seeing her, Zhu Fangyun immediately understood that she could forget about getting her hands on the opportunity in the secret realm this time.
As expected, Wei Shengyue and the sword cultivator swept through the secret realm, seizing all the opportunities, while the other cultivators didn't even get a single spiritual herb.
Compared to her fellow disciples who were constantly complaining, Zhu Fangyun was relatively calm. However, she did not expect that the carefree alchemist would give her two ancient pill formulas when they parted.
"Little Yunyun, work hard at refining pills. Who knows, we might meet again someday!"
She always seemed to be like this, talking to herself, stuffing the pill formula into the hands of the alien race, and then leaving without any hesitation.
"You risked injury to get this formula, and now you're giving it away? You're quite generous."
“I’ve already memorized it, A-Shuang. Don’t you think her stern face looks a lot like yours? How interesting.”
"..."
The Jade Cloud Sect disliked the demon race, and consequently, all the cultivators in the sect kept their distance from them. However, Zhu Fangyun, who was holding the pill formula and staring blankly at the two leaving side by side, suddenly felt an impulse. She took two steps forward, wanting to chase after them, even if it was just to get a spiritual message.
But her fellow disciples quickly pulled her back, "Are you crazy? They're demons!"
Later, Zhu Fangyun heard that she had become a ninth-level alchemist and was highly sought after, but he never saw that smiling alchemist again.
Later, a blind demon clan member secretly joined the Jade Cloud Sect...
Zhu Fangyun had lived for too long and thought her memories of her youth were long gone, but seeing Xu Xing made her realize that she had never forgotten them.
Looking at Zhu Fangyun, who seemed lost in her memories, Xu Xing inexplicably felt that she was actually sad.
It turns out that Dean Zhu knew the senior engineer, Wei Sheng.
"Senior Sister Yun, this is for you."
Xu Xing pulled out half a notebook from his backpack.
This was found in the remains left by Wei Shengyue, which contained a lot of haphazardly written alchemy insights.
Because of the passage of time, when Wei Shengyue was only a low-level alchemist, this item was completely useless to Zhu Fangyun, who was already an eighth-level alchemy master.
But when Zhu Fangyun saw it, a faint starlight shone in his eyes.
Zhu Fangyun carefully put away the old manuscript, then gave Xu Xing a deep look. "Thank you."
Xu Xing's personality is quite similar to that of the carefree Wei Shengyue back then, no wonder she received Wei Shengyue's burial.
Zhu Fangyun had originally entrusted Jin Chu to leave Xu Xing in the Alchemy Institute for three days, but now she had changed her mind.
Most people seem to think that when doing something dangerous, they should hide it from the person who seems to need protection, but sometimes, concealment itself is the greatest harm.
Moreover, Xu Xing was not a weak person; her very existence was already quite extraordinary. And given how much she loved Chen Du, if something were to happen to her, I fear…
"Kan Yuansi's physical body is damaged and needs the nourishment of a pure spiritual body. Your friend Wen Yao and your sword cultivator senior brother are both targets of Extreme Fire Peak."
"What?" Xu Xing's eyes widened in astonishment, forgetting how to address him. "Dean Zhu, you..."
Zhu Fangyun said softly, "I promised Jin Chu to protect you for a few days. They should have a plan to deal with it. As long as you stay in the Alchemy Academy, I will ensure your safety."
Xu Xing suddenly remembered that last night, his senior brother mentioned that he had accepted a mission and would be going down the mountain with Senior Wen Lu for a few days. Could it be that...?
The best way to lure the snake out of its hole is, of course, to use yourself as bait!
"I understand, thank you for reminding me, Dean Zhu." Xu Xing nodded haphazardly and turned to leave.
Since Senior Jin Chu was cooperating with Senior Brother in setting up the scheme, he must have been confident. It wasn't that Xu Xing didn't trust them, but the Erosion Abyss Qi in Senior Brother's body hadn't dissipated yet. If something really happened, he was afraid that something unexpected might happen!
"etc."
Zhu Fangyun stopped Xu Xing and gave her two black pill bottles, "Eighth-Order Soul-Severing Powder".
An eighth-tier poison, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would perish!
Xu Xing's eyes showed gratitude. Without saying much, he took the pill and immediately flew back to Xuanjian Peak on his sword.
When she encountered cultivators from the Thousand Machines Academy trying to stop her, she kept a cold face, didn't even turn her head, and simply tossed a bag of spirit stones at them, saying, "That's enough for ten punishments! I can still fly nine more times!"
"..."
Liu Rui was stunned, holding the spirit stone. Actually, she had just mustered up the courage to come and greet the legendary Master Xu.
However, she seems a little unskilled at flying. Won't she fall down?
Xu Xing used his quick wit to ask Wen Yao, who only knew that Wen Lu had gone down the mountain early that morning, saying he was going to Dongji Fupingqiu to eliminate the demon beasts, and knew nothing else.
She had no intention of involving Wen Yao, so she didn't say much. She returned to Xuanjian Peak, brought along several contracted beasts, and Xu Xing descended the mountain as quickly as possible.
As we flew towards Fuping Hill aboard Yin Xue's back, it was already completely dark.
Xu Xing sent a message to Shen Du, who replied shortly afterward, "Everything is going well. I'll be back the day after tomorrow. Don't worry."
all the best……
If everything is really going well, why is she still so restless?
"I told you to cultivate with him long ago, but you insisted on waiting. Now you're in for a good show!"
Hearing Jinlong's smug voice, Xu Xing calmed down instead, "Say that again and I'll cut off your internet."
Severing the connection between the inspiration and the spiritual network renders the inspiration useless.
"You little rascal, you just can't take a joke."
Jinlong's voice instantly turned serious, "You don't need to worry, that kid has some skills. Besides, you should have gotten close to him recently, right? The aura of the Eclipse Abyss on him has weakened a lot, so he won't be in trouble so easily."
Although Xu Xing often blocked its senses, Jinlong could still detect the subtle changes in Shen Du.
"Although the dragon race has a reputation for being unrestrained and unruly, the dragon race has been extinct for many years. After the senior left the Abyss of Eclipse, he did not urge me to find a suitable person to revive the dragon race. Instead, he cared about things like whether or not to engage in dual cultivation."
"Why has Senior mentioned this again and again?" Xu Xing said coldly, "Is this dual cultivation really just to resolve the Abyss Qi within Senior Brother's body, or is there another hidden purpose?"
Xu Xing wasn't stupid, nor did she have any interest in discussing such private matters with others. Jin Long's concern made her feel uneasy.
"..."
Jinlong was genuinely surprised that Xu Xing had suspected him long ago. She usually spent her days refining pills and crafting weapons, and seemed carefree. Jinlong thought she was only thinking about earning spirit stones, but he underestimated her.
Its motives were indeed impure, but it harbored no ill will towards Xu Xing. Its claims about finding someone else to revitalize the dragon clan were merely a ploy to trick her into including itself. From beginning to end, the golden dragon's target was Xu Xing; there was no one in the world more suitable than her.
Although she possesses superb skills in alchemy and artifact crafting, her cultivation level is far too low; with such a level of cultivation, she is absolutely incapable of accomplishing anything.
Jinlong did not deceive Xu Xing. After the two cultivated together, the Erosion Abyss Qi in Shen Du's body would indeed disappear, but he only said half of the truth.
Given Xu Xing's constitution, she would never be able to form a core and would remain at the Foundation Establishment stage for her entire life. Or rather, even her Foundation Establishment stage was achieved with the help of a powerful being; otherwise, Xu Xing should not have even reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
unless……
But once she understands, she will definitely be unwilling to do it.
"I swear on the future of the dragon race, I did not lie to you. There is only one way to completely eliminate the Eroding Abyss Qi within Chen Du's body. I did not expect that my good intentions would be met with such ingratitude. So be it!"
This time, without Xu Xing's intervention, Jinlong shielded itself from external perception and ignored Xu Xing completely.
Xu Xing frowned slightly. Had she suspected wrong? Did this great demon who had lived for tens of thousands of years really have no other schemes?
Although she was full of questions, now was not the time to think about them. She pulled herself together and rushed towards Fuping Hill at full speed.
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Author's Note: Thank you to Mumu, Sleep a Little Longer, Too Many Bugs, xin, Fengzhen, Sleep Until Naturally Awakens Every Day, Yanyan, Happy Meow, Evening Crow, Tangtang, and 25656288 for the nutrient solution! [Hugs]
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