Chapter 264 Distance
In the forest, a caravan that had just escaped the monster tide was resting in one place. The leading man was holding a pink-clad woman with an extremely ugly face. After a while, when he saw that she had woken up, he immediately perked up.
Instead of inquiring about her physical condition, he immediately asked the woman if she remembered anything.
"Little Pink, are you saying that we need the inner cores of those demonic beasts to get through the mountainside?" Xiong Guangze stared at the still weak woman in pink before him, frowning as he asked, "Is that true?"
There are at least twenty or thirty people in their caravan. If each of them is given a beast core, wouldn't they have to kill twenty or thirty monsters here in total?
Putting aside whether their caravan can defeat so many monsters, are there really that many in these mountains and forests?
Moreover... they weren't the only caravan that ventured into these deep mountains aiming to reach the summit...
“Back then, I remember that’s what Grandma told me,” Xiao Fen hesitated for a moment before speaking, “but Grandma said that pills are not a necessity, and perhaps we can do without them.”
After she finished speaking, she quickly looked up and glanced at the handsome man in front of her, a blush rising on her cheeks.
Seeing her shy expression, Xiong Guangze chuckled softly and moved closer to her, asking, "Did the old woman tell you anything else about this place?"
Xiao Fen smiled guiltily, with a forced and apologetic tone, "It all happened a long time ago. Grandma told me a lot, but I've forgotten a lot. I'm afraid I won't remember until I go up the mountain and see those things."
Xiong Guang concealed his dissatisfaction and presented himself as a patient and considerate Daoist partner. He took out a porcelain bottle of pills from his sleeve and said, "Here, Little Pink, you're not feeling well right now. Take this pill to nourish yourself."
After the woman in pink finished eating, Xiong Guang took in her adoring and grateful gaze and sneered inwardly.
What a burden! She's nowhere near as good as Xing'er... No, how can a woman like her, who's useless except for intelligence and information, compare to Xing'er?
After receiving the request for the rare herb, he happened to save a woman who was being humiliated by others on the street. By a stroke of luck, the woman's old woman had once built an altar here on the mountain!
"What is an altar deep in the mountains?" Xiong Guang asked the woman in front of him whose face was covered in bruises.
“I don’t remember the specifics very well,” the woman bit her lip, her red lips delicate and her appearance extremely fragile. “But I heard from my old woman that the altar can connect to the heavens!”
The Path to Heaven!
These words caused Xiong Guangze's eyes to gleam brightly, greed spreading in his heart and his appetite gradually growing.
"What else do you know?" He himself didn't realize that his voice was becoming increasingly gentle.
"Young Master, please believe me. If you can lead me into the mountains, I will remember everything the old woman told me, and you will find the altar and reach the Heavenly Path!"
The woman's delicate and urgent voice echoed in Xiong Guangze's mind, and he hugged the weak little pink in his arms even tighter.
Since they haven't reached the summit and found the altar yet, this woman cannot die.
——
"We did it!" Wan Xing beamed with joy, but then panicked. "Jianjian, come back quickly!"
Suddenly, the demon beast behind Mu Jianjian glowed red. The scales on its massive body fell off layer by layer, revealing sharp spikes that blocked the branch Mu Jianjian was holding, and a predatory aura surged forth.
Mu Jianjian flipped over and leaped, trying to distance herself from the monster, but it was too late. The monster opened its blood-red maw, revealing sharp, long, and densely packed teeth that coiled in three circles inside its mouth. Its tongue was divided into three segments, and it attacked the girl's small body.
Wan Xing hurriedly used his true energy to stimulate the growth of the surrounding flowers, grasses, and vines, quickly spreading a clump of thorns in an attempt to block the sticky, foul-smelling tongue. However, he discovered that the vines were corroded into ash the moment they were touched.
"Sharp! Don't touch its tongue, the mucus on it is highly poisonous!" Wan Xing shouted hurriedly, thinking of a solution.
Mu Jianjian's right pupil flashed with golden threads, and a pale purple butterfly appeared in the air. The attack from the opposite side was chaotic yet extremely swift. She used her pupil-shifting technique to dodge with difficulty, and with a flick of her right hand, a fire fox dagger appeared.
Using the Yellow Springs Water from the Third Realm has no effect, and conjuring a pair of intertwined branches with the Morning and Evening Hairpin will cause them to be corroded...
Why don't you try this?
The dagger had been scorched by flames, and its blade had faintly flashed with dazzling firelight. Compared to its unremarkable appearance in the Red Chamber of Duyunfang, the dagger's beauty and exquisite beauty now appeared even more dangerous with the aid of true qi cultivation.
She enveloped her right hand with mist formed from the Yellow Springs water, then seized the moment when the monster was off guard, and with the Fire Fox Dagger in hand, she swiftly and accurately sliced the outstretched tongue apart with a "sizzle".
I thought the viscous liquid on my tongue could be absorbed by the Yellow Spring Water, but it still seeped in and caused a burning pain on my skin!
It's not ordinary venom.
In other words, to cut open the monster's tongue, one must bear the cost of skin melting.
Mu Jianjian cursed under her breath, glanced at her wrist which was corroded to the point where the white bone was visible, and gripped the Fire Fox Dagger even tighter.
Wan Xing struggled to dodge the attacks of the demonic beasts. Seeing her secret techniques being easily broken time and time again, she dispelled the sense of powerlessness that rose in her heart and rekindled her fighting spirit.
If it were your aunt... what would she do in this situation?
"Wan Zhi You Yin—" One idea after another was rejected. The moment he saw the branches and leaves being cut open, Wan Xing had a flash of inspiration and charged straight at the monster's sharp teeth!
In the blink of an eye, the vines wrapped around her hands began to turn yellow and rot from the roots, showing signs of decay, and the trees seemed to be merging into her arms.
"Wan Xing, you—" Mu Jianjian turned her head and noticed the commotion, naturally seeing her arm that had become one with the withered tree.
Since the vibrant, natural vines wouldn't work, Wan Xing used his true energy to reverse the vines, transforming them back into the form that had once been cursed!
Curse against poison!
It is obvious that this is extremely harmful to the body.
"Wan Xing, you don't need to integrate the curse into your body!" Mu Jianjian said anxiously.
The Wood Spirits clan deeply resented the curse that trapped them in the secret realm, and in this predicament, Wan Xing actually chose to use the power of the curse for the sake of battle!
"If you can disregard the corrosive poison to advance, why can't I do the same!" Wan Xing didn't want to be left behind. She raised her right hand, and branches wrapped with the aura of decay grew and coiled towards the direction of the demon beast.
She didn't want to fall behind.
It wasn't just the way the two walked when facing the monster together that showed the distance between them.
Mu Jianjian can gain the tree spirit's approval. If she keeps running away and retreating in battle, then it will be meaningless for her to travel alone from her clan.
One day, she will be able to return proudly and tell her people that she can do it.
Mu Jianjian saw that the girl, who had been depressed because of her relationship, suddenly burst out with strong true energy, and there were even faint signs of a breakthrough in her cultivation level.
This is more like the young lady who challenged her time and time again in the sacred land of the Wood Spirit Clan...
She smiled sweetly, holding the Fire Fox Dagger as she followed closely behind, saying, "You use the withered wood to block its tongue, and I'll go pull out its thorns!"
"Okay!" Wan Xing nodded and, enduring the pain in his arm, managed to block the monster's tongue.
really!
Her eyes sparkled with surprise. With renewed confidence, she continued her actions without pause, and her attacks became increasingly fierce.
Without the protection of the viscous liquid, the spikes on the monster's back were quickly cut clean by Mu Jianjian with her Fire Fox Dagger, even though the monster kept dodging.
The monster's head was constricted and it couldn't move an inch, but the attack on its back caused it excruciating pain. "Roar!"
It tilted its head back and let out a painful howl.
Who exactly is this woman who cuts its spikes from behind?
A burning pain shot through its back. Seeing the two begin to fight back, it was at a loss. In its panic, it tried to break free of the encirclement, but the withered tree only tightened its grip.
Before it could even form another thought, a chilling killing intent struck, and it was extinguished.
"Is it... over...?" Watching the monster collapse before her, Wan Xing breathed a sigh of relief and then collapsed to the ground. She clutched her half-withered arm and gasped for breath.
His true energy had been exhausted in the battle, and his body ached terribly as if it had been completely robbed. He could only tremble as he got up and leaned against a tree trunk.
“It’s over,” Mu Jianjian nodded, and finally breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Wan Xing’s arm gradually return to normal. “You’re amazing, Wan Xing.”
She picked up the beast core from her hand, pondered for a moment, and then tossed it into her spatial bag.
"Hehehe," Wan Xing let out a silly laugh. After laughing three times, she realized something was wrong and immediately stopped. She pursed her lips and said, "Of course I'm amazing. You don't need to tell me."
Seeing the young lady's shy and embarrassed appearance, Mu Jianjian didn't want to expose her. "Let's rest here for a while. You should take good care of your inner energy. You're probably about to advance in your cultivation."
Her voice was gentle and comforting, but her casually disheveled black hair concealed her furrowed brows. As her gaze fell, the black shavings that had previously stained her sleeves were clearly visible in her palm.
Is she overthinking it... or is there something wrong with this thing itself?
Wan Xing was happy and excited. After reminding Mu Jianjian to take care of the wound on her hand, she was about to enter into meditation when she suddenly thought of a question.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mu Jianjian noticed her unusual behavior and was puzzled.
What did you just call me?
“Wanxing,” Mu Jianjian said obediently.
"This...this is too unfamiliar..." Wan Xing's eyes started to dart around, while she kept talking, "You didn't call other people this way before, why are you so unfamiliar with me?"
Mu Jianjian: ...
Although she really wanted to say that she hadn't really considered the form of address that much, since this arrogant young lady had brought it up, she decided not to mention it or waste her breath.
"Then what do you think I should call you?" she asked with a smile, leaning closer to Wan Xing.
"How would I know? Figure it out yourself," Wan Xing stammered, then immediately distanced himself from the girl. "Alright, I'm going to start my meditation practice now."
Mu Jianjian looked at the other person's serious and focused cultivation and slowly curled the corners of her lips.
——
On the other side of the forest, Team Leader Sun and his cultivators finally managed to kill two demonic beasts, but they were then entangled by several other demonic beasts attracted by the smell of blood.
"Go and help them," Ouyang Wenjin said calmly, glancing at Ouyang Wenni, who was growing impatient amidst the chaotic battle.
"Why should we?" Ouyang Wenni exclaimed. "Brother, we hired them to come up the mountain to ensure our safety. How can we expect our employers to protect the caravan!"
Besides, her brother didn't even call her by her nickname this time!
A subtle sense of estrangement lingered between the brother and sister, making Ouyang Wenni even more irritable. "Since you've accepted the reward, you should know clearly whether you have the ability to do it. Don't want the reward money without putting in any effort."
She stood with her arms crossed, her voice sharp and piercing, clearly reaching the ears of the several cultivators standing beside her to protect the two of them.
The monks frowned, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the woman's merciless sarcasm, but ultimately dared not say anything.
Seeing that no one around her was arguing, Ouyang Wenni tilted her head back even higher.
"Wen Ni!" Ouyang Wenjin scolded, "Don't throw a tantrum."
Feeling a chill run down her spine from the man's almost scolding tone, Ouyang Wenni reluctantly got up and rushed into the battlefield, her true energy surging towards the fifth level of the Core Formation stage!
With the help of a cultivator at the fifth level of the Core Formation stage, the caravan members, who had been scattered by the demonic beasts, finally felt much more relaxed and were able to catch their breath while dealing with the battle.
The cultivators protecting Ouyang Wenjin felt grateful for the frail and sickly young master.
Of the siblings, the younger sister is arrogant and domineering, while the older brother is kind-hearted.
Unseen by anyone, Ouyang Wenjin, who was standing with his cane, suddenly changed his aura. As if he had sensed something, his pupils gradually turned pure black, and the black fragments in his palm slowly condensed into a clod of earth.
So the monster failed to kill her...?
Although she had just stabilized her Core Formation stage, she was able to kill a demonic beast with several levels of true qi higher than him. He had underestimated this woman.
But it doesn't matter, they will meet again soon.
——
Wan Xing didn't meditate for long, as she knew time was of the essence and the most important thing for the two of them was to go up the mountain to investigate what was happening there. So, half an hour later, they continued up the mountain along the same path.
They hadn't gone far when they sensed the presence of a demonic beast again.
"Is this ever going to end?!" Wan Xing complained. "Are we going to have to fight another one?"
"That's not necessarily true. Look over there, what's that?" A mischievous smile flashed across Mu Jianjian's eyes as she raised an eyebrow and looked towards the woods where a familiar caravan was standing not far away.
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