Chapter 269 Achievement
After seeing Ouyang Wenjin's expression, Mu Jianjian knew that she had made the right bet once again.
Immediately afterward, her body plummeted downwards. The weightlessness from the immense height, combined with the surging heat from below, almost cooked her outer skin. Even with the Yellow Spring Water enveloping her, she could only remain there for a few seconds.
[Host! There's lava below! I'm going to fall! What do I do?!] The system was already screaming urgently in my head. [Quickly use the Pupil Transference Technique! Use it to teleport up there!]
"No." Mu Jianjian firmly gave a negative answer, "From beginning to end, my purpose was to pretend to be knocked down by Ouyang Wenni."
Is she really unable to dodge Ouyang Wenni's attack at the fifth level of Core Formation?
There were countless ways for her to escape unscathed and then justify herself, but she noticed Ouyang Wenjin's unusual behavior.
Why didn't this man want her to fall into the lava?
"Crackling sound—"
The scorching yellow lava swallowed the girl's body in the blink of an eye. Before everyone's eyes, the lava didn't even ripple, and a life was lost.
"Miss Ouyang, what are you doing?" The flat-headed cultivator reluctantly withdrew his gaze, then turned to glare angrily at Ouyang Wenni.
"What did I do? I just accidentally dropped her. How was I supposed to know she was so fragile? She fell down before I even touched her properly." Ouyang Wenni tossed her hair. As a "hired person," getting rid of the caravan's burden was only natural to her, and the girl's death left no trace in her heart.
Team leader Sun glanced at the flat-headed cultivator from before and gestured for him to shut up.
These two are no ordinary young masters or ladies. Hiring their caravan cost a lot of resources and spirit stones. It would be a waste to turn against them for an ordinary woman.
Only Ouyang Wenjin stared intently at the lava below, his long black hair falling loosely. It was burning hot to the touch due to the high temperature around him, and sparks were even floating around him.
However, he didn't care at all, and only came to his senses after the others were arguing fiercely.
"Brother, are you still thinking about this woman?" After receiving Sun's tacit permission, Ouyang Wenjin looked at the flat-headed cultivator provocatively. Turning around, he saw that Ouyang Wenjin's face was even paler, and he became anxious. "She's dead, so be it. There's nothing to think about. Now that the stone wall has been broken and there is light, we can continue to move forward."
After waiting for a long time without a reply, she added, "Is that right, brother?"
“Ouyang Wenni,” Ouyang Wenjin turned her head and called out her full name in a cold voice, “You should know that you were the one who begged us to come out this time, saying that you would listen to anything and not cause trouble. But now you actually made our companions die?”
The icy voice reached Ouyang Wenni's ears, and in a daze, she saw the decisive and ruthless Fourth Prince of Hehuan Palace from the past.
Back then, my brother wasn't injured yet, but it was difficult to get close to him, unlike now...
Is my brother going to turn back into his old self again?
“I’m sorry… Brother, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t actually want to kill her,” Ouyang Wenni finally panicked. “You saw it, they all saw it. I only used half my strength to hit her to the side, and she fell down because she was trying to dodge it…”
Listening to the woman's intermittent attempts at explanation, Ouyang Wenjin didn't say much, still recalling what had just happened.
If the woman fell into the lava and died, that would be fine. But if she hadn't... he would have had to worry about what was below.
Ouyang Wenni is such an idiot.
——
The Yellow Spring Water enveloped Mu Jianjian's entire body, and after repeated excessive evaporation, it would reappear out of thin air, thus providing the people inside the water sphere with hope of surviving in the rolling lava.
[Host!] The system noticed that Mu Jianjian's fingertips were already red, bulging and twisted in a strange way. [Host, this is just ordinary lava. Even if you're highly skilled, you should avoid it. Quickly use your eye technique to teleport up and heal your skin!]
Contrary to what the system said, the water sphere enveloping the girl did not rise but instead receded, rapidly sinking into the lava!
At this moment, Mu Jianjian's mind was already clouded by the temperature. She had no time to pay attention to what the system was saying in her mind. She just kept reaching downwards. Just when she was about to lose consciousness and begin to doubt her actions, a "pop" sound rang in her ears, making the confused girl startle.
The surrounding temperature dropped rapidly, and the white mist-like water vapor that enveloped the area formed a transparent cloak, which slowly receded in the new environment.
Mu Jianjian quickly adjusted her state, carefully used the Yellow Spring Water to set up a transparent "cover" around her body, and then stood up from the ground to look around.
Just as she guessed, there was indeed a hidden world beneath the lava.
The red soil beneath her feet intertwined and formed different paths leading to four different places, while beneath the red soil lay magma radiating real heat. The bright red heat waves repeatedly stimulated Mu Jianjian's retina, making it impossible for her to clearly see the location of all the illusory butterflies.
"This is supposed to be an enclosed space, but the light is still damn glaring..." she muttered under her breath, then looked up at the spot where she had just fallen.
At the same time, he said to the system in his mind, "Look, the lava above is fake, the real lava is under the red soil beneath our feet."
The system couldn't keep up with Mu Jianjian's train of thought. [But how could you deduce all this from Ouyang Wenjin's attitude?]
That's way too risky!
Even if we don't know whether the lava above is real or not, the heat from that depth was enough to kill any unprepared cultivator.
“I’ve disliked him for a long time,” Mu Jianjian frowned, using the Illusion Butterfly to scout ahead as she spoke, “Don’t you think the way the Ouyang siblings get along is strange?”
【where? 】
“Judging from Ouyang Wenni’s attitude toward her brother, they should have been very close before. Now, all signs indicate that Ouyang Wenjin’s personality is not right. First, his personality has changed drastically due to his illness,” Mu Jianjian paused, “Second, Ouyang Wenjin is not the original person. He may even be the one who transmits intelligence.”
She recalled the first time she met Qu You in the Xuan Tian Secret Realm.
At that time, Qu You used the technique of altering body to "seize" the body of a cultivator from the Golden Crow Temple.
The system was taken aback, clearly not expecting this connection.
“Since the information came from spies, could it be that Ouyang Wenjin is no longer the same person after the information is passed on?” Mu Jianjian frowned. “However, there are some things that don’t make sense with this explanation.”
【What? 】
"Why did he go to such lengths to send out the message and attract so many cultivator caravans?"
If there really are rare herbs and hidden treasures here, wouldn't it be better if as few people as possible knew about them?
At this point, there were no answers to these questions, so Mu Jianjian simply shook her head and put them out of her mind, focusing her attention on what was in front of her.
She wiped the sweat from her face, but before long, a new layer of sweat appeared.
"This is so miserable." Mu Jianjian felt the sweat on her face increase with each wipe. She wanted to cry but had no tears. Suddenly, she saw the phantom butterfly stop in a certain place, so she stopped to look.
Where the phantom butterfly landed, a faint light flickered on the lava, no bigger than a fingernail, and would be hard to spot if one did not look closely.
If Ouyang Wenjin knew the important information about "Panmen", she would naturally know what was inside, and what she wanted to do was to find that thing.
Mu Jianjian looked down at the various silver swords submerged in the lava, "Would it be alright to walk on these swords?"
【But host—】The system was afraid she was in danger, but before it could say anything, it saw the girl take her first step.
The sharp longsword, embedded in the lava, reflected an orange-red light that blurred the boundaries around it. Combined with the sweltering heat, it resembled a dance of swords, making it all the more terrifying.
Countless longswords falling into the lava resembled various plum blossom stakes, guiding Mu Jianjian step by step closer to the bottom of the light sphere.
Too high...
She looked up at the ball of light high above, about to jump up and try to touch it, when in a flash, a giant dragon suddenly surged out from the lava below!
"Boom boom—"
The dragon was a hundred meters long and covered in crimson scales. It spiraled upwards and let out a deep roar. Its long, thin tail slammed against the red earth, making the whole cave shake and tremble.
At this moment, after the dragon crashed into the stone wall and found itself unable to escape, it spiraled downwards again, its sharp eyes meeting directly in the face of the girl who was struggling to maintain her balance in the lava.
It glanced at the dazed girl and exhaled two streams of hot air from its nostrils.
Mu Jianjian was completely terrified. Why was there a... dragon?
It wasn't until she saw the other side slapping her with its claws that she snapped back to reality. Unable to bear the noise from the system in her mind, she shouted, "Stop making noise!"
"Clang—"
The moment the claw struck, a burst of lava erupted, and the surging heat caused the already scorching temperature to rise even higher. If Mu Jianjian hadn't been on guard, she would probably have suffered severe burns.
Even if she wanted to touch the orb of light above, she should consider whether she was alive enough to take it.
Mu Jianjian wanted to return the way she came immediately, but found that the dragon in the distance was not giving her the chance at all.
Each strike of the dragon contained surging and fierce true energy, seemingly able to tear open a hole in the surrounding scorching air, so that after a brief respite, an overwhelming heat would follow.
"I think if this keeps up, I'll either get slapped to death or die from the heat here." Sweat dripped down, and Mu Jianjian's face, pale with a deep red, looked even more sickly.
She raised her eyes and looked at the sphere of light high in the sky.
That's the only breakthrough point.
The once spacious area became narrow due to the lava splashed up by the dragon's shaking body, and Mu Jianjian, who looked particularly small next to the behemoth, was struggling to dodge.
"Rainy Ruler—"
The transparent calipers in his hand gradually grew larger, and after slowly touching the ground, they stretched wildly upwards!
Mu Jianjian's eyes narrowed, and she jumped down using the downward support point!
You can jump upwards using the path set up by the phantom butterflies—
"Boom boom—"
A giant dragon unleashed a burst of red flame, and in Mu Jianjian's eyes, each of the Illusionary Butterflies vanished!
The flames are a physical entity, while the phantom butterfly is merely an illusion in her eyes. How can they be related?
Mu Jianjian's brain is full of nonsense. If the Illusionary Butterfly disappears, how will she avoid the splashing lava?
In the blink of an eye, the battle situation in the air can change rapidly, making it extremely difficult to retreat.
The dragon didn't take the petite woman in front of it seriously, thinking she was already like a meal on its plate, powerless to resist. When it saw her reach out to touch the ball of light, it slapped her with its claws, thinking she was courting death.
Knowing that there was a significant difference in strength, Mu Jianjian used the Rain Ruler to leap forward and reach out her right hand to grasp the ball of light.
The fact that the dragon wanted to protect the ball of light from getting close means that this is the key to breaking the deadlock beneath the entire lava!
So close!
But the phantom butterfly was gone. In a moment of carelessness, the dragon lashed out with its tail, flinging the girl's body a hundred meters away, where she crashed onto the red earth with a loud thud.
Her dress, already stained with blood from the previous battle, appeared as fragile as a long ribbon after being scratched by the dragon's scales. When she landed on the red earth, her body was like a steamed dumpling, motionless and lifeless.
The dragon proudly raised its head, flicked its tail, and was about to return to the lava when the girl who had been lying on the ground suddenly got up, supported herself with her scalded hands, and slowly took out the thing that had been held in her arms.
In those bright red hands, a bead the size of a palm was being held, emitting a faint yet translucent light.
Mu Jianjian smiled gently, sweat mixed with blood dripping down her face, looking disheveled yet charming, with a hint of pride and smugness.
Even if the opponent can use magma to attack quickly, she can still use the Frost Technique to create a temporary temperature difference in the surrounding area to assist in the smooth implementation of the Pupil Transformation Technique.
On the surface, it appeared that it was flung off by the dragon's tail without touching the ball of light, but in reality, it had already firmly grasped the ball of light and retrieved it.
At the same time, a long-lost mechanical voice sounded in my mind—
[Congratulations, host, for finding the "Lost Dragon Balls" and achieving the accomplishment. Quest completion progress is 15, 25... 40/100. The system will provide you with two reward options; please carefully consider your choice before making a decision.]
[Reward Option 1: The host gains the ability to revert to previous memories and cultivation levels, providing logistical support in case of battle defeat.]
[Reward Option Two: The system will upgrade again, and after a period of dormancy, it will possess a physical form, assisting the host in the real world and providing the host with even more support.]
After the system upgrade, Mu Jianjian, who hadn't heard the mechanical female voice for a long time, heard that familiar tone again. Every word was like a warning bell, reminding her of the purpose of coming to this world.
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