When Shi Xuan arrived, Chen Shengjun's complexion had improved considerably. He was stunned when he looked at Shi Xuan, never expecting that the master his father had spoken of who had saved them from dire straits was such a young girl.
He struggled to sit up, but Shi Xuan stopped him, saying, "You should lie down first, don't rush to get up."
Chen Shengjun could only lie on the bed and say, "Master, please don't be curious about that map. I was tricked by him so badly!"
“I have no plans to go treasure hunting at the moment,” Shi Xuan said. “Is there some hidden reason behind your encounter with danger and poisoning?”
Chen Shengjun's eyes dimmed, filled with hatred as he said, "I treated him as a friend, but he..."
"Was it your friend who ruined you?" Chen Ji asked.
Chen Shengjun nodded almost imperceptibly. "I met Song Yanhua during our training. He was a righteous and righteous man who hated evil, and I considered him a close friend for a time. I believed him wholeheartedly in his story about searching for treasure together. Who knew that he had deliberately tricked me into going, and almost cost me my life!"
"Murder for money?" Shi Xuan asked.
“No,” Chen Shengjun recalled the details of the murder, “it wasn’t for money, my storage bag is still here.”
That's a bit strange. Nowadays, in the cultivation world, most of the mutual betrayals are due to murder for treasure or disputes over the division of spoils. If it's not for money, then it's mostly for revenge. But Chen Shengjun and Song Yanhua have no grudge against each other, so things are not so simple.
After recalling the events carefully, Chen Shengjun tentatively said, "I suspect they want to use my body for some kind of sacrificial ritual, or someone wants to possess me."
"Oh? Tell me more."
"After I was tricked, they locked me in a large iron cage, which originally contained several monkeys. For the first two days, there was no movement, but I never let my guard down. Then one time I heard them discussing next door, saying that if I didn't withdraw my consciousness, the monkeys might resist, and the success rate would decrease."
Chen Shengjun paused, then reorganized his thoughts and said, "There were many magic arrays in the place where I was imprisoned, and the monkeys were also given drugs by them. After a few days, they captured me and fed me two pills. I felt my consciousness becoming increasingly blurred, as if my spirit was about to separate from my body."
Then I was led to the center of a terrifying magic circle. The outer ring of the circle was a six-pointed star, and inside were five concentric rings. The engraved patterns were filled with blood, which I suspected was the blood of those apes. When the blood flowed, I became even more dizzy.
"Soul Separation Formation?" It was Lu Shenzhi speaking in my consciousness. "This kind of formation has long been listed as a forbidden technique of the Six Sects, and few people mention it nowadays."
"Then how did you know?" Shi Xuan asked in return.
Lu Shenzhi smiled and said, "Naturally, it's through other means."
Shi Xuan scoffed. If forbidden techniques could truly be completely banned, how could her spiritual root have been so easily replaced?
Chen Shengjun continued, "Just when I was about to give up, a group of demonic apes rushed down from the mountain and fought with the group of people. The magic array was destroyed by them, and the people were too busy to help themselves, so I was able to escape."
"From what you've said, it seems they only fed you one kind of medicine. Why then did the poisoning become so complex?" Shi Xuan asked.
“I don’t know either,” Chen Shengjun himself was also puzzled: “If there is any difference, it is probably that I was bitten by a monkey when I escaped.”
Shi Xuan didn't bother to investigate why he ended up being poisoned by so many different kinds of poisons. Considering the black-clad men who came to steal the Soul-Nourishing Wood and the perilous situation Chen Shengjun experienced, the Eye Totem must be a terrifying and evil organization.
The fact that Chen Shengjun, a Foundation Establishment Level 3 cultivator, was powerless against them indicates that the difficulty of this event has exceeded Shi Xuan's capabilities. Naturally, she would not go rashly and increase the risk.
“This matter is of great importance, and I must report it to the sect leader.”
Shi Xuan took the map and the half-sleeve that had fallen from the man in black to report the situation to the sect leader.
Upon hearing what Shi Xuan said, Shi Mingxiu frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "You should leave this matter alone. The sect will send someone to investigate."
Shi Xuan breathed a sigh of relief: "That suits me perfectly. The main problem is that I don't have the power to manage it even if I wanted to. Someone as weak as me can only stay in the sect and run a shop to relieve my boredom..."
Running a shop, the shop's main focus is on a hint.
"You little rascal," Shi Mingxiu said with a laugh, "Do you think I'd shortchange you? The shop's affairs have already been arranged for you. You can just go to the council hall to pick up the contract."
Shi Xuan immediately smiled with satisfaction, grinning and saying, "Sect Master is indeed wise and powerful, with his heart set on the sect and concerned about the growth and needs of his disciples! Our Lianfeng Sword Sect is truly fortunate to have such a Sect Master!"
Shi Mingxiu waved her off dismissively, "Hurry up and go. We're going to the Silverfrost Secret Realm next month. Get ready when you get back."
The preparations mentioned here not only involve dealing with the dangers within the secret realm, but also guarding against sneak attacks from other sects, especially the Divine Cauldron Sect, which has a grudge against Shi Xuan, requiring extra caution.
Shi Xuan was about to leave when he heard what he said, so he stopped. "Sect Master, it seems that my trip to the Silver Frost Secret Realm is indeed fraught with danger. I am very uneasy. I wonder if the Sect Master has any escape techniques that might save my life in a critical moment?"
Shi Mingxiu said, "The Cloud Steps I cultivate is a technique that can increase speed, but it has certain requirements for spiritual roots. Only cultivators with wind spiritual roots can learn it."
Shi Xuan blinked innocently: "Since it is a cultivation method chosen by the sect leader, it must have something extraordinary about it. Why don't you lend it to me to study it for a while?"
Forget everything else, just get it first.
Shi Mingxiu had no choice but to make a copy of the cultivation technique jade slip and give it to Shi Xuan. Every time this mischievous monkey saw him, he would try to steal something before leaving. Shi Mingxiu thought that he could perhaps imitate the old dining hall and hang a sign outside his courtyard: "Shi Xuan, disciple of Fuyu Peak, is not allowed to enter!"
After leaving the main peak, Lu Shenzhi emerged from his Soul-Nourishing Wood and transmitted his voice to Shi Xuan, saying, "What do you need this Cloud Step for? It's a spell that only those with a Wind Spirit Root can cultivate. It's useless to you. You might as well go to the library and find one that suits you."
“This is the one that suits me,” Shi Xuan said. “I specifically went to ask the sect leader for it after I learned that he has a wind spirit root. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.”
"You can cultivate this technique?"
“Perhaps,” Shi Xuan pursed his lips and said, “Why don’t we give it a try? I think that after being baptized by the gale of the Cliff of Contemplation, I might have already grown a wind spirit root.”
She felt a strange lightness after coming out of the Cliff of Reflection, but she couldn't tell whether it was due to her advancement or the addition of the Wind Spirit Root.
"You can gain multiple spiritual roots just by letting the wind blow?" Lu Shenzhi teased. "Then I'd probably have a hundred spiritual roots by now."
Shi Xuan shrugged. "Perhaps you don't know, but a few days ago outside the sect, I was struck by lightning and developed a lightning spiritual root."
Lu Shenzhi:...
What kind of monster is she? Her spiritual root can grow so quickly? She gained a lightning spiritual root a few days ago, so she's at least a six-spiritual-root person now. Lu Shenzhi clicked his tongue in amazement. This was the first time in his life he had ever seen someone with six spiritual roots, or perhaps even seven.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
