Chapter 36: Azure Cloud (14)

Zhang Duixue dragged Yue Qianxun and crawled on the ground.

Yue Qianxun had never cultivated before. He had barely entered the path for a month, and had spent most of his time pondering arrays. He didn’t know basic techniques like Breath Concealment, Light Body, or Spirit Controlling. When escaping, he ran slowly and heavily, like a rolling weight.

Their luck was quite good. They fell into a pile of evil sins, and started fighting as soon as they got up. Now each of them had more than a dozen points.

However, this also meant that they had fallen into a pile of corpses.

This should be a courtyard specially used for piling up corpses. Countless corpses were stacked. Zhang Duixue turned pale when he first landed, feeling nauseous for a moment. Yue Qianxun, on the other hand, accepted it well. After all, he grew up in the Dragon Girl’s Chaotic Spirit Realm and had seen all kinds of strange things.

Then they ran head-on into that tall humanoid figure riding a giant beast. The other party brought a fresh corpse and threw it in the courtyard. Seeing two living people, he came at them with his sword.

Zhang Duixue met a strike with all his strength. His cultivation had reached the peak of the fifth realm. Although part of the reason for his rapid progress was dual cultivation with Xie Xuanxiao, the spiritual sword he carried was no ordinary item, and his cultivation during this period wasn’t slacking off. But this strike only bought them a breath of time to escape.

The pursuit behind them followed like a shadow. Yue Qianxun brought a lot of equipment. He always thought he had worked hard enough, but when those talismans and immortal scripts flew out, he realized that what he had worked hard to learn was just garbage in the face of true power.

The biggest effect was that when Zhang Duixue carried him upside down and flew up, all the talismans in his arms spilled out, a large handful fluttering down and sticking to the armor. While the other party was picking off the yellow paper, they rolled into a house, held their breath, and hid.

After an unknown amount of time, maybe an hour, Yue Qianxun’s legs were numb before the black shadow projected on the ground slowly left.

Sweating profusely, he got up tremblingly with Zhang Duixue, tiptoed like rats, and scrambled out.

They were outside a huge mansion. In the middle of the mansion was a snow-white tall building, half hidden in the blood mist, beneath which countless corpses could be seen stacked.

“Let’s meet up with He Tingtong and the others first.” Zhang Duixue wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “It’s a bit dangerous here, better not split up.”

Then they saw an evil sin in the corner suddenly look up, as if attracted by something, sniffed, and rushed in one direction.

Zhang Duixue: “?”

Yue Qianxun also sniffed like him, looked outwards, and distinguished: “Seems like there’s some fragrance, smells quite good.”

“Probably a trap.” Zhang Duixue climbed up the wall, focused his gaze into the distance, and saw countless black shadows rushing out from the streets and alleys, charging towards the mountain-like city wall.

They were very close to the city gate now, so close that when Zhang Duixue focused his gaze, he could see Xie Xuanxiao’s snow-white fluttering robes and the constantly expanding array under his feet.

“What is he doing?” Yue Qianxun climbed up, straddled the wall, shaded his eyes with his hand, then frowned and said indignantly: “Is he planning to take all the points alone? No conscience!”

“He is forcing me to go over.” Zhang Duixue gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. “The Young Palace Master carries the Profound Heaven Spiritual Fire. His blood attracts evil spirits more than anyone else’s.”

Knowing Xie Xuanxiao’s methods all too well, Zhang Duixue closed his eyes, his lips tightly pursed. “Why go this far?”

He just… wanted to learn the sword.

Zhang Duixue jumped down from the wall and headed towards the city gate.

Yue Qianxun followed behind. Being young and having shorter legs, he trotted along. “Calm down, going over now is walking into a trap. Our previous arrangements will be in vain!”

“I can’t sit back and watch either, watching you come all this way for nothing, reaching the final test only to be forced unable to enroll.” Zhang Duixue’s eyes were red. “It’s my fault. I clearly know what the Young Palace Master likes and wants… it’s just to make me obedient. I’ll go beg him, beg him to let you go, so everyone can get in…”

“Brother Zhang, it’s better to rely on yourself than on others.”

A clear voice sounded, and then a hand reached out from the side front, grabbed Zhang Duixue’s arm, and pulled him into the alley.

He Tingtong, holding his sword, looked at Zhang Duixue somewhat helplessly. “Do you think if you go over now, he will let us go? Xie Xuanxiao holds the initiative. It’s his field now. What do you have to negotiate with him? Rushing out directly, throwing yourself into his arms, also saves him from searching for you everywhere.”

The four of them climbed over the wall into an empty courtyard. He Tingtong dipped his finger in some water and drew on the table. “You have the highest cultivation among us. If there’s a way to break the array, it depends on you to operate.”

Zhang Duixue was worried. “The Young Palace Master’s cultivation is already at the peak of the seventh realm. The reason he didn’t continue to break through is to cultivate his mind and open the sea of consciousness and heart domain. In terms of fighting techniques, I can’t beat him.”

“Who told you to fight him?” He Tingtong leaned against the chair and let out a long breath. “I just need you to break the array, destroy his array, and release those captured evil sins, lest he really bribes everyone with points and causes us to be besieged by hundreds of people.”

Zhang Duixue was puzzled. “Then what method are you going to use?”

He Tingtong blinked at them and said excitedly in a tone as if he had discovered a treasure: “I saw a wandering big guy in the city.”

Yue Qianxun beside him was startled. “…No way, do you have a death wish?”

He Tingtong turned to look at him. “Your life or points? You choose.”

Yue Qianxun: “…Points!”

The cold wind blew. Yue Qianxun stood at the intersection of the main road. He combed up the bangs covering his face, revealing a full forehead. He had gained a little weight recently, his appearance gradually becoming more open, with a high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, sharp features, and a hint of silver white hidden in his left eye, like another pupil, revealing a non-human eeriness.

The Heart Inquiry Realm could both confuse the mind and break obstacles. He had been practicing secretly since enrollment, but his cultivation hadn’t improved. He didn’t know if he could complete the task.

But as He Tingtong said, if he couldn’t do it, either he would be hacked out now, or he would roll out with his dozen points after three days.

Anyway, he wouldn’t really die in the secret realm. Go for it!

The bricks and tiles on the wall were trembling. Yue Qianxun swallowed. He stood in the center of the road, with broken walls on both sides. Further away, two figures were sprinting towards him in mid-air. Countless jade walls were knocked down, dust rose everywhere, rolling in. Behind him to the side, Zhang Duixue held his sword in ambush, his figure like a fully drawn bowstring, tense to the extreme.

This scene had quite the imposing manner of one man holding the pass against ten thousand.

He wanted to laugh a little, but was too nervous to lift the corners of his mouth.

The sound of hoofbeats hitting the ground got closer. Cold sweat broke out on Yue Qianxun’s back, his undershirt sticking to his back. Amidst the thunderous rumbling sound, the last barrier was smashed. The flying speed of the two spiritual swords in the air reached the extreme, and the pursuing soldiers behind them were also extremely fast. Dust rolled, followed by the crimson blade tip, which had sucked enough blood from unknown numbers of people, suddenly slashing towards him!

At the moment the long blade was about to hit his head, two long swords arrived from behind, metal clashing, blocking the heavy blade edge. The young man’s figure lowered, suppressed by that huge force, the web of his thumb split, and blood splattered on his face.

The blade edge continued to press down, the sword blades making cracking sounds of being overwhelmed. The giant beast under the black-armored soldier raised its hooves high, then dropped heavily. The long blade turned horizontally, tangling the two long swords and flinging them away forcefully. The blade spun in mid-air, gathering strength, and slashed down again with the power of thunder!

A pain in the left eye. On the long street, something silvery bright flashed. Ripples like water spread. Within the long street, within one eye, all were reflections.

Blood trickled from Yue Qianxun’s left eye, and he fainted directly with his head back.

Zhang Duixue caught him with his sword. He Tingtong whistled. That soldier could still move slowly, but not as astutely as before. He should still be trapped in the illusion, lasting longer than imagined.

Just in case, he added another immortal talisman to cover the soldier’s eyes.

Fu Fengyan wasn’t injured. He reluctantly carried Yue Qianxun on his back. The three rode swords, continuously making whistling sounds, leading the huge monster behind them along the city road, rushing towards the city gate vigorously.

The array cage under Xie Xuanxiao’s feet had accommodated to the limit. People around were cursing him, but he turned a deaf ear.

Fu Baiyu found a pier to sit on. A long line stood in front of him. He was assigning numbers to people, letting them take number papers to make up points in order. Xiangli Xuan continued to play the qin, assisting Xie Xuanxiao in protecting the array.

The three cooperated tacitly for a while.

At this speed, this final test would end in one day this year. The remaining two days would probably be hundreds of them playing hide-and-seek with those few little thieves.

Wonder where they were hiding now. Fu Baiyu touched his chin, hoping in his heart to play a little longer, not letting this final test be too boring.

The small paper slip on the table suddenly jumped. Fu Baiyu looked up in confusion. The first thing he saw was a sharp sword light, followed by a beauty riding a sword, eyes pitch-black, cheeks bloodstained, long hair dancing in the air, like a swift, diving headlong towards Xie Xuanxiao in the middle of the array.

“No way, is he desperate, thinking this can break Brother Xie’s array? Throwing himself into his arms, is it?” Fu Baiyu stood up, just about to step forward to help, when he heard a rumble. A pitch-black behemoth followed closely behind, holding a陌dao (double-edged long saber), killing towards them head-on!

Fu Baiyu: “…”