Chapter 143: Dragon Labyrinth Formation pt. 1
Several demonic cultivators kicked the bucket before they realized what happened.
Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi had strong divine consciousness and worked well with each other over the years, so how could these demonic cultivators be a match for them? They didn’t have to see with their eyes at all or conserve their spiritual sense. As long as they unleashed their divine consciousness, they could discover the enemy immediately.
But things didn’t go well for Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi either. They entered a dead end, looked at each other with wry smiles, and had no choice but to turn back.
When they returned, the Dragon Labyrinth Formation changed again, and they had no idea where they were.
“Huh?” Jing Yue saw a green plant not far away. He stepped forward and saw that it was a rare spiritual plant. He picked it up and said to Qin Yanzhi, “It seems that there are occasional treasures in the Dragon Labyrinth Formation after all. At least we don’t have to return empty-handed.”
But Qin Yanzhi said, “In that case, more people will kill and steal.”
He was right. The two of them saw many corpses along the way, righteous and demonic cultivators alike. It seemed that bloody battles went on in Dragon Labyrinth Formation all the time.
When the two walked around a dragon scale, they saw an acquaintance.
“Is it Lin-daoyou?” Jing Yue asked from a distance. The Lin-daoyou he mentioned was leaning against the dragon scale, his head drooping, and his body covered in blood. If not for the slight rise and fall of his shoulders, he looked like a corpse.
Lin Huaiyu raised his head with difficulty and whispered, “Jing-laozu... Qin-zhenjun...”
Lin Huaiyu's eyes were vigilant. Not long after he and his younger brother separated, he was lucky enough to find a spiritual material for a weapon, but he was attacked by a cultivator. That person was not a demonic cultivator but of the righteous path and was even an acquaintance.
At this moment, he finally realized that the horror of the Dragon Labyrinth Formation wasn’t from the formation but the evil thoughts of the human heart.
When people can walk freely in the dark without worrying about being exposed, the moral limits that restrained them in the past would decrease until they completely disappeared. Even the so-called ‘righteous cultivators’ could hardly resist the temptation of treasures. In the end, some people did the same thing as the demonic cultivators.
But his trust in Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi had the upper hand, not to mention that if the other party really had evil intentions, based on his current state, he could only consider himself unlucky.
Jing Yue got closer, saw the other party's miserable state, and said with a frown, “Is it a demonic cultivator?”
Lin Huaiyu shook his head, jerked his chin weakly, and pointed to a corpse not far away.
Jing Yue realized instantly and sighed from the bottom of his heart.
The distinction between righteous and demonic paths didn’t refer to good or evil people in an absolute sense. At present, the balance between the two was mostly judged by the techniques they practiced.
Many people of the righteous path were greedy for profit too, so it would be difficult for them to go far in the path of cultivation, while among the demonic cultivators, there were occasional cultivators whose hands were not stained with blood. However, due to their mostly unorthodox techniques, it would inevitably affect their minds after a while.
“Elder brother!”
At this moment, Lin Huaifeng rushed over from not far away. Seeing that his brother was seriously injured, he drew his sword and pointed at Jing Yue without thinking. “Did you hurt my brother?”
Jing Yue calmly pushed his sword aside. “No, it’s him.”
With that said, his eyes moved to the corpse on the ground.
Lin Huaifeng followed his gaze and was taken aback. He muttered, “So it’s him.”
After a while, he withdrew his sword and saluted Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi. “I'm sorry, I was too impulsive.”
His action was not without reason. Before he found Lin Huaifeng, he was also attacked by others. The other party's swordsmanship was very superb, but judging from his skills, he was not a demonic cultivator either.
“I didn’t expect so many despicable people here. With such malicious intent, the path of Dao will be hard to achieve!” Lin Huaifeng said angrily.
Jing Yue didn't comment. Who wouldn't understand such a simple truth? Most people seemed bewitched by immediate profits, but it was likely that their cultivation had encountered a bottleneck. They couldn’t see the future at all, so they could only focus on the present. If they could get a treasure and break through the bottleneck, who knew if there would be another chance in the future?
What if?
For that possibility, how many people would be willing to take the risk?
Even Jing Yue often risked his life for a chance, but he still knew his limits.
Seeing that his younger brother was not injured, Lin Huaiyu was completely relieved. With the help of Jing Yue's elixir, he could just barely stand up.
Jing Yue, “The two of you may follow me and Yanzhi. Don't get separated.”
Lin Huafeng was overjoyed. “Thank you, Laozu!”
They were attacked several times along the way, but with Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi around, there was no threat at all.
Soon, they heard the sound of fighting ahead. They rushed over only to see Cheng Yun fighting with a demonic cultivator.
When the demonic cultivator saw Jing Yue and the others, he subconsciously wanted to run away, but unfortunately, he died under Qin Yanzhi's flying sword.
Cheng Yun propped her sword on the ground and leaned on it, panting heavily. After she recovered a little, she straightened up and cupped her fists at Qin Yanzhi. “Thank you, Qin-zhenjun.”
At this time, the Dragon Labyrinth Formation changed again. The colorful rays of light refracted through the scales, forming gorgeous patterns, but amid the beauty, endless dangers lurked.
Qin Yanzhi hurriedly held Jing Yue's hand. Seeing that Jing Yue subconsciously wanted to grab Cheng Yun, he quickly stepped forward and pulled Cheng Yun to him, while Lin Huaifeng held his elder brother with one hand and Cheng Yun with the other.
Seeing that the scales were about to return to their positions and the transformation was about to end, Qin Yanzhi suddenly felt that the hand holding Cheng Yun's arm went empty, and Cheng Yun disappeared from his side.
With a frown, he tapped the back of Jing Yue's hand three times with his fingertips, and the latter smiled knowingly.
Suddenly, a beam of sword light swept over. Through the countless reflection of the dragon scales, it seemed impossible to dodge, but Qin Yanzhi made no attempt to do so at all. He drew his sword to block the sword light. With a strong shake, the sword light scattered and gradually disappeared.
But immediately after, Qin Yanzhi discovered that Jing Yue was gone, not to mention the Lin brothers.
Qin Yanzhi scowled and clenched tightly the hand that held Jing Yue just now as a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Clang!
A long sword stabbed from the side and Qin Yanzhi blocked it with his sword. However, this sword was just a shadow as the real sword slashed at his waist from behind!
Qin Yanzhi snorted coldly, ignored the flying sword, and called out instead, “Daoyi, go now.”
As soon as the words were spoken, a little boy appeared and disappeared again. In just one breath, there was a scream not far away.
At the same time, the flying sword that slashed his waist fell, and the surroundings changed. Jing Yue was standing next to him, looking at him with a smile on his lips.
Qin Yanzhi relaxed but his heart beat rapidly again. The two stared at each other quietly before their eyes curved again at the same time. The reflection in their eyes spread out like the sparking surface of a lake in the sun, strumming people’s hearts.
But the next moment, Qin Yanzhi's smile froze.
“Daoyi? Hmm?” Jing Yue stared at the little sword soul behind him with a half-smile.
Seeing that he had been exposed, Jing Yue didn’t seem surprised. Thinking of the deeper meaning in Jing Yue’s words before, Qin Yanzhi immediately understood that Ji-ji had already betrayed him.
So, he resolutely started the thick-skinned technique and said frankly, “It’s only Daoyi.”
In other words, he really couldn’t release Taiqing.
“Oh! Is this a sword soul? I saw a sword soul! Eh? Why does it look familiar?” Lin Huaifeng, who was completely ignored, suddenly exclaimed in surprise but quickly felt something amiss. “Hey, what happened just now? Brother, why did you disappear just now?”
Lin Huaiyu, who was still weak, tugged him and made a shushing gesture, but Lin Huaifeng didn't know why. A slow-witted person could never feel the harm of PDA.
Suddenly, Lin Huaifeng saw an ice sword appearing in Jing Yue’s hand and throwing it in his direction.
The ice sword brushed between him and Lin Huaiyu and made a turn around a dragon scale. He heard the sound of a sharp weapon piercing the flesh and saw Jing Yue striking out with one hand. A person with an ice sword stuck in their abdomen was caught in front of him and fell heavily to the ground.
“Cheng-daoyou!” Lin Huaifeng was startled, his eyes darting between Jing Yue and Cheng Yun.
Jing Yue, “So it’s really you.”
“Who?” Lin Huaifeng was even more puzzled.
Qin Yanzhi, “Most probably the person who attacked you.”
Lin Huaifeng was shocked and said angrily, “Hmph! I didn't expect Cheng-daoyou who seems to be so upright to turn out to be such a person!”
Cheng Yun lowered her head and coughed several times, which pulled the wound in her stomach. She frowned slightly and asked, “Qin-zhenjun, Jing-laozu, you were the ones who suddenly attacked me, and are now framing me. Are you trying to kill and steal?”
Jing Yue, “Stop your pretense, Ashura Tower, I know it's you.”
Cheng Yun, “…”
“What?! Cheng Yun is the demonic cultivator from Ashura Tower? Isn't she dead?” Lin Huaifeng’s brain couldn’t keep up. What was going on?
“Cheng Yun is not.”
While speaking, Jing Yue slapped Cheng Yun’s spiritual dais with a palm. The latter's eyes widened, full of fear, and finally closed in despair.
At this moment, Qin Yanzhi appeared behind Lin Huaifeng. His long sword danced seemingly casually, but the pentagram formed by the sword energy trapped a bit of black blood in it.
Lin Huaifeng didn't even know where to start asking questions, and even his usually stoic brother looked confused.
Jing Yue, “Let’s see how you’ll escape this time.”
The black blood in the pentagram kept crashing around but couldn’t break through.
“Kill it. There’s no need to spare her life.”
With Jing Yue's order, the pentagram formed by pure innate energy split into several sword lights, completely purifying and killing the black blood.
At this time, Cheng Yun, who was lying on the ground, woke up. The pain in her body made her groan unconsciously, and she quickly held back, when someone said, “Cheng-daoyou, I had to injure your dantian in order to force out the demonic cultivator’s blood essence in your body just now. After we leave the Dragon Tomb, Frostcloud Sect will send you some elixirs.”
When Cheng Yun heard that she was possessed by a demonic cultivator and her dantian was injured, she panicked. But after the panic, she was shocked and in disbelief. “What happened?”
Jing Yue, “I believe all of you already know that the demonic cultivator from Ashura Tower can control living people with a drop of blood essence.”
Both Cheng Yun and the Lin brothers nodded. The incident at the Rogue Cultivator Alliance caused a great disturbance in East Yu, and even the Dragon Palace was alarmed.
“This control technique is almost heaven-defying so there must be restrictions. Judging from the person she possesses, the other party cannot exceed her cultivation level.” Jing Yue helped Cheng Yun up and continued, “A person’s blood essence is limited, but if a small drop can control a living person, she can control hundreds of living people. Moreover, her possession technique is flawless, making it difficult for us to guard against her, so it’s no surprise if she can have her way with us.”
Jing Yue suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. “Of course, we have been fooled by her many times.”
Author’s Notes:
Ji-ji: As I said before, I’m a loyal Ji!
(Even if you are not online, you still need to brush your presence)
Rouge: No more milk for you.
Ji-ji: Boo-hoo.