Inner Disciple, Traveling Together

Two hours later, Su Yueli arrived at her destination.

At the entrance of Black Wind Valley, a large number of cultivators had already gathered.

Su Yueli hid behind a pile of jagged rocks and looked over.

The cultivators at the entrance were roughly divided into three camps.

One side wore moon-white robes and was clearly composed of disciples from the Blue Moon Sect.

Of the other two groups, one wore crimson martial attire, while the other wore uniform black robes. Su Yueli did not recognize either of them.

On the periphery of these three major sects, dozens of loose cultivators in various attire stood scattered about.

Waiting from a distance, Su Yueli could occasionally hear hushed discussions.

“That Fourth Realm Earth-Splitting Bear was heavily injured by our sect's elders. It's currently hiding in the Demon Wind Cave in the deepest part of the valley.”

“The Chiyang Sect and the Xuanyin Registry have already led their people inside. Our Blue Moon Sect should head in too, or we won't even get a drop of soup if we're too late!”

Hearing this, Su Yueli had a general understanding of the situation.

Before long, the cultivators gathered at the entrance could no longer contain themselves and swarmed into Black Wind Valley.

Only after the cultivators outside had completely vanished did Su Yueli emerge from behind the rocks, slipping inside with a swift movement.

The moment she entered the valley, the surrounding air turned frigid. Violent black winds howled through the valley path, stinging her face.

Su Yueli had not gone very far into the valley when a massive black shadow lunged out from behind a pile of rocks ahead.

It was a Black-Armored Demon Spider as large as a baby elephant. Its eight legs resembled steel spears, gleaming with a chilling, eerie light.

A Second Realm mid stage demon beast.

“Screech!”

The demon spider let out a sharp hiss. Its eight legs scurried frantically, kicking up a cloud of dust as it lunged at Su Yueli with a ferocious expression.

Su Yueli's gaze turned fierce, and the dark gold blades of Xiaohei on her hands instantly slid out with a sharp gleam.

Stomping her foot, she transformed into a bolt of green lightning, darting straight beneath the spider's underbelly.

The demon spider reacted incredibly fast, thrusting two of its legs like battle spears toward Su Yueli's chest.

Su Yueli twisted her body in midair in an uncanny manner, dodging the sharp tips. The fist blades on her right hand swept across the spider's joints in one smooth motion.

The Heaven-grade mid-rank divine weapon sliced through, severing the two spider legs cleanly at the joints.

Foul green fluid sprayed everywhere. Thrashing in agony, the spider whipped its massive abdomen, unleashing a vast, highly corrosive toxic web that blanketed the sky.

Su Yueli frowned. Her Tenth Realm Martial God blood qi erupted, condensing into a solid layer of protective Astral Qi around her body.

The toxic web landed on her Astral Qi, making a sizzling, corrosive sound.

“Mountain Splitter!”

Taking advantage of the moment the spider was pulling back its web, Su Yueli closed the distance. Her thunderous fist slammed violently onto the spider's hard head carapace.

Boom!

Her mastered short-range force exploded through Xiaohei. No matter how hard this Second Realm demon beast's carapace was, it was nothing but a joke in the face of absolute power.

The short-range force instantly turned the spider's brain into mush.

The spider's massive body twitched violently twice before crashing to the ground.

Su Yueli exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Dealing with a Second Realm mid stage opponent didn't require her to risk her life like she would have thirty years ago, but the bizarre toxins and methods of the cultivation path still gave her a bit of trouble.

Dusting off her hands, she put the spider's carcass into her storage bag, planning to find a place to process it after leaving the valley.

“Clap, clap, clap.”

Just as Su Yueli was about to head deeper, a round of applause suddenly echoed from the silent path behind her.

Su Yueli's gaze turned ice-cold. She snapped her dark gold fist blades backward and turned around alertly.

A young man in his twenties slowly stepped out from the shadows of the rocks not far away.

He wore the inner disciple attire of the Blue Moon Sect and held a glowing longsword in his hand, looking at her with an expression of admiration.

“Impressive skills, miss. To cleanly kill a Second Realm mid stage Black-Armored Demon Spider all by yourself,” the young man said with a smile.

However, when he habitually swept his divine sense over Su Yueli to gauge her cultivation, he froze.

There was no spiritual light of the purple mansion, nor was there any spiritual energy in her dantian.

A look of deep confusion flashed in the young man's eyes. “Strange. There are no spiritual energy fluctuations on you at all. Could it be... you are a mortal martial artist?”

Su Yueli sized him up, withdrawing her killing intent slightly as she gave a faint nod. “Yes, a martial artist.”

The young man was somewhat incredulous. He shook his head and sighed. “Incredible...”

“Demon beast flesh and blood is indeed a great tonic for your martial blood qi, but this Black Wind Valley is fraught with peril. It is far too dangerous.”

After all, a low-level First Realm demon beast in the mortal world could easily slaughter martial artists below the Fifth Realm.

And those Grandmasters who had reached the Eighth or Ninth Realm, who were usually incredibly proud, rarely dared to try their luck in such a cultivation forbidden zone.

As the young man thought of this, his mind suddenly registered something amiss.

Wait a minute.

He stared at Su Yueli's exceptionally young, even excessively beautiful twenty-year-old face, his eyelids twitching.

A mortal woman around twenty years old.

No spiritual energy, relying purely on physical strength.

Shattered the head of a Second Realm mid stage demon beast with a single punch?

The young man swallowed hard. Feeling the formidable blood qi inside Su Yueli, he frowned. “Miss... Could you possibly be a Tenth Realm Martial God of the mortal world?!”

Su Yueli raised an eyebrow. Having no intention of hiding it, she nodded once more.

“Hiss—”

The young man sucked in a sharp breath, completely dumbfounded.

Such a young Tenth Realm Martial God?!

Looking at the entire mortal world, she was likely the first of her kind, with no predecessors and no successors.

For a mortal martial artist to reach this level was simply absurd.

The young man took a deep breath and quickly put away his previous condescension. He cupped his fists toward Su Yueli and introduced himself:

“I am Qi Feng, an inner disciple of the Blue Moon Sect, with a cultivation at the peak of the Third Realm. I also came for that Fourth Realm demon beast, but I was delayed on the way by some personal matters, which is why I fell behind the main group.”

Qi Feng glanced at Su Yueli, his eyes gleaming with an inexplicable light as he took the initiative to invite her:

“Right now, the three major sects and loose cultivators have all gathered in the valley, making it extremely chaotic. There might be even more powerful demon beasts ahead. Since you are a Tenth Realm Martial God, would you be willing to travel with me?”

“We can look out for each other. As for that Fourth Realm demon beast at the end, if we succeed, we can divide the spoils based on our contributions. What do you say?”

Hearing the words “inner disciple of the Blue Moon Sect,” Su Yueli's heart stirred slightly.

Since he was an inner disciple, he would surely know more information. It was the perfect opportunity to pry into Shen Huai'an's matters.

With this thought, Su Yueli withdrew Xiaohei into her sleeve and nodded. “Sure.”

“Since Immortal Master Qi doesn't look down on a mortal martial artist like me, let's head in together.”