“I refuse! If you're so capable, why don't you just devour me completely?!”
As soon as the youth’s words fell, his collapsed body exploded from his dantian to his limbs with a thunderous roar.
A massive surge of demonic qi rippled out, leveling the entire area.
When the smoke cleared, only a massive crater remained where the youth had exploded. The stump, the wooden sheep, and the youth’s corpse had all been reduced to dust in the self-detonation.
Gu Ningyun observed through the light screen. If one looked down from above, the dense forest would look like it suddenly had a bald spot. It was quite ugly.
No, it was too conspicuous; it would definitely attract people.
Gu Ningyun was in no hurry to leave.
Sure enough, just as Gu Ningyun used her spirit energy to dig a hole in a corner of her space to settle the Yimu spirit marrow and the layer of wood spirit liquid, two figures appeared in the sky outside.
Gu Ningyun felt a chill in her heart.
To be able to fly on objects, they were at least Foundation Establishment cultivators.
If she had left the space just now, she likely would have been discovered by these two before even making it out of the dense forest.
Everyone was rushing toward the site of the explosion, yet she would be the only one coming away from it. Wouldn't that be a clear sign that she knew something?
If they just pulled her aside to ask about the situation, that would be fine. But if they insisted she had obtained some supreme treasure, even if they didn't make things difficult for her out of respect for her being a Xiaoyao disciple, who knew what they might plot in the shadows?
As the two flew closer from the distance, Gu Ningyun could clearly see their appearances.
A man in yellow robes with a powdered face was flying in front on a tobacco pipe. A woman in black was flying behind on a length of red silk, shouting, “Wang He! You actually dared to use me to block a trap while we were exploring that ancient tomb! You’ve got some nerve!”
“My lady, you’ve been chasing me for seven days over this! From Shande City to Tingyang City, across nearly half of Yunzhou. You should have cooled off by now!”
“Cooled off? Stop and let me beat you once, then I might reluctantly consider it.”
Seeing that the woman in black was about to catch up, the man in yellow looked around and suddenly yelled, “Wait!”
“What? You’ve come to your senses and are willing to let me beat you?” The woman in black crossed her arms, her eyes full of cold mockery.
The man in yellow didn't take the bait. “There was a massive roar from here just now. A treasure might have appeared. Shall we go down and look?”
He finished speaking and descended on his tobacco pipe, reaching the edge of the crater in an instant.
“With such dense lingering demonic qi, it’s clearly a demon cultivator who self-detonated here. How could there be any treasure?”
The woman in black had already followed him down on her red silk. “Wang He, if you think you can stall for time and distract me with this, you’re dreaming.”
“If there’s no treasure here, why would a demon cultivator come all the way to Yunzhou? They aren't stupid.”
The man in yellow’s tone suddenly became serious. “Remember, Yunzhou is Xiaoyao territory.”
Hearing this, the woman in black investigated for a moment. “There’s an ancient cultivator’s cave dwelling underneath. Aside from a broken array plate, a skeleton riddled with a strange poison, and an empty pit, there’s nothing in the cave.”
“How could a pit appear in an ancient cultivator’s cave dwelling for no reason? The treasure was likely in that pit and was stolen by that demon cultivator.”
The man in yellow grew more confident as he spoke. “Yes, that must be it! The demon cultivator took the treasure, and as soon as he came out, he encountered someone trying to kill him for it, forcing him to self-detonate.”
“I think you’ve gone mad with greed. What use would a demon cultivator have for a righteous cultivator's treasure?”
“He could sell it for spirit stones. How is that useless?”
“It’s obvious that no one has entered this ancient cave dwelling recently. I don't believe anyone could take something through such a thick stone wall.”
The woman in black gripped her red silk and pulled it taut. “I think you’d better just let me beat you obediently.”
“Hey, wait!”
The man in yellow scurried around the crater in a panic. “A storage ring! The ancient cultivator must have had a storage ring! Just because our divine sense can’t see through his bones doesn't mean there isn't one hidden inside.”
The woman in black’s sneer deepened. “You want me to go to my death again? Those bones clearly belonged to a Body Integration stage powerhouse. The poison on them was something even a Body Integration powerhouse was helpless against, yet you want me to rummage through them? Even if there really is a storage ring, not to mention that the surface would be soaked in poison, what could possibly be left inside after tens of thousands of years?”
As the two argued, many more cultivators arrived near the crater.
These cultivators were all in the Qi Refining stage and seemed to have been training in the dense forest. Hearing the commotion, they had rushed over immediately.
With two Foundation Establishment cultivators on the verge of fighting at the edge of the pit, these Qi Refining cultivators didn't get too close, only observing from the surroundings.
Gu Ningyun even spotted some Xiaoyao disciples among the group.
Seeing the two rogue Foundation Establishment cultivators, the Xiaoyao disciples—regardless of whether they were from the external sect or were handyman disciples—spontaneously huddled together.
Gu Ningyun couldn't go out at this time, so she simply watched the movements outside from her space.
Hearing the man in yellow mention the pit, Gu Ningyun couldn't help but feel a wave of relief.
Fortunately, she had used a stealth talisman the entire time to avoid the wooden sheep's attention.
Fortunately, she had realized that stepping on grass would leave tracks and had practiced Wind Walk diligently, leaving no trace when she approached the area.
Fortunately, she had been cautious and hadn't used an earth-tunneling talisman to enter the cave dwelling. This had prevented her from being possessed and had avoided leaving any traces of the talisman’s use in the ancient cave.
Not long after the Qi Refining cultivators reached the crater, several streaks of light flew in from the direction of Tingyang City.
As the light drew near, Gu Ningyun saw that the white-robed, blue-belted woman flying at the front on a jade gourd was an inner sect martial aunt from Xiaoyao.
Behind this martial aunt, several outer sect and handyman disciples were sitting on the gourd. One of them was an acquaintance of Gu Ningyun’s—Yuan Zhi, who had guided her earlier.
Once the martial aunt landed by the pit with her group, the Xiaoyao disciples who were already nearby immediately gathered around her.
Before the inner sect martial aunt could even ask, a disciple stepped forward and began explaining what had happened.
Gu Ningyun sat cross-legged on the grass in her space, her chin resting on her hands as she frowned, observing Yuan Zhi’s subtle expressions.
Hadn't she gone back to Tingyang City? Why had she come here?
Yuan Zhi stood among the Xiaoyao disciples, craning her neck to look into the pit.
Inside the pit, there was nothing but rubble and dust; even the blood had been vaporized by the demonic energy. Naturally, she saw nothing.
Seeing nothing, she took out her identity jade token and bit her lower lip, her face pale, as if she were sending a message to someone.
Seeing Yuan Zhi like this, Gu Ningyun’s heart stirred.
Could this Junior Sister Yuan Zhi be worried that she had encountered the demon cultivator and been blown up?
Gu Ningyun took her identity jade token from her belt and probed it with her divine sense.
On the blank interface, a line of small green characters appeared: [This area is not covered by the Spirit-Attuning Jade Token. Please leave the area before using.]
Well, it seemed the jade token’s messaging function didn't work inside the space or other special areas.
Rate on N.U.
