Unease

The evil qi inside Zhu Zijin's body had been completely purified, and his injuries were healed. He eventually woke up.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a group of his sect-mates surrounding him.

They weren't demon beasts, so the tension in his heart relaxed slightly.

Only then did Xi Caixuan explain how they had found him.

Previously, while her team was searching for demon beasts in the north, they heard the sounds of fighting coming from near the edge of the forest.

By the time they followed the noise to the source, the battle had already ended. All that remained was a chaotic scene of broken trees and bloodstains everywhere.

There was a dead demon beast, along with the unconscious and heavily injured Zhu Zijin.

Seeing that Zhu Zijin was alone and that his injuries seemed unusual, they didn't explore any further. They quickly picked him up and found a safe spot far from the scene of the fight to treat him.

Xi Caixuan briefly mentioned how they had found that pills were ineffective and sought Gu Ningyun's help. She then handed the corpse of the demon beast they had found over to Zhu Zijin.

Zhu Zijin nodded. After taking out his identity jade token and transferring thirty points to Gu Ningyun, he did not withdraw his divine sense.

It appeared he was sending a message to someone.

Sure enough, Zhu Zijin's expression soon changed, and he looked at Gu Ningyun. “Ningyun, I wonder if it would be possible for you to help save my companions? They might be in trouble.”

Gu Ningyun and Mu Chenze exchanged a look and immediately stood up.

Xi Caixuan's team also rose. “Let's go together. We can lend a hand too.”

As they walked, Gu Ningyun finally learned what had happened to Zhu Zijin.

There were only six sword cultivators in their batch. Fu Mingzhi and Si Puyu had support from her and Jun Luo; despite a difficult start, things had gone smoothly once the rest of Ruiyu Pavilion arrived.

Zhu Zijin had it much harder.

There were five people in his team, and while the other four members were only pursued by about thirty demon beasts, he had fifty following him.

His teammates had fled toward the east, west, and south, so he led his beasts on a chase through the northern forest, intending to gather the sect-mates in that area.

He was powerful and had plenty of Spirit-Replenishing Pills in reserve. After running for half a day, he had managed to gather over a hundred and twenty disciples.

With so many people, the consumption of Spirit-Replenishing Pills and Swift-Walk Talismans was high, and their resources were quickly running dry.

Furthermore, after running for so long, they had gathered almost all the disciples in the north.

Forced by circumstances, they had no choice but to use their current manpower to fight the demon beasts.

At first, they fought while running.

But they soon realized that wouldn't work. With the demon beasts chasing them from behind, the sheer momentum of the charge alone was enough to give them a hard time.

Not only were they unable to kill the beasts, but some people were even caught and injured.

They were forced to stop and adopt the same method Gu Ningyun's group had used previously: those with lower cultivation distracted the beasts while those with higher cultivation fought them head-on.

A hundred and twenty disciples ganging up on fifty demon beasts.

On the surface, it seemed several times easier than when Gu Ningyun's group of fifty fought seventy beasts.

In reality, it was not.

On Gu Ningyun's side, there were Gu Ningyun, Jun Luo, Fu Mingzhi, and Si Puyu—four whole sword cultivators. Furthermore, Gu Ningyun could purify evil qi at any time and acted as a support responsible for healing.

Besides the four of them, the members of their respective teams were all powerful disciples whose combat strength could not be underestimated.

With enough disciples to kill the beasts head-on and someone to provide healing, it was naturally possible to kill beasts above their level or even win while outnumbered, provided those distracting the beasts coordinated well.

It was different for Zhu Zijin.

Although they had over a hundred and twenty people, Zhu Zijin was the only sword cultivator among them. It was hard to manage alone.

Even though there were other capable disciples at Qi Refining level four and everyone worked together, they only held the upper hand at the start of the battle.

As more people were injured and their wounds were infected by evil qi, pills became useless, and the number of disciples capable of fighting dwindled.

By the time half the demon beasts were killed, their manpower had also been halved. Only sixty or so disciples still had any combat strength.

Those sixty-odd people were also injured; it was just that their injuries were lighter and the evil qi infection wasn't as severe.

However, the circulation of spirit energy within their bodies was still affected.

By the time only three demon beasts remained, none of the disciples besides Zhu Zijin could use their spirit energy anymore.

For the safety of his sect-mates, Zhu Zijin could only hold off the three demon beasts himself. He told the disciples who were still conscious to take the unconscious ones away and find a place to hide while he lured the beasts away.

The other disciples were naturally worried, but it was their only choice.

They gave Zhu Zijin all their remaining talismans and pills before leaving without delay.

Zhu Zijin led the three demon beasts on a chase, gradually increasing the distance between them so he could deal with them one by one.

No matter how strong he was as a sword cultivator, he was still only an eight-year-old child at Qi Refining level four.

If it weren't for the fact that his daily sword practice had tempered his will and endurance, he would have collapsed long ago.

It wasn't until he killed the last demon beast and the final threat vanished that the tension he was holding onto broke. He could no longer hold on and fell into a coma.

Zhu Zijin walked at a rapid pace. “You know the rest of the story.”

“No wonder you're so anxious. Those hundred or so sect-mates are probably unconscious as well,” Xi Caixuan said, her expression darkening after hearing Zhu Zijin's tale.

Gu Ningyun observed their surroundings as they went. Zhu Zijin seemed to be leading them with a clear destination in mind, rather than searching aimlessly.

She asked curiously, “Zhu Zijin, do you know where they're hiding?”

“While we were running with the demon beasts earlier, we saw a rock pile.

The pile was large enough that people could hide in the gaps between the boulders.

We agreed back then that if anything went wrong, we would retreat to the rock pile and regroup there.”

As they talked, Zhu Zijin led them through several turns. Through the trees, Gu Ningyun spotted an open area appearing in the distance.

Under the clear moonlight, the mountain-like rock pile shimmered with a white glow. There were no visible signs of human activity.

Gu Ningyun's divine sense penetrated the stones and discovered the disciples hidden within.

They were covered in blood, their faces pale, and their breathing shallow.

A faint, sinister evil aura hovered above their bodies.

When her divine sense touched the black mist, she felt a wave of nausea and a sticky, chilling sensation.

Gu Ningyun quickly severed the connection.

She thought that if they hadn't practiced body refining, these disciples would likely have lost their lives by now.

If she hadn't come tonight, the martial uncles outside the secret realm would probably have come to rescue them.

However, once they were rescued, they wouldn't be able to participate in the rest of the team competition.

If this evil qi was a test given to them by the sect, she didn't know if being rescued halfway through would count as completing the test.

Gu Ningyun's mind moved quickly, but her body moved even faster.

Almost as soon as she finished observing the rock pile and confirmed there were no demon beasts nearby, she reached the stones.

Her guqin hovered before her.

The melody of «Zongjiao» remained cheerful and lively, like the purest childhood joy of the mortal realm.

The others present felt heavy-hearted. They looked toward the north of the forest and silently guarded Gu Ningyun without making a sound.

Gu Ningyun swallowed a Spirit-Replenishing Pill and increased her spirit energy output. “Once they wake up, don't delay. We must leave as quickly as possible to regroup with Jun Luo and the others.

“We're too close to the north. I truly feel uneasy.”