After My Black Lotus Disciple Overheard My Inner Thoughts - Chapter 8

The southeast direction was a dense forest with towering trees whose branches and leaves blotted out the sky and sun.

The group threaded their way along the narrow path through the woods, remaining constantly vigilant of the movements around them.

Right at that moment, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from ahead, immediately followed by the crisp, clashing sounds of weapons and spellcraft.

Accelerating their pace, the group rushed over to find a massive ferocious beast blocking the path of five or six disciples, unleashing wave after wave of intense demonic aura as it launched relentless attacks.

“This is… a Level 5 beast the Zhiyi!” Lu Zhihui shouted with a grave expression.

A Level 5 beast was equivalent to a human cultivator at the Golden Core stage, possessing formidable combat prowess. This particular specimen clearly already exhibited the strength of a peak Golden Core cultivator, making it no easy feat to defeat.

Everyone exchanged glances, falling into a temporary stalemate.

[Huh? Aren’t those my eldest disciple Shi Menglan and second disciple Ling Guang?] Yun Mu muttered inwardly when he caught an accidental glimpse of two familiar figures.

Hearing this, Sui Yu looked over and indeed spotted the two of them among the crowd, along with several other Luoxuan Sect disciples who were all bearing varying degrees of injuries as they fought in a rather grueling deadlock.

Shi Menglan’s Qilan Sword parried the razor-sharp edge of the beast’s forepaw, three striking claw marks already freshly branded across the back of her hand. Ling Guang’s Profound Gold Whip lashed against the beast’s neck, sparking a flurry of sparks, but the creature swept its paw outward in response, directly sending two other Luoxuan Sect disciples flying to crash hard against the trees.

[Good grief, has this giant panda mutated or something?! So vicious! It completely shatters my impression of it as a docile, honest, cute little plush pet. This isn’t a cutie at all—it’s an outright ferocious beast what the heck!]

As Yun Mu chattered away internally while observing the battle, Ling Guang let his guard down for a split second and took a direct hit from the Zhiyi’s massive, black-furred paw, sending him flying backward through the air like a projectile arc.

“Second Senior Brother!”

After all, they were fellow sect disciples. With outsiders present, no matter how poor their relations might be, they still had to put up a pretense of concern. Carrying Yun Mu, Sui Yu immediately stepped forward and walked toward Ling Guang, closely followed by the Lu siblings, while Shen Bingzhang had already joined the fray earlier.

Sui Yu carefully helped Ling Guang up and inspected his injuries. The three claw marks on his upper-left shoulder, deep enough to reveal bone, were shocking to the eye, though fortunately they were only external wounds. If they had a Rejuvenation Pill or a Restoration Pill, such injuries would heal completely in no time, but alas, the current Sui Yu was a flat-broke pauper who couldn’t pull out any high-grade goods.

Coughing twice, Ling Guang looked somewhat pale and said, “I’m fine.”

Just as Sui Yu intended to channel a healing spell, he was interrupted by Lu Zhixue: “Little Fellow Daoist Sui, don’t waste your spiritual energy! Big Sis here has top-grade Restoration Pills—take them and treat your senior brother’s injuries!”

“This…” Sui Yu stared blankly at the white porcelain bottle stuffed into his palm by Lu Zhixue, feeling somewhat dazed.

In the Liyang Mountain Secret Realm of his past life, he had been completely ignored from start to finish. Even his fellow senior brothers and senior sisters never once pondered how a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator like him managed to survive inside such a dangerous secret realm, let alone acquire a natal weapon.

Aside from jealousy, aversion, and suppression, they had never offered his past self a single pleasant look, let alone any display of fraternal concern.

Living this life anew, so many things seemed entirely different. His master was like this, and even the attitudes of these immortal sect disciples toward him had undergone a drastic transformation. Exactly where had things gone wrong?

“What are you standing around dazed for?” Lu Zhixue offered a faint smile, nudging Sui Yu’s arm. “Hurry up and feed it to your senior brother. Take care of things here; my brother and I are going to go help them out.”

With the intervention of the Lu siblings, the pressure bearing down on Shi Menglan and the others decreased precipitously.

Infuriated by wave after wave of attacks, the ferocious beast roared repeatedly, its assaults growing increasingly fierce. As the prolonged battle dragged on, its openings began to show.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Bingzhang poured dazzling, brilliant rays of light from the frost sword Han Jiangxue in his hand as he thrust it directly into the Zhiyi’s left eye, causing a sudden splatter of demonic blood. Writhing in agony, the Zhiyi thrashed its massive body frantically in a desperate bid to shake off Shen Bingzhang.

However, Shen Bingzhang maintained a firm grip on the sword hilt, channeling his spiritual energy furiously into the blade. The frost frosting over Han Jiangxue grew steadily thicker, gradually freezing the Zhiyi’s entire left eye solid.

Taking advantage of this opening, the siblings Lu Zhihui and Lu Zhixue formed hand seals simultaneously, continuing to suppress the Zhiyi’s hill-like frame. Shi Menglan rapidly altered the spell gestures in her hand, instantly slamming a flame talisman onto the beast’s body, which detonated with a deafening crash.

At the exact same time, a bizarre chiming sound abruptly rang out, causing everyone present to stall in their movements for a brief instant as a split-silk-like wave of dark sword intent stabbed straight toward the Zhiyi.

[Good grief, the alien is pulling another sneak attack. Damn, how utterly shameless!]

System: [It’s all required by the plot, just standard operating procedure for a villain. Let’s just sit back and watch the show.]

In the span of mere breaths, the ferocious beast crashed heavily to the ground. A black-and-white interleaved inner core flew out from its torso, intercepted and stashed away by Geng Duan.

Recovering their mobility just then, the rest of the group reacted to Geng Duan’s actions with immediate expressions of indignation.

“Young Master Geng, this beast was hunted down through our combined efforts. How can you simply monopolize the Zhiyi’s inner core?” Shi Menglan wiped the blood from her Qilan Sword, her tone carrying an unquestionable firmness.

Geng Duan sneered coldly, sweeping his gaze across the crowd as if entirely unbothered by their anger: “Ha! If I hadn’t cast the Malice Ink Bell to stall this beast just now, you lot would have long since become food in its belly. How could you still be standing here right now pointing fingers and accusing me of seizing the inner core?”

Lu Zhihui exchanged glances with Shen Bingzhang. He walked over to inspect the corpse of the Zhiyi closely, and sure enough, discovered the lingering aura of the demonic race near the wound close to its dantian.

“Look at this!” Prompted by Lu Zhihui’s words, the others hurried over to inspect it, and Lu Zhihui continued, “This beast has also been corrupted by demonic Qi, just like the three-tailed spotted leopard slain by Young Master Geng earlier. This secret realm expedition is evidently far from simple. If anyone slays more beasts going forward, you must pay utmost attention to the inner cores you acquire. Absorbing an inner core contaminated with demonic Qi makes losing one’s cultivation a minor issue; having your mind eroded by demonic Qi is what’s truly terrifying.”

Sui Yu stared at the demonic Qi swirling around the wound, a cloud of doubt rising in his heart. According to the timeline of his past life, the demonic race was currently led by Qian Zhou, but given the demon lord’s temperament, he would disdain engaging in such petty schemes. That meant someone among the hundred immortal sects was deliberately attempting to muddy these waters, hoping to profit from the chaos.

Geng Duan produced the inner core he had just obtained alongside the previously acquired inner core from the three-tailed spotted leopard. Sure enough, both carried traces of demonic Qi. Mutering curses about “bad luck,” he casually tossed both inner cores straight at Sui Yu: “Consider it a reward for you.”

[Oh, holy crap, my fists are clening up—how do I beat someone right now?!]

System: [Don’t worry, Mu’Mu, it’s fine. Once these inner cores are purified, they can still be used. Holding onto them isn’t a bad idea.]

Listening to Yun Mu’s inner voice, Sui Yu accepted the items with an indifferent expression. He wasn’t losing out either way, and who knew they might genuinely come in handy later down the road.

Shi Menglan gazed at the demonic-Qi-tainted inner cores in Sui Yu’s hand, her delicate brows knitting together: “Little Junior Brother, these inner cores are polluted by demonic Qi; holding onto them might be improper.”

Sui Yu shook his head slightly: “It’s fine, I’ll just hold onto them for now. We can sort everything out once we leave the secret realm.”

Deep inside, Yun Mu pondered quietly: Who on earth is responsible for this demonic Qi within the secret realm, and what is their objective?

[System, who do you think is behind this mastermind?] Yun Mu asked probe-style.

System: [That’s beyond my guessing range, but one thing is certain this person definitely harbors malicious intent. We’d better keep our guard up.]