The Ice-Cold Beauty Senior Sister Keeps Falling for Her Own Theories - Chapter 14

Chang Yuru was puzzled in her heart. Since she knew Feng Jie wasn’t here, why didn’t she leave?

The Bixin Sword!

Chang Yuru felt an inexplicable sense of relief, a slight smile curling at the corner of her lips. It seemed that in her senior sister’s heart, Feng Jie ultimately wasn’t that important, at least, not as important as this divine artifact.

All divine artifacts possess the ability to reconstruct the dantian and refine the sea of consciousness. If someone with an intact dantian and cultivation, along with a broad sea of consciousness, forms a contract with one, their dantian becomes purer, and their sea of consciousness expands exponentially, enhancing their abilities like adding wings to a tiger. If someone without a dantian or sea of consciousness forms a contract with a divine artifact, it can create a new dantian and generate a sea of consciousness for them.

For her senior sister, whose dantian was damaged and sea of consciousness shattered, contracting the Bixin Sword would allow her to resume cultivation and possibly even advance her cultivation to a higher level.

“Senior Sister, let me help.”

Just as Chang Yuru was about to follow, she noticed white smoke rising from the ground, spreading and filling the surroundings.

She drew the soft whip coiled at her waist.

“Senior Sister?”

She called out several times but received no response. Growing wary, she groped her way forward.

Gongsun Muhan stood in place, watching her figure recede into the distance.

“Sister Su Meng, why didn’t you agree?” Not even a warning…

Huahua was confused. She had thought this person was Sister Su Meng’s friend.

“She talks too much.”

“But… alright.”

Huahua withdrew the spiritual energy she had gathered in her hands. She had been ready to help Chang Yuru break through the smoke maze, but now it seemed she could save some effort.

The smoke maze used this white mist to create an illusory labyrinth for each person. Anyone walking through it and encountering the smoke would lose contact with their companions. Unless they found a way to break the illusion, they would be trapped forever.

However, there were many ways to break it. As long as one realized they were in an illusory maze, whether by using formations to force out the smoke demon’s true form or by locating the smoke demon’s real body, they could escape, it would just take some time.

While using her spiritual energy to evaporate and disperse her aura to envelop Gongsun Muhan, Huahua guided her along the way.

The smoke demon had known her for years and naturally wouldn’t set up any illusory maze for her. As long as she released her aura, she could pass through unharmed.

The corridor was not only narrow but also dark, with no end in sight.

The faint glow from the fire starter in Gongsun Muhan’s hand illuminated the intricate curse symbols painted in vermilion on the stone walls on either side, winding and stretching into the distance.

Gongsun Muhan found it strange. Having studied talismans and curses for a century, she had never encountered such a curse technique before.

“Do you know what curse is written on this wall?”

The little butterfly fluttered its wings, examining the large characters of the title back and forth before finally settling at a twist in the curse script.

Its two antennae touched each other, and it lowered its head. “I only know that this character means ‘turn.’”

Seeing this, Gongsun Muhan had no choice but to give up. She glanced over the wall a few times, imprinting the contents in her mind, thinking she would consult ancient texts if she had the chance in the future.

Suddenly, a few red lights flickered ahead, accompanied by a “tap-tap” chewing sound.

Gongsun Muhan quickly extinguished the fire, pressed herself against the stone wall, lightened her footsteps, held her breath, and cautiously inched toward the source of the red light.

To my surprise, these were man-eating crabs that should have only appeared in the Demon Water Swamp. They rustled as they converged toward the corpses, their fist-sized eyes glowing with an eerie red light. Several were already feasting on the bodies of fallen cultivators, occasionally clamping large chunks of flesh into their mouths, crunching bones with audible snaps.

Their vision was poor, relying mainly on their sense of smell. They had likely been drawn here by the scent of blood.

Gongsun Muhan instinctively glanced down at the wound on her chest, pierced through by Lu Yishu’s sword.

Earlier, she had performed a blood sacrifice ritual. As expected, aside from her heart’s blood, she had offered up all the blood in her body. Now, she was barely sustaining herself with the meager spiritual energy she had left, keeping her meridians active.

Thus, she carried no scent of blood. Combined with the darkness of the tunnel and her cautious movements, she should be able to avoid a fierce battle.

Gongsun Muhan bent slightly and crept forward silently.

Just one more step, and she would leave the last man-eating crab behind.

Suddenly,

A cold, slimy hand grabbed her ankle.

Gongsun Muhan froze, not daring to breathe, her eyes fixed on the crab barely an inch away.

It wouldn’t even need to stretch out its claws, its eight pincers could easily snap her neck!

In the reflection of its red eyes, Gongsun Muhan could clearly see her own outline. She clenched her fists, narrowed her eyes, and calculated the distance and angles for evasion.

The crab seemed to sense something. It abruptly lifted its head, smacking its mouth as it glanced in Gongsun Muhan’s direction.

Gongsun Muhan held her breath, waiting for its next move.

But it only took a look before turning its head and glancing in the opposite direction.

Crunch… crunch… crunch…

Hearing the monotonous, rhythmic sound of its chewing, Gongsun Muhan silently breathed a sigh of relief. This creature really has more legs than brains.

Only then did she have a chance to look at the “culprit.”

The cold, slimy hand had already slipped away weakly. Gongsun Muhan slowly lowered her gaze and met a pair of pleading eyes.

Tears shimmered in those eyes, reflecting a desperate will to live, so intense that even the thick, grimy bangs covering the person’s face couldn’t conceal it.

She doesn’t want to die!

Her disciple robes were stained with blood, making it impossible to tell which sect she belonged to. The hem of her skirt was tucked up, her right leg bent at a ninety-degree angle in the mud, and her right sleeve hung empty, clearly, one of her arms had been severed by a crab’s pincer.

Gongsun Muhan only glanced for a moment before shifting her gaze. Hanging from the woman’s waist were numerous alchemical furnaces and magical tools, strung together in various sizes and colors. It seemed she was a novice alchemist.

Gongsun Muhan had no intention of lingering. She lifted her foot, ready to leave.

After all, she was no saint. Besides, what difference was there between death and an alchemist who had lost her right hand?

Just like a cultivator stripped of spiritual power, nothing but a worthless weakling, easily bullied by anyone…

Unexpectedly, the hand reached out and grabbed her again.

This time, when Gongsun Muhan looked down, she no longer saw pleading. Beyond the desire to live was a ruthless determination, a readiness to risk everything, even mutual destruction.

She raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised.

Gongsun Muhan wasn’t mistaken. At this moment, Hu Yu was gambling, betting that Gongsun Muhan wouldn’t want to alert the man-eating crabs.

Of course, she was also threatening Gongsun Muhan: if she didn’t save her, then she wouldn’t let Gongsun Muhan leave so easily either.

She had bet wrong, but she had won.

Gongsun Muhan halted her steps, slowly crouched down, and made a shushing gesture toward her, mouthing the words for Hu Yu to wait.

“Huahua, I remember you used your aura to cover me earlier and helped me pass through the smoke barrier maze. Can you now use your aura to envelop her and mask the scent of blood on her?”

“I’ll try, I’ll try!” Upon receiving the telepathic message, Huahua expressed that for Sister Su Meng’s first request for help, she would go through fire and water to make it happen!

Hu Yu saw a small butterfly fluttering over, carrying a faint scent of medicinal herbs, and landed on her shoulder. Before long, she felt herself surrounded by a warm current of air, and the pain in her body lessened considerably.

“Done! Now there’s not a trace of blood scent on her!”

“Thank you.”

“Oh my, my little vine tip, how could Sister Su Meng thank me! Earlier, Sister Su Meng helped me form my demon core, helped me drive away the dark serpent…”

Huahua went on to count off a list of things for half an hour, but Gongsun Muhan didn’t register a single one. She was entirely focused on carefully moving Hu Yu.

By the time she brought Hu Yu to a safe spot, a thin layer of sweat had formed on her forehead, and her originally pale complexion was tinged with a flush of red.

“My name is Hu Yu, a disciple under the Fifth Golden Alchemist of Danwen Pavilion. Thank you for saving me, fellow cultivator. May I ask your name and origin? I will surely visit another day to express my gratitude properly.”

Hu Yu brushed aside the bangs on her forehead, revealing her delicate, petite oval face. She placed a fist over her chest, slightly bowed, and expressed her thanks with utmost sincerity.

“No need.”

Gongsun Muhan glanced at her and tossed a few tokens she had picked up while rescuing her beside Hu Yu.

“Look through them. There should be a secret realm token for exiting here.”

Hu Yu was slightly taken aback and instinctively looked at the tokens. Indeed, there was one.

These tokens served as the keys for entry and exit during the training expedition of the seven major sects. However, due to the tight schedule, the tokens were not crafted with enough refinement to be stored in a spiritual tool space or within the dantian. They could only be carried externally, which was why some had tragically lost their lives to the man-eating crab.

Her attention to detail is so meticulous…

“How about it? Is there one?”

“Yes, there is.”

Hu Yu suddenly snapped out of her daze and hurriedly replied.

Seeing her dazed state, Gongsun Muhan didn’t say anything more, though she found it hard to connect this version of Hu Yu with the fierce determination she had shown earlier.

She turned and strode away, moving as swiftly as flying.

She truly couldn’t afford any more delays. Although Huahua had said that the place where Feng Jie was located wasn’t dangerous, just that she couldn’t get out, Gongsun Muhan felt an inexplicable unease, as if something bad was about to happen.

Watching her retreating figure, Hu Yu didn’t try to stop her. She could tell that Gongsun Muhan had something urgent to attend to.

She looked at her empty right arm, silently channeled strength into her left hand, and fiercely crushed the token, firmly imprinting Gongsun Muhan’s kindness in her heart.

“Almost there, almost there! I can sense its aura!”

The closer they got to the center of the underground palace, the more intensely Huahua felt the presence of the Bixin Sword. It seemed to be restless?

The center was a tomb. As soon as Gongsun Muhan reached the front hall of the tomb, she saw a large crowd of people huddled in front of the shrine, wearing disciple robes of various styles and colors, practitioners from different immortal sects here for training.

The front hall was starkly empty, practically devoid of anything except for the ferocious beast murals snarling on the walls and the two statues standing side by side in the shrine.

They were Meng Po, who governs the karma of past lives, and Yan Luo, the King of Hell.

Gongsun Muhan did not enter. After a brief glance at the tomb’s structure, she retreated. As expected, even if those people turned the front hall upside down or blasted the tomb apart, they would never find the crucial spot.

Underground tombs were usually built according to feng shui and terrain. This front hall was enclosed on all sides, with the entrance passage sloping downward from above. The low-lying terrain at the base of the cliff was prone to water accumulation and inhabited by man-eating crabs. Most of the monsters along the way thrived in damp environments. If her deduction was correct, this front hall was suspended over deep water, existing as a standalone structure, likely a decoy. The real path to the inner chamber had to be accessed through the maze.

As she retreated, she brushed past someone. The person was completely concealed, but their figure seemed familiar, especially those venomous eyes.

Within seconds, Gongsun Muhan saw him emerge before he could fully put away his magical tool, a treasure detector, its rings spinning and emitting an eerie blue glow.

“Sister Su Meng, I smell the aura of the Bixin Sword!” Huahua couldn’t help exclaiming.

As they passed each other again, the wind from his steps lifted a corner of his veil. Gongsun Muhan remained still, lowering her head to adjust the folds of her robe at her waist, waiting for him to move away.

Why was Tan Feng here? Shouldn’t he be looking for Feng Jie?

He wanted the Bixin Sword too.

Gongsun Muhan’s guess was right. Tan Feng had come precisely for the Bixin Sword. If not for it, why would a dignified elder like him stoop to disguising himself and enduring humiliation for the sake of a frivolous junior?

He planned to retrieve the Bixin Sword first before rescuing Feng Jie. After all, a low-level cultivator like her was expendable, only the sect leader and Fifth Junior Sister treated her like a treasure…

Meanwhile, Dao Xuanzi, the leader of Bixia Sect under the watchful eyes of the other six major immortal sects, sneezed violently. He had been restless all along. Though Tan Feng was cunning, he was loyal to the sect and followed orders diligently. Besides, with his considerable strength, Feng Jie should be safe…

If he knew that the junior brother he trusted had prioritized his own agenda over the mission from the start, he would probably be furious enough to spit blood.

By now, Tan Feng, guided by his treasure detector, had reached the outer area of the inner chamber.

Watching the detector’s rings spin rapidly, its glow intensifying and filling the spherical end of the tomb passage with blue light, it illuminated a door engraved with intricate arrays.

Tan Feng’s heart raced with excitement. The sword tassel was indeed something the Bixin Sword had long carried, the spiritual energy imbued from the divine artifact hadn’t deceived him. He had a premonition that behind this door lay the Bixin Sword he sought.

Once he found the Bixin Sword, Xing’er would be saved. She could cultivate, stay by his side… and her mother’s spirit in heaven could rest in peace…

He wasn’t wrong. Behind that door was indeed the Bixin Sword.

But besides the Bixin Sword, there was also Feng Jie.