Ye Ziling’s body stiffened, and she remained frozen in place. Her cool, clear eyes furrowed slightly, as if contemplating something.
Impossible. She clearly remembered being at the Shaolin Sect, with Ling Xi in her grasp. How could she have ended up here just by opening her eyes?
Catching sight of the table out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mu Heng standing with his hands on his hips. He pulled out a chair and unceremoniously sat beside her, pouring himself a cup of tea.
“Right now, Shaolin is searching for a lost magical artifact from their sect. They’ve been searching for a month. Shen Qingfeng, that old rogue, requested to search our Jiuling Palace, but I refused,” Mu Heng said, sipping his tea leisurely. “What kind of rubbish is that? They dare to suspect our Jiuling Palace. Who wants Shaolin’s magical artifact anyway!”
Ye Ziling was even more astonished. She stared at the divine lamp in her hand, her eyes shrouded in an unfathomable darkness.
“What day is it today?” Ye Ziling suddenly spoke, her gaze fixed intently on Mu Heng.
“The ninth day of the ninth month.” Mu Heng raised an eyebrow, looking at Ye Ziling in confusion, wondering why she was asking.
The ninth day of the ninth month? How could it be the ninth day of the ninth month…
The Immortal Examination mobilization meeting was held on the ninth day of the eighth month. If that were the case, a month had already passed?
She had no choice but to believe that she had transmigrated a month into the future, to the ninth day of the ninth month, which was the second day of the Martial Arts Examination.
This meant that the Sun-Moon Divine Lamp was not the one on Ling Xi, but the one she had stolen from the Shaolin Sect.
She had no way of knowing what had happened in the interim.
Why did Ling Xi have so many bizarre evil techniques?
The first time she saw the beast-controlling powder transfer to herself, she was already immensely surprised. Now, she had inexplicably transmigrated a month forward.
She was determined to get to the bottom of all the strange occurrences, including the backlash of immortal arts and the tremors she felt when touching him.
-
Ling Xi was awakened by a series of system prompts.
[System: Master, Master, wake up quickly!]
He impatiently rubbed his brow, gasped, and said coldly, “I’m not dead yet, I can hear you.”
He opened his eyes and saw a forest. The trees were robust, with lush foliage. A few slivers of moonlight filtered through the gaps. The surroundings were eerily quiet.
Where was this place? Wasn’t he at the Hongxiu Inn just yesterday? How had he ended up in the suburbs?
“Where is this? Wasn’t I at the inn yesterday?” Ling Xi’s gaze swept leisurely around. The evening breeze blew, rustling the leaves. A few leaves fell into his palm.
He calmly looked at the tender green in his hand and inhaled deeply, smelling the faint fragrance of the leaves mixed with a strong scent of blood, which made him frown.
Based on his years of beast-catching experience, there were demonic beasts here, and not just one.
[System: Master… a small accident occurred. You used too much force and transmigrated a month into the future…]
Ling Xi’s expression changed drastically, and a shadow crossed his eyes. “A month?”
Did that mean he had died at the hands of the extreme one?
A month… so, he was currently in the Martial Arts Examination?
No wonder the demonic energy was so thick.
[System: Master, rest assured, it was your own magical power that was used, so you were saved. However… your cultivation technique will be temporarily invalid.]
Hearing this, a flicker of cunning flashed in Ling Xi’s eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned up, though his eyes held a chilling glint. “Can it be restored? How long specifically?”
[System: Three days, no more, no less!]
Ling Xi let out a mocking laugh, his dark pupils rippling with coldness.
Three days?
He was now in the Martial Arts Examination venue, encountering demon dens at every few steps. It was one thing for his cultivation technique to be invalid, but his Hundred Beasts Pouch was also not with him. Was he supposed to surrender himself as food to these demonic beasts?
He didn’t care about the Martial Arts Examination. Surviving these three days was the key!
As he finished speaking, a beam of golden light arrived with the wind, and a voice sounded in his head. Ling Zhao was calling him with a communication bell.
[Ling Zhao: Junior Brother Ling, where are you? Please reply quickly if you receive this…]
The voice was intermittent and unclear.
Ling Xi frowned, his eyes sharpening. “Senior Brother, where are you?”
There was no response.
Ling Xi had no choice but to take out his communication bell. Just as he was about to use a spell, he realized his cultivation technique was already sealed.
Damn it, just as he feared.
He took out another communication talisman, but no matter how he cast the spell, the talisman remained unresponsive, lying inertly in his palm, like a piece of waste paper.
“Evil creature, take me to Senior Brother’s location quickly.”
[System: I can, but it will be a bit slow.]
“Stop with the nonsense, hurry.”
Ling Xi couldn’t be bothered with the speed. Any speed was faster than him blindly searching on foot.
-
A figure darted through the night, as fast as lightning, emitting a series of infant cries.
“Senior Disciple Brother, quickly write a demon-suppressing talisman!” Shen Yueru, clad in a green robe, narrowed her phoenix-like eyes. Facing the monster with a human face, a sheep’s body, and eyes growing under its armpits, which was scuttling around them, her pretty face turned pale, filled with terror.
But she had accidentally been trapped within the beast-trapping formation and could do nothing but hope that Ling Zhao, outside the formation, would be more resourceful.
The infant cries echoed around them, ethereal and eerie, sending chills down one’s spine.
A flash of golden light streaked across the dark night sky, forming a line of runes. The light gradually dimmed and then disappeared, leaving only a damp, ineffective talisman on the ground.
“Junior Sister, the demon-suppressing talisman is useless against it!” The man turned to look at the girl trapped within the beast-trapping formation. His handsome face was filled with anxiety. He hastily pulled his hands apart and opened his communication bell to call for reinforcements.
“Junior Brother Ling, where are you? Little Junior Sister is trapped in the beast-trapping formation, and I can’t deal with this monster alone. Hurry…” His breathing grew increasingly rapid, and his voice became hoarse, but he still tried to maintain his composure.
With his junior sister trapped inside, he couldn’t afford to lose his nerve.
Seeing no response from the other end, Ling Zhao frowned and cast spells repeatedly, but he couldn’t hear a sound from the other side.
The monster’s cries echoed in his ears, growing louder and making him increasingly flustered.
A shadowy figure leaped into the air, blocking the moonlight, and pounced towards Ling Zhao.
His mind was in disarray, and he couldn’t calm down enough to write the talisman. His feet felt as if they were cast in lead, unable to move. He could only hastily scribble another demon-suppressing talisman.
A bright light flashed, followed by a deafening explosion and a massive spark in the air, as if something had been violently thrown to the ground. The eerie infant cries abruptly stopped.
The night once again fell into silence.
A golden talisman paper, burning with blue flames, fell from the sky.
It landed and burned out.
Ling Xi, clad in a moon-white long gown with his dark hair half-tied, stood in the moonlight with a faint smile on his handsome face, like an immortal descending to earth.
He still held a handful of fire talisman powder in his hand.
Although he couldn’t cast spells, he could use the fire talisman powder to catalyze others’ talismans.
“Senior Brother Ling, save me quickly,” Shen Yueru said in a panicked tone, her almond-shaped eyes wide open as she cast a pleading gaze at him.
“Junior Brother Ling!” Ling Zhao hurried forward. Seeing Ling Xi, his sense of security instantly surged. “Junior Brother Ling, quickly save Little Junior Sister.”
Although Ling Xi was Ling Zhao’s junior disciple brother, their skills in cultivation and swordsmanship were vastly different. Ling Xi possessed exceptional talent; even the sect leader was no match for him.
“Is it Little Junior Sister’s first time catching a demon?” Ling Xi’s eyes darkened, a hint of doubt on his handsome face. He then turned to Ling Zhao and said, “Senior Brother, write a formation talisman.”
“Junior Brother… what is a formation talisman?” Ling Zhao looked somewhat bewildered. He had learned so many years of magic, yet he had never heard of a formation talisman.
“Write the demon-suppressing talisman in reverse.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Zhao’s eyes lit up with understanding. He quickly wrote the talisman, and as the talisman paper burned, the formation light on the ground instantly dissipated.
Shen Yueru, sensing the mockery, pouted her red lips and ran towards Ling Xi, twining her arms around his sleeves and coquettishly saying, “Senior Brother Ling, don’t scold me anymore. I’ll be more careful in the future. It’s all because that demon beast was too cunning…”
Ling Xi callously pried her hands off him and cautiously looked ahead, a coldness flashing in his eyes.
“Don’t let your guard down, there are more demon beasts ahead.”