Sword energy danced, scattering fallen blossoms.
The maiden, clad in pink, moved with the grace of a swallow.
By the lake stood a man in white, his eyes holding a smile, his face like the moon, watching quietly.
Leng Xingzhi did not rush their journey. He waited until Chu Lingwei had thoroughly mastered the moves of the Nine Heavens Sword Skill before heading towards the Ten Thousand Miles Forest.
"Senior Brother, I can already execute the first two forms of the Nine Heavens Sword Skill."
Chu Lingwei adored this sword technique. Each time she practiced it, she could achieve a state of unity between herself and her sword. Practicing swordplay was a truly enjoyable experience for her. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Let us test it now."
Leng Xingzhi waved his hand, and the surrounding barrier dispersed. The dangerous aura of the surroundings immediately engulfed them.
"What's happening?"
Chu Lingwei was surprised. When they had first arrived here, they had only encountered a sixth-tier Steel Earth Bear. Now, in the time it took her to practice her swordplay, dozens of sixth and seventh-tier spirit beasts had appeared.
Her Senior Brother thought far too highly of her.
To make her face over a dozen sixth and seventh-tier spirit beasts at once, she would only be fodder.
Leng Xingzhi sensed the trace of resentment emanating from his junior sister and couldn't help but chuckle.
How could he possibly let his junior sister fight these spirit beasts? He wasn't that barbaric.
"Let's go and investigate the inner region. Something must have happened to cause these spirit beasts to rush out," Leng Xingzhi said, taking Chu Lingwei onto a flying artifact. They soared over the spirit beasts and ventured deeper into the forest.
The further they went, the more pronounced the dangerous aura became.
Leng Xingzhi's chest ached, and his brow furrowed.
Insolence! They dared to go to that place.
"Senior Brother, what's wrong?" Chu Lingwei felt her Senior Brother's right hand tightly clutching his chest. She quickly moved to support him, her face filled with concern.
Leng Xingzhi's complexion was pale. He smiled and shook his head, "It's nothing, just an old injury acting up. It's not serious."
"Senior Brother, you are injured?" Chu Lingwei was even more surprised. With the Leng family and the Spiritual Cultivation Academy behind him, he should never lack medicine for any injury.
Leng Xingzhi made no attempt to hide it, sitting directly on the artifact. "Yes, an injury sustained a long time ago."
"Senior Brother, can't even Spiritual Power Condensation Beads heal your injury?" Chu Lingwei was puzzled. What kind of injury could he have sustained?
"No."
An injury that even Spiritual Power Condensation Beads could not heal made Chu Lingwei frown.
"Senior Brother, what kind of medicine do you need?"
"The medicine I need does not exist on the Xuantián Continent," Leng Xingzhi said, smiling at Chu Lingwei as if the injury had nothing to do with him. "Thank you for your concern, Junior Sister. If such a spiritual medicine appears, I will tell you immediately."
"Alright."
Chu Lingwei shifted, wanting to ask for details about the medicine. But then she remembered the spirit herbs and immortal medicines in her spatial realm, which she had transplanted from the Hengtian Secret Realm. The spirit grasses there were all recorded in the Xuantián Medicine Compendium, so they were likely not the medicine her Senior Brother required.
"Ahead is the territory of the Flowing Gold Rats. It's a good opportunity to practice your Nine Heavens Sword Skill."
Leng Xingzhi brought Chu Lingwei down to a patch of soft sand. With a burst of spiritual energy, hundreds of Flowing Gold Rats shot out from the sand.
Flowing Gold Rats were all third-tier spirit beasts. They were gregarious, and thousands of them could be extremely deadly.
"Flowing Gold Rats are very agile, and the gas they spray is poisonous, causing hallucinations. They particularly enjoy feeding on cultivators. Weiwei, be careful." Leng Xingzhi stepped back, showing no intention of joining Chu Lingwei.
"Yes, I'll try."
Chu Lingwei's eyes turned cold. Gripping her sword, she leaped into the territory of the Flowing Gold Rats.
Before her feet even touched the ground, dozens of Flowing Gold Rats leaped out of the soft sand and pounced towards Chu Lingwei.
Chu Lingwei had no time to think. She swung her sword and began to slay them.
"Weiwei, a barrier has been set up here. Practice your swordplay with peace of mind." Leng Xingzhi sent two small beasts into the area as well, silently transmitting a message to them, "Protect her."
"Alright."
There were too many Flowing Gold Rats, and Chu Lingwei couldn't turn back. She could only assent.
Seeing Chu Lingwei's proficient swordsmanship, Leng Xingzhi's figure vanished from the spot.
"Insolence!"
Leng Xingzhi, who had been in white robes, now wore black. He stood before a Netherfire Abyss, his eyes filled with coldness as he gazed at the wisps of souls floating above the fiery abyss.
"Speak, who sent you here?"
"Master ordered me to take the Netherfire."
"It was Master."
"Master."
The souls felt their bodies slowly becoming transparent. Before they could even reach the first layer of ghost cultivation, their bodies showed signs of shattering. The souls had already answered the question.
A bloodthirsty smile flickered across Leng Xingzhi's lips. "Master"? No one had ever dared to call themselves Master in his presence.
"We..."
As the souls were about to say more, the Netherfire magma erupted, and the souls instantly turned to ash, disappearing forever.
Leng Xingzhi took a step forward and leaped into the Netherfire Abyss. The Netherfire immediately enveloped him.
...
"Where is Senior Brother?"
Chu Lingwei had no idea how many Flowing Gold Rats she had slain or how many Restoration Pills and Spirit Nurturing Pills she had consumed. Finally, she found a moment to look back and realized her Senior Brother was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't know. He left after sending us in."
The Illusory Cat shivered involuntarily when it thought of Weiwei's Senior Brother. It was somewhat afraid of that man.
"Alright, let's continue."
This was the Ten Thousand Miles Forest. It held both danger and opportunity. Perhaps Senior Brother had encountered his own opportunity.
Chu Lingwei saw more Flowing Gold Rats rushing towards them and raised her sword to meet them.
Now, she could fight without spiritual energy, using only the first two forms of the Nine Heavens Sword Skill her Senior Brother had taught her. She could easily slay them, and it was becoming increasingly effortless.
Several days later, Chu Lingwei finally finished killing all the Flowing Gold Rats in the area. Looking at the ground covered in their corpses, Chu Lingwei felt a prickling sensation.
While she was killing them, she hadn't felt anything. Now, seeing the mountain of bodies, she felt a wave of nausea.
Feng Ming, however, was quite happy. She had already started helping Weiwei clean up the corpses of the Flowing Gold Rats. "Weiwei, the fur of these Flowing Gold Rats can be exchanged for spirit stones."
"Okay, let's collect them."
No one would refuse more money. The hides of these thousands of Flowing Gold Rats would earn her thousands of spirit stones, a considerable sum.
Chu Lingwei suppressed her discomfort and began skinning them with Feng Ming and the others.
"Eh, what's this?"
The Illusory Cat's movements were quite rough. It tore the Flowing Gold Rat corpses apart while skinning them, causing Chu Lingwei to banish it to the side.
Before long, a small piece of metal was thrown towards her.
"It looks like Profound Iron Stone," Chu Lingwei recognized it as an iron used for crafting magic artifacts. She used a cleaning spell to wash away the bloodstains. "Catty, where did you find it?"
"Inside its stomach."
The Illusory Cat, with its long, bloody claws, leaped before Chu Lingwei, a smug smile on its face. "Their stomachs contain many things."