Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Entering the Secret Chamber

The reason the three-headed snake had been able to advance to late Second Rank so quickly was because of that hidden spirit vein underground. Now that the treasure it relied on for advancement was gone, it turned its hatred toward the human cultivators attacking it. It was certain these humans had used some trick to steal its things.

“Despicable human cultivators!” All three heads of the snake roared at once. Then it whipped its tail in a frenzy, trying to bury them all in the underground pit.

By now, Mu Ning Zhu, Du Yu Ling, and the others had successfully regrouped with Sheng Yu Hong and the other three. Seeing the situation was bad, Sheng Yu Hong immediately shouted, “Everyone, leave the underground pit first! It’s going to collapse!”

“Yes, Senior Brother Sheng!”

Some formed hand seals, some slapped on teleportation talismans, and in an instant they all turned into streaks of escaping light and fled the underground pit.

When the three-headed snake saw those hateful human cultivators escaping, how could it possibly let them go so easily? It broke through the ground and chased after them.

When Sheng Yu Hong’s group appeared on the surface, the three-headed snake also burst out of the earth. Before they could even react, its tail lashed out and flung two early Foundation Establishment disciples away. Sheng Yu Hong flashed to the side and neatly avoided the attack.

“Hao Ran Sect disciples, form up!” Sheng Yu Hong roared. He poured spiritual power into the spirit sword in his hand and blocked the snake’s second attack.

The three-headed snake flicked its tongue and began spraying poison, then slammed its tail down again.

Mu Ning Zhu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, flashed forward, and joined the formation.

Du Yu Ling deftly dodged the tail’s strike and had already unleashed her first sword light, scraping along the snake’s body as it linked up with another fellow disciple’s sword light.

As the streaks of sword light connected one after another, the sword formation took shape. Sheng Yu Hong stood as the formation’s core. He controlled the sword formation as it pressed downward, steadily shrinking the three-headed snake’s space to move.

Meanwhile, Yun Xi entered a stone chamber. It looked man-made. The walls had been polished smooth. The entire chamber was only about thirty square meters. A white-robed, white-haired man sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion with his eyes closed. There was no one else in the space.

Alarm bells rang in Yun Xi’s head. She immediately bowed respectfully. “Senior, please don’t blame me. A powerful enemy forced me into this place. I had no intention of disturbing your cultivation!”

As she bowed, she watched him carefully from the corner of her eye. After she spoke, he gave no reaction at all and did not even open his eyes.

All kinds of body-snatching scenes flashed through Yun Xi’s mind. She did not dare go near him. Not only did she stay away, she also activated every defense she could. Then she respectfully repeated her explanation two more times. The only reply she got was silence in the room.

Only then did Yun Xi raise her head. She cautiously extended a thread of spiritual sense and slowly approached the meditating man.

The moment her spiritual sense touched him, a gentle white light spread from his body. Then a translucent figure appeared in front of the white-robed man.

“Someone finally came in. If no one came, I would have dispersed.”

The figure had the exact same face as the white-haired man. Yun Xi confirmed it was likely a wisp of his soul. She did not let her guard down and still cupped her hands respectfully. “I’ve disturbed you, Senior. This junior was driven here by a Second Rank three-headed snake. I had no intention of disturbing your peace.”

The white-haired man glanced at Yun Xi, and a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes. “The wisp of consciousness I left on my body was triggered by you. Are you willing to do me a favor? If you are, the storage ring I left behind will be your reward.”

Yun Xi swept her gaze over him and did not see a storage ring, but she still said respectfully, “Senior, this junior’s cultivation is limited. What could I do to help you?”

“I want to find a successor to inherit my legacy. I hope you can take the cultivation method I practiced and bring it out.”

As soon as Yun Xi heard that, she thought it was simple. She could do that, so she said respectfully, “Senior, this junior is a disciple of the Hao Ran Sect. I can bring your cultivation method back to the sect, and we can definitely find a suitable successor.”

The white-robed man sighed, looking helpless. The little girl in front of him was too young, and she had three Spirit Roots. Even if he tried to seize her body, it would be hard to achieve the Great Dao. In the end, he waved his sleeve and pushed a jade slip toward Yun Xi.

Yun Xi gathered spiritual power into her hands and accepted the jade slip respectfully. When she looked at it, she saw five words carved on it: “Peerless Sword Thunder Art.” Her heart was overjoyed, but she still forced the corners of her lips down and asked softly, “Senior, can only a Lightning-Spirit-Root Cultivator practice this method?”

“Yes. I waited here for a thousand years and never met a single disciple with a lightning spirit root, so I can only entrust this method to you. In my storage ring, there is a method suitable for a water spirit root, but that one can only take you to the Nascent Soul Stage.”

Yun Xi pretended her eyes lit up. “Thank you, Senior. A method that reaches the Nascent Soul Stage is already very good. This junior wouldn’t dare be greedy.”

“Good. Make a vow now, and you can leave this place,” the figure said as it looked at Yun Xi.

Yun Xi spoke solemnly. “This junior, Wei Yun Xi, swears here that I will definitely find a disciple with a lightning spirit root to inherit Senior’s method. If I break this vow, my cultivation will never advance even an inch, and my path to immortality will be ruined.”

The white-haired man was satisfied with Yun Xi’s tact. He flicked his sleeve, and a white jade storage ring flew into Yun Xi’s palm.

“This is your reward!”

Yun Xi beamed as she stroked the storage ring, looking like a small cultivator who had never seen the world. Right in front of the soul, she pricked her finger and refined it with her blood, then slipped it onto her index finger. In the next instant, the ring became invisible. She immediately cupped her hands. “Thank you for your generosity, Senior. This junior will not fail your trust.”

The man sighed, and the soul figure slowly dissipated. He left behind his final words. “The teleportation array that leads out is under the cushion I’m sitting on. Good luck!”

Even after the soul dispersed completely, Yun Xi did not relax her guard. She walked up to the white-robed man, bowed deeply, then said, “Forgive me,” and stored his body in her storage bag. She planned to find a place to bury him after she left.

The cushion he sat on was also a good item. Following her habit of taking anything she could, Yun Xi put it into her storage ring. Only then did she see the small teleportation array beneath it.

She recognized this array. She had seen one before when she used a teleportation array to leave Hao Ran City. She quickly took out nine low-grade spirit stones and set them into the grooves. The moment the array lit up, she stepped onto it.

The formation covered Yun Xi’s whole body. In the next instant, she vanished from the stone chamber.

After completing its job, the teleportation array cracked apart. The entire chamber collapsed in an instant, wiping away any trace that it had ever existed.

When Yun Xi appeared again, she was in midair. In the next instant, she entered a free fall. With a loud thud, she crashed into something soft.

“Pah! Did that teleportation array malfunction? Why did it send me into the air?” Yun Xi complained as she spat and climbed back up. Luckily the height was not too high. Otherwise, even if she did not die, she would have been crippled.

Just then, something pecked her in the lower back. Her hair stood on end. Her spiritual sense spread out instantly, and in the next second she almost screamed, because the place she had fallen into was a huge nest. The thing that attacked her was a red-beaked bird chick that did not even have all its feathers yet.