Chapter 172
Chapter 172: How Did the Barrier Technique Break?!
Upon seeing Shi Zi Chu’s look of awe, Qu Ru spoke with calm composure: “Senior sister Shi, don’t you know? Sword cultivators are generally quite thrifty.”
High emotional intelligence: thrifty and efficient.
Low emotional intelligence: poor.
Shi Zi Chu nodded once, then shook her head.
“The sword cultivators of Rising Succession Peak don’t count,” Qu Ru added, her voice tinged with envy and resentment. “Rising Succession Peak has Venerable Xing Lan, and Venerable Xing Lan gives you extra subsidies of spirit stones!”
Jade Void Sect has seven peaks, and among them, the disciples of Rising Succession Peak live the most comfortable lives!
Seeing Qu Ru’s envious expression, Shi Zi Chu couldn’t help but laugh. With Qu Ru’s casual joke, the tension from the impending beast tide was eased somewhat.
An hour later, both the Jade Void Sect and Limitless Sect disciples had gathered.
Yan Zhou Bai’s calm and steady voice broke the silence: “The strength of the middle zone spirit beasts mostly lies in the mid to late golden core stage. Once they fall into a berserk state, they will grow even stronger.”
In simpler terms: they can fight.
“Liang Wei Sheng is in the late stage of foundation establishment, but his soul contract beast is at the nascent soul stage,” Meng Xi Yu spoke up. “My idea is to take the challenge head-on.”
This beast tide was a rare opportunity for honing their skills.
Yan Zhou Bai nodded in agreement, “I think the same.”
The path of cultivation is fraught with danger; what is a little more danger in comparison?
Guan Zhuang shared the same thought.
Spirit beasts below the nascent soul stage would be handled by these disciples, while those at the nascent soul stage or above would be dealt with by their more experienced seniors. If a spirit transformation stage beast appeared, they were not without the ability to fight back.
Meng Xi Yu spoke again, “In that case, let’s begin preparations.”
Night was falling quickly, and if the beast tide were to arrive tonight, they had to be ready.
Jiang Wan Sheng looked at Shi Zi Chu, clearly reluctant as he spoke: “Qing Qing, I have to go to the inner zone.”
The beast tide was approaching, and he couldn’t leave the Jiang Clan’s disciples unattended.
“Be careful,” Shi Zi Chu reminded him.
Jiang Wan Sheng replied, then continued to fuss: “You should be the one to be careful. The magic artifact works well, but if you’re missing anything, I’ll bring it to you later…”
Shi Zi Chu, in a quick motion, took out a candy and stuffed it into Jiang Wan Sheng’s mouth, cutting off his endless chatter.
Seeing him glance back several times, she turned and began setting traps.
It wasn’t a life-and-death separation. After the beast tide, they would both enter the inner zone, and they would meet again soon enough.
“Ban Xia, Liu Jue, you’re in charge of maintaining the defensive barrier technique and healing the disciples…” Meng Xi Yu spoke with practiced authority, assigning duties.
Sword cultivators led the offense, talismans and artifact smiths focused on ranged attacks, and alchemists provided support.
After preparing several traps and defensive formations, the sky had turned completely dark.
The air grew damp and the temperature dropped.
Shi Zi Chu silently donned her fox fur cloak.
Several bonfires were lit.
Sitting before one of the bonfires, Chu Zhi Rou looked at the nearby traps and defensive formations, her eyes flickering as she surveyed the situation.
The first part of the night passed uneventfully, and many disciples began to relax their guard.
The night thickened, and a quiet stillness descended around them.
Suddenly, the azure luan sword in Chu Zhi Rou’s hands hummed.
The drowsy feeling that had begun to settle on her vanished instantly.
“Alert!” she shouted.
Several voices rang out in unison, and the disciples who had let down their guard shivered in shock. Reflexively, they drew out their magic artifacts and prepared for battle.
Chu Zhi Rou, holding her azure luan sword, had sharp eyes, and her youthful face radiated the resilience of an ancient pine.
“They’re here!” Meng Xi Yu’s cold voice rang out as she raised her sword, “Attack!”
The moment her words fell, countless blood moon eels wriggled out of the fog, some long, some short, some thick, some thin, all tangled together in a mass, looking utterly repulsive.
Chu Zhi Rou nearly froze in fear.
The thick moisture in the air was drawn together by Shi Zi Chu into aqua blue silken threads. These threads interwoven to form a deadly line that sliced through the approaching blood moon eels, severing them into several pieces.
Meng Xi Yu glanced around and turned to the leisurely Shi Zi Chu, “Go help the Limitless Sect.”
Shi Zi Chu acknowledged with a nod, and in a flash of movement, her fingers wove through the air, causing countless aqua blue silken threads to rise from the ground.
The horrified Limitless Sect disciples were immediately relieved, their status stabilized as they began to work together to slay the blood moon eels.
Before long, a suppressive aura from a mid-nascent soul stage presence swiftly approached.
Guan Zhuang, holding his staff, spoke with a calm yet slightly murderous tone, “The blood moon eel king is here.”
Yao Ruo Ruo volunteered, “I’ll go take care of it!”
“Be careful,” Yan Zhou Bai cautioned.
Yao Ruo Ruo nodded and soared toward the blood moon eel king.
The golden hook phoenix butterfly that had been resting in Shi Zi Chu’s hair received her command and flapped its wings toward Yao Ruo Ruo.
The bonfires were extinguished by the gusts of spiritual power, and in the pitch darkness, spiritual and sword lights flickered in the air.
Shi Zi Chu’s eyes stung from the flashes.
She closed her eyes for a moment, then finally couldn’t bear it any longer and took out a night luminescent pearl.
With a soft glow, the pearl floated in mid-air, its light spreading to illuminate the area.
“The white jade fish are coming,” Fu Qi Xiu’s voice carried a clear sense of mischief.
Shi Zi Chu chuckled lightly. “A’Xiu.”
“…They’re just a bunch of nascent soul stage white jade fish!” Fu Qi Xiu said with a stony expression, “No need for such drama!”
Ye Chi Wei, observing from the side with arms crossed, sized up Fu Qi Xiu.
A demon cultivator, not of low cultivation, who knew not why he had come to Shi Zi Chu’s side.
“Hmm?”
The gentle tone of inquiry from Shi Zi Chu sounded like a death knell to Fu Qi Xiu.
With a flash, he vanished from his spot.
Fang Wei An glanced at Shi Zi Chu, who was positioned further back. A cold, determined look flashed in his eyes.
With a loud crack, the defensive barrier technique set up by Jade Void Sect suddenly shattered and disappeared.
Qu Ru, unprepared, nearly found herself face-to-face with a blood moon eel. As she swung her sword to strike the eel, she cursed loudly, “Damn it! How did the barrier technique break?!”
Qu Ru reacted quickly, but other disciples were slower, and the result was that some were bitten by the blood moon eels.
Before Meng Xi Yu could speak, Shi Zi Chu swiftly formed hand seals and used aqua blue silken threads to build a defensive line.
With Shi Zi Chu’s dependable support, the pressure on the disciples eased considerably.
“All disciples who’ve been bitten, fall back!” Meng Xi Yu calmly ordered. “Ban Xia, get them healed and detoxed quickly.”
Ban Xia and the other alchemists responded immediately.
Yan Zhou Bai gave a quick glance and, seeing Shi Zi Chu stabilize the situation, did not intervene further.
The aqua blue silken threads, now stained with blood from the eels, dripped thick, sticky blood onto the ground.
Qu Ru retreated to Shi Zi Chu’s side to catch her breath.
Chu Zhi Rou also retreated, her azure luan sword now covered in blood. Her breath was a bit ragged.
After a pause, she seemed to express relief as she said, “Thank goodness for Second Senior Sister.”
Shi Zi Chu’s expression turned serious.
“The blood moon eel king is here.”
As her words fell, several massive blood moon eels, as large as serpents, emerged from the muddy ground.
Mid nascent soul stage!
These blood moon eel kings were at the mid nascent soul stage!
Their target was clear. Their thick tails lashed toward Shi Zi Chu, the greatest threat.
Unnoticed, Fang Wei An had appeared behind Shi Zi Chu. Seizing the rare opportunity, he gathered spiritual power in the palm of his hand.
Qu Ru swung her sword, knocking one of the blood moon eel king’s tails away, her voice full of concern: “Senior sister Shi, be careful!”
Shi Zi Chu responded with a soft acknowledgement.
The blood moon eel kings charged from all directions. Just as Shi Zi Chu leapt into the air to dodge, a sudden surge of spiritual power struck her from behind.
The necklace magic artifact at her neck flashed, and a soft glow enveloped her body.
Though the sharp earth spike did not penetrate her body, the full force of the attack sent her flying through the air.