Chapter 38 Part 2

Towering mountains appeared before them, along with a waterfall cascading like a jade dragon from the cliff, its roar thunderous and waters murmuring. Everywhere were strange pines and odd rocks, with exotic flowers and herbs sprouting from crevices—multicolored and gorgeously beautiful.

Yao Changliu immediately went to dig up the herbs from the rock crevices. Yue Shenlin looked around, puzzled, and went to help dig.

“Our tasks are two: obtain Sun and Moon Divine Sand and send as many opponents out of the Shanyue True Form Chart as possible.” Li Ruoshui first glanced at the beautiful blue butterfly fluttering its wings, confirming no anomalies here before slightly relaxing her guard. “But the mountains and forests are vast—where do we find those people?”

Feng Qing shrugged. It was her first time too; how would she know? “Let’s dig up some good stuff first.” She said, raising her sword to help. But after her sword tip severed some herb roots, Yao Changliu, her face now expressionless, shooed her away.

Li Ruoshui had not really expected Feng Qing to help anyway. She examined the Guiding Talisman Edict repeatedly. Could it only be used for entry and exit, not for directions?

As she pondered, purple smoke rose from a high cliff to the northwest, drifting languidly in the wind. Li Ruoshui shouted “Let’s go!” and took the lead, turning into a streak of escaping light toward the cliff. The back of the high cliff was a gentle slope covered in an unknown flowering plant glowing faintly. The purple light emanated from the densest cluster of these flowers.

“Is it poisonous?” Li Ruoshui turned to ask Yao Changliu, yanking back Yue Shenlin who was lunging toward the flowers.

The former herb-watering worker’s knowledge paled compared to the medical prodigy Yao Changliu.

Yao Changliu said, “No.”

Feng Qing crossed her arms. “The Shanyue True Form Chart is a Cave Heaven world refined by the Qing Emperor herself. Who would plant poisonous herbs in their own backyard?” She glanced at Yao Changliu and added, “Except for Medicine King Mountain.”

“We’re here, and our opponents are mainly people, right? Fellow Daoist Shangshan, don’t be so paranoid.” With that, Feng Qing raised her brows, reached for her dharma tool, snapped her fingers, and said, “Thunder, come!”

Thunder and lightning roared wildly, instantly turning the brilliant flower field into a mess of wreckage.

Li Ruoshui watched indifferently as the thunder sword qi blasted out a large pit. With a wave of her hand, she retrieved the jade pot shaking in the pit into her palm.

Purple light swirled around the jade pot. Even before opening it, a surge of pure primal qi rushed forth, washing through her limbs and bones.

“Is that Sun and Moon Divine Sand?” Feng Qing leaned close to Li Ruoshui, raised an eyebrow, and asked suspiciously, “Are we really this lucky?”

“Is it Fellow Daoist Yue’s blessing?” Yao Changliu turned her head to look at Yue Shenlin and asked earnestly.

Yue Shenlin quickly waved her hands. How could she dare to use her own Dao technique? “Should we collect it?” Yue Shenlin asked.

“Why collect it?” Li Ruoshui and Feng Qing said in unison.

Yue Shenlin tilted her head, her eyes filled with even more confusion. She remembered that when the Empire’s cultivators explained the rules, they had mentioned the Sun and Moon Divine Sand. If the strengths of both sides were evenly matched, whoever possessed more Divine Sand would win. If they wanted to take first place, they needed to scour everywhere for Sun and Moon Divine Sand.

Li Ruoshui smiled carefreely and said, “Fellow Daoist Yue, only by using it on ourselves can we truly obtain it.”

The reason for treating Sun and Moon Divine Sand as a weight was simple: to prevent cultivators from hiding somewhere in the Shanyue True Form Chart, waiting until the others had fought it out before emerging to pick up the scraps. This did not align with the true spirit of “tempering.”

However, it was just a weight, not the only criterion. As long as they eliminated all opponents and were the last team remaining in the Shanyue True Form Chart, wouldn’t that still be a win, even without any Divine Sand in hand?

Feng Qing thought the same as Li Ruoshui. She laughed and said, “With Sun and Moon Divine Sand in hand, we’d still be hunted by the other fellow daoists. We might as well divide it up and use it right away.” Activating a Guiding Talisman Edict took time, and few could carry the Divine Sand with them when eliminated. In the end, it would just benefit others.

Yue Shenlin still felt something was off. “Is that… really how it works?” She seemed to recall that in the Origin Sea, they required the prodigies to bring out whatever they obtained.

Li Ruoshui replied, “That’s how it is for us, but those major sects—they compete in the name of their sects, so they naturally wait for the sect to distribute the gains.” When it came to fairness, who could match loose cultivators like them?

Before Li Ruoshui’s group could divide the Divine Sand, some daoists sensed the treasure’s aura and chased it to this cliff. A few were wary loose cultivators who, after assessing both sides’ strength, decisively withdrew their gazes and turned to leave. But there were also teams, adorned with ornate pendants, seemingly daoists from the Empire’s Sheng Clan, all around Golden Core First Layer.

“East Sea rebels, kill her!” A voice filled with gritted teeth rang out, confirming Li Ruoshui’s guess.

These five flashy, wealthy-looking daoists hailed from the Heavenly Fate Liang Clan. Liang Daoqi had led troops to suppress the rebellion in the East Sea, many of whom were Liang Clan daoists. The clan had suffered significant losses in the battle. If they had successfully stopped the East Sea rebels from establishing their sect, it would have been fine, but they had failed utterly. No one in the Empire dared to shame them to their faces, but in the Dharma Realm, mocking posts about them were never in short supply.

Li Ruoshui sized up the daoists ahead, as if weighing a pig ready for slaughter.

As their hateful glares shot toward her, Li Ruoshui offered a kind smile. She said, “We treat others with kindness and repay grudges with virtue. Fellow Daoist Yue, you should bless them, right?”

Yue Shenlin let out an “ah” and stared at the Liang Clan daoists ahead, saying earnestly, “In the name of Heavenly Blessing, I wish my fellow daoists smooth sailing.” A faint blue light shimmered around her body. As she activated her Blessing Divine Ability, a merfolk phantom flashed by, her voice ethereal and lingering, like a merfolk’s song.

The Liang Clan cultivators knew of merfolk. They couldn’t understand why a merfolk was with the East Sea rebels. Was she being coerced? Even if the East Sea rebels wouldn’t do that, that damned swordswoman would surely act. “Blades and swords have no eyes—please step aside, fellow daoist,” a Liang Clan cultivator said to Yue Shenlin with a cupped-fist salute, their tone still polite.

Yue Shenlin obediently shifted her position, moving away from Li Ruoshui and the others.

Li Ruoshui chuckled, raised her hand, and slapped toward the Liang Clan cultivators. A surging, majestic wave suddenly arose, blotting out the sky as it pressed down on them. Feng Qing seized the moment to unleash her sword; myriad bolts of thunder crashed into the wave, transforming the curtain of water into a vast river of lightning.

Yao Changliu cautiously retreated a few steps. At Golden Core Realm, their protective treasures could block most toxins. Unless Li Ruoshui or Feng Qing inflicted bleeding wounds, the poison would be hard to take effect. She didn’t toss more Ma Fei Powder into the water but pinched a hand seal to activate her pill array—Spring Wind Birth.

The Liang Clan cultivators practiced Edict God Dao. A three-headed, six-armed Heavenly Venerable Statue manifested behind them, allowing their true bodies to wield eight magical artifacts simultaneously. They had no desire to clash directly with the lightning river, but Yue Shenlin’s “smooth sailing” took effect. Every dodge went against their own instincts, causing them to stumble straight into the depths of the lightning river!

“Curse technique?” The Liang Clan cultivators cried out in shock, their goodwill toward the smiling, spectating Yue Shenlin vanishing completely.

Li Ruoshui smiled. “Correction: it’s a blessing.” With one slap, she shattered the Heavenly Venerable Statue, her eyes bursting with icy killing intent. As the statue broke, a buzz rang in the cultivators’ minds, their limbs going inexplicably limp under the overwhelming magic power. Murderous intent chilled the air; they should have activated their Guiding Talisman Edict immediately, but facing Li Ruoshui’s ferocious expression, they couldn’t retrieve it no matter what.

Li Ruoshui had little kindness for those who sought her death. She revealed a mocking smile, raised her hand, and pointed forward. Taiyi Blazing Fire Profound Light erupted from that point, instantly blasting the cultivator into a cloud of blood mist. The blazing fire scorched it, faint smoke rose, and a gust of wind scattered it—leaving nothing in midair.

The remaining Liang Clan cultivators looked grim. Seeing Li Ruoshui kill one effortlessly without regard for rules, shock and fury surged in their hearts.

Feng Qing glanced at Li Ruoshui and burst into loud laughter. “I see.” She had been too cautious. In the Shanyue True Form Chart, life and death were disregarded. If she wanted revenge, what was stopping her? With a shift of will, dozens of rays of light leaped out, swirling ahead. The remaining Liang Clan cultivators were beheaded by sword light; their halved corpses tumbled downward, swallowed by flames.

“Fellow Daoist dispatches several people so casually—you’re even more ferocious than your appearance suggests.” A cold voice rang out. Before the person appeared, Li Ruoshui had already circulated Universe One Qi Palm, slapping toward the source. With a booming explosion, a golden palm appeared midair as well. Magic power clashed, sending shockwaves that shattered rocks and kicked up dust.

Yue Shenlin’s eyes flickered as she reminded Li Ruoshui, “It’s Ji Wuxin’s Tathagata Palm.”

Li Ruoshui raised an eyebrow, her robes fluttering in the wind.

Ji Wuxin emerged from the shadows and stopped several zhang away from Li Ruoshui’s group. Four expressionless demon cultivators stood at her side, all First Layer, with thick auras and vigorous blood essence—they all walked the Power Dao path.

Though both from the True Dragon lineage, the Origin Sea followed the Immortal Dao with a faint lotus sanctity lingering about them, vastly different in demeanor from the demonic Cang Lang.

“I’m not here to compete for the Sun and Moon Divine Sand,” Ji Wuxin said slowly, meeting the wary gazes of Li Ruoshui and Feng Qing.

Feng Qing projected her own mindset. “Really? I don’t believe it.”

Ji Wuxin: “…” She simply ignored Feng Qing and continued to Li Ruoshui, “Tianyan Mirror—exchange name seals. I need to know Yue Shenlin’s situation.”

Originally, Yue Shenlin had just been spectating in Shanyue City, and Ji Wuxin hadn’t bothered. But she hadn’t expected Yue Shenlin to enter the Tianjiao Pursuit Contest. If she were with the Demon Country or a major sect, Ji Wuxin could rest easy. But with a swordswoman from Wind Moon Heartless Sect—the one with a poor reputation in the Dharma Realm.

Feng Qing had countless enemies, putting Yue Shenlin in peril as well.

Yao Changliu was puzzled. “Doesn’t Fellow Daoist Yue have a Tianyan Mirror?” They were discussing Yue Shenlin, yet she acted like an outsider?

Feng Qing drawled, gloating, “She’s been blocked.”

Li Ruoshui eyed her. “Not everyone’s like you.”

From her observations, Yue Shenlin wasn’t “internet-addicted” and wasn’t skilled with the Tianyan Mirror.

She was a master of unconsciously “trolling.”

After exchanging name seals, Ji Wuxin truly led her people away.

Feng Qing: “Why add her?”

Li Ruoshui cupped Blue Butterfly in her palm, not wanting it to hear. She narrowed her eyes and said, “I have a great idea to earn Spirit Jade Pills and eliminate competitors at the same time. Want to hear it?”