Chapter 63: Plucking a Plum Blossom for Whom
Yin Buran, why does she always like to do this kind of…
The Sudden Rain sword was instantly unsheathed, stirring up a fierce wind, and sending sand and stones flying.
The surrounding crowd was in a commotion for a moment, and most of them chose to get out of the way, making room for Ning Ruoque to fight.
The Mirage Sea Realm had lost control earlier, and everyone had consumed a lot of spiritual energy. They were unwilling to make a move before they had figured out the situation.
And as Ning Ruoque and the white fox’s fight became more and more intense, even if someone wanted to help, they couldn’t find a suitable opportunity.
The fox’s figure was ever-changing, and Ning Ruoque’s sword moves were even more unpredictable.
Her moves had no pattern at all and were more like they were based on instinct.
The moment the tip of her sword stabbed out, she dodged the fox’s claw attack. Before the move was fully retracted, she had already slashed sideways.
If one were to join in rashly at this time, they would probably be a hindrance.
Someone in the crowd was discussing in a low voice, “Where did this sword cultivator come from? From the Cloud Sword Pavilion?”
Another person who looked like a sword cultivator frowned and denied, “The Sword Pavilion doesn’t have such a person. She’s been with the Divine Pivot Lord all this time. Perhaps she’s some senior.”
That person scratched his head in a daze. “So strange. How come I have no impression of her at all?”
On the other side, the fox retreated to avoid Ning Ruoque’s blade, its fur standing on end, and its claws digging into the ground.
Then its beastly pupils shrank, and it stared at the pretty face before it, gradually coming to its senses.
It almost shouted that name with its eyes wide with anger, “Ning—”
Before it could finish, a crisp bell sound rang, and an invisible barrier spread out like a night curtain. It not only prevented others from being injured by the aftershock of the fight, but it also blocked the sound from both sides.
Si Mingyue hugged her staff and fell with a thud, wiping the non-existent sweat from her forehead. “So tired…”
Her cultivation was suppressed, and she had just been in a big fight. She was almost at her limit.
But in front of her, Chu Xuan rushed even faster, and in a flash, she had arrived by Ning Ruoque’s side.
It was as if she had an endless supply of energy.
She brushed past the white fox, and the fierce wind she created cut off a wisp of its fur. At the same time, she and Ning Ruoque surrounded the fox in the middle.
Chu Xuan stepped on her great axe and curled up the corners of her mouth. “Yo, isn’t this our old friend?”
Nine-tailed foxes were already rare, and that fox from back then had left a deep impression on her.
Now that she took a closer look, she found that this fox was so familiar.
In the past, the four of them had fought the nine-tailed fox together, and in the end, Chu Xuan and Ning Ruoque had joined forces to cut off six of its tails.
Seeing that the situation had taken a sharp turn, the fox had not hesitated to break another tail to escape.
And the nine-tailed fox phantom that Chu Xuan and the others had faced should also have been transformed from its tail.
The tails represented the nine-tailed fox’s cultivation. For every one that was lost, its cultivation would drop by a few points.
After its clone was destroyed by Ning Ruoque’s sword qi, this fox’s cultivation was only at the Spirit Refinement realm.
Chu Xuan stroked her chin. “That’s not right. It doesn’t look quite the same. I clearly remember that we were fighting a nine-tailed fox back then.”
She picked up her axe and rushed behind the fox, striking down fiercely.
The white fox reacted extremely quickly and dodged, hissing at Chu Xuan. She saw this curly-haired girl grin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, her expression teasing.
“Where’s the tail? How come there’s only one left? After today’s fight, you won’t become a tailless white fox, right?”
As soon as her voice fell, the white fox was so angry that even the tip of its tail stood on end.
It let out a piercing howl, “Ning Ruoque! I’ll kill you!!”
Ning Ruoque: “…”
It was clearly Chu Xuan who was provoking, so why did all the hatred end up on her?
Seeing the nine illusory tails appear behind the white fox and pounce on her with a scream, Ning Ruoque quickly raised her sword to meet them.
Ning Ruoque held her sword horizontally to block.
Chu Xuan laughed from the side. “It’s clear that since you’ve lost your tails, your brain has also gotten a lot smaller.”
The white fox turned and bit at her again, its sharp claws bringing a poisonous mist, which was burned clean by a flame from Chu Xuan.
Just then, Ning Ruoque stabbed with her sword, the sword’s shadow like a startled swan. The white fox could not avoid it, and half an inch of its ear was cut off.
After it landed, it shook its fur, clearly so angry that it had lost all reason, and pounced on Ning Ruoque again.
Just like that, the two of them took turns attacking, their cooperation tacit. The white fox was played with until it was dizzy.
A lot of its spiritual energy had been consumed, and its white fur was stained with blood and mud. It lay on the ground, panting heavily, its beastly pupils still fixed on Ning Ruoque.
It was clear that it hated her to the bone and wished it could skin her, tear her apart, and swallow her whole.
While the white fox was resting, Ning Ruoque’s figure was like a ghost. She used the remaining ninety percent of her spiritual energy without any hesitation.
The sword’s momentum was overwhelming, like a giant Kun’s tail. She pressed the white fox under the blade of her sword!
She had clearly seen the terror in the fox’s eyes, but the next second, the sea in the sky suddenly poured down with a monstrous might.
Si Mingyue let out a “oh my,” and the barrier suddenly expanded by more than ten times, enveloping everyone within.
The white fox’s eyes were venomous. “Ning Ruoque, the demon race will not let you go! The day my emperor returns will be the day of your death!”
With this curse, she instantly disappeared from under Ning Ruoque’s sword.
Without having time to care about the fleeing fox, Ning Ruoque jumped onto the flying boat in a few steps.
Just as she had scooped the “supervisor” Yin Buran into her arms, the world suddenly turned upside down!
If the Mirage Sea Realm were compared to a sphere, then it was as if an invisible hand had pushed the ball half a circle.
The sea that had been hanging above their heads surged and slid down along the edge of the Mirage Sea Realm, and the sky replaced the original sea.
Without the cover of the sea, the exit of the secret realm was completely exposed.
Fortunately, the island they were on had not flipped over. A cheer erupted from the crowd. They could finally get out!
Contrary to the chattering crowd, Chu Xuan’s expression was grave.
She pulled at her curly hair in frustration. “Tsk, this is troublesome now.”
Letting that fox escape would inevitably expose the fact that Ning Ruoque had been reborn.
This group of cunning monsters would only think of ways to kill her while her realm was still low.
Chu Xuan circled around the place where the fox had escaped. “How did this fox get in, and how did it run away?”
After confirming that there were no more sudden situations, Ning Ruoque slowly let go of her embrace.
The Yin Buran in her arms blinked, then suddenly stood on her tiptoes, and her soft cheek rubbed against Ning Ruoque’s face.
It was a little cool, and a little itchy.
Ning Ruoque let go as if she had been electrocuted, her whole body stiff, at a loss. Only the heat that slowly rose on her face was extremely familiar.
She turned her head away uncomfortably and covered half of her face, feeling that even her breath was hot.
Yin Buran… why does she always like to do this kind of thing, like some small animal.
Yin Buran was completely unaware of a certain person’s thoughts. She tugged on Ning Ruoque’s sleeve and sent a transmission to Qingtong in the distance.
“Qingtong, you and the people from the Forging Fire Sect take this group of people away. If anyone asks what happened inside, you can just answer truthfully.”
Qingtong lowered her voice. “Then Ning Ruoque…”
Ning Ruoque coughed a few times. “If you can hide it, hide it. If you can’t, it doesn’t matter.”
She had been moving around frequently recently. It was only a matter of time before she was discovered.
But unlike her original plan of returning to Mount Xuansu to cultivate alone, she was not alone now. With the power of her friends behind her, she was not afraid of being hunted by her old enemies.
The crowd gradually organized themselves into teams, crushed the secret realm tokens, and disappeared before their eyes.
Not all the people who had entered the secret realm were here.
But if they were still alive and saw the changes in the secret realm, they should also know to take this opportunity to leave.
Just then, the giant Kun leaped out of the water and flew through the clouds. It let out a long cry, attracting the attention of the four of them.
Si Mingyue put on her veil and cloak again and tilted her head to size it up for a moment. “This giant Kun should have been left behind by a god to guard the Mirage Sea Realm.”
That patch of sea should also be one of the protective measures of the Mirage Sea Realm, which was why it had prevented everyone from entering and leaving.
Logically speaking, the giant Kun should be guarding the core of the Mirage Sea Realm, which was their original destination, but now it had appeared here.
The giant Kun spat out a bubble.
Inside the bubble was an incomparably abstract line drawing. One could only barely make out a fish, a person, and a four-legged animal.
Si Mingyue looked at her companions.
Yin Buran’s expression was blank, and Chu Xuan was daydreaming. Only Ning Ruoque was observing carefully.
However, looking at her expression, it was clear that she also didn’t know what the hell this was talking about.
Si Mingyue sighed and had no choice but to guess on her own.
She said in a gentle voice, “Are you saying that someone snuck in and fought with you, and snatched the core of the Mirage Sea Realm? And then you were too weak, and that fox took advantage of you?”
Chu Xuan interjected, “But isn’t the cultivation in the Mirage Sea Realm restricted?”
The giant Kun slapped its tail, and the image on the bubble changed again.
Si Mingyue struggled to identify it. “Are you saying that the person has a strange bead in their hand? You can’t beat them?”
The giant Kun nodded and sprayed a jet of water.
Although the cause and effect of the matter were figured out, more mysteries also emerged.
For example, who had taken the core of the Mirage Sea Realm, and what was their purpose?
Chu Xuan was so annoyed that she slammed her giant axe on the ground.
“The activities of the demon race are also becoming more and more frequent. The two previous man-made disasters can also be related to the demons.”
“It’s really hard not to suspect that they are planning some big move.”
Because of the fall of the Demon God, the cultivation world and the human world had finally had a hundred years of rest.
Now, was there going to be another conflict?
The giant Kun did not quite understand Chu Xuan’s words. It just suddenly slapped its fin and pushed Ning Ruoque to the big pit on the island with a gentle force.
The remnants of the formation flickered, and it was clear that it could no longer be used.
Ning Ruoque tried to understand it. “Do you want me to fix this?”
The Kun nodded and let out a cheerful cry.
Ning Ruoque found it incredible.
Although it was said that whoever broke it should fix it, her sword qi could barely be counted on her.
But no matter how she looked at it, she didn’t look like a person who could repair a god’s formation, right?
But the Kun didn’t care. The Kun pushed Ning Ruoque with its fin, urging her to hurry up.
Seeing that Ning Ruoque did not move, it suddenly lowered its head and spat out a pile of messy pills and secret manuals.
It seemed to think that Ning Ruoque was unable to fix the formation because she had lost her strength, so it quickly spat out a secret treasure and gave it to her.
Ning Ruoque: “…”
She helplessly patted the giant Kun and pointed to Chu Xuan, who was watching the fun from the side. “I really don’t know how. Why don’t you see if she can do it?”
Chu Xuan waved her hands repeatedly. “Don’t be ridiculous. It would take me at least a year to fix this thing, and it’s not even guaranteed to work.”
The gap between gods and cultivators was not just a matter of cultivation.
For a god, communicating with the laws of heaven and earth was as simple and casual as drinking water and eating.
So a god could create such a huge secret realm with its own laws, while a cultivator could only perform a simple imitation.
Yin Buran tugged on Ning Ruoque’s sleeve. “Let’s go out first.”
After this trip, all four of them were more or less injured, especially Chu Xuan.
She looked like she was smiling, but she was probably about to be unable to stand.
Of course, Si Mingyue had also seen some signs.
She stroked the giant Kun’s head and promised with a straight face, “When we have a way to repair the formation, we’ll come back and find you.”
The Kun sprayed another mist of water, drenching the group.
Its small expression looked a little helpless, but it actually did not force Ning Ruoque to stay.
It threw the four of them onto its body, let out a long cry, and flew into the clouds.
