Chapter 34: Looks Like It Can’t Be Eaten

“We seem to have arrived too late.”

Lei Shuang appeared out of thin air by the water pool’s edge, looking at the exposed cliff face in the distance. “The protective formation was opened by external force. Someone has already gone in.”

As her voice fell, Feng Jin also appeared beside her. Seeing the characters carved into the stone wall at the abode entrance, she turned her head and asked Lei Shuang, “Have you visited this cave abode before?”

Lei Shuang smiled and shrugged. “How could I have possibly been here before?”

“True.” Feng Jin retracted her gaze, took a vertical leap, and stepped onto a flying sword. With a whoosh, she shot toward the cliff face.

Lei Shuang chased after her. “You’re not even going to wait for me?!”

Just as these two left, another two people emerged from the forest.

Bai Jin quickly ran to the pool’s edge. Seeing the waterfall split in half in the distance, she complained endlessly, “I told you to walk faster! Those Rogue Cultivators are all like hungry wolves, wanting to cart away everything they see. I’m afraid there won’t even be a complete furnishing left inside.”

Tushan Yu’s footsteps remained unhurried and leisurely. Upon hearing this, he shook his head. “You underestimate a senior of the Mahayana Realm too much. Immortal Venerable Yuanqing was extremely skilled in formations. The abode she resided in must have inner universes within; how could it be cracked so easily?”

“I don’t care!” Bai Jin stamped her foot, dragging Tushan Yu as she flew toward the cliff face. “Hurry up!”

The scene before her eyes changed. The light on the flying sword beneath her feet suddenly vanished.

Without support under her soles, her body lost balance. Bi Lan reacted a beat too slow and fell down in a panic, tumbling hard.

She crashed into a courtyard, submerged by a sea of flowers.

After floundering for a long while, Bi Lan grabbed onto blades of grass to prop herself up and looked around.

As far as the eye could see were all gracefully swaying Spirit Flowers.

Her body was covered in flower petals, giving off waves of rich, heavy fragrance.

Yan Zhao wasn’t there; they had been separated.

Bi Lan climbed up from the ground, brushed off the grass and leaves from her body, then took out her Compass, attempting to perform a Divination to find Yan Zhao’s location.

Unexpectedly, the compass needle just spun endlessly, never stopping.

The moment they entered the cave abode, this compass had ceased to function normally.

Moments later, Bi Lan put away the compass.

Gazing out, there was a palace in the distance, but because it was too far, she could only see a small part of it.

I’ll go check over there first, Bi Lan decided.

She formed hand seals and recited the spell for Sword Riding, but the flying sword wouldn’t obey.

“…”

Indeed, worthy of a senior of the Mahayana Realm. Even three hundred years after her passing, the rules she once set still operated.

Bi Lan felt restricted in every way.

However, this also confirmed her thoughts from another angle: this Immortal’s Cave Abode should hold many opportunities.

Bi Lan fumbled her way out of the sea of flowers and came to a red wall. Following the wall, she searched for a gate to enter.

She felt as if she had walked for almost half a double-hour, but the red wall seemed to have no end.

As Bi Lan walked, a thought surfaced unbidden in her mind.

If Junior Sister Yan were here, what would she do?

She lifted her head and looked at the red wall, two zhang high beside her.

Bi Lan bent down to pick up a stone and threw it at the red wall.

With a ding, the stone embedded itself in the wall surface. No formation was attached to this section of the high wall.

Bi Lan tapped her toes and leaped up with Lightness Skill. She stepped on the embedded stone on the wall and flipped over it with ease.

Landing lightly, a person unexpectedly appeared before her.

Luo Qi.

Bi Lan froze for a moment, instinctively stepping back to leave.

Luo Qi naturally saw her too, but he wouldn’t let her leave. With a shift of his steps, he blocked Bi Lan’s path.

“Junior Sister Bi.” A meaningful smile appeared on Luo Qi’s face. “In such a vast Immortal Abode, you and I can chance upon each other here. Don’t you think it’s fate?”

Bi Lan pursed her lips and answered calmly, “Senior Brother Luo, this isn’t Tianzhu Peak.”

“Of course I know!” Luo Qi clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles loudly. “This isn’t Tianzhu Peak, but there’s no one else here either. The last time Junior Sister Bi got the better of me, I remember it very clearly. I haven’t forgotten a thing.”

Luo Qi slowly approached Bi Lan, his smile gradually turning vicious. “Junior Sister Bi came alone to explore this Immortal’s Cave Abode. It’s inevitable to encounter some unexpected situations. Wouldn’t it be normal to lose an arm or a leg?”

“…” Bi Lan nodded in agreement. “Senior Brother speaks very truly.”

Before she even finished speaking, the Spirit Flowers and grasses outside the courtyard wall rapidly climbed over the wall top. A Green Vine burst from the earth and coiled around Luo Qi’s ankle.

Caught off guard, Luo Qi was yanked by the Green Vine and fell face-first to the ground. His face slammed hard onto the floor with a loud bang.

Immediately after, his body was hoisted into the air, suspended and swung around by the Green Vine.

With no point of leverage for his body, before he could break free from the restraint on his feet, his hands were also quickly coiled and pulled apart by the Green Vine.

Behind her back, Bi Lan’s hands finished forming the entire Talisman Spell. Only then did she spread them and move them to the front. With a wave of her sleeve, a Vine Whip appeared in her hand.

CRACK!

The whip lashed the ground with a crisp sound, startling Luo Qi so much that goosebumps rose all over his body.

“You, what are you going to do?!”

Bi Lan raised the whip to face Luo Qi. “Just now, Senior Brother Luo said it himself: coming alone to explore the Immortal’s Cave Abode, it’s inevitable to encounter unexpected situations. Senior Brother Luo, being lashed a few hundred times by a whip, would that also be considered normal, I presume?”

Luo Qi’s face turned pale, and his voice began to tremble. “Junior, Junior Sister Bi, let’s talk this over nicely. I, your Senior Brother, was just joking just now!”

“Is that so?” Bi Lan’s expression didn’t change. “I wasn’t joking with Senior Brother.”

“Senior Brother holds a grudge against me, and I have also formed enmity with Senior Brother. Naturally, I won’t hold back. Please rest assured, Senior Brother. Although this specially made Vine Whip can tear your skin and flesh open, it won’t harm your bones or internal organs. In other words, you won’t die.”

Before she finished speaking, she struck a backhanded lash onto Luo Qi’s body.

“AAAAAHHHH!!!” Luo Qi screamed at the top of his lungs. “It hurts! It hurts so much! Help!! Is there anyone who can save me?!”

Ren Qingyue moved rapidly beneath the palace walls. The design of the group of palaces was overly complex, and moreover, each palace gate had a gate-guarding Jade Statue. Along the way, she had already encountered several rounds of interceptors.

Fortunately, these Jade Statues could still recognize her identity. She only needed to show her Soul Tablet, and the Jade Statues would retreat without a fight.

There was no cycle of day and night in the Immortal Abode. She could only calculate time based on the cycle of Spiritual Qi circulating within her body.

Several hours had passed since entering the cave abode. Ren Qingyue still hadn’t been able to leave this main hall, nor had she encountered any of those cultivators who had barged into the Immortal Abode seeking opportunities this time.

Feeling trapped by the formation her master had set, a trace of impatience inevitably rose in her heart.

After bypassing yet another arched gate, a long corridor appeared before her. The end of the corridor might connect to another palace. Ren Qingyue didn’t hesitate and immediately stepped onto it.

Suddenly, a sound of rushing wind came at her face. Ren Qingyue’s figure flickered, and a hidden weapon brushed past her shoulder, embedding into the dark gray pillar beside her with a thud.

It was actually a willow leaf.

Shing—

Ren Qingyue drew her sword. A burst of Sword Qi slashed toward the direction from which the blade had come.

The Sword Qi cleaved through the void and tore open the concealment. Then, the visitor revealed herself.

A figure in purple robes, alluring and bewitchingly seductive, with a red Yin-Yang Symbol Pendant hanging beside her left cheek.

Ren Qingyue’s pupils constricted, and she immediately recognized this person. “Jiang Ying, the Left Protector under the Devil Venerable!”

“Miss Ren has sharp eyes.” Jiang Ying drifted down from the air, her toes lightly alighting on the tip of a budding lotus at the edge of the pond. She laughed, “Hand over the Soul-Condensing Bead, and I will let you leave.”

The Soul-Condensing Bead?

Ren Qingyue frowned. Why would Jiang Ying think the Soul-Condensing Bead was on her?

Even if she had it, she couldn’t possibly give it to someone from the Devil Sect.

Ren Qingyue held her sword and said coldly, “Something that belongs to my Shizun, why should I hand it over to you?”

Jiang Ying narrowed her eyes. It seemed, just as the Devil Lord had said, the Soul-Condensing Bead was indeed on Ren Qingyue.

“I already gave you a chance.” Jiang Ying raised her hand, several willow leaves pinched between her fingers. “If you refuse to hand over the Soul-Condensing Bead, I’ll just have to take it myself.”

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

The willow leaves shot out, each one sharp as a blade, densely packed and firing from all directions!

Ren Qingyue swung her sword and deflected some, but she couldn’t exert her full power. The difference in their combat strength was too great. Merely blocking these few willow leaves left her palm numb from the impact.

She absolutely couldn’t engage in a tangled fight with this person.

Ren Qingyue dodged the first wave of Willow Leaf Flying Daggers and flashed through the long corridor.

Seeing this, Jiang Ying hooked the corner of her lips into a cold smirk. “You think you can escape?”

Another string of willow leaves shot across the air. Reaching the end of the corridor, Ren Qingyue performed a backflip to evade the attack.

Those few willow leaves actually embedded themselves into the wall in a perfectly neat row, like nails.

Ren Qingyue stopped her steps and turned back to face Jiang Ying.

Jiang Ying was about to strike again.

Ren Qingyue spread her hands. Her fingertips, stained with a bit of blood, slapped the wall behind her.

Two hanging paintings on the wall were shaken off their mountings. A pair of an Ink Dragon and Ink Phoenix, condensed from the paintings, actually flew out, entangled in the air, and confronted Jiang Ying.

The Willow Leaf Flying Daggers passed straight through their bodies, only splashing up a spray of Ink, causing absolutely no damage.

Yan Zhao sat by the water’s edge, lost in thought for a while.

She was wondering why the little fox had disappeared and where it might have run off to.

The cave abode was so large; looking from afar, there were several layers of stacked Floating Islands. Where could she go to find her little fox?

Yan Zhao was deeply troubled, but she couldn’t just stay in place. If someone else picked up the little fox, that would be disastrous.

She stood up and stepped onto the nearest Floating Bridge.

As soon as her foot touched it, the Floating Bridge suddenly moved, shifting its orientation and connecting to another Floating Bridge.

Yan Zhao paid no mind to the changes on the bridge and continued walking forward.

No matter how the Floating Bridge rotated and reconnected, as long as she could find solid footing where she stepped, Yan Zhao didn’t stop, walking continuously.

After walking for who knows how long like this, when she descended from the Floating Bridge, a palace gate appeared before her eyes.

The halls were several times larger than they appeared from afar.

Yan Zhao’s nose twitched; she smelled a faint fragrance.

She couldn’t distinguish what kind of scent it was.

She then continued walking toward the source of the fragrance. Passing through the palace gate and stepping onto stairs made of jade and stone, she walked into a palace.

Inside the hall, fragrance curled and lingered, thicker than the scent just now. It seemed to come from the rear hall.

Yan Zhao turned her head to look left and right.

There was no extra furnishings within the hall, but a Jade Statue stood on each side.

The statues were about twice the height of a person, in the shape of immortal cranes.

As Yan Zhao looked at the left crane, poised as if ready to take flight, the head of the right crane shifted slightly. Its eyes, inlaid with rubies, gazed at the back of Yan Zhao’s head.

How lifelike these cranes are carved, Yan Zhao thought. Then she turned to look at the right one.

Her eyes met a pair of red eyes straight on.

Was this crane’s head this low a moment ago?

Yan Zhao blinked.

She reached out, dug out the crane’s ruby eye, and put it in her mouth to bite.

Couldn’t bite through it.

Looks like it can’t be eaten.

Yan Zhao casually tossed it away.

Crane: “…”

Yan Zhao continued forward, bypassing the screen and walking toward the back of the main hall.

Behind her, the ruby on the ground trembled.

Then it flew back on its own, embedding itself into the empty socket on the crane’s head.

Both gate-guarding immortal cranes simultaneously turned their heads to look inside the main hall.

Yan Zhao was slowly walking further away.

Around her neck, a dark golden bead hidden under her collar lit up, then went out.