145: Big grudge? One spirit stone for one primordial stone!

"Since you refuse to cooperate, then die!"

"Cough, cough, wait... wait—" Gu Shuiyue's weak voice rang out.

"What, having second thoughts?" The person frowned.

"I... I didn't say I wouldn't cooperate. It's just... just a Super-First-Class Cultivation Technique. I, Gu Shuiyue, don't even care for it.

"If you want it, I'll give it to you. I only hope you'll let me go. After all, we're from the same sect..."

"Truly? Hmph, as long as I get what I want, I'll leave immediately!" the person said with some joy.

It was indeed possible for a Core Disciple to look down on a Super-First-Class Cultivation Technique.

But an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple would still value it. Even if they couldn't practice it themselves, selling it would yield a massive amount of Spirit Stones.

"You... you come here. The Cultivation Technique is... is on me. I don't have the strength to take it out..."

Gu Shuiyue's voice grew increasingly weak, and her face was pale to the extreme, as if she could faint at any moment.

Carefully sensing Gu Shuiyue's Aura, the person took a deep breath and walked over with a wary expression.

"Hmph, you weren't my match to begin with, and now you're heavily injured. I trust you wouldn't dare play any tricks!"

Taking this Opportunity, Mo Fan quietly cast an Appraisal Technique on the person.

The azure virtual panel flashed, and the appraisal information immediately surfaced.

[Yang Yi, Inner Sect Disciple of Yuxu Academy, Transcendence Fourth Level cultivation, skilled in sword arts, combat strength not to be underestimated.]

Yang Yi quickly approached Gu Shuiyue.

"It's in my robes. You... take it yourself..." Gu Shuiyue said with a weak face, leaning against the giant rock.

Yang Yi nodded and bent down to reach for the Cultivation Technique.

However, the moment she bent over, the long sword at her waist suddenly trembled and burst from its scabbard, slashing toward Gu Shuiyue.

There was a muffled thud.

The scene Yang Yi expected did not occur.

The Gu Shuiyue who had been leaning against the rock turned into an afterimage and dissipated the instant the sword made contact.

"An... afterimage...?" Yang Yi was stunned.

But she reacted quickly, swinging her sword violently behind her.

Swoosh!

The sword light flashed past, incredibly fast, as if it would tear through heaven and earth, slashing toward the Gu Shuiyue who had suddenly appeared behind her.

Crack—

The sword light struck Gu Shuiyue in an instant.

Yang Yi turned around and watched this scene, an involuntary smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

However, in the next second, the smile on her face froze. Her eyes widened, and she stared in disbelief at the Gu Shuiyue before her, who was slowly dissipating.

"Another phantom? You've already learned the Flowing Light Peak's movement technique?!"

Yang Yi was both shocked and enraged. She quickly spread her Mental Energy out to capture Gu Shuiyue's figure.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Just then, the sound of rushing air came as a slender palm abruptly appeared, carrying an incomparable Aura, and slammed violently into Yang Yi's chest.

This palm strike was too fast; the fierce wind compressed the air until it let out a violent roar.

Before Yang Yi could react, she felt her chest hit by a terrifyingly massive force. As it slightly caved in, she was sent flying by the palm strike.

Bang!

Tracing an ungraceful arc, Yang Yi fell heavily to the ground. Her throat felt sweet as she spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood, staining the sand and stones beneath her red.

"Yang Yi, oh Yang Yi. We're both from the same sect, why such haste to kill each other?" The pale-faced Gu Shuiyue walked out slowly, clutching her chest.

"Cut the nonsense. Today, it's either you or me!"

Yang Yi endured her injuries and leaped up from the ground, raising her sword and slashing toward Gu Shuiyue.

Gu Shuiyue's expression changed slightly. She quickly circulated her Cultivation Technique and used her movement technique to engage in a struggle with Yang Yi.

Fortunately, that palm strike just now had been unexpected and had heavily injured Yang Yi, causing her combat strength to drop significantly.

If not for that, Gu Shuiyue feared she wouldn't have lasted ten rounds against Yang Yi at full strength in her current state.

The two went back and forth, and within a few breaths, Gu Shuiyue was injured once again.

Yang Yi was also having a hard time.

She had severely underestimated Gu Shuiyue's strength.

Having learned the Flowing Light Peak's Legacy, Gu Shuiyue's combat strength had already slightly surpassed hers.

If she hadn't schemed earlier to lure Gu Shuiyue into fighting that terrifyingly powerful spirit body, leaving Gu Shuiyue heavily injured, she probably wouldn't have been Gu Shuiyue's match.

Boom!

Gu Shuiyue used her advantage in movement techniques to strike Yang Yi once again.

Unfortunately, she was heavily injured and couldn't fully exert her combat strength. This palm strike seemed somewhat weak, and its lethality was greatly reduced.

Swoosh!

As Yang Yi was knocked back, the long sword in her hand was so fast that even its afterimage seemed to disappear. In an instant, it drew a sword light that slashed toward Gu Shuiyue's neck.

Seeing this, Mo Fan, behind the giant rock, couldn't help but be startled.

A First-Class Martial Skill, Shadowless Sword Art!

Back when Xu Jing was in the Menial Service Yard, she had exchanged for the Shadowless Sword Art.

Being able to comprehend a sword art of this level showed that Yang Yi's talent was not low.

With a ripping sound, the sword light sliced through space and arrived in an instant, sweeping toward Gu Shuiyue's neck.

Fortunately, Gu Shuiyue's movement technique was too profound. Although this sword strike was fast, she still barely managed to dodge it.

"Hmph! I'll see how many more strikes you can dodge!" Yang Yi's expression turned cold. After steadying herself, she immediately raised her sword to attack again.

However, she soon froze, her face changing drastically. Her hair stood on end, and she desperately tried to retreat.

But it was too late.

A golden fist shadow suddenly appeared, and a fierce, terrifying pressure instantly enveloped her.

Boom!

The fist print exploded before Yang Yi's eyes like a great sun.

She hadn't even reacted before being hit by this terrifying force. Her chest visibly caved in, and she was sent flying.

After tracing a graceful arc, Yang Yi slammed heavily onto the ground with a muffled thud.

However, as soon as she landed, she endured her injuries, slapped the ground, and soared into the sky. Turning into an afterimage, she sped toward the depths of the stone forest and vanished in an instant, leaving behind a large pool of blood.

Mo Fan narrowed his eyes, about to give chase.

"Junior Brother, don't chase—" Gu Shuiyue quickly called out.

Mo Fan's footsteps paused, and he stopped.

"Yang Yi is full of schemes. If Junior Brother chases her alone, I fear something might happen—" Gu Shuiyue explained.

She had just been tricked by Yang Yi in the depths of the stone forest; otherwise, she wouldn't have been in such a pathetic state.

"Right, don't press a cornered foe!" Mo Fan nodded and turned to walk toward Gu Shuiyue.

Seeing Mo Fan's handsome face, Gu Shuiyue couldn't help but feel happy, which aggravated her wounds. She coughed violently, and blood kept leaking from her mouth.

Gu Shuiyue: "..."

Mo Fan: "..."

"Senior Sister, are you alright?" Mo Fan was a bit worried she might suddenly drop dead.

"I... I'm fine." Gu Shuiyue quickly shook her head, then vomited another large mouthful of blood.

Mo Fan was speechless. He quickly walked over, took out a healing Medicinal Pill, and stuffed it into her mouth.

The pill melted upon entering her mouth, and its medicinal power was instantly released. Gu Shuiyue's pale face improved quite a bit.

"Thank you..." Gu Shuiyue said, somewhat embarrassed.

"You're welcome. Senior Sister, you should probably circulate your Cultivation Technique to manage your injuries..."

Looking at Gu Shuiyue, whose mouth was still bleeding, Mo Fan gave a sincere suggestion.

"O-okay..." Gu Shuiyue's face flushed. She quickly closed her eyes and circulated her Cultivation Technique to treat her wounds.

"Junior Brother, protect me!"

"Alright, Senior Sister, rest assured!" Mo Fan agreed with a nod. He stood up and casually set up a few Magic Arrays to prevent anyone from suddenly barging in.

After finishing this, Mo Fan focused his mind and carefully sensed the concentration of Origin Qi in this area.

"Not bad, enough for me to Cultivate for a while..."

Taking a deep breath, Mo Fan also sat cross-legged, circulated his Innate Art, and began absorbing Origin Qi to Cultivate.

Half an hour later, the nearby Origin Qi was completely consumed.

Because the Origin Qi was so thin, it would take some time for Origin Qi from further away to permeate through.

Mo Fan frowned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Cultivating feels so good, it's just that the Origin Qi is too thin..."

Mo Fan shook his head with regret and focused his gaze on Gu Shuiyue.

Soon, he was slightly startled.

He saw about a dozen Spirit Stones placed in front of Gu Shuiyue. They were rapidly dissipating, turning into wisps of mysterious energy that quickly flowed into her body, providing her with energy and accelerating the repair of her injuries.

The rate of Spirit Stone consumption was not slow.

By now, the dozen or so Spirit Stones in front of Gu Shuiyue were almost exhausted.

Seeing this, Mo Fan was very surprised.

"This girl clearly has Origin Qi with better effects nearby that she's not using. Why must she waste Spirit Stones?"

Soon, he seemed to think of something and began to ponder with a frown.

After a short while, the Spirit Stones in front of Gu Shuiyue were completely consumed, and she slowly opened her eyes.

At this moment, although her face was still somewhat pale, her complexion was much better, and her cultivation Aura had recovered by seventy or eighty percent.

"Junior Brother Mo, thank you for saving me!" Gu Shuiyue quickly thanked him.

"It was just a small matter. It was only because you had already heavily injured her that my punch could take effect by surprise, forcing her to flee in a panic," Mo Fan said with a smile.

"Junior Brother, you're being too modest. That punch just now definitely had combat power rivaling the Extraordinary realm. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have retreated!" Gu Shuiyue said with certainty.

Given Yang Yi's personality,

if Mo Fan hadn't displayed Extraordinary power,

she definitely wouldn't have run away so easily!

As expected, no Core Disciple could ever be simple!

Despite being only in the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could burst forth with Extraordinary combat power!

Such a Prodigy, even among Core Disciples, would be a top-tier existence!

Hearing Gu Shuiyue's words, Mo Fan scratched his head and said no more.

With that punch just now, he had indeed unleashed Extraordinary power.

He had no choice.

The situation was critical.

Mo Fan had directly used the Golden Body Art, which he rarely utilized in his daily life.

After partially transforming his arm into a golden body and combining it with the Vajra Fist, the power was simply a terrifying mess.

At that moment, Mo Fan's combat power soared wildly, barely touching the threshold of the Extraordinary realm.

"As expected of the Golden Body Art, it surpasses the level of this world by far.

"At just the second layer, the amplification has already reached such a terrifying degree..."

After a moment of reflection, Mo Fan looked at Gu Shuiyue and asked calmly,

"Is it impossible to Cultivate inside the Secret Realm?"

Gu Shuiyue didn't think much of it and replied directly,

"This Secret Realm controlled by the Academy was actually modified from an ancient ruin.

"Because it's isolated from the world and even exists in another space, no Spiritual Energy can seep into the Secret Realm at all.

"Therefore, one cannot Cultivate in the Secret Realm.

"Even recovering from injuries requires consuming Spirit Stones..."

Speaking of this, Gu Shuiyue felt a bit of heartache and looked despondently at the spot where her Spirit Stones had vanished.

In just over half an hour, twelve of her Spirit Stones were gone just like that!

The consumption was too terrifying!

In the outside world, because one can absorb Spiritual Energy from the air, the consumption would be reduced by more than half!

Looking at the pained expression on Gu Shuiyue's face, Mo Fan covered his forehead and silently felt sorry for her for a second.

The higher the cultivation, the more Spirit Stones are consumed during cultivation.

No matter when, Spirit Stones are never enough; it's very hard to save them up.

Only someone like Mo Yingying, whose cultivation doesn't require Spirit Stones, could throw a pile of Spirit Stones to Mo Fan every once in a while.

Of course, that wasn't the point.

The point was that Gu Shuiyue couldn't sense the Origin Qi in the air, couldn't absorb it to Cultivate, and couldn't absorb it to heal her injuries!

Gu Shuiyue was in this state.

Most other people were likely in this state too!

"Is my Physique... really that special?" Mo Fan frowned.

"Thank you for saving me, Junior Brother. I'll share this scroll of a top-tier Cultivation Technique with you!

"Take it and see if it's compatible with you!"

As she spoke, Gu Shuiyue handed Mo Fan an ancient-looking scroll.

Mo Fan took the scroll with some confusion and glanced at it.

Opening the scroll, five large golden characters immediately caught his eye.

— "Mountain and River Visualization Technique."

This was a secret technique for tempering the spirit.

Persistent cultivation could strengthen Mental Energy, make it more resilient, and improve its quality.

After a brief look, Mo Fan handed the "Mountain and River Visualization Technique" back to Gu Shuiyue and said politely,

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Sister, but this technique isn't compatible with me. You should comprehend it yourself."

After saying that, Mo Fan feigned regret and shook his head.

In reality, this thing was actually quite compatible with him.

But he didn't need it.

The quality of the mental cultivation secret technique included in the Golden Body Art far exceeded this "Mountain and River Visualization Technique."

Coupled with fighting the Red-Clothed Female Ghost in his dreams, Mo Fan's Mental Energy could also be improved.

This way, he had no use for the so-called "Mountain and River Visualization Technique."

"That is indeed a bit of a pity." A look of regret flickered in Gu Shuiyue's eyes.

After thinking for a moment, she said, "How about this, consider it that I owe you a favor!

"In the future, if you have anything or encounter any trouble, feel free to come to me. As long as I can do it, I definitely won't refuse!"

"Alright, I'll remember that." Mo Fan smiled and nodded.

After thinking, Mo Fan added,

"Senior Sister, why did that person attack you just now?"

Hearing this, Gu Shuiyue shook her head and sighed.

"Her name is Yang Yi. Our families have been close for generations, and we've known each other since childhood. She was always that 'other person's child' people talked about, with impressive martial talent.

"She entered the inner sect in the same batch as me. Her strength was always a level higher than mine, and her combat power also suppressed me.

"Three months ago, we participated in the Academy's Core Disciple trial mission together.

"Both of us completed the mission excellently, but in the end, the Academy only chose me as a Core Disciple.

"She, who had always been slightly stronger than me, failed to be selected. From then on..."

Gu Shuiyue gave a brief account of the cause and course of events.

After listening, Mo Fan understood.

Yang Yi was indignant.

She felt that Gu Shuiyue had used improper means to steal her Core Disciple spot, so she had been secretly competing with Gu Shuiyue ever since.

It was fine at the Academy, where there were constraints, and Yang Yi didn't dare to act recklessly.

But once they were in the Secret Realm, Yang Yi could no longer suppress her inner emotions.

She had schemed to lure Gu Shuiyue into a cave harboring a powerful Spiritual Entity, attempting to kill Gu Shuiyue without anyone knowing.

Who would have thought Gu Shuiyue was lucky.

Although she was heavily injured by that Spiritual Entity, she had also unexpectedly obtained a scroll of a top-tier Cultivation Technique, which was likely an extremely rare mental cultivation secret technique.

And so, the scene Mo Fan witnessed occurred.

"I'll have to be very wary of her from now on. In this kind of situation, it's already hard to control, sigh—" Gu Shuiyue sighed.

She still felt some old affection for Yang Yi.

After all, they were friends who had known each other since childhood.

"I see." Mo Fan nodded.

At the same time, he spread out his spirit, wanting to sense the legendary Dao Protector.

Unfortunately, he couldn't sense anything.

Clearly, the Dao Protector was hidden in the shadows and wasn't nearby.

What confused him was,

the Secret Realm forbade fellow Disciples from killing each other.

If the Dao Protector saw Yang Yi trying to kill Gu Shuiyue, would they step in to punish Yang Yi?

Mo Fan thought not.

The Dao Protectors were so-called Grand Elders.

Beings who had lived for hundreds of years.

Such people probably wouldn't come forward for these kinds of matters.

Thinking this, Mo Fan looked at Gu Shuiyue and asked, "How is Senior Sister's recovery?"

"It's about done. My cultivation has recovered quite a bit, barely enough to fight!"

Gu Shuiyue stood up, stretched her muscles and bones, and said with a smile,

"Let's continue forward. Once we pass through this stone forest, we'll reach the Main City. There should be many opportunities there, and we can obtain treasures to increase our cultivation!"

The Disciples who entered the Secret Realm did so for this purpose.

Being able to rapidly increase their cultivation within two months was also because of the opportunities in the Main City.

Mo Fan also stood up and said, "Then let's head forward together. We can also see if we can find any marks left by Senior Brother Wang and regroup with him. More people means more strength!"

"Mm-hmm, I was thinking the same thing. Follow me!" Gu Shuiyue nodded quickly, identified the direction slightly, and set off.

As she walked, she said, "Once the three of us meet up, we also need to gather the other Disciples!

"Something's not quite right with the Secret Realm this time. Many spiritual entities with ridiculous strength have appeared, which didn't happen before. We have to gather everyone; there's strength in numbers!"

Hearing this, Mo Fan couldn't help but be startled.

So things really aren't right?

Taking a breath, Mo Fan stopped thinking about that question, quickly caught up with Gu Shuiyue, and asked calmly,

"Senior Sister, have you found any of those green, marble-sized stones in the Secret Realm?"

"Are you talking about Origin Stones?" Gu Shuiyue tilted her head and looked at Mo Fan with confusion.

"Ah, yes, Origin Stones!" Mo Fan was surprised.

How did she also know about Origin Stones?

Taking a breath, Mo Fan said quickly,

"If, I mean if, it's possible, could Senior Sister sell the Origin Stones you have to me?

"I'm willing to trade Spirit Stones for them!"

"Of course, no problem. But I only have three Origin Stones on me. If you like them, I'll give them all to you!"

As she spoke, Gu Shuiyue waved her hand, took out three Origin Stones from her Spatial Storage Device, and handed them to Mo Fan.

Mo Fan was greatly shocked. "How could I possibly do that?"

One of these was worth a hundred Spirit Stones!

You're not wealthy yourself, how could I dare to take them?!

"Oh, why are you being so polite with me? It's just a matter of three Spirit Stones. Consider it a meeting gift from your Senior Sister!"

"Th-three Spirit Stones?" Mo Fan was dumbfounded, feeling as if he'd been struck by lightning, his head buzzing.

How did it become three Spirit Stones?

It's clearly three hundred!