8: trap

"Damn it!" Xu Jing felt a heavy blow to her head, and her vision instantly became groggy. For a moment, even circulating her Spiritual Qi became a struggle. Then, the jade pendant hanging at her waist emitted a faint, shimmering light that shielded her head, forcefully blocking the impact of the black light.

Xu Jing bit the tip of her tongue, forcing herself to wake up. With a flick of her delicate hand, a crystal-clear longsword appeared in her grasp. The sword pointed straight at the black light circling in the air, causing the temperature of the air to drop significantly.

"How can there be a Core Formation Cultivator?" the black light shifted and changed, revealing an aged face within it.

"Shu Wangnian, I didn't expect that you hadn't perished yet, and even left a sliver of a remnant soul here." The corners of Xu Jing's mouth, hidden behind her veil, curled up slightly into a cold sneer.

"May I ask who you are, Fellow Daoist? I have offended you just now and hope for your forgiveness. This Technique is called the Dragon Phoenix Yin Yang Art; it is a top-tier Cultivation Technique that leads directly to the Nascent Soul stage. Consider it this old Daoist's apology, a gift for you." The black light condensed into a human figure and bowed to Xu Jing, his words sounding quite sincere.

Xu Jing did not speak. she swung her sword directly. The blade was completely enveloped in Spiritual Qi, glowing brilliantly and carrying a bone-chilling cold that sealed off all paths of retreat for the black shadow.

"Does Fellow Daoist insist on a fight to the death?" the black shadow cried out in shock and anger. In the next instant, the shadow split into countless fragments and scattered to flee.

Xu Jing let out a cold laugh. "You brought this death upon yourself!"

After speaking, her sword stance changed again. The blade danced, sending out streaks of Sword Qi that surrounded all the black shadows and began to strangle them.

Then, Xu Jing tapped her waist, and a Formation Plate appeared out of thin air. She flicked a ray of red light into it, and the plate immediately began to spin rapidly in the air before shooting high up, instantly laying down a Formation.

Once the Formation was complete, the black shadow could no longer escape. Shu Wangnian gathered the shadows back into one place, revealing a face full of resentment.

"This old man only wanted to possess a little brat in the Qi Refining Stage. Although I don't know how the Technique fell into your hands, since you are pressing me so hard, Fellow Daoist, then let's die together!"

Having said that, Shu Wangnian suddenly charged toward the Jade Slip, and his Aura began to surge wildly.

It looked as though he intended to wrap himself around the Jade Slip and self-detonate with it.

"You dare!" Xu Jing's willow-like eyebrows arched as her anger flared.

With her incredibly noble status, she had traveled thousands of miles to this place specifically for this Technique. How could she allow Shu Wangnian's remnant soul to act so insolently under her very nose?

In her fury, she threw the longsword in her hand. The sword flew into the air and split into thousands of sword shadows. Immediately after, she spat out a mouthful of essence blood, and her fair skin was instantly covered in dense, mysterious purple patterns.

"Everlasting Frost!"

Following Xu Jing's sharp cry, the temperature in the room plummeted. In an instant, everything around her, including the house itself, was frozen into ice sculptures.

The speed of Shu Wangnian's remnant soul was also significantly reduced.

"Go!"

The thousands of sword shadows in the sky quickly slashed toward Shu Wangnian's remnant soul. Meanwhile, Xu Jing's figure blurred as she moved, arriving first to snatch the Jade Slip into her hand.

Seeing that the Jade Slip was safe, Xu Jing breathed a sigh of relief, but then she saw a cruel smile on Shu Wangnian's remnant soul's face as he lunged toward her.

"Oh no, his target is me." Xu Jing was startled. It was too late to retreat, so she could only control the sword shadows to attack desperately while preparing her defenses.

"Let's die together." Shu Wangnian gave a hideous laugh as the black shadow wrapped around Xu Jing and exploded violently.

Boom!

With an earth-shattering explosion, the house was blown into ruins. Xu Jing spat out several large mouthfuls of blood on the spot, her face as pale as paper as she was buried deep within the debris.

A large hole had been blasted into the ground beneath the ruins, and the bottom of the hole was filled with craters. Most of the Formation Plate floating in the air had been destroyed, causing the Formation to break instantly. Fortunately, the Formation had acted as a barrier; otherwise, the entire Laiyi Courtyard might have been leveled to the ground.

Such a massive disturbance in the Laiyi Courtyard naturally could not be hidden from the higher-ups of the Outer Sect. Zhou Gu immediately brought the Elders to investigate the situation.

Before they even reached the main gate, they heard a cold female voice from afar.

"Nothing is wrong here. All of you, disperse. Without my permission, no one is allowed to enter. Violators will be executed without mercy!"

Zhou Gu naturally knew who the owner of this voice was. He bowed from a distance and then led his people away.

The ruins shifted, and Xu Jing crawled out from underground. Her clothes were torn in many places, and her snowy skin was faintly visible beneath the fabric. After spitting out another large mouthful of blood, her brows furrowed tightly.

She had not expected the self-detonation of Shu Wangnian's remnant soul to be so powerful. Furthermore, because the Formation had isolated the inside from the outside, she had inadvertently caused the power of the explosion to magnify several times over.

Because she was already seriously injured, and had then forced her spiritual power to shout away Zhou Gu and crawl out from underground, her current state had reached its absolute limit.

The spiritual power throughout her body was completely exhausted, and she couldn't even open her Storage Ring. Fortunately, the Jade Slip was still intact, which was a blessing among misfortunes.

Picking a room at random, Xu Jing slowly stepped inside, intending to recover her spiritual power before starting her subsequent treatment.

Just as Xu Jing and Shu Wangnian began their exchange, Pang Hu had already brought Hong Yu back to the Outer Sect.

Finding a random spot, Pang Hu dropped Hong Yu and said, "Go back and heal your injuries first. I have some business to attend to."

Without waiting for Hong Yu's reply, Pang Hu turned into a streak of light and sped away.

Hong Yu didn't waste words either. After getting his bearings, he endured the pain and ran quickly toward his Immortal Cave.

Only after returning to his Immortal Cave did Hong Yu feel a sense of security. He finally had time to tend to his wounds.

He took out the Medicinal Pills Xu Jing had given him. After opening and identifying them one by one, he found three types. The most numerous were the blood tempering pills, followed by the qi nurturing pills. The remaining unknown type was likely a pill for healing injuries.

After Hong Yu swallowed one, he instantly felt the pain in his body lessen significantly. The pill turned into a warm current that flowed through him, and his injuries began to recover at a visible rate.

He breathed a sigh of relief. This time he had enough pills; the System shouldn't cause any more trouble, right?

With that thought, Hong Yu opened the System panel, which was still stuck on the evaluation interface.

After careful consideration, he gave a three-star rating and then looked at the System warily.

Fortunately, the System didn't cause any trouble this time.

"Ding! Thank you for the Host's evaluation. The System will certainly continue to work hard and strive for the Host's satisfaction. I am your most loyal and caring assistant on the path of immortal cultivation!"

Hong Yu breathed a sigh of relief and then intended to continue practicing the Body Tempering Art.

However, when he opened the panel this time, he noticed an extra option on the Technique selection interface.

Unnamed Technique!

After trying to click on it and finding that he could actually practice it, Hong Yu fell into a struggle.

To practice, or not to practice?