Chapter 13

Gray mist partially blocked spiritual perception, but after passing through the passage, it quickly cleared again.

Red!

Everywhere the eye could reach was a sea of crimson, an endless plain covered densely with red Sword-Leaf Tongxuan Grass.

In the sky hung a crimson moon, cold and chilling.

Thick chains emerged from unknown places, stretching endlessly and coiling around a distant mountain.

The entire mountain resembled a giant sword thrust into the ground, its overall hue dark red, standing out starkly amid the sea of Tongxuan Grass.

The Tongxuan Grass swayed with the wind, appearing from afar like a surging sea of blood, even the air carrying a faint metallic stench.

"There are so many Tongxuan Grasses…" Jiang Jing's eyes were filled with awe.

Tongxuan Grass is a spiritual plant influenced by 'Intent'; sword cultivators who ingest pills refined primarily from Sword-Attribute Tongxuan Grass can purify their magic power and hone their spiritual soul.

A single Sword-Attribute Tongxuan Grass could fetch many Contribution Points within the Xiang Jianzong, yet before them lay an entire plain of Tongxuan Grass!

But Jiang Jing and Li Fengping suppressed the urge to harvest.

Had an uninformed cultivator entered this Secret Realm, they would have already begun plundering—but they were different.

The records mentioned that the previous elder's team nearly perished because they did exactly that.

This Secret Realm is exceptionally peculiar: every time you pluck one Tongxuan Grass, you must endure a sword qi strike equal to your current realm's full-power attack.

That elder had been extremely cautious back then, daring to harvest only a dozen or so for observation first.

But even that act triggered a dozen sword qis simultaneously; he barely blocked them, yet the scattered qis severed a vast stretch of Tongxuan Grass, and had he not revealed his ultimate trump card, he would have died in this Secret Realm.

The records did not mention the latter half, but left a warning: those on this mission must absolutely not touch any Tongxuan Grass.

The elder's goal was to subdue the sword within this Sword-Nourishing Land—that could only be…

Jiang Jing gazed at the distant sword-shaped mountain peak: "That's the sword the elder wants?"

"Correct. Lin Shixiong told me that once we complete this mission, the elder will come himself."

To prevent leaks, the elder had issued this mission only once.

And the reason he chose this moment to release the mission was because of the SpiritNet.

He learned that a senior from the Xiang Jianzong had emerged from seclusion in Xuanjian City, and combining this with rumors within the sect, he deduced the emerging senior was at least a HeDao cultivator.

He himself was only a FanXu cultivator; subduing a sword of at least HeDao level was extremely difficult.

But if a Xiang Jianzong senior was present and saw juniors in peril, would he really stand idly by?

After reaching HeDao, sword cultivators merge their spirit with their sword; even if they encounter a superior sword, they would never abandon their own—so the possibility of coveting it diminished greatly.

This was the perfect assistance!

There could be no better opportunity.

Some factions within the sect also wished to know which Xiang Jianzong elder had emerged near Xuanjian City, to plan accordingly, so they assigned one of their disciples to join this mission.

Thus, while Lin Qiu Xian had a clear purpose, the sword cultivator surnamed Feng also had ulterior motives for coming to Xuanjian City—yet Li Fengping truly knew nothing; he was merely here to fill a quota.

As a result, the two were detained, but he remained unharmed.

"This Secret Realm looks like it was created by a demonic powerhouse," Jiang Jing shook her head slightly. "The elder may have underestimated this."

She did not believe the elder could subdue this sword.

Li Fengping shook his head slightly: "It need not be a demonic sword cultivator—many orthodox sword cultivators who follow the path of slaughter could also have set up such a Secret Realm."

"Enough wasting time. Let's go to the foot of that mountain now," Xu Xing interrupted.

Without waiting for their response, he stepped forward.

Where he walked, many Tongxuan Grasses toppled and leaned, their hard, sword-shaped leaves clashing with crisp sounds.

Li Fengping froze, then hurried after him.

This Third Blade senior… was far too calm, completely unfazed.

Such a thought drifted through Jiang Jing's mind.

She then carefully crossed the Tongxuan Grass plain, following the two.

They walked in silence; Jiang Jing and Li Fengping constantly observed their surroundings, but found nothing beyond the endless Tongxuan Grass plain and the few chains of unknown origin.

They stepped with extreme caution. In contrast, Xu Xing moved casually—wherever he passed, leaves clashed, ringing incessantly; Li Fengping, trailing behind, trembled with dread, fearing a single misstep might bring a sword qi to his face.

"No need to be so careful. The stems and leaves of Tongxuan Grass are tough—they won't break easily."

Xu Xing's words had no effect; the two remained cautious.

Precisely because of this, it took a long while before the three reached the base of the sword peak.

Huh~

Finally out of the Tongxuan Grass plain, Jiang Jing and Li Fengping both exhaled in relief.

Within dozens of meters of the sword peak, not a single Tongxuan Grass or even a weed grew; the dark red soil felt slightly soft underfoot.

"The mission only requires investigation—let's begin recording."

Saying this, Xu Xing prepared to cast a Mystic Xuan Guang Shu to record the scene.

Crack!

A flash of white light erupted—Li Fengping held a camera; the bright flash had just gone off.

Jiang Jing, without a camera, used her phone to take pictures everywhere.

!. Read

He silently abandoned the idea of using Mystic Xuan Guang Shu and pulled out his newly bought phone to start taking photos too.

"..."

Xu Xing felt a quiet pang—many of his instinctive actions had been shaped by this world.

Compared to today's cultivators, he seemed rigid and inflexible.

Though his past memories had not faded, they would not resurface unless triggered.

For a moment, he could not help but recall the incidents he had caused back then.

'What a real tangled mess…'

"Senior Brother Sandao, how's it going on your side? We've finished taking pictures over here, come over and let's cross-check." Li Fengping's voice cut off his thoughts.

Xu Xing smiled lightly: "I'm done on my side too."

"Too bad image-preservation treasures are too expensive, and I never learned the Mysterious Xuan Guang Shu, otherwise I could've earned a few more contribution points."

Li Fengping grumbled as he fiddled with the camera.

By comparison, the camera's price was far more affordable. If not for the fact that the photos it produced could not record spiritual essence and 'intent', image-preservation treasures would have been phased out long ago.

But this task only offered so many contribution points; buying an image-preservation treasure for this would be a complete loss.

Then Xu Xing handed the phone to Li Fengping, letting him cross-check it. After confirming nothing was missing, he collected some soil samples.

Jiang Jing walked to the Jianfeng, preparing to cut off a piece of stone as a sample to bring back.

She raised her sword and slashed down sharply, cold light gleaming.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out, sparks flew, and the rebounding force numbed her palm.

She hadn't cut through it—the stone of this Jianfeng was unexpectedly hard.

"Move." Xu Xing's warning suddenly rang in her ear.

An invisible sword qi shot out, the air hissing.

Jiang Jing's pupils contracted sharply. Having no time to think, she instinctively dodged sideways just as the sword qi was about to hit her.

A sword qi comparable to a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator's full-power strike whistled past, the sword pressure it brought flattening a large patch of Spirit-Penetrating Grass.

Damn!

Li Fengping's scalp went numb—if that sword qi had been allowed to shoot out, the consequences would be unthinkable!

He grabbed his sword, ready to step forward and forcibly block it.

But a figure was faster than him. Before he could even take a single step, Xu Xing had already appeared in the path of the sword qi and pointed two fingers forward.

Silently, the sword qi—which outside could cut rivers and part seas—vanished like a clay ox into the sea, not stirring even a ripple before being easily shattered by the point and dissipating into nothing.

Both of them were stunned by the sight, the same thought rising in their minds at once.

How the hell could this be Nascent Soul?

Begging for data, bookmarks!!

(End of chapter)