Chapter 64

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Shen Yao

One person and one sword produced resonance, the sword body trembling slightly, as if whispering softly.

In this room, apart from Fu Hengyan, no one else saw such a wondrous scene.

If anyone knew Fu Hengyan had already reached such a degree of Sword-Human Resonance, they would surely be greatly shocked.

When such an operation was something only a Golden Core True Person could possess, how would those Nascent Soul True Monarchs and Spirit Transformation ancestors respond?

This was a special realm second only to Sword-Human Unity!

It was said that if anyone could comprehend the true meaning of Sword-Human Unity, they could touch upon the rumored Ascension Threshold.

Alas, through countless ages past, such a person had never appeared.

Like sword cultivators trying to comprehend the legendary Sword Intent, they could only think about it, yet no one had ever achieved it.

……

"Sister Six, have you rested?"

Shen Yao: ……

"Sister Five, is something the matter?" Shen Yao opened her eyes with a helpless expression, thinking that with outsiders in the room, how could she rest in peace.

Shen Qing's expression was awkward, her hands clasped tightly before her, a pair of beautiful large eyes glancing left and right, completely unaware of what she wanted to do.

Shen Yao raised an eyebrow inwardly, turned around, and calmly took out two spirit fruits from her storage bag, tossing one into the other's embrace.

Crack crack—

The spirit fruit imbued with spiritual energy had a crisp and sweet texture, and chewing it could constantly promote the absorption of spiritual power within the body.

Pity that the spirit fruits Shen Yao took out were of too low quality; eating one occasionally was more to satisfy a craving.

Shen Qing hesitated for a long while, stammering, "I went out today, and by chance saw a male cultivator whose appearance and bearing were both excellent, but, but"

"But this person has some connection with those two families, and you can't speak plainly to Eldest Uncle?"

Shen Yao filled in the words Shen Qing hadn't finished, thinking that she was so conflicted that the male cultivator's identity must be problematic.

After hearing this, Shen Qing hurriedly defended, "Sister Six is overthinking; he has no connection with the Lin Family and the Sun Family."

"It's just his identity—I, I heard he is an array master from the Qianyu Alliance."

Shen Yao spread her hands innocently. "It would be better if he had connections with the Lin Family and the Sun Family."

At least the Lin Family and the Sun Family had always been under the Shen Family's nose; the affairs of these three families over the years were clear as day, and even if Shen Qing truly married into one, she wouldn't fear being cheated too terribly.

But the Qianyu Alliance was different; the foundation of the Qianyu Alliance was a loose cultivator alliance.

What kind of people were loose cultivators? Murder and arson all in one, ruthless figures who dealt with both the black and white paths.

Shen Qing: ……

After hearing this, Shen Qing was even more depressed; she herself clearly knew how troublesome the Qianyu Alliance was.

And this person was an array master, stronger than common talisman masters, but not as sought-after as weapon refinement masters and alchemy masters.

But at least he was someone with a craft, completely different from ordinary disciples.

If Shen Qing could truly become Dao Companions with him, perhaps the Shen Family could gain some advantages in arrays.

One must know that the Shen Family's own array master was merely a half-baked level, barely able to set up some simple arrays; more difficult ones like Concealment Arrays, Defensive Arrays, Spirit Gathering Arrays were completely beyond him.

Of course, the greater the profit, the greater the risk; once the Shen Family was dragged into the Qianyu Alliance, with the Shen Family's small size, they would only have the fate of cannon fodder.

Shen Yao patted Shen Qing's shoulder with empathy, feeling that at such a time, she should still give her family more encouragement; who knew if everything would develop for the better.

Shen Qing: ……Don't say anymore; she wanted to cry. How could it be so hard to find a Dao Companion who suited her heart's desire!

The two sisters were speechless, unable to continue speaking, and could only hastily tidy themselves up, turn around, and lie down to sleep.

When the black night receded and the day arrived, Shen Yao opened her eyes on time and came out from the flying boat.

Outside on the empty space, beneath the Shen Family's array flags blown by the piercing morning wind, many people were already standing.

Shen Yao said no nonsense, quickly entered the line, and waited for the time to depart.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, several pressures unique to Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators spread above her head.

Shen Yao's originally relaxed body became heavy, and her straight spine had to bend heavily.

They were people from the City Lord's Mansion!

"Fellow cultivators, I am Li Chengru, valued by the Iron Sword Sect and appointed as City Lord of Yunwu City."

"Today gathered at the foot of Yunwu Mountain, I suppose everyone is here for the Yunwu Crystal."

"The City Lord's Mansion promises that the transaction items with fellow cultivators remain unchanged; please, fellow cultivators, do your best upon entering the mountain this time."

When Li Chengru's words fell, the pressure weighing on Shen Yao and the others instantly loosened.

Huff

Finally able to straighten up.

Shen Yao secretly mobilized the spiritual power within her body to relieve the pressure she had just felt.

Just as Shen Yao was moving cautiously, Fu Hengyan, who was sword-flying behind Li Chengyan, smelled a fragrance that made his heart and mind sway.

Hm?

Forcibly suppressing the spiritual power turmoil within his body, Fu Hengyan lowered his head slightly and looked toward the source of the fragrance.

There were too many people; Fu Hengyan could not immediately lock onto exactly who it was.

But this fragrance could make Fu Hengyan's heart, which had been calm for who knows how many years, suddenly stir, enough to warrant vigilance.

Could it be those magic cultivators? No.

Magic cultivators mainly live in Xizhou; although there are some in Beizhou, Yunwu City is closer to Dongzhou, and magic cultivators fear Dongzhou's forces, making it very hard for them to take root here.

Observe secretly for now; whether intentional or not, as the bait on the hook, he is waiting for the other party to come knocking.

Fingers placed behind his back lightly pinching tight, Fu Hengyan maintained his image until Li Chengru gave the order, whereupon everyone entered the mountain.

The people below seemed like fish swimming into the sea; after surging into Yunwu Mountain, not a single trace was left behind.

Yunwu Mountain is too large, and the mountain is wreathed year-round in a vast white sea of cloud mist.

Without divine sense to assist, anyone entering would likely become deaf and blind.

Shen Yao has quite an understanding of this vast white Yunwu Mountain before her eyes.

First she pasted a defensive talisman on herself, then pinched two travel talismans in hand; with a flash of her figure, she entered Yunwu Mountain and vanished without a trace.

When Shen Yao opened her eyes again, she discovered she had arrived at a completely unfamiliar place.

Green grass like a carpet, tree crowns like a forest; the surroundings were deathly quiet without any sound, as if even the air did not circulate.

Wah!

My luck is this good — after entering Yunwu Mountain I directly landed inside a formation.

Then there must be Yunwu Stone here.

Strange to say: from outside it looks like Yunwu Mountain swimming in a sea of cloud mist, but once inside the internal formation, not a wisp of mist can be seen.

Looking up at the sky, there are only some rays of light not yet blocked by the trees.

Rays of light pass through gaps in the woods, falling on the ground overgrown with grass and trees, forming beautiful Tyndall light pillars.

Sha—shasha——

Chen Yuwei carefully moved her steps, observing everything around her as she walked.

The travel talismans in her hand had unknowingly been swapped for light-body talismans, so that when danger came she could rapidly ascend.

One of Yunwu Mountain's default hidden rules: high altitude is safer than the ground.

If she temporarily cannot find the formation's breaking point, she can ascend to observe.

Shen Yao did not immediately use the light-body talisman; relying on the talisman papers and magic artifacts on her body to save her life, she first explored this formation thoroughly clean.

Good news: the space inside the formation is not large; a round trip takes roughly a quarter-hour.

Bad news: the formation's edge has no clear barrier, so it cannot be brute-forced with a stupid method.

Returning once more to the place where she first opened her eyes, Shen Yao straightforwardly took out several Iron Thorn Thorn seeds from her storage bag and held them in hand.

Iron Thorn Thorn is this kind of vine plant, generally growing in wild ridges.

As for its use — it cannot be eaten or drunk, but Iron Thorn Thorn is just like its name: its whole body is covered in sharp spines and a hide hard as iron.

It can generally be used for artifact refinement, but the processing method is comparatively complex.

After researching various vine plants of Beizhou, Shen Yao selected Iron Thorn Thorn as her attack weapon.

Cheap, plentiful, and not easily broken — simply cost-performance full to the brim.

Mobilizing the wood-element spiritual power inside her body, several strip-shaped plants as thick as fingers and covered in long spines instantly flew out of Shen Yao's empty hands.

Under the action of wood-element spiritual power, the plants in Shen Yao's hands seemed to come alive, baring fangs and brandishing claws as they wrapped her whole person within their attack range.

Stand up, leap

Shen Yao, originally standing on the ground, suddenly flew into midair, while the Iron Thorn Thorn she had catalyzed no longer stayed docile, directly sweeping forward in a horizontal spread.

Swoosh—shashasha——

The Iron Thorn Thorn was like a sharp knife, rapidly slicing across the grass and trees on the ground, leaving obvious horizontal cut wounds.

Shen Yao continuously mobilized the spiritual power inside her body, letting the vines in her hand grow without limit.

Until a sudden sound of tearing air came from behind her!

Shen Yao's eyes widened; she once again used the light-body talisman's effect to fly upward.

The very next second after Shen Yao left, the Iron Thorn Thorn she had catalyzed killed back from behind, colliding head-to-tail with the leading Iron Thorn Thorn; in an instant, sparks flew in all directions.

Squeak—

The sound transmitted was like iron implements constantly grinding, making one's eardrums swell.

Shen Yao frowned, lowering her head to look at the Iron Thorn Thorns colliding in one spot and continuously emitting bursts of sparks, understanding that the Iron Thorn Thorn's length had already pierced through the current formation.

And in those grass and bushes that had been swept over, there was no formation eye.

Shen Yao withdrew her spiritual power, taking advantage of the momentum to let the collided Iron Thorn Thorns separate.

The previously rampaging Iron Thorn Thorns now seemed like a soothed little cat, only baring fangs and brandishing claws in place, yet making no attacking movements.

Shen Yao slowly descended from the heights, suspended in midair, her gaze constantly attending to the surrounding environment.

The collapsed grass and trees once again returned to their original state; even more absurd, Shen Yao could even see their restoration process.

Shen Yao: ……

Is Yunwu Mountain's formation this difficult? Wasn't it said that finding Yunwu Stone is very easy — basically one blast, one hit?

She just catalyzed Iron Thorn Thorn and plowed through the formation's creatures once, already consuming a quarter of her spiritual power, and the result is just this?

Yunwu Mountain differs from other places; because it abounds in Yunwu Stone, moving inside Yunwu Mountain consumes spiritual power at an absurd rate, and recovery is strangely slow.

This is the main reason the Shen clan gives clan members coming here an extra two months' allowance.

Normally using spirit stones to recover spiritual power counts as wasteful behavior, but in Yunwu Mountain doing so is more cost-effective.

Shen Yao estimated how long her spiritual power could last; she thought: resolve the current formation, smoothly obtain Yunwu Stone, she could at most handle one more formation, then would have to honestly sit in meditation to recover.

As expected, this job really isn't fit for humans; good thing her goal isn't Yunwu Stone.

Otherwise half a month of hard work, and the earnings wouldn't cover the cost.

Bang!

From the distance came a sound like an explosion.

Shen Yao still hadn't understood how when she subconsciously rose into the air again.

She urged the well-behaved Iron Thorn Thorn over to take a look, not expecting a series of consecutive sounds to transmit one after another.

All Directions, every single place had them, during which was accompanied by scenes of Iron Thorn Thorn being blown apart and falling to the ground.

Shen Yao:...?!!!!

The Iron Thorn Thorn in Shen Yao's hand began to rampage, a group of demons dancing wildly flying everywhere.

Looking from afar, it resembled a giant octopus, tendrils running amok.

Shen Yao decided promptly, directly severing the connection between her spiritual power and the Iron Thorn Thorn.

Afterward she reached into her Storage Bag again, several new Iron Thorn Thorn seeds appeared.

Spiritual power more violent than before was poured into the seed bodies, forcing them to take root and sprout.

"Rise, fall!"

As Shen Yao's tender shout left her mouth, the violently swelling Iron Thorn Thorn spread open in mid-air, then fiercely stabbed downward toward the ground.

Boom, bang bang bang!

Clods flew everywhere, dust and smoke filled the sky.

Shen Yao had long since used spiritual power to hold her breath when acting; she lowered her head, gaze serious as she looked at the ground already pierced full of holes, a stone the size of a baby's fist, entirely gray-white with a hint of green, appeared before her eyes.

Yunwu Stone!

Shen Yao didn't immediately descend, instead urging the Iron Thorn Thorn in her hand to wrap the Yunwu Stone well and deliver it before her.

As the Yunwu Stone left the ground, the environment around Shen Yao instantly changed.

The Shen Yao who had been in mid-air the previous second uncontrollably fell down.

Fortunately the Iron Thorn Thorn in her hand came fast, propping up the ground for Shen Yao in advance, only then did Shen Yao manage to land steadily.

So close!

Wiping her face with one hand, Shen Yao withdrew her spiritual power, letting the scattered Iron Thorn Thorn return to seed form once more.

Only the used seeds' exteriors were no longer plump and bright.

Shen Yao was helpless, could only put them back in the Storage Bag; still not knowing what she would encounter in Yunwu Mountain, seeds like Iron Thorn Thorn still had to be kept to make the best use of everything.

Mist surged around her, Shen Yao knew this was the real situation inside Yunwu Mountain.

No different from what she saw when entering, everywhere was cloud mist obstructing vision.

After confirming again and again that she had already come out of the array, Shen Yao backhandedly laid down a Defensive Array, then stuck a Concealment Talisman on herself.

Only after everything was completely finished did Shen Yao have time to examine the Yunwu Stone received into the Storage Bag.

Yunwu Stone is an irregular gray-white textured stone block, while the piece in Shen Yao's hand additionally had some green.

Green?

Using Wood spiritual power to sense for a bit, Shen Yao confirmed the fluctuation transmitting from atop the stone.

That's right, it's a Wood Attribute Yunwu Stone, selling it can fetch three to five times more than an ordinary Yunwu Stone, if the timing is found well, even more.

Not bad not bad, although busy with this whole round, Shen Yao's spiritual power was consumed by one-third.

Speaking purely of harvest, this trip of Shen Yao's doesn't count as a loss, even has a bit of a bargain meaning.

Placing the Yunwu Stone away properly, Shen Yao took out Spirit Stone and held it in hand to absorb.

After consuming Spirit Stone, Shen Yao replenished the spiritual power in her body to seven-eight parts.

Following that, she didn't rest, instead stowed the laid Defensive Array, keeping the Concealment Talisman on and continuing to gather Yunwu Stone.

Yunwu Mountain is very large, a person standing within seems like drifting rootless duckweed.

When Shen Yao faced one natural array after another formed by Yunwu Stone, other people were also each having encounters in Yunwu Mountain.

Sounds of battle resounded through the entire Yunwu Mountain range, not stopping for a single moment.

Only because of the array's isolation, most people couldn't sense the other's existence, even if the arrays trapping them were close neighbors, if unable to break through they also had no way to know.