Chapter 65

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Perhaps it was the luck brought by the first Wood-attribute Yunwu Stone.

Over the next few days, Shen Yao encountered several more Yunwu Stones with attributes along the way.

The most exaggerated were the Metal and Earth attributes — one with excessively strong aggressiveness, the other with astonishingly powerful defense.

In order to smoothly obtain these two Yunwu Stones (and also to be able to exit the arrays herself), Shen Yao directly spent the majority of her net worth on these two.

It can be said, fortunately Shen Yao had spent Spirit Stones to supplement many good things when she entered; otherwise, given her current situation, she could only choose to turn back and leave Yunwu Mountain to save her life.

However, things aren't much better now; facing the various arrays ahead, all Shen Yao can do is hold her ground.

If she can outsmart them she'll do so; only when there's truly no other way will she consider using the items in her Storage Bag.

Every use means one less, with no replenishment channel; Shen Yao has no choice but to think more carefully.

Sigh

Another Yunwu Stone secured in her bag.

Shen Yao flipped off the tree trunk and jumped down, personally watching the environment before her transform from barren mountains into a sea of clouds.

No matter how many times such a scene has appeared, Shen Yao is still surprised.

The clouds and mist in Yunwu Mountain really never dissipate? The density is simply exaggerated.

"System, how many days have we been inside?"

Tugging her sleeve to wipe her face, Shen Yao took out a palm-sized Spirit Fruit from her Storage Bag and ate it slowly.

"Host, this is already the eighth day since you entered. If we want to run into Fu Hengyan, we still need to continue deeper into Yunwu Mountain."

To accomplish the mission, the System went all out, even secretly using the positioning function.

It's also because Shen Yao has been dawdling on this end — eight days have passed, and she's still circling the periphery of Yunwu Mountain.

Yet Shen Yao's luck is remarkably good; even in the periphery she still keeps encountering various attributed Yunwu Stones.

The one just put away was a relatively rare Earth-attribute Yunwu Stone.

To find it, Shen Yao sat on the tree she had grown and endured for a day and a night, only managing to dig it out from underground with great hardship.

In short, if we ignore Shen Yao's true purpose for coming to Yunwu Mountain, she possesses a rarely seen talent for harvesting Yunwu Stones.

Even with Shen Yao's luck, she could get rich by digging Yunwu Stones.

The System is utterly speechless about this; it had imagined many scenarios of the Host running into its designated person after entering Yunwu Mountain.

Some good, some bad, some superior, some inferior — but the one thing the System never expected was that, with half the time gone, the Host still hasn't met the other party, not even brushed past them.

System: …… Could it really fail?

The System began doubting itself there, while Shen Yao, having gotten the exact time from the System, started pondering how to arrange her upcoming schedule.

Given her current luck in Yunwu Mountain, continuing forward would very likely lead to encountering even more troublesome Yunwu Crystals.

Yunwu Crystals aren't array stones, but they are proper artifact refinement materials.

Whenever one appears, a special array inevitably forms around it for protection.

And such arrays are usually related to artifact refinement; the array even mimics some artifact refinement scenes.

If an Artifact Refinement Master enters, the probability of obtaining the Yunwu Crystal is very high.

Swap in an outsider like Shen Yao who has zero understanding of artifact refinement, and she can only rely on brute force to break through.

Anyway, array formation isn't bound by rules; whether it's strong or weak depends entirely on luck.

Some people take it away easily; others lose their lives and still can't touch it.

Shen Yao didn't believe in fate before, but seeing her own circumstances in Yunwu Mountain these many days, she can't help but believe.

Hmm, if it really doesn't work, then forget it.

Fu Hengyan may be good, but life is more important; she can have children regardless — worst case, change the child's biological father; at most it's more trouble, not deadly.

Tapping her knuckles, Shen Yao was about to open her mouth to discuss with the System, when an abrupt breeze brushed her cheek from behind; by the time Shen Yao opened her eyes again, she was already in a different place.

Shen Yao: …… Hah?

Where is this?

How did the place suddenly change? Clearly she was planning to discuss with the System, otherwise she'd temporarily give up searching for Fu Hengyan.

Unexpectedly, before the words left her mouth, she herself entered a new array.

Obviously, a place so completely different from the Yunwu Mountain environment must be the interior of an array.

"Host! Fu Hengyan is right nearby!!!"

The System suddenly erupted in Shen Yao's mind; the steady mechanical sound nearly scared the other party.

Shen Yao: …… That's too excited, it's just Fu Hengyan being…… wait? Who's there?!

"System, you didn't misspeak, it's Fu Hengyan?" That Big Shot with Golden Core cultivation.

"Host, it's true. However, Fu Hengyan seems to have run into some trouble — he's trapped in an array and temporarily can't get out. Host, you"

"Stop the topic. The other party's situation has nothing to do with me.

Qi Refining must have the awareness of Qi Refining; a Golden Core big shot can't break the array and get out, so how could that array be something a mere Qi Refining cultivator like me can handle?

Besides, rashly approaching would easily arouse the other party's suspicion.

Good food doesn't fear being late; you already used the Incense Pill — as long as Fu Hengyan comes out and smells this fragrance, he'll definitely come over."

The cultivators of the Cultivation World, the vast majority have pride in their bones.

A big shot among big shots like Fu Hengyan — his likely behavior style is absolute confidence: knowing there are tigers in the mountain, yet still heading straight for Tiger Mountain.

Now that they were in the same space, Shen Yao only had to follow the plan, and Fu Hengyan had a ninety percent chance of taking the bait.

Don't ask where this probability came from; all Shen Yao could guarantee was accuracy.

"System, keep an eye on Fu Hengyan when you have time; I'm starting work."

Shen Yao gazed into the distance, casually chose a direction, and left straight away.

After several days on Yunwu Mountain, the arrays Shen Yao had experienced numbered no less than a dozen.

But facing an array that had actively pulled her in, Shen Yao still had to admit her knowledge was lacking.

Good grief, just how many arrays were stacked here, or how many Yunwu Stones were buried around, that even the edge of the array was this dangerous!

Shen Yao was greatly alarmed; facing the wind blades lunging at her, she retreated again and again in fright.

A stray lock of hair by her temples drifted to the ground; Shen Yao stood before a patch of withered willow trees, her heart racing.

From choosing a direction and moving forward until now, Shen Yao had already walked for half an hour.

And the result of half an hour was this strange willow grove blocking her path.

The willow trees were unusually sprouting branches and buds, yet the drooping willow branches bore traces of withering.

Shen Yao had once used the Iron Thorn Thorn in her hand to probe, confirming these withered willow trees only attacked by whipping, before cautiously advancing with an Earth Shield Talisman attached.

As it turned out, while she was fighting the willow trees fiercely, a sharp wind blade suddenly flew from within the woods and drove her away, forcing her to retreat to a safe distance.

Trees bringing wind—could the Yunwu Stones here be of the wood-wind attribute?

Wind-attribute Yunwu Stones, a mutated attribute?!

The Yunwu Stones of Yunwu Mountain corresponded to the various spiritual roots of cultivators in the Cultivation World, and this was related to the basic Five Elements.

Shen Yao touched her severed hair ends, glanced a few more times at the motionless willow trees, then turned and left.

This place won't do; change to another place.

Anyway, among the four directions of southeast, northwest, Shen Yao refused to believe every single one was as dangerous as the one before her eyes.

Half an hour later

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao watched the water droplets falling before her eyes condense into ice crystals, smashing the ground into a thousand holes, and couldn't help but feel a sense of speechlessness.

Water-ice attribute

Most likely a mutated attribute; withdraw!

Another half hour

Facing the roaring sky-filling great fire, and the huge fire dragon constantly passing through the flames, Shen Yao could feel the heat hitting her face even through the Earth Escape Talisman, and finally gave up hope.

"System, don't tell me that direction has metal-attribute Yunwu Stones causing trouble."

The direction her finger pointed was precisely the place she had not yet gone to.

"Since the Host has already guessed it, do you still want to go?" The system said in a snide tone, making Shen Yao so angry she wanted to hit someone.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao said nothing, turned around, and headed toward the willow grove where she had started.

On the way, Shen Yao said, "The place where I first opened my eyes had earth-attribute Yunwu Stones."

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth—the Five Elements generate and restrain each other. Shen Yao hadn't reacted at first, but by now, what was there left not to understand?

This was a superimposed array formed by Yunwu Stones of the Five Elements attributes.

The formation eye, or rather, the most important support point of this large array, was the earth-attribute Yunwu Stone located at the center.

The system cheered happily in Shen Yao's mind, but still reminded her, "It's an earth-attribute Yunwu Crystal, not an earth-attribute Yunwu Stone."

"There are two mutated-attribute Yunwu Stones in the array; relying only on earth-attribute Yunwu Stones wouldn't have such power."

Shen Yao understood the connection, and also understood why Fu Hengyan had been trapped by the array.

If Five Elements power had been added, and it was still a thick-attribute earth-attribute Yunwu Crystal, then it wasn't strange.

"How can we get out?" Shen Yao pondered how to contact Fu Hengyan while hurrying along.

After all, he was a Golden Core Big Shot, while she was a low-class Qi Refining minor cultivator; the other party would very likely disdain her.

The system said, "Simple; just take out a few Yunwu Stones from the array, and the array will naturally disappear."

Shen Yao was speechless: "With my Qi Refining Sixth Layer strength?"

Don't joke; just those few mutated-attribute Yunwu Stones could cost her half her life to enter.

The system was puzzled: "If the Host can't do it, why leave?"

Unfortunately, the direction Shen Yao left toward had mutated wind-attribute Yunwu Stones.

Shen Yao rolled her eyes: "Stay here and wait to be suspected by Fu Hengyan?"

"Of course I have to act according to the character setting; if I can't win, should I just not fight? In the past, Shen Yao might have given up."

But now the capture target was right before her eyes, so Shen Yao naturally had to give her full effort and not reveal any flaws.

No longer wasting words with the system in her mind, Shen Yao tried hard to perk up, calmed her thoughts, and studied how to break the deadlock.

Just as Shen Yao was busy back and forth, planning to give her full effort to conquer the array, Fu Hengyan, trapped in the array in the distance, also had the capital to make a move again.

Compared to Shen Yao's luck of encountering wood-attribute Yunwu Stones as soon as she entered, Fu Hengyan's fortune was stronger; he directly bumped into the Yunwu Gold Crystal he wanted.

What is meant by wearing out iron shoes without finding it, yet getting it without effort.

Fu Hengyan simply and crudely demonstrated the meaning of this sentence to others who had entered Yunwu Mountain.

The Yunwu Gold Crystal was indeed a legendary artifact refinement treasure; Fu Hengyan wanted to repair his waist sword Star Shattering, but it took him several days of effort.

Basically, open his eyes and act directly, close his eyes and focus on recovery.

Fu Hengyan and the Yunwu Gold Crystal spent a full seven days; he finally succeeded in obtaining the Yunwu Gold Crystal at the cost of his own spiritual power being exhausted and his body injured.

As a result, just as he left the tiger's den, he entered the wolf's lair.

Fu Hengyan, with a heavily injured body, was trapped in the array of the earth-attribute Yunwu Crystal.

With no other choice, Fu Hengyan could only use the Spirit Stones in hand to heal his injuries and recover.

A vast quantity of Spirit Stones was poured in, yet in the end it only restored Fu Hengyan to one-third of his normal strength.

Still, for dealing with this array famed for its defense, it was enough!

Rising to his feet, Fu Hengyan stood tall and straight, gripping his sword in one hand, eyes fixed ahead.

Beneath him lay Spirit Stone powder turned into a stretch of ruins.

Fu Hengyan mobilized the Spiritual Power within his body, lightly swung his Long Sword, and Sword Qi crisscrossed horizontally, chopping straight out.

Boom!

Shen Yao, looking weary, turned around to look in the direction behind her.

Because her mind was divided, she was struck on the body by Wind Blades that flew out from the willow forest.

The Earth Shield Talisman was triggered again, emitting a faint Yellow Light Halo.

Shen Yao turned and withdrew, leaving the attack range of the Wind Blades and the willow forest.

By now two days had passed since Shen Yao made her move; both sides had been torturing each other, and Shen Yao had long since lost patience.

"Fu Hengyan has come out?"

With a commotion that big just now, combined with the person trapped in the array, she could think of no one but Fu Hengyan.

The System gave an "Mm," "The array trapping Fu Hengyan has already been broken.

Tsk, worthy of Golden Core cultivation — it feels so effortless."

Compared to its own Host, they are completely not on the same level; can this person really have children with the Host?

The System felt somewhat uncertain, and could only comfort itself in its heart not to be afraid; relying on its miraculous functions, the other party already had the desire for offspring in his heart, so upon meeting a suitable candidate, he would certainly agree.

Otherwise, otherwise it would use Dream Entry methods once more to increase the Host's chips for her.

Shen Yao was unaware of the System's plan; right now she was thinking that since Fu Hengyan had already come out, what came next would surely be leaving this place completely.

Without the Earth-attribute Yunwu Crystal suppressing them, the different arrays in the four surrounding directions certainly would not "coexist harmoniously" like the current one.

Terrible!

Shen Yao's eyes widened; she slapped several Travel Talismans onto herself and fled rapidly.

In the very next second after she flew out, the sound of tearing air rang out behind her.

Bang bang bang!

The Earth Escape Talisman on Shen Yao flickered bright and dim, clearly about to shatter.

With no other choice, Shen Yao could only pull out a brand-new Earth Escape Talisman from her Storage Bag and use it again.

Running and pasting talismans all the way, Shen Yao gradually grew numb, until a long, long Fire Dragon lunged straight at her.

Shen Yao:...?!!!

She turned her body sideways to dodge the frontal impact, but didn't want the front and rear attacks to arrive simultaneously; Shen Yao was blown backward by the colliding Spirit Waves.

Not wanting it to end there, streaks of fierce Sword Qi assaulted her from behind.

Shen Yao:... truly suffered terribly

Magic Technique attacks from front, back, left, and right — all Shen Yao could do was use every Talisman Paper from her Storage Bag on her own body, and for convenience mobilize the remaining Spiritual Power within her to sprout Iron Thorn Thorns, wrapping herself into a ball for protection.

Borrowing the time the Iron Thorn Thorns barely bought, Shen Yao activated the Spirit Gathering Array and Defensive Array in her hands.

Afterward, amid explosion sounds right by her ears, Shen Yao passed out as she wished.