Chapter 107: Oath and Heji

Mu Xiaoxiao was especially happy to see Lin Zhangqing solemnly put away the jade pendant she had given him; this way, whenever he occasionally saw the pendant, he would think of her.

Just then, Lin Zhangqing sensed someone approaching; glancing over, he saw it was Hu Yunna who had come.

In fact, just earlier Hu Yunna had seen Mu Xiaoxiao come to find Lin Zhangqing, the two chatting and laughing, with Mu Xiaoxiao even giving Lin Zhangqing a jade pendant; watching this had made her both angry and anxious, so she could not help but come over.

Seeing it was Hu Yunna, Lin Zhangqing took the initiative to speak: "Junior Sister Hu, why have you also come over? Is Senior Sister Zhao alright?"

"She is fine; Senior Sister Chen is watching over her! I saw Senior Brother alone here and too bored, so I came to keep Senior Brother company and chat." After saying this, she herself felt embarrassed, her face turning slightly red.

Hearing Hu Yunna's words, Mu Xiaoxiao could not help but sneer, then said a few words to Lin Zhangqing before voluntarily returning to the Xianyin Sect side.

Lin Zhangqing nodded and said: "Thank you, Junior Sister; once Senior Sister Zhao emerges, we will leave this place. I wish to explore this Central Core Region to see if there are any other discoveries."

After all, they would have no future opportunity to enter this Ziyang Secret Realm, so of course they must search it thoroughly to see if they could find any good items left behind by predecessors.

"I will follow Senior Brother's arrangements entirely; Junior Sister has no objections." As soon as Mu Xiaoxiao left, Hu Yunna's emotions quickly returned to normal, and she became poised and generous once more.

Lin Zhangqing smiled lightly and said: "Very well, then we shall simply leave this place a bit earlier! Junior Sister should first go back to attend to Senior Sister Zhao! There are too many female cultivators over there; it is not too appropriate for me to go to that side."

Hearing Lin Zhangqing's words, Hu Yunna immediately understood; so this was the reason Lin Zhangqing had stayed so far away, and suddenly her heart felt a wave of comfort.

Her mood instantly became cheerful and joyful; she answered Lin Zhangqing with an affirmation, then returned to Chen Zi Ya's side.

Soon another hour passed; this time nothing else went wrong, and both Zhao Mingxia and Lu Yuling successfully finished soaking in the Purple Spirit Liquid, waking up at nearly the same time.

At this moment, only a thin layer of liquid remained in the Ziyang Pool, and it no longer possessed that feeling from earlier, where merely approaching the Purple Spirit Liquid made one's Divine Soul feel comfortable.

It must have already lost its effect; the next time it could fill up again would be after waiting another sixty years.

Since the mission had now been more than completed, it was time to leave this place.

However, there were still some matters to handle by the Ziyang Pool; earlier, after the Tianxing Sword Sect cultivators fell on the ground, their remaining Storage Bags, Spirit Plant Bags, Dharma Artifacts, and the like had already been collected by the people from Xianyin Sect.

Now only the relics of two Yuling Sect cultivators remained; in tacit understanding with Xianyin Sect, each side was allocated one, and he signaled Hu Yunna to go collect the items.

Then, after bidding farewell to the various people from Xianyin Sect, amidst Mu Xiaoxiao's reluctant gaze, Lin Zhangqing led his three junior sisters and, relying on his connection with the Purple Crystal Scorpions, advanced toward the place where Wu Shiqi of the Tianxing Sword Sect had died and fallen.

Apart from the two batches of Purple Crystal Scorpions sent out, the remaining Purple Crystal Scorpions staying in the valley had also been ordered to leave the valley ahead of time and wait for Lin Zhangqing up front.

He did not want the people from Xianyin Sect to see the Purple Crystal Scorpion Swarm; such trump-card assets were naturally better known by as few people as possible!

Unexpectedly, not long after leaving the valley, Lu Yuling rushed up urgently from behind.

"Senior Brother Gao, I have a few words I wish to discuss with you in private," Lu Yuling said somewhat hurriedly.

Lin Zhangqing hesitated for a moment, then still nodded in agreement; after moving a short distance away with Lu Yuling,

Lin Zhangqing took the initiative to speak: "Junior Sister Lu, please say what you need to say! At this distance, they certainly cannot hear."

Lu Yuling looked at Lin Zhangqing with complex emotions, then finally opened her mouth to say: "Senior Brother Gao, I already know the words you spoke with Xiao Xiao! The Great Dao Oath Xiao Xiao swore was not that simple! That oath she swore has completely deprived her of any possibility of finding a Dao Companion, and she herself possesses only Four Spirit Roots.

If not for this occasion, where because of you she managed to soak in the Purple Spirit Liquid, she would have had no chance to cultivate to the Purple Mansion Stage, let alone the Golden Core Stage!

Therefore, her only method to walk further on the Immortal Path was to perform Dual Cultivation with a Dao Companion through Heji, but now she is destined to grow old in solitude for the rest of her life!

Senior Brother Gao, whenever you have free time, you must come visit Xiao Xiao often, or ideally take her away with you!" Lu Yuling spoke all the words in her heart in one breath, and finally felt a bit more at ease.

After listening to Lu Yuling's words, Lin Zhangqing sighed, thought for a moment, and then said: "Thank you, Junior Sister Lu! I understand; let us discuss these matters after Foundation Establishment! Right now, I do not know what will happen in the future either? You may go back; tell Mu Xiaoxiao that if there is a chance, I will come visit her!" Lu Yuling nodded, performed a bow, then took her leave and departed.

Shaking his head, Lin Zhangqing temporarily set aside these headache-inducing matters, returned to the side of his three junior sisters, and then the four of them continued advancing toward the location of the Purple Crystal Scorpions.

The swarm of Purple Crystal Scorpions that had withdrawn from the valley was waiting for Lin Zhangqing up ahead! Soon they reached the spot; after smoothly recalling them into the Spirit Insect Bag, they proceeded toward the location of the first batch of Purple Crystal Scorpions.

Chen Zi Ya and the other two now all knew of the existence of the Purple Crystal Scorpions, so regarding their sudden appearance, they were no longer surprised.

More than one two-hour period after exiting the valley, following the connection, they finally arrived at a canyon, and on both sides of the canyon there were many pits and caves of varying sizes, which looked like they might be some kind of mine tunnels.

For the Tianxing Sword Sect cultivators to choose such a place for healing and resting was indeed quite concealed, showing considerable insight, but such places were also environments where various Demon Beasts liked to hide and dwell.

Therefore, Lin Zhangqing stopped at the entrance of a mine tunnel and said to the three junior sisters ahead: "Once we enter, everyone must be careful; we do not know whether there might be Demon Beasts or other dangers."

Everyone should apply a Defense Talisman, prepare their Defensive Magical Artifacts, follow behind me, and under no circumstances become separated."

Chen Zi Ya and the other two all agreed and made preparations according to Lin Zhangqing's instructions.

Lin Zhangqing himself also prepared everything that needed preparing; once everything was ready, he slowly entered the mine tunnel, fully extending his Divine Sense to carefully investigate the traces left by the Tianxing Sword Sect cultivators who had passed through earlier.

Along the way, he also saw some signs of battle and scattered bloodstains; it seemed the Tianxing Sword Sect cultivators who had entered here earlier had already cleared out the Demon Beasts inside this mine tunnel first, making things much safer.

Advancing in this manner for over a li, they finally saw a small campsite; the corpses of the three from the Tianxing Sword Sect, including Wu Shiqi, lay quietly on the ground.

Suddenly seeing several corpses, Chen Zi Ya, Hu Yunna, and the others were greatly startled, but fortunately the three remained somewhat restrained and did not cry out.

If they had suddenly let out screams or the like, they might have disturbed other Demon Beasts deep within the mine tunnel, causing unnecessary trouble.

A thought stirred in Lin Zhangqing's mind; he told them there might be danger and asked the three to retreat a distance first while he went over to check.

After they retreated to a slightly farther place, Lin Zhangqing slowly approached, observed carefully, and confirmed that they were all thoroughly dead.

Only then did he begin collecting the Storage Bags, Spirit Plant Bags, and such from the three bodies; of course, he did not overlook the Flying Sword Magical Artifacts that had fallen on the ground either. In any case, all of these would be handed over to Hu Yunna to dispose of, so they could not be wasted!

Taking advantage of the work of gathering the spoils, he also recalled this batch of Purple Crystal Scorpions into the Spirit Insect Bag, then used a few Fireball Techniques to clean up the scene; soon, nothing remained here except ash.

Returning to the side of the three junior sisters, he informed them of the situation regarding the three Tianxing Sword Sect cultivators and took out the spoils gained, intending to distribute some to them, but all three firmly refused.

Their excuse was that all three of them had soaked in the Purple Spirit Liquid while only Lin Zhangqing had not, so all of this should go to him as a small compensation.

Hu Yunna also gave Lin Zhangqing the Storage Bag and Spirit Beast Bag of that Yuling Sect cultivator which she had collected earlier.

Since that was the case, Lin Zhangqing did not stand on ceremony; he stored everything in his cup, intending to examine what gains were inside when they rested.

At present, Lin Zhangqing was asking for the opinions of the three of them on whether to continue exploring, since this was clearly an abandoned mine tunnel with unknown dangers.

Of course, they still did not know that the three from the Tianxing Sword Sect had been killed by the Purple Crystal Scorpions, and Lin Zhangqing certainly would not take the initiative to tell them.

After the three discussed it, they still decided to withdraw from the mine tunnel and leave this place.

Lin Zhangqing naturally very much agreed with their decision; after scanning the surroundings with his Divine Sense and confirming nothing was missed, he turned around and led the way out.

(End of Chapter)