Chapter 159: Withered Flowers and Withered Willows

Murong Jiu Xiu's appearance is average; not all aristocratic daughters are supposed to be beauties, even if one cultivates martial arts to the innate level, one can only make minor adjustments to appearance; what truly improves is temperament, and temperament can bring beauty to a woman. Moreover, Murong Jiu Xiu's clothing is actually conservative; Bai Lang really hadn't noticed that this girl actually has a plump, fertile figure......

Now this could bring a little trouble to the group; if she were like Qin Lian'er with a small chest and flat butt, she could pass through silently and it would be fine, but now her butt is big and upturned, which is a big problem. The dead Arhat's angry, glaring eyes still have not faded, and a death-defying strike's power still swirls above it...... Actually, this butt is already on the verge of triggering.

Including Bai Lang, almost everyone was sweating coldly, but unfortunately Bai Lang, Ma Rulong, and Qin Lian'er crawling ahead lacked the ability to dig a trench on the ground—first, don't be fooled by this evil place where the ground glitters gold and is tightly level; stepping on it feels slightly elastic, but actually this thing cannot be dug open at all.

Bai Lang exerted a little force; he could still break open the ground, but this would definitely be a big move and his gang qi would erupt, undoubtedly triggering the Arhat's strike, after which he'd be done for. Since he can't break open the ground to dig a trench, he can only pray for Murong Jiu Xiu's effort.

Bai Lang felt like crying; if he died from being overpowered in force, he could only say his ability was insufficient, but dying because his companion's butt was too upturned and discovered, leading to his death, is truly dying without any dignity.

Sweating is sweating; crawling cannot stop. Maybe they had already crawled onto the steps before the trigger? Maybe Murong Jiu Xiu really persisted? Maybe due to excessive cold sweat causing dehydration, Miss Murong's butt suddenly shrank a few centimeters in circumference? As long as they're alive, there's a chance.

Bai Lang crawled while cheering himself on, and at the same time tried not to think about that Arhat—everyone present already knew the situation; within the domain, one must not think too much about the Arhat, nor look too much, for it could trigger a change at any moment. Finally, after a quarter of an hour, Bai Lang was the first to crawl out of the Arhat's domain, reaching the steps and climbing up several levels.

Then Qin Lian'er crawled over as well, and Ma Rulong did the same. Now the three of them stared at Murong Jiu Xiu, watching her difficultly press her breasts against the ground, striving to keep her belly flat on the surface, inchworming forward. Behind her, Murong Ronghua was already soaked through, all from the cold sweat he'd shed.

Murong Ronghua looked like he was about to die any moment; even his lips were cracked, and if he managed to escape, he would definitely need to drink a lot of water......

Bai Lang could no longer bear to watch, so he quickly climbed up a few steps, turned away, and refused to look. After ten or so minutes, Murong Jiu Xiu crawled out, and Murong Ronghua emerged less than a minute later; as soon as he came out he nearly went limp, and Qin Lian'er helped him gulp down a pill and water in one go before he recovered his breath.

Murong Jiu Xiu adjusted her clothing and then walked upward while softly crying; her clothes from chest to abdomen were worn to shreds, and she had sweated profusely—such a disheveled appearance is unacceptable for a young girl. If it were Bai Lang, who doesn't care even about running naked, that would be another matter.

"Good, everyone cheer up and keep going upward." Bai Lang said, though he himself didn't quite believe it, leading everyone onward. Rest isn't possible for long, because the summit is truly far away. Ma Rulong's energy is now far inferior to Bai Lang's, after all Bai Lang is already an innate expert.

This time they walked for half an hour without anything happening, and in the vegetation beside the road, Qin Lian'er even discovered various divine medicines. However, no one dared to pick them—those present were not greenhorns, their cultivation wasn't low, and they could still sense the spiritual formations naturally formed beside these heavenly treasures.

The spiritual qi here had almost condensed into a mist of spiritual water, and indeed gathered into a spiritual spring—a pool appearing before them is an example.

This is a pool spanning several li that could be called a lake, yet it remains a pool because Bai Lang discovered the bottom seemed flat and the pool is clearly elevated above the ground, obviously man-made, and its height reaches only up to his chest; the water in the pool is actually spiritual spring formed from gathered spiritual qi, with bubbling spiritual springs everywhere, yet the water in the pool never rises even a fraction, always staying one finger's width from the edge.

The pool was full of lotus flowers, plus gold and red fish. When Bai Lang jumped in, he also dug up a chunk of mud from the bottom; this mud was not black, but displayed seven colors with a faint treasure glow, and even smelled of sandalwood, completely odorless. "Is this the Eight Treasures Merit Pool?" Bai Lang muttered.

"Probably not; this isn't the summit of Ling Mountain, and shouldn't it be in front of Ling Mountain Thunder Sound Temple? Bai Lang, you can't say that just because you saw an Arhat this place is Ling Mountain." Ma Rulong said, making a correct and rational inference. Indeed, one can't say this is Ling Mountain, and why would the Adventure Hall send them to Ling Mountain?

"Are they here to seek death? Or maybe the bigwig behind the Adventure Hall thinks this would be fun, so they sent this novice team over to play? Even if this isn't Ling Mountain, just having someone come out panting—no, not even panting, as long as they're dead but not completely dead, everyone in this team, including Bai Lang, has encountered a dead person."

Everyone present couldn't fathom the bigwig's thoughts; they could only strive to struggle for survival, and everything must wait until they reach the summit before being discussed.

Luck being luck, during the subsequent ascent they actually encountered no further danger—of course, beforehand they had gulped down the pool's spiritual water to their fill—those unwilling to reveal their names, Murong Ronghua and Bai Lang, also took out containers and desperately filled them with spiritual water, then Bai Lang carried them while Murong Ronghua stuffed them into his own storage treasure.

Bai Lang only had a few leather water skins, which he obtained after begging Murong Jiu Xiu and Qin Lian'er.

The mountain's summit was now in sight; first seen was a huge mountain gate—the Renwang Gate is so large it could be seen from a hundred li away—and beyond the Renwang Gate lies a majestic hall like a mountain. "Is this truly Ling Mountain Thunder Sound Temple? How come there isn't a single monk? This place doesn't look abandoned either." Murong Ronghua said curiously.

Just as he finished speaking, like a furious tide, a heaven-piercing spiritual qi shockwave swept over; Bai Lang only managed to say, "Hold on!" before being engulfed by the wave, his Golden Bell Shield shattering in the blink of an eye, the Golden Bell Shield achieved through innate gang qi becoming as fragile as when he first trained it......

This shockwave, whether Bai Lang had just begun training or had cultivated his Golden Bell Shield to the innate level, could not be blocked; his whole body was struck with great force, and if it weren't for the fourth-level Golden Bell Shield already protecting his internal organs, he would likely have already been vomiting blood profusely......