Chapter 24

The campfire gradually burned out. The long night retreated with the arrival of dawn. The sunlight in the valley presented a hazy and secluded posture under the cover of the thick mist, but when it crossed the edge of the Chi Ze Forest, it suddenly dimmed again, hiding into the mist that refused to dissipate.

There was no path to be found in the secluded forest. Zi Rao and Ye Xuanshang carefully identified the direction as they went. After traveling north for less than half a stick of incense, the scattered white bones among the thick, withered leaves and branches on the ground gradually increased. The grayish-white ones were old remains, while some fresh, ghastly white ones were clearly the remains left by people who had died not long ago. Various weapons were scattered beside the bones. Ye Xuanshang's gaze swept over a long sword almost submerged in the withered leaves, "Master Bai Yu, the sect leader of the East Sea Sword Sect, lost his trace many years ago, leading to constant disputes and chaos within the sect. I did not expect him to have died here in the Wangliang Valley. Although the East Sea Wuya Sword Technique is not known for its speed, with Master Bai Yu's cultivation, he did not even have time to draw his sword. What speed."

Zi Rao flicked her sleeve lightly, rolling down several flying knives embedded high in the tree trunk beside her, and lowered her eyes to examine them, "Although the Wuya Sword Technique is not considered fast, the hidden weapons of the One Blade Sect are recognized as wind-chasing and life-stealing. These are the flying knives of their Tian Zi Hall experts. It seems they also fell into a disadvantage."

The two noticed a pair of water-splitting daggers not far away, recognizing them as weapons carried by a member of the Yue Ma Gang last night. Beside them, a skeleton lay face down, with a round hole in the center of the skull and cracks spreading in all directions, exactly the same as that Branch Leader Qin, and the flesh and blood on the body had long since vanished.

"It is the place where they were attacked last night," Ye Xuanshang said simply, stopping to look carefully, "This patch of forest is not dense, which is perfect for attacks from above, but to go to the Chi Ze where Zhu Jiuyin hides, it seems one must pass through here."

Zi Rao's palms had long since gathered True Essence, secretly raising her guard. All she could see around her were mist and the dark, looming shadows of trees. The light that could not penetrate the thick mist turned into wisps of golden and silver floating light in the forest, making the dark robes on the two of them look as if they were stained with golden and silver powder, exceptionally dark, bright, and dazzling. Ye Xuanshang raised his eyes slightly to signal toward the more open area ahead, "Strike first to gain the upper hand."

Zi Rao understood and moved forward. The mist in the forest floated, a vast and deathly silence, but for those who had raised their senses and perception to the limit by borrowing their own True Essence, the slightest precursor of air rotation was an incomparably obvious fluctuation. Still standing back-to-back, the two exchanged a brief glance as they turned their heads, but they remained patient and motionless. After another moment, a gust of wind seemed to swirl in the air, causing the mist to churn incessantly. Ye Xuanshang suddenly gave a low shout, "Do it!"

Before the words fell, the two figures had already soared into the sky simultaneously!

The mist was torn open by a rapidly contracting gap. The speed was so fast that it seemed as if even the ground was being violently sucked upward. The two of them surged three or four zhang high in this charge. Seeing that their strength was about to be exhausted, they pulled with their palms in mid-air, borrowing each other's True Essence to suddenly rise another few zhang. While in mid-air, Zi Rao flicked her sleeve to wrap around Ye Xuanshang's waist, violently borrowing the momentum to throw him upward. As she drifted downward, Ye Xuanshang's figure rose rapidly. Suddenly, it went dark before his eyes; the mist in the air seemed to turn into a sharp cyclone, covering him with a huge pressure.

Seeing the gale attacking, Ye Xuanshang let out a long whistle. The Guili Sword left its sheath, carrying the fierce and peerless True Essence in his hand, turning into a silver dragon and shooting straight into the space above!

A bolt of lightning pierced the sky, followed by a shrill, mournful cry. He brushed past the huge body of a strange bird by a hair's breadth. A mist of blood exploded below, scattering in the air along with messy feathers.

Breaking the clouds and wounding the enemy—everything happened in the blink of an eye. Zi Rao had just landed, her body drifting softly and obliquely to dissipate the downward force, while the sky full of blood rain had already splashed everywhere. The strange bird had originally been diving to attack Ye Xuanshang, but it was pierced through the chest by the Guili Sword, and half of its body was almost hacked off. It immediately crashed heavily into the forest with a momentum several times faster than his. As soon as it landed and flapped its wings to rise, it let out a long, mournful cry and fell again.

This strange bird was shaped like a giant crane, its feathers as black as ink, with only the top of its head burning red like fire, dazzling and eye-catching. Half of its wings spread out to nearly half a zhang, with sharp beaks and claws no less than sharp blades and swords. Zi Rao avoided the blood rain splashing around and was about to step forward to check when she suddenly heard Ye Xuanshang's sharp, urgent shout, "Zi Rao, watch out!"

Without warning, a huge shadow covered them from above. It was actually an identical strange bird diving down from the sky with the momentum of thunder!

Zi Rao was shocked and tried to pull back, but it was too late. Suddenly, her body felt light, and she was pushed aside by a great force. Ye Xuanshang used all his strength to push her away from the spot before the strange bird could reach her, but the giant wings of the strange bird slammed heavily onto his back!

This blow was no less than a full-strength strike from a martial arts expert, with a force exceeding a thousand catties. In his haste, he had no time to circulate his Qi to protect his body. The bone-crushing, heart-piercing pain made Ye Xuanshang's vision go black, and he nearly vomited blood and fainted. He urgently gathered his True Essence to steady his footing, and as he turned, the Guili Sword pierced through the air.

The strange bird seemed to know the power of the sword Qi and dared not face it head-on. With a shrill cry, it flew up obliquely, and after just one circle, it dived down again rapidly.

Several sharp flying knives shot out from behind Ye Xuanshang, turning into a dazzling, semi-circular radiance that slashed rapidly forward. It was Zi Rao who had flicked her sleeves to shoot out the hidden weapons she had just picked up while retreating.

The strange bird, angry at its companion's serious injury, was completely unafraid of the blade light. Under the sweep of its giant wings, a gale swept through, mud flew, and trees broke; the flying knives fell to the side one after another. But before Zi Rao made her move, she had infused the blades with Lie Bing True Essence. After being hit by the gale, the ice needles flew like rain, crystal light shot everywhere, and countless fine rays broke through the feathers. The potent poison quenched on them made this strange creature tremble and suddenly rise.

The power of this strange bird was truly unexpected. Not only was it unusually fierce, but it also seemed to have been trained, with strategy in its attack and defense. As it circled with Zi Rao again, encountering her Lie Bing True Essence, it flapped its wings to rise as if it could not dodge in time, but suddenly turned sideways and swooped violently toward Ye Xuanshang, who had just taken a hard hit nearby!

Ye Xuanshang gave a cold snort, his right hand flashing with sword light, striking and withdrawing rapidly. The strange bird thought it had an opportunity and attacked with its wings spread along with the sword. But no matter how powerful it was, how could it be the enemy of an expert like Ye Xuanshang, whose military strategy and swordsmanship had both reached the peak? As it dived, its chest was wide open. Ye Xuanshang lured it to fly low, his body instantly shifted from an incredible angle, and his left hand gathered ten percent of his palm power and struck out with a boom!

The strange bird let out a shrill, mournful cry that pierced the nine heavens. Its huge body was directly knocked away by this fierce and peerless True Essence. However, the counter-shock force hit back, and Ye Xuanshang's chest felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer. Under the violent shock to his figure, blood finally spurted from his mouth.

A few glimmers of light flashed past the corner of his eyes. Just as he thought, "Not good," several ethereal mysterious lights circled around him, blooming into beautiful flying flames in an instant, protecting him in time. Zi Rao used the Flame Butterfly to force back the Ghost Bone Insects, and her other hand had already conjured the "Thousand Threads" technique, pointing into the void. Countless fine threads, as bright and clean as jade, shot toward the strange bird in the air like living things.

Thousands of threads wound rapidly. In the dark and elusive mist, it was as if thousands of transparent rays were crisscrossing, turning and dancing rapidly, surrounding the strange bird layer by layer. Although the strange bird was seriously injured, it was still extremely fierce, tossing and struggling, constantly trying to break through the silk net and pounce down, but every time it struggled, more tough threads stuck to its body.

Zi Rao's face gradually turned as pale as snow jade, but she refused to withdraw the "Flame Butterfly" technique, exerting the "Thousand Threads" to the fullest. The Heart Method circulated continuously, and amidst a clear shout, True Essence broke out from her fingertips. The ice threads flew together in the air, and the radiance surged.

Accompanied by the strange bird's shrill, mournful cries, a huge silk cocoon finally formed, tightening and shrinking. The radiance on the threads flickered, gradually converging, and when it crashed to the ground, it had turned into a piece of cold, icy white.

Zi Rao could not care about anything else and rushed to Ye Xuanshang's side, asking urgently: "How are you? Are you seriously injured?"

Ye Xuanshang had been supporting himself with his sword, barely standing, but at this moment, his body swayed, and he knelt on one knee. The blow he took for Zi Rao was indeed quite heavy, and the subsequent hard fight with the strange bird had further shaken his internal organs with the heavy force. He had only been supporting himself here with a sense of pride, and now that his mind relaxed, the world seemed to spin before his eyes.

A pair of soft hands reached out from behind to support him, and a soft, silk handkerchief with the faint fragrance of orchids gently wiped away the residual blood from the corners of his lips. Zi Rao carefully confirmed that he was not stained with any more blood, waved her hand to throw the handkerchief far away, and it turned into a flurry of fireworks as it drifted in mid-air. She withdrew the Flame Butterfly and turned her head to look, the cold charm in her eyes filled with concern.

Ye Xuanshang was stunned for a moment, a faint smile appearing in his eyes as he supported himself on her hand and slowly stood up, "I didn't expect it to be a pair of Li Cranes. A moment of negligence, and I almost fell for it."

Not far away, the previously seriously injured Li Crane had already turned into white bones under the coverage of the Ghost Bone Insects, while the one entangled by the silk Gu was avoided even by the Ghost Bone Insects, which fled in all directions. Zi Rao helped him to a clean place, "Stop talking for now, hurry and regulate your breathing."

Ye Xuanshang knew his injuries were not light, and the Wangliang Valley was full of dangers, making it truly difficult to move forward while injured. Thus, he did not say much, sat cross-legged on the spot, and closed his eyes to heal. His internal Heart Method was the true transmission of the Mu State Heavenly Sect, extremely rigid and Yang, thick and pure. Zi Rao protected him from the side, and seeing that in just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, his tightly locked brows returned to calm and his breathing became long and steady, she felt slightly relieved.

But just at this moment, a faint, ethereal singing voice suddenly came from somewhere:

Clear water, long and leisurely, coming without end, going without rest, winding and turning into the netherworld, mountains and ridges cannot block or stay...

(End of chapter)