Chapter 147: Zhou Shixiong, Spirit Skull Mountain, it

The next moment, a gu-insect shot out from Tan Qiang's body with extreme speed. However, Gao Xuan's reaction was not slow; he grabbed it and crushed it to death.

Afterward, he gently closed Tan Qiang's eyes, stood up with a face full of sorrow, and only then looked at the square box thrown to the side.

"Be careful!" Cao Zhengyang warned, his gaze filled with vigilance.

Gao Xuan nodded slightly, and with a wave of his hand, the box floated up.

But the moment he opened it, his pupils suddenly constricted, his entire body trembled, and his eyes turned red, filled with pain, yet he quickly closed it again.

Without saying another word, he simply carried Tan Qiang's corpse and slowly headed back in the direction of Golden Sun Peak.

Cao Zhengyang stood where he was, his gaze following Gao Xuan's lonely back, his expression complex.

Although the lid had been closed quickly, he had still caught a glimpse of what was inside the box.

It was a finger!

A child's finger!

…………

Meanwhile, the two who had eaten their fill and were preparing to return to Little Spirit Peak also heard about Tan Qiang's situation and couldn't help but feel a wave of distress.

Golden Sun Peak had a total of five core disciples; two had died just like that, and the Chief Senior Brother was completely devastated.

Zhou Qing still remembered that day when Du Kui had said he dreamed his junior brothers were in danger and had rushed to the Soul Lamp Tower early in the morning to check the situation.

And he himself had taken that opportunity to go along, incidentally binding Elder Jiang Pu.

Who could have imagined that after such a short time, things had already changed so much, leaving one sighing with emotion.

Half a month later, Zhou Qing, using the wandering spirits in the gravity zone as sparring partners, finally mastered the fourth form completely. Its power was beyond imagination and could serve as a trump card.

During this period, although there were a few times he was ignored by the wandering spirits and entered deeper, that tree clearly didn't look tall, yet climbing it was so strenuous.

Especially without spiritual power and spiritual sense, every time he just reached halfway, he would be headshot by those annoying corpse-wax crows.

Although it was a simulation, we're practically old acquaintances now; couldn't you give me a chance?

Afterward, he looked at his panel and pondered for a moment.

He himself was already at the early stage of the Soul Formation realm. During this time, with the help of cultivation under the moonlight and the supreme-grade spirit stones in his hand, his cultivation base was steadily advancing, but to break through to the mid Soul Formation stage, he estimated he needed an opportunity.

After all, cultivating in a comfort zone was too slow.

Furthermore, the probability of the Soul Formation realm ignoring him was currently only 11%, which was truly too low.

He needed to farm some ignore points as soon as possible; when it reached a certain level, this would also be a trump card.

There were also skill fragments; he was now only one piece away from synthesizing a new skill, which also required farming points to obtain.

"I need to go out for a trip; taking this opportunity, I will break through to the mid Soul Formation stage in one go!" Zhou Qing quickly made a decision in his heart.

With core disciples dying one after another, this gave Zhou Qing an unprecedented sense of urgency.

He could feel that perhaps it wouldn't be long before the Divine Transformation realm began to enter the fray.

By then, it would truly become a Shura hell. He had to improve his cultivation as quickly as possible to have the ability to protect himself in the coming storm.

"If I go out, I must bring someone, and their cultivation cannot be too high, otherwise I can't farm points!"

Zhou Qing calculated in his heart.

The talent skill 【Lower Presence】 required a multi-person and tense, stimulating environment to farm points.

And in such an environment, at least one person had to know you, yet because of various reasons, they would inadvertently ignore you; only then could he lower his presence and farm points.

After all, this was a different concept from simply finding a place to hide and avoid enemies.

Just like last time after the Four Flowers Gathering at the Top, when Master and the Second Yuan Shijie took him to hide in the mountain range, while numerous Divine Transformation and Soul Formation experts outside were frantically rushing toward that desert.

At that time, because Master and Yuan Shijie were fully focused on observing the environment outside, their attention was drawn away, which allowed him to farm a large number of points and a new skill fragment.

"Currently, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, and Jin Dan all have a 90% probability of ignoring me. If I bring someone I'm familiar with and find a stimulating environment with many people, maybe I can farm them."

Zhou Qing's eyes lit up, but his brows quickly furrowed.

He was now a person on the top ten hit list of the Cangyan Dao Palace; who would dare to team up with him to go out?

Wasn't that just asking for death?

If they encountered danger, who would protect whom?

After thinking it over, he found that the only person who might accompany him seemed to be the Third Senior Brother.

However, that guy was too jumpy, and as a Soul Formation expert, it was hard to ignore him.

Now that they had dug up someone's ancestral grave, if the two of them stayed together, who knew how many people would be excited to come and deal with them.

"Zhou Shixiong, Zhou Shixiong—"

Just as Zhou Qing was feeling somewhat irritable, Lu Yaoyao's excited shouting suddenly rang out from outside.

As he opened the door, he saw Lu Yaoyao running in excitedly, holding a map.

"You could have just sent a message if there was something; why did you come over suddenly?" Zhou Qing asked in confusion.

Lu Yaoyao was full of joy. Without a word, she immediately spread the map on the table and excitedly pointed her finger at a place on the map.

"Spirit Skull Mountain, it's Spirit Skull Mountain! I was wondering why it felt so familiar. I've been pondering it for the past few days, and I finally remembered. You said back then that this Spirit Skull Mountain..."

Lu Yaoyao stopped just as she reached this point, as if she suddenly realized something. She abruptly shut her mouth, the smile on her face froze instantly, and a flash of panic crossed her eyes.

Zhou Qing was left completely confused by her sudden reaction and asked, "What did I say?"

"No, nothing. Zhou Shixiong, let's go to Spirit Skull Mountain. There is an opportunity there, a massive opportunity!"

Lu Yaoyao hurriedly changed the subject, grabbed Zhou Qing's arm, and said with eyes full of anticipation.

Zhou Qing looked at the map again, and his expression also turned solemn.

Because it was there that Yuan Shijie Luo Xue was cruelly killed by that Sima Yaoji, and Senior Brother Du Kui had fled with heavy injuries.

Moreover, this place belonged to the territory of the Cangyan Dao Palace, and just a few hundred miles from Spirit Skull Mountain, they had a mining area.

"What kind of opportunity could there be there?" Zhou Qing asked with a frown.

Lu Yaoyao blinked and hurriedly said, "I heard people say that a very powerful master fell there. The other party was quite accomplished in the way of restrictions and had successfully set up five-colored restrictions many times."

When Zhou Qing heard this, his eyes lit up. After all, he had always had a strong interest and yearning for formations and restrictions, so he hurriedly asked, "Are you sure?"

Seeing that Zhou Qing was interested, Lu Yaoyao nodded repeatedly, her face full of confidence.

"Zhou Shixiong, maybe the other party's inheritance is right there. Let's go look for it; we will definitely find it!" At this moment, her eyes were full of excitement.

Zhou Qing looked carefully at the location of Spirit Skull Mountain again.

Truly advanced formations were divided into nine colors, with one color being the weakest and nine colors being the strongest. Most of the formations and restrictions he had seen were almost all in a colorless state, not even reaching the lowest grade.

The most powerful one he had seen was the five-colored altar in the secret passage; he didn't know where the Second Uncle had gotten it from.

And he guessed that the other five coffins probably all contained unimaginably powerful restrictions, to the point that the Second Uncle had to go far away to specifically study the art of restrictions.

Just speaking of that five-colored altar, relying on it alone allowed one to enter the Taiqingmen cave heaven silently and perfectly avoid the monitoring of the gravity zone. From this, one could see the wonder of the art of restrictions.

If there really was such a master of restrictions whose inheritance was at Spirit Skull Mountain...

Thinking of this, a strong desire to explore ignited in Zhou Qing's heart.

No—

Soon, Zhou Qing seemed to react to something and looked at Lu Yaoyao with a face full of confusion, asking, "How come I've never heard of such a powerful master falling at this Spirit Skull Mountain?"

If a master capable of setting up five-colored restrictions had really fallen there, such a major event would have surely led the five sects to send people to search it thoroughly over and over again. Yet until now, he had never heard anyone mention it.

Perhaps the entire Sacred Martial Dynasty didn't even have such a master?

Facing Zhou Qing's sudden questioning, Lu Yaoyao was clearly flustered, and her eyes even dodged.

"That, I, I heard it from Master. He said this is a secret, and ordinary people naturally wouldn't know. Oh, don't worry about it. Anyway, there is an opportunity there; let's go see, won't we know then?" Lu Yaoyao stammered.

Zhou Qing looked at her appearance, understood something in his heart, and then shook his head.

It was very obvious that this girl was lying; she was just looking for an excuse to get him to take her out for a stroll.

"I still have some things to do; you should find Senior Brother He Han!" Zhou Qing declined.

When Lu Yaoyao saw Zhou Qing's perfunctory attitude, she immediately understood. She opened her mouth, wanting to explain something, but for a moment didn't know where to start.

"Zhou Shixiong, just believe me once. By the way, Suanni, there are also Suanni treasure bones there!"

Soon, Lu Yaoyao seemed to have thought of something and hurriedly said.

Zhou Qing looked at her abruptly, shocked, "Suanni? Are you sure?"

Lu Yaoyao thought for a moment, her voice sounding a bit weak, "It seems you once said... there should be."

Zhou Qing: "..."

He remembered that during the previous Five Sects Treasure Exchange, because of the heart method resonance of the "Silver Dragon Hand" and "Silver Dragon Step," he had seen an ordinary furnace at a street stall.

Through 【Daily Appraisal】, he learned that its inner wall had become extraordinary because it had once been stained with the blood of an elderly Suanni.

In the end, with the help of the withered blood in that furnace, the cultivation progress of these two divine arts had been rapid.

And at that time, he had not yet reached Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, and his own talent could only be described as mediocre, but it was enough to see the wonder of that drop of blood.

"Zhou Shixiong, let's go together. If you don't go, I'll go by myself. If I really get something good, don't regret it!" Lu Yaoyao feigned anger.

Zhou Qing showed a thoughtful expression.

Although this matter sounded very unreasonable and didn't make sense at all, looking at Lu Yaoyao's determined appearance, it seemed as if it were indeed the case.

And—

Zhou Qing re-examined Lu Yaoyao, and his heart couldn't help but stir.

Mid Jin Dan realm, someone he was familiar with, trustworthy, and knew some of his secrets—wasn't this the ideal candidate he had been desperately looking for?

But she was the Sect Master's beloved disciple, and she herself was a Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator with limitless future achievements. How could he take her out to take risks?

If something happened, how would he answer to the Sect Master?

Seeing Zhou Qing's hesitant gaze, Lu Yaoyao seemed to have guessed his concerns and hurriedly said, "Zhou Qing Shixiong, we can sneak out; we don't have to tell anyone."

"And I said before, you are the only one in the entire sect I can trust. No matter what we encounter, I won't blame you."

Zhou Qing couldn't help but smile bitterly. This really couldn't be said lightly. If the Sect Master heard this, wouldn't he be devastated?

And what virtue or ability do I have to make you trust me so much?

"Are you sure?"

Zhou Qing suddenly seemed to have made up his mind. Anyway, he had originally planned to go out, just without a specific direction. Now that Lu Yaoyao was so insistent, he might as well go to Spirit Skull Mountain.

If there really were any Suanni bones or master inheritance, for him, that would be a massive opportunity that couldn't be missed.

Facing Zhou Qing's sudden question, Lu Yaoyao was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted. Her face was full of surprise, and she nodded repeatedly, saying, "I'm sure, no, I swear!"

"Don't swear so easily; people's mouths are poisonous!" Zhou Qing warned. He didn't like the act of swearing easily; he always felt it would bring him some inexplicable pressure.

Lu Yaoyao nodded obediently, indicating she remembered.

Zhou Qing thought for a moment and said, "I'll pack up a bit more. I plan to leave tomorrow. If you really want to go with me, we have to separate, leaving one after the other, so it's not easy for people to discover."

"Okay, I'll also take the opportunity to exchange for some healing elixirs and such, just in case!" Lu Yaoyao said hurriedly.

After Zhou Qing warned her about some details, Lu Yaoyao hopped away. Watching her cheerful back, he suddenly felt anxious again.

I wonder if taking her out this time is right or wrong?

Early the next morning, Zhou Qing left the mountain gate. Elder Wu Zhu specifically told him to be cautious; after all, this child was now a hot commodity that everyone wanted a bite of.

An hour later, Lu Yaoyao sneaked out of the mountain gate, her eyes full of excitement, and then left.

Watching Lu Yaoyao's back as she left alone, Elder Wu Zhu stroked his beard and sighed.

Unknowingly, these little ones had all undergone transformation and growth in this cruel war.

Now, each of them could go out and venture alone.

…………

Three days later, Mo Xingjian rushed back, his face full of exhaustion.

"Yo, Mo Shixiong, you're back. Little Tiger did a beautiful job this time, and he even retreated unscathed; he came back a long time ago!" Elder Wu Zhu praised.

When Mo Xingjian heard this, he was so angry his teeth itched.

He had only received news in the last few days that that guy had already sneaked back, causing him to wander outside day and night until now.

"He hasn't gone out again since he came back, has he?" Mo Xingjian asked hurriedly.

Elder Wu Zhu shook his head and said, "He's been staying at Little Spirit Peak. Don't worry, he hasn't gone out running around."

Mo Xingjian nodded, immediately took out a leather whip, and was about to go in, but Elder Wu Zhu seemed to have thought of something and hurriedly said, "However, your other disciple has left."

Mo Xingjian immediately pulled back the foot he had just raised, his face full of disbelief, and asked with wide eyes, "Zhou Qing? Where did he go?"

Elder Wu Zhu shook his head: "He didn't say."

Mo Xingjian closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently, his nose puffing out white air, trying hard to calm himself down.

Going out at a time like this, aren't you deliberately drawing hatred?

Those people are very likely to vent everything the Third one did on you.

"Which direction?" Mo Xingjian asked helplessly.

Elder Wu Zhu immediately pointed to the northeast. Mo Xingjian didn't say a word and immediately set off, galloping away.

"It's already been three days; where are you going to chase him!" Elder Wu Zhu shouted loudly from behind.

Afterward, he sighed and muttered to himself, "It's a good thing this old man didn't take any disciples, otherwise, day after day, there's really no end to the worrying."

About an hour later, Yan Xiaohu ran out from inside with a hurried expression, his face full of nervousness, his eyes looking around from time to time, as if he had done something guilty.

As soon as he saw Elder Wu Zhu, he hurriedly approached and asked eagerly, "Elder Wu Zhu, is my Master back?"

Elder Wu Zhu looked at his sneaky appearance, nodded, and said, "But he went out again. What about you?"

Hearing Elder Wu Zhu's words, Yan Xiaohu breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he straighten his back and say heroically, "Of course, I'm going out to continue making moves. I want to make those scum of the Cangyan Dao Palace tuck their tails and run away as soon as they hear the name of Dao Ba Yan Xiaohu."

When Elder Wu Zhu heard this, he hurriedly advised, "You must not run around randomly; there are now Divine Transformation experts hunting you down."

"Afraid of a chicken feather? Don't worry, I've been back for more than half a month. They should have received the news long ago and given up the hunt. I guess no one would think I would sneak out again at this time to kill them with a return shot!"

Yan Xiaohu was full of pride, his eyes full of excited madness.

Of course, there was also his own reason; he went to find the Fourth one today and only then discovered that he had sneaked away three days ago.

And he even left a letter asking him to help take good care of the mother hen.

That chicken could live well without eating for months; it didn't need taking care of at all.

And the Fourth one had changed now; he didn't even greet him when he went out. He didn't know who he had learned that from.

It was very obvious that he saw his own ranking was higher than his and wanted to make a big move to surpass him.

How could he let him surpass him? He hurriedly packed up, only to hear that Old Mo was back.

This scared him quite a bit. Although he was famous now, digging up someone's ancestral grave was not a glorious thing. Based on his understanding of Old Mo, he would definitely whip him hard.

Better to go out and hide; maybe if he ran into the Fourth one, the two of them could cooperate to use the retreat drum once.

"I'm off!" After Yan Xiaohu finished speaking, he immediately flew away on his sword and soon disappeared into the horizon.

But unexpectedly, an hour later, He Han ran out in a hurry. As soon as he saw Elder Wu Zhu, he hurriedly asked if he had seen Lu Yaoyao.

"I saw her!"

"Where did she go?"

"How would I know."

"When did you see her?"

"Three days ago, she left alone. What's wrong?"

"Oh my~"

He Han hurriedly ran back. Now that the war between the five major sects was becoming more and more intense, and Soul Formation experts were falling one after another, her running out as a Jin Dan cultivator wasn't that just asking for death?

Soon, Cao Zhengyang sent detailed inquiry information. After a while, He Han left in a hurry.

This left Elder Wu Zhu speechless.

"Although I've never taken disciples and can't really understand the feelings of you masters, looking at it from a third-party perspective, you protect them too well."

"People all need to grow. Perhaps it is precisely because of your excessive protection that they want to leave alone!"

…………

In a mountain range, Zhou Qing carefully sprinkled some high-level monster feces around, then leaped and flew onto a tree.

He had learned this trick from the Third Senior Brother before; using the smell of monster feces could cover his own aura to a certain extent and avoid some unnecessary trouble.

Lu Yaoyao lay on a tree branch, looking very excited, her eyes almost smiling into crescent shapes under the moonlight.

Zhou Qing found a relatively stable place, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

Watching the layer of silver radiance suddenly emerging from Zhou Qing's body, Lu Yaoyao gradually put away her smile, hugged her legs tightly with her arms, rested her chin gently on her knees, and looked at Zhou Qing with suddenly reddened eyes.

Her eyes revealed a trace of nostalgia, reliance, and fear.

Her thoughts also seemed to return to the past; it had been so long since they had this kind of quiet solitude together.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Qing, who was cultivating, seemed to notice Lu Yaoyao's abnormality. The silver radiance on his body slowly disappeared, and then he opened his eyes and asked with a face full of confusion.

Lu Yaoyao shook her head slightly, was silent for a while, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm just very curious, what kind of woman will you find to be your Dao companion in the future?"

Zhou Qing: "..."

Here it comes again, is it here again!

First there was Immortal Xuanyou, then there was that Ninth Princess Xuan Yuan Muqian. Even if I look like your brother, there's no need to worry to this extent, right?

"Zhou Shixiong, let's assume, if you have a Dao companion in the future and even gave birth to a beautiful and sensible daughter."

"But the daughter has never seen her mother since birth. Every time she faces her questions, you refuse to talk about it. What do you think would make you so resistant?"

Lu Yaoyao suddenly asked with a serious face.

Zhou Qing couldn't help but laugh. What kind of assumption is this?

However, looking at Lu Yaoyao's serious appearance, he couldn't just ignore her, so he lay down along the thick branch, looking up at the bright moon and the stars in the night sky.

He thought for a moment and said, "Although I'm still young and discussing these things is indeed too early, if I really have a daughter in the future, thinking about it is still quite nice."

"Really? You don't want a son? I mean, you wouldn't look down on a daughter because of favoring boys over girls?"

Lu Yaoyao's eyes lit up, and she asked hurriedly, her eyes full of anticipation, as if she cared very much about Zhou Qing's answer to this question.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 148 =====