Chapter 82: Saving a Life

The woman's injuries are very severe.

Her abdomen was pierced through by a Demon Beast, and her entire body is covered in wounds of various sizes; within the upturned flesh, Black Mist is constantly seeping out.

However, her aura is still relatively stable, and it seems there is no immediate danger to her life.

It is just that after the intense battle in her Sea of Consciousness just now, it is unclear whether her Soul has been injured.

Xu Chen tried once again to probe his Divine Sense into the Sea of Consciousness of the woman in black, but he did not expect to succeed on the first attempt.

In the pitch-black darkness, a faint white light flickered slightly, dimming and brightening like a candle flame, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

It doesn't look good!

It seems much weaker than when he first saw it earlier.

Moreover, he observed carefully and discovered that in the darkness, wisps of Black Mist were continuously invading the Sea of Consciousness; under the erosion of the black fog, the white light has been in a state of constant weakening.

Although this is the first time Xu Chen has sensed the completely unguarded Soul of another person.

He can feel from the aura of the Soul that it is extremely unstable, not at all like the Soul of a powerhouse in the Zhenyuan Realm, almost no different from that of a mortal.

In other words, after the woman in black entered the depths of this grotto, her Soul has been continuously eroded by the black fog, which has caused her Divine Sense to be constantly compressed.

And after the Green Light Array that guarded the white light was destroyed by the Demon Bat just now, the speed of the black fog's erosion became even faster.

Given the current situation, it certainly won't wait for him to carry her out before her Soul is completely eroded and extinguished.

What should he do?

Xu Chen felt that the situation had become somewhat serious, exceeding the scope of his control.

Of course, whether this woman in black lives or dies is not actually important to him; "let the Daoist Friend die, not the poor Daoist" has always been a tenet of the Immortal World.

Furthermore, she wanted to hack him to death the first time they met; Xu Chen cannot do something like returning evil for good, but he is even less capable of returning good for evil.

If this woman dies, it will indeed add quite a bit of trouble for him and the Taiyuan Sect, but it is only trouble. This wager has four human witnesses, and Yuqing Hall absolutely cannot pin all the responsibility on him.

However, it is better to avoid extra trouble.

If this woman can get out alive, this trouble will inevitably be much smaller.

Xu Chen racked his brains thinking about how to save the current predicament, and finally, his eyes suddenly lit up as he thought of the white mist continuously sprayed out by the Blue Light Treasure Bottle.

This kind of white mist has already had miraculous effects on him; not only can it repair his physical Meridians, but it can also repair the Soul.

As long as he can introduce the white mist into the woman's body, it might solve the current trouble.

Thus, Xu Chen began to act as if he were refining a Spirit Pill, using his Divine Sense to guide the white mist released by the Blue Light Treasure Bottle. It truly worked; as if his heart and intent were one, a wisp of white mist appeared along with his Divine Sense in the woman's Sea of Consciousness, and then it very quickly merged into the white light.

It seems there is still hope!

Overjoyed, Xu Chen continuously sent white mist into the woman's Sea of Consciousness. Soon, the weakly flickering white light began to stabilize, then slowly grew stronger, releasing a brilliant radiance.

Unknowingly, the time of one incense stick passed. While transferring the mist, Xu Chen also had to constantly release his Divine Sense to observe the surroundings; multitasking like this left him covered in sweat.

The aura of the woman in black's Soul also grew stronger and stronger, until at a certain moment, her body suddenly trembled slightly, her Soul abruptly awakened, and she instantly opened her eyes. Xu Chen's Divine Sense was instantly ejected from her Sea of Consciousness.

"It's you!"

Although shrouded in black fog, the two were less than a foot apart, so the woman still saw Xu Chen's face clearly and nervously reached out to grab her Flying Sword.

"Don't move around, hurry up and circulate your energy to heal your wounds, otherwise you will die here today. I will wait for you nearby!" Xu Chen reminded her coldly, while stepping back a few paces and hiding in the black fog.

This woman has a terrible temper; he doesn't want to be stabbed to death by her sword just after saving her life.

After a moment of panic, the woman in black actually calmed down.

Although Xu Chen is her enemy, he has no intent to kill her. Now that she is trapped here with no way to escape, only Xu Chen can save her and get her out.

Additionally, she kept feeling that during her coma just now, an extremely intense battle seemed to have occurred, and it was Xu Chen who saved her from the edge of death.

Within her soul, there even remained images of that battle: Xu Chen, with blue light flashing all over his body, transformed into a Flying Sword to protect her behind him, engaging in a heaven-shattering, earth-splitting slaughter with a terrifying Demon Bat, eventually slaying the Demon Bat...

If all of this is true, then how can this grudge still be avenged?

The woman in black sat cross-legged with difficulty, took out a Spirit Pill from her Storage Bag and swallowed it, then formed seals with both hands and began to circulate her energy.

The surroundings were very quiet; apart from the omnipresent howling wind, no other sound could be heard.

At this time, the range of Xu Chen's Divine Sense had been compressed to about ten zhang.

He even felt some lingering fear; if this woman had run any deeper, he feared he would have suffered as well.

Therefore, this risky gamble ends here. Get this woman out, then find that arrogant senior brother of hers in green, and this grudge can be considered settled.

Of course, it is also highly likely that it will make both of them angry and ashamed, ultimately leading them to be even more hostile toward him.

But no matter what, he cannot continue to stay in this hellish place.

Although the Blue Light Treasure Bottle is powerful, it is not omnipotent.

Moreover, this is a treasure that cannot be controlled at all. Once there is a critical moment when he cannot communicate with it, he will definitely turn into a pile of dung for these Soul Beasts, and the Jade Bead will also fall into the depths of this sunless grotto, never to be discovered by anyone again.

Soon, another incense stick of time passed. The aura fluctuations on the woman's body were much stronger; although she was still severely injured, there was no longer any danger to her life.

Xu Chen had been carefully observing and sensing the woman's state. Seeing her slowly open her eyes, he spoke: "How is it? Can you walk?"

The woman in black tried to stand up by leaning against the cave wall, but failed after several attempts. Finally, she shook her head with a pale face and said, "My injuries are too severe; I cannot walk."

"This place is very dangerous. If you cannot walk, I can carry you, but if you attack me, you know the consequences yourself!" Xu Chen said from within the black fog.

The woman in black was silent for a moment and said, "I will not kill you. As long as you take me to find my senior brother, this wager will be considered your victory, and Yuqing Hall will not trouble you again in the future!"

Only then did Xu Chen walk out of the black fog and say, "It is best if you think that way. Let's go!"

Saying this, Xu Chen squatted down, rudely hoisted the woman onto his shoulders, butt-first and head-back, and walked straight toward the exit of the cave.

"You... is this how you carry someone?" The woman in black was both ashamed and angry; her face was pressed helplessly against Xu Chen's butt, bumping it until her nose hurt and tears almost welled up.

"This place is very dangerous, and there are Soul Beasts everywhere nearby. This way, it is easier for me to attack..."

Xu Chen ignored the woman's protests, released his Divine Sense to scan and observe the path on all sides, while also constantly searching for traces of Soul Beasts.

"You... can you see in here?" After walking for a stretch through twists and turns, the woman in black felt the pressure on her Divine Sense gradually easing, and she couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"Mm!"

Xu Chen grunted and continued walking with his head down, but he hadn't gone far before he suddenly stopped. Then, his Flying Sword suddenly struck out; a green sword light flashed through the churning black fog, and a spider-like Soul Beast was sliced in two, then quickly crumbled and dissipated into Black Mist.

Xu Chen recalled his Flying Sword, not even bothering to pick up the finger-sized Soul Bead that had fallen.

Because all around, a great number of identical spider Soul Beasts were appearing with a rustling sound; in his Divine Sense, he could see at least a hundred of them, constantly surging over from the crisscrossing, fissured alleyways.

"We have been surrounded by Soul Beasts!" Xu Chen stopped and said.

The Woman in black's Divine Sense was still compressed to within ten feet, and she could see nothing, but she could hear the dense sound of crawling, which was exceptionally clear amidst the howling Black Wind, so her body trembled slightly as she said: "Then, what should we do? Why don't you put me down and escape alone first!"

Xu Chen snorted: "Don't you want to see me die here?"

The Woman in black reached out, fumbled to pull the Storage Bag from her waist, and handed it to Xu Chen, saying: "If you can take my Storage Bag out and give it to my Senior Brother, the Soul Beads inside might be able to save my Master and help him recover. That way, we would be even. It is better for one person to die than for both to perish here, and besides..."

"Besides what?"

"Nothing, I just don't want these Soul Beads, which were so hard to obtain, to be lost." The Woman in black turned her head, her buttocks bumping her face, which hurt a little.

Xu Chen curled his lip and said: "I don't have the habit of delivering things for enemies. You should carry your own things out. For the sake of fighting, I am going to tie you to my back and kill my way out. This is the precious bead you dropped; take it first to provide light!"

Xu Chen put the woman down, fished a glowing precious bead out of his Storage Bag and handed it to the Woman in black, then took off his own Daoist robe, tore it into strips, tied them into a cloth rope, and crudely bound the woman to his back, layer by layer; he even had the bad taste to wrap her legs around his waist and tie her feet together in front of him with a strip of cloth, finishing with a knot.

The Woman in black was overwhelmed with shame, but her body had no strength, so she could only let Xu Chen do as he pleased.

Xu Chen finished getting ready, and by this time, a large number of spider Soul Beasts had already entered within a range of thirty feet.

"Pay attention, don't move around, I'm going to kill my way out!"

No sooner had Xu Chen finished speaking than his body surged forward, and a Flying Sword transformed into a churning stream of light, whistling back and forth through the rolling black mist; every time the spiritual light flashed, a spider was inevitably cleaved in two, and within a radius of a hundred feet, there were spider screeches and flying gravel and severed limbs everywhere.

Occasionally, some spiders would leap into the range illuminated by the precious bead's spiritual light, but they were instantly shredded by the Flying Sword.

When a Soul Beast vanished, it would inevitably drop a small Soul Bead.

Xu Chen didn't even glance at them, killing his way out at high speed; in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he had already killed his way out for several dozen feet, and at least twenty spider Soul Beasts had been slain.

"You, are you not collecting the Soul Beads?" The Woman in black, bound to Xu Chen's back like a ragdoll, was so focused on watching that she completely forgot her own shameful posture and couldn't help but ask.

"No time, there is a big guy nearby; I reckon even a True Essence Late Stage expert couldn't beat it!"

While explaining, Xu Chen remained fully focused and continued to charge forward.

When he came earlier, he had passed through here, and in his Divine Sense, he had sensed the aura of dense swarms of Soul Beasts, among which one was extremely cold and powerful, perhaps even more formidable than the meat-winged giant lizard he had collected into the Jade Bottle not long ago.

Therefore, he had not dared to disturb this Soul Beast, but instead bypassed several fissures and passed along the edge.

Although he was still taking a detour now, it seemed he had still disturbed this nest of spiders.

(End of this chapter)