Chapter 153: Not Bad

"Jiang Yu, together." Xia Bing tried to pull Jiang Yu, but as soon as she got close to the vortex she couldn't resist its huge suction and was instantly drawn in.

At that moment, the handleless spirit sword flickered, and the massive dark‑blue vortex began to contract.

Jiang Yu's spiritual energy, like a startled rainbow, was suddenly sucked away by the spirit sword, losing most of it; without thinking she grabbed a high‑quality spirit stone to replenish her spirit power.

Turning to the few hesitant people, she said, "You all hurry up, or if my spirit power runs out, the spirit sword won't be able to cut through here."

"Jiang Yu, you hurry too," Deng Yuanwu, seeing that the handleless spirit sword was sustaining the vortex, plunged in without further politeness.

The one who ended up staying beside Jiang Yu was Qi Haohao, but just as she was about to speak she was pushed down.

Then Jiang Yu herself jumped down, and as the spirit sword ceased receiving her spirit power it instantly withdrew its divine power and snugly landed in her hand.

However, as Jiang Yu passed through the rapidly shrinking vortex, it was not the instantaneous teleportation she had expected.

Instead, within a dim blue watery corridor, artifacts of various shapes floated in all directions—up, down, left, and right.

Seeing the passage ahead narrow, she didn't examine what they were and reached out with both hands to grab.

Unfortunately, the artifacts offered only one item, and she was shoved away by a massive force.

Then she realized she was in a vast ocean, with a faint scent of blood drifting nearby.

As her spiritual sense scanned, Jiang Tu suddenly warned, "Watch your back—an octopus!"

Several huge suction claws silently reached for her from behind; Jiang Tu wanted to help, but the Dragon Pearl space only released the spirit sword and kept the person locked inside.

It decided that, when a chance to escape arose, it would never re‑enter that unreliable Dragon Pearl in the Great Luo Celestial Realm.

At this moment, a flash of purple jade light from Jiang Yu's body hurled the claw's owner far away with a bang.

She didn't bother to look at the grabbed artifact, tossed both it and the spirit sword into her storage bracelet, grabbed a long sword at random, and leapt to slash at the octopus.

The soaring giant claw, under the fierce sword light, not only missed Jiang Yu but was sliced by the long sword, cutting off three of its claws at once.

A piercing screech echoed, causing Jiang Yu, who was airborne and slashing again, to feel her breath churn; fortunately she didn't fall into another claw it lunged.

Jiang Yu, unable to see her teammates and unaware of the surroundings, had no time to battle the beast, so she kept her right‑hand sword light flashing while her left hand struck the storage bag, sending a dozen fireball talismans crashing down.

Yet a fifth‑rank octopus had never encountered such a formation; it didn't even have time to sink, and was blown to pieces.

At the same moment, Jiang Yu released a flying boat, a spark of spirit power at her feet, and swiftly left the water.

Strangely, the flying boat skimmed a hundred li at low altitude, yet Xia Shijie and the others were nowhere to be seen, and the communication jade still couldn't send messages.

The dispatched flying sword messenger couldn't travel beyond three zhang before it ignited and vanished.

Occasionally, massive sea‑folk monsters surfaced, either spraying water at her or opening gaping blood‑filled mouths to devour.

After Jiang Yu slayed two or three, she lost interest in fighting them; whenever a hostile pursuer appeared, she hurled a barrage of assorted talismans.

She thought that Xia Shijie and the others were probably also facing sea beasts.

In fact, those who had been teleported out before her were sent straight to the shoreline.

Moreover, they didn't encounter sea beasts but a flock of birds flying from the sky.

It's unclear whether it was a migration, but as countless sea birds swept over the coast, one lagging bird fell down.

It landed precisely on the head of an Eastern Continent demonic cultivator, who instinctively drew a treasured sword he had grabbed underwater for defense.

If he had killed it with a single slash, that would be fine, but he only slew the sea bird; the bird let out a long cry for help, and its flock swooped down, raining wind blades like a storm.

Then everyone present was forced to fight; the demonic cultivator bore the brunt, perished on the spot, and the blood attracted a massive assault from the other birds.

Seeing they were outmatched, Xia Bing and the others didn't have time to set formations or hide, so they rushed back into the sea, diving deep until the flock ceased its attack.

However, Jiang Yu didn't know; after flying for a while she spotted the coastline, but because a swarm of sea birds circled the shore she immediately steered the boat away.

Watching her face the sea wind, Jiang Tu kept sighing, "Why can't I get out of the Dragon Pearl?"

"Jiang Yu, do you think it'll keep preventing me from leaving? Then how will I find my way home?"

"It won't," Jiang Tu replied, "probably because you're at the seventh‑rank Golden Core stage, and the current space can only accommodate the Foundation Establishment stage." In fact, Jiang Yu suspected it was caused by a dragon bone that had been placed into the Dragon Pearl.

But at this moment Jiang Tu was already downcast, so it was better not to bring it up.

So she changed the subject, asking, "Has your spiritual sense been compressed to three li, and has the Dragon Tablet's observation range been reduced as well?"

"No, it's still five li," he replied. Fortunately, after the spirit power was unsealed, they could communicate telepathically with Jiang Yu; otherwise Jiang Tu would have been even more anxious— the Stinky Celestial Realm was too oppressive.

"Then keep watch for me; I'll study how to obtain a treasure here."

Then, Jiang Yu looked around, saw no one, moved away from the flock of birds, and chose a spot to land the boat ashore.

On the shore, the nearby area was sandy beach, distant mountains rose in layers, and looking at the water, there were no sea beasts swimming in this part.

After confirming safety, Jiang Yu quickly set up a defensive formation and retrieved the grabbed treasure from her storage bag.

"A fan? Or a bamboo fan?" Jiang Tu hadn't paid much attention to which one she had taken.

"Its rank isn't low yet; let me refine it and see its function," Jiang Yu said, acting immediately; she sat cross‑legged on the sand, channeling her spiritual sense onto the fan to identify its master.

As her spiritual sense scanned the bamboo fan, information about the treasure unfolded: "Found a treasure—it's a thunder‑type artifact forged from Purple‑Gold Thunder Bamboo.

It can attack, defend, and fly; you can use it to look refined while wandering in summer, haha."

Purple‑Gold Thunder Bamboo is a thunder‑element divine tree; after ten thousand years of enduring celestial thunder refinement, it contains endless lightning and is exceptionally effective against yin‑evil entities.

Legend says that possessing an entire Purple‑Gold Thunder Bamboo can shield a cultivator from a thunder tribulation during a major advancement.

"Since we have this treasure, the Heavenly Net Celestial Realm must also have a Purple‑Gold Bamboo Forest."

"Jiang Tu, let's plant some into the Dragon Pearl so we can better endure thunder tribulations in the future." Thinking of it, Jiang Yu felt delighted.

Jiang Tu had to interrupt her fantasy: "Such celestial flora rarely forms a forest; even if you harvest it, placing it in the Dragon Pearl isn't safe."

"Moreover, you happen to snag a top‑grade treasure; Xia Bing and the others must have gotten one too—maybe they already have a talisman specifically to counter thunder."

"In this world, what can suppress the supreme, yang‑filled heavenly thunder?" Jiang Yu said, and as she spoke she leapt out of the formation, flicked the bamboo fan with her other hand, and thrust it forward.

Snap! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Silver‑white arcs of electricity, accompanied by rolling thunder, struck the beach mercilessly, carving a several‑meter‑deep pit—its masterpiece.

"Not bad, let's go find Senior Sister," Jiang Yu drew her formation and set off with her sword.

Jiang Tu asked, "What if we can't find Xia Bing?"