Chapter 47

"It makes some sense, but I'm starving—what should we eat for lunch?" Jiang Tu sensed the dragon pearl's flight-escape time was about up, decisively halted, also to keep some reserve for flying out of the ground.

"Convenient, let's have hot pot."

"I'll handle the ingredients, light the fire, and pick the veggies; you go to the ice cave to get some meat rolls, fish balls, and tofu." Jiang Yu stretched lazily, her divine sense extending beyond the space.

She discovered she couldn't observe the surface conditions—apparently she had burrowed too deep.

As for the surroundings, there weren't any underground demonic beasts, so it was temporarily safe.

The little turtle Jiang Tu thought, "That works, but I want lots of lamb rolls, with the dipping bowl needing sesame sauce plus chive blossoms."

"No problem." Jiang Yu patted it, ordering it to get to work.

No one would have thought that the ice dragon's ice crystals and ten-thousand-year ice blocks would be used to freeze meat.

Hahaha, cultivation really is wonderful—having a ready-made space is great, a pity Jiang Tu ultimately must go back to find his parents.

She hoped that someday she could also have a space where she could come and go to farm, relax and rest—it needn't be large; even a few mu of land would be precious to her.

Speaking of which, whether in Kind Waters Valley or now living on Fluttering Curve Peak, she had opened up a small vegetable plot—both ornamental and health‑nurturing.

Haha, this deep‑seated yearning for land is an excellent virtue.

Jiang Yu first ran over to gather those third‑ and fourth‑rank demonic beasts into her storage ring.

She quickly washed her hands, set up the pot, lit the fire, and prepared the ingredients; not long after, she went to the spirit fields to pick some vegetables and the cultivated mushrooms and wood ears.

Once Jiang Tu returned with a good amount of meat, she had already laid out the tablecloth and chopsticks, just waiting to hot‑pot the meat and eat.

The first platter of spirit lamb meat went into the pot, scooped out, dipped in the sauce, and shared—it smelled wonderful!

One person and one beast had a hearty feast, and half an hour had passed.

Jiang Yu dozed a bit, then flashed out of the space again; after confirming safety, she carried Jiang Tu on her shoulder and slapped several earth‑escape talismans before burrowing out to the surface.

As her head just broke the surface, she suddenly sensed a faint, almost imperceptible divine sense sweeping over her, seemingly without malice.

She immediately sent a mental message: "Jiang Tu, it seems a senior from the sect is nearby—don't make any big moves, lest we be exposed."

No sooner had her words faded than she saw an injured Foundation Establishment cultivator, tilting and crashing down on his flying sword.

Today the sect's Foundation Establishment disciples entering the mountain all wore the uniform cloud‑patterned blue robes; this person certainly wasn't a fellow‑sect uncle.

She was about to pilot her boat away when she heard a sharp birdcry in the distance.

Jiang Yu had no choice but to slap on a Godstride talisman, turn, and dash toward the third‑level terrain using the Seven Stars Step.

Yet the cultivator planted in the ground woke at that moment and, sword in hand, lunged straight at her, shouting, "Disciple of the Grand Void Sect?"

No way—today's martial‑comparison disciples also wore the uniform, oh wait, it's the standard ceremonial robes.

Jiang Yu heard the hostile tone approaching; instantly she activated the protective bracelet's spiritual light, and at the same time rolled on the spot, narrowly dodging the sword light from behind.

Then she heard another sword tearing through the air, and the Foundation Establishment cultivator's laughter: "Are you Jiang Yu? Hahaha, heaven favors me."

This person's sword light was too fast, and he could also, with one hand forming a seal, use an ice‑freezing technique that hardened the ground beneath her.

Jiang Yu couldn't earth‑escape for the moment, and she knew well that the opponent's cultivation was high; likely, if she just dove into the ground, the pursuing sword light would wound her.

So, while dodging she pulled out a defensive shield, simultaneously bolstering her protective light barrier, and flung three high‑grade fire talismans in quick succession at the foe.

Boom boom boom

Huo Jiu hadn't expected the little girl to have some skill; fortunately he dodged quickly enough not to be blown up.

But this also stirred his ferocity—having been wounded by a flock of fifth‑rank Soaring Cloud Eagles, he thought, but to be harmed by a mere Qi‑refining cultivator, how could he ever hold his head up again?

This guy simply, as Jiang Yu activated her evasion talisman and he intercepted with his sword, threw a small lightning ball.

Boom

"Dodge fast!" Jiang Tu was about to fly while carrying Jiang Yu, but the evasion talisman happened to trigger—though it originally could teleport ten li, damaged it only managed a few li, so they still had to flee.

But Huo Jiu gave them no time; his flying sword pursued at extreme speed.

Jiang Yu hardened her resolve, pulled out a Golden Core Sword Qi talisman to channel spiritual power—unexpectedly, the talisman gulped down half her spiritual power with a clatter and kept sucking.

When the cultivator drew near again and swung his sword, she kept flashing and dodging, feigning injury and collapsing.

"Hahaha, I've been looking for you a year; today I finally got my wish." At least she'd managed to obtain the legendary sword‑qi talisman—dare to chase his fifth‑rank self to death.

Huo Jiu, momentarily bewildered and unsuspecting, swung his sword light again while speaking, but due to his severe wounds the strike's force was noticeably weakened.

Yet Jiang Yu's several layers of protective spiritual light merely flickered once and then resumed their potency.

She seized the moment when Huo Jiu frowned while swallowing a pill, then, as he gathered strength for another heavy swing, she flicked the sword talisman.

Whoosh, boom, bang—three sounds in succession; before her eyes she cleaved a long, deep pit, inside lay a person hacked into several pieces and two broken swords.

Jiang Tu commented: "Such great power, truly a waste."

Jiang Yu, without a second thought, leapt up, snatched the storage bag from the pit, also took the hidden one from the corpse, neatly cast a fireball to burn it clean, covered the earth, and left.

The motion was smooth and continuous, so swift that a Golden Core cultivator scanning from over ten li away exclaimed, "An old hand."

Jiang Yu didn't know that, coincidentally, a Golden Core elder was patrolling just over ten li away; his divine sense happened to sweep this spot, and he watched the whole show.

She dared not waste more time; one hand grasped a high‑grade spirit stone to replenish spiritual power, the other pinched the remaining Golden Core Sword Qi talisman, and she pushed her movement technique to its limit.

On the way she encountered demonic beasts but lacked the will to kill them; seeing loose cultivators, she also turned aside, and with all her might sought a relatively open, uninhabited corner, instantly laying out a Yellow Springs Welcoming Array in the grass.

"Huh, no need to conserve spiritual power with the Four Symbols Binding Dragon Array? Anyway we need to enter the space." Jiang Tu knew she had just expended a lot of spiritual power using the sword talisman.

Jiang Yu filled the array's eye with high‑grade spirit stones; with a hum, the spiritual light flickered and the array formed, then turned invisible. "I always felt the divine sense that scanned earlier wasn't like that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And the Yellow Springs Array can withstand three consecutive blows from a late Nascent Soul cultivator—much safer."

Before her words finished, she had already slumped to the ground, taking her medicinal pill while refusing Jiang Tu's kind offer to enter the space.

She couldn't rely too much on the space and on Jiang Tu; only through tempering and experience would she gain true expertise.

"I need to run a few minor‑circulation cultivation methods to refine the absorbed spirit‑stone spiritual power once more.

"Check that storage bag you just grabbed, by the way—don't touch any weird stuff, and certainly don't eat the medicinal pills." Jiang Yu handed the two spoils to it, then took a meditation cushion and sat down to cultivate.

Jiang Tu also cautiously exhaled a mouthful of dantian fire, scorching a loop around the storage bag; that person clearly recognized Jiang Yu, and from his tone of voice he didn't seem like a good guy.

After the fire passed, it felt it shouldn't disturb its companion's practice, so it brought the bag into the space and laid it out on the ground to examine slowly.

Huh, there are quite a few fourth‑ and fifth‑tier demon corpses, plus spiritual stones, various swords and knives, pill medicines, fresh spirit herbs, talismans and formations.

There are also magical robes and boots stained with blood, and a few bottles of lure‑demon powder?!

The items are a chaotic mix, probably looted from others; it kindly sorted them for Jiang Yu.

After a long while, Jiang Tu went to rummage through those jade slips, beast‑skin papers and the like.

Jiang Yu said the most valuable things are the letters and treasure maps; even if they're not needed, they can fetch a good price.

What was extremely surprising was that a map was exactly the same as one seen before.

Jiang Tu thought of that demonic cultivator of the Harmony Sect, so he ran to the Dragon Tablet Secret Chamber to get that map, compared the two side by side, and they were identical.

"Surely it's some secret realm; is there a token that allows entry and exit?" While it was searching again, Jiang Yu had already organized the spiritual energy.

And recalling today's duel, reviewing and patching the gaps in the mind.