Gu Ze’s figure flickered in mid-air, but fortunately, Bai Yazhi’s cultivation wasn’t high. He stayed fully focused the entire time, fending off her sneak attack and flying steadily over the Abyss.
The instant he landed, Li Xunmiao had already rushed over, throwing herself into Gu Ze’s arms, her face pale as death.
She was truly scared out of her wits!
When the sudden attack landed on Gu Ze, Li Xunmiao felt as if her whole world had turned gray and lifeless.
She could hardly imagine how dull and boring her cultivation path would be without Gu Ze.
If she couldn’t reach the end of the immortal road with Senior Brother Gu, what was the point of seeking immortality?
The girl’s eyes were bloodshot, now brimming with obsession.
Anyone who hurt Senior Brother Gu, anyone who dared hurt her Gu Ze! She would make their blood spill three feet!
Gu Ze was nearly suffocated by Li Xunmiao’s hug, so he patted her back to help her relax.
“Cough, cough, I’m fine. Look at how scared you are. But Xunmiao, you should be careful not to get too close here, lest you get hurt.”
Gu Ze forced a smile, pulling Li Xunmiao further away from the edge of the Abyss.
Though he had been frightened himself just now—his pants had nearly gotten soaked—now that the crisis had passed, he certainly couldn’t show a cowardly side in front of Li Xunmiao.
Senior Brother just called her Xunmiao!
“Senior Brother Gu, wait here. I’m going across right now to chop down the person who ambushed you.” Li Xunmiao’s gaze was icy cold, her whole body emanating a terrifying killing intent.
For a moment, it was hard to tell who was the weakest cultivator here.
“No, no, no, the enemy is in the shadows while we’re in the light. I can’t even sense where they’re hiding. It’s safer if we stay together for now.”
He still clearly remembered how he’d just been ambushed.
If Li Xunmiao tried to leap across the Abyss and the enemy attacked again, it would be no different from sending herself to her death.
Lin Tianya stood to the side, looking none too pleased—after all, the danger had just happened right in front of him.
He’d lived here for over a decade and always thought the greatest threat on Songhuo Peak were the monsters hiding deep within the earth veins.
But now, it seemed, Songhuo Peak’s greatest dangers were no longer beasts, but people.
“The attacker’s cultivation is probably at least Qi Refining Stage Eight. Even I can barely sense his presence. But… it seems he isn’t alone. He also brought a companion whose cultivation is not high.”
“At the moment of the attack, that companion seemed to snatch something from you.” Lin Tianya reminded.
Gu Ze reached to his waist.
His Storage Bag was gone! This was bad—the Bi Luo Peak Master’s Token was still inside!
Could it be that the token was the enemy’s target all along?
Who in the sect would dare go after the Peak Master’s Token? Did they not fear Qingquan would come and kill them on the spot? Gu Ze really couldn’t understand what the culprit was thinking.
“Forget it, their cultivation is too high for us to deal with. We’ll report this to Qingquan Immortal Lord later. For her, retrieving the Peak Master’s Token will take no time at all.”
Gu Ze rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
Losing the Peak Master’s Token was no small matter; hopefully Qingquan would go easy on him when the time came.
“Senior Brother Lin, let’s continue deeper into the earth veins. Those two are strong, but they only rely on ambushes—they clearly know we have a supreme-grade treasure protecting us, so they don’t dare attack head-on.”
“Once we finish your commission and the rift here naturally recovers, we’ll be able to leave safely.”
The group continued on their way.
Li Xunmiao kept her head down, tightly following behind Gu Ze, utterly silent.
Her heart was nearly filled to the brim with fury. Yet even so, her spiritual energy remained perfectly stable.
In fact, Li Xunmiao was unusually calm. Her spiritual energy spread out like rippling water, and in one fleeting moment, she caught a trace that even her higher-cultivation senior brothers had missed.
A faint light.
“Zangtian… don’t let me down.” Li Xunmiao murmured.
Hearing her voice, Gu Ze turned around, only to see Li Xunmiao already brandishing the Zangtian Sword.
A cold gleam instantly triggered the instinctive defenses of the two men beside her, and they subconsciously circulated their spiritual energy to resist the Zangtian Sword’s radiant might.
The sliver of pure Yellow Springs Aura Li Xunmiao had cultivated condensed into a thread, attaching itself to the Zangtian Sword as she slashed toward a spot not far behind them.
Anyone who harms Senior Brother Gu… must pay with their life.
Murderous intent surged. Even though Chen Lang instantly gathered his spiritual energy to defend, his focus had been on keeping himself and Bai Yazhi hidden—he never imagined Li Xunmiao would attack without warning.
Besides, he never would’ve guarded against a junior sister at the second layer of Qi Refining.
Only when the sword qi struck him did he realize he’d underestimated Li Xunmiao, and that was his greatest mistake.
But Li Xunmiao, aside from overwhelming power for her level, also possessed many other abilities.
Yellow Springs Aura—specifically to reap life.
Struck by the sword, even though Chen Lang’s artifact blocked most of the sword qi, the Yellow Springs Aura instantly invaded his body.
Chen Lang felt his life force draining at lightning speed—if he didn’t act, he, a cultivator in his prime, might not survive the night.
What a terrifying technique!
Directly slashing at one’s lifespan.
If you had this kind of ability, why didn’t you say so? I never would’ve messed with you, demoness! Chen Lang’s expression was uglier than swallowing dung.
Even after expelling the Yellow Springs Aura from his body, he could still feel he’d lost several decades of lifespan.
If that sword had struck Bai Yazhi, she’d have died instantly.
Their disguises broken, the pair was exposed before Gu Ze.
Seeing that it was his “old acquaintances,” Gu Ze wasn’t surprised.
He raised his eyes to Chen Lang, and said coldly, “Senior Brother, you’ve been following us this whole way—what are your intentions?”
“Plotting against me is one thing, but to help an infiltrator from Bi Luo Peak steal the Peak Master’s Token—are you declaring a death feud with our Bi Luo Peak? Or do you mean to instigate war between Songhuo Peak and Bi Luo Peak?”
The last few lines were just to frighten Chen Lang.
Sure enough, as soon as he heard those words—especially the accusation of instigating a war between the two peaks—Chen Lang’s face turned ashen with fear.
“Peak, Peak Master’s Token?”
“That’s right, in the Storage Bag you stole. I may not have high cultivation, but I am the Acting Peak Master of Bi Luo Peak, personally chosen by the sect master.”
“You two plotted to steal the Peak Master’s Token—are you betraying the sect?”
Gu Ze shouted, scaring the two so much their legs shook and they could barely stand. Bai Yazhi thought Gu Ze was just bluffing; how could the Peak Master’s Token possibly…
The moment she opened the Storage Bag, she was dumbfounded.
A jade-green token lay quietly in the center.
Chen Lang glanced over and instantly collapsed to his knees in terror.
“Junior brother—no, Peak Master! Disciple Chen Lang had no idea! I was led astray by Bai Yazhi and helped her follow you. She was the one who attacked you, she was the one trying to steal the Peak Master’s Token!”
At this point, it was every man for himself. Chen Lang couldn’t be bothered with Bai Yazhi’s fate.
They’d only known each other for a day—where was the friendship in that? It was nothing more than aligned interests and a bit of mutual attraction.
Li Xunmiao held back for a long while before finally speaking: “Hurting Senior Brother Gu—you deserve to die a thousand deaths.”
“Spare me!” Bai Yazhi also trembled as she knelt, holding the Peak Master’s Token in her hands and raising it before her.
She still wanted to become an immortal, to be the fairy adored by tens of thousands! How could she die here, and at Li Xunmiao’s hands no less? She was unwilling.
“My cultivation is so low, it was all Chen who made me do it. The attack just now was his idea too!” In order to survive, Bai Yazhi would say anything.
Chen Lang shook with rage, glaring at the woman spouting lies beside him.
How could he have ever believed her sweet words and thought she was a decent person!?
It was all Bai Yazhi’s fault—he might escape punishment, but he’d still lost decades of his lifespan after today.
Suddenly, Chen Lang struck out, slapping Bai Yazhi so hard she flew dozens of meters and crashed into a wall, half her face instantly swelling up like a pig’s head.
“Don’t you dare slander me! I’m not lacking in treasures or status—wasn’t it you who kept buttering me up, begging me to help you steal the treasure and promising a great reward afterward? If not for your looks, I wouldn’t have given you the time of day!”
Watching the two turn on each other in an instant, Li Xunmiao pouted.
Disgusting.
Only Senior Brother Gu was good. In danger, he always thought of protecting her first, even giving her the supreme-grade treasure for safety.
All other men besides Senior Brother Gu were trash—she, Li Xunmiao, wouldn’t look at any of them.
“Senior Brother Gu, what should we do with these two?” Li Xunmiao asked softly.
Gu Ze rubbed his temples.
He was troubled as well.
Although handing them over to the sect’s Enforcement Hall would be fine, since they hadn’t actually harmed him, the Enforcement Hall would probably let Bai Yazhi off lightly.
She hadn’t hit rock bottom yet—Gu Ze could still see the flames of vengeance in her eyes.
He had to shatter all of Bai Yazhi’s faith, make her realize from the start that she’d messed with the wrong person.
Only after her dao heart was broken could Gu Ze be sure of successfully using his plunder skill on her.
He reached out to reclaim the Storage Bag and the Peak Master’s Token, then cleared his throat.
“Bai Yazhi, you’ve been at odds with Junior Sister Li since the day you joined. I’m not a devil; naturally, I’ll resolve the root of the conflict between you two.”
“So, I will, as Acting Peak Master, expel you from Bi Luo Peak. I hope you find better prospects elsewhere.” As he spoke, a white light flashed at Bai Yazhi’s waist, and her Bi Luo Peak disciple token shattered.
Bai Yazhi stared blankly at Gu Ze, even forgetting the pain on her face for a moment.
“You… ruined my immortal path! Gu Ze, I’ll never forgive you!”
“Make another sound and I’ll cut you down,” Li Xunmiao shot her a glare. Bai Yazhi instantly fell silent, covering her mouth and not daring to utter a word.
She dared yell at Gu Ze, but in Li Xunmiao’s eyes, there was no mercy.
In that instant, she recalled the day she’d entered the sect.
How proud Bai Yazhi had been, looking down on Li Xunmiao who’d been knocked to the ground with a slap—who could have imagined their roles would reverse like this?
The immortal path was full of opportunities—and ironies.
Chen Lang, seeing Gu Ze had only punished Bai Yazhi, volunteered to drag the half-dead Bai Yazhi to the Enforcement Hall and confess.
“Rest assured, Peak Master, junior brother. Chen Lang will turn over a new leaf! No matter what punishment the Enforcement Hall hands down, I’ll accept it.”
Suffering some consequences was better than losing more of his lifespan to another sword from Li Xunmiao.
Peak Master, then junior brother—Gu Ze figured the man was already half-crazy from fright.
The two of them left quickly, and Gu Ze wasn’t worried about Chen Lang running away.
Yunhai Immortal Pavilion was a place of proper orthodoxy. If Chen Lang really did flee to avoid punishment and ended up on the wanted list, that would truly mean the end of his immortal road.
What worried Gu Ze more, however, was Li Xunmiao’s current state.