For this trip, Yun Heng had adjusted many of his strategic reserves.
The eight nine-pattern “false nine-pattern explosive spirit pill” units were specifically intended for the second stage, as they had lighter side effects.
He also had a jar of seven-pattern “true seven-pattern explosive spirit pill” units, which he would eat like candy if forced into a desperate head-on confrontation with Xuan Sun; however, those had severe side effects.
As for why Yun Heng did not choose to use magical artifacts, it was because many of the reliable “defensive-type” artifacts were single-use and had to be saved for critical moments.
As for other “turtle shell” artifacts like the giant bell, as mentioned before, using them within Mount Anqiu would be no different from seeking death.
Currently, however, Yun Heng needed to adjust his breathing and stabilize his mind as quickly as possible to avoid being unable to deal with subsequent unforeseen circumstances.
“This expanse of fire poison miasma stretches for 1,000 miles; we may need some time to cross it.”
As they were about to enter the miasma, Wang Hongqiao whispered a warning. “About 12 hours.”
Jiang Keke took a look at Yun Heng, whose eyes were tightly shut on her back. She hesitated for a moment before deciding to take on the responsibility of temporary command.
She took a deep breath, looked at Wang Hongqiao, and said seriously, “No, 3 hours at most. The Young Master cannot hold out for that long.”
Yun Heng’s plans were always long and overly complicated. One of the few things Jiang Keke remembered clearly was, “The fire poison is terrifying, I am very weak, and I cannot withstand it,” followed by “…”
Wang Hongqiao felt troubled because she had never been here before; she could only rely on the oral traditions passed down from her great-grandfather to reconstruct the path.
“Er, I don’t mean for you to come up with a more convenient route on the spot, but when operating the flying artifact later, I will need your help to channel spiritual energy.”
Jiang Keke shifted Yun Heng higher up on her back to free a hand to take the flying artifact and the blueprints provided by Yun Heng out of the storage bag.
“Later, you will place these spirit stones according to the blueprint, then take this medicinal pill. Don’t worry, the effects are not as intense as the pill the Young Master took earlier, and the side effects are minimal…”
Jiang Keke repeated the instructions Yun Heng had given her step-by-step. Although there were a few omissions, they were all trivial.
“No problem, leave it to me.”
Wang Hongqiao nodded solemnly.
With Jiang Keke’s direction, Wang Hongqiao realized that the path, which would have taken over 12 hours, could indeed be shortened to under 3 hours.
Furthermore, with the spiritual energy barrier protecting them, Yun Heng would have a more secure space to recover.
After mentioning a few more precautions, Jiang Keke finally let out a sigh of relief.
Actually, she was not good at this. Even before accepting A Xiang, she rarely spoke to anyone other than Yun Heng.
This was different from Yun Sheng’s social withdrawal; Jiang Keke simply did not know how to communicate with others, and if she accidentally became anxious, her mind would go blank and she would forget her words.
It was fortunate that Wang Hongqiao did not make things difficult for her at such a juncture; otherwise, if Jiang Keke got nervous and messed up the core instructions Yun Heng had given, they would be done for.
Jiang Keke turned her head to look at Yun Heng, whose brows were slightly more relaxed on her back.
She thought to herself with satisfaction, ‘After we get out of here, I must make the Young Master praise me. Hmph, I, Jiang Keke, am actually surprisingly capable!’
“This place is quite lively today, isn’t it? Besides you, there are others barging in.”
Xuan Sun chopped off the head of yet another nascent soul stage demon beast as if he were slicing vegetables. He then cast his gaze toward the southeast.
He was too lazy to even use his blade against this group of minor demons. Once finished, he simply slung the giant ruler—which he had used to threaten Yun Heng earlier—onto his back, looking extremely sluggish.
“Zhoutian Qimen? I wonder which young master or young lady is here to have such a grand display.”
Xuan Sun whistled and looked at Lin Xiaoyue, teasing her, “You aren’t going in to find someone, are you?”
Lin Xiaoyue looked back and smiled without answering.
“As expected of someone brought by Weiyang; you are cut from the same cloth when it comes to being infuriating.”
Xuan Sun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to teach Lin Xiaoyue a lesson. He spat on the ground and said, “Let’s go. You have 2 and a half hours left.”
The demon energy here was too heavy and too foul, and it irritated Xuan Sun, who had a mild case of germophobia. He did not want to waste even a second of extra time. Unless he accidentally captured Ling Yao later, Xuan Sun would definitely “punch out” right on time.
Lin Xiaoyue looked at Xuan Sun’s back and then toward the southeast, sighing slightly.
‘After finally achieving rebirth, can’t you just let yourself be a little more relaxed… A Heng, in this regard, you really are exactly like me.’
“Xiao Jiu… so you were this strong?”
Shizi looked at Ling Yao, who was rummaging for spoils of war on the corpse of a nascent soul mid-stage demon, and said in astonishment.
“Demons are mainly divided into two types. The first are ‘demon cultivators,’ who are required from a young age to constantly attempt to reach the transformation stage in order to seek the immortal path. “
“he second are ‘demon beasts,’ who follow their primitive instincts, growing up barbarically while absorbing violent energy, and only cultivate and feed to extend their lives.”
“Once the former successfully transforms, their future is limitless, whereas the latter, even with high cultivation and high intelligence, are nothing more than livestock.”
Ling Yao chewed on the demon inner core in her mouth, feeling the surging demon energy within her body, and explained with a smile, “Moreover, I am a flood dragon, existing at the top of the food chain among the demon race.”
“By relying on bloodline suppression and the northwestern mountain spring route we chose, I am merely taking advantage of the situation.”
Although she said that, Ling Yao knew this was just an excuse to comfort Shizi.
If it were not for the fact that Ling Yao’s techniques from her previous life had reached maturity—and though her cultivation had not yet risen in this life, she could still mobilize some of the original power of the flood dragon—added to the fact that this demon beast was already injured, the outcome of the battle would have been… truly hard to say.
Involuntarily, Ling Yao thought of Su Zhenxue, who was at the peak of the nascent soul stage and whom she had met briefly.
At that time… did she go easy on me?
Ling Yao’s beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Although she had threatened that anyone who blocked her path would die, Ling Yao knew very well that as a foundation establishment stage cultivator, she had no reason to defeat someone at the peak of the nascent soul stage, especially an elite from the upper three provinces.
If it were a life-or-death struggle, perhaps Su Zhenxue could have killed her simply by brandishing a few artifacts.
But why would she go easy on her?
Ling Yao thought about it, but could not understand.
In her previous life, she had no dealings with Su Zhenxue either. The few times they met were due to meetings of the upper three provinces held thousands of years later.
By then, Su Zhenxue had become the Patriarch of the Su family and the Vice Dean of the sword dao department at the Heavenly Way Academy; her strength went without saying, and she was known for being decisive and efficient.
The only thing people criticized was her poor temper and her chronic expressionlessness. If anyone openly provoked her, they would surely die under her “Rinsing Jade” sword.
Ah.
Ling Yao could not figure out why a woman with such a bad temper would go easy on her.
Forget it, I don’t feel like thinking about it.
Ling Yao temporarily discarded these irrelevant stray thoughts.
In any case, she had no interest in learning about any humans other than Yun Heng. It didn’t matter why she went easy on her, as long as she did not become her enemy.
“Xiao Jiu, I just listened to the descriptions from other stone spirits here; they say that the area ahead is the fire poison barrier, and this fire poison… seems to conflict with you.”
Shizi came to Ling Yao’s side and said with concern.
Flood dragons belonged to the water element and were born in conflict with fire poison. Furthermore, the fire poison of Mount Anqiu was even more rampant than the fire poison in the outside world.
It was a complex, erosive poison that fused the special terrestrial fire of the Flowing Fire Prefecture, the blood energy of demon beasts, and the resentment and evil energy of human cultivators.
For a flood dragon that loved water and had a cold constitution, this environment was like a fish thrown into boiling oil, which would cause violent conflicts and suppression of her attributes.
“Don’t worry, I have a countermeasure.”
Ling Yao smiled sweetly.
Yun Heng had once personally taught her how to guide fire poison out of her body. At that time, he held her hand to feel the circulation of her dantian’s spiritual energy, and the gentleness with which he whispered into her ear… it all seemed vivid.
That was the first time Ling Yao had touched a man’s body so closely. Even if he had moved just a little bit lower toward her dantian, it would have… well, in any case, it had left her in no mood to meditate properly for several days afterward.
Thinking of her own unsightly behavior at that time, Ling Yao could not help but feel her earlobes flush red.
Thinking about it carefully, after their marriage in her previous life, she was wanted by all three races.
After finally resolving that matter, she immediately had to unify the demon race, and after that, it was Yun Heng traveling between the three races seeking peace.
In the middle, there were several invasions by the extra-terrestrial demons, and they were kept extremely busy.
This resulted in them loving each other for 10,000 years, yet they never had offspring.
‘If only… we had had a child back then…’
Ling Yao felt that this damned fire poison had already begun to disturb her, her whole body feeling hot and dry. She hurriedly coughed twice to dispel the non-existent awkwardness.
She stood up and said seriously to Shizi, “Let’s go. We will reach the end of this journey in 6 hours at most.”