78: Chapter 78 Su Qinghan Encounters Danger, Hidden Dangers

Qi Yang hid in a distant underground cavern, waiting patiently.

After a full half-hour, dead silence completely returned to the cavern. Only then did Qi Yang cast Earth Escape to burst out of the ground and stride boldly into the mineral vein.

The densely packed Star-Devouring Insects had completely vanished, leaving behind only a floor covered in foul-smelling black toxic water.

"Trying to fight me? You're still too green."

Qi Yang sneered, pulled out the Magical Artifact dagger at his waist, and began frantically mining the starlight sand on the rock walls.

Large chunks of starlight sand were swept into his Storage Pouches with practiced ease. Only after stuffing three large-capacity Storage Pouches to the brim—without leaving behind even a single scrap—did he stop, thoroughly satisfied.

Just as Qi Yang was about to slap on a divine mobility talisman to completely vacate this place of trouble—

Buzz!

At the edge of his expanded perception net, a sharp wave of clashing spiritual power suddenly rippled through.

Entwined in those ripples was violent wind-attribute spiritual power, as well as a familiar moon-white Sword Qi that he knew all too well!

"Su Qinghan?"

Qi Yang's brows furrowed sharply, and he turned his gaze toward the depths of the mine shaft.

Deep within Yunxing Abyss, inside a dead-end valley shaped like the mouth of a gourd.

The violent star-magnetic storm here was forcibly sealed off by the power of some Formation, filling the area instead with a suffocating, deadly aura.

Su Qinghan's moon-white dress was already stained red with blood, and a sickly paleness washed over her exquisite face.

Gripping her long sword like an unyielding war goddess, she stood resolutely blocking the mouth of the valley.

Behind her lay three heavily injured, incapacitated Inner Sect Disciples of Xuantian Sect.

And standing before Su Qinghan were eight Cultivators clad in cyan feather robes!

These eight possessed formidable aura; even the weakest was at Qi Refining Tenth Layer.

The leader, a sinister middle-aged man with eyes like a venomous snake, emitted an even more terrifying surge of spiritual power—he was impressively an expert of Qi Condensation 12th Layer!

"Su Qinghan, stop making futile struggles."

The middle-aged man from Qingyu Sect sneered repeatedly, pointing his cyan long sword toward Su Qinghan from afar.

"This Dragon-Trapping Array is a second-tier mid-grade Formation of my Qingyu Sect, specifically designed to seal off Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Your spiritual power is depleted, and you can't even exert thirty percent of your usual strength. What do you have left to fight me with?"

Su Qinghan gritted her teeth tightly, her phoenix eyes filled with bone-chilling coldness.

Just half an hour ago, she had led her team into this dead valley and discovered a rare Star-Patterned Fruit.

Just after picking the spiritual fruit, this elite squad from Qingyu Sect ambushed them.

Not only did they set up the Dragon-Trapping Array, but every strike they dealt was ruthless, making it crystal clear they intended to exterminate them completely!

"Lu Yuan, does your Qingyu Sect truly wish to provoke a war between our two Sects!"

Su Qinghan pointed her sword tip straight at the middle-aged man and barked sharply.

"A war between two Sects? Hahaha!"

The middle-aged man named Lu Yuan threw his head back and laughed loudly, his laughter dripping with venomous malice.

"In this Yunxing Abyss, who could ever trace the deaths of a few people? My poor Junior Brother was poisoned to death in the outer region a few days ago, without even a corpse left behind! Today, I'll use the heads of you Xuantian Sect Prodigies to sacrifice to his spirit in heaven!"

Ferocious glints flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes.

He wasn't acting purely out of revenge, but also for the Star-Patterned Fruit in Su Qinghan's hands.

As long as he obtained that spiritual fruit, he was confident he could charge into the Foundation Establishment Stage within three years!

"Attack! Chop the men into pieces to feed the Yao Beasts! As for this iceberg Fairy from Xuantian Sect, keep her alive so the Junior Brothers can have some fun with her!"

Lu Yuan ruthlessly swung his arm down.

"Yes!"

The seven Qingyu Sect elites grinned sinisterly, brandishing their Magical Artifacts as they pounced on Su Qinghan like hungry wolves.

"Seeking death!"

A flash of resolve passed through Su Qinghan's eyes. Forcibly squeezing out the last trace of spiritual power in her Meridians, sword and body united as one, turning into a brilliant moon-white sword ray that swept forward to slaughter the seven men.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Dense sounds of clashing metal resounded throughout the dead valley.

Worthy of being a Prodigy with a Three-element Profound Spiritual Root, even in a desperate situation with depleted spiritual power, Su Qinghan still managed to force back three Qi Refining Tenth Layer Cultivators purely with her exquisite swordsmanship.

But she was, after all, only at Qi Condensation 11th Layer, and she had to be distracted protecting her fellow Disciples behind her.

Rip!

A Qingyu Sect Cultivator at Qi Condensation 11th Layer seized a flaw and slashed a saber onto Su Qinghan's back.

Her Protective Aura shattered with a bang, blood splattered, and Su Qinghan stumbled forward, dropping to one knee. She propped her body up firmly with her long sword to keep from collapsing completely.

"Senior Sister!"

The Xuantian Sect Disciples behind her cried out in despair.

Looking at Su Qinghan, who was already at the end of her tether, Lu Yuan revealed a cruel smirk.

He stepped forward step by step, his Qi Condensation 12th Layer pressure pressing down on Su Qinghan like a mountain.

"A Prodigy of Xuantian Sect? Today you will still die at my feet like a dog!"

Lu Yuan raised his long sword, preparing to destroy Su Qinghan's cultivation.

Meanwhile, inside an underground rock layer less than a hundred feet away from the dead valley.

Qi Yang was observing all of this crystal clear through his perception net.

Beneath his withered human-skin mask lay no emotional fluctuation, only absolute composure and icy coldness.

"These Qingyu Sect bastards really linger like ghosts."

Qi Yang sneered in his heart. The Junior Brother Lu Yuan mentioned who was poisoned to death was clearly one of those unlucky fools he had turned into black liquid using Explosive Flame Poison Mines in the cave earlier.

To save her, or not to save her?

Qi Yang swiftly weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

If he turned around and left right now, he could definitely retreat safely.

But if Su Qinghan died here, the higher-ups of Xuantian Sect would be infuriated and would thoroughly investigate everything around her.

His favorable treatment at the Nether Grass Field's herbal garden would certainly be lost, and he might even be dispatched by the Sect as cannon fodder.

"Destroying my protective shield is destroying my path to longevity."

A trace of sinister killing intent flashed in the depths of Qi Yang's eyes.

Su Qinghan must not die!

But he knew even better that facing an expert of Qi Condensation 12th Layer along with seven elites, charging out head-on would be absolute suicide.

"Fighting head-on means certain death; I can only play dirty."

Qi Yang took a deep breath, his hands quickly forming hand seals as the liquid Poison Wood Spiritual Power inside him began surging wildly.

With a flick of his wrist, he fetched a palm-sized, jet-black scapegoat paper doll from his Storage Pouch.

This was a life-saving trump card he had spent immense effort refining using top-grade spirit-guiding yin wood, but now, he was going to use this thing as bait for murder!

Qi Yang bit his fingertip hard, forcing out a drop of pure blood essence, and tapped it precisely onto the forehead of the paper doll.

Immediately after, he pulled out a crimson Medicinal Pill from his breast pocket—a Berserk Pill.

This was a forbidden pill that could briefly stimulate a Cultivator's potential, but at the cost of causing permanent damage to their Meridians.

Without hesitation, Qi Yang crushed the Berserk Pill and shoved it forcibly into the paper doll's chest.

"Go!"

Qi Yang formed a bizarre hand seal with both hands and gave a low shout.

Buzz!

Having absorbed the blood essence and the potency of the Berserk Pill, the scapegoat paper doll suddenly erupted with a dazzling black light.

Expanding against the wind, it rapidly transformed into a blurry black figure.

Stimulated by the Berserk Pill, the spiritual power ripples surging from this black figure rose rapidly tier by tier, unexpectedly reaching a terrifying level comparable to the Qi Condensation 12th Layer in the blink of an eye!

Boom!

At the edge of the dead valley, the light barrier of the Dragon-Trapping Array that sealed off Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi suddenly suffered a violent impact.

Like a mad Vicious Beast, the black figure crashed fiercely into the Formation from the other side of the dead valley.

The intense rumblings shook the entire dead valley violently, and spiderweb-like cracks began spreading across the Dragon-Trapping Array's light barrier!

"Who's there?!"

Lu Yuan, who was about to strike down Su Qinghan, experienced a drastic change in expression. He whipped his head around, staring fixedly at the violent shadow emitting the aura of the Qi Condensation 12th Layer, his heart shrinking abruptly.

"Qi Condensation 12th Layer? Could it be a Foundation Establishment Elder from Xuantian Sect who forcibly suppressed their cultivation to enter?!"

A chilling thought flashed through Lu Yuan's mind.

Although Yunxing Abyss restricted entry to those at the Foundation Establishment Stage, if some old monsters from major Sects possessed special secret arts, it wasn't impossible for them to forcibly sneak in!