202: Encirclement and killing of Xuanjizi

Chapter 200: Surrounding and Killing Xuanjizi

Thinking of this, Xuanjizi immediately suppressed her excited thoughts and quietly approached the ghost spirit grass with the aid of the Cloud-Covering Scarf.

It had been over twenty years since she became a Cultivator, and for these twenty-odd years, she had been running around to Cultivate.

Searching for Spiritual Plant, visiting ancient sites, hunting for relics, and accumulating resources were all skills that every Cultivator nowadays had to master.

After all, with the path to immortality currently severed and Spiritual Qi scarce, the growing environment for Spirit Medicine was becoming increasingly harsh, making it much more difficult than a few thousand years ago.

Whenever a wild Spiritual Plant was discovered, it was bound to arouse the covetousness and contention of countless Cultivators.

Over these twenty-odd years, in order to fight for Spiritual Plant and other spiritual objects, she had also honed a pair of piercing eyes and great patience.

Only the Cultivator who could endure until the end could become the ultimate winner!

For instance, about six years ago, while traveling the world in search of some spiritual objects, she discovered a century-old snow lotus in Snow Cloud Country.

In order to wait for it to mature, she stubbornly lived in the snow for three years and waited for three years.

During that period, she also constantly fought with the demonic birds guarding the snow lotus, and ultimately managed to pocket that snow lotus.

And now, facing the ghost spirit grass guarded only by a Mortal, she was even more cautious.

Utilizing the concealment ability of the Cloud-Covering Scarf, she quickly approached the ghost spirit grass and carefully inspected it.

"Stems like withered bones, leaves like skulls, exuding ghostly Qi, capable of absorbing the vitality of any living creature within a radius of one hundred meters, with ghost fires fluttering atop the leaves—it is indeed the ghost spirit grass."

Under the shroud of dim clouds and mist, Xuanjizi muttered, "I didn't expect my luck to be quite good; I ran into a second-tier Spiritual Plant just as I returned to the capital of Great Yu."

"A heaven and earth Spiritual Plant is actually being watched over by a Mortal... Whoever discovered this item is truly careless!"

With a reverse grasp of her hand, a pair of silver-threaded gloves appeared in her palm, which she slowly put on.

These gloves were refined from the century-old snow silkworm silk of Snow Cloud Country, impervious to water and fire, and capable of isolating heterogenous Spiritual Qi. They were essential items for picking special medicines and grabbing special treasures.

Glancing around, none of the Mortal soldiers guarding this place had discovered her. She immediately ceased hesitating, chanted an incantation, and a stream of Yin Fiend Qi rolled out from her palm, transforming into a tiny blade.

With a thought, the blade condensed from the Yin Fiend Qi slashed across the base of the ghost spirit grass, cutting it down!

Flipping her left hand, a jade box more than half a person long appeared in her palm, and she shoved the ghost spirit grass into it.

Unfortunately, this ghost spirit grass, like ivy, crawled all over more than half of the locust tree, tightly entangling its branches, making it very difficult to pull down.

Because this locust tree grew beside the ghost spirit grass and was practically symbiotic with it, all of its vitality had long since been absorbed completely, leaving it as nothing more than a hollow shell at this moment.

Carelessly, she actually tore off a branch of the locust tree.

"Crack!"

With a soft sound, Xuanjizi's expression suddenly changed.

"Oh no…!"

"Who goes there!"

Sure enough, a figure in cyan rushed out from the nearby camp.

Upon discovering that the ghost spirit grass in the distance was shrouded in a burst of black fog, their expression abruptly changed drastically.

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

Not far away, the entire camp instantly boiled over.

Over a dozen Jinyi Guard and Shadow Guard who were already on night duty immediately rushed out from hidden sentry posts, surrounding the area.

Meanwhile, the cyan-clothed man had already darted toward the direction of the ghost spirit grass.

"Father-in-law Chen Li?"

The person before her was none other than the Shadow Guard whom Zheng Yi had bestowed the name 'Chen Li' when he broke through as a Grandmaster Realm Martial Artist several years ago.

In two years' time, his cultivation had even broken through to the Innate Realm, and he was entrusted with heavy responsibilities by Zheng Yi.

"What happened? Where is the enemy?"

The night-guarding Jinyi Guard followed closely behind and asked loudly.

"The ghost spirit grass! A thief is stealing the ghost spirit grass!"

As soon as those words fell, the black fog surrounding the ghost spirit grass suddenly moved and darted into the distance.

"Where are you running!"

Chen Li let out an angry shout. After all, he was an Innate Realm Martial Artist; with a single step, he transformed into a ghost shadow, rushing to the front of the withered locust tree almost instantly.

Amidst the flashing ghost shadows, he struck out with a palm toward the black fog.

"Bang!"

As palm and fog intersected, the black fog was immediately scattered by thirty percent, but Chen Li's expression also changed abruptly, and he instinctively retracted his palm.

He saw a mass of black mist entwining around his right palm, burrowing deep into his flesh like maggots on tarsal bones.

That mass of black fog had also been batted away by his furious palm strike, revealing Xuanjizi's true body clad in dark clothes inside the black fog.

"Damn it!"

Chen Li cursed inwardly, True Qi surging within his body, and immediately temporarily suppressed the black mist on his hand.

"Who are you, to dare trespass into the military Forbidden Ground and steal the imperial court's Spirit Medicine!"

"The imperial court's Spirit Medicine?"

Xuanjizi said coldly, "Heaven and earth spiritual objects naturally ought to be obtained by Cultivators. What qualifications do mere Mortals like you have to covet spiritual objects?"

"Just now was merely a small punishment for you. Withdraw quickly, or don't blame this Immortal Master for being impolite!"

"A Cultivator?"

Chen Li's pupils shrank violently. As a Shadow Guard, he naturally knew what a Cultivator was.

He hadn't expected that the young girl before him, who looked to be only around twenty years of age, was actually also a Cultivator?

However… imperial orders were hard to disobey!

Since Your Majesty had entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of guarding the ghost spirit grass, he would never give up.

"Cut the crap! Even if you are a Cultivator, don't even think about taking the ghost spirit grass from before this humble servant's eyes!"

"Seeking death!"

As soon as the words fell, Chen Li closed in, his palms rapidly striking toward Xuanjizi's face.

"Mere Mortal, if not for being an Innate Realm powerhouse, this Immortal Master would destroy you with a flip of her hand!"

Xuanjizi sneered. Facing Chen Li's incoming palm strike, she did not dodge or evade, and rapidly formed hand seals with one hand.

"Bang!"

Sure enough, Chen Li's palm struck half a meter away from Xuanjizi's face, and was immediately blocked by a dark protective magical shield.

Not only that, Chen Li's expression changed even more as blood flowed out from where their palms met, clearly indicating he had sustained an injury.

"Yin Fiend Fire, go!"

"Boom!"

As soon as the words fell, a pitch-black flame appeared out of thin air, transforming into a fire snake that fiercely slammed into Chen Li's body.

Chen Li's expression changed drastically. With a single tap of his foot on the ground, his figure rapidly retreated.

But his entire person had already been struck by the Yin Fiend Fire, instantly being blasted dozens of meters away.

Mid-air, two black iron lumps fell from his body, landing right in front of Xuanjizi.

"Hmm? What is this…?"

Xuanjizi frowned, full of doubt as she looked at those two iron lumps.

Before she could react, she saw over a dozen figures of Jinyi Guard running over from not far away.

"Father-in-law Chen Li!"

"Thief, don't leave!"

"Fire! Quick, fire!"

Then she saw those dozen-plus Jinyi Guard figures suddenly stop when they were still dozens of meters away from her, successively taking out long-gun-shaped weapons and aiming them right at her.

"Hmm? What trick are they playing?"

Xuanjizi's doubt grew even deeper, but before she could react, those dozen-plus long-gun-shaped weapons spewed out a dazzling burst of sparks.

"Bang!"

"Bang, bang!"

Almost instantly, more than a dozen sparks burst out violently upon the Yin Fiend Shield in front of her, extremely dazzling.

Xuanjizi's expression changed drastically. What kind of weapon was this? Why was the attack speed so fast?

These were… iron pellets?

Hidden weapons?

This impact speed, coupled with attacking using such tiny iron objects at such a fast speed, was enough to pierce through ironware.

Although she had a protective magical shield, if the enemy deployed over a hundred people at once to attack with this kind of weapon, it would still be very difficult for her to escape unscathed!

"Hmm? This item is strange; it can actually injure a Cultivator. Could it be a weapon refined by a Cultivator?"

She took a step forward, and Yin Fiend Qi condensed in front of her, transforming into a huge claw that grabbed toward the crowd.

Once she controlled these few people and checked the weapons in their hands, if they could be modified…

"Boom!"

"Rumble…!!!"

Before she could make her next move, the two iron lumps under her feet that had originally fallen from Chen Li's embrace detonated with a boom!

Violent shockwaves, flames, and fine iron pellets burst forth, wildly ravaging a radius of over ten meters.

"Ah…!"

After a few breaths, a miserable scream from Xuanjizi came from within that ball of flame and smoke.

The Yin Fiend Shield was broken, and even she herself sustained considerable injuries.

"Damn it! This Immortal Master is going to kill you all… kill you all!!!"

Before her voice had even faded, another dozen or so Jinyi Guard were seen running over from the nearby camp.

Mid-run, they fiercely flicked their hands and tossed out over a dozen grenades.

"Boom!"

"Rumble!"

"Rumble!"

Violent roaring sounds came one after another. Xuanjizi hurriedly dodged to the side, but she simply couldn't escape the range of the consecutive grenade explosions.

Enduring the intense explosions, she pointed forward with one hand, and a dragon roar rang out right on cue.

A black, eerie light flashed out, transforming into a Flying Sword that shot toward the Jinyi Guard not far away.

The Flying Sword flickered, piercing through the bodies of the leading few Jinyi Guard almost instantly.

In the darkness, however, a cyan-robed figure darted out from a grave mound beside her. Ghostly shadows flickered, and under his agitation, a bone-chilling Internal Energy transformed into countless ghost shadows that fiercely struck toward Xuanjizi.

"Black Lotus Ghost Palm!"

"Bang!"

Continuous ghost palms struck Xuanjizi from afar, causing a mouthful of fresh blood to spew directly from her.

"Damn it! Innate Realm Martial Artists… their seven apertures are sealed and their vital blood is flourishing. Close-combat… we Cultivators are simply unsuited for it…"

She rapidly retreated, enduring the tearing sensation inside her body. With a slap of her Storage Pouch, an earth-yellow talisman suddenly shot out.

A look of heartache flashed through her eyes, but she still activated it using her magical power.

"Crack… crack, crack…"

In an instant, the earth began to gather, earth-yellow light flashing as it moved to block in front of her.

With a thought, the Flying Sword circled back.

As long as the Flying Sword returned, relying on its sharpness, she would definitely be able to slay this person.

"Scoundrel, look at the sword!"

Suddenly, three more figures rushed swiftly in front of her.

Among them, the fastest was a middle-aged man wearing a cyan Daoist robe.

The three-foot green peak in his hand flashed rapidly, and with a single sword thrust, he pierced the Void Realm at the center of her brows.

"Myriad-Mile Throat-Sealing!"

With a soft sound, Xuanjizi actually felt her head spin violently, nearly collapsing to the ground, and her expression immediately changed drastically.

Because of this momentary daze, the returning Flying Sword and the rising earth element shield both stopped instantly.

The Flying Sword even flickered and dropped straight to the ground.

"Oh no!"

With a stir of her mind, she hurriedly wanted to regain control of the Flying Sword, but the other two figures had already arrived.

One person wielded a goose-wing saber, running wildly in giant strides. Grabbing the saber hilt with both hands, he slashed fiercely toward Xuanjizi with a move of Mount Tai Weighing Down the Peak.

"Hundred Battles Blood Fiend Saber!"

"Boom!"

Crimson Saber Qi burst forth, smashing the earth element shield that Xuanjizi had managed to summon into pieces once again.

The third person also sprinted swiftly from the right—a stalwart youth whose hands were clearly a circle larger than those of ordinary people.

Taking advantage of the very moment Xuanjizi was distracted, he formed his hands into claws and directly grabbed toward Xuanjizi's head.

"Eagle Claw Sky-Tearing Hand!"