43: Chapter 43: Secretly Helping Fellow Disciples, Treasure Map Acquired

"Li Changfeng?"

That Outer Sect Disciple who served as a deacon in the Miscellaneous Chores Courtyard. Although he didn't attack me directly back then, he clearly condoned and even indulged Black Fiend in bullying me, looking down on me with that aloof indifference in his eyes.

Now, he has become a stray dog, hunted by his fellow Disciples, and burdened with the crime of "stealing the Sect's supreme treasure."

Stand by and watch? That's too easy on him.

Offer help in his time of need? The risk is too high, and I have no friendship with him; in fact, there is old enmity.

Then, kicking him while he's down, secretly helping the pursuers, and going with the flow—not only would I avenge that day's grudge, but perhaps I could also scrape some benefits or extract information from the pursuers.

Why not?

Lin Ye had a cold smirk on his lips. He signaled Xiao Yun and Zhao Ming to "stay silent and hide," while he silently crept to a more concealed position at the crack's entrance, waiting for the perfect moment like a lurking viper.

Downstream of the underground river, the drama of pursuit and flight was unfolding.

Li Changfeng was covered in blood, his aura withered, clearly heavily injured. His cultivation was around Qi Refining Stage 6. In his hand, he clutched an ancient scroll that looked neither like gold nor leather, emitting a faint spiritual light. Could this be the "Sect's supreme treasure"?

There were three pursuers, all wearing the attire of Qingyun Sect Inner Sect Disciples. Two were at Qi Refining Stage 6, and the leader was at Qi Refining Stage 7. The three formed a triangular formation, biting tightly onto Li Changfeng. Sword light and Spell attacks bombarded him incessantly, forcing Li Changfeng into such a miserable state that he could only barely maneuver based on his familiarity with the terrain (did he seem to have been here before?).

"Li Changfeng! Hand over the 'qingming residual map' and surrender, and we might leave your corpse intact!" the leader at Qi Refining Stage 7 shouted sternly. His long sword transformed into three streaks of azure Sword Qi, sealing off Li Changfeng's escape route.

"Bah! Chen Kun, do you think I don't know that your Chen family wants to monopolize the residual map and collude with the Yinkui Sect? Even if I destroy it today, I won't hand it over to you!" Li Changfeng roared, his eyes filled with hatred and despair, as he tried to throw the scroll in his hand toward the deep waterfall pool below while dodging clumsily.

"You dare!" Chen Kun's expression changed, and his sword light accelerated.

The other two Disciples at Qi Refining Stage 6 also intensified their attacks. In an instant, Li Changfeng was in precarious danger, adding new wounds to his arms and thighs, dripping with blood.

Now was the time!

Lin Ye saw the moment Li Changfeng stumbled to avoid a streak of sword light, leaving his back wide open!

He pressed his fingers together like a sword, condensing his remaining icy spiritual energy and the [Severing Flow] Sword Intent onto his fingertips, and flicked his finger!

A subtle yet condensed pale blue Sword Qi, like a viper emerging from its hole, silently pierced through the cover of the waterfall's mist and shot precisely at Li Changfeng's right ankle!

It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was enough to make him lose his balance!

Chi!

The Sword Qi pierced the flesh!

Li Changfeng let out a miserable scream. His right foot gave way, his body lost balance, and he stumbled toward the edge of the waterfall. The scroll he was clutching tightly slipped from his hand!

"Good Opportunity!" Chen Kun was overjoyed. He coiled his sword light, ready to snatch the flying scroll.

The other two Disciples also lunged at Li Changfeng, intending to capture and kill him.

However, the direction the scroll flew was precisely toward the crack where Lin Ye was hiding!

The scroll traced an arc, passed through the water curtain, and with a soft plop, landed exactly on the rock at the edge of the crack, just inches away from where Lin Ye was hiding!

Lin Ye's pupils shrank, and his heart jumped violently.

His original intention was just to secretly trip him up and help the pursuers capture or kill Li Changfeng; he hadn't expected the scroll to deliver itself to him!

In a flash of lightning, his thoughts raced.

Grab it? Or not?

If he grabbed it, he would inevitably be exposed and offend both sides of the conflict (Li Changfeng and Chen Kun's group).

If he didn't grab it, the scroll might fall into Chen Kun's hands (looking at his eagerness, this map must be extraordinary), or it might fall into the deep pool and sink forever.

At this moment, Chen Kun's sword light was already sweeping toward the scroll, Li Changfeng was struggling to lunge for it, and the other two Disciples' attacks had reached Li Changfeng's back!

It was a critical moment!

Lin Ye's eyes flashed with ruthlessness; he hesitated no longer!

Wealth is sought in danger! This map could incite Inner Sect Disciples to pursue it, and Li Changfeng would rather die than hand it over—it must be an extraordinary object!

His right hand reached out like lightning, grabbing the edge of the scroll. Simultaneously, his left hand wiped his waist, taking out an ordinary pebble he had picked up earlier (similar in size and shape to the scroll), and threw it toward the waterfall's deep pool with a clever flick!

The scroll felt cold and heavy in his hand.

Meanwhile, the pebble traced a parabola, fell into the deep pool with a splash, and sent up water spray.

"The scroll fell down!" a Disciple exclaimed.

Chen Kun's sword light paused. He looked at the deep pool with a gloomy expression. His attention had been entirely on the scroll, and he seemed to have seen something fly toward the crack, but the mist was thick, his vision was unclear, and the sound of the pebble hitting the water made him unable to be sure for a moment.

Li Changfeng, due to heavy injuries and being besieged by the two Disciples, hadn't seen where the scroll went at all.

"Kill this traitor first!" Chen Kun made a prompt decision. The scroll had fallen into the pool and could be salvaged later, but Li Changfeng had to die!

The three intensified their attacks. Li Changfeng was already severely injured and had lost the scroll, his heart in chaos. He was immediately overwhelmed by the sword light, let out a roar of unwillingness, and was finally pierced through the heart by Chen Kun's sword. His body fell into the waterfall and disappeared.

"Search! I want to see the person alive or their corpse! And that scroll, it must be retrieved from the bottom of the pool!" Chen Kun's face was livid as he ordered the two Disciples.

The two Disciples looked troubled: "Senior Brother Chen, we don't know how deep this waterfall pool is, the current is swift, and there are undercurrents, so salvaging it won't be easy... Also, the commotion just now was too loud, I'm afraid it has already alerted others..."

Chen Kun knew this was true. He glared hatefully at the deep pool and the top of the waterfall (the direction of the crack where Lin Ye was hiding) and gritted his teeth: "Go back and report to the Elder first! Say that Li Changfeng defected with the map and was killed by us, but the scroll accidentally fell into the deep pool and we are currently salvaging it! Remember, keep your stories consistent!"

"Yes!" the two Disciples hurriedly replied.

The three searched for a while longer (without carefully checking the crack) and finally left in a hurry, apparently also afraid of bumping into others or attracting the remnants of the Yinkui Sect.

By the waterfall, the roaring returned, and only a faint smell of blood was washed away by the water mist.

Inside the crack, Lin Ye leaned against the rock wall, clutching the cold, heavy scroll tightly, his heart still pounding wildly.

That was close!

He had almost been discovered.

He lowered his head to look at the scroll in his hand.

The scroll was neither gold nor leather, feeling supple and cold to the touch. Its surface was drawn with a complex and ancient topographical map of mountains and rivers, but it seemed to be just an Incomplete Manual, with torn edges. There were peculiar symbols marked on the map, one of which Lin Ye recognized—it was the ancient seal character for "mystic yin true water"!

qingming residual map? Related to mystic yin true water?

Could it be... a more detailed map of the Xuanyuan Cave Abode? Or a treasure map recording the locations of other true waters?

Lin Ye took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and carefully put the scroll into his Storage Pouch.

This time, it was truly an unexpected joy.

Not only did he resolve the potential trouble of Li Changfeng (although he might not remember him, a mere miscellaneous chore worker), but he also obtained this mysterious "qingming residual map".

Xiao Yun and Zhao Ming had witnessed the whole process and were too scared to breathe. Now that they saw the pursuers leave, they finally breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes filled with even more awe as they looked at Lin Ye.

"Senior Brother Lin, what should we do now..." Zhao Ming asked in a low voice.

Lin Ye did not answer immediately but listened intently to the movements outside.

After confirming that Chen Kun and the others had gone far away and would not return in the short term, he said in a low voice: "This place is not suitable for staying long. After Chen Kun and the others return, they are very likely to bring people back to salvage the scroll, or other Cultivators might be attracted by the commotion just now."

"We will continue upstream along the underground river and look for other exits."

Xiao Yun and Zhao Ming naturally had no objections.

The three went back into the water and traveled upstream along the underground river.

This time, luck seemed to be on their side.

After traveling upstream for about an hour, the rock walls on both sides of the underground river gradually widened, and faint natural light even appeared ahead.

After swimming for another distance, they unexpectedly emerged from an exit in a hidden pool!

The pool was located at the bottom of a narrow valley, surrounded by steep cliffs, with hanging vines, and it was rarely visited by humans.

Finally, they saw the sun again!

Although they were still deep in the back mountain, at least they had escaped the sunless underground world.

Lin Ye climbed to the side of the pool and carefully identified the direction. Based on the position of the sun (it was near dusk) and the trend of the mountains, he roughly judged that they were already very far from the Qingyun Sect mountain gate, seemingly located on the other edge of the back mountain.

Temporarily safe.

He looked at the shaken and disheveled Xiao Yun and Zhao Ming and said in a deep voice: "Although the Yinkui Sect has retreated, internal strife in the Sect is about to begin. What are your plans?"

The two looked at each other, and Zhao Ming smiled bitterly: "Our cultivation is low, and we have been involved in such a major event. If we return to the Sect, we fear being implicated in the investigation, or even being silenced. It would be better... better to leave the Qingyun Sect now, find a place to hide our names, and Cultivate..."

Xiao Yun also nodded timidly; she was an orphan and had no one to rely on in the Sect.

Lin Ye nodded; this coincided with his own thoughts.

He took out some Low-Grade Spirit Stone and Medicinal Pill (obtained from Qingdan Sanren and Liu Xiong) and distributed them to the two: "Take these and leave the back mountain as soon as possible, the further away the better."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Lin!" The two were moved to tears and knelt down to kowtow.

Lin Ye helped them up, gave a few more instructions, and watched them help each other disappear into the twilight-covered mountain forest.

After the two had gone far, Lin Ye found a hidden tree hole, set up a simple alert, and began to check his gains and think about his next step.

Inventory of gains:

Cultivation: Qi Refining Stage 5 (Early Stage, needs consolidation).

Cultivation Technique: "Ice Soul Sword Art", "Mystic Jade Body".

Items: ancient ring yuan sha, bone ring, gui water escape talisman (damaged), black "Shadow" token, qingming residual map (newly acquired), Storage Pouch (three-foot space), Red Fire Copper Essence, rusted short sword, two Recovery Pills, one Antidote Pill, a dozen Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

Information: Yinkui Sect has retreated but left behind hidden stakes that are about to trigger chaos; the demon abyss sword has completely awakened and chosen its master on its own (may cause turmoil in the Sect); obtained the "qingming residual map" which may be related to mystic yin true water.

His own injuries have not healed, his Meridians are damaged, and he needs time to recuperate.

Internal strife in the Sect is about to begin, it is not a place to stay for long.

He spread out the "qingming residual map" and studied it carefully.

The area depicted on the residual map was very unfamiliar; it did not seem to be near the Qingyun Sect. However, next to a location marked with the ancient seal character for "mystic yin true water", there was a line of small annotations: "Beiming Cold Abyss, source of gui water, enter but do not return, enter with caution."

Beiming Cold Abyss? Source of gui water?

Lin Ye's heart stirred. mystic yin true water is also known as "Essence of Gui Water". Could this "source of gui water" refer to the source of the mystic yin true water? A gathering place of mystic yin true water that is larger and purer than the pool in the back mountain of the Qingyun Sect?

And the word "Qingming"... it seemed he had heard it somewhere?

He tried hard to recall and suddenly remembered that he had once heard some knowledgeable old miscellaneous chore workers in the Miscellaneous Chores Courtyard mention that tens of thousands of miles north of the Qingyun Sect, there was a vast and boundless land of extreme cold, known as "Beiming". Within it, there was a forbidden area called "Qingming Ruins", which was the ruins of an ancient battlefield, extremely dangerous, but also full of Opportunity.

Could this "qingming residual map" be the route map leading to the "Beiming Cold Abyss" in the "Qingming Ruins"?

If this were true, the value of this map would be immeasurable!

But the warning of "enter but do not return, enter with caution" also made people feel palpitation.

Go, or not go?

Stay near the Qingyun Sect, wait for the storm to pass, and Cultivate slowly?

Or travel far to the Beiming, search for greater Opportunity, and at the same time avoid the upcoming Sect internal strife and the demon abyss sword turmoil?

Lin Ye fell into deep thought.

The twilight deepened, and the howling of Yao Beast came from the mountain forest.

He had to make a decision as soon as possible.