30: Netherworld Ice Flame, what a terrible teammate!

"Senior Sister Yun, it seems you have seen this Su before?"

Su Ling was slightly taken aback and asked curiously.

In his memory, he shouldn't have had any contact with Yun Qingluan.

It wasn't strange that he remembered Yun Qingluan's appearance; after all, she was the number one beauty of the Xuanming Sect and was part of the same batch of Spirit Seeds as himself.

But looking at Yun Qingluan's expression, she seemed to recognize a 'nobody' like him.

That was worth pondering.

Yun Qingluan pondered for a moment, her face quickly returning to its cold and elegant state, and she nodded slightly. "When Revered Master gave you the task, I happened to be in the hall."

"So that's how it is."

Hearing this, Su Ling showed a look of realization.

Yun Qingluan was not a woman of many words, and Su Ling secretly considered how to deal with her.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Only that cluster of ghostly blue flame rose and fell, flickering unsteadily.

"Senior Sister Yun..."

"Su Ling..."

After a long silence, the two of them actually spoke at the same time.

Su Ling was instantly embarrassed.

Yun Qingluan was also slightly stunned.

The two once again stared at each other.

No, there was also the pair of dead eyes from the human puppet, firmly locked onto Su Ling.

What kind of situation was this!

Su Ling complained inwardly and quickly cupped his hands, saying, "Senior Sister Yun, if there's nothing else, I will take my leave now."

That ghostly blue flame was clearly no ordinary object.

He was actually quite envious of it.

But considering Yun Qingluan's strength, plus that human puppet, Su Ling didn't even dare to entertain any other thoughts.

Furthermore, as the Disciple of a Nascent Soul Stage Elder, Yun Qingluan surely had many trump cards and hidden moves on her.

Su Ling would have to be out of his mind to try and snatch it from her.

Even if he were lucky enough to get his hands on it, or if there was a one-in-a-million chance he could kill Yun Qingluan...

He estimated that the moment he returned to the Xuanming Sect, he would be crushed into meat paste by a Netherworld Ghost Hand.

Therefore, leaving early was the best policy.

"You..."

Yun Qingluan subconsciously started to say 'You may,' almost blurting it out.

However, the instructions from her Revered Master, Mo Jinghun, instantly flashed through her mind.

She quickly cleared her throat and said indifferently, "However, since it's a rare occasion for us to meet, you should stay by my side from now on!"

"Eh?"

Su Ling heard the word 'You' and was about to turn around, but Yun Qingluan's subsequent words made him freeze in place.

What was the situation? She wasn't letting him leave?

Was she planning to make him a thug, to use him as cannon fodder?

Su Ling was very conflicted; he didn't want to have much contact with Yun Qingluan at all.

With her strength, she would definitely head to more dangerous places later.

Traveling with her meant the dangers he faced would increase manifold.

If they encountered a Yao Beast comparable to Peak Foundation Establishment or even the Core Formation Stage... she could run, but he would likely be dead meat!

"That, Senior Sister Yun..."

At this thought, Su Ling couldn't care about offending her anymore and quickly cupped his hands in a salute, preparing to tactfully refuse.

But before his excuse could come out, Yun Qingluan brushed her sleeve and turned around, stepping toward the ghostly blue flame. "Since you were entrusted by Revered Master, if you refuse to cooperate, I will only assume you do not intend to serve him."

"This..."

Su Ling was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

Who said this woman was not a woman of many words?

And who spread the rumor that she was so arrogant that she looked down on those with low strength?

He was only at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage, yet she was actively requesting cooperation. This was called being 'arrogant'?

Damn!

"Senior Sister Yun misunderstood. My presence here is precisely to find the ten thousand year jade marrow for Elder Mo!"

Su Ling complained in his heart, but on the surface, he showed a silly smile. "To be able to cooperate with Senior Sister Yun is something this Junior Brother could only dream of!"

"That is for the best."

Yun Qingluan glanced at him, nodded slightly, and returned her gaze to the ghostly blue flame.

Seeing that the matter was unavoidable, Su Ling stopped overthinking. He simply leapt down from the cave entrance and slowly walked over.

Judging from the current situation, Yun Qingluan had no ill will toward him for the time being.

Or rather, she did indeed want to cooperate with him briefly.

After all, there were many monsters within this Cuiye Secret Realm.

With the slightest carelessness, one could fall into an ambush by multiple Yao Beasts.

The two of them traveling together would indeed increase their safety.

But Su Ling didn't dare to relax in the slightest; Mo Jinghun was no Mr. Nice Guy.

As his Disciple, even if Yun Qingluan had once been simple-minded, after several years, she was probably no better than himself.

Staying vigilant was the only way to live longer.

Didn't you see that the soulless eyes of that human puppet were still firmly locked onto him!

"Senior Sister Yun, what kind of spiritual object is this cluster of flame?"

Out of curiosity, and also to maintain a surface-level harmony, Su Ling asked with a forced smile, looking for something to say.

Yun Qingluan gave him a cold sideways glance but still replied indifferently, "It seems to be the legendary Nether Abyss Ice Flame."

"Nether Abyss Ice Flame?"

Su Ling was stunned; he had never heard of this name before.

"Yes, it is a spiritual fire that only has a chance of being born at the convergence of underground lava passages, where extreme Yang turns into extreme Yin."

Yun Qingluan explained, a rare occurrence, while she pinched her fingers to form hand seals.

Hearing this, Su Ling couldn't help but cast his gaze at the ice surface beneath the Nether Abyss Ice Flame.

Through the ice, he could vaguely see wisps of red light, as if scorching lava were hidden beneath.

Carefully observing the surrounding environment and the dozen or so cave passages on the walls.

He indeed discovered many traces of lava flow.

"Stand to one side and prepare to escape."

With the hand seals set, Yun Qingluan gave him a cold glance.

"Oh."

Su Ling retreated several zhang as instructed, the spiritual light of his wind-riding boots flickering, and he also released the Flowing Wind Technique.

No matter the reason, listening to her at this moment should be correct.

Seeing him behave obediently, Yun Qingluan's expression softened slightly.

A pulse of spiritual power flashed from an ancient bracelet on her fair wrist, and a jade bottle abruptly appeared beside her.

"A storage bracelet?!"

Seeing this, Su Ling's eyes flashed with a hint of envy.

Compared to the storage space of a Storage Pouch, which was only about one zhang square, a storage bracelet was at least dozens of zhang square.

Some of even higher quality could reach a hundred zhang square.

It was simply a must-have Divine Artifact for traveling and looting!

As fellow Foundation Establishment Cultivators, Su Ling couldn't help but sigh; having a Revered Master with powerful background and strength was truly overbearing.

Yun Qingluan activated her hand seals, and wisps of black mist gradually enveloped the Nether Abyss Ice Flame, pulling it as it slowly flew toward the jade bottle.

As the Nether Abyss Ice Flame moved, the thick ice on the ground began to crack inch by inch, making popping sounds.

The lava's fire power sealed below gradually began to dissipate through the cracks.

The temperature in the cave rose rapidly.

This scene made Su Ling's eyelids twitch.

He finally understood why Yun Qingluan had told him to prepare to escape.

"Yun, Senior Sister Yun, which passage should we retreat through in a moment?"

Feeling the extremely explosive fire-attribute spiritual energy below, Su Ling swallowed his saliva and asked.

"That one."

Yun Qingluan tilted her chin slightly, gesturing toward the upper right.

"Did you mark the way we came?"

Su Ling followed up with a question.

The internal spatial structure of the underground cavern was complex, winding and twisting on a horizontal plane and divisible into multiple layers vertically.

Inside the cave, the wide areas were like squares, the narrow ones like corridors, and the high areas could reach dozens of zhang.

There were also many underground rivers flowing through.

If no markings were made when coming in, retreating blindly would definitely lead to getting lost.

At that time, when the underground lava erupted, his life would be over!

"Markings?"

Under Su Ling's expectant gaze, Yun Qingluan's eyes froze, and she slowly shook her head.

Holy shit!

Pig teammate!

Su Ling almost blurted out a curse.

This is a goddamn trap!

You didn't even remember the way, yet you dared to touch this bomb?

But right now, the Nether Abyss Ice Flame had already been mostly collected by the jade bottle, even if it were released now.

It probably wouldn't be able to freeze the underground lava that was about to erupt.

"Hurry up and finish collecting it, then follow me!"

Su Ling couldn't afford to be polite and directly leapt toward the cave entrance they had come from.