191: Chapter 191

Chapter 191

A young man in a black robe stopped Li Yunshu and greeted him.

"Senior Brother Ling, long time no see. What's making you so happy?"

This person was the son of the Lord of the Ghost Realm, named Wuqi Hei.

"Nothing. Why aren't you going in? What are you doing here?"

Wuqi Hei said, "Everyone says you're the head of the Four Great Geniuses. Why are you still at Earth Realm First Level now?

I heard your Realm regressed, and you just climbed back to Earth Realm.

I just want to ask today, isn't it time to change the position of the head of the Four Great Geniuses?"

The Four Great Geniuses refer to the top four young juniors from the four first-rate Sects: Dao Sect, Galan Temple, Yu Long Mountain Manor, and Lanque Pavilion.

Because Li Yunshu was the first to enter the Earth Realm, he was called the head of the Four Great Geniuses.

The other three were Mu Xiufeng of Twenty-Eight Hands, Ming Daofei of Ghost Hand Buddha Heart, and Yu Linglong of Thousand-Faced Asura.

As for the Ghost Realm and Tianmo Mountain, these evil cults despised by the Righteous Path, they were naturally not among the Four Great Geniuses.

Li Yunshu smiled and said, "Wuqi Hei, who gave you the guts to speak to me like that?"

"Hehe, hahahaha."

Wuqi Hei's laughter grew louder and louder as he clutched his stomach and said,

"I'm dying of laughter. When I was at Xuan Ming Realm Ninth Level, I could fight you Earth Realm First Level people to a draw.

Now that I'm already at Earth Realm First Level, do you think you still have a chance?"

Wuqi Hei possessed a powerful Spiritual Artifact called the Soul Banner, and it was with this banner that he could challenge opponents beyond his Realm.

Li Yunshu was eager to enter the Hongxiao Ruins to collect Devilish Qi, so he asked directly,

"Do you want to fight here?"

Wuqi Hei raised a leg and said, "If you don't dare, I won't make it difficult for you. Everyone from your Lanque Pavilion can crawl under my crotch."

Upon hearing this, the people of Lanque Pavilion were furious.

"This is outrageous!"

"Senior Brother, fight him! Beat him down!"

"The Ghost Realm is going too far! This is unbearable!"

Li Yunshu spread his arms and said, "Everyone, move aside."

The crowd behind him retreated, clearing a space for the two.

Many people stood by and watched, and the crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger.

"What's going on? Why are so many people gathered?"

"Where there are many people, there's surely excitement. Let's go watch."

"Wait for me, wait for me, I'm coming too."

Wuqi Hei was pleased to see the growing crowd of onlookers.

"Li Yunshu, if you lose today, you must tell the world that the head of the Four Great Geniuses is me, Wuqi Hei."

"Are you done with your nonsense? Show me what you've got."

Wuqi Hei stomped his foot, his Origin Qi surged, and he pushed out his palms.

"Netherworld Ghost Claw!"

Countless black claws in the air grabbed at Li Yunshu. These claws seemed substantial, capable of taking a life with a single strike.

The onlookers felt a chill down their spines and retreated a few steps.

Li Yunshu advanced instead of retreating, drawing his sword and striking.

"Thunderbolt Flash, Four Consecutive Slashes!"

Wherever the Sword Qi reached, the ghost claws vanished into nothingness.

Although Wuqi Hei attacked first, Li Yunshu's sword was extremely fast, striking later but arriving first.

Pfft—

Wuqi Hei spat out a mouthful of black blood and flew backward.

He hadn't expected Li Yunshu's attack to be so powerful. Unprepared, he took four Sword Qi strikes head-on.

The black ghost claws in front of Li Yunshu all dissipated.

The Starfall Sword returned to its sheath, and Li Yunshu said, "Let's go."

For a moment, the onlookers were all a bit slow to react.

"That's it?"

"What? It's over just as I arrived?"

"I arrived just a moment before you, and they only exchanged one move before a winner was decided."

"Nothing left to see. Let's go, let's go."

Wuqi Hei stood up and shouted, "Stop! I haven't lost yet!"

Li Yunshu looked at the re-standing Wuqi Hei. Although he was injured, that last sword strike hadn't even torn his clothes.

Clearly, he was much more resilient than Nangong Chu. Since he was tough, a few more sword strikes wouldn't hurt.

Li Yunshu drew his sword and unleashed another strike.

Boom—

The collision's Qi waves spread out, nearly knocking over the onlookers.

This time, Wuqi Hei didn't fly out like before but stood firmly in place.

In his hand, he held a black banner, two meters tall.

It was this black banner that blocked Li Yunshu's attack.

Li Yunshu secretly thought, what a formidable Spiritual Artifact, to be able to block my Thunderbolt Flash.

He had heard of this black banner, but he had never fought Wuqi Hei, so he didn't know if it was as powerful as the legends claimed.

Wuqi Hei activated his Origin Qi, waved the black banner in his hand, and a thick black mist appeared, swirling out.

The black mist condensed into a giant, man-sized skull, which flew towards Li Yunshu.

"Thunderbolt Flash, Four Consecutive Slashes!"

Li Yunshu no longer hesitated, unleashing a sword strike.

The Sword Qi passed through, splitting the black skull in half, but it immediately reassembled, as if the Sword Qi had no effect on it.

Li Yunshu frowned. He hadn't expected his usually invincible Thunderbolt Flash to be ineffective.

Seeing the black skull about to charge at him, he used his Like Shadow Following Form movement technique, barely dodging the black skull.

Ah—

The onlookers behind Li Yunshu didn't react in time, and the black skull burrowed into one of their bodies.

That person's face turned pitch black, and black smoke billowed from his head. Those around him quickly moved away, fearing they would be contaminated by the black mist.

A moment later, a ball of black mist floated out of that person's body again, condensing into the shape of a skull.

And that person fell to the ground with a thud, his face ashen, completely dead.

Everyone was so scared that they retreated again and again, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

But no one left. Their desire for a good show allowed them to watch from a distance, but not to not watch at all.

The black skull flew towards Li Yunshu again, faster than before.

The skull let out a cackling laugh, making Li Yunshu's hair stand on end.

He could only use Like Shadow Following Form to its extreme, while also asking the System.

"System, is there any Spiritual Artifact that can subdue this black banner?"

"Ding! You can use the Starfall Sword."

"How do I use the Starfall Sword?"

Li Yunshu only knew that the Starfall Sword was a flying Magical Artifact and hadn't discovered any other special features.

Ever since he broke through to the Earth Realm, he had simply been using it as an ordinary sword.

"Ding! This is a paid question. Confirm spending 100 Devilish Qi points to get the answer?"

"Confirm."

Although he inwardly complained about the System's greed, by this time he had already absorbed over 3000 Devilish Qi points, so 100 was negligible.

The most important thing was that a life-threatening object was still chasing him.

"Ding! It is recommended that the host upgrades the Starfall Sword. It requires 1000 Devilish Qi points. Do you wish to upgrade?"

"I bleep—" Li Yunshu couldn't help but curse, "Why didn't you just tell me I needed to upgrade? You charged me an extra 100."

Seeing no reaction from the System, he said helplessly, "Confirm, confirm."

A small round hole appeared on the body of the Starfall Sword.

Li Yunshu was startled. Didn't it say upgrade? Why was it causing damage instead?

At the same time, an insight entered his mind.

Li Yunshu suddenly stopped, planting the Starfall Sword into the ground, waiting for the black skull behind him.

His sudden turn made the black skull come to an abrupt halt.

Wuqi Hei, wanting to make him look foolish, deliberately toyed with him, controlling the black skull to chase him all over the place.

Now, Li Yunshu seemed unafraid, which made Wuqi Hei feel a bit uneasy.

Why isn't this kid running anymore?

It must be a bluff.

Wuqi Hei controlled the black skull, charging rapidly towards Li Yunshu.

Li Yunshu gripped the Starfall Sword with both hands, activating his Origin Qi.

The small circular hole on the Starfall Sword's body formed a vortex, which grew larger and larger.

The black skull tried to retreat but was already sucked into the vortex.

With a whoosh, the vortex disappeared, and the black skull vanished with it.

"You—"

Wuqi Hei was enraged. The black skull was the source of the Soul Banner's power, and now it had been absorbed by the sword in Li Yunshu's hand.

The Soul Banner was severely damaged and could no longer exert its original power.

Li Yunshu pointed a finger, and the Starfall Sword rose from the ground, hovering in the air.

As his finger pointed at Wuqi Hei, the Starfall Sword shot towards its target like a meteor.

Wuqi Hei held the Soul Banner in front of him, but the Soul Banner seemed to have a spirit of its own, constantly dodging to the side.

"Useless thing! Block it for me!"

A ball of black mist floated out of the Soul Banner, condensing into a black hand.

Slap—

It slapped Wuqi Hei across the face, then broke free from his grasp and automatically flew back into his storage ring.

Facing the incoming sword, he only had time to circulate his Origin Qi to form a protective shield around himself.

But in front of the Starfall Sword, that protective shield was like a bubble.

With a pop, it shattered.

The Starfall Sword pierced through Wuqi Hei's chest, and his body turned into a wisp of black smoke, escaping into the distance.

Wuqi Hei's slightly weakened voice came from the black smoke.

"Li Yunshu, don't get cocky! I'll be back!"

"Hmph, good thing you ran fast."

Li Yunshu waved his hand, and the Starfall Sword flew back into its sheath.

Turning to the Disciples of Lanque Pavilion, he said, "Let's go."

The Disciples said in unison, "As Senior Brother commands!"

The group continued deeper into the Hongxiao Ruins, and Li Yunshu's Mental Energy picked up the discussions behind them.

"Hmph, he was so arrogant just now, but wasn't he severely wounded by Senior Brother's single sword? If he's so brave, why did he run?"

"Senior Brother's sword is incredibly powerful; it actually swallowed that skull."

"Before, I only saw Senior Brother use the Thunder Blade. I haven't seen him use a sword much."

"When Senior Brother killed Nangong Chu, he used that very sword."

Yan Zhihong and Si Ming exchanged glances. They had seen that sword in the Mizang Forest.

Si Ming sighed inwardly, thinking that back then, the two of them could still walk side by side. In just two months, he had already surged ahead.

After passing through a dilapidated cluster of buildings, they saw a tall altar piled high with skulls.

It was said that when the Demon God from another world Transmigrated here, he killed countless people and used their bodies to build an altar.

Through this altar, he intended to summon more Demon Gods from another world to invade the Longyuan Continent.

Fortunately, Dragon Curtain Leader, the emperor of the Dragon Dynasty, arrived first, killed the Demon God, and prevented this catastrophe.

"System, what is my fourth check-in mission?"

"Ding! The fourth check-in mission is to obtain the Hongxiao Secret Vault."

Pfft—

Li Yunshu almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

What kind of mission was this?

The Hongxiao Secret Vault had been sought for so many years, and no one could find it.

All the building complexes had been searched countless times; saying they dug three feet deep wouldn't be an exaggeration.

As a result, many people had long given up searching for the Hongxiao Secret Vault, believing it to be nothing more than a rumor.

Coming here every year was just to find some useful Spirit Medicine, nothing more.

Hiss.

Li Yunshu had a change of thought.

He remembered the conversation between Ma Lubian, Xiang Sheluo, and Yun Jianli in Tianyu Palace. The Hongxiao Secret Vault truly existed, and there was even a key to open it.

The System saying he needed to obtain the Hongxiao Secret Vault also proved its authenticity; it just hadn't been found yet.

It's just that, more than ten years had passed, where was he supposed to look?

Unbeknownst to them, the group had already arrived at the Spirit Medicine garden of the Hongxiao Ruins.

Most of the Disciples who entered the Hongxiao Ruins were also here.

Although it was called a Spirit Medicine garden, its area was several times larger than Lanque Pavilion's medicine garden.

Coupled with over a decade of neglect, it had clearly formed into a forest.

Even with over a thousand people scattered within, looking around, no one could be seen.

To find the Hongxiao Secret Vault, he couldn't bring a group of people to search together. Walking to the edge of the medicine garden, Li Yunshu said to the Disciples behind him,

"I know many of you need to find different Spiritual Plants. You can now form groups freely and delve into the medicine garden.

If you encounter danger, you can release the Sect's signal flare at any time, and those nearby will rush over as quickly as possible.

Remember, everyone is from the same Sect; you must help each other here."

The Disciples all said in unison, "Yes!"

Immediately, thirty-five people split into seven groups and walked into the medicine garden in twos and threes.

Si Ming saw Yuwen Xuanya by herself and asked,

"Junior Sister Yuwen, are you alone? Do you want to join our group?"

Yuwen Xuanya cupped her hands and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister, but I'll be fine alone."

Yan Yiming said, "Junior Sister Yuwen, it's too dangerous for you alone.

Not to mention there are many high-level Xuan Ming Beasts in this medicine garden, even if you encounter one or two Tianmo Mountain Disciples, you'll have trouble handling them."

Yuwen Xuanya glanced at Li Yunshu and said, "I'm with Senior Brother."

Yan Yiming looked at her, then at Li Yunshu, with an expression of instant understanding.

"Then we'll go ahead. With Senior Brother around, you'll definitely be safe."

Li Yunshu was about to say that Yuwen Xuanya should go with them, but Yan Yiming and a few others had already scurried off.

One was left behind. What to do now?

Before Li Yunshu could figure out how to extricate himself, Yuwen Xuanya walked into the medicine garden alone.

"Junior Sister Yuwen, wait for me."

Although he didn't want to bring her, he had to ensure her safety, after all, General Yuwen Chongqing had saved him once.

Yuwen Xuanya turned back and said, "Senior Brother, I want to be alone. We can just go our separate ways."

Li Yunshu frowned and said, "If something happens to you alone, how will the Sect explain it to the General?"

"Alright then, if you want to follow, then follow."

It sounded as if I really wanted to follow you.

Although he complained inwardly, Li Yunshu still asked calmly, "Junior Sister, what Spiritual Plant are you looking for?"

Yuwen Xuanya didn't turn her head, only saying two words.

"Just wandering."

This answer made Li Yunshu choose silence directly.

A moment later, Yuwen Xuanya asked, "Li Yunshu, do you like me?"

Li Yunshu's jaw almost hit the ground when he heard this.

"You, what did you say? I didn't hear clearly."

Yuwen Xuanya turned back and said seriously, "Do you like Yuwen Xuanya?"

Li Yunshu's mind buzzed.

This girl is too direct, isn't she?

Although she had been coming to the main peak often lately, she had never been like this today. What was wrong?

"I'm asking you a question."

Li Yunshu spoke the words he had always wanted to say.

"Junior Sister, when I saved you that day, it was purely out of camaraderie as fellow Disciples, it had nothing to do with love.

All this time, I've wanted to tell you—"

"Alright, no need to say it. I understand."

Hoo, Li Yunshu breathed a sigh of relief.

He really didn't know how to say such words, so he had held them in for over a month.

Now that he had said them, he finally felt relieved.

Li Yunshu glanced at Yuwen Xuanya, who had a slight smile on her lips, looking very happy.

What was going on?

Suddenly, he noticed that Yuwen Xuanya was walking somewhat strangely, her limbs very uncoordinated, like a puppet being controlled by strings.