Just like that, they flew through the sky on their sword escape, but had to stop now and then, coming down to soak in a clear spring stream, dawdling and taking their time. It actually took them seven days to reach within the territory of the Capital Prefecture, and Tie Dan was simply worn out.
Well, with so much soaking, no wonder Shen Jianjia was able to rebuild her inner core after losing her outer pill. Collecting Water Spiritâs secret technique just by bathing truly is a rare skill. It greatly enhanced her Dao Foundation. No wonder Chen Huzi went to great lengths to bring her to Heng Mountain under Master Huilan to cultivate.
But while the two of them enjoyed washing and soaking, Tie Dan was suffering. After all, he couldnât collect the Water Spirit, and that little bit of Spiritual Qi was negligible, soaking every day until his hands and feet wrinkled.
Thus, during these seven days, Tie Dan was so idle with nothing to do that he combined his Red Evil True Qi and Heavenly Ruin Sword Qi, refining that green sword flame thoroughly, creating a unique Green Evil Sword Flame Technique.
Although Huilan favored one over the other, Tie Dan, being still a disciple of Chen Tianku, wasnât treated too harshly, and she even took the initiative to offer him pointers, but he refused.
Yet, Tie Dan was unsure of the destructive power of the Green Evil Sword Flame. The Heavenly Ruin Sword Qi was already so powerful, and now it was upgraded and mutated. Who knows how strong it is? He was truly afraid that one sword would be unstoppable and would cut down his teacherâs wife.
However, Huilan was rather self-assured...
"Tie Dan, as a disciple of the Sword Sect, you will have to engage in sword fighting sooner or later. How can you be afraid of sword fighting? Are you actually scared I might hurt you? Draw your sword!"
Tie Dan was speechless and just casually made an excuse,
"Recently, my cultivation has been making me uneasy in my mind, I might have misaligned my Qi, my meridians hurt, and I canât draw my sword."
"Uneasy in mind?"
Huilan frowned. The Tie Dan in front of her, having gained Immortal Fate, had his root bone change from Divine Gang to Red Evil, and it seemed he had refined a special Dao Fire. Of course, she wanted to personally test his skills.
However, she could see that his Qi Power was only at the Foundation Establishment level and grew very slowly, with almost no sign of cultivation growth. At this rate, who knows when he would be able to form a sword embryo? His skills were far inferior to Jianjiaâs.
But it didnât make sense? From what she had heard, wasnât this boyâs talent and comprehension the highest among the same sect? Why had he fallen behind? Wait a minute, recently uneasy in mind? What else could make him uneasy? He shouldnât have any thoughts towards Jianjia... Could it be... Ah, the minds of young people are always filled with those matters...
Huilanâs face also turned slightly red, embarrassingly saying,
"Alright, if you really donât want to soak in the Spiritual Spring, then you donât have to go. Just focus on cultivating and meditating, donât get distracted by idle thoughts."
Tie Dan, upon hearing this, quickly nodded,
"Alright, alright, I wonât go to bathe this time. After rushing along for days, Iâm sure the True Man is also weary. Letâs rest well today, and Iâll go around to gather some Spiritual Vegetables and fresh fruits to offer to the True Monarch."
Shen Jianjia,
"Master, donât believe him, he acts one way and does another! In this barren mountain, there arenât even birds, where would there be fresh vegetables!
Heâs probably going to secretly spy on us practicing again! Lock him in the array and donât let him out!"
Tie Dan was furious,
"Damn you! With the Red Evil Dao Root, do I need to peep at your Xuanming Daoist Method!?"
Shen Jianjia sneered,
"Do you think Iâm still a child and donât know your thoughts? Donât you want to secretly see the Qi flowing meridian on our bodies! So you can take the opportunity to attack during the sword fight!"
Tie Dan sneered,
"Do I need to specifically target your meridian with the little skill you have? A sword chop and youâre dead!"
Shen Jianjia drew her sword and jumped up,
"Come and try it, you dog! Letâs see who chops whom!"
Huilan was also getting a headache from the two of them arguing,
"Alright, stop messing around. The Feng Shui here really isnât good. This time, Iâll set a formation by the Spiritual Spring.
Tie Dan, take a stroll in the mountains, but donât go too far. Just say something before entering the array when you return."
Finally, no more soaking. Tie Dan also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went down the mountain while they were about to bathe.
These days had suffocated Tie Dan terribly. Although he was protected by the luck of the Broom Star, he wasnât sure if, with his cultivation dropping to the Foundation Establishment level, his luck for causing trouble also dropped a notch, thus being under the influence of Master Huilanâs aura.
After all, in this day and age, itâs rare to see people who would dare provoke death by challenging a Mystic Sectâs Nascent Soul Immortal sword light escape. So, seven days without anyone to kill, no monsters to chop, Tie Dan was truly frustrated.
Luckily, Heaven seemed to be also bored, waiting to find something for Tie Dan to do. Just after going downhill, something triggered, and he heard someone calling "come... come... come..."
In this deep mountain forest with little human presence, there were Mountain Spring Water Spirits, naturally, there would be mountain demons. Tie Dan immediately gleefully followed the sound into the woods, quickly losing sight of the array formation aura set by Master Huilan. He was surrounded by towering trees that blocked out the sky, with dense canopy overhead blocking the sunlight.
Following the sound, Tie Dan quickly found a Taoist Temple. It was unclear when it was built or which year it fell into ruins. It had been abandoned for a long time, and even the sign hanging at the entrance had rotted away. Entering the main hall of the temple, he saw a mud sculpture sitting in the shrine.
The sculpture appeared humanoid, clad in armor like a general, but didnât look like a human race, with ramâs horns and tiger claws, resembling aćŠç© perhaps transformed into a humanoid form.
Then the light shimmered behind the effigy, resonating with a gloomy voice echoing, "worship... worship... worship..." from Mingming.
Worship your head, worship.
Without a word, Tie Dan rushed into the hall, gathering the Green Evil Sword Flame, lifted his hand, and slashed down at the mud sculpture, splitting it in half!