Chapter 108: The Villainous Kong Lianbin, Formation Master Zou Junxin
Inside the mortal world restaurant.
The cultivators of the two small Demon Abyss sects stared intently at Luo Xue. One side looked like they wanted to skin her alive, while the other seemed to be watching a good show with amusement.
Only Luo Xue was confused.
“What… have I done to you all?”
Luo Xue asked, pointing at herself.
“What have you done?” Sect Master Liu said fiercely. “You still dare to ask…”
“Blew up your sect’s residence?”
Luo Xue asked curiously, recalling their earlier conversation.
“How dare you mention it!” Sect Master Liu roared, slamming the table and standing up. “Capture this little bastard!”
As his voice fell, the Evil Spirit Sect cultivators attacked simultaneously, various techniques and abilities bombarding Luo Xue.
However, Sect Master Liu still held back, not directly attacking Luo Xue, but targeting Nangong Mengxiang beside her.
Anyone could tell that Nangong Mengxiang was Luo Xue’s protector.
The strength of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator was still insufficient against a Core Formation cultivator.
The power of a small world pressed down, suppressing Nangong Mengxiang.
However…
Even Elder Wu of Ghost Demon Pass couldn’t restrain Nangong Mengxiang, let alone a Core Formation cultivator who had barely reached this realm with the help of human pills?
Core Formation cultivators also had varying levels of strength. Sect Master Liu, stuck at the early stage of Core Formation, was among the weakest.
In an instant, Nangong Mengxiang broke free and shielded Luo Xue.
Countless techniques and abilities struck her, but none caused any injuries.
“This might be a misunderstanding…”
Luo Xue still wanted to explain. She was already attracting too much attention, and her Thousand Faces Cultivation Art wasn’t perfect. She was worried that someone might see through her disguise.
If that happened, it wouldn’t just be a weak Core Formation cultivator like Sect Master Liu attacking her.
“Misunderstanding? Three bombings in two months, even destroying the spirit vein foundation, and you still call it a misunderstanding!”
Hearing this, Sect Master Liu was furious. Ignoring Nangong Mengxiang’s strangeness, he attacked Luo Xue.
Nangong Mengxiang blocked the attack again and whispered,
“Let’s go, Little Martial Aunt. I can fight him, but I can’t protect you at the same time.”
Luo Xue nodded, understanding.
Although she still had trump cards, using the Nascent Soul will and her pupil techniques against these cultivators, whose levels varied greatly, wasn’t a problem.
But using such a trump card here would be a waste, and it had a long cooldown time. It was better to just escape.
Nangong Mengxiang punched Sect Master Liu back, then grabbed Luo Xue’s waist and burst through the ceiling with her physical strength.
“Chase them!”
Sect Master Liu gritted his teeth and shouted.
On the other side, the Yin Li Sect cultivators were still mocking.
“Sect Master Liu, do you need our help?”
“Shut up!”
Sect Master Liu flicked his sleeve and immediately chased after Luo Xue.
The Evil Spirit Sect cultivators also rushed out, leaving the restaurant in ruins.
“They haven’t even paid… forget it, sigh.”
The restaurant manager was used to this. There were many cultivators in the capital, and such incidents were common.
However, when the attendant went to clean up the tall stack of noodle bowls, he found a pill emitting a rich spiritual energy on the table and his eyes widened.
“This is a Qi Condensation Pill! And a Yellow-rank one…”
One basic Qi Condensation Pill was equivalent to half a tael of gold in the mortal world, and a Yellow-rank pill was worth fifty taels.
Luo Xue didn’t have any small change; the lowest she had were Yellow-rank Qi Condensation Pills.
After paying for the meal and the damaged wall, there was still a lot left over.
“It’s a pity… she was targeted by the Evil Spirit Sect, poor girl…”
…
“Little Martial Aunt, did you really blow up their sect’s residence?”
Nangong Mengxiang glanced back at the increasingly distant figure of Sect Master Liu and asked.
“When did I ever blow up a sect’s residence?” Luo Xue rolled her eyes. How could she be blamed for this?
“I don’t know,” Nangong Mengxiang said honestly. “Maybe you did it when I wasn’t looking.”
“…I didn’t do it. I haven’t even used the Foundation Establishment Explosive Talismans yet. Besides, weren’t we together all this time?”
“That seems to be the case.” Nangong Mengxiang pondered. “But why would they think you did it…”
“I don’t know.”
Luo Xue rubbed her slightly sore shoulder, her expression helpless.
She hadn’t been idle these days. Besides drinking poison to cultivate, she had also sparred with Nangong Mengxiang and learned some combat experience.
But it wasn’t very useful to Luo Xue.
Her fighting style was mostly about life and death, whether it was her poisonous body or her pupil techniques, they were all aimed at killing.
One-on-one combat wasn’t her forte.
“Could it be that the person who blew up their residence looks very similar to you?” Nangong Mengxiang asked.
“How could…”
Luo Xue was about to retort when she suddenly remembered that her current face was borrowed.
But…
“How is that possible…”
Luo Xue murmured softly.
“Yeah, besides twins, there shouldn’t be anyone who looks so similar that even a Core Formation cultivator would mistake them.” Nangong Mengxiang nodded.
Core Formation cultivators weren’t ordinary people. Besides appearance, there were also aura and temperament. It was difficult to mistake someone for another.
“No, I mean,” Luo Xue frowned slightly, “How could she possibly be in the Demon Abyss…”
“Huh?” Nangong Mengxiang paused. “Is there… really someone?”
“Yes.”
Luo Xue nodded slightly and explained the origin of her disguise technique and the original owner of this “skin.”
“Little Martial Aunt, you mean you have a Senior Sister?” Nangong Mengxiang’s eyes widened, her focus always so strange. “Then what should I call her, Second Martial Aunt?”
“She has nothing to do with you, nor with True Person Fengyin. She’s just my Senior Sister in the Peerless Summit Sect.” Luo Xue winced. “But how could she possibly be in the Demon Abyss…”
With Senior Sister Li’s personality, it would be difficult for her to even leave the Peerless Summit Sect. She would probably prefer to stay in her cave forever.
The Demon Abyss, such a dangerous place… Luo Xue estimated that only after reaching Nascent Soul would she dare to wander around its outer regions.
Luo Xue’s current location was already close to the territory of the Evil Master lineage of the Temple of the Nether Spirit, relatively deep within the Demon Abyss.
“If that’s the case… I can’t just leave Senior Sister Li alone.” Luo Xue took a deep breath and said, “Nangong, if you don’t mind… should we go to the Evil Spirit Sect and have a look?”
Three bombings in two months, they should still be there.
If they went to the Evil Spirit Sect’s residence, they might be able to find Senior Sister Li.
Luo Xue was worried. Senior Sister Li had just reached Spirit Condensation not long ago. In the Demon Abyss, where Foundation Establishment cultivators were not uncommon, it could be dangerous.
From what Luo Xue knew about Li Guijiao, she was always alone, and even the sect’s protectors couldn’t always look after her.
“Of course, no problem.”
Nangong Mengxiang immediately stopped.
They had already shaken off the Evil Spirit Sect cultivators. Few within the Foundation Establishment Realm could keep up with Nangong Mengxiang, not even those at the early stage of Core Formation.
Even Wu Hai, the Tianhai Gang’s sword cultivator who specialized in tracking, couldn’t completely lock onto Nangong Mengxiang, let alone a cultivator from an unknown small sect.
Luo Xue immediately activated the communication stone and asked the Sha sisters for a detailed map of the area around the capital city of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
As the most chaotic of the borderlands, Ghost Demon Pass had all kinds of people. With some effort and resources, one could obtain many secrets of both the Immortal Domain and the Demon Abyss.
The Sha sisters were experts in this field. Their merged form, the Shadow Gang, had already gained some fame in Ghost Demon Pass.
With Luo Xue’s investment, their information-gathering business was booming. Getting a map was as easy as asking.
They even obtained some information about the Evil Spirit Sect, and the Sha sisters said they could find more detailed information if needed.
“It doesn’t seem far, just about two hundred miles.” Luo Xue examined the map carefully. “Hmm? This sect was stationed in the borderlands not long ago?”
Not every borderland was like Ghost Demon Pass, divided among several major factions.
Most were controlled by a single powerful faction, with many smaller factions fighting amongst themselves for the scraps.
The Evil Spirit Sect was previously one of the smaller factions in a certain border town. Unfortunately, after the Temple of the Nether Spirit completely withdrew from all borderlands, the smaller factions had even less space to survive.
Therefore, the Evil Spirit Sect moved back to the Demon Abyss and bought a spirit vein territory from the local Yin Li Sect.
The Yin Li Sect hadn’t wanted to sell the spirit vein, but the Evil Spirit Sect harassed them relentlessly, a Core Formation cultivator and a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators shamelessly blocking their sect’s gate every day, forcing them to compromise.
Therefore, when the Yin Li Sect learned that the Evil Spirit Sect’s residence had been bombed, they couldn’t help but gloat.
“There’s some information about the bombing. It’s said to be the work of a new disciple…”
The more Luo Xue read, the more certain she became that it was Senior Sister Li. But as for why she bombed them… she could only ask her in person.
“Let’s go.”
Luo Xue put away the information and pointed in a certain direction.
She didn’t change her appearance. Firstly, because her Thousand Faces Cultivation Art wasn’t proficient enough, and changing to an unfamiliar appearance might reveal flaws.
Secondly, she had to keep this face so that Senior Sister Li could recognize her.
Nangong Mengxiang, her chauffeur, picked up Luo Xue and teleported away again.
…
“Damn it! Damn it!” Zhang Xianzhao slammed the table furiously, cracking the heavy immortal wood. “She escaped again! And this time she even has an accomplice!”
Thinking of that accomplice, Zhang Xianzhao gritted his teeth.
He had been forced into such a sorry state by a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if he was a relatively weak Core Formation cultivator, he was still at Core Formation!
How many peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, unless they were prodigies carefully nurtured by major sects, could withstand the power of a Core Formation cultivator’s small world?
Zhang Xianzhao had lived in the borderlands before and knew very well which prodigies of the major sects he couldn’t afford to provoke. Clearly, Nangong Mengxiang wasn’t one of them.
“Calm down, Sect Master. If you keep hitting it, the immortal wood table will break… We don’t have many assets left.”
The guardian elder beside him quickly said.
“Hmph! If not for that Kong Lianbin,” a vicious glint flashed through Zhang Xianzhao’s eyes, “that little bastard actually dared to disobey me, even destroying my sect’s residence several times…”
Some time ago, in the borderlands, that little girl had come to him, asking to join the Evil Spirit Sect.
Although he didn’t know why a girl would have a male name, she was somewhat attractive, and she was also a cultivator from the Immortal Domain.
Zhang Xianzhao had some ulterior motives and agreed to take her as a disciple.
Then came the unrest in the borderlands, and Zhang Xianzhao never found an opportunity to act, so he continued to pretend to be a good Sect Master in front of “Kong Lianbin.”
It wasn’t until the sect moved to the depths of the Nether Spirit forbidden area that Zhang Xianzhao revealed his true colors.
But who knew that “Kong Lianbin” had also been hiding her strength. He had thought she was only at the early stage of the Innate Realm, but she was actually at the mid-stage of Spirit Condensation.
More importantly, she had anticipated Zhang Xianzhao’s intentions and set up an explosive formation, blowing up the sect’s residence, even damaging the spirit vein.
Zhang Xianzhao was unwilling to accept this. How could a mere Spirit Condensation cultivator compete with a Core Formation cultivator? He mobilized the entire sect to hunt down “Kong Lianbin.”
In the following two months, “Kong Lianbin” appeared out of nowhere and bombed the Evil Spirit Sect’s residence twice more.
The spirit vein was already half-destroyed. A few more bombings, and it would probably collapse completely.
Helpless, Zhang Xianzhao could only invite a skilled formation master to upgrade the sect’s protective formation.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“Who?”
Zhang Xianzhao asked impatiently.
“It’s me.”
A deep voice came from outside.
“It’s Master Zou Junxin…”
The guardian elder quickly whispered.
Master Zou was the formation master they had invited to upgrade the sect’s residence. Although his cultivation was only at the Spirit Condensation Realm, his formation skills were astonishing, even Zhang Xianzhao, at Core Formation, was impressed.
Given enough time and materials, Master Zou could probably set up a formation capable of killing a Core Formation cultivator.
Zhang Xianzhao’s expression changed, and he quickly stood up and personally opened the door.
“Ahahaha… so it’s Master Zou, please forgive me for not welcoming you sooner!”
A middle-aged man with a stern and aloof expression entered.
He nodded slightly at Zhang Xianzhao, not even bowing, his arrogance evident.
But he was indeed a master of formations, so Zhang Xianzhao quickly invited Master Zou to take a seat and asked eagerly,
“Master Zou, how is the protective formation coming along?”
“The progress is smooth.” Master Zou said faintly. “If nothing unexpected happens, the final formation will be able to withstand at least one attack from a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“Hiss, so powerful!” Zhang Xianzhao was overjoyed. “With Master Zou’s help, that little bastard won’t be able to touch our sect’s residence again!”
“Naturally.”
Master Zou nodded slightly, his expression calm, seemingly indifferent to Zhang Xianzhao’s praise.
“Master Zou, you wouldn’t know how hateful that little girl is,” Zhang Xianzhao said resentfully. “I encountered her again today, and she even dared to provoke me to my face! This is unbearable!”
“Oh… you encountered her?”
Master Zou’s expression suddenly changed, seeming a bit shocked.
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