Chapter 51

Looking at the changes on the ranking board beneath the arena, almost everyone instantly boiled over. Every person’s face was filled with disbelief.

“My heavens, I actually had the honor of witnessing an expert rush into the top ten of the ranking board. This scene was too wonderful. Looks like another monstrous genius is about to rise in our great Northern Region!”

“Who says otherwise? And this Fu Yan and Bai Yueli are actually both disciples of the Shuiling Sect. Is the Shuiling Sect about to rise? So many geniuses have appeared one after another.”

“Wuwu, watching this makes me want to join the Shuiling Sect too. Speaking of which, when does the Shuiling Sect recruit disciples every year? I definitely have to try!”

“…”

Toward the praise sounding around her, Fu Yan did not feel many fluctuations in her heart. Instead, when she saw her name and Bai Yueli’s name pressed closely together, for some reason, her heart uncontrollably filled with joy.

It was as if, in that moment, her strength had finally been recognized.

The name Fu Yan appearing on the ranking board was also fully deserved. Only she herself understood the hardship behind it. Two months of day-and-night cultivation had been worth it after all.

Thinking of this, while everyone was still immersed in shock, Fu Yan did not continue staying in the Martial Market Arena. She swiftly swallowed a few true qi pills, then left the place without looking back.

Behind her, on the ranking board, her name and Bai Yueli’s name were still ​stolen content​quietly carved onto the stone wall.

After leaving the Martial Market Arena, Fu Yan unsurprisingly saw Duan Sixin standing at the entrance. He seemed to be waiting specifically for her. Thinking again of her previous guess about him, Fu Yan could not help pausing slightly. When she raised her eyes and stared at him, the person ahead also looked over at her. After thinking for a moment, she still walked over as usual.

Duan Sixin crossed his arms over his chest. Looking at Fu Yan as she walked over, he said with some leisurely ease, “You should have seen it too. I deliberately kept waiting until your final match before going onstage.”

“The reason?” Fu Yan stopped before Duan Sixin and asked aloud.

In truth, Fu Yan could sense that outside the arena, this person did not seem to have any especially strong malice toward her.

Hearing this, Duan Sixin lazily let out a long breath. Only then did he answer honestly, “No particular reason. Someone came to me and told me to cripple you with one sword strike directly on the Martial Market Arena.”

Fu Yan: “…”

Listening to the other party’s extremely frank words, Fu Yan did not know what to say for a moment. But what made her even more curious was who exactly wanted to deal with her this time.

“However, after today’s battle, I’ve also chosen to give up. With your current strength, if I want to defeat you, I would have to use my strongest killing move. As for crippling you, I don’t want to shorten my own life.” Duan Sixin did not seem worried that Fu Yan would get angry and insisted on slowly stating his thoughts.

After saying this, he suddenly changed the direction of the conversation. “However, there’s no need to ask me who hired me. Although I can tell you my purpose, in our line of work, basic professional ethics still have to be followed.”

Although these words sounded somewhat amusing, Duan Sixin truly did have his own principles.

“Thank you for telling me this.” Facing the person who had wanted to cripple her, Fu Yan did not seem angry at all. Instead, she thanked him aloud.

As soon as the words fell, this time, Duan Sixin was the one left somewhat at a loss.

He seemed not to have expected Fu Yan to be this calm, as if she had merely heard some insignificant matter. He had already prepared himself for the other party to fight him again.

“You’re welcome.” Although he was somewhat surprised by Fu Yan’s reaction, Duan Sixin quickly came back to himself as well. He suddenly smiled and said, “You really are a rare genius in the Northern Region. If you were crippled just like that, it would be somewhat of a pity.”

Although Duan Sixin spoke these words half-jokingly, they were also sincere.

Fu Yan could naturally see what the other party meant. She did not think too much about it, because at this moment, she suddenly realized something.

That day, Shui Liuqing had said she was going back to participate in her family competition. But counting carefully, nearly three months had already passed, and there had not been the slightest news from her. This was clearly very wrong.

Because Shui Liuqing had signed a master-servant contract with her using her soul, Fu Yan did not suspect that the other party had betrayed her and run away. So if Shui Liuqing had not appeared for three months, then something was clearly wrong.

Moreover, in Chaoyang City, Fu Yan had unknowingly been targeted by someone. Two months ago, she had only been an ordinary little cultivator at middle Illumination stage, yet the other party had specially hired an expert like Duan Sixin to deal with her, and had even ruthlessly prepared to cripple her cultivation.

So after hearing Duan Sixin’s words, Fu Yan had no choice but to link these two matters together.

Thinking carefully, she had been in secluded cultivation for the past two months and should not have offended anyone. Clearly, the other party had already targeted her long ago.

Or rather, the one targeted along with her was Shui Liuqing.

Thinking of this, Fu Yan immediately felt everything become clear. If it was really as she thought, then everything could naturally be explained.

Like her, Shui Liuqing should also have encountered danger, which was why she had not been able to return in time and reunite with Fu Yan.

At the side, seeing that Fu Yan’s expression looked somewhat off, Duan Sixin thought she had belatedly grown angry and was about to seek revenge on him. He could not help tightening his grip on his sword. “What’s wrong?”

At this moment, Fu Yan no longer had time to bother with him. She directly waved at Duan Sixin, said, “Nothing,” and swiftly turned toward the direction of Chaoyang City’s gate.

Duan Sixin: “…” So this person truly had not put him in her eyes at all!

Looking at Fu Yan’s quickly departing back, Duan Sixin immediately felt somewhat of a headache. This was the first time he had failed to complete a task. What was even more helpless was that not only would he not receive payment, he had instead wasted several months for nothing. It was simply losing the wife and the soldiers!

“Forget it, forget it. Who told me my strength wasn’t enough?” Duan Sixin withdrew his gaze and could only sigh helplessly.

Then he also turned and left the Martial Market Arena.

Because of the master-servant contract, Fu Yan could sense Shui Liuqing’s existence. In other words, she was still perfectly alive. If she had unfortunately lost her life, Fu Yan would be able to sense it too.

Since Shui Liuqing was still fairly safe, yet had been unable to come find Fu Yan, then she should be trapped somewhere. So no matter what, Fu Yan still had to make a trip there.

After all, Shui Liuqing was still useful to her.

After thinking this through, Fu Yan had nothing to hesitate over. She directly turned and left Chaoyang City, then flew by sword in the direction of the Shui family.

The Shui family was not far from Chaoyang City. It was only half a day’s journey. So very soon, Fu Yan arrived at Liujin Ancient City, where the Shui family was located.

Because of Fu Yan’s identity, naturally, she could not directly go to the Shui family and ask about Shui Liuqing’s whereabouts. So after entering Liujin Ancient City, she directly found the largest restaurant in the city.

After entering the restaurant, Fu Yan did not show anything unusual. She very neatly sat down at a window seat on the second floor, then ordered a few ordinary dishes.

Before long, all the dishes were served.

“Immortal Master, all the dishes you ordered are here. If there are no other instructions, this lowly one will go back to work first.” After setting down the final dish, the waiter could not help speaking ingratiatingly.

Fu Yan poured herself a cup of tea. Only then did she raise her eyes to look at the person before her and pretend to ask very casually, “I heard that the Shui family’s annual family competition has already ended. Were there any geniuses this year?”

Every year, people would ask about the strength of cultivation family disciples after these family competitions. So after hearing Fu Yan’s words, the waiter did not feel puzzled and could not help saying, “Immortal Master is talking about the Shui family’s competition? It ended more than two months ago. This year’s first place was still Young Master Shui Hanfeng.”

Fu Yan naturally did not know any Shui Hanfeng. However, she did not ask much either. She merely gave a simple and slightly expected “Oh.”

Knowing that Fu Yan was interested in the Shui family competition, the waiter quickly began chattering again. “Young Master Shui Hanfeng somehow broke through to great perfection of Illumination stage at some unknown time. He can be said to be the Shui family’s deserved number one. I reckon he won’t participate in the family competition next year.”

Fu Yan listened quietly while casually eating. At the end, she nodded in agreement, then took out a low-grade spirit stone from her robes and tossed it over.

“Thank you, Immortal Master!” After receiving one low-grade spirit stone, the waiter immediately grew endlessly excited. He hurriedly put away the spirit stone, then briefly spoke about this year’s Shui family competition.

Only after listening for quite a while did Fu Yan finally hear the name she wanted to hear.

“However, Miss Shui Liuqing’s performance this year was also quite outstanding. She seems to have directly rushed into the top five, which truly surprised everyone a little.” The waiter was still continuing to talk about the Shui family competition from the side.

Fu Yan had already roughly obtained the information she wanted, so she waved casually and said, “Go back to work.”

Seeing that Fu Yan had already lost interest, the waiter quickly closed his mouth. Only then did he turn, nodding and bowing, and swiftly leave.

After he left, Fu Yan sank into thought. From the ​Read on BaiLianTales​waiter’s words, it could be seen that nothing unusual had happened on the Shui family’s side. The family competition had been held as usual, and Shui Liuqing had also obtained a good result.

Then Shui Liuqing must have run into trouble on her way back to Chaoyang City.

Thinking of this, Fu Yan could not help furrowing her brows slightly. If the problem had occurred on the road back, then it was indeed somewhat difficult now. After all, there were too many routes from Liujin Ancient City to Chaoyang City, and there was no way to search.

Just as Fu Yan was secretly thinking this over, she suddenly heard voices from downstairs on the first floor, at the table closest to her.

The one speaking was an ordinary cultivator at early Illumination stage. He wore a gray robe and said in a low voice to the blue-robed man beside him, “Sigh, have you heard? Recently, that Demonic Miasma Gorge has become somewhat restless again.”

“What happened? Did something happen again?” The blue-robed man clearly did not understand, but he still asked curiously.

“When I passed by the entrance of Demonic Miasma Gorge a few days ago, I discovered that the miasma inside had grown thicker and thicker. In the past, there used to be quite a bit of green vegetation at the entrance, but now it’s all completely dead.” As the gray-clothed man spoke, he did not forget to take a large gulp of wine. Only then did he continue, “My guess is that something major must have appeared inside the gorge. Maybe some treasure is about to emerge.”

Hearing this, the blue-robed man clearly did not believe this claim. He immediately sneered and said dismissively, “Demonic Miasma Gorge has existed for nearly a thousand years. If there were treasures, they would have appeared long ago. Now, aside from some poisonous things inside, there won’t be anything.”

“Hey, don’t refuse to believe it!” After hearing this, the gray-clothed man immediately put down the bowl of wine in his hand. He raised his eyes and stared at the person beside him, looking as if he had to explain things clearly. “I heard that before, someone saw a late Illumination-stage expert and a great perfection Illumination-stage expert suddenly appear in Demonic Miasma Gorge. They’ve been wandering inside for a long time. If they aren’t searching for treasure, could they be sightseeing inside?”

As soon as these words fell, the blue-robed man, who had not believed it just now, immediately became somewhat hesitant. Only after quite a while did he continue, “Could Demonic Miasma Gorge really have some treasure emerging?”

“Definitely!” the gray-clothed man said with great certainty.

The blue-robed man paused slightly. “Then do you think we should also go…”

“Don’t even think about it.” Seeming to know what the blue-robed man was thinking, the gray-clothed man mercilessly interrupted him. “With our cultivation, as long as we enter and get bitten once by any poisonous thing, we’re basically completely done for. If you want to die, don’t drag me with you. I still want to live a few more years!”

The blue-robed man clearly looked disappointed and helpless. “Sigh, you’re right.”

“…”

Very soon, the two of them quickly began eating and drinking while chatting about other topics. At this moment, however, Fu Yan upstairs could not help pausing slightly.

Fu Yan did not understand this Demonic Miasma Gorge, but listening to these two people, she felt that the two people wandering inside were very likely the ones dealing with Shui Liuqing. And it also made sense that Shui Liuqing, in a moment of urgency, would hide inside the gorge.

As she was thinking, the waiter at the side had at some point walked over again. He carefully refilled Fu Yan’s tea. After doing all this, he prepared to turn and leave.

“Waiter, what kind of place is Demonic Miasma Gorge?” But at this moment, Fu Yan raised her eyes again, looked at the waiter, and asked lightly.

The waiter seemed to be startled by Fu Yan’s sudden voice. After calming down, he quickly smiled and explained, “Ah, Immortal Master is asking about Demonic Miasma Gorge? It’s several hundred li south of our Liujin Ancient City. Speaking of Demonic Miasma Gorge, one has to mention a legend from our Northern Region…”

According to legend, one thousand years ago, the Northern Region was not as barren as it was now. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth was also exceptionally abundant. Precisely because of this, several Earth Immortal-level experts once appeared in the Northern Region back then.

Later, one day, a terrifying demonic creature suddenly appeared in the Northern Region. Even those Earth Immortal-level cultivators were not its match. However, Heaven never seals off all paths. Before long, one person finally successfully broke through to become a True Immortal.

This True Immortal mighty figure then fought that demonic creature for several months. In the end, he did not disappoint expectations and successfully cut off the demonic creature’s head. Then he threw its head into a furnace fire and burned it for three days and three nights. Only then was that demonic creature’s aura finally completely severed.

During this great battle, that True Immortal mighty figure had once specially split open a huge mountain with a single sword strike, then threw the demonic creature’s corpse inside the mountain. As time passed, that place formed a gorge that seemed almost natural.

Because the demonic energy from that creature’s corpse was too ferocious, it could not help attracting many poisonous creatures, large and small, from between heaven and earth. That terrifying demonic energy continued surrounding the gorge and could not disperse for a long time. Slowly, it gave rise to a kind of miasma. Wherever the miasma existed, not a blade of grass would grow, and its poison was also extremely powerful.

“From then on, as time passed, that place formed what is now Demonic Miasma Gorge.” The waiter swiftly explained the origins of Demonic Miasma Gorge to Fu Yan.

After saying this, he looked at Fu Yan, who was already at late Illumination stage, and could not help kindly advising, “But Immortal Master shouldn’t listen to their nonsense. There’s no way treasure will emerge from Demonic Miasma Gorge.”

Clearly, the waiter had also heard the conversation between the two people downstairs clearly just now. Hearing Fu Yan suddenly become curious about Demonic Miasma Gorge, he assumed she wanted to go treasure hunting, so he kindly explained.

“Think about it, Immortal Master. If there really had been some treasure on that demonic creature’s body, wouldn’t that True Immortal mighty figure have taken it away long ago? And nearly a thousand years have passed. Even if there truly were treasures, they would probably have been found by others already. How could they possibly remain until now?”

Fu Yan naturally understood this reasoning. She was curious about Demonic Miasma Gorge, but of course, it was not because she truly believed in any claim that treasure had emerged. She was only guessing whether Shui Liuqing had really fled inside.

“All right. Go back to work.” Fu Yan returned to herself and waved casually. Read on BaiLianTales Then she continued eating the dishes on her table.

Hearing this, the waiter could not help chuckling twice. Only then did he call out, “All right, Immortal Master, please enjoy slowly.”

As the waiter’s figure left, Fu Yan’s ears finally had a moment of quiet. She no longer continued paying attention to the conversations in the restaurant either and still ate the dishes by herself.

Although she had already somewhat confirmed Shui Liuqing’s location, since nearly two months had passed and Fu Yan had not sensed any signal of her death, that meant she was still safe right now.

Shui Liuqing was clever to begin with, so Fu Yan was not too worried.

After eating and drinking her fill, Fu Yan slowly left Liujin Ancient City. Then, following the direction the waiter had mentioned, she flew directly toward Demonic Miasma Gorge.

The location of Demonic Miasma Gorge was not too far. Fu Yan had flown for only one or two hours when, from afar, she indeed saw an enormous gorge appear ahead. Looking from a distance, the entire gorge was surrounded by a layer of black fog, and the surroundings truly had not a blade of grass growing.

With one glance, one could tell that this gorge was no ordinary place.

When Fu Yan arrived at the entrance, the sky was already very late. The sun at the edge of the sky had already set at some unknown time, making Demonic Miasma Gorge seem even more barren, desolate, and frightening.

Because the things drifting in the air were poisonous miasma, if one wanted to enter safely, one needed to temporarily seal their seven orifices and six senses with true essence. After making all preparations, Fu Yan finally lifted her foot and entered Demonic Miasma Gorge.

Demonic Miasma Gorge was indeed worthy of being a dangerous place. Fu Yan had not walked for long before she had already encountered several poisonous creatures that instantly pounced toward her. Fortunately, her reaction was swift. With a simple rise unauthorized copy and fall of her sword, those poisonous creatures were split in two and lost all vitality.

The entire gorge was very large. Fu Yan did not know exactly how far she had gone before she finally arrived at the center of the gorge. Slowly raising her head to look up, aside from a thick mass of miasma, she could still faintly see the steep mountain walls on both sides.

At this moment, Fu Yan was like a frog at the bottom of a well. When she raised her head, she could only see a distant line of moonlight. If an ordinary person saw this scene, they would probably feel as if they were suffocating.

However, to Fu Yan, there was nothing uncomfortable about it.

But Fu Yan suddenly thought of the story the waiter had told. If the origins of Demonic Miasma Gorge were truly as the legend said, then the place where Fu Yan now stood had originally been the center of a mountain.

And that True Immortal mighty figure had actually been able to casually split open such a huge gorge with a single sword strike. This kind of power was something Fu Yan had never even dared imagine. Forget True Immortals—even the Huaxu stage was far, far too distant from the current her.

After thinking for quite a while, Fu Yan finally slowly came back to herself. She withdrew her gaze again and continued going deeper.

After walking for who knew how long, Fu Yan finally heard a faint sound in this quiet Demonic Miasma Gorge. It seemed to be the sound of fighting. She did not think too much and instantly followed the sound.

When she drew closer, Fu Yan discovered that there really were people fighting ahead. Because the surroundings were full of miasma, she had no way to identify the two people’s auras.

But before she could continue approaching, a sword blade swiftly attacked her. Fortunately, Fu Yan had never relaxed her vigilance, so she reacted quickly.

After dodging the sword blade’s attack, Fu Yan discovered that an expert [bailiantales.com]who was also at late Illumination stage had somehow appeared from who knew where and was actually directly attacking her again.

He seemed to be deliberately stopping Fu Yan from continuing forward.

However, at this moment, Fu Yan naturally had no time to think too much, because almost every one of the other party’s attacks was fatal. It seemed he had no intention of leaving her alive.

Facing this kind of fierce attack, Fu Yan naturally would not sit and wait for death. She swiftly raised her broken Linglong Sword and charged toward that person.

That person seemed extremely powerful. Every move used his full strength. Fu Yan did not dare be careless either. In an instant, all three forms of Illusionless Sword were used one after another, shooting straight toward the other party.

Very quickly, within this greenish haze of miasma, the two had already fought until they were locked in a fierce struggle. Neither seemed to have fallen into a disadvantage, yet neither had gained any advantage from the other either.

Just as Fu Yan was hesitating over whether to use her final killing move, the low-tier earth-rank sword move Wind Sweeps Scattered Clouds, the person opposite her seemed to suddenly receive some kind of instruction. He swiftly turned and plunged into the miasma.

In almost the blink of an eye, he had already vanished without a trace.

At this moment, Fu Yan could also sense that the fight ahead seemed to have suddenly gone silent. She could not help freezing slightly. She still did not put away the sword in her hand, instead staring tightly at the figure that had stopped ahead.

“Tap, tap.”

The sound of footsteps came from the quiet surroundings. Fu Yan saw that person walking toward her step by step. Before she had time to bailiantales.com see that person’s figure clearly, a familiar sword blade swiftly entered her sight.

The Yueyao Sword?

Just as Fu Yan revealed a shocked expression, she saw Bai Yueli holding her Yueyao Sword in one hand, walking step by step out of the miasma.

When their gazes met, there was disbelief in both their eyes.

“…”

Fu Yan truly had not expected that she would actually meet Bai Yueli again in this Demonic Miasma Gorge. Why say “again”? Thinking carefully, the number of times she and Bai Yueli had coincidentally met seemed to be quite a lot. This fate… really was somewhat wonderfully indescribable.

Ever since they had completed the mission of escorting Luanjin Fort together last time, Fu Yan had not seen Bai Yueli for three months. She remembered Bai Yueli had said she would enter seclusion for two months, then prepare to return directly to the sect.

Precisely because of this, suddenly seeing Bai Yueli appear before her inevitably made Fu Yan feel somewhat astonished.

After Bai Yueli clearly saw Fu Yan’s figure, she also involuntarily froze for a moment. However, she very quickly noticed that the person before her seemed to have already sealed her seven orifices and six senses.

Immediately, she could only transmit her voice. “You didn’t bring a Miasma-Avoiding Pearl?”

Hearing this, Fu Yan finally came back to herself. But after hearing Bai Yueli’s words, she again looked puzzled, as if asking the person ​bailiantales.com​before her: What is a Miasma-Avoiding Pearl?

Fu Yan truly did not know what a Miasma-Avoiding Pearl was. Just as she was preparing to also use voice transmission, Bai Yueli’s voice sounded in her mind again.

“Open your mouth.”

“Huh?” Fu Yan almost reflexively made a confused sound.

In the next second, she saw Bai Yueli directly reach out and instantly stuff something into her mouth.

Fu Yan: “…”