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Chapter 94: The Peculiar Sword Sheath
Chapter 94: The Peculiar Sword Sheath
"Fellow cultivators, please wait!"
Lu Chen called out eagerly to the three cultivators who were over ten zhang away.
After dealing with the possessed body, he had been making his way towards the outer perimeter of the secret realm, staying far from its core region.
Along the way, his luck held as he managed to gather several spiritual herbs and even took down a clueless first-grade demon beast.
However, he had no idea how to leave the secret realm and had been hoping to find cultivators familiar with the area to guide him. It had been almost half a bell, and he had just now spotted these three cultivators.
Hearing Lu Chen's shout, the three cultivators turned around, their faces alert and their spiritual tools in hand, brimming with spiritual energy.
Lu Chen approached to within six or seven zhang of the trio—two men and a woman. Two of them were at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, while the other was at the fifth. Their disheveled appearances suggested that they had been in the secret realm for quite some time.
"Please rest assured, fellow cultivators. I mean you no harm, and instead seek your help," Lu Chen said, stopping in his tracks and spreading his hands in a friendly gesture.
"Speak, fellow cultivator," said the leader of the trio, who was holding a pitch-black flying sword.
"I'm just an ordinary spiritual herbologist from Linyangfang City. I was invited here to gather some particularly tricky spiritual herbs," Lu Chen explained.
"However, I encountered an evil infestation along the way. Fellow cultivators traveling with me were killed by these evil beings, but I managed to escape by chance."
"The problem is, this is my first time entering this newly opened secret realm, and I know nothing about it. After escaping, I have no idea how to leave. Fellow cultivators, would you be so kind as to show me the way out? I will certainly reward you with spirit stones for your trouble."
The three cultivators looked at Lu Chen, probing his cultivation base with their spiritual sense and finding him to be at the fourth layer of Qi Refining. They exchanged subtle glances, their long partnership allowing them to understand each other's thoughts without words.
"Fellow cultivator, you must have good fortune after such a close brush with death. We were just planning to leave the secret realm, and you are welcome to join us," said the leader, a middle-aged cultivator, with a warm smile.
Lu Chen expressed his gratitude with a bow and fell into step behind the trio.
"Fellow cultivator Lu, are you injured? Is it serious?" the middle-aged cultivator asked during their journey, after they had introduced themselves to each other.
Lu Chen, who was walking behind the three, didn't look well. His face was pale, his steps unsteady, and he seemed to be severely depleted of energy.
"I'm fine, thank you for your concern. To shake off the pursuit of those evil beings, I had to use an art that required burning my essence blood, which is why I look like this now. But I'll recover soon," Lu Chen explained. After taking a Blood Marrow Pill, his essence blood had mostly recovered, and he only appeared weak on the surface.
"I see. I have a bottle of healing pills here that can quickly restore your qi and blood. Why don't you give it a try?" The middle-aged cultivator took out a jade bottle from his storage bag and offered it to Lu Chen.
Lu Chen hastily refused.
"Fellow cultivator Lu, you're being too polite," the middle-aged cultivator said.
"Moreover, I noticed that you've been keeping your distance from us during the journey. Are you worried that we might harm you?"
"Not at all," Lu Chen replied. "I just thought it would be best to maintain a safe distance for everyone's peace of mind."
"Fellow cultivator, your wariness is hurting our feelings," the leader said patiently, with nods of agreement from his companions. "Now that you've joined our group, you should trust us instead of harboring such suspicions."
"Besides, there are demon beasts and evil beings lurking everywhere in this secret realm. If you stay so far away, we might not be able to help you in time should any accident occur."
"Then...should I come closer?" Lu Chen asked tentatively, edging a little nearer to the trio.
...
"I told you to keep a safe distance, but you just wouldn't listen," Lu Chen said.
"Maintaining a safe distance was for your protection, not mine!"
On the ground, three small piles of black ash still retained their heat. Lu Chen tossed a Dispel Evil Talisman into the center of the triangle they formed.
Not long ago, the trio had lured him closer, only to suddenly launch an attack. But Lu Chen, fully prepared, easily dealt with them, reducing them to black ashes.
Of course, he gladly accepted the storage bags they left behind.
"It's true that close calls are often followed by good fortune. Looks like my luck has finally arrived."
A smile tugged at Lu Chen's lips as he probed the storage bags with his spiritual sense.
"Peh, a bunch of paupers!"
There wasn't much left in the three storage bags. Altogether, there were a little over a hundred spirit stones, some pills, talismans, and mostly low-grade demon beast materials and spirit herbs.
The total value was far less than what he had obtained from Li Jianfeng's storage bag.
...
In the core region of the secret realm stood a massive palace.
Over a dozen cultivators were frantically attacking the restrictions outside the palace, causing them to wobble as if they would collapse at any moment.
Among the group, the weakest cultivator was at the advanced Qi Refining stage, with more than half at the perfect Qi Refining stage, and even the Wang Family Patriarch, who had reached the initial Foundation Establishment stage, was among them.
The red-robed female disciple of the sect that Lu Chen had seen earlier was huddled in a corner. The four-eyed demon beast on her shoulder had its four pupils fixed on the distance, and two bloody tear streaks marked its bizarre face.
A black-robed cultivator had several greenish-black imps crawling all over him.
Next to them was a pair of young cultivators, a man and a woman, dressed in white. The cuffs of their sleeves were embroidered with a small golden sword, and each wielded a flying sword, attacking the restrictions.
After breaking through layer after layer of array restrictions, the group, led by the Wang Family, along with several other forces, finally succeeded in breaching the final layer of restrictions.
Everyone speculated that this secret realm was the leftover cave abode of a late Foundation Establishment or even a Core Formation cultivator. Thus, they were even more eager to uncover the treasures within the palace.
Under the relentless barrage of attacks, the restrictions shattered with a loud bang, and several beams of light shot out.
The group employed various means to compete for the treasures contained within the beams of light.
In the outer perimeter of the secret realm, Lu Chen suddenly felt the Xunyue Sword Pill, which he had been nurturing with spiritual energy in his dantian, lose control. It began to tremble slightly, the frequency and amplitude increasing as if it was about to burst out of his dantian at any moment.
"What's going on?"
Lu Chen was puzzled, as this was the first time he had encountered such a situation since obtaining the Xunyue Sword Pill.
Just then, a beam of light flew toward Lu Chen from the horizon. Before he could react, the beam of light arrived and affixed itself to his chest.
An ancient-looking sword sheath clung tightly to his chest and continued to slide downward.
"Not there... Don't..."
Just as Lu Chen reached out to grab the descending sword sheath, it stopped on its own at his dantian.
"What is this thing?"
Lu Chen grasped the sword sheath, intending to examine it closely, when suddenly, his expression changed as if he had thought of something. The translucent silk threads on the Yin Spirit Cloak he was wearing emerged and began to writhe wildly.
Lu Chen's figure instantly vanished from the spot.
In the next instant, a sharp, mournful cry rang out from the distance, and before the sound had faded, a blood cloud drifted over.
The blood cloud was permeated with a violent demonic aura, almost tangible, and a fierce spiritual sense swept through the area where the sword sheath had disappeared.
"Oh?"
A soft exclamation came from within the blood cloud, and a blood-colored skeleton shot out, its gaze fixed on the ground.
The skeleton's hollow eye sockets flickered with pale flames that swayed unsteadily.
"I clearly sensed the aura of the sword sheath appearing here, yet there's no trace of it. Where did it go?"
The blood-colored skeleton retreated back into the blood cloud and drifted toward the north.
(End of Chapter)
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