Chapter 38

Deep in the desert, there was naturally only yellow sand forming dunes.

Yu Xizhi’s spiritual consciousness spread out, her spiritual energy enveloping her, blocking the flying sand and dust. Yet her spiritual consciousness still felt the heavy graininess.

The girl stepped on her sword, appearing as insignificant as a speck of dust in this vast expanse. In such vastness, she was no different from the grains of sand swirling in the air. From a far enough distance, she wouldn’t even be a dot.

Under the oppressive might of the heavens and earth, human strength seemed negligible.

But humans always try to contend with it.

Yu Xizhi stood on her sword, then had a sudden thought and plucked a small twig from her hair.

“I saw you use a twig as a sword last time, so this twig won’t break, right?”

Yu Xizhi looked down at the twig in her hand, seeing it looking wilted and dry in the desert, and felt a bit worried.

“It will only break if you think it will break,” Xiao Zhizhi said, sitting on her shoulder and swinging its legs.

“Do you think your sword will break?”

“Of course not,” Yu Xizhi blurted out, then paused.

The twig still looked wilted, seemingly unable to withstand the wind and sand. However, the way Yu Xizhi looked at the twig had changed.

She understood the meaning behind Xiao Zhizhi’s words.

No matter what was in her hand, as long as she intended to use it as a sword, she must believe in it as her sword.

“I want to cut through this wind and sand to see what lies beyond.”

She held the twig horizontally, smiling slightly.

“Please help me.”

She raised her hand.

Though the twig appeared withered and dry, her sword energy was pure and vast.

The rustling sound mixed with the swirling sand, and as the wind and sand surged, the girl wielded the twig as a sword and struck down.

If the master of Liuguang Peak were here, he would undoubtedly be as surprised as the master of Ziyuan Peak, Han Yichun, back then, because this was the signature technique of Liuguang Peak, the Star Pointing Sword.

The stars in the sky are countless and vast. Instead of pointing at them one by one and causing boredom, I will cut through them with a single sword.

In this high desert wind and sand, I want to see the bright moon, I want to see the clear wind, so I swing my sword!!

The twig, filled with sword energy, had been stuck in Yu Xizhi’s hair for so long without ever being wielded by her, except for that one time at a noodle shop. Yet their long companionship had already attuned their auras to each other.

She requested the sword, and it responded.

And so, ten miles of wind and sand were cut open with one strike.

…

“Hey, wait!”

Yi Zui, being more advanced in cultivation, easily caught up with Cheng Luocen and walked alongside him.

“Where are you going? What demon core are you delivering…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Cheng Luocen’s half-blood-stained sleeve and the egg-sized crystalline object in his hand.

“Hiss.”

Yi Zui took a deep breath.

“That big?”

Coming from a well-established family, he immediately recognized that the demon core being this large could only mean that the snake demon they had just fought was even more formidable than they had imagined. Yet, when they struck it down, it had been surprisingly smooth.

Having many people was certainly a key factor, but the crucial point was…

The most ferocious strike from the snake demon had been blocked.

“Indeed, that is some nourishment.”

Yi Zui’s eyes widened.

He had seen countless rare treasures and naturally didn’t pay much attention to this demon core.

But then he glanced at Cheng Luocen with a peculiar expression.

“Little Cheng, are you really that generous?”

In Yi Zui’s eyes, although Cheng Luocen had joined Qianya Peak, it seemed that the junior uncle merely regarded having one more person or two as insignificant and had not truly accepted any students.

Thus, Cheng Luocen had never formally apprenticed in the Kunwu Mountain Sect. His spiritual consciousness wasn’t even present in the Soul Bell, so strictly speaking, he wasn’t even considered an outer disciple of Kunwu.

He could only be addressed as “Little Brother Cheng.”

Cheng Luocen was well aware that Yi Zui was intentionally or unintentionally testing him.

Yet, his face remained expressionless, like a stone, as he turned and pointed ahead.

“Just a demon core, look over there…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a sword light had already appeared in the direction he was pointing!

The ten-mile stretch of sandstorm was forcibly pushed back, revealing a thick black line behind the swirling sand.

Countless snake heads and small snakes intertwined, their bodies coiled in layers of green and black, mingled with yellow sand and scarlet forked tongues. From afar, it looked like a black mass, but up close, it was a terrifying horde of snake demons!

The snake demon horde surged forward with the wind and sand, densely packed as far as the eye could see, their numbers countless.

The Star Pointing Sword broke through the wind and sand, its momentum unabated, sweeping towards the snake horde ahead!

“So many?” Yu Xizhi was also startled by the colorful snake horde in front of her. The sight was inevitably nauseating, and she pressed her hand to her chest, forcing herself to suppress the wave of discomfort. She looked more closely, trying to discern, and at a glance, she saw three or four snake demons as huge as the one they had just slain!

The girl hovered in mid-air, stunned.

She recalled the contents of the original story.

Just now, she had thought that if it were only that one snake demon, perhaps some might be slightly injured, but how could it result in the situation described in the original book where “of the nineteen people, only nine survived”?

It turned out that they were to fight against such a large number of snake demons!

No wonder Yu Si could still ascend and break through, reaching the Nascent Soul stage and then the Soul Accumulation stage, even after his Golden Core was slightly cracked.

——It was because his blood had been stained with enough blood because he had killed enough demons. If even he couldn’t break through, that would truly be an injustice of the heavens!

However, in the vast, desolate Kongti Desert, with its rare human presence, even if there were demons, how could they suddenly move en masse towards Tianjiu Town on this particular day?

Could it be that something had happened in the depths of the Kongti Desert?

Or perhaps… these snake demons were fleeing from something truly terrifying?

“Is there anything else in the Kongti Desert besides sand?”

Yu Xizhi asked instinctively.

Xiao Zhizhi replied, “At least there should be cacti?”

Yu Xizhi: “…”

“Hasn’t anyone gone deep into the desert over the years?”

Yu Xizhi flicked Xiao Zhizhi’s face again.

“What does the world of cultivators do all day?”

“It’s not that no one has gone.”

Xiao Zhizhi, covering its bun-like face, looked at Yu Xizhi with a strange expression.

“The more remote a place is, the more dangerous it is. And this kind of danger usually comes from humans.”

“From humans?” Yu Xizhi asked, puzzled.

“Some ancient powerful beings, to demonstrate their prowess, liked to set up secret realms in such places,” Xiao Zhizhi said with a sneer in his voice.

“You can’t even fly over the Kongti Desert by sword because there are too many restrictive barriers of secret realms. Just in the area near Yuebei City, I’ve heard of at least eight to ten secret realms.”

“… Are secret realms really so worthless?” Yu Xizhi was amazed.

With one sword strike, she broke through the wind and sand, and the sword intent remained, instantly cutting down the snake demon at the forefront!

The ground was littered with writhing snake corpses.

Snakes cannibalize each other, and even after becoming demons, their habits remained similar.

However, at this moment, they ignored the snake corpses on the ground and continued to surge forward like rolling yellow sand!

Before long, while Yu Xizhi and Xiao Zhizhi were talking, the snake demons were already approaching.

“Second Senior Sister!” Yi Zui finally caught up.

The pampered youth had never seen such a scene before, and his face was full of panic and forced composure.

“Why are there so many snake demons? Who stirred up a snake demon’s nest?!”

“Never mind who stirred it up; we must let everyone know immediately.”

Yu Xizhi glanced at Yi Zui and then at Cheng Luocen.

“How did you both catch up?”

The three of them drove their swords back.

Cheng Luocen silently handed the demon core to Yu Xizhi.

“You don’t look well.”

He hesitated, realizing his hand holding the demon core was still bloody, with bits of flesh on it. Embarrassed, he pulled back, wiped it clean with a handkerchief, and then handed it over again.

Yu Xizhi looked at the demon core in front of her with a complicated expression and remained silent for a moment.

“Did you come just to give this to me?”

The old man’s residual soul in her mind was about to cause a ruckus, but Cheng Luocen’s stone-like face showed no additional expression.

He simply nodded.

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure how powerful this snake demon was or how many years it cultivated. When I killed the Jealousy demons in Lengbei Town, despite their numbers, there wasn’t a single demon core.”

Yu Xizhi looked at him.

“Demon cores are very rare. Some large demon cores can even heal wounds just by holding them. I think the one in your hand is likely one of those. Kunwu has no tradition of handing over spoils to senior sisters or masters, so since you obtained it, it’s rightfully yours. Are you… really giving it to me?”

The more seriously she explained, the less Cheng Luocen dared to look at her. He couldn’t explain why; he just couldn’t.

So he lowered his head slightly, stubbornly extended his hand, and repeated, “Yes.”

Yu Xizhi looked at his hair. This Long Aotian male lead was undoubtedly handsome. In this type of leveling-up story, the male lead is always resilient and hardworking, and these traits were indeed evident in him.

Few could endure the fierce winds on the edge of Qianya Peak, yet he persisted day after day for half a year. Not only did he practice swordsmanship diligently, but he also performed the menial tasks of Qianya Peak without complaint.

He worked silently but quickly. If not for remembering he was the original novel’s Long Aotian male lead, Yu Xizhi would have thought he was just an ordinary, hardworking fellow disciple.

She always remembered that Xia Yiyao would kill her, just as she remembered that the Long Aotian Cheng Luocen would later stab Yu Si with a sword.

“Aren’t you staring at him a bit too long? Did flowers bloom on his face, or did his hair turn into silk threads?”

A sudden voice broke in—the slightly childish voice of Xie Junzhi, “It’s just a demon core. Use it to heal your wounds first. There are plenty more in the desert. You can slay more and return them to him later.”

Since Xiao Zhizhi didn’t want to be seen, it wouldn’t be seen. Naturally, if it didn’t want to be heard, no one else would hear it either.

Yu Xizhi thought this made sense.

What would happen to Cheng Luocen later was a matter for the future. At this moment, she didn’t sense any malice from him. He genuinely seemed to want to give her the demon core to heal her wounds.

Yu Xizhi remained silent for a bit too long, making Cheng Luocen think she was going to continue declining. Unexpectedly, the girl laughed.

“In that case, I’ll accept it with thanks.”

Yu Xizhi took the demon core. It was her first time seeing such a thing. It didn’t feel special through the handkerchief, but as soon as her fingers touched it, she felt her internal spiritual energy stir slightly. The discomfort that the elixirs had suppressed slowly eased away.

Perhaps her face had looked particularly bad before, and the rapid recovery was so noticeable that Yi Zui couldn’t help but come closer.

“Is it really that miraculous? I want to try it too!”

“Try what?” Yu Xizhi dodged his hand that was reaching to touch the core.

“If you want one, go kill some snake demons yourself. There are plenty back there. If you turn back now, you’ll still make it.”

“Just one touch! Just one!” Yi Zui persisted.

“Come on, Second Senior Sister, don’t be so stingy!”

They laughed and joked, but Yu Xizhi wasn’t entirely unkind.

As they neared the village entrance, she let Yi Zui take a look at the core.

Then she turned back to Cheng Luocen with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Cheng Luocen pressed his lips together. The old man’s residual soul was too tired to continue cursing and kept muttering “bastard” over and over.

Cheng Luocen watched as Yi Zui examined the spirit stone, secretly gripping the three low-grade spirit stones in his hand.

“As long as it helps Senior Sister.”

Having expressed her thanks, Yu Xizhi didn’t dwell on the matter any further. She hurried ahead, eager to discuss strategies for dealing with the snake horde with Yu Si and the others.

Holding a small tree branch, sword energy surged around her.

Instead of breaking, the branch seemed invigorated, wrapped in sword intent.

Her long hair had come loose, and without any hairpins or a free hand to tie it up, she let it drape over her shoulders.

The snake horde raged behind her. As the wind lifted her long hair, it inadvertently brushed across Cheng Luocen’s face.

…and it also inadvertently smothered Xiao Zhizhi’s face on her shoulder.