Chapter 21 | You Said You Only Wanted to Die

Li Nanzhu had originally been worrying about how to stop Cang Dongqing.

But now, everything was fine. Since the people from the Wuji Sect had been chased away, there was no need to overthink it.

She would simply find the guardian beast, kill it, and take the profound light glazed wood directly. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about Cang Dongqing stealing it.

When the time came, she would leak the news and put it up for auction. Li Nanzhu believed the Wuji Sect would find a way to buy it at any cost.

So, there was no need to worry that the elder wouldn't receive treatment.

"First Senior Brother, Seventh Senior Brother, let's look around for any large rocks nearby. I overheard the Wuji Sect disciples saying the Glazed Wood is hidden in a cave behind a massive boulder, and there's a guardian beast with it."

The two of them didn't suspect a thing. The three of them split up to search.

Fortunately, the Wuji Sect disciples had already combed through most of the area, so the remaining search zone for Li Nanzhu and the others wasn't very large.

They soon found the location of the beast mentioned in the original novel.

"There is indeed a tier 3 peak beast behind it. In a moment, you two stay far away to avoid being caught in the crossfire."

The two of them nodded like chickens pecking at rice. What a joke—this was a battle at the peak of the Golden Core stage. Even if their First Senior Brother was at the Nascent Soul stage, his strength was suppressed within the secret realm and couldn't be fully unleashed. How could two total weaklings like them stay close?

However, to prevent Cang Dongqing from showing up early to cause trouble, Li Nanzhu had the First Senior Brother set up circles of barriers and array disks around the area in advance.

She didn't want Cang Dongqing to find an opening after her First Senior Brother had worked so hard to kill the beast. Otherwise, she would truly be sick to death with frustration.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the valley not far away.

"Fifth Senior Brother, this should be the place Senior Brother Zeting told us about. Why don't I see any disciples from the Wuji Sect?"

Li Nanyi went ahead of Cang Dongqing to scout. After making a circuit, he returned to her side.

"There are traces of a battle here, but it looks like..."

A one-sided slaughter.

But he felt this guess was too absurd. What kind of situation would lead to the Wuji Sect disciples being one-sidedly crushed? Their leader was the Golden Core stage's top disciple.

At this moment, Cang Dongqing couldn't get in touch with Mu Zeting at all.

Of course she couldn't.

Because the man was as unconscious as one could be.

He had nearly died.

Li Nanyi felt it was unwise to go further in. It would be fine if they could contact the Wuji Sect, but the lack of communication only meant they had run into trouble—so much so that Mu Zeting didn't even have time to send a communication jade slip.

The cultivation levels of the two of them weren't even as high as Mu Zeting's. Going in now was no different from seeking death.

"Junior Sister, let's leave this place first. We don't know what happened to the Wuji Sect. It's useless for us to go in even if we wanted to."

"Fifth Senior Brother, we and the Wuji Sect are both part of the eight great sects. When encountering danger, we should stand together. How can we just watch them fall into peril and do nothing?"

Moreover, Cang Dongqing felt that it wasn't dangerous here.

A very strong intuition was urging her to go inside; there was something she needed there.

Naturally, she wasn't actually worried about the safety of the Wuji Sect disciples—their lives were irrelevant to her. It was merely an excuse to enter, but Li Nanyi actually believed her.

"Junior Sister, I know you are kind and worried about them, but your safety is equally important. I cannot stand by and watch you walk into danger. We must leave immediately."

As he spoke, Li Nanyi tried to pull Cang Dongqing away. When it came to matters involving Cang Dongqing, Li Nanyi always had a strange obsession.

It was as if a voice in his heart was telling him over and over.

He must protect Cang Dongqing well.

Cang Dongqing, however, remained firm in her decision.

Taking advantage of Li Nanyi's momentary lapse in attention, she shook off his hand and ran inside. Seeing this, Li Nanyi had no choice but to follow.

But as Cang Dongqing walked deeper, she felt more and more uneasy. For some reason, her body felt sluggish, as if she could barely take a step. Yet her intuition urged her onward, so she simply ignored the physical abnormality, chalking it up to some special restriction within the valley.

After another ten minutes, the two had reached the vicinity of Li Nanzhu's group.

However, because of the barriers and array disks Mu Wenyan had set up in advance, they were unable to barge straight in.

Inside the barrier, Li Nanzhu and Mu Wenyan could see the two of them perfectly clearly.

"Junior Sister, your intuition is really accurate. Cang Dongqing actually came here."

Duan Xianxing's optimism didn't affect Li Nanzhu. She hadn't expected the other party to arrive faster than she had imagined.

Li Nanzhu knew all too well just how lucky Cang Dongqing was.

In the original novel, Cang Dongqing would find all sorts of heavenly treasures just by tripping or walking a few steps. No matter how many arrays or barriers were outside, she would always happen to find a loophole and pass right through.

Of course, it was also possible she had some secret treasure in her hands that simply hadn't been written about.

First Senior Brother's battle would still take some time to finish. If Cang Dongqing really made it inside, who knew what would happen.

"Seventh Senior Brother, wear this."

Li Nanzhu handed Duan Xianxing a black face mask and put one on herself. If Cang Dongqing made it in, she and Duan Xianxing would have to act.

Wearing masks was to prevent Cang Dongqing from recognizing them. If she saw them, she would surely inform the Wuji Sect, and they might link them to the rogue cultivator who injured Ji Yanzhi.

It was better to avoid such trouble for now.

Just as Li Nanzhu expected, though she didn't know how Cang Dongqing did it, the girl actually passed through the barrier set by her First Senior Brother.

"Wait, didn't First Senior Brother set up a barrier? How did she get in?" Duan Xianxing now felt that Cang Dongqing was incredibly eerie.

Fortunately, only Cang Dongqing had passed through the barrier. Li Nanyi had not made it in and was currently rushing about outside like a headless fly.

In his eyes, Cang Dongqing had simply taken two steps and suddenly vanished. He ran to the spot where she had disappeared but found no way to enter.

"Seventh Senior Brother, leave her to me. I'll deal with her."

Li Nanzhu didn't choose to let Duan Xianxing, who was already at the Foundation Establishment stage, deal with Cang Dongqing. For one, the heroine was best at fighting above her level, and according to the plot, Cang Dongqing was likely already at Qi Condensation Great Perfection by now.

On the other hand, Li Nanzhu felt she was no longer a piece of cannon fodder but had become a villainess. After all, Cang Dongqing had already suffered at her hands twice. Ordinary cannon fodder couldn't achieve that. Compared to the cannon-fodder Duan Xianxing, she was actually safer.

Furthermore, having broken through to the sixth level of Qi Condensation, she wanted to test her skills. If possible, she still wanted to try and kill Cang Dongqing.

However, Li Nanzhu wasn't reckless enough to just charge in. She immediately activated Wood Vitality, and a snake-like vine instantly coiled around Cang Dongqing's legs.

But Cang Dongqing reacted quickly, drawing her sword and severing it instantly.

Cang Dongqing frowned and scanned her surroundings. She didn't know what it was, but after she cut it, there was no more movement.

Ling Xiao had given her many good things for self-protection before she left. Even the sword in her hand was a mid-grade spirit sword; she only needed to reach Foundation Establishment before she could go to the Sword Mound to choose a life-bound sword.