Chapter 7: Soul Seal Plate (II)

The trial in the Xian You Secret Realm lasts for seven days, during which the realm is closed off. The elders outside can only see the situation of the disciples inside through the images transmitted by the wandering butterflies.

Elder Guan Liuzhuo of the Piaomiao Sect smiled as he looked at the scene before him, nodding in satisfaction.

“This woman is a disciple of the Limitless Sword Sect. She is really bold and outstanding. However, this man… why is he relying on a girl for protection?”

The elder of the He Huan Sect next to him, Ni Chang, smiled charmingly and spoke in a crisp, clear voice.

“This woman has a decent appearance, ranking slightly above average in our He Huan Sect. But this man’s appearance is truly outstanding. He would achieve great things if he were to join our He Huan Sect and cultivate with us.”

Guan Liuzhuo disdainfully glanced at her. The He Huan Sect was founded on the practice of dual cultivation, with both male and female disciples. They relied on vulgar means and seduction, and despite the beauty of their disciples, few people truly respected them.

Ni Chang wasn’t angry, either. She lazily leaned against the long chair, watching the image transmitted by the wandering butterflies with interest.

At this moment, Sui Ning carried Batian (the Overlord) expressionlessly and slashed at the spirit beast that blocked their way.

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Fwk Lkdt: “?”

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Fwk Lkdt: “…”

This damn thing was a spirit beast?

Such an ugly spirit beast!!

You guys in the cultivation world are really good at defining things.

The jackal leaped towards Sui Ning with its legs bent, and she quickly wielded Batian to meet it.

It was incredibly strong, and Sui Ning had only recently started cultivating her body. She couldn’t match its strength and was directly shaken away.

Sui Ning closed her eyes in fright, but the pain she had anticipated did not come. Instead, a pair of strong arms caught her from behind, and she plunged into a cool embrace.

A faint, cold fragrance fills the surrounding air, which is mild and pure. It’s Xie Changzhou. His clear voice rang in her ear: “Ningning, you are a cultivator, not a reckless fighter. Use your cultivation to resist it. Mobilize your spiritual energy and gather it on your sword.”

Sui Ning’s eyes suddenly became cold and decisive. The spirit beast once again pounced towards her, and she gathered her spiritual energy, using her sword to execute a powerful strike that howled towards the jackal.

After a loud bang, blood spattered everywhere, and Xie Changzhou quickly gathered his spiritual energy to protect them both. Once everything had calmed down, Xie Changzhou’s lips curled into a gentle smile. “Ningning, you have excellent skills.”

Sui Ning smiled and said, “It’s all thanks to your guidance, Jianzun.” Her eyes were full of craftiness, and her voice was tinged with a little bit of pride.

Xie Changzhou was slightly stunned. It was the first time he had felt this kind of feeling in front of someone—a sense of admiration.

He smiled and said, “I’ll leave the rest to you, Ningning. Practicing against these spirit beasts can help you improve your combat abilities.”

He stepped aside, and Sui Ning calmly watched as several spirit beasts charged towards her from where Xie Changzhou had just been standing. And that’s where the scene that the elders saw unfolded.

“I’m not sure why, but there are an unusually large number of spirit beasts in this area, and they seem to keep coming, as if they can’t be completely killed.”

Xie Changzhou follows behind Sui Ning, blocking several spirit beasts that ambush her with his sword, while Sui Ning wields her sword, slaying her way through. She carves out a path through the pack of beasts. Finally, after killing countless spirit beasts, the two of them manage to break free from the encirclement. Before their eyes lies a lush green forest with wispy mist lingering around it.

The gentle breeze brings the fragrance of grass and trees, as if nothing had just happened. Sui Ning finally lets out a sigh of relief. She is completely drained and sits down on the ground, rubbing her sore wrist. Xie Changzhou shakes his head helplessly, half crouching in front of Sui Ning. A pure and spiritual energy envelops her delicate white wrist. His long, black eyelashes droop down as he concentrates. His slender jade-like hand gently holds Sui Ning’s wrist, continuously pouring out spiritual energy, and the soreness in her wrist gradually dissipates.

Xie Changzhou patiently explains to her, “These spirit beasts couldn’t harm you, Ningning, but even though you have the cultivation of the Golden Core stage, your reflexes are insufficient, and you’re prone to being taken advantage of.”

Of course, she knows that these spirit beasts pose little threat; otherwise, the disciples taking this trial would have already suffered heavy losses. Sui Ning quickly withdraws her now less sore wrist and responds in a low voice, “I know. I didn’t mean to blame Jianzun.”

Xie Changzhou wanted her to train, and on the dangerous journey to find the spirit herb, she needed to quickly improve her ability to protect herself.

She understood his intention, but she still wanted to curse him.

Without explaining anything, he just disappeared, leaving her alone to face those hideous beasts without any defense.

At least he should have given her a heads-up.

Seeing the annoyed expression still on Sui Ning’s face, Xie Changzhou felt like laughing. Did he really make her angry?

He had never interacted with women before and had never tried to appease anyone, so he didn’t know how to calm her down.

He tried to recall his limited knowledge of emotions. When his mother was angry, his father often bought her many pieces of jewelry to make her happy.

Women were generally the same, right?

A slender and fair hand with distinct knuckles opened in front of Sui Ning, and she looked at it in surprise.

It was a jade hairpin with a shiny and transparent texture, and it looked like it was made of extremely high-quality jade, surrounded by gentle and clear spiritual energy.

“I apologize to Miss Ningning.”

At a critical moment, the system came online: “You’re quite generous, even willing to give up the precious jade hairpin.”

Suining responded with annoyance: “Could you please stop speaking in riddles?”

[The jade hairpin was personally crafted by the Emperor Ling Lang in ancient times and gifted to his wife, Empress Chan Yu. It’s not just a piece of jewelry but also a magical tool,] the system explained.

Sui Ning was surprised. Why would Xie Changzhou give her such a valuable item? She quickly stood up and tried to refuse, saying, “Jianzun, really, you don’t have to do this. I can’t accept such an expensive gift from you.”

Xie Changzhou smiled lightly, his eyes calm. “I want to give it to Miss Ningning as a token of my gratitude for accompanying me to search for the spirit herb.”

Sui Ning felt embarrassed. She accompanied him to search for the spirit herbs just to complete the task, and she felt uneasy about receiving his gift. She was about to decline again, but Xie Changzhou’s gentle voice interrupted her: “If Miss Ningning doesn’t accept it, I will feel guilty.”

Sui Ning was silent for a while, struggling with her decision. Xie Changzhou’s slender hand was still holding the jade hairpin, looking at her with warmth and focus.

The system spoke up again, “Take it, host. It’s a matter of life or death at a critical moment.”

In the end, Sui Ning accepted the jade hairpin.

The round yet incomplete moon rose halfway into the sky, and its light seeped into the cave through the opening, shining like silver threads inside.

Sui Ning was roasting the rabbit meat skewered on the fire pit. Fortunately, she had caught a few rabbits in the mountains before coming here.

Although she had entered the world of cultivation, she had grown up in the 21st century and couldn’t adapt to their habit of only drinking morning dew. She not only had to eat but also had to eat well.

Xie Changzhou sat cross-legged beside her with his eyes closed in meditation, his face calm and gentle. Even when Sui Ning sat next to him roasting meat, he remained unmoved.

Sui Ning was speechless and bantered with the system, “He is really suitable for joining the sect of silent meditation.”

The system replied, [If I have to say, this kind of detachment is not necessarily attainable even if you lived for another hundred thousand years.]

“Goodbye, I can’t live a life as boring as Xie Changzhou’s.”

The rabbit meat sizzled and dripped with oil. Sui Ning sprinkled her own dipping sauce on it and took it off the skewer.

She handed it to Xie Changzhou and asked him softly, “Jianzun, don’t you eat?”

Xie Changzhou still sat upright, his eyes never opening.

Okay, she was just being polite. Xie Changzhou naturally couldn’t eat.

Sui Ning happily took back her rabbit meat, full of flavor and spiciness, and took a bite.

She was extremely grateful that she had studied food science; at least she had a skill that could improve her quality of life.

Her eyes were curved, and her smile was brilliant.

When Xie Changzhou opened his eyes, this was the scene he saw.

He sighed inwardly. Was Sui Ning really a spy sent by the demon realm with such a temperament?

But he couldn’t take the risk. It concerned the lives of thousands of people, and there was no room for error.

In the middle of the night, Sui Ning fell asleep in a daze against the stone wall, suddenly awoken by a commotion.

Xie Changzhou had already woken up and stood tall at the entrance of the cave, his eyes coldly fixed on the distance.

“Jianzun, what’s wrong?”

Sui Ning walked up to him and followed his gaze.

Under the dim moonlight, a dense black mist rose in the distance, accompanied by intermittent screams and calls for help.

“It’s demonic energy.”

Xie Changzhou’s face grew cold as he summoned Du Wang and flew towards the gathering of demonic energy.

Sui Ning also quickly summoned her own weapon, the Batian, and followed behind.

Silky black mist filled the entire forest, creating a dim and gloomy atmosphere with the scent of blood permeating the air.

When Sui Ning landed on the ground, Xie Changzhou had already rushed forward.

There were three spirit beasts, or more accurately, three demonized spirit beasts.

Unlike what Sui Ning saw in the afternoon, the spirit beasts had already lost their senses, their bodies were filled with demonic energy, and their physiques had grown several times stronger than normal.

The ground was covered with dense corpses, and Sui Ning almost stumbled upon a body every few steps.

She looked up towards the sky, where Xie Changzhou was elegantly dressed in white, his sword flashing through the black mist with fierce intent, striking towards the three demonic beasts.

Although his cultivation level had been suppressed to the Golden Core stage, luckily, his swordsmanship was superb and Du Wang was also an extraordinary sword that understood his thoughts very well. He was able to suppress these three demonic beasts for a moment.

Before Sui Ning could even breathe a sigh of relief, a shrill scream came from deep in the forest, and a green falcon wrapped in thick black demonic energy burst out.

A fierce force rushed towards Sui Ning, and she quickly summoned her Batian to meet it.

Almost at the moment of impact, her whole body was engulfed in turbulent Qi and blood, as if all her organs were being shattered.

Sui Ning was hit hard and flew straight into a thick tree.

The cultivation level of this demonized green falcon was unexpectedly higher than hers in the Golden Core stage!

She felt a metallic taste in her mouth, and the taste of rust permeated her tongue as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Struggling to stand up, she could only watch as the green falcon attacked her with lightning speed.

She struggled to stand up, but the speed of the green falcon was too fast, and she could only watch it pounce towards her.

Xie Changzhou’s eyebrows furrowed, and Du Wang responded by attacking the green falcon. But it was too late; it had already reached Sui Ning. Sui Ning’s eyes widened, reflecting the ugly and terrifying face of the green falcon. But in the next moment, a burst of white light flashed, and the space seemed to be torn apart, gradually blurring the appearance of the green falcon.

In Sui Ning’s last glance, she saw Xie Changzhou. He flew towards her with a gentle and calm expression. Sui Ning struggled to reach out to him. In the moment of darkness, a slightly cool hand grabbed her.

The author has something to say:

Xie Changzhou: “These few demon beasts also rely on Miss Ningning.”

Suining: “I keep you in my heart, but you throw me into the ditch?”

T/N: I will refer to Sui Ning’s sword as Ba Tian from now on, and Xie’s sword as Du wang.