Chapter 14: Brother, Save Me

“Seventh Senior Brother, how are your injuries?”

Qiu Xiude’s attack had been ruthless, leaving several large tears in Tantai Ming’s robes. He was visibly wounded.

Tantai Ming casually cast a cleansing spell on himself. “Hmph, that guy couldn’t beat me. If you hadn’t called for us to stop, Junior Sister, I would’ve knocked him down already!”

“Stop boasting,” Mu Chihuai said, tossing him a bottle of healing pills while looking exasperated. “Wait until your legs stop shaking before you start bragging.”

Tantai Ming was indeed nearly at his limit, having expended too much energy. He caught the bottle with one hand, casually stuck his sword into the ground, and sat cross-legged to meditate after taking the pill.

Chu Sang crouched beside him and lightly patted his face.

“What’s this?”

Tantai Ming opened his eyes, touching the unfamiliar object on his face curiously. He took out a small mirror to look, finding that it covered his wound quite neatly and even made him look a bit more dashing.

“A band-aid,” Chu Sang replied.

Just then, the ground in the distance began to shake violently. The three of them turned to look, collectively breathing sighs of relief.

“It’s a good thing you warned us, Junior Sister. We ran away quickly, otherwise we’d have been caught up with those people,” Tantai Ming said, lightly leaping onto a tree to view the distant scene of destruction. He grinned, revealing a canine tooth, full of schadenfreude.

Rare spiritual herbs over a thousand years old were likely to have guardian spirit beasts. The more precious the herb, the stronger the beast’s power.

Such a large patch of Heart Nurturing Spirit Herbs in a not-so-hidden location, yet unharvested, clearly indicated the presence of a guardian beast nearby.

When they first approached to harvest, there had been no movement, suggesting the beast was probably still asleep. If they had carefully picked the herbs and left, all would have been fine. But the Tianyan Sect group had to chase after them.

The commotion from the two sides fighting had made quite a disturbance.

Most fatally, the powerful pressure emitted by Qin Xixue’s high-grade spirit tool would have angered even a dead guardian beast enough to rise from its grave.

Judging by the earth-shaking scene in the distance, it was at least a powerful Golden Core stage beast.

Though Foundation Establishment and Golden Core seemed only one stage apart, the gap in power between them was like an insurmountable chasm. Not to mention that spirit beasts at the same level had much tougher physical bodies than human cultivators. A single swipe from a Golden Core beast could easily kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Let’s wait for the Tianyan Sect disciples to lure away the beast, then we’ll go pick up the leftovers,” Chu Sang said, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

“That’s… not very honorable, is it?” Although Tantai Ming disliked the Tianyan Sect group, taking advantage of their misfortune seemed like something legendary demonic or evil cultivators would do.

Chu Sang spoke seriously, “If they hadn’t come to make trouble, the beast wouldn’t have awakened. So they brought the beast on themselves; it has nothing to do with us.”

“Moreover, we found those herbs first. This isn’t taking advantage of misfortune; it’s reclaiming what’s rightfully ours.”

Tantai Ming: … She makes a lot of sense, and I have no way to refute it!

Compared to the three of them watching the show while munching on melon seeds, the Tianyan Sect side was facing a scene like the apocalypse.

The ground suddenly began to shake violently. Qin Xixue let out a cry, nearly falling. Qiu Xiude hurried forward to catch her. “Junior Sister, are you alright?”

Unfortunately, the spirit beast didn’t give them a chance for flirting. A huge creature burst out of the ground, blotting out the sky—it was an enormous earthworm!

No one could see clearly how long the earthworm was. The moment it appeared, the sky suddenly darkened ominously.

The earthworm’s earthy breath swept across the ground like hurricane-force winds, easily overturning the weaker Foundation Establishment disciples.

An early Foundation Establishment disciple, frozen in fear, couldn’t react in time. The beast’s thick, long tail slammed towards him.

“Boom—”

In an instant, the disciple was reduced to a bloody pulp, splattering the ground!

The crowd erupted in screams.

“It’s… it’s a mid-Golden Core stage beast! A Hunyuan Nilin Yin (Mud Linworm)!”

Everyone’s faces turned ashen in that moment, their blood running cold.

A Golden Core stage beast!

How could they have encountered a Golden Core stage beast?!

“Isn’t this supposed to be a small secret realm? How could a Golden Core stage beast appear, and why so suddenly?”

A knowledgeable disciple answered with a trembling voice, “This is the guardian beast of the Heart Nurturing Spirit Herb.”

“But I clearly remember reading in the beast manual that the Mud Linworm is lazy and doesn’t like to move. It usually sleeps hundreds of meters underground for decades at a time. Ordinary disturbances won’t wake it from its slumber, unless… unless…”

The disciple looked at Qin Xixue with a complex expression, speaking with difficulty, “Unless the Mud Linworm senses a threat to its existence. Only then will it be forced to wake from its sleep and frantically attack the enemy posing the threat!”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone realized what had happened. Their gazes all fell on the bewildered Qin Xixue. “You’re the one who lured out the Mud Linworm!”

It was because of her that the powerful pressure emitted by the high-grade spiritual tool forced the beast to appear, causing them to suffer this undeserved disaster

They might even lose their lives here!

Even though these disciples initially had some admiration and respect for Qin Xixue due to her beauty, talent, or status, at this moment, their hearts were filled with resentment.

Qiu Xiude was also extremely irritated, but he didn’t forget his role as a devoted admirer and defended Qin Xixue, “Junior Sister didn’t know about this. How can you blame her for it?”

The other disciples were even more dissatisfied. If they didn’t blame her, who should they blame? Themselves?

“Enough arguing. Fighting amongst ourselves will only get us killed faster. The urgent matter now is to quickly deal with this earthworm.”

Qiu Xiude turned to look at Qin Xixue, his tone unable to hide his urgency, “Junior Sister, doesn’t your spirit tool have the power to attack at the Golden Core level? Hurry and bring it out!”

Qin Xixue’s eyes flashed with hesitation. This was a high-grade spirit tool she had obtained with great difficulty. It could only be used for three attacks and was extremely precious, meant to be saved for life-threatening situations.

How could she use it on these unrelated sect disciples?

Moreover, she had other magical treasures for escape. There was no need to waste her trump card at a time like this…

But if she returned to the sect alone while all the disciples who came with her perished, the sect would surely blame her…

After weighing her options, she gritted her teeth and reluctantly took out the Falling Immortal Seal

again.

Qin Xixue was distracted, and the second attack, equivalent to a full-force strike from a Golden Core cultivator, only hit the earthworm’s tail.

“Roar—!”

The earthworm let out a sky-shaking howl, its eyes filled with near-overwhelming fury. The shattered section of its tail quickly regenerated, incorporating surrounding debris, and its body swelled to twice its previous size, lunging at the crowd even more ferociously!

“This is bad!”

Not only had they failed to strike a vital point, but they had enraged the earthworm!

The earthworm’s attacks became even more violent and terrifying than before. It charged recklessly, smashing half a mountainside and countless trees. Innumerable boulders came tumbling down.

The group not only had to fend off the earthworm’s attacks but also divert energy to defend against the falling rocks. Their resentment towards Qin Xixue reached its peak.

Even Qiu Xiude lost his patience and almost shouted, “What are you doing?! Aim for its head and eyes! What’s the use of hitting its tail?!”

Qin Xixue, startled by his outburst, instantly teared up, her fingers trembling slightly.

Cursing inwardly, Qiu Xiude was about to snatch the Fallen Immortal Seal from her hands when a terrifying pressure suddenly swept over them. Both were sent flying hundreds of meters, crashing hard against the rocky wall.

Qiu Xiude spat out a mouthful of blood, utterly disheveled and too battered to stand.

Qin Xixue, protected by a Heart-Shielding Mirror given by Chang Yu, wasn’t badly hurt. However, the mirror shattered under the full force of the Golden Core beast’s attack, and the Fallen Immortal Seal was lost.

With her life-saving tool gone, fear overwhelmed her.

Seeing the Earthworm charging straight at her, Qin Xixue’s legs turned to jelly, unable to move.

In that critical moment, she used her last bit of rationality to crush a token at her waist. With a tearful voice, she called out, “Brother Qingchen…”

Almost instantly as the token shattered, the surrounding chaotic spiritual energy suddenly stiffened. A powerful sword aura imbued with icy power sliced through the air, illuminating the sky!

The overwhelming force aimed at the worm’s vital point—

The massive worm was cleaved in two, its enormous body bursting into countless pieces, vanishing without a trace.

Where the sword aura passed, everything froze. A massive ice scar hundreds of meters long appeared, turning trees and everything in its path into ice sculptures.

Qin Xixue opened her eyes to see the familiar glint of a long sword. Tears streamed down her face as she threw herself into the youth’s arms. “Brother Qingchen, I knew you would come to save me…”

Mo Qingchen, held tightly by the girl, felt a bit stiff but didn’t stop her from seeking comfort. He merely furrowed his brow slightly and asked softly, “Are you alright?”

“Thankfully, Brother Qingchen arrived in time. Xixue isn’t hurt.” She wept with joy, raising her face to him. Though smiling, her cheeks still bore pitiful tear stains, making her look particularly vulnerable.

…

Everything happened too suddenly for the Tianyan Sect disciples to process. They only saw a black-clad youth wielding a long sword, descending from the sky. With a flick of his wrist, a flash of sword light tore through the heavens, killing the Earthworm in a single strike.

Slaying a mid-Golden Core beast with late Foundation Establishment strength—such power was truly terrifying!

“It’s Elder Chang Yu’s top disciple, Mo Qingchen! I can’t believe he was the one who saved us!”

The crowd wept with joy and rushed forward.

Qiu Xiude, clutching his chest, staggered to his feet.

Seeing Qin Xixue throw herself into Mo Qingchen’s arms like a frightened rabbit, a flicker of unwillingness crossed his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he approached, “Senior Brother Mo, thank you for your help.”

Mo Qingchen nodded without further words. Just as he was about to leave, his steps faltered, and he glanced coldly towards a tree.

“Who’s there?”

With a turn of his wrist, the ice-forged long sword transformed into a streak of light, carrying immense pressure straight towards the tree.

“Come out.”

The youth’s voice was as cold as his icy long sword, devoid of any warmth.