After leaving the Black Desert, the evil energy between heaven and earth seemed to have thinned somewhat, but the desolation and danger remained.
Li Su and Zhiwei traveled together. One sped along with bamboo roots pressed to the ground, starlight faintly glimmering; the other rode a dim escape light, her rabbit ears pricked warily. Neither dared let down their guard, their divine senses constantly sweeping the surroundings.
Following the northwestward guidance of the resonance between the Bedrock Rune and the Moon Essence Stone Core, they continued onward.
Along the way, they encountered scattered Fierce Beasts, all of which Li Su swiftly dealt with using lightning-fast methods, Soul-Devouring Dark Light, or Star Spirit Bamboo Leaf Blades, causing no great disturbance.
Although Zhiwei was somewhat weaker, her earth escape technique was exquisite. At times, she slipped underground to scout the path ahead; at others, she set up simple warning restrictions. She proved quite helpful.
Several days later, a towering, massive mountain range, dark red from end to end, blocked their path.
The mountain range stretched on for countless miles. Its highest peaks pierced the gloomy clouds, and not a blade of grass grew upon it. There were only jagged boulders and flowing dark-red streams that radiated dense evil energy.
The entire range was permeated with a suffocating sense of deathly stillness and utter annihilation.
"What terrifying evil energy..." Zhiwei's face turned pale as she stared at the mountain range, instinctively feeling afraid.
"Fellow Daoist Mo Xing, the evil energy in this mountain is far denser than anything we have seen before. I fear this is an extremely dangerous place."
Li Su's bamboo body swayed slightly as his divine sense carefully swept across the mountain range. The evil energy here was not only dense, but also possessed a quality of "annihilation." It could erode vitality and wear away spiritual essence. It was indeed no trifling matter.
The direction indicated by the Bedrock Rune required them to cross this mountain range.
"Though this mountain is dangerous, it is the only path. We must brave it."
Li Su said gravely, "Stay close to me and conceal your aura. We'll find a mountain pass where the evil energy is relatively thin."
The two carefully searched along the foot of the mountains and eventually chose a depression between two peaks. The flow of evil energy there was comparatively gentle, and its concentration was slightly lower as well.
However, just as they were preparing to cross, two figures suddenly stepped out from behind the rocks ahead, blocking their way.
They were two cultivators clad in dark-red Daoist robes, one tall and one short, with sinister faces. Their auras blended perfectly with Jue Sha Ridge, and both were late-stage Earth Immortals.
Their greedy gazes swept over Li Su and Zhiwei, lingering especially on Li Su's Star-Patterned Black Bamboo body glimmering with starlight and on the storage pouch at Zhiwei's waist, where the Moon Essence Stone Core was hidden.
"Stop!" the tall cultivator shouted coldly. "This is the territory of Jue Sha Ridge. If you wish to pass, leave behind your toll!"
The short cultivator licked his lips and sneered. "Tsk, tsk. A sentient Star-Patterned Black Bamboo, and a tender little Rabbit Demon... Truly rare goods.
"The bamboo can be made into a banner pole, while the Rabbit Demon can be refined into pills or used as a cauldron. Both would be excellent."
Zhiwei's face turned deathly pale, and she instinctively hid behind Li Su.
Li Su's bamboo body remained motionless as his divine sense calmly swept over the two. "You two block the road here. Aren't you afraid of provoking someone you shouldn't?"
"Hahaha!" The tall cultivator laughed loudly. "In Jue Sha Ridge, the Fiend Blood Sect is heaven itself!
"You two are merely mid-stage Earth Immortals, loose cultivators at that. What background could you possibly have?
"If you know what's good for you, obediently hand over every treasure you have. Perhaps we'll even leave you intact corpses!"
The Fiend Blood Sect? Li Su committed the name to memory. It appeared to be an evil sect entrenched near Jue Sha Ridge, specializing in murder and plunder.
"Then there is nothing more to say." Li Su sent a divine-sense message to Zhiwei. "Prepare to fight. End this quickly!"
Before his words had faded, Li Su's bamboo body suddenly trembled!
The Secluded Bamboo Trapping Array, which he had secretly laid with his bamboo roots long ago, activated instantly!
Countless phantom bamboo roots glimmering with dark light shot out of the ground, winding toward the two Fiend Blood Sect cultivators! At the same time, several streaks of Soul-Devouring Dark Light silently shot toward their brows!
"Hmph! Mere tricks!" The tall cultivator snorted. He seemed to have been prepared, and blood light flared from his dark-red Daoist robe, knocking away and corroding the approaching phantom bamboo roots.
He opened his mouth and spat out a small bone shield. It spun rapidly and blocked the Soul-Devouring Dark Light. Yet the dark light specifically harmed souls. Though the bone shield did not shatter, its spiritual glow dimmed, causing him to grunt.
The short cultivator produced a blood saber, cleaving apart the phantom bamboo roots as he lunged at Zhiwei with a vicious grin. "I'll take down this little rabbit first!"
Though Zhiwei was frightened, she knew this was a life-or-death moment. Gritting her teeth, she brought out her twin blades and used her earth escape technique to contend with him. Her movements were nimble, and for the moment, she did not fall behind.
Seeing this, Li Su knew ordinary methods would not quickly take down these two.
The glow of his bamboo body changed again. The scattered starlight across his nine-jointed body suddenly blazed!
"Stars spread across the sky, bind!"
Using himself as the array core, the power of the surrounding stars and the earth veins' evil energy as the foundation, he instantly set up a more advanced trapping array recorded in the Minor Chiliad Array Analysis—the Minor Star Net Array!
Though it was only a simplified version and borrowed the environmental evil energy of Jue Sha Ridge, its power was far from ordinary!
In an instant, the two Fiend Blood Sect cultivators felt the scene before them transform dramatically. It was as though they had fallen into a vast starry sky, with rotating stars above, below, left, and right. They could no longer distinguish directions, and the pressure around them abruptly increased, immediately slowing their movements!
"An array?
"How does he know such an exquisite array?!" The tall cultivator's face changed in horror. He had assumed his opponent was merely an ordinary spirit creature, never expecting him to instantly deploy such a trapping array!
"Senior Brother, be careful!" The short cultivator also panicked. His blood saber slashed wildly, yet it seemed to strike only empty air.
"Now!"
Li Su locked his divine sense onto the short cultivator, and a streak of Soul-Devouring Dark Light condensed with even more Stellar Evil Energy shot out fiercely!
At the same time, several bamboo leaves transformed into sharp blades, coordinating with Zhiwei's surprise attack from underground!
Pfft!
Disturbed by the trapping array, the short cultivator reacted half a beat too slowly. With Zhiwei's earth escape technique disrupting his footing as well, the Soul-Devouring Dark Light struck him in the back of the heart. He screamed as excruciating pain tore through his soul, and his body stiffened! Immediately afterward, the bamboo leaf blades and Zhiwei's short blades struck at the same time!
Blood sprayed! The short cultivator was instantly severely wounded and fell to the ground!
"Junior Brother!" The tall cultivator's eyes split with rage as he frantically circulated his magic power, trying to break the array and rescue him.
But how could Li Su give him the chance? The array's power suppressed him with full force, while even more bamboo leaf blades and Soul-Devouring Dark Light assaulted him like a raging storm!
The tall cultivator struggled desperately. The blood light on his Daoist robe dimmed, cracks spread across the bone shield, and he was on the verge of being unable to hold on.
Fear and ruthlessness flashed through his eyes. He suddenly slapped his chest and spat out a mouthful of essence blood onto the bone shield!
Blood Fiend Escape!
The small shield exploded with a roar. The powerful impact temporarily scattered the array's restraints, and he transformed into a streak of blood light. Ignoring his gravely injured fellow sect member, he instantly fled toward the depths of Jue Sha Ridge!
Li Su did not pursue him. It was difficult to keep a late-stage Earth Immortal who was desperately fleeing.
He swiftly withdrew the array and swept up the severely wounded, unconscious short cultivator, along with his fallen storage pouch and blood saber, with his bamboo roots.
"Quickly, let's go! We cannot remain here for long!" Li Su said to Zhiwei.
The Fiend Blood Sect was entrenched here, and the commotion just now had not been small. Stronger cultivators would likely arrive soon.
Still shaken, Zhiwei nodded. The two immediately used their methods and crossed the mountain pass at top speed, vanishing onto the other side of Jue Sha Ridge.
Only after they had traveled nearly ten thousand miles away from Jue Sha Ridge did they stop to catch their breath.
"That was close... Thank you for saving me again, Fellow Daoist." Zhiwei spoke with lingering fear, and the respect in her gaze toward Li Su deepened.
She had not expected Li Su to possess not only formidable strength, but also such mastery over powerful arrays.
Li Su's bamboo body swayed as he inspected the gains from this battle. Besides some blood-fiend pills and materials, along with several hundred low-grade Spirit Stones, the short cultivator's storage pouch contained a jade slip recording the Fiend Blood Spirit Refining Art.
It seemed to be a cultivation technique of the Fiend Blood Sect, extremely sinister in nature. It was useless to him, but he might use it as a reference for methods of controlling evil energy. His greatest gain, however, was testing the power of his array in actual combat.
"It is nothing. After this battle, we must be even more careful. These evil sect forces will seek revenge over the slightest grievance," Li Su warned.
He looked northwest. The Bedrock Rune's sensation remained clear.
After resting, the two set out once more. Yet after the battle at Jue Sha Ridge, the trust and tacit understanding between them seemed to have deepened a little further.
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