Out of the Blue (Please Follow and Bookmark)

The sneak attack came suddenly and incredibly fast. Wang Ping had only just seen the Blood Skull and thought of dodging when he felt an enormous force slam into his side.

Strangely, Wang Ping felt no pain. When the skull struck his body, he saw a pale blue-green curtain of light form over his skin...

Wang Ping immediately remembered the Jia Talisman Daoist Yucheng had placed on him, but the tremendous force still sent him flying. Then he heard Zuo Suzi shout, "Watch out!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Feng Miao, who had captured the Snake Demon, being besieged by a group of Lesser Demons. By the time flames rose up, he had already flown seven or eight zhang away. The tremendous inertia snapped several Old Trees and gradually weakened the light screen covering his body.

Pfft

Just as Wang Ping was about to black out, a two-zhang-tall Golden Armored Warrior appeared before him with a spear in hand, shielding him. This had to be the Bing Talisman Daoist Yucheng had given him.

Clang

The instant the Golden Armored Warrior appeared, a metallic crash made Wang Ping's eardrums itch. Then, the Spiritual Energy Fluctuation generated by the collision knocked his newly risen body back onto the ground.

The skull from before had seen that its first strike had failed and attacked Wang Ping again, but this time, the Golden Armored Warrior blocked it.

Clang clang clang clang

The continuous impacts rang out like endless echoes. The shockwaves from the collisions not only kept Wang Ping from getting up, but also whipped up enormous waves across the river surface. Wang Ping felt as though this world might collapse at any moment.

But the collisions soon vanished...

Seeing that it could do nothing to Wang Ping in a short time, the skull decisively retreated toward a southern hilltop and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"How are you?"

Yulian kept calling out from within the Spirit Sea.

Wang Ping shook his head, but the ringing in his ears persisted, impossible to shake off. The distant river surface still churned with waves, accompanied by the strange cries of the Lesser Demons.

"It should have been a Secret Method Cultivator!"

As Wang Ping thought this, he rose to his feet and drew the steel sword from his Storage Bag. He focused and surveyed his surroundings, only to be brought back to himself by the sound of weapons colliding. At that moment, the Golden Armored Warrior turned into a streak of light and returned to his body.

"That malicious presence has left!" Yulian spoke softly, then asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine!"

Countless thoughts raced through Wang Ping's mind, and he considered many possibilities. But first, he had to deal with the Lesser Demons in the river. After forcing his thoughts to settle, he leaped to Xia Yao's side. With a flick of his Long Sword, he slashed out the eyes of a charging Pig Yao.

"How is Fellow Daoist Zuo?"

After the skull had sent Wang Ping flying, Xia Yao had originally been its second target. At the critical moment, Zuo Suzi pulled Xia Yao away, but he himself was sent flying and lay more than ten zhang away, his fate unknown.

With Wang Ping covering her, Xia Yao withdrew from the battle at top speed and ran toward Zuo Suzi. At that moment, Feng Miao found an opening and fired a signal flare into the sky.

Wang Ping glanced at the flare rising into the air. After blinding two Lesser Demons in succession, the vicious anger in his heart surged. He shouted and, instead of retreating before the Lesser Demons closing in around him, advanced to meet them. At the same time, the spiritual energy in his Dantian circulated at top speed. His Left Hand formed the sword seal for the Sword Control Art to steady his mind, and then the Long Sword flashed with a cold gleam around him before vanishing.

Pfft

The Lesser Demons charging at him were swept by the sword edge. Some had their chests cut open, some lost their heads, and some were cleaved in half at the waist. Blood sprayed across the ground and dyed more than half of Wang Ping's body red, followed by steaming internal organs...

At that moment, Yulian's body grew back to its normal size and coiled around Wang Ping's waist. Azure-purple spiritual energy radiated from her body, supplying the spiritual energy consumed by Wang Ping's Sword Control Art.

When the spinning Long Sword returned to Wang Ping's hand, a burst of drumbeats suddenly sounded from the opposite bank. Upon hearing them, most of the Lesser Demons waded back toward the mountain forest to the north. A small number at the front had long since had their eyes dyed red by blood and charged forward regardless of anything else.

This time, Wang Ping did not use the Sword Control Art he had only just learned. Instead, he stepped through the footwork of the Thousand Wood Sword, rapidly unleashing killing moves from his hand and slicing open the necks of several Lesser Demons...

A few breaths later, he watched the last Lesser Demon fall. A flicker of exhilaration passed through his heart, suppressing the fear born from the ambush just now.

"Sorry..."

Feng Miao walked over to apologize, the Snake Demon from this mission hanging from her hand.

This apology was necessary. Wang Ping had fallen into peril—or even a deathtrap—because of her affairs.

After calming the vicious anger in his heart, Wang Ping shook his head at Feng Miao and looked toward Xia Yao. He could see clearly that Zuo Suzi was covered in blood, with half his body caved in.

After checking...

Zuo Suzi's life force had already been severed. Xia Yao took an exquisite blanket from her Storage Bag and covered him with it.

This was Wang Ping's first experience with life and death parting. He silently gazed at Zuo Suzi. Though they had not known each other well, he still felt a little sorrow.

"Even Qi practitioners preparing for Foundation Establishment are as fragile as paper mache."

Wang Ping thought this as he looked at the soil overturned by the collision between the Golden Armored Warrior and the skull. Half the soil was covered in a deathly gray aura that gave off a nauseating stench, while the other half brimmed with vitality. In some places, green grass was even growing at a visible speed.

"Another madman from the Lust Sect of the Taiyin Sect!"

As Feng Miao spoke, she looked toward the southern horizon. There, a Yin Yang Symbol from the Daoist Scripture Hall lit up. Then an azure-green streak of light approached from afar. A few breaths later, an Old Daoist dressed in a Blue Daoist Robe, most of his face hidden behind a Snow White Beard, landed before the three of them.

"This poor Daoist is Gu Heng of Sanhe Temple... Were you the ones who released the Red Flare just now?"

The Old Daoist surveyed the battlefield, then turned to Wang Ping and the other two. "There are traces of the Taiyin Secret Method. How did a few little Qi Refining fellows like you survive?"

As the local host, Wang Ping immediately cupped his hands and replied, "This junior is Changqing of Thousand Wood Temple. We did indeed encounter an Evil Cultivator from the Taiyin Sect here just now..."

"Yucheng, that Old Fellow's personal disciple... Changqing? No wonder you survived. He must have given you some life-saving means." After sizing Wang Ping up and down, Gu Heng looked at the other two.

"This junior is Feng Miao of the True Sun Sect..."

"This junior is Xia Yao of Linshui Prefecture..."

Gu Heng could not help but freeze. Young disciples from two of the Five Sects of Mystic Gate had appeared all at once, and one of them had even died. He could not help looking toward Zuo Suzi, who was covered by the blanket.

"What happened here?"

Feng Miao offered another salute and recounted the events of this incident.

After hearing Feng Miao's account, Gu Heng's gaze fell on Wang Ping. "Since your Thousand Wood Temple already has a plan, I should not rashly disrupt it. I will fully support your Mountain Search Operation. Leave any Secret Method Cultivators you encounter to me..."

After saying this, he looked at Feng Miao and Xia Yao. "As for you two little girls, since your mission is complete, go attend to your own tasks. Leave the rest to Thousand Wood Temple and Sanhe Temple..."

Before Gu Heng could finish, he suddenly seemed to sense something and looked up at the sky. Then, without paying Wang Ping and the others any mind, he turned into a streak of light and vanished beyond the horizon.