No matter the dynasty, working conditions in a mine were always harsh.
Even the spirit-stone mines under the Three Pure Ones' orthodox Kunlun Taiqing Sect were no better.
The rock walls had been hacked out without any order, their surfaces an iron-blue hue in the frozen-earth environment.
Every so often, wooden beams braced the walls, with an oil lamp hanging overhead and casting a faint glow through the dim mountain tunnels.
Hu Haozhi led the way. As a senior Qi Refining Stage disciple, he had been at Kunlun for thirty years and had taken on countless missions to hunt demonic beasts.
Before entering the mine, he had handed out Silence Talismans and told everyone to stick them to the backs of their boots. They would keep their footsteps from disturbing the beasts.
As for Miss Xu Yinglian, the Eldest Young Lady, Hu Haozhi naturally took special care of her. He gave her two extra Silence Talismans and had her walk behind him so he could protect her.
"These people are so annoying!" Xu Yinglian coldly refused. Turning to Qiu Changtian, she quietly complained, "Do they really think I'm some helpless young lady who can't even truss a chicken?"
Qiu Changtian smiled faintly and offered a cryptic reply:
"The yuanchu flies across the Northern Sea. Why bother with the owl's screech?"
Xu Yinglian: ...
Of course, she understood what he meant:
The "owl" was a carrion-eating bird whose cry sounded like a harsh, grating "screech."
The "yuanchu," meanwhile, was a kind of multicolored phoenix. Noble by nature, it would perch only on paulownia trees and drink only from sweet springs.
The meaning was, "A gentleman need not pay attention to a petty man's chatter."
But Senior Brother knew full well that people outside called me the Phoenix Fairy, yet he'd just compared himself to a yuanchu. What was he getting at?
Was that an indirect confession?
Xu Yinglian felt a little flustered. Her senior brother's words sounded like a confession, but not quite like one, and for a moment she had no idea how to respond.
Qiu Changtian waited for a while, but no prompt from the Kunlun Mirror announced that his attempt to show off had succeeded. Puzzled, he continued:
"You need to be careful. Demonic beasts don't just identify people by sound. They can also sense light, scent, wind direction, even vibrations in the ground..."
"I wouldn't be careless," Xu Yinglian replied coolly.
Thanks to her Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart, she quickly regained her composure.
Calling it a confession was a stretch. It was just a double entendre.
On the surface, he was comparing himself to a phoenix, but in truth, he was hinting at me, reminding me not to care too much about what other people said.
Hmph. As expected of Senior Brother. He'd spun a clever line, but I'd still seen right through it.
[Invincible Persona, synchronization +1.]
Qiu Changtian: ?
Hearing the Kunlun Mirror's delayed prompt only left him more confused.
What was going on with Junior Sister Xu? Was her brain lagging?
The group continued several dozen meters deeper before they felt a cold draft blowing from ahead, carrying a stench of rot.
The demonic beast was clearly up ahead. Everyone drew their flying swords and readied themselves.
A moment later, just as expected, a strange beast lunged out of the darkness, bringing with it a fierce, foul wind.
Its savage momentum stunned the group, and the stench hit them so hard it made them dizzy. For a moment, no one reacted.
Hu Haozhi, at the very front, was an experienced senior. Instinctively, he bit down on his tongue and jolted himself awake with the pain. He was just about to force his flying sword into motion at the last possible moment when two streaks of light shot past from behind him!
Jade came first, red followed close behind. They were separated by no more than a hair's breadth, but the red flying sword was slightly faster. It caught up and struck the beast's neck, slicing all the way around. Its head rolled to the ground, blood gushing from the severed neck like a spring.
In the blink of an eye, the beast had been slain. The other disciples hadn't even had time to react.
Xu Yinglian recalled the Yujia Sword and flicked the blood from its blade. Her expression cold, she said:
"A mere demonic beast. Nothing special."
Qiu Changtian: ?
Junior Sister's show-off routine had about seventy percent of my flair. But she didn't need to maintain Mirror Flower Water Moon, so why bother showing off?
He recalled his Jade Smoke Flying Sword too. Then he caught Xu Yinglian glancing over, one corner of her mouth lifting almost imperceptibly.
Hmph, Senior Brother. This time, I won.
The other disciples were still stunned. Hu Haozhi was the first to recognize the sword. His eyes widened, and he cried out in disbelief:
"What a fast sword! A streak of red light, swift as a startled swan. The hilt bears a carved phoenix. Could that be the Xu Family of Tiannan's ancestral immortal sword, the Yujia?"
Xu Yinglian didn't even look at him. She simply kept her cool gaze on the beast's corpse.
"So you really are Senior Sister Xu Yinglian!" Hu Haozhi put on a warm smile and asked ingratiatingly, "What brings you here to take on a mission, Senior Sister?"
Xu Yinglian gave a cold laugh. "It's a sect mission. Why shouldn't I take it?"
"Cough. You're right. This junior brother was blind not to recognize you at first." Hu Haozhi pretended to slap himself and offered another apologetic smile. "Be careful, Senior Sister. I'll go check on the beast."
Lu Zheng, Liu Daoran, Wen Qin, and Liu Yiyi were all dumbfounded.
Everyone knew Senior Brother Hu Haozhi had acted like an arrogant senior from the very start. When he did speak, it was only to urge people to hurry up.
But now that he'd recognized Xu Yinglian's true identity, he'd not only dropped his airs completely, he was even willing to set aside seniority and call himself her junior brother!
He'd gone from haughty to obsequious in an instant. It was truly an eye-opener.
Wen Qin's face turned ashen, then pale. She'd quietly mocked Xu Yinglian earlier, and now the thought of possible retaliation made her knees go weak.
Liu Daoran looked much the same. If that really was Xu Yinglian, then the handsome young man beside her, who seemed familiar with her, had to be...
No one dared take their thoughts any further. It was too terrifying.
A god had descended to earth to cultivate alongside ordinary mortals like us!
But none of them had Hu Haozhi's talent for bending with the wind, so they could only force out smiles and pretend nothing had happened.
After inspecting the corpse, Hu Haozhi returned and said respectfully:
"Senior Sister Xu, Senior Brother Qiu, the Tu Lou is dead for good."
"You can take the corpse if you want it," Qiu Changtian said gently. "However, that Deacon said a blood-red glow had appeared deep inside the mine. The Tu Lou might not be the only beast here, so we should search carefully and make sure the place is safe."
"Of course, of course." The outer disciples nodded like pecking chickens. Even Liu Daoran, who had been the most hostile toward him earlier, respectfully agreed. "Senior Brother Qiu is wise. We'll proceed with caution."
"Heh." A mocking voice suddenly rang through the mine. "Changing with the wind, all haughty at first and obsequious afterward. Is that how disciples of an eminent orthodox sect behave?"
Hu Haozhi's eyes narrowed. He shot his flying sword forward before anyone else could act, but it disappeared into the darkness without a sound.
The next second, his expression changed drastically, and he cried out:
"I've lost contact with my flying sword!"
As everyone watched in alarm, a thin figure stepped out of the darkness ahead. His hair was disheveled and his face gaunt, though they could just make out that he was a young man.
Of course, in the cultivation world, appearances couldn't be used to judge someone's age, and it was hard to determine their cultivation level at a glance. Still, the man was wrapped from head to toe in a dark green Daoist robe, and his aura was sinister and uncanny. He was clearly a disciple of the demonic path.
Xu Yinglian narrowed her eyes. The Yujia Sword trembled faintly in the air as she watched Qiu Changtian out of the corner of her eye, ready to coordinate an attack.
Fighting a demonic cultivator and hunting a demonic beast were two completely different things. Though she was competitive, she wasn't foolish enough to risk her life just to prove a point.
Xu Yinglian held back, and after what had happened to Hu Haozhi, the other Kunlun disciples naturally didn't dare attack either. They drew their flying swords and held them before themselves, tense and alert.
The demonic cultivator stepped beneath the oil lamp's glow and tossed something from his hand onto the ground.
Qiu Changtian saw clearly that it was Hu Haozhi's flying sword.
For some reason, however, its surface had gone dim, its spiritual nature completely gone. It was like a piece of scrap iron.
"The current chief disciple of the Kunlun Sect, the Clear Dao Heart, Qiu Changtian?" The demonic cultivator's dry eyes shifted slightly as he studied Qiu Changtian's face, then turned to Xu Yinglian, lingering on her red flying sword.
"North Mang Mountain. Yin Ghost Dao?" Qiu Changtian asked expressionlessly.
The two paused. Then, almost simultaneously, they shot out their flying swords!
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