Blood Trial (III)

Only after Han Yunzhi had been gone for a while did Lu Shang realize why her face had stayed so red.

Lu Shang realized that Han Yunzhi had blushed whenever she looked at his face. So she had been blushing out of shyness-he had never expected that.

"Being born handsome is a sin, too!"

"System Sis, can you turn my charm down a little? Sigh, I still attract too much attention, especially from female disciples."

"Someone really has no shame. But since you asked, I'll lower your charm from its fixed value of 9.9 to seven."

Though nothing about Lu Shang's face changed after she spoke, he trusted her completely. This was the system's handiwork, after all.

Before he knew it, the third day arrived. Lu Shang noticed that there were fewer and fewer people around. Earlier, he could still run into one or two, but now he had gone an entire day without seeing anyone.

Lu Shang was neither in the core area nor close to the exit. By now, the weaker survivors were probably making their way toward the exit, while those with strength were surely heading deeper inside.

Lu Shang now had two choices before him: venture deeper or wait at the exit for them to offer up their spirit herbs with both hands.

After a moment's thought, Lu Shang decided to try his luck deeper inside. He had come all this way, after all. How could he leave without exploring?

With his mind made up, Lu Shang headed unhurriedly into the central area.

Along the way, Lu Shang found signs of human activity in many places. It seemed quite a few disciples had reached the center.

He also remembered that the Covering Moon Sect's disciples seemed to be after an ancient cultivator's legacy inside.

This so-called Blood Secret Realm had been left behind by an ancient cultivator who had perished. After high-level cultivators searched it, only a handful of treasures remained for low-level cultivators to obtain.

The most valuable thing remaining here was probably the Great Development Technique.

The Great Development Technique was indeed extraordinary. Even among the cultivation techniques supplied by the system, there was no method devoted specifically to cultivating divine sense-at least, not yet.

To be honest, Lu Shang also wanted to try cultivating that technique. His own technique had a similar effect, but so far, the results were not particularly noticeable.

Or rather, it did make him stronger than ordinary cultivators of the same level, but he still fell far short of cultivators at higher levels.

While Lu Shang was distracted by these thoughts, a long whip flew out from somewhere and lashed swiftly toward him.

Lu Shang quickly sidestepped the blow.

As he dodged, Lu Shang released his divine sense to probe the surroundings.

A moment later, Lu Shang discovered that his attacker was a disciple of the Covering Moon Sect. She was one of the two disciples who had stood beside Nangong Wan before they entered the secret realm.

"Hmph! What's the point of skulking around? Show yourself!"

As he spoke, Lu Shang turned left and fixed his eyes on the space before him.

"Hmph!"

As that snort rang out, the woman from the Covering Moon Sect stopped hiding and appeared within Lu Shang's sight.

Without asking any questions, the woman swung the Immortal-Binding Rope in her hand and attacked Lu Shang again.

Now that he knew her movements, Lu Shang naturally would not give her any opening.

He activated the True Demon Art and caught the Immortal-Binding Rope with one hand. No matter how hard the woman from the Covering Moon Sect pulled, she could not budge it an inch!

The woman seemed to notice something amiss then, and a Treasure Mirror appeared in her hand.

She activated the Treasure Mirror and stared wide-eyed at Lu Shang. "How can you wield Foundation Establishment-level cultivation?"

Lu Shang was startled. He had not even attacked yet, and she had already discovered that his cultivation was beyond Qi Refining. This was the first time anyone had exposed him.

Lu Shang's expression remained unchanged. "Since you know, I'll give you two choices. One, I kill you. Two, you hand over every spirit herb you obtained in the secret realm."

Lu Shang could not have cared less that someone had discovered his cultivation was beyond the Qi Refining Stage. He was only an unaffiliated cultivator anyway, so why worry about such things? Completing the system's mission was what mattered most.

"Just the spirit herbs?" The woman found his terms so simple that she could not help asking.

"Of course! I keep my word."

At that, the woman opened her Storage Bag, took out fourteen spirit herbs, and handed them to Lu Shang.

"Can I leave now?"

"Yes."

After speaking, Lu Shang released the Immortal-Binding Rope and let the woman from the Covering Moon Sect leave.

Watching her go, Lu Shang could not help remarking, "If only every disciple were this sensible."

"I never expected the disciples in the central area to be so wealthy. If I find a few more, I might even exceed the mission requirements."

With that, Lu Shang continued deeper inside, intending to try his luck again.

Another day passed just like that.

Lu Shang had been following Nangong Wan of the Covering Moon Sect since dusk the previous day.

As expected, Nangong Wan entered the Ancient Cultivator's Cave Abode.

Lu Shang also discovered that the key to the Cave Abode, which Han Li should have obtained, had now ended up with the Covering Moon Sect.

Lu Shang waited at the entrance for a long time. Not wanting to do too much fighting himself, he planned to reap the fisherman's profit and go in once their battle with the Ink Flood Dragon was nearly over.

"Looks like it's about time. I should go in."

Lu Shang then walked into the Cave Abode.

But soon after entering, Lu Shang discovered that the sounds of fighting inside were still quite loud.

Lu Shang decided to take a look. If something unexpected had happened, he would simply pretend he had seen nothing.

Sure enough, the unexpected had happened.

Han Li and Nangong Wan should have been fighting the Ink Flood Dragon together, but now there was only one person.

"It seems Fellow Daoist Han Li really isn't here. Could something have gone wrong, and he wasn't born in the Yue Kingdom?" Lu Shang speculated.

Lu Shang himself had no trouble at all. He even watched the battle inside the cave at his leisure.

Though Nangong Wan fought desperately, she could currently wield only peak Qi Refining strength. How could she possibly defeat the Ink Flood Dragon?

Nangong Wan was beaten back again and again.

With her life hanging by a thread, Lu Shang finally decided to intervene.

Lu Shang quickly closed in on the Ink Flood Dragon and, before he drew its attention, struck with a powerful punch, sending the dragon flying several yards backward.

Nangong Wan had no time to think and simply thanked him. "Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!"

"Let's fight together." Pretending he could not defeat the demon beast himself, Lu Shang invited her to join forces.

"All right!"

With that, the two attacked the demon beast together once more.

Unexpectedly, Nangong Wan was already running low on spiritual power. A single fierce collision with the demon beast knocked her unconscious.

"Well..." Lu Shang was a little speechless. He had meant to earn some goodwill, but she had simply passed out.

"Since you're unconscious, I might as well stop pretending!"

Lu Shang took out the Frost Dragon Halberd and brought it down in a powerful slash. A burst of icy energy erupted.

The Ink Flood Dragon was cleaved straight through, and even the surrounding area was coated in frost.

After killing the Ink Flood Dragon, Lu Shang laid the unconscious Nangong Wan on a stone bed, then went to inspect the things inside.

Half an hour or so later, Lu Shang had acquired two Storage Bags and a Wooden Box.

The Storage Bags belonged to cultivators who had died here, while the Wooden Box contained what the ancient cultivator had left behind.

Opening the Storage Bags, Lu Shang found that each contained a dozen or so spirit herbs. That brought him to the required forty spirit plants.

Then Lu Shang opened the system and copied the Great Development Technique before placing the Wooden Box, on which he had cast a spell, into Nangong Wan's Storage Bag.

It was only a concealment spell, of course.

Just then, for some unknown reason, Lu Shang felt his whole body grow hot. An inexplicable fire was building inside him.

It was not just Lu Shang. Nangong Wan, who had rested for nearly an hour, was also flushed.

Lu Shang could not understand what was happening, but he felt an urge to kiss Nangong Wan.

Nangong Wan seemed to be experiencing the same thing. Before Lu Shang could make sense of it, she moved toward him as well.

The two kissed just like that.

"What are you doing! Are you planning to imitate that Yellow Maple Valley disciple and do something indecent in front of other people? I'm telling you, two people just entered the Cave Abode!"

System Sis's voice snapped Lu Shang fully awake.

Only then did Lu Shang notice that sounds really were coming from the cave entrance.

Without time to worry about anything else, Lu Shang knocked Nangong Wan unconscious again.

"Damn it! Interrupting me!" Lu Shang was rather angry.

He took out the Frost Dragon Halberd and sent it flying toward the cave entrance.

Before long, the magic treasure returned.

"That's dealt with." Lu Shang breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did Lu Shang realize that he had been affected by the aura released by the Ink Flood Dragon after its death.

"Thanks, System Sis," Lu Shang said gratefully.

"Good, as long as you know. I'm going back to sleep."

Lu Shang assessed the situation. He had completed both missions, so it was time to head for the exit.

After a moment's thought, Lu Shang decided to take Nangong Wan out with him.

And so, Lu Shang picked Nangong Wan up in his arms and walked out of the cultivator's Cave Abode.