Sacrifice Your Master to Heaven, Gain Boundless Power

Jiang Tingxue exclaimed in shock, "The yaoguai in this cave could make a meal of the ones we ran into earlier!"

"It does look very powerful, but don't be afraid. We have numbers on our side, and the odds favor us."

Shen Ji's words were half affirmation, half reassurance. Then he looked at Xie Lingchuan beside him.

"Senior Brother Xie, judging by the environment in this cave, I think this yaoguai resembles the Thousand Vines in the Record of Ten Thousand Yaoguai."

Xie Lingchuan nodded. "Judging by the vines that dragged us into the cave, it should indeed be Thousand Vines. In that case, watch your footing, everyone. Its vines could burst out of the ground at any moment."

The moment Xie Lingchuan spoke, Jiang Tingxue and the others wound themselves another notch tighter. Zhu Lianqing leisurely moved behind Xie Lingchuan.

"Let's go. This yaoguai won't come out readily. Since we've come to slay it, how could we not face it?" Xie Lingchuan motioned for everyone to head deeper into the vine cave.

He led the charge at the very front, with the others following one after another.

The farther they went, the clearer the dripping sounds inside the cave became.

Zhu Lianqing heard a whoosh beside her ear as a vine burst out of the cave wall, seized Song Wensheng, and dragged him away.

"Why is it me again-me-me-glug, glug, glug, glug!"

Song Wensheng felt as though he had not even finished speaking before he was dragged underwater. With no time to hold his breath, he gulped down several mouthfuls of water.

Just as he felt he was about to suffocate, the vine hauled him up again.

"Screw you! If you've got the guts, stop launching sneak attacks-glug, glug, glug, glug!"

Shen Ji's and Xie Lingchuan's swords left their sheaths together. The two flew on their swords above the pool, and flashes of swordlight plunged straight into the water.

The vine flickered in and out of sight beneath the black, stagnant water, while two coldly gleaming sword shadows pursued it relentlessly under their wielders' control.

Meanwhile, vines continued bursting out of the ground to harass those on the shore.

Jiang Tingxue moved at the sound, nimbly evading the vines that burst from the ground and attacked her every time.

Yan Qing was not yet very proficient at locating things by sound. He successfully dodged the first few vines, but struggled to fend off those that attacked from two sides afterward.

Just as he was about to be entangled like Song Wensheng, Jiang Tingxue spun around, grabbed Yan Qing, and pulled him aside.

With a smack, Yan Qing narrowly escaped the attack, but a vine struck him squarely in the face.

Jiang Tingxue instantly flew into a rage and slashed twice at the incoming vines.

"Slapping my junior brother's face is slapping mine!"

With that warning before her, Zhu Lianqing covered her own face as she dodged the vines.

Underwater, Song Wensheng had been tormented to the point of near suffocation, but fortunately, the two sword shadows had cut away the vines around him.

"Junior Brother!"

Shen Ji jumped into the water and pulled Song Wensheng up. Just as he was swimming toward shore with him, a whirlpool suddenly appeared in the center of the pool.

"Watch out!" Xie Lingchuan flashed in front of the two.

At that instant, three enormous vines emerged from the center of the whirlpool and struck toward Shen Ji's back, but Xie Lingchuan's sword moves blocked them all.

Xie Lingchuan held his sword horizontally before him to resist the assault, but only upon closer inspection did he realize that the attacking vines were made of thousands of leaves.

The leaves formed three intertwined vines, clashing with Xie Lingchuan's keen sword force, neither side gaining the upper hand for the moment.

Shen Ji had already brought Song Wensheng ashore. He erected a barrier to keep his junior brother safe for the time being, then flew up on his sword tip once more to fight the vines alongside Xie Lingchuan.

With two surges of sword intent, Xie Lingchuan and Shen Ji instantly gained the upper hand. The vines were forced back and seemed about to burrow underwater.

Zhu Lianqing, however, inwardly thought that this was bad.

Sure enough, the next second, the vines made of leaves burst apart down the middle. Like blossoms scattered by a celestial maiden, all the leaves flew toward the two in a chaotic, patternless flurry.

Every leaf was sharp enough to slice off a person's head.

Xie Lingchuan retreated several steps and plunged the sword in his hand into the ground. His fingers changed gestures several times, and a formation appeared around the sword.

The instant the formation was completed, the enormous mass of leaves reached him, but the formation blocked them all.

The leaves clanged against the formation, leaving everyone sheltered within it completely unharmed.

The sequence of moves was so practiced that the formation had been completed in the blink of an eye, leaving even Zhu Lianqing a little stunned.

He was this powerful already?

Sacrifice your master to heaven, gain boundless power?

Xie Lingchuan knelt on one knee, one hand gripping his sword hilt while the other maintained a hand seal. The ends of his hair and the hem of his robes whipped in the center of the formation, and his black eyes, as sharp as his sword intent, stared fixedly ahead.

Shen took advantage of this rare opening to force the water out of Song Wensheng's body with his magic.

Song Wensheng choked and coughed, finally coming around.

At last, only a scattering of leaves remained striking the formation. Xie Lingchuan drew his sword, rose, and withdrew the formation.

"Thousand Vines' true body is underwater. Unless we force it out, we'll remain on the defensive. I'll go underwater. Keep watch on the surface."

Shen Ji nodded. "We'll watch for the moment it emerges. Be careful in everything, Senior Brother."

Xie Lingchuan gave a sound of acknowledgment, glanced at Zhu Lianqing, then turned and plunged straight into the water.

Zhu Lianqing felt that the meaning of that look was obvious-don't think of running away while I'm not watching.

There was no light underwater, only pitch-black darkness. Xie Lingchuan kept swimming down.

At the bottom, he saw something resembling a dried-up well. The darkness at its mouth was several times deeper, like a bottomless abyss.

Xie Lingchuan knew that the vine yaoguai's true body was hiding inside.

He cut his finger with his sword and drew a talisman over the abyss in blood.

As the talisman took shape, the characters written in blood instantly began to burn.

Xie Lingchuan pressed this blood talisman, which water could not extinguish, into the depths of the ancient well.

The instant he channeled spiritual power to activate the talisman, blue-violet flames filled the dried-up well, and the entire bottom of the pool shook as though the earth were quaking and the mountains rocking.

He stood beside the dried-up well with his sword in hand, continuously burning spiritual power to make the blue flames blaze higher and higher.

At last, under Shen Ji's watch, the water churned, and then three solid vines emerged from below.

Recalling the entry on Thousand Vines in the Record of Ten Thousand Yaoguai, Shen Ji said, "There are flower buds at the tips of the vines. Three inches below the buds is where this yaoguai's cores are. Tingxue, Wensheng, A-Qing, attack its cores and finish this quickly. Every moment Senior Brother Xie spends underwater puts him in greater danger."

"Understood, Senior Brother!"

They charged with swords raised, every move aimed at the yaoguai cores.

Xie Lingchuan guarded the fire formation underwater, giving Thousand Vines no chance to retreat.

Standing on the ground, Zhu Lianqing watched the three young martial nephews and niece above. Their sword moves had clearly improved considerably since their first meeting in Wuxia Village.

It seemed true knowledge really did come from practice.

Zhu Lianqing secretly formed several balls of spiritual power to lend her martial nephews and niece a hand.

Once Song Wensheng felt the power of his sword moves increase considerably, excitement filled his expression, and he grew fiercer as he fought.

Four people against three vines proved more than sufficient, and soon the yaoguai cores had been removed from the two companion vines.

The main vine was more agile than the companion vines. No matter how the four attacked from every side, their sword moves failed to so much as touch its core.

The two companion vines whose cores had been removed were rapidly shriveling, while the main vine was visibly swelling.

Watching the flower about to bloom at the vine's tip, Zhu Lianqing instinctively sensed trouble and shouted to Shen Ji, "Young Hero Shen, cut off those two companion vines first, or they'll sacrifice themselves!"

The flower at the tip of the vine was called the Yesheng Flower. Its rich fragrance could awaken the heart demons hidden deepest within a person.

Once controlled by their heart demons, people would sleep forever, becoming nourishment for Thousand Vines and being sucked dry.