The man spread open the crimson gold treasure fan in his hand, transforming it into a shield-shaped golden light that blocked in front of him. He then launched a diamond-shaped spike towards the talisman flying at him.
The spike hit the talisman directly, and the two collided! The talisman Bao Gu had thrown was detonated on the spot, while the diamond-shaped spike returned to the man’s hand.
Seeing this, Bao Gu knew the opponent had come prepared. She took a deep breath and shouted loudly, “Who are you? State your name!”
The man retracted the jade fan in his hand, a proud smile on his face as he looked at Bao Gu and said, “Han Yu, the chief disciple of the Immortal Sect!”
Bao Gu thought to herself, “No wonder he has such powerful magical treasures.” The Immortal Sect ranked sixth among the forces in the Ancient Moon City! She pondered for a moment and asked, “Are you representing the Immortal Sect or just yourself?”
Han Yu snorted lightly and said, “What? Do you intend to declare war on the Immortal Sect? Bao Gu, where do you get the courage and confidence, you little girl?”
Bao Gu replied, “If you represent yourself and end up getting killed, you can only blame yourself. If you represent the Immortal Sect, I’m afraid you won’t be able to explain it when you go back.”
Han Yu laughed loudly, “Such arrogance!” His expression turned cold as he raised the crimson gold treasure fan and charged at Bao Gu.
Recognizing that Han Yu was using a metal-type magical treasure, Bao Gu didn’t hesitate to throw all four fire-type talismans in her hand at once. Knowing that Han Yu’s treasure was formidable and her talismans might not harm him, she also took off three Nascent Soul stage magical treasures from her body, infusing them with her true energy and a wisp of her essence before hurling them at Han Yu. Then, she stepped on her flying sword and fled at the fastest speed.
As Bao Gu fled, she sensed someone rushing towards her, seemingly trying to intercept her. Without thinking, she hurled Nascent Soul stage talismans at the person coming to kill her, scattering five talismans in all directions. She then flew upwards at the fastest speed, avoiding the attacks. As she ascended rapidly, she felt a violent explosion wave beneath her and heard someone shouting, “Damn it, Nascent Soul stage talismans are free, huh—”
There were screams, “Run—”
“Ah—”
The intense explosion turned the surroundings into a blinding brightness, making Bao Gu dizzy and light-headed, her body feeling almost detached from herself…
Bao Gu thought, “Nine Nascent Soul stage attack talismans plus three Nascent Soul stage magical treasures self-destructing, isn’t this power a bit too much?” But she had no other choice. There were too many people trying to rob her, and she had to use her strongest means to deter them.
When Bao Gu came to her senses, she found herself lying on the ground, cushioned by something soft. She propped up her aching body and turned her head to see that it was the little Celestial Fox beneath her, bleeding from its mouth and nose, its limbs twitching violently, clearly severely injured. Bao Gu knew that she had been knocked unconscious and thrown away by the explosion of so many talismans and magical treasures, and it was the little Celestial Fox that had saved her. She quickly took out healing medicine and third-grade monkey wine to feed it.
After swallowing the healing medicine and monkey wine, the little Celestial Fox rolled its eyes at Bao Gu and disappeared back into the blood oath token it had with Bao Gu.
Suddenly, an extremely powerful energy wave burst from the sky. The energy wave was even more immense than the power of the Nascent Soul stage talismans and magical treasures she had just thrown, creating an apocalyptic aura in the sky.
Bao Gu instinctively raised her arm to shield her eyes, thinking, “Could someone have used a God Transformation stage magical treasure? Senior Sister!” The only other battle zone nearby was where her senior sister was! Ignoring the danger, Bao Gu ran towards the source of the powerful energy.
She knew this must be a God Transformation stage treasure bestowed by the Supreme Elder of the Taiyin Sect to deal with her and her senior sister! Her senior sister was only at the mid-Golden Core stage; how could she survive an attack from a God Transformation stage treasure?
Bao Gu had barely taken two steps when she was swept into the air by the force, feeling as if her entire body was being slashed by thousands of sharp blades. The Nascent Soul stage magical treasures she wore shattered one by one…
When Bao Gu hit the ground, she felt as if her internal organs were all injured, the pain bringing tears to her eyes, her body covered in wounds. Most of the Nascent Soul stage magical treasures she wore were destroyed, with barely two intact. She took a swig of monkey wine to suppress her injuries, summoned her flying sword, and flew into the air, shouting, “Senior Sister—” She saw someone ahead and, focusing her eyes, recognized Nan Yi, dressed in a luxurious light green robe, holding a crimson gold sword and watching her.
Bao Gu recognized the robe Nan Yi was wearing; one of the seven people she had first fought with had worn the same robe, but the face she saw now was not the same as the one she had seen before. She asked in a deep voice, “Where is my senior sister?”
Nan Yi replied expressionlessly, “Under the power of a God Transformation stage treasure, do you think Yu Mi could have survived?”
Bao Gu’s face turned pale, and she said with a bitter smile, “If that’s the case, then no one in this ancient relic needs to live anymore.”
Nan Yi raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh? Bao Gu, do you think you can activate the Xuantian Sword with your current ninth-stage Qi Refining strength? Hahaha! Even if you exhaust all your cultivation and true energy, you won’t be able to move it an inch.”
Bao Gu smiled and said, “Why do I need to activate it? It resides in my dantian. If I self-destruct my dantian and force it out, it will inevitably draw in the surrounding spiritual energy and life essence in a frenzy…” She showed a cruel smile and said, “This ancient relic will soon become another Lingyun Peak, and the entrance to the ancient relic is sealed by my senior sister’s formation. No one can leave. To leave the ancient relic, you must first withstand the Xuantian Sword’s extraction of spiritual energy and break my senior sister’s formation. Brother Nan Yi… let’s die together.”
Nan Yi was momentarily stunned, then tried to persuade her softly, “Bao Gu, I know you and Yu Mi have a deep bond, but no bond is worth more than your own life, don’t you think?”
Bao Gu said, “Now you try to persuade me? When I tried to persuade you earlier, you wouldn’t listen. Now that you’ve killed my senior sister, you want to persuade me? Nan Yi, if I died and my senior sister lived, I might have spared you for her sake. But with my senior sister dead, I don’t want to live either. All of you who harmed us and stood by while we were robbed must die!”
Nan Yi shouted, “What about Lu Wendao? He’s one of your own. Do you want him to die with you? Bao Gu, what you’re doing is not righteous!”
Bao Gu said, “I can give him the Xuantian Sword. After it kills you all, it will recognize him as its master, repaying the favor I owe him.”
Lu Wendao shouted from afar, “Bao Gu, let’s talk this out!”
Bao Gu pointed at Nan Yi and shouted, “Kill him! If he doesn’t die, everyone will have to accompany my senior sister in death! You have one incense stick’s time.” She snorted coldly and shouted, “Nan Yi, don’t think about attacking me suddenly. If I self-destruct my dantian in front of you, you’ll be the first to die!”
Nan Yi’s expression darkened, and he stared coldly at Bao Gu. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “The ancient relic is so vast, the Xuantian Sword’s range is but a small corner…” He threw out a teleportation platform and instantly moved far away. From a distance, Nan Yi’s voice floated over, “Bao Gu, I’m waiting for you to self-destruct your dantian!”
Lu Wendao rushed to Bao Gu’s side and shouted, “Bao Gu, are you alright?” He turned to the group of cultivators behind him and shouted, “Everyone, help find Yu Mi!”
A woman’s voice responded, “Alright!”
Suddenly, Bao Gu felt someone appear behind her. Before she could react, her protective magical treasure emitted a force to repel the person. Then Bao Gu felt her protective magical treasure’s defense being broken by the opponent’s treasure, followed by a pain in her waist. She heard a woman shout, “This sword is a gift from my brother.”
Ning Ying!
Bao Gu grabbed the sword protruding from her abdomen and turned to see Ning Ying staring at her with a sinister smile. Suddenly, a sword shadow accompanied by a bloodstain swiftly crossed Ning Ying’s neck. Her smile froze on her face, looking somewhat eerie. Her hand holding the sword went limp, and the flying sword beneath her feet lost control, plummeting downwards. The person standing on the flying sword also fell, her head separating from her neck, blood gushing from the severed neck…
Yu Mi appeared beside Ning Ying, catching Bao Gu and scolding, “Idiot! Not seeing a body, you believe I’m dead just because someone said so?”
Bao Gu stared at Yu Mi in disbelief and shouted, “Senior Sister?” Her senior sister had survived the God Transformation stage treasure’s attack?
Lu Wendao and the surrounding cultivators instinctively backed away from the suddenly appearing Yu Mi.
Yu Mi surviving the God Transformation stage treasure’s attack was simply…
Someone else shouted, “Brother Zhao!”
A man who had been with Ning Ying fell straight from the sky, his head and body separating during the fall…
Yu Mi didn’t even glance at the changes around her. She said to Bao Gu, “Take some healing pills and monkey wine!” She placed her hand on Bao Gu’s wound and, after Bao Gu swallowed the healing pills and monkey wine, said, “Bear the pain!” She quickly sealed several acupoints to prevent massive bleeding when pulling out the sword, then yanked the sword out.
Bao Gu felt a pain even worse than being pierced by the sword, screaming, “Ah—” in agony, feeling dizzy.
Yu Mi quietly tossed a jade token to Lu Wendao, then hugged Bao Gu and quickly disappeared from the spot.
Bao Gu felt a blur before her eyes, and when she could see clearly again, she found herself nestled in the grass under a tree. Yu Mi whispered, “Lend me some monkey wine, the higher the grade, the better. I drank all my wine fighting Nan Yi just now.”
Bao Gu gave Yu Mi her last two bamboo tubes of monkey wine, along with the last two gourds of seventh-grade monkey wine from her oversized storage bag. Worried it might not be enough, she also gave four gourds of sixth-grade monkey wine.
After accepting the monkey wine, Yu Mi said, “Nan Yi is exhausted after his strongest attack. Now is the best time to hunt him down.”
Bao Gu grabbed Yu Mi’s arm and said, “Senior Sister…” She shook her head and said, “No need to rush.”
Yu Mi said, “If he recovers, we’ll be in danger. I’ve exhausted my magical treasures and can’t withstand another attack from his God Transformation stage treasure.”
Bao Gu hesitated, unwilling to let go.
Yu Mi gently patted Bao Gu’s hand and said, “Heal your wounds first. I’ll come back for you after dealing with Nan Yi.”
Bao Gu hesitated for a long time before finally letting go, saying, “Senior Sister, come back safe and sound. If anything happens to you, I absolutely won’t…”
She was interrupted by Yu Mi, “What nonsense are you talking about? If something happens to me, the burden of Lingyun Peak falls on you. You have to carry the future of Lingyun Peak and Xuantian Sect! Why are you being so foolish? With so many cultivation resources and the Xuantian Sword, once you grow stronger, what revenge can’t you take? Why must you act rashly now? Are you out of your mind?”
She scolded, poking Bao Gu’s forehead, “Alright, take care of yourself. I don’t have time to lecture you!” She hurriedly got up and disappeared from the spot.
Bao Gu felt a heavy weight in her heart, not knowing why. She thought and thought, finally concluding that this trip to the ancient relics had yielded little benefit. Both she and the little Celestial Fox were severely injured, and she had lost most of her Nascent Soul stage magical treasures and talismans! This was a bad deal, too frustrating. Bao Gu gritted her teeth and swore to herself that once she recovered, she would make up for her losses.
Bao Gu sat cross-legged, circulating the true energy in her dantian to activate the medicinal effects and the spiritual properties of the monkey wine to heal her wounds. Before long, Bao Gu’s wounds began to heal. She sighed heavily, feeling a weight in her heart, and murmured, “Does Senior Sister care about my life or death? Does she care about me?”
