Bao Gu said, “After Yu Xiaolian and Nan Yi retreated, Nan Yi teamed up with Ning Ying from the Ning family and a group of cultivators to ambush me. Ning Ying from the Ning family, Han Yu from the Immortal Sect, Nan Yi, and some other cultivators I didn’t even recognize all attacked me. The Ning family and Han Yu used Nascent Soul-level treasures, so I didn’t hold back either. I threw Nascent Soul-level talismans at them, but I got injured by the explosion and fell to the ground. While I was fighting Han Yu, my senior sister was battling someone with a Divine Transformation sword. When I woke up, I was lying on the ground. My senior sister fed me two healing pills and then went after Nan Yi. At that moment, Jade Shura appeared to make a deal with me. She sold me information that Nan Yi was actually from the Taiyin Sect, the son of the Taiyin Sect’s Longevity Heavenly Venerable. With such a significant identity, Nan Yi infiltrated our Xuantian Sect as a spy and incited so many people to hunt and rob me. Of course, I couldn’t let him go, so I paid Jade Shura a hefty sum to capture him, paying the price for a Nascent Soul-level capture.”
Jun Gongzi asked, “What does all this have to do with the disappearance of Corpse City and the Ancient Ruins?”
Bao Gu said, “Jun Gongzi, listen to me slowly, the main point is coming soon. I was injured, and my hiding place was found by Jade Shura, so I had to find a new place. I moved to a canyon to heal. After recovering, I noticed the rich spiritual energy there and set up a spirit-gathering array to break through my cultivation level. After successfully advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage and dismantling the array, I saw a large white snake demon at the Golden Core stage absorbing the spiritual energy nearby. I thought it would attack me, but it just slithered into a small hole and ran away. My pet fox demon told me there was a treasure there. Worried about my senior sister’s safety, I left the treasure and went to find her. When my fox saw my senior sister, it told her about the treasure. She immediately stopped chasing Nan Yi and followed the fox to find the treasure. We followed the white snake into a cave. The cave was full of bones, the walls were alive and moving, and there were many ghost-like things. I was terrified. My senior sister used her Lihuo Sword to protect me with fire. We found an unformed dragon grass, which my fox swallowed in one bite…”
When she mentioned the cave and the dragon grass, the surroundings fell silent.
Bao Gu took a breath and continued, “Later, when we were leaving the living cave, we found a huge hall filled with ribs.” She pulled out a dragon rib over a meter long from her oversized storage bag and said, “Look, this! We saw it was excellent refining material, so we cut down as many as we could. It was tough, but we were quite happy. I thought, I must be really lucky…”
Jun Gongzi coughed lightly to remind Bao Gu, who was lost in her own thoughts, and asked, “And then?”
Bao Gu said, “Then we saw people from Beast Taming Valley and a golden rat coming from the other end of the dragon’s corpse. The young master from Beast Taming Valley was quite sinister. We fought, and my senior sister almost fell into his hands. I saved her by using a Nascent Soul-level talisman, but I got injured again. The young master from Beast Taming Valley managed to escape unscathed! He probably feared my Nascent Soul-level talismans and tried to use his beasts to kill us, but we used a little trick to make his beasts fight each other. He got scared and recalled his beasts. Without his greatest support, he retreated.”
The people from Beast Taming Valley quickly asked, “What happened next?”
Bao Gu said, “Of course, my senior sister and I didn’t want to let them go. I have a lot of resources, so I’m not afraid to fight them. Their greatest support, the beasts, were useless, so we chased them. Just as we were about to catch up, we saw Jade Shura chasing Nan Yi. Compared to the people from Beast Taming Valley, Nan Yi was more important, so we went after him. Exhausted, Nan Yi was cornered by us. My senior sister persuaded him to surrender, saying we would take him back to Master Chen for judgment. He laughed and said everyone would die here, that this was Corpse City or something, and then he used his Divine Transformation sword to commit suicide!”
She then looked at the people from Beast Taming Valley and said, “As for what happened to the people from Beast Taming Valley afterward, I don’t know. I guess they didn’t fare well…”
An elder from Beast Taming Valley said in a deep voice, “Didn’t you say they all died in Corpse City?”
Bao Gu exclaimed, “If it weren’t for the tower we encountered later, we almost died in there too. Hey, don’t interrupt!”
The elder from Beast Taming Valley received countless glares. Besides the people from Beast Taming Valley, who would care about the fate of their dozen disciples and those beasts? Everyone’s focus was on why Corpse City and the Ancient Ruins disappeared.
Yu Mi silently thought to herself, “Bao Gu, I never realized you could lie with your eyes wide open!”
She knew clearly that the people from Beast Taming Valley all died at Bao Gu’s hands. She was deeply moved, thinking about how Bao Gu fought so fiercely for her, getting injured all over just to avenge her and ensure that the people from Beast Taming Valley all died there.
As her senior sister, Yu Mi had higher cultivation and stronger combat abilities than Bao Gu, but whenever something happened, Bao Gu always stood in front of her, shielding her from everything.
Just like now, facing so many cultivation forces, Bao Gu was still trying her best to protect her, fearless and unafraid. Yu Mi didn’t notice that her gaze had been fixed on Bao Gu the entire time.
Bao Gu said, “My senior sister and I were visiting the Ancient Ruins for the first time. Master Lü didn’t tell us about Corpse City, so we thought it was a place of great opportunity. When we heard Nan Yi say that, we realized something was wrong and asked Jade Shura about Corpse City. We were terrified and quickly looked for a way out! We circled the dragon’s belly and found it was a ring-shaped area with no exit. In desperation, we started digging with the sword Nan Yi used to commit suicide. The sword was sharp, a Divine Transformation-level sword! But no matter how much we dug, the ground kept rising, solid yet alive, impossible to dig through. So my senior sister used her Lihuo Sword to burn it. The smell of burning the ground was the same as burning corpses… Later, we used the divine power passed down by the Duobao Spirit Monkey to dig a deep pit. Suddenly, we heard the sound of a heartbeat…”
She recounted the events of finding the skeleton ghost and the treasure tower, including how Jade Shura used her twelve demon pets to break the formation.
An elder from the Immortal Sect said slowly, “So, the treasure tower fell into Jade Shura’s hands from the beginning, not given by you, Bao Gu?”
Bao Gu rolled her eyes at the elder from the Immortal Sect, thinking, “If you want to sow discord between me and the Soul Chasing Pavilion, at least find a better reason!” She sneered and said, “You wish!”
She then continued to recount the events after pulling out the tower and the process of entering it.
The cultivators listened intently.
Bao Gu naturally couldn’t admit that she had released the dragon demon. If she did, she would be blamed for the disappearance of the Ancient Ruins and become the enemy of Xuan Yue Ancient City. She said, “Then I rushed into the tower ahead of my senior sister. Inside, I found the restrictions loosening, and the coffin had cracks. The spiritual energy from the top of the tower was pouring into the coffin, and there were sounds coming from inside. I was terrified… I tried everything to stop the commotion inside, but nothing worked. Finally, I thought, I can’t let the thing inside the coffin continue to absorb spiritual energy, so I poured filth on the coffin… Although the spiritual energy stopped flowing into the coffin, the seals on the coffin lid and chains were also destroyed—”
The cultivators all sighed in unison!
Many pointed at Bao Gu, accusing her of destroying the sealing talismans.
Bao Gu pouted and remained silent.
Jun Gongzi asked seriously, “And then?”
Bao Gu thought for a moment and said, “After pouring the filth and realizing the seal was broken, I knew I was in trouble and couldn’t keep the big demon inside the coffin. So I pretended to rescue him, actively helping to break the chains and release him early. I was prepared, though, with a row of talismans on my forehead to prevent him from taking over my body. I even offered him a gourd of monkey wine. He tried to attack me, but—” Her “but” was particularly emphasized, and the cultivators held their breath, waiting for her next words.
Bao Gu looked around and said coldly, “His cultivation was indeed powerful. He could see the Xuantian Sword inside me and wanted to take it. My Xuantian Sword may have been silent, but it was always awake. The most annoying thing was that it occupied my dantian, preventing my flying sword from entering, forcing me to store it in my storage bag every time…”
Zi Tianjun reminded, “Bao Gu, the main point.”
The matter of the Xuantian Sword had already been leaked by the Taiyin Sect, so he let Bao Gu talk about it.
Bao Gu said, “This sword is indeed powerful. At that time, I felt a surge of sword intent in my dantian…”
She recounted the dragon demon’s reaction and conversation with her. “Of course, the ancestor is no longer alive, but this dragon demon had been trapped for longer than the Xuantian Sect existed. He didn’t know my master was long gone. My Xuantian Sword proved that I had a powerful cultivator behind me, and the monkey wine with divine properties showed my high status. I scared him into not daring to attack me again. Then I took the opportunity to extort him, making him give me the treasure tower that suppressed him. Later, I gave it to Jade Shura. I suffered great losses in the Ancient Ruins, barely escaping with my life, so I couldn’t leave empty-handed. I demanded more treasures from him, and in anger, he threw the three of us out of the Ancient Ruins. We encountered Lü Wendao and the others outside. I knew the dragon demon was scared of my master and would flee immediately to avoid being killed. So I quickly told Lü Wendao to inform our fellow sect members to leave!”
An elder from the Immortal Sect said sternly, “Bao Gu, why didn’t you stall him and wait for us to kill him? If you had stalled the dragon, how could he have escaped with the Ancient Ruins, leaving such a great threat?”
Bao Gu stared at the elder from the Immortal Sect and said, “That dragon demon could give me a Void Tearing-level treasure tower without hesitation to get rid of me. He could control the Ancient Ruins, which shows his strength. I want to ask everyone here, who can fight this dragon demon? If the dragon corpse demon hadn’t been scared and angered by me, and instead found out that there was no powerful cultivator in Xuan Yue Ancient City, who could stop him if he came out to wreak havoc? Even if all the cultivation forces joined together and managed to defeat him, could you protect all the cultivators in Xuan Yue Ancient City? Could you ensure he wouldn’t ally with the demon clans outside the city to launch a massive attack? That demon’s strength is at least Void Tearing level or higher, and even Nanshan Yijian might not be his match! I have the Xuantian Sword to protect me, so I’m safe, but you… can you still stand here questioning me?”
