In the Thunder River, the energy storm gradually subsided.
The lightning rod in Xu Lexian’s hand had been completely damaged from overuse, reduced to a pile of scrap metal.
She jumped back to the shore, and Shui Qiu hurriedly approached her, both of them gazing at the girl surrounded by arcs of lightning.
The earlier spectacle had been truly terrifying; even disciples from major sects had never needed such a powerful impact during a breakthrough.
“Senior Sister…”
Shui Qiu called out softly.
“She wasn’t struck unconscious by the lightning, was she?” Xu Lexian said, not entirely confident. “Should we do chest compressions or carry her on our backs? At her size, it should be quite comfortable, right?”
Upon hearing this, the senior sister of Xuanling Sect immediately jumped up.
“I knew you had ulterior motives regarding my body, hmph!”
The strategy purchased from the system shop proved to be very effective, as Tang Xin had safely broken through to the Golden Core realm.
She clenched her fist, feeling the new power within her dantian.
This was a completely different level from Foundation Building; the breakthrough at this high tier represented a qualitative change in strength. Now, if she were to spar with a Saintess, at least she wouldn’t be completely outmatched.
“Congratulations, Senior Sister, on becoming a Golden Core cultivator!”
The blue-eyed girl joyfully congratulated her, and the little fox jumped back onto its owner’s shoulder.
Tang Xin ruffled her junior’s hair, then looked into the distance, using her spiritual eyes to scan the area.
“Someone’s coming,” she warned. “With such a loud noise, it’s hard not to notice. We need to leave quickly…”
“There’s no need to rush,” Xu Lexian smiled, pulling out the Nascent Soul spirit bone she had previously bought in the market. “The environment here is quite good, and now that your strength has increased, we can attempt a small counterattack.”
…
A little while later, a team of Golden Core cultivators arrived at the spot where Tang Xin had broken through.
“Not long after they left,” one of the Golden Core cultivators said. “Such a strong energy fluctuation means they were either practicing some special technique or breaking through.”
“Breaking through? In a place like this?”
The Thunder Valley seemed rich in energy and dense in spiritual qi, but it was difficult to control. For most cultivators, it was not only unhelpful but rather harmful, far from the blessed lands tailored for cultivation sects.
After searching around, the team of cultivators found a special location by the shore.
In the open space, someone had deliberately drawn a large circle with red powder, placing a spirit stone inside and leaving a crooked line of text below.
“There’s danger; do not step inside.”
The Golden Core cultivators stopped, surrounding the circle and observing cautiously.
“The spirit stone is normal,” someone said. “Hmph, reverse psychology, huh? They think we would mistake this for a trap and be too scared to step in? Someone go in and take a look!”
“Uh, what if it really is a trap?”
“That’s why we only let one person go in to investigate. I’m ninety-nine percent sure this is just a ruse!”
After a brief discussion, one cultivator cautiously and attentively stepped into the circle, moving closer to the spirit stone.
After taking a few steps, he safely reached the center of the circle, picked up the spirit stone, and nothing unexpected happened.
“I told you it was a feigned retreat,” the team leader said triumphantly. “You’re still too early to play mind games with me…”
Boom——
Dust flew everywhere as a blinding white light suddenly erupted from outside the circle. The violent energy once again triggered the thunderous power from the Thunder River, creating a chain reaction that turned the area into a sea of lightning.
After a while.
“I told you, it’s human nature to watch from the sidelines, so when there’s nothing going on, don’t crowd around!”
“When it comes to scheming, you really excel at it…”
“Senior sister has a great figure and an even better mind!”
The voices of the three girls came through the mist.
Xu Lexian picked up the fragments of the spirit bone from the ground and nodded in satisfaction.
Using the spirit bone of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator as a medium, she had inscribed special symbols on it to create a weapon of immense power.
Because the area was filled with the power of thunder, this trap was much harder to detect than it would be in the outside world, and its effectiveness was even greater.
“You, you all…”
The cultivator who had entered the circle, furthest from the center of the explosion, struggled to get up, dragging his battered body.
Tang Xin wasted no time and delivered a punch, knocking him back down.
The purpose of setting the trap, aside from attracting their attention, was to leave a survivor.
Being inexplicably targeted, they had to know who their opponent was, right?
Xu Lexian searched him thoroughly but found nothing related to his identity.
“You came well-prepared,” the Saintess sneered. “You came ready, didn’t you?”
She brought her fingers together, injecting a colorful beam of light into the man’s forehead, instantly distorting his face and causing his body to convulse in agony.
“Never experienced a mental attack, have you? If you tell me what you know, it might ease your suffering!”
“D-dream on… I…”
The Saintess pointed again, unleashing a burst of true energy that shattered half of his teeth, sending a specially made poison pill flying to the side.
“Looks like you can’t ‘loyalty’ your way out of this, huh? You think I don’t know where you people like to hide your last resort? Quickly, who are you?”
“I… will not… yield…”
This man was incredibly stubborn. Even with his dantian sealed and unable to end his own suffering, he still refused to divulge any information.
“Acting tough in front of me? You look down on me, don’t you!”
“Ah——uh——oh!!”
Tang Xin pulled Shui Qiu aside and covered her eyes.
“You’re still young; this kind of scene isn’t suitable for you to watch…”
“I’m not small; both the senior sister and the Saintess said I’m quite grown up…”
After screaming for a long time, the Saintess exhausted all her methods, leaving the opponent barely breathing, yet still gained nothing.
“Damn it,” the Saintess cursed, “not even a mental attack worked? Didn’t those elders say that normal people can’t withstand it? Are they lying to me?”
She returned to Tang Xin’s side, a hint of helplessness in her tone.
“Looks like we won’t get anything out of this. This guy must be mentally unstable…”
【Main quest triggered】
【Interrogate the enemy to obtain useful information】
【Quest reward: ‘Black Market Secrets (Latest Edition)’】
Sigh, such underhanded tactics are indeed beyond the capabilities of righteous individuals.
Tang Xin sighed, handing Shui Qiu over to Xu Lexian, and said with a sense of resignation, “You take junior sister away for a bit; I’ll give it a try.”
“Take her away?”
The Saintess was taken aback.
“To prevent any negative impact on your minds and bodies, I don’t want to leave you with psychological scars…”
She shrugged.
Xu Lexian looked at her deeply.
With the Saintess’s personality, she would never have considered avoiding it before; she didn’t think anyone else could do what she couldn’t.
But… this is Tang Xin.
“Alright,” she nodded, “I’ll leave it to you.”
The two women moved away, and the person lying in the pool of blood looked at the Xuanling Sect’s senior sister with disdain in his eyes.
“I… told you… it’s useless… you can’t… break me…”
“Right, right, right,” Tang Xin leaned down and fed him a healing pill. “Hang in there; if you can’t hold on, it’ll be a real problem…”
