“Brother, save me…”
The young man’s first words made Ji You’s mouth twitch.
However, fortunately, he had already recovered his stamina and Spiritual Qi at this moment, and directly leaped down from the Void Realm. As he landed, he swung his sword and cut down an Evil Seed.
Then he summoned all six remaining long swords, cutting as he retreated, pulling the young man back.
The sound of swords in the Void Realm constantly whistled through the black mist. The man watched in astonishment, filled with admiration, his eyes shining as he looked at Ji You’s retreating figure swinging his sword.
Fortunately, this area had been cleared by Ji You along the way. Apart from the batch the man had attracted, there were only a few scattered Evil Seed.
Seeing that he had escaped danger, the young man couldn't help but pat his chest: “Many thanks, Brother, for saving my life.”
“You’re not a Disciple of an Immortal Sect?”
“Uh… I am Yuan Chen. I’m here to lead the way for them.”
After Ji You sheathed his sword, he turned to size him up, discovering that the man had incredibly delicate skin, without even a single callus on his hands.
One must know that most residents of Qiling Town were miners from Hongshan Mine, or their descendants.
These people lived hard lives; how could they be as fair-skinned as him? His appearance was even only slightly less stunning than Ji You, who was a peerless beauty among mortals.
“Why don’t you make up another one?”
Yuan Chen pursed his lips: “Actually… I’m a miner’s son. My family is in Hongshan Mine, and I want to go in.”
Upon hearing this, Ji You sheathed his sword and walked away.
There were too many Evil Seed at the entrance of Hongshan Mine; it would clearly not be easy for him to just kill his way in. He could only go back and regroup first.
As for this man, he was clearly not telling the truth.
The current situation was too complex. Apart from those he already knew, it was best to remain vigilant against people like him.
However, the man named Yuan Chen was reluctant to leave and directly chased after him: “Brother, I can see you also want to go to Hongshan Mine. We can join forces!”
Ji You stopped and looked at him: “With you?”
“I can do whatever I can. Anything at all. I just want to go in and find someone.”
Ji You pondered for a moment, then drew his sword: “Extend your wrist.”
Yuan Chen had just rolled up his sleeve when he paused slightly before extending it: “What… are you doing?”
“I’ll make a cut on you. You run a lap around the entrance of Hongshan Mine, then attract all those Evil Seed to the front of Beisha Town, letting those Spell Cultivators deal with them. I’ll then secretly enter the mine.”
“Oh, what a good idea!”
Yuan Chen was pleasantly surprised, but then his brows furrowed again: “How do I get out then?”
Ji You looked at him: “With your intelligence, you should leave this place quickly.”
As they were speaking, Qiling Mountain in the distance suddenly burst forth with ten thousand golden rays of light, startling all the Spell Cultivators in Beisha Town.
It was a wave of pure and true Spiritual Qi that began to spread outwards from the mountain, even illuminating and dispersing the mist deep within Qi Ridge.
At this moment, Ji You noticed more Flying Sword gathering in this direction, their eyes filled with wonder as they looked at the light from the mountain.
Yuan Chen swallowed: “That’s what they’re looking for…”
“Who is looking for it?”
“The Immortal Sect.”
Ji You looked at him: “What are they looking for?”
Yuan Chen looked at Ji You: “I don’t know what it is, but it must be something that can move the Immortal Sect.”
“Truly, listening to your words is like listening to words.”
“Hey, Brother…”
Yuan Chen wanted to chase after him, but he was unexpectedly stopped by the Spell Cultivators who had accompanied him: “Young Master, you’ve seen it, this place is impossible to stay in. Let’s go back.”
“I can’t go back. I need to find my elder sister.”
“Young Master…”
Yuan Chen looked at them exasperatedly: “If my elder sister really entered the mountain, then only the miners of Hongshan Mine might have seen her whereabouts, so I must go in no matter what.”
The Spell Cultivators looked at each other: “Those ghostly things, there are too many.”
“That person, he can use seven swords at once, cutting like a whirlwind. I think he can definitely go in.”
“He’s just a Junior Third Realm Completion, like us!”
Yuan Chen ignored them and turned to chase after Ji You.
At this time, Ji You had already entered the city, but instead of returning to his inn, he was searching for the original inhabitants of Beisha Town.
He held a piece of straw paper in his hand, on which a soaring goose was drawn, asking if they had seen it.
This was given to him by Kuang Cheng; it was the trading flag of Yanhang Post Station. If they had indeed been here, someone should have seen it.
Sure enough, when he asked the second person, he already found the answer.
That person was the city’s blacksmith, who nodded upon seeing it: “It’s the usual supply and delivery caravan.”
“Were there any children in their caravan? Or sounds of crying?”
“Children? How could there be children in a caravan?” The blacksmith was somewhat puzzled.
Ji You was silent for a moment, thinking, could Kuang Cheng’s intuition be wrong? Or had the abducted children actually been transported elsewhere midway?
As he was thinking, he suddenly saw two people from the Chen Clan also coming along the street.
They also held a piece of paper in their hands, asking people around, but unlike the goose drawing in Ji You’s hand, theirs was a portrait.
Just then, the man named Yuan Chen caught up again, following stealthily behind.
“Brother, did you also lose a family member when you went to Hongshan Mine?”
“You’re the one who lost a family member.”
Yuan Chen couldn’t help but speed up a few steps: “Regardless of the purpose, Brother, you are going in after all. I can offer Brother unimaginable rewards.”
Ji You stopped upon hearing ‘rewards’: “How much silver can you give?”
“?”
Yuan Chen was stunned for a moment: “Silver is enough? There’s such a cheap Spell Cultivator…”
Ji You frowned.
Yuan Chen immediately came to his senses: “After it’s done, I can give you one hundred taels.”
“I am not that kind of cheap Spell Cultivator.”
“Yellow.”
Ji You was silent for a moment, then led the young man back to the post station where everyone was staying.
He was going to save people anyway, and he could earn some money in the process. Why not?
Moreover, this person clearly had no brains, lacked experience in dealing with situations, and had no martial prowess, so taking him along was fine.
Upon returning to the post station, Ji You met up with Ban Yangshu, Bai Rulong, and others. They were naturally curious to see him bring someone back.
Ji You frankly said he picked him up on the road: “What was that in the mountain?”
“I don’t know, but… it must be something that can greatly increase one’s Realm. Junior Sister Wen has already sent a message back to the academy, asking the Master-in-charge to come for support. Tomorrow, we Disciples will go into the mountain first to scout the way.”
“I need to go to Hongshan Mine first.”
Ban Yangshu glanced at him: “I will tell Junior Sister Wen to arrange for you to wait for the Master-in-charge from the academy in Beisha Town.”
Ji You cupped his hands: “Many thanks, Senior Brother.”
“…”
“Brother, do you really not want to go into the mountain and see?”
Yuan Chen followed Ji You upstairs and couldn’t help but ask.
Ji You pushed the door open and entered the room: “Don’t always say ‘Brother, Brother’. My surname is Ji, my given name is You, and my courtesy name is Bochang, meaning ‘to gather widely from all strengths’.”
“So it’s Brother Ji.”
Ji You invited him into the room, then sat on the couch without a word, and began to send his Divine Thought soaring.
The Evil Qi here had the power to obscure the Heavenly Dao. Even Upper Five Realms Disciples could not sense the Heavenly Dao and thus could not cultivate.
Ji You had tried it once before, and it was indeed true.
However, this was still beneficial to him, because he could infinitely train his Divine Thought here.
It was as if ancient martial artists liked to tie sandbags to their legs and arms when practicing. Ji You’s Divine Thought was now like having sandbags tied to it; even if he could not observe the Heavenly Dao, he could break through greater limits.
Yuan Chen saw that he had entered meditation, with Spiritual Qi constantly whistling around him, and felt a bit bored, so he pulled out a scroll from his Pregnant.
This was a very popular novel in Qingyun World, called “Flying Immortal”.
The story was roughly about a Young Master of an Immortal Sect battling Fellow Daoist from all directions, finally ascending to the heavens, directly entering the Void Realm, and becoming an Immortal.
Yuan Chen seemed to yearn for this passionate story, his eyes shining as he read it intently.