Chapter 169 – Tracking – Ying You must be out of his mind…

“Tang Wuxun, are you sure we’re supposed to go this way? This path gives me the creeps.”

The Clear Thought Sect’s chief team was weaving through the forest. Shen Wuxie complained as he walked, occasionally kicking at the trees around him.

Tang Wuxun frowned. “Isn’t this all because of your damn mouth? If you hadn’t pissed off the Azure Profound Sect, would we be in this mess?”

Shen Wuxie shot back, unconvinced, “So what if I did? If we run into them, we fight. Simple as that. Honestly, you’re too timid to be a team leader. As an artifact refiner, you’re better off stepping down and letting me take over. I’ll go tell my uncle myself.”

The moment he said that, the rest of the team’s expressions changed.

Feng Huanyin said flatly, “If you become team leader, I’m out.”

Gong Rumei added coldly, “Same here.”

Yuan Wuxu mumbled, “I think Wuxun’s done a great job. No need to change leaders.”

Shen Wuxie scoffed, “So you’re all blaming me now? He’s been team leader for ages, and every time we end up at the bottom of the rankings. You always use me as a scapegoat, but the truth is, our team just isn’t strong enough. Look at the Crimson Sky Sect—every year they’re arrogant as hell, offend everyone, but they still place high every time.”

“And look at our team—Gong Rumei, you’re always silent, never lift a finger. When someone steps on our heads and mocks us, you’re the chief sword cultivator, and you don’t even have the guts to talk back.” He was on a roll now, not stopping for breath. “And you, Yuan Wuxu, you’re a body cultivator but act like an artifact refiner. Can’t even speak clearly. Why can’t you learn a bit of Wen Yun’s fiery temper?”

With that, Shen Wuxie angrily kicked a nearby tree, knocking it clean over.

Feng Huanyin was silent for a moment. She grabbed Gong Rumei, who looked ready to act, and whispered, “Forget it. Let him blow off steam.”

After all, Shen Wuxie was the Sect Master’s nephew. They still had to give him some face in public.

As for why he didn’t dare insult Feng Huanyin—well, she currently ranked first on the Alchemy Cultivator Ranking.

Why was she ranked first? Because Clear Thought Sect members were constantly getting beaten by other sects, and she ended up refining the most pills just to keep up. Sometimes, even that wasn’t enough.

Tang Wuxun clenched his fists, held back his anger, and turned to leave with a flick of his sleeve.

Shen Wuxie stood there, and as he happened to glance up, he caught sight of a figure flying overhead—someone very familiar.

“Lian Mu?” Shen Wuxie exclaimed. “She’s here too?”

Tang Wuxun paused. “Who?”

Shen Wuxie pointed upward, but the figure had already flown past. The forest canopy was thick, making it hard to see the sky, but the tree Shen Wuxie had knocked down had opened up a small window above.

Tang Wuxun asked, “Is she alone?”

Shen Wuxie replied, “Seems like it. I only saw one shadow. Looked like she was carrying something too.”

Gong Rumei narrowed her eyes. “Team Leader, I’ll go after her.”

“Wait. Can you beat her?” Tang Wuxun asked. “You saw her at White Tiger West.”

Gong Rumei said coolly, “She admitted herself that she got stronger by taking pills. Just a paper tiger. Nothing to fear.”

“I’m going too,” Shen Wuxie added. “She stole the spotlight from me last time. This time, I’m settling the score.”

Tang Wuxun thought for a moment. If Lian Mu was alone, and their whole team surrounded her, they might actually win for once.

They couldn’t touch the Azure Profound Sect, but if they could take Lian Mu out, it would deal a serious blow to the Returning Immortal Sect. If that sect dropped in rank, Clear Thought Sect might have a shot at third place. And by then, even if Azure Profound Sect came after them, they wouldn’t be eliminated in such a humiliating way.

“Follow her. Don’t act rashly. Once we’re sure she’s alone, we’ll make our move.”

At Tang Wuxun’s command, the talisman cultivator in their team activated a Concealment Talisman, masking their presence. They flew low, silently tailing Lian Mu from behind.

They kept a steady distance. Though they couldn’t see what she was carrying, they never let her out of their sight.

The Clear Thought Sect’s chief team followed Lian Mu to a cave. She paused briefly at the entrance, while the team hid in the shadows, observing.

When Lian Mu turned over the object in her hand, they finally got a clear look.

Tang Wuxun: “?”

Shen Wuxie: “Why is that Fengyun Yi…?”

Gong Rumei’s eyes widened. “That sword in her hand—it’s not hers. That’s the Flying Swan Sword.”

Tang Wuxun: “???”

Why would the Flying Swan Sword be in Lian Mu’s hands?

“She’s carrying the Flying Swan Sword and Fengyun Yi… Could this Lian Mu be a fake? Is it possible that Ying You disguised himself as Lian Mu to throw people off?”

Shen Wuxie’s imagination ran wild. He mulled it over and said, “Ying You must be out of his mind. I always thought the way he looked at Lian Mu was weird. Could it be that Lian Mu fell for Fengyun Yi, and Ying You got jealous, so he disguised himself as Lian Mu and knocked Fengyun Yi out?”

Feng Huanyin: “…Highly unlikely. Ying You’s from the Azure Profound Sect. That sect is fiercely protective of their own. He’d never lay a hand on Fengyun Yi. Besides, Ying You’s not as dumb as you think.”

They watched helplessly as Lian Mu entered the cave, but the scene they had just witnessed was so shocking that even the Clear Thought Sect Chief team couldn’t make sense of what had happened.

For the first time, Tang Wuxun began to think that maybe Shen Wuxie was right—this “Lian Mu” they had encountered was far too strange.

“Should we go in and trap her like a turtle in a jar?” Gong Rumei waited for Tang Wuxun’s command.

Tang Wuxun said, “Stay outside for now. Don’t go in. If there are people from the Returning Immortal Sect hiding inside, we’ll be ambushed the moment we enter. Besides, the Returning Immortal Sect seems to have a special relationship with the Azure Profound Sect. The Flying Swan Sword is in Lian Mu’s hands—maybe…”

There might be people from the Azure Profound Sect hiding in the cave.

“We’ll wait for her to come out alone and ambush her then. Remember—make it a one-hit knockout. If you miss, retreat immediately.”

……

Lian Mu had been flying overhead for half an hour before she finally found a spot that looked like a decent place to land.

Carrying a full-grown man for that long had made her arms sore, so she descended. Only when she got closer did she realize it was a cave—clean and dry.

She used her spiritual power to probe the area—no sign of demonic beasts nearby.

She tossed Fengyun Yi onto the ground, sat cross-legged, and began examining the sword she had snatched.

Lian Mu had always been interested in the Ten Great Famous Swords. Unfortunately, with her current status, there was no way she could get her hands on one. Aside from the few that had been lost, the rest all had living owners.

The Returning Immortal Sect had two of them—one in the hands of the Sect Master, and the other with Ye Minghe, the senior disciple of Cold Arrival Peak.

She had long coveted the swords of Ying You and Lu Feishuang, but never had the chance to make a move. No sword cultivator would just let someone else examine their sword.

Though Lian Mu was more than happy to share and exchange, other sword cultivators weren’t like her.

Still, she had already let Ying You see her sword—surely Ying You wouldn’t be stingy.

Feeling quite at ease, Lian Mu ran her fingers over the Flying Swan Sword, even trying to probe its interior with her spiritual power to sense the materials within.

Ordinary swords, depending on the type of metal used, required specific Spiritual Roots—flame metals could only be used by those with Fire Spiritual Roots, water metals by those with Water Spiritual Roots. But the swords listed among the Ten Great Famous Swords were different. They were forged with a special kind of spiritual material that didn’t care about the wielder’s Spiritual Root—only their aptitude.

Lian Mu could feel the immense power hidden within the sword. Centuries of refinement hadn’t dulled it—instead, it had only grown sharper.

She pulled out her own sword, Wealth Bringer, and compared it to the Flying Swan. She couldn’t help but start analyzing what design elements she could learn from. After some thought, she realized the most critical issue was still the sword’s grade.

If she could raise Wealth Bringer to first-grade, then with its flexible grade advantage, it might even approach the extreme grade.

She had an extreme-grade flame beast crystal core, but no way to bridge the grade gap.

After all, the demonic beast materials used in her sword weren’t high-grade enough to fully merge with an extreme-grade flame beast core.

As she was thinking, a soft grunt suddenly came from beside her. She turned her head to see Fengyun Yi had rolled over in his sleep, his posture oddly twisted.

Lian Mu: “…”

Silently, she took out an image-recording stone and captured his ridiculous sleeping pose.

When she turned back, she noticed a white bird had flown into the cave at some point. While she’d been distracted by Fengyun Yi, it had landed by her feet.

The white bird, with a long tail plume, hopped onto the Flying Swan Sword and tilted its head to look at her.

Lian Mu, curious, suddenly thought of the Red Fire Green Phoenix that Xuan Che kept. She reached out and touched the bird’s head—it was fluffy, and the texture felt nice.

The bird pecked at her palm and flapped its wings twice.

Lian Mu grabbed it and set it aside, then pulled a few spiritual fruits from her spatial pouch and tossed them in front of it. “Don’t bother me.”

The bird immediately began pecking at the fruits, its beak stained red with juice.

Just as Lian Mu resumed her spiritual probing, the Flying Swan Sword suddenly went still. She was puzzled when another noise came from Fengyun Yi’s direction.

Lian Mu: “…”

Is he really that restless in his sleep?

She considered tying up his hands and feet to keep him from flailing, but just as she was about to act, she realized the noise hadn’t come from him—he hadn’t moved at all.

Lian Mu picked up Wealth Bringer and walked toward the source of the sound. At the end of the cave, she found only a stone wall. From behind it came a rhythmic thumping, like something was knocking.

She kicked the wall hard, and it collapsed with a crash, revealing a hidden chamber behind it.

The moment her eyes met a pair of familiar golden pupils, Lian Mu froze for a second. “…”

Not this thing again.

Deep within the cave was the same black serpent she had encountered before. It was coiled into a massive knot, its tail hanging from the wall. When it sensed the stone wall fall, it lifted its enormous head and looked toward her.

It had changed. Two horns now protruded from its head, gleaming black.

When it saw Lian Mu, its golden eyes narrowed into slits, and it rose up, its head brushing the cave ceiling.

Only then did Lian Mu realize it hadn’t just grown horns—it now had two pairs of claws. At a glance, it looked almost like a Flood Dragon.

The Black Flood Dragon let out a roar, its thick tail smashing the fallen stone wall to pieces. It spread its four claws, bared its fangs, and its golden eyes gradually turned red.

Lian Mu gripped Wealth Bringer tightly, but a flicker of doubt crossed her mind. She had clearly scanned the cave earlier and sensed no demonic beast aura.

Could it be… a Spirit Beast?

But why would a Spirit Beast attack humans?

She suspected it might be enraged because she had killed that group of little black snakes earlier.

She raised her sword and pointed it at the Black Flood Dragon’s head. “Perfect timing. Let me test my new technique on you.”

Seeing her draw her sword, the Black Flood Dragon caught the scent of demonic beast materials and flew into a rage. Its furious roar echoed through the cave, nearly splitting the eardrums.

The cave was narrow—a temporary hiding spot for the beast. Now that a fight had broken out, its massive size became a hindrance rather than an advantage.

Lian Mu pulled out a blank talisman paper and, relying on memory, drew a series of runes. Then she raised her hand and sent it flying.

As the talisman reached the cave entrance, it suddenly transformed into a blazing Fire Barrier, sealing off the Black Flood Dragon’s escape. The flames lit up the entire cave.

This Black Flood Dragon had only just advanced from its serpent form and hadn’t yet learned water manipulation techniques. Faced with the Fire Barrier, it didn’t dare charge through recklessly.

It panted heavily, locking eyes with Lian Mu in a tense standoff.

Lian Mu gave it no chance to flee. Her gaze swept over its scales—black and iridescent under the firelight, shimmering with a rainbow sheen. Beautiful, but deadly.

She lunged forward and slashed at it. The Black Flood Dragon raised a claw—sharp, barbed, and powerful—and caught the blade of Wealth Bringer, trying to crush it with sheer force.

Its body was long and sinuous. As it grabbed her sword, it coiled swiftly around her, trying to trap her in its coils.

But Lian Mu twisted free with a single move, sliding down its slick body. The sword’s tip scraped against its scales, sending up a spray of sparks.

Its outer scales were incredibly tough, and as a Spirit Beast, its defenses were formidable. Wealth Bringer couldn’t pierce them.

The Black Flood Dragon lashed its tail, slamming it toward her. The gust it created fed the Fire Barrier’s flames, making them blaze even more fiercely. The force of the strike sent Fengyun Yi, who lay on the ground, flying.

Lian Mu leapt back several steps to dodge. The tail smashed into the cave wall, cracking the rock with a loud rumble. Luckily, the mountain behind the cave was solid enough—otherwise, that blow might have brought the whole place down.

She had sealed off the Black Flood Dragon’s escape—and her own. The confined space limited the dragon’s movements, but it also reduced her ability to maneuver.

She had set the Fire Barrier to end the fight quickly. If it dragged on, it would only work against her.

The Black Flood Dragon seemed to sense her urgency. It began slamming the cave walls repeatedly, trying to collapse the mountain.

It couldn’t break through the solid rock, so it sought out weaker spots.

Lian Mu’s eyes shifted to its underbelly. Compared to the rest of its body, the scales on its belly were much smaller. The ones on its back were so large they dwarfed her palm, but the belly scales were no bigger than her thumb.

The dragon had lifted its upper body, curling its belly inward, clearly trying to hide its weak point.

Lian Mu understood. She circled around the open space and hurled her sword directly at the dragon’s tail, forcing it to stop attacking the cave wall.

Wealth Bringer struck the tail with a harsh clang. Though it knocked the tail aside, the sword was immediately bounced back by the impact.

After all, the dragon had only just transformed from a serpent a couple of hours ago. It still retained its snake-like instincts, baring its fangs in a threatening display. But its venom was gone—those sharp teeth were nothing more than dangerous-looking weapons now.

Lian Mu stepped on its body and leapt into the air, catching the rebounding Wealth Bringer. She kicked off the cave wall, dodging the dragon’s head as it lunged from the side, and landed precisely beside its coiled belly.

Without hesitation, she drove her sword down. She had expected to pierce through—but the blade merely slid across the dragon’s belly scales, leaving not a scratch.

“…”

Not even a scratch?

This Black Flood Dragon was more troublesome than she had imagined. Its rank was at least above First Tier.

A Fourth-Tier demonic beast sword like Wealth Bringer stood little chance against a Spirit Beast above the First Tier.