Chapter 236: Moonlight Sword Qi — Celebrated Too Soon

After kicking Shen Wuxie across to the other side, Lian Mu found herself directly beneath the Thousand-Eyed Fish Demon, its massive body crashing down toward her. There was no time to fly. Gritting her teeth, she took a desperate leap off Mist Sea Cliff.

As she plunged downward, she quickly stabbed Wealth Bringer into the cliff face, trying to anchor herself. But the Fish Demon’s enormous bulk had already shattered parts of the cliff and filled every crevice. Her sword barely pierced the rock before the stone crumbled and the blade slipped free.

Sparks flew as the sword scraped along the cliff wall, fire spiritual energy clashing against the stone.

Debris rained down from above. Lian Mu shut her eyes and ducked her head, shielding it with one arm. All she could hear was the wind roaring past her ears.

She quickly disappeared into the gray mist. For some reason, her dantian suddenly felt sealed, as if her spiritual energy had been locked away.

Just as Lian Mu thought she was going to fall to her death, something soft and sticky latched onto her wrist, suspending her against the cliff wall.

A sharp jolt of pain from her dislocated arm snapped her back to clarity.

Lian Mu opened her eyes and looked up. The sky was no longer visible—she was deep within the gray mist of Mist Sea Cliff, and the abyss below her stretched endlessly into darkness.

She glanced at the spot where she was stuck and saw a patch of silvery-white slime clinging to the cliff wall, like the trail left behind by some crawling creature. It was still fresh.

The silver slime extended downward, vanishing into the mist. Everything around her was shrouded in gray.

Lian Mu tried to circulate her spiritual energy, but nothing happened. The mist seemed to suppress all cultivation abilities.

No wonder so few ever returned after falling down here.

She tried to pull her hand free, but the slime was too sticky. When she yanked hard, the skin on her palm tore open, leaving a bloody mess.

Lian Mu: “…”

When she got back, she was going to down a hundred bottles of Blood-Nourishing Pills.

She was already covered in injuries. Just lifting Shen Wuxie earlier had pulled at the wound on her arm, soaking half her robe in blood.

She hadn’t brought many healing pills on this trip, just a few spirit replenishing ones. She’d thought she’d picked a solid teammate and could coast through the mission. Unfortunately, her luck was exceptional—in the worst way. She kept stumbling into god-tier disasters.

Things like the Thousand-Eyed Fish Demon and the Blood Butterfly Meat Pool were way out of her league.

She was just a weak new disciple who had barely started her cultivation journey.

Staring down into the endless abyss below her feet, Lian Mu felt like she could see the end of her life.

She had no idea if she’d make it back alive.

The slime only extended downward, giving her no way to climb up. Her only option was to use it to climb down.

Every step she took peeled more flesh from her palms. Luckily, she was wearing shoes. If not, even if she made it down, she wouldn’t be able to walk.

Gritting her teeth, Lian Mu inched her way down. Sweat soaked her bangs. She had no idea how much time had passed before her body finally gave out.

She let go of Wealth Bringer and let it fall, then strained her ears.

After a few seconds, she heard the faint sound of metal striking stone. She silently estimated the distance.

Realizing she was almost at the bottom, Lian Mu picked up her pace, ignoring the pain in her hands.

As she neared the ground, the gray mist began to thin. When her feet finally touched solid, level ground, she let out a breath of relief.

She pulled her hands free. By the end, they were completely numb—there was barely any flesh left, just blood and glimpses of bone.

The silver-white slime stretched all the way to the bottom, and her blood had trailed down with it.

Her vision dimmed and her head spun. She nearly collapsed upon landing.

There was no mist at the bottom of the cliff. She immediately activated her spiritual energy to seal her wounds and stop the bleeding, then followed the energy trail to locate Wealth Bringer.

The sword had landed on a rock. Fortunately, it was forged from demonic beast materials and remained undamaged.

Finally, Lian Mu took a good look at her surroundings.

The area was eerily quiet. There wasn’t a single strong demonic creature aura nearby. In fact, it was completely empty.

So few demonic creatures beneath Mist Sea Cliff?

Lian Mu felt a sense of danger. She gripped her sword tighter. At the same time, she realized this might be a rare opportunity. She pulled out the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda from her spatial pouch.

While staying alert, she began pounding on the pagoda.

She knocked for a long time, but nothing happened.

Instinctively, she reached for her wrist, intending to pinch Green Bean to wake up Xuan Che. Her fingers found nothing.

Only then did she remember—she’d already sold Green Bean.

Lian Mu fell silent for a moment, then tossed the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda to the ground and raised her foot to stomp on it.

“If you dare step on me, I’ll rip out every blade of grass you’ve ever planted.”

A familiar voice finally came from within the pagoda, lazy and indifferent.

Lian Mu picked it back up. Just from his tone, she could tell he’d just woken up.

“Xuan Che, I’m in serious trouble,” she said.

“Oh.”

“I’m in the Shifang Nether Soil.”

“Mm.”

“What kind of reaction is that? Shouldn’t you at least ask me what happened?”

After all, they’d farmed together before.

“If you’re in the Shifang Nether Soil and not in trouble, that would be the real surprise,” said the voice from the pagoda. “You should be looking for your elders. Also, you seriously took out the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda in the Shifang Nether Soil? Aren’t you afraid someone might see it?”

“I’m alone. I fell to the bottom of Mist Sea Cliff. I don’t know why, but the Thousand-Eyed Fish Demon suddenly came back to life, and the Black Moon arrived early. I can’t find your place anymore.”

She couldn’t even see the sky now, let alone the stars.

“The Black Moon came early?” The voice in the pagoda fell silent for a moment.

“…They might be back. Have you exposed yourself to any other demon races?”

“At the Blood Butterfly Meat Pool, one of them sensed your aura on me. Who are they?”

“Just a bunch of mutts scavenging for scraps,” he said casually. “The Black Moon is the sacrificial day of the Black Abyss Demon Race. Years ago, the Shifang Nether Soil was their territory. I killed their leader back then, but a few of his dogs slipped through. They survived and now they’ve come back, grown up and ready to bite.”

Lian Mu finally understood. “So all this bad luck is your fault?”

“You’re the one who went parading around in front of them. Hasn’t anyone taught you not to even mention my name around here?”

“I don’t go around name-dropping you for fun. That was an accident.”

“So, did they beat you up?” he asked.

Lian Mu looked down at herself. “Might as well have.”

A wisp of black smoke drifted out from the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda and wrapped around her fingertip.

“…You carry that ugly thing and that long one with you, and you still ended up like this?”

Lian Mu hadn’t told him yet—she’d already sold Green Bean. As for the Ice Jade Cold Flood Dragon, she couldn’t summon it casually. If anyone saw it, it might be confiscated.

The black smoke flickered. “Didn’t think you had it in you. Falling into Mist Sea Cliff and still standing here talking to me. Looks like this place really has been abandoned for too long. Not even a single man-eating demonic creature left.”

Lian Mu said, “You’re the lord of this place. You should know how to get back up, right?”

“What kind of dumb question is that? Just fly up there.” Then he suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, I forgot. Your cultivation isn’t strong enough to suppress the demonic fog of Mist Sea Cliff.”

Lian Mu: “…”

“If you trust me, I can lend you a strand of sword qi to cut through the fog. But doing so will alert the other Demonic Creatures, and you’ll become a moving target. The Black Abyss Demon Race will come after you too.”

Lian Mu: “Sounds like a setup.”

Either choice came with the risk of death, and the first option sounded even more dangerous.

“You’re overthinking it. I can’t be bothered to mess with a kid like you,” Xuan Che said. “My sword qi will attach to your sword. You can also use it to cut open the Black Moon. Once you do that, you’ll be able to see the Heavenly Return Palace.”

Lian Mu: “That powerful, and you’re lending it to me? What if one of the elders finds out…”

As far as she knew, the outer two circles were crawling with elders.

“Go somewhere deserted. There’s a fissure beneath Mist Sea Cliff. Follow it, and you’ll reach the Red Scorched Circle. From the Red Scorched Circle, it’s the easiest path to the Heavenly Return Palace. It’s just a bit dangerous. The choice is yours.”

Lian Mu thought for a moment, then said, “Alright.”

She didn’t have many options. Danger lay in every direction, so she could only choose the path that offered even the slimmest chance of survival.

In truth, Lian Mu believed Xuan Che wouldn’t deceive her. With his strength, he had no need to go to such lengths to manipulate her.

“You sure about this? Once you borrow my sword qi, you’ll become the second ‘me’ in the eyes of the Demonic Creatures. And on the night of the Black Moon, they won’t let you go.”

Lian Mu: “I should be able to hold out until I reach the Red Scorched Circle. I have a Body Concealing Spiritual Tool that can temporarily hide my presence.”

The black mist twitched again and circled around her. “Is it that fox-fur cloak? Not bad. Looks like you’ve finally made some real money lately.”

Lian Mu: “A friend lent it to me.”

“The one who looks like a kid? That guy treats you pretty well,” he said.

Lian Mu hadn’t expected him to know. “…You’ve been spying on my friends?”

“Your friends are too loud. Even noisier than that ugly thing. Hard not to remember them.”

Lian Mu: “That’s called being lively. People without friends wouldn’t understand.”

Xuan Che suddenly fell silent. The air grew still for a moment.

“…Forget it. I won’t argue with you,” he said.

As soon as he finished speaking, a beam of white light emerged from the top of the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda. Like a veil of gauze, it floated slowly toward Lian Mu’s sword and finally merged into the blade.

A mist-like glow began to swirl around the green sword. In the darkness, it looked like moonlight.

Lian Mu touched the blade and felt a surge of powerful energy. Within it was a faint trace of murky Demonic Qi, but the Jiao Pearl was suppressing it.

This was… Moonlight sword qi.

Perhaps because the original owner was so powerful, Lian Mu felt this strand of sword qi was even stronger than that of the Flying Swan Sword.

“This is just a small portion, not much. You can only use it three times,” Xuan Che said. “The Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda is suppressing my spiritual power, so I can’t release more. Use it for now. If things get truly desperate, there’s still one more way to keep you alive.”

Lian Mu couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. Having a powerhouse on your side really was amazing.

“Thanks, Xuan Che. Once I get out of here, I’ll buy you lots of food to show my gratitude.”

“…You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

Lian Mu: “Where’s that fissure you mentioned? Hurry up and show me the way.”

She was all fired up and ready to go, but just before setting off, she suddenly realized—she really had gotten ahead of herself.