Chapter 53

"Perhaps that's true." The old man with white hair sighed, clearly unwilling to continue discussing the topic.

At this moment, the group had already entered the stone house, and they walked down a sloping stone staircase leading underground, heading deeper in.

Liu Ming closely followed Zhu Chi, constantly observing everything around him.

The entire staircase was built with bluestone, and at regular intervals, there were stone lamp stands on one side of the wall, illuminating the area brightly.

When they had walked about thirty zhang underground, the path suddenly opened up, leading them into a spacious hall with passages leading in all directions.

Each side of the hall had an open, dilapidated stone door, leading to unknown places.

The young man leading the way turned left without hesitation and entered a passage.

However, after the group had not walked far, they encountered another identical hall with several passages connecting to it.

This place turned out to be a small, man-made underground maze.

However, the disciples of Jiuzhao Mountain were clearly well-versed in this place. The guide led Liu Ming and the others through a series of turns and soon appeared before a purple-red copper door.

When Zhu Chi and Daoist Zhong saw the copper door, their expressions changed slightly.

With a "creak," the originally tightly closed copper door was slowly pushed open by two Jiuzhao Mountain disciples, who seemed to be exerting great effort, as if the door weighed thousands of pounds.

The moment the copper door opened, a wave of scorching heat rolled out, startling the ManGui Sect disciples who were closely following behind.

When Zhu Chi sensed the scorching heat from behind the door, he frowned but then walked in without hesitation, followed by Daoist Zhong.

Liu Ming closely followed and entered the copper door. After looking around, his face showed a hint of surprise.

This was an underground cave several acres in size, with the ground covered in bluestone slabs. Faintly visible around were some light red crystals, and at the center stood a red fruit tree about ten feet tall, bearing over thirty fist-sized green fruits.

The entire tree was enveloped in a pale blue light curtain, and from the dark red soil beneath the roots, a continuous stream of scorching heat emerged, making the cave feel like a giant furnace.

However, neither Zhu Chi nor Daoist Zhong showed any surprise at this scene.

After staring at the fruit tree for a moment, Zhu Chi slowly said, "It seems our initial prediction was correct. Not long after the spirit fruits ripen, the underground fire will erupt. What a pity for this spirit tree. Otherwise, if we waited a few more years, we could have obtained more Tianqiong fruits."

"If we hadn't seen this situation, neither of us would have easily given up on this spirit tree. There would be no polite distribution of spirit fruits today," Dazhi said with a smile.

"Once the underground fire erupts, Zuo Fu Jiao Island will cease to exist. The spirit tree has been planted here for many years, and without the nourishment of the underground fire, it will wither and turn to ashes instantly. What is there to fight over! I have already checked, and there are thirty-three spirit fruits on the tree, just as before, with no shortage. Let's discuss the competition now," Daoist Zhong said.

"The competition among our disciples doesn't need to be too complicated. Since there are thirty-three spirit fruits, let's divide them into three batches, each with eleven fruits. The winners can personally pick them. Of course, this is just a competition. If any disciple is seriously injured or killed during the fight, we can intervene. However, once we intervene, it will be considered an automatic loss for the disciple," the old man with the wooden crown said, who rarely spoke.

"Dafang Daoist seems to have thought this through thoroughly. I have no objections. However, you two have already promised not to allow your disciples to use high-level puppets. If any of your disciples use third-level or higher mechanical puppets, they will be considered to have lost the competition," Zhu Chi said, his eyes flashing.

"Of course, there's no problem with that," Dazhi readily agreed.

After a few more words, the old man with the wooden crown stepped on the ground, his toes sinking several inches deep. Then, with a sudden movement, he drew a circle about an acre in size on the seemingly solid stone ground.

This left Liu Ming and the others in awe.

The old man, though full of wrinkles and extremely old, seemed to have feet that were not made of flesh and blood.

"Alright, those who admit defeat, step out of the circle, or lose their ability to move, will be considered to have lost. Now, each side can send a disciple into the circle," the old man with the wooden crown said, stepping out of the circle.

As soon as he finished speaking, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl in short sleeves stepped out from among the Jiuzhao Mountain disciples. She wore a yellow leather bag around her waist, had seven or eight small braids, and had bright eyes and a slightly upturned mouth, looking very playful.

"Yucheng, the opponent is also at the initial stage of the Spirit Apprentice. You go first and try," Zhu Chi said, looking at the girl.

This was not the time for cunning. If they sent a mid-stage Spirit Apprentice like Xiao Feng or Liu Ming, they would likely win the first round, but it would mean giving up the next two rounds. This would damage their reputation and not maximize their benefits, which was not what Zhu Chi and Daoist Zhong wanted.

Yucheng agreed and walked out, his face showing a hint of excitement. As soon as he stepped into the circle, his aura expanded, and a layer of yellow light appeared on his body.

The girl opposite him smiled and suddenly reached into her waist, throwing out a yellow ball.

With a series of "creaks," the yellow ball, upon hitting the ground, expanded and transformed into a black python over six feet long. From its black, shiny scales, it was clearly a puppet beast.

"Go!"

The girl made a hand seal and pointed at her forehead, then shouted.

With a "puff," the puppet beast, with a powerful tail slap, shot forward like an arrow.

"Good move!"

After being tutored by the scholar and others for some time, Yucheng was no longer unfamiliar with puppet beasts. Seeing this, he was not afraid at all. Instead, he bent down, pressed his hand on the ground, and several yellow spirit patterns appeared on his arm.

With a muffled sound, a large bluestone slab rose from the ground, forming a stone wall in front of him.

The girl's expression changed slightly, but the black python did not dodge and crashed into the stone slab.

With a "boom," the stone slab shattered into dust, and the black python landed on the ground.

But the moment the puppet beast landed, it opened its mouth, and a spray of cold light shot out.

It was a cluster of silver needles, each as fine as a cow's hair, piercing through the dust at an incredible speed and nailing into something with a "thud."

Hearing this, the girl's face lit up, and she changed her hand seal to control the puppet beast to attack again. Above her head, a yellow light flashed, and a head-sized, earth-yellow stone block appeared, falling heavily.

The girl was startled and twisted her waist, the stone block narrowly missing her shoulder and landing beside her.

But at that moment, with a "whoosh," a red fireball shot out from the dust, instantly reaching the girl from Jiuzhao Mountain.

The girl's face turned pale, and she only had time to raise her arm in front of her.

With a "boom," the fireball exploded, engulfing the girl.

"Ha ha!"

Yucheng laughed loudly and walked out from the dust. At this moment, he was covered in a thick layer of earth-yellow soil, as if wearing an earth armor.

The silver needles shot by the puppet beast were all embedded in the earth armor, leaving him unharmed.

Seeing this, Liu Ming's eyebrows raised slightly, feeling a bit regretful.

This earth armor technique was a unique spell of the Earth Yin Gong. Even those practicing other cultivation methods would find it difficult to master it effectively.

"Brother, you're laughing too soon."

A hint of anger came from the flames, and with a "whoosh," the flames were swept away by a strong wind, revealing the girl's figure.

At this moment, she had a small, vermilion-yellow shield on her arm and held a red talisman in her other hand, which emitted a faint red light, protecting her. There was no sign of being burned by the flames.

Seeing the talisman in the girl's hand, Liu Ming's eyes widened slightly.

Although he had not been in the cultivation world for long, he knew the rarity of talismans that could store spells.

Apart from a few reusable talismans, one-use attack and defense talismans were rare even among ordinary Spirit Masters.

"Avoid Fire Talisman! The two of you must have spared no expense for this competition. The materials needed to make this talisman are very hard to find, and even experienced talisman makers might not be able to create one in a hundred tries. You actually provided it to your disciple," Zhu Chi's face turned grim when he saw the talisman in the girl's hand.

"Hehe, the two of you have misunderstood. This talisman wasn't given by us. Do you know what the girl's surname is?" Dazhi asked, not surprised by the situation, and chuckled.

"What is her surname?" Zhu Chi was somewhat surprised.

"Her surname is Nan!" The old man with white hair replied, nodding his head.

"Surname Nan? Could this girl be related to Master Nan?" Zhu Chi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and exclaimed.

"Ha ha, Zhu Daoist, you finally figured it out. This girl is indeed a granddaughter of Master Nan, whom he dotes on very much. She only joined our sect because she likes puppetry. So it's quite normal for her to have some talismans for protection," Dazhi replied calmly.

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