Chapter 79

After hiding Ge Pi well, Lu Xiaoding quickly ran down the mountain along the path she came from. She had to get the former sect leader, whose name she had forgotten to ask, out before the egg hatched.

Although her soul was at the Spirit Entry stage, her body was only equivalent to a cultivator at the Qi Condensation stage. She could exert full power using spirit techniques within the Spirit Realm, but not outside. Facing a late-stage Core Formation cultivator alone, she didn't even want to try just thinking about it.

The path Ge Pi chose was good; apart from the two people she encountered earlier, she saw no one else. Lu Xiaoding quickly went down the mountain path and soon arrived at the edge of the forest. Yellow toxic gas floated in the forest, and an invisible protective spirit array protected the Ghost Spirit Sect, preventing the toxic smoke from seeping in.

She stared at the forest for a moment, then stepped through the protective spirit array and walked in.

"Such toxicity, this is really a good thing." The toxic smoke was so pungent that as soon as she entered the forest, the toxic smoke in the air made her want to cough. If her body were not different, she would have been in great pain and might have wanted to end her own life.

She came to confirm the effect of the toxic smoke. Just one breath was enough to find it effective. If the protective spirit array were destroyed, the toxic smoke would drift in. At that time, the Ghost Spirit Sect would panic, and Ge Pi's master would certainly not have time to subdue the egg and would come out to deal with the situation.

She originally thought there would be unknown poisonous plants here, but she didn't have time to search for them and could only regretfully shake her head and plan to return. Just as she turned around, a sigh suddenly came from her ear, making her stop.

"Is there someone here?" Lu Xiaoding turned around and re-examined the forest shrouded in yellow toxic smoke. She heard another very light sigh, confirming that something was here, and it was probably not a human.

Could it be a soul? She felt incredibly lucky. If she could consume more, she might advance to the mid-stage Spirit Entry. The attraction of a soul was greater than stealing the egg. She glanced back at the Ghost Spirit Sect, thinking that she would just take a look and return immediately, and should be able to make it back in time, so she ventured into the forest.

There were no demonic beasts in this forest, only some large poisonous insects. Lu Xiaoding didn't have time to ponder which parts of their bodies could be used for alchemy; instead, she quickly searched for the source of the sigh. Soon, she came to a black, muddy pond. The sighing sound came from the mud, seemingly from below.

"This place is too dirty, even worse than Mumu. Is there no clean and fresh soul?" Looking at the black pond that continuously bubbled, Lu Xiaoding complained. As a girl, she found it uncomfortable to have to go into the dirty water to find something to eat, just like a bug.

She sighed and stepped into the pond. Her feet immediately sank in, as the mud was so thick that it seemed to suck her in.

"Don't be too deep, I don't want to dive down. This mud is too scary." Muttering to herself, Lu Xiaoding reached into the pond and soon grabbed something. She quickly pulled it out and saw a blackened skull. She casually threw it away and continued to search in the mud.

There were too many things in this black pond, mostly bones, both human and animal. Besides these, there were only some broken magical artifacts that disintegrated as soon as they were pulled out. As she continued to search, she suddenly realized something was wrong. Looking down, she saw that the clothes she had just changed into after coming out of the fire pit were already corroded by the black water.

"My clothes are full of holes. This water is so powerful. I'll take some back." The sleeves and pant legs were already corroded. She took out a large bottle, added a layer of soul power to it, and filled it with black water, then put it away and continued to search.

Suddenly, Lu Xiaoding's hand touched something, and her finger felt a sharp pain, as if it had been pricked by something sharp. She quickly pulled her hand out, shook off the water, and examined her index finger closely. There was a small mark, almost piercing through.

It seems this thing is very sharp. My body is as hard as a tripod, and to leave a mark is quite impressive.

The thing below must be good. She extended both hands into the mud and grabbed it. She growled and pulled hard, dragging out a long object from the mud. Both hands were already raised high, but much of it was still in the mud.

"What is this? Is it a snake's corpse?" Lu Xiaoding dragged it to the shore and saw a clean rainwater pit nearby. She pulled the object over and, taking out a pot from the tripod, filled it with water and started to clean it.

After cleaning it, she could see clearly that it was a bone sword, completely white and twice her length. The blade looked like fish bones, with the edges covered in bone spines. In such a strongly corrosive water, it still remained completely white.

Just as she was about to touch the sword, the black pond suddenly began to boil, turning into a clear lake.

Lu Xiaoding stared at the pond, then dragged the long sword and threw it into the water. The water quickly turned black. When she pulled it out, the water turned clear again. She found it interesting and repeated the process several times, confirming that the corrosive black water was due to the sword.

"This is too interesting. Can't I just create black water whenever I want? Okay, let's play one more time." The sword was so interesting that she dragged it again, intending to throw it into the water.

"Are you done playing? What do you really want to do?" A voice suddenly rose in anger, clearly having endured for a long time and finally unable to bear it.

Lu Xiaoding, holding the bone sword with both hands, turned her head to the side and coldly snorted, "Tch, you finally came out. I thought you were pretending to be dead."

"I don't want to eat you. Please put me back. You are not a cultivator and cannot possess me." A white shadow rose from the bone sword, slowly forming a human shape. It was a man with long white hair, wearing a black-and-white robe, with a melancholic look and a calm demeanor. His eyes seemed blind, looking elsewhere as he spoke.

"Hey, I'm over here." Lu Xiaoding waved at him, making him look over. His eyes were really skewed.

The man did not look over but lowered his head and said sadly, "Before I meet my sword master, I will not look at anyone."

"Don't lie. How would you know I'm not your sword master? I have a body now. Even if I was a spirit before, I can still be a human." Lu Xiaoding said, clearly annoyed. This was the one who had been sighing earlier, and now that she had cleaned him up, he still wouldn't look at her.

"I know without looking. You have none of the aura I seek." The bone sword spirit said indifferently, looking up at the sky and sighing lightly, "The man I seek must have a body full of yin energy and practice evil techniques. The evil cultivators around here have been here for over two hundred years, but none of them are above the Core Formation stage, making me wait so long."

Lu Xiaoding interjected, "Your requirements are really low. You don't even require talent, just a Core Formation evil cultivator. No, you also require it to be a man."

"You don't understand. As an extremely yin sword, cultivators with low cultivation cannot withstand me. They will die if they hold me. And those at the Nascent Soul stage have already formed their Nascent Souls, so my yin energy cannot combine with theirs, greatly affecting my power." The man, though not feminine, had a melancholic look, as if he had been waiting for his lover for too long and was almost in despair.

Listening to this, Lu Xiaoding looked up at the Ghost Spirit Sect, where there were many Core Formation evil cultivators. But because of the toxic smoke, they never came over. If it weren't for her ability to hear the soul's voice, no one would have noticed him just by his sighs.

So she asked, "Are you really going to stay in this black pond and wait for your sword master? I think even if you wait a thousand years, you won't find the person you want. Anyone would jump into the mud to find you like I did."

"This is a test. Without the will and luck to do this, how can they deserve me?" The man said, unmoved.

"Ha!" Lu Xiaoding covered her mouth and laughed. The man almost couldn't resist turning his head but finally held back, his voice slightly dissatisfied, "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing because you're clearly stuck in this pond, unable to move, and that's why the evil cultivators ignore you. But you still insist it's a test. If you're not convinced, I'll throw you back in, and you can show me how you walk out." Lu Xiaoding pointed at the pond and laughed.

The man finally looked at her, his eyes full of resentment, "So what? As long as they can get close, I can reveal myself to them. A treasure sword with a spirit, even if the water is toxic, they will come into the water to find me."

"Don't think that way. Evil cultivators are very cunning, though there are a few fools. They won't come into the water; they'll think you're trying to kill them. This toxic water would have killed anyone else long ago, except for me." Lu Xiaoding said with a seasoned tone, "They will use spells to get you out or directly beat you half to death, then use their divine sense to forcibly suppress you, making you a slave."

"What are you talking about? A spirit is supposed to obey its master, whether it joins them willingly or not, it will be suppressed by divine sense." The man frowned and said.

Lu Xiaoding looked at him in surprise, suddenly remembering this. It was indeed true. To control and prevent others from stealing, cultivators would inject their divine sense into the spirit. She had forgotten this after being human for so long.

But she pointed around and said, "Your location is too remote. Since you were thrown here, no cultivators have probably come. The human bones in the water, I suspect, were killed here before you."

The man looked at her for a long time, finally lowering his eyes and saying, "Can you take me out and help me find a sword master?"

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