Chapter 86

"Can you let me stay a little longer? I have something I want to talk to Tuzhe and Zhuoqi about," Qin Lie said.

Xie Jingxuan glanced at him, frowned slightly, then nodded and said, "Ban Hong, come with me. I need to know the latest situation." She rode the Xuanming Beast and headed deeper into the stone forest.

In the rugged stone forest, some paths were difficult even for martial artists to walk, but the Xuanming Beast moved as if on flat ground, striding swiftly.

Ban Hong, leading a group of martial artists from the Senluo Hall, bowed to Liang Zhong and then followed Xie Jingxuan.

Liang Zhong stayed behind for the moment. He squinted his eyes, frowned, and scrutinized Gao Yu, his gaze fixed on the black smoke swirling around Gao Yu, as if considering something.

At this moment, Yan Ziquan and the injured from the Sui Bing Manor all had grim faces, supporting each other as they gathered together.

Yan Ziquan and Feng Kai's chests were drenched in blood, with deep wounds on their shoulders and abdomens. They were now scowling and busy bandaging themselves.

Yan Qingsong was the worst off.

He seemed to have not yet awakened from the illusion, his face pale, eyes vacant and terrified, and he was still muttering incomprehensible words.

Tuzhe and Zhuoqi's situation was not much better than Yan Ziquan's. They were also covered in wounds and busy treating their injuries.

However, unlike Yan Ziquan, Tuzhe and Zhuoqi were radiant, their faces filled with indescribable joy.

They tightly held the newly acquired spirit weapons—the long saber and the dragon bone whip—playing with them lovingly, unwilling to let go for a moment.

—as if they were holding their very lives!

"Qin Lie! This, this long saber..."

Tuzhe's eyes were bloodshot, looking at him deeply, his face full of excitement, wanting to say something but too agitated to speak coherently.

"What exactly happened?"

Zhuoqi stepped forward, heavily patting Qin Lie's shoulder, her beautiful face beaming with a full smile.

"Qin Lie, didn't Master Lu fail to truly refine the long saber and the dragon bone whip? How did they become reactivated in your hands?" The chubby boy, Kang Zhi, asked on behalf of the two, voicing their inner doubts.

Yan Ziquan and Feng Kai, who were treating their wounds, suddenly froze upon hearing Kang Zhi's words and also looked over.

"Reactivated?"

On the Shuiyue Sect side, Na and her companions were also stunned, their bright eyes focusing on Qin Lie, a question forming in their minds: Could it all be because of him?

"Before, the spirit array diagrams of the long saber and the dragon bone whip were incomplete. I, I had someone help complete them."

Halfway through his explanation, Qin Lie suddenly remembered Li Mu's warning, saying not to mention that he had personally completed the spirit array diagrams, as it would be too shocking and might cause unnecessary trouble.

"Someone helped complete the spirit array diagrams?" Tuzhe's entire face lit up. "That person must be the most outstanding weapon refiner! Master Lu couldn't perfectly fuse the spirit array diagrams, but he could complete them, and the effect... the effect is so, so incredible! That person is definitely an extraordinary weapon refiner!"

Tuzhe was a bit incoherent.

Because he really loved this long saber. He was now certain that this was the spirit weapon he had always dreamed of—a treasure specifically for him!

"His weapon refinement skills must surpass Master Lu. Otherwise, he couldn't have successfully completed the diagrams!" Zhuoqi was also completely sure, then asked in confusion, "Qin Lie, since you know such a person, why do you work as an assistant under Master Yao?"

"Uh, this, this..." Qin Lie stammered.

"Little brother, can you lend me the long saber for a look? I just want to take a quick look." On the other side, Liang Zhong seemed to remember something, his body flickering like a ghost from Gao Yu's side to here, frowning as he extended his hand to Tuzhe.

He was from the Senluo Hall, and even Ban Hong called him Mr. Liang, so Tuzhe didn't dare offend him. After hesitating for a moment, he obediently handed over the long saber.

Liang Zhong took the saber, squinted his eyes, and sensed it for a few seconds. His expression changed slightly, then he handed the long saber back to Tuzhe and turned to Zhuoqi, "Little girl, can I also take a look at the whip?"

"Be careful, don't break it." Zhuoqi reluctantly handed over the dragon bone whip, her movements cautious, treating it as if it were more important than her own life.

"Don't worry." Liang Zhong reassured her, took the whip, and squinted his eyes to inspect it, his eyes showing surprise before returning the dragon bone whip to Zhuoqi.

He didn't say much, nodded to the group, frowned, and walked back to Gao Yu's side, seemingly pondering something.

Soon, Liang Zhong seemed to have come to a conclusion, as if he had figured out the key.

"Let's go." Yan Ziquan, after a simple treatment of his wounds, stood up with a cold face, supporting the martial artists from the Sui Bing Manor, and headed out of the valley.

"Don't you want your things?" Na called out.

"The three second-rank spirit beasts in the valley were discovered by us first. Yan Qingsong was just following us and getting clues from us." Kang Zhi snorted, looking at the three spirit beast corpses, "So at least half of these spirit beasts belong to us, and have nothing to do with the Sui Bing Manor."

"Exactly!" Tuzhe's spirits lifted, his previous dejection gone, holding the starlit long saber, he declared arrogantly, "The share of the Sui Bing Manor will belong to us, the Xingyun Pavilion!"

"Tuzhe! You dare!" Yan Ziquan's eyes turned red, the martial artists from the Sui Bing Manor also had distorted faces, ready to continue the fight.

"What? Not convinced?" Zhuoqi drew the dragon bone whip, her phoenix eyes filled with a murderous aura, "Haven't you done this many times? In the past two months, how many spoils have you taken from us? Now it's our turn, and you can't handle it?"

With a flick of the dragon bone whip, a wind dragon coalesced, "If you're not convinced, ask my whip!"

Earlier, because Tuzhe and Zhuoqi were not a match for Yan Ziquan and Feng Kai, the Sui Bing Manor people had targeted Tuzhe and his group, deliberately trying to provoke them. Once Tuzhe and his group killed the spirit beasts, they immediately jumped out, claiming they had been chasing them first, forcing Tuzhe and his group to give up the spoils.

Now the situation had reversed, and Tuzhe and Zhuoqi finally had the upper hand, learning from the Sui Bing Manor and finally getting a chance to vent their frustration.

"Good! Very good!" Yan Ziquan's face was as cold as ice, staring at the two for a long time, then glanced at Qin Lie, nodded, and said, "Qin Lie, Qin Lie..."

He repeatedly called Qin Lie's name, leading Feng Kai and the martial artists from the Sui Bing Manor, heads hanging low, out of the valley.

Everyone could hear the deep hatred in his repeated calls of Qin Lie's name, and no one doubted that if Qin Lie ever fell into his hands, he would be treated with extreme cruelty.

The Sui Bing Manor people left the valley.

"What do you think?" Zhuoqi suddenly looked at Na.

"No problem." Na shrugged gracefully, "We were only supposed to share some of the materials from the Poison Scale Scorpion and the Golden Mane Ape with the Sui Bing Manor. Since they have no objections and have given up, what can we, the Shuiyue Sect, say?"

"That's good." Zhuoqi, who didn't seem to like Na, snorted coldly and nodded slightly.

"Qin Lie! You came just in time!"

Tuzhe, Kang Zhi, and the others finally became excited, each taking turns to tightly embrace Qin Lie, expressing their excitement in a manly way.

Soon, Tuzhe, Kang Zhi, and Chu Peng all took turns to give Qin Lie a strong hug.

Zhuoqi giggled, walking up to Qin Lie in front of the others' teasing gazes, and also hugged him tightly. Her lips close to Qin Lie's ear, she whispered, "Thank you..." then smiled and let go, her cheeks tinged with a blush.

"What about that person from the Senluo Hall? Why did you come with her?" Tuzhe then asked.

"Where are you going, Gao Yu?" Qin Lie was about to answer when he suddenly saw Gao Yu, with a grim face, bypassing Liang Zhong and heading in the direction Xie Jingxuan and Ban Hong had left. He quickly left Tuzhe and the others and came to Gao Yu's side, "What are you doing here?"

"Boy, you'd better behave yourself." Liang Zhong glared at Gao Yu, his voice cold.

In the entire Xingyun Pavilion, Gao Yu only had Qin Lie as a friend, and their friendship was formed on Tianlang Mountain. When dealing with Tuzhe, Zhuoqi, and the others, Gao Yu always had a cold face and ignored them, giving no one any face.

However, when Qin Lie came over, the coldness on Gao Yu's face finally eased, and he began to explain to Qin Lie.

"I was active with Elder Ye and others on the outskirts of Bingyan City, hunting high-level spirit beasts. A few brothers died when we killed a second-rank Ice Soul Python. The Ice Soul Python was also slain."

"At that time, a dark, black cloud floated above us. That thing sucked away the soul of the Ice Soul Python, and the souls of the brothers who died in the Punishment Hall were also taken away by the black cloud..."

"You know, the spirit technique I practice is quite special. Others might not feel it, but I could clearly sense it."

"Later, I noticed that after each battle with spirit beasts, a black cloud would float in the sky. After the battle, the black cloud would suck away the souls of the spirit beasts and martial artists that hadn't yet dissipated. The last time, a brother from the Punishment Hall was only severely injured, not dead, but his soul... was also sucked away."

"Based on my sensitivity to souls, I chased the black cloud all the way here, to the stone forest. When I arrived, the souls of these three spirit beasts had also been sucked away by the black cloud. The black cloud... went deeper into the stone forest. I want to see what's happening, I want to find out what's going on!"

Gao Yu explained the reason.

Tuzhe, Zhuoqi, and the girls from the Shuiyue Sect all had slightly changed expressions as they listened to Gao Yu's explanation. They all felt a chill, feeling uneasy about Gao Yu's words.

"Hearing you say that, I remember. When we fought these three spirit beasts, there seemed to be a black cloud floating in the sky," Na exclaimed in surprise.

Black cloud? A mysterious existence that sucks away souls?

Qin Lie also felt a chill. He knew that both martial artists and spirit beasts have souls, and as their strength increases, their souls become stronger. At a certain level, martial artists need to specifically cultivate their souls, and the souls of strong individuals can even leave their bodies...

However, once martial artists or spirit beasts die, their souls gradually dissipate and return to the world.

The black cloud could gather the souls before they dissipated, which was quite eerie, making everyone feel uneasy.

Surprisingly, Liang Zhong, who had previously disliked Gao Yu, now had a slightly brightened expression, "You said you chased the black cloud from the outskirts of Bingyan City? Can you... sense its movements?"

"Yes." Gao Yu nodded, then pointed in a direction deeper into the stone forest. After a moment of contemplation, his eyes trembled slightly, also feeling a bit uneasy, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "It's in there, in the direction I'm pointing, and there are many more of those things!"

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a chill, looking in the direction Gao Yu pointed.

—That was the direction Xie Jingxuan and Ban Hong had left earlier.

(To be continued)

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