Chapter 658
Nangong Wan drew a red line on the map with her fingertips: "The route is basically the same as our original direction, but we have to take a more dangerous detour." She looked up at Fu Shaoping, her purple eyes flickering with excitement, "Do you want to go and take a look?"
Fu Shaoping pondered for a moment, and suddenly laughed: "The Five Poisons are probably lying in ambush here for this. Since they are so generous, how can we let them down?"
The two smiled at each other and carefully put the map away. The setting sun stretched their shadows very long. What awaited them ahead was a more dangerous journey, but also a greater opportunity.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Fu Shaoping suddenly noticed the tattoo on the scarred man's broken arm - it was a strange eye pattern, and the pupil was in the shape of the Fallen Star Valley.
"It seems that things are not that simple." He murmured. Nangong Wan also looked solemn: "Xuan Yin Patriarch, I seem to have seen this name in some ancient book."
As the night deepened, the two decided to rest for the night at the edge of the swamp. Beside the campfire, Fu Shaoping used the Taixu Hanpo to regulate Nangong Wan's internal breath. When his spiritual power entered her meridians, that wonderful resonance appeared again. The two golden pills echoed each other across the air, and the cultivation speed was more than three times faster than usual.
"Yin and Yang complement each other." Nangong Wan whispered softly, with a blush on her face. Fu Shaoping also felt his heartbeat quicken, and the closeness brought by the resonance of souls made him both happy and terrified.
In the distance, pairs of scarlet eyes loomed in the darkness, but they were afraid of the breath of ice and fire and dared not approach. This night was destined not to be peaceful.
The fog outside the Shiwan Mountains has not yet dissipated. Fu Shaoping put away the defensive formation he set up last night, and the ice crystals condensed on his fingertips reflected colorful light under the morning sun. Nangong Wan was counting his luggage, and the dancing embers of the campfire were reflected in his purple eyes.
"According to the map, we need to cross this swamp and then climb over two peaks before we can reach the real entrance to the Shiwan Mountains." Nangong Wan drew an arc on the map with his fingertips. "Although the route marked by Wu Du San Ren is a long way around, there are three red circles along the way. I guess there must be something hidden there."
Fu Shaoping took the map and looked at the dark red marks. The tattoo he found on the scarred man's arm last night made him feel uneasy. The pupil pattern that looked like the Falling Star Valley seemed to have some connection with the "Xuan Yin Ancestor" mentioned by Nangong Wan.
"Be careful!" Nangong Wan suddenly shouted, and the red flame whip on his waist was like a spirit snake coming out of a hole. A black shadow suddenly rose from the swamp mud, and the splashing venom was dispersed in mid-air by the whip shadow, making a hissing corrosion sound.
Fu Shaoping swung his sword and twelve ice needles shot out in a fan shape. As soon as the crocodile-like monster showed its scaly back, the ice needles pierced its eyes and it howled miserably. The swamp suddenly boiled, and seven or eight similar black shadows pounced from different directions.
"It's the armored poisonous crocodile!" Nangong Wan spun around and leaped up, his long whip creating a ring of fire in the air. The three monsters hit the ring of fire, and their hard scales were instantly charred. Fu Shaoping took the opportunity to make a hand gesture, and the swamp surface formed a layer of ice at a speed visible to the naked eye, restricting the movement of the remaining monsters.
The battle ended very quickly. Nangong Wan wiped the sweat from her forehead and squatted down to examine the corpse of the monster: "The gallbladder of an adult iron-armored poisonous crocodile is a good material for refining poison-proof pills. These ones have actually produced poison beads." She skillfully cut open the monster's abdomen and took out three round beads with a faint green glow.
Fu Shaoping was collecting ice needles, and he raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "It seems that Wudu Sanren has done his homework. This mutant poisonous crocodile usually only lives in..." He suddenly stopped, and the tip of the sword picked up a piece of metal embedded in the crocodile's scales. There was a familiar eye pattern engraved on it, and the pupil was slightly bulging, like some kind of mechanism.
The two looked at each other, and saw solemnity in each other's eyes. Nangong Wan took the metal piece and gently rotated the pupil area. With a click, the metal piece split into two halves, revealing half of the jade slip hidden inside.
"It's the recipe!" She quickly browsed through the contents of the jade slip, "The latter part of the Five Poisons Body Tempering Technique was deliberately destroyed."
Fu Shaoping looked thoughtfully into the depths of the swamp: "It seems that someone deliberately led us here. These poisonous crocodiles are probably specially bred." He suddenly raised his hand and sent out a stream of spiritual power. The sound of breaking branches was heard in the distance, but when his spiritual sense swept over, there was no one.
Nangong Wan put away the jade slip and wrapped the red flame whip around his wrist like a bracelet: "If an enemy comes, we will fight him. Since someone has given us a gift, we will accept it."
After passing through the swamp, the terrain gradually rose. Towering ancient trees blocked out the sun, and the air was filled with a strange smell of decay and vitality. Nangong Wan was walking in front, and suddenly stopped, his nose twitching slightly: "Is there a smell of blood mixed with the fragrance of purple spirit grass?"
Fu Shaoping immediately understood, and the Great Void Cold Soul condensed into a thin blade in his palm. The two of them moved forward silently, and through the gaps in the bushes, they saw a horrifying scene - five silver-white wolf-shaped monsters were sharing a monk's corpse, and the corpse was holding a purple-glowing spiritual herb tightly in his hand.
"It's the Moon Shadow Wolves!" Nangong Wan transmitted the message, "Judging from their fur color, they are at least in the late stage of foundation building. The leader is probably at the level of fake elixir. The crystal cores on their foreheads are excellent materials for refining magic tools."
Fu Shaoping observed the terrain and suddenly pointed behind the wolf pack: "Is there any reflection in the cracks in the rocks?" Sure enough, on the moss-covered rock wall, several crystal clear Ganoderma lucidum-like plants were vaguely visible.
“Ice Heart Jade Marrow Ganoderma!” Nangong Wan’s breathing stagnated. “This is one of the main ingredients for refining the Condensation Pill. It’s hard to find in the market.”
As they were talking, the leading Moon Shadow Wolf suddenly looked up, its silver-white pupils staring straight at their hiding place. Fu Shaoping thought it was not good, and pulled Nangong Wan back violently. Dozens of bone spurs suddenly pierced the ground where they were standing. If they were a little slower, the two of them would have been pierced like a sieve.
"They have already discovered us!" Nangong Wan swung out the red flame whip, and the flames turned into a phoenix shadow in the air. Three moon shadow wolves pounced at the same time, but turned into afterimages the moment they came into contact with the flames. The real attack came from above - the leader wolf's claws glowed coldly, and went straight for Fu Shaoping's head.
At the critical moment, ice crystal lotuses exploded all over Fu Shaoping's body. The wolf's claws collided with the ice lotus, making a sound of metal clashing. Nangong Wan took the opportunity to make a spell, and seven fire talismans were arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper, temporarily trapping the other four wolves.
"Their illusion can interfere with the mind!" A trace of blood flowed from the corner of Fu Shaoping's mouth. The hasty defense just now made his internal breath disordered. Nangong Wan flashed and stood back to back with him, whispering: "Use that trick."
The two of them activated their golden elixir at the same time, and the ice and fire spiritual power intertwined in the air to form a Tai Chi pattern. Just as the Moon Shadow Wolf Pack was about to launch a second round of attack, they suddenly froze collectively - all illusions in the field formed by the yin and yang energies were broken. The leader wolf was horrified to find that its most proud clone technique had failed.
The battle soon became one-sided. Although the Moon Shadow Wolf, which had lost its illusion advantage, was incredibly fast, it could not withstand the power of the combined attack of ice and fire. When the last wolf fell, Fu Shaoping suddenly pressed Nangong Wan's shoulder and said, "Leave it intact!" Nangong Wan understood, and the flame on the tip of the whip turned gentle, gently tapping the leading wolf's brow. The monster whimpered and fell to the ground, and the crystal core on its forehead fell off intact. Fu Shaoping carefully caught it, and saw the moon shadow flowing in the walnut-sized crystal core, which was beautiful.
When they were collecting the spoils, they found half a hide map in the dead monk's storage bag, with several red circles marked on it similar to the map of Wu Du San Ren. What was even more surprising was that there were as many as seven Ice Heart Jade Marrow Ganoderma in the cracks of the rock, three of which were already mature to the extreme, with Tai Chi patterns naturally formed on the ganoderma umbrellas.
"The yin and yang of the Jadeite Ganoderma." Fu Shaoping picked it carefully. "No wonder these Moon Shadow Wolves are guarding here. They rely on absorbing the spiritual energy emitted by the Ganoderma to practice illusion."
Nangong Wan suddenly exclaimed, and fished out a jade token engraved with runes from deep in the crevice. "This looks like some kind of pass? Is there Xuanyin Pavilion engraved on the back?"
Fu Shaoping's pupils shrank slightly. The pattern on the jade token was exactly the same as the scarred man's tattoo, only more detailed and complete. He put the two things side by side, and the gap fit perfectly.
"Someone is playing a big chess game." Nangong Wan put away the jade card, and the fire in his purple eyes flickered, "and these chess pieces are leading us to the depths of the Ten Thousand Mountains."
The third encounter took place at noon the next day. They were resting by a waterfall when Nangong Wan suddenly noticed an abnormal golden glow at the bottom of the pool. Fu Shaoping had just used his Ice Soul Qi to probe into the water when the entire pool suddenly boiled and a giant golden-scaled python as thick as a tree trunk broke out of the water!
"Golden Line Dragon Python!" Nangong Wan screamed and jumped back, the rock where he was standing was crushed into powder by the python's tail. This monster had grown a single horn, and the embryonic form of four claws could be vaguely seen on its abdomen, which was clearly a sign that it was about to transform into a dragon.
Suddenly, a magic array lighted up around the waterfall, trapping them and the giant python in a space of a hundred feet in radius. Fu Shaoping understood instantly: "It's a trap! Someone used a magic array to trap this dragon python that was about to transform into a dragon, and waited until it ran out of energy before harvesting it."
Before he finished speaking, the dragon python opened its mouth and spewed out golden poisonous mist. Nangong Wan swung his whip in a circle, and the flame temporarily blocked the poisonous mist outside, but the spiritual light on the whip was dimming at a speed visible to the naked eye. Seeing this, Fu Shaoping immediately pinched his fingers to condense an ice wall, but found that the spiritual power was sluggish - this poisonous mist could actually corrode the meridians of the cultivator!
"The horn on its head has not yet fully formed," Nangong Wan said hurriedly, "If you can cut it off, the poisonous fog will dissipate!" As she said this, she was about to rush forward. Fu Shaoping grabbed her and said, "Wait! This dragon python's eyes are not right."
Sure enough, although the giant python attacked fiercely, its golden vertical pupils were full of pain. Fu Shaoping risked his spiritual sense and found a circle of black chains on the dragon python's neck that almost cut into its flesh and blood. The chains were engraved with runes similar to the Xuanyin Jade Plate.
Nangong Wan also discovered something unusual: "Someone is using evil magic to turn it into a dragon!" She suddenly took out the Moon Shadow Wolf Crystal Core she got yesterday from her storage bag, "Try this!"
Fu Shaoping understood immediately. When Nangong Wan threw the crystal core into the air, he shot out three ice spirit needles at the same time. The crystal core exploded in front of the dragon python's eyes, and the giant python's movements were obviously stagnant in the moonlight-like light spots all over the sky. Taking this opportunity, Fu Shaoping turned into a stream of light, and the Taixu cold spirit condensed into a thin thread, accurately cutting into the gap of the black chain.
The moment the chain broke, the dragon python let out a deafening roar. Surprisingly, it did not continue to attack, but rolled over in pain, with its golden scales falling off. Nangong Wan was about to attack again, but was stopped by Fu Shaoping: "Look at its horns!"
The horn was melting and retracting back into the python's head. Half a minute later, the originally ferocious dragon python actually degenerated back into the appearance of an ordinary golden python, weakly coiled by the pool, with the fierce light in its eyes completely faded.
Fu Shaoping approached carefully and found that the wound on the python's neck was constantly oozing black liquid. He took a jade bottle to collect some of it, and the liquid immediately corroded the bottom of the bottle. "It's the dark evil energy," he said solemnly, "someone forcibly injected this sinister energy into the monster's body to accelerate its evolution."
Nangong Wan squatted down, and a gentle flame appeared in his palm. The python retreated cautiously at first, but was soon attracted by the vitality contained in the flames and took the initiative to move the wound closer. As the black air was burned and purified, the spirituality in the python's eyes became more and more obvious.
"It remembers us," Nangong Wan said softly, "Demons understand the distinction between gratitude and resentment better than humans." As if to confirm her words, the golden python slowly swam back to the pool, and after a moment it came back with three golden pearl-like objects in its beak, and gently placed them at the feet of the two.
"Dragon Python Pearl!" Fu Shaoping picked up the pearl in shock. This was the essence of a dragon python that could only produce one in a hundred years, and it could cure all kinds of poisons. Suddenly, a golden light shone brightly at the bottom of the pool. It turned out that there was a patch of golden silk algae growing there, which was another main ingredient for refining the Ningyuan Pill.
After leaving the waterfall area, the terrain gradually became flat. In the distance, smoke rose from the valley, which was the "Wanling Market" marked on the map. As the two of them walked to the foot of the mountain, Fu Shaoping suddenly pressed the hilt of the sword: "It smells bloody, very fresh."
Nangong Wan narrowed his eyes, suddenly whipped the whip to wrap around Fu Shaoping's waist, and moved him sideways rapidly. The place where he was standing was full of poisoned steel needles, and the tails of the needles were still trembling slightly. Eight men in black appeared from the treetops and behind the rocks, and surrounded him.
"Leave the storage bag behind, and I'll spare your bodies." The leader had a hoarse voice, and wore a bronze mask with a ghost face. Fu Shaoping's mind swept over them, and his heart trembled - this leader of the robbery cultivators was actually in the middle stage of the golden elixir, and the other seven were all above the late stage of the foundation building.
Nangong Wan sneered: "What a big tone." The red flame whip exploded into nine sparks in the air, and a firebird flew out from each spark, rushing towards the enemies around. The robbery cultivators were obviously well-trained. Three of them formed a formation for defense, and four attacked from tricky angles. The leader directly offered a black banner, and dozens of evil spirits rushed out in the whistling wind.
Fu Shaoping changed his sword technique, and his icy spirit turned into snow flying all over the sky. When the evil spirits touched the snowflakes, they screamed and turned into smoke. The leader was furious when he saw this, and the black flag was shaken, spraying out thick blood mist, which instantly covered an area of 50 feet.
"Blood Evil Formation!" Nangong Wan exclaimed, and hurriedly held her breath. This blood mist not only corrodes magic weapons, but also reverses the meridians of those who inhale it. As soon as she propped up the flame barrier, she heard Fu Shaoping groan - three robbery cultivators took the opportunity to attack, and one of them had already cut his back with a scimitar.
At the critical moment, the two people's golden cores suddenly resonated. Nangong Wan felt that the spiritual power in his body was uncontrollably flowing towards Fu Shaoping, and the other party's Taixu cold soul also poured in. The strange energy of ice and fire flowed through the meridians, and unexpectedly gathered outside the body into a phoenix shadow that was half ice and half fire.
(End of this chapter)