After making sure that there was no one else around, Chu Qi walked in the direction of the voice.
He had just been chased by poisonous insects and had no time to pay attention to his surroundings, so he did not notice any other cultivators within a hundred feet.
Now that there is no interference from the poisonous insects, the man's location is very clear.
On a tall tree, a monk in a light golden robe was sitting carefully on the treetop, surrounded by a barrier halo that only defensive spiritual weapons could have.
This person was Luo Xin, who had met Chu Qi several times.
Luo Xin left a deep impression on Chu Qi. Whenever Luo Xin spoke, everyone would be surprised by his words.
"I'm here, fellow Taoist!"
Seeing Chu Qi coming to find him, Luo Xin stood on the treetop and waved to Chu Qi happily.
"Fellow Daoist, why are you so high up on the treetop?" Chu Qi asked in confusion.
When Chu Qi heard the voice just now, he felt a little strange. Normally, most of the cultivators who were training in the secret realm would meet on the ground.
Luo Xin did not take the usual approach and actually stood on the treetop to greet Chu Qi.
"Ah, because there are a lot of reptiles and spiders on the ground, there is nowhere for me to live." Luo Xin said.
He had been trapped here for three days and couldn't move. Now he finally met a monk, and he was an "acquaintance". He was so moved that he couldn't be more touched.
Thinking of this, Luo Xin opened up and began to pour out his troubles to Chu Qi.
"Fellow Daoist, you have no idea how terrible the poisonous insects in this swamp are. The ants are as big as a palm. My God, this is the first time I have seen such big ants in my life. Ants can bite people. If I hadn't brought a lot of defensive spiritual tools, I would have been bitten to death long ago."
Chu Qi: “…”
Although the poisonous insect did look a bit creepy, Luo Xin was not reduced to the point where he was completely powerless to fight back.
After a moment of silence, Chu Qi asked, "You are a cultivator in the foundation-building stage, and the strength of the poisonous insect is less than the first level. Logically..."
The rest of the words were not finished, but the implication was clear.
"But I'm not a sword cultivator. I'm just a magic cultivator."
Luo Xin was able to defend himself loudly at first, but his voice gradually became quieter as he spoke, "Besides, I am allergic to insects... to insects..."
In fact, Luo Xin was not only a magic practitioner, he was also particularly afraid of these little bugs. Even if he saw the corpse of an insect, he would scream and then quickly jump away five feet.
Therefore, even though Luo Xin could defeat the poisonous insect, he didn't dare to get close to it and he hung on the treetop in fear for three days and three nights.
Chu Qi didn’t quite understand, but he could briefly understand that Luo Xin was indeed “powerless to fight back” against these little bugs.
After understanding the general process, Chu Qi followed Luo Xin's words and asked, "Okay, then what are your plans next?"
"Huh?" Luo Xin was startled by the question. He was so happy to see Chu Qi that he hadn't even asked him if he was willing to travel with him.
"I was originally waiting on the treetops for Senior Brother Ling and the others to come find me, but three days have passed and they haven't been able to find me in the maze formation, which shows that it is very difficult to break out of this formation. So when I saw you, fellow Taoist, I wanted to travel with you, I wonder if you are willing..."
Luo Xin explained everything clearly.
Coincidentally, Chu Qi got separated from Yan Jiuge, so he came here alone.
It should be safer to have a magic practitioner traveling with you, right
Although this magic practitioner can't even defeat poisonous insects.
Chu Qi sighed in his heart, ignoring the fact that Luo Xin couldn't beat the poisonous insect, and finally agreed, "Okay, I also want to find the exit of the maze and my fellow disciples."
"Thank you so much, fellow sword cultivator." Luo Xin's eyes lit up, and he immediately jumped down from the treetop. Being able to travel with a powerful sword cultivator, there is no doubt that Luo Xin's heart is now full of security.
Chu Qi: “…”
Although, he is not a swordsman.
Of course, there was no need for Chu Qi to deliberately correct Luo Xin's perception and expose his medical identity. One must be on guard against others.
The cultivators of the Yunhua Realm had heard that the Tianxuan Sect's medical practitioners knew swordsmanship. However, it had been many years since Bai Xuan went down the mountain to train. As time passed, everyone had come to accept that all disciples from the Tianxuan Sect were swordsmen, not medical practitioners.
“Lulu.”
At this time, the gold-eating beast trotted up from behind and rolled into Chu Qi's palm with skillful movements.
Chu Qi lowered his head and saw a strange emerald green stone rolled up on its tail. He immediately had a bad feeling.
Chu Qi touched the head of the gold-eating beast, looked into its eyes that were waiting for praise, and said faintly, "Xiao Jin, next time if Yan Jiuge is not around, you should bring back less of these things."
Then, Chu Qi turned to Luo Xin, who still didn't understand the reason, and said, "Fellow Daoist Luo, let's leave here first."
"Okay." Although he didn't quite understand, Luo Xin had no objection to Chu Qi's decision.
He took out a flying magic weapon from his Qiankun bag. With a flash of golden light, it turned into a flying boat that could carry more than ten cultivators.
The flying boat looks elegant and luxurious, and the defensive barrier set up outside also looks very powerful.
"Fellow Daoist, you can control this flying spiritual tool. I have only just established my foundation, so I can only control it for an hour at most."
Luo Xin looked at Chu Qi expectantly.
Ever since he caught a glimpse of Chu Qi and Yan Jiuge practicing sword skills at Menghua Inn, Luo Xin had become extremely passionate about sword cultivation. After entering the Yunxi Secret Realm, he also learned some "rules" of sword cultivation from his senior brother Ling Wu.
For example, the sword cultivator's natal spirit sword cannot be touched at will, and it is even more impossible to let them fly with the sword to carry you.
Thinking in this way, if I want to travel with this sword-cultivating fellow Taoist in front of me, I must ride on a flying spiritual vehicle together.
Luo Xin thought he had considered everything very carefully.
Chu Qi originally planned to travel on foot, but since he couldn't fly a sword, there didn't seem to be much need for him to ride a flying spiritual device.
But now there is suddenly one more ready-made one.
The disciples of Qingling Sect are indeed rich.
As he sighed, Chu Qi heard the familiar rustling sound again. He nodded and said, "Okay."
Luo Xin jumped onto the flying boat and landed safely. He turned around and waited for Chu Qi to come up. However, he happened to see Chu Qi draw out the magic sword from his waist. The sword energy swept across the air with a solemn sound. In the blink of an eye, a mark was carved on the tree trunk not far from them.
Before Luo Xin could see clearly, Chu Qi retracted the magic sword with a bang and climbed onto the flying boat swiftly.
Fellow Daoist Chu's sword wielding is very smooth and looks very cool and beautiful.
Suddenly, Luo Xin's desire to switch to learning sword became stronger - when he returned from the Yunxi Secret Realm, he would apply to switch from practicing magic to practicing sword!
Chu Qi had no idea what Luo Xin was thinking. After he stepped onto the flying boat, he used his spiritual sense to cover the boat and was busy controlling it to quickly leave this place.
The flying boat is of a high grade. Although it is not as fast as a sword cultivator flying with a sword, it is much faster than a small boat.
But in just a moment, the rustling sound of the grass leaves behind them had faded away from them.
*
The other side of the swamp forest.
Yan Jiuge cut off the head of the third-level poisonous scorpion with a sword, and the huge body collapsed beside him, causing the other third-level poisonous scorpions around to retreat.
The deeper you go into the swamp, the stronger the spiritual beasts become.
Although they were following the direction of the blood contract, the path they were taking made Yan Jiuge more and more uneasy. The strength of the spirit beasts was getting stronger and stronger. If Chu Qi fell into their encirclement, he would be in great danger.
The only thing that made Yan Jiuge feel at ease, or perhaps puzzled, was that he did not see any signs carved by Chu Qi along the way.
This means that he has not yet gotten close to Chu Qi.
The directions of the maze formation are complex, and even with the guidance of the blood contract, it is difficult to avoid some dead ends.
While he was thinking, a fluctuation of spiritual power came from not far ahead.
Yan Jiuge raised his eyes.
The people who came were several disciples of the Qingling Sect, including Ling Wu, who was familiar to Yan Jiuge.
"Friend Daoist Yan, I didn't expect to meet you here." Ling Wu was also stunned when he saw Yan Jiuge, then came back to his senses and greeted him.
"Can you see my junior brother?"
"Have you ever seen my junior brother?"
"… "
The two voices sounded almost at the same time, and after they fell, the atmosphere fell into a brief silence for no reason.
Without asking any questions, both parties understood that they had the same goal.
Ling Wu sighed and answered first, "Apart from finding three fellow disciples along the way, I didn't meet any disciples from the Tianxuan Sect."
"You are the only cultivators I have met so far." Yan Jiuge had never met any other disciples of the Qingling Sect.
"Which direction did Brother Daoist Yan come from?" Ling Wu asked.
"East."
"I came from the west. This road only leads to the south. Going north is a dead end." Ling Wu explained.
In this way, they are all heading down the same path.
Yan Jiuge sensed the direction of the blood contract again and found that the position had been adjusted. He couldn't help but communicate with Chu Qi again.
Not far away on the opposite side, Ling Wu was also communicating with his junior fellow apprentice.
"Ayan?" Chu Qi's voice rang out.
Before Yan Jiuge could ask.
A loud voice suddenly rang out from the jade pendant in Ling Wu's hand, "Brother Ling, you don't have to worry about me. I'm very safe now. I met a fellow sword cultivator from the Tianxuan Sect, and I'm looking for the exit of the formation with him."
The worry on Ling Wu's face faded a little, "That's good." His junior brother finally got lucky for once.
Yan Jiuge: “…”
If he remembered correctly, the young disciple of Qingling Sect was only at the middle stage of foundation building. If he encountered a third-level spirit beast, he would not be able to survive more than two encounters, let alone protect Chu Qi.
"Aqi, can you tell roughly where you are now? Are there any high-level spiritual beasts around?" Yan Jiuge asked.
"I'm not sure of the location, I carved the clan emblem along the way. I didn't encounter any high-level spiritual beasts, but there were some small poisonous insects that were less than the first level, but they were nothing serious."
Chu Qi answered Yan Jiuge.
*
After Chu Qi finished the communication, he found a fork in the road ahead.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, which way are we going?" Luo Xin asked him.
Chu Qi thought for a moment and replied, "I can sense that everything is peaceful within a hundred feet. It's the same no matter where you go. Just pick one."
"Whatever?" Luo Xin looked surprised.
"Well, or, does Brother Luo have any good suggestions?" Chu Qi asked him back.
"If we're just randomly choosing, let's just toss a coin to decide." Luo Xin's expression was serious. He took out a coin from his Qiankun bag and continued to explain, "In our Luo family, if there is any major issue that cannot be decided, we will use this method to solve it. Therefore, our business is booming and getting bigger and bigger."
"Please in, fellow Daoist." It was the first time that Chu Qi had heard of such a method. He could not help but move aside to make room for Luo Xin so that he could display the Luo family's unique skills.
"!"
Luo Xin prayed for three breaths before throwing a small copper coin into the sky. The coin tumbled in the air and was about to fall.
“Ah!”
The gold-eating beast had gotten off Chu Qi's shoulder at some point, and was squatting steadily on the ground, opening its mouth to catch the fallen copper coin.
The crisp chewing sound rang out in the silent air, stunning the two monks who were watching it eat.
Chu Qi felt awkward for some reason. After coming to his senses, he apologized to Luo Xin on behalf of his pet. "Brother Luo, I'm so sorry. I didn't take good care of my pet and let it swallow your copper coins."
"No! Fellow Daoist! Your spirit pet's teeth are so good? It can even chew copper coins!" Luo Xin was stunned. At first, he was thinking about what to do if it choked, but he didn't expect that the little spirit beast directly chewed and swallowed the copper coin.
"Well... it's a little special. It loves to eat. So its teeth are very sharp." Chu Qi explained on behalf of the gold-eating beast.
"Wow!" Luo Xin exclaimed.
"Ding-dang, ding-dang." There was a clang of metal collisions. Luo Xin took out three strings of copper coins from his bag and looked at the gold-eating beast eagerly. "Little dear, do you want some more?"
Chu Qi: “…”
Before his own gold-eating beast opened its mouth again, Chu Qi picked it up from the ground and tactfully reminded Luo Xin, "Fellow Daoist Luo, let's choose a path first... It has already eaten the spiritual beast food today."
“Lulu.”
But my stomach can still hold more.
The gold-eating beast grunted twice, and its bright eyes met Chu Qi's dim gaze, then it obediently lay back on his shoulder and stopped making trouble.
You can't make the master angry. That kind of metal can be found elsewhere, but the master's healing skills are unique in the world.
The money-eating beast is honest and obedient.
"Okay, then these are all yours, keep them for later use." After listening to Chu Qi's words, Luo Xin handed him the string of copper coins.
Chu Qi looked at Luo Xin's expectant eyes and finally took the copper coin. "Then I would like to thank Brother Luo on behalf of Xiao Jin. Is there anything Brother Luo needs?"
For example, Chu Qi still has a lot of elixirs and other things in his bag, and he can take them out and exchange them with Luo Xin.
"You're welcome, fellow Daoist." Luo Xin scratched his head, a little embarrassed, but whispered, "If it's convenient for you, could you teach me how to use the sword?"
"?"
Chu Qi was completely confused.
"It's like this, I think sword cultivators look very dashing, and I want to switch from magic cultivators to sword cultivators in the future."
Luo Xin was very excited.
Chu Qi: “…”
But, shouldn't you learn swordsmanship from the elder swordsman in the sect? He is a proper medical disciple, and only knows the basics of swordsmanship.
"This is not good. I only know a little bit about it." Chu Qi told the truth.
"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to be modest! Your swordsmanship is really great!" It is very beautiful and pleasing to the eye, and it can also repel poisonous insects. It is simply Luo Xin's ideal swordsman.
“… Let’s wait until you are sure you want to learn swordsmanship. Learning swordsmanship requires hardship.” Chu Qi advised gently.
"Ah? Suffering... I don't want to suffer..." Luo Xin immediately had the idea of quitting, but he had a strong desire to practice swordsmanship in his heart, so he said with reservation, "I'll see when the time comes. If I can learn swordsmanship, I'll send a message to my fellow Taoists."
"Okay." When the time comes, there will naturally be a sword-cultivating elder from the Qingling Sect to teach Luo Xin, and Chu Qi will not mislead the young man.
After chatting, Luo Xin took out another copper coin and threw it again, letting luck decide their future.
This time, the money-eating beast kept its mouth shut.
The copper coin landed smoothly.
"The front side goes to the right, the back side goes to the left! Fellow Daoist, it's the front side, we should go to the right." Luo Xin said.
"Okay." Chu Qi nodded and controlled the flying boat to the road on the right.
As he walked, Chu Qi discovered a problem.
The trees in the forest became increasingly dense, leaving less and less space for flying boats to pass through.
"We have to go down and walk. The flying spiritual device is too big." Chu Qi finally stopped the flying boat in front of a tree covered with vines and told Luo Xin the bad news.
"I have other small flying spiritual weapons." Luo Xin didn't want to walk because there were a lot of small bugs on the ground.
"Although I understand you, the concentration of spiritual energy in the bushes ahead is very high. Perhaps there are some natural treasures. It would be a good idea for us to go down and check it out."
Maybe it was really a stroke of luck.
After Luo Xin tossed a coin to select the path to the right, the further Chu Qi walked in that direction, the more concentrated the spiritual energy in his perception range became, indicating that it was very likely another treasure land.
Moreover, there is no trace of high-level spiritual beasts around yet, so we can go over and check it out.
"Okay." Luo Xin nodded, then he remembered that they came into the secret realm to train for the treasures of heaven and earth, not to escape.
Opportunities and dangers coexist.
Luo Xin also understood this truth.
This time, Chu Qi turned over and jumped off the flying boat first, and Luo Xin jumped off the flying boat carefully after him and put the flying boat back into the Qiankun bag.
In front of the two of them was a dense jungle, so dense that vines grew wildly, entwining the trunks of the trees and finally interweaving into a natural green net.
The moisture belonging to the swamp was a little faint, as if the entire area was rooted in grass and trees, and the soil had become solid.
Chu Qi drew out the Guiyin Sword and, following his perception, walked towards the direction where the spiritual energy was the most concentrated.
The gold-eating beast lay on his shoulder and moved its nose, but didn't smell any minerals, so it gave up the idea of exploring the way.
Luo Xin held a defensive spiritual weapon in each hand and walked carefully behind Chu Qi.
If there was any danger, he would throw out two defensive spiritual weapons, so that his fellow sword cultivators could have a chance to draw their swords.
The air was silent, there was no breeze, and the only sound they could hear was the sound of their own footsteps.
The road woven by vines continued to spread upwards, and they seemed to be suspended in mid-air by the vines, far away from the ground.
"Wow, the vines under our feet are getting thinner and thinner. Will we step on them and fall down..." Luo Xin said worriedly as he walked.
“It shouldn’t be. It’s about a hundred feet away.” Chu Qi sensed the destination.
When they were within thirty feet, the thick fog faded away and Chu Qi could see clearly the area where the spiritual energy was the most concentrated.
It was a huge tree surrounded by vines, with dense dark green branches and leaves, and thick and twisted branches overlapping. Visible spiritual energy emanated from the veins of its branches and leaves, and it stood quietly in this place.
"Is there a big tree in front?" Luo Xin also saw the same scene as Chu Qi.
"How long has this tree lived? It's too big."
Luo Xin was sighing, and when he came back to his senses, he saw his fellow swordsman, who was originally looking at the tree beside him, suddenly jumped and rushed towards the huge tree.
"Hey, Brother Chu, wait for me!" Luo Xin hurriedly followed.
"… "
Chu Qi, who was walking in front, did not answer him.
If Luo Xin could see Chu Qi's face, he would find that his inky black eyes had been replaced by emerald green.
High and low calling sounds came from the depths of Chu Qi's sea of consciousness. The spiritual power in his body seemed to be out of control, constantly pouring out from the original spiritual roots, and then wandering through his meridians, making him instinctively walk towards the huge tree as if he was returning home.
"… "
it's wired!
Chu Qi regained consciousness briefly as his fingers sunk deep into his palms and he felt the pain. Without any hesitation, he chopped the trunk of the giant tree in front of him with his sword.
"!"
In an instant, the strange attraction coming from the giant tree finally disappeared.
Chu Qi's consciousness regained its calmness. He controlled the spiritual power in his body, and his eyes, which had returned to their dark color, looked solemnly at the giant tree in front of him.
The depth of the Gui Yin sword's cut was not very deep, or perhaps it didn't even cut through the bark.
"Fellow Daoist! Fellow Daoist, please wait for me."
Luo Xin's voice came from behind, and he caught up to Chu Qi breathlessly.
"You just left without saying a word. Did you find something urgent?"
"This tree is a little strange." Chu Qi said to Luo Xin hesitantly, "Did you feel attracted to it just now?"
Luo Xin shook his head. "No! I just felt a little emotional. This tree has lived for such a long time and has grown so big!"
Chu Qi lowered his eyes and looked at the gold-eating beast on his shoulder.
The money-eating beast also shook its head, indicating that it was not attracted.
So, the inexplicable attraction just now was only directed at myself
There was doubt in Chu Qi's eyes.
(End of this chapter)