Gu Pinglin sat in a chair thinking about something until he heard a knock on the door and then he came back to his senses: "Senior Xin."
Xin Ji walked in, stroking his beard: "Mr. Gu, you haven't rested yet so late. I see you are still handling affairs along the way. It is true that young people are promising and capable people should work harder..."
Gu Pinglin had expected him to come. Gu Pinglin interrupted him: "What do you want to say?"
"Mr. Gu is very smart," Xin Ji laughed dryly and said straight to the point, "You also heard what Mr. Duan said during the day. I hope you can help me."
Gu Pinglin said: "You belong to Senior Brother Duan, you should ask him to save you, but why are you looking for me?"
Xin Ji also made up his mind, and his expression became calmer: "Let's not beat around the bush. You know Duan Liu better than I do. I came to you sincerely to ask for help. How about I owe you a favor?"
Gu Pinglin said: "I don't know the secrets of heaven, how can I help you?"
Xin Ji said: "It is a calamity that cannot be avoided, and I do not want to hide either. I just want to fight for a glimmer of hope. If an accident occurs, Master Gu needs to use the Shadow Breaking and Heaven Opening Formation to help me."
Apart from the heavenly tribulation, the greatest hurdle of life and death in the world of cultivation is encountering a strong enemy. He had learned the Shadow-Breaking Heaven Formation in the Sea Bone Pit and had witnessed the power of the formation with his own eyes. Now the method of breaking the formation has not yet spread and it is still very useful when fighting against the enemy. However, this formation requires the cooperation of people. The more people there are, the greater the power. It is estimated that Cheng Yi has been persuaded by him.
Gu Pinglin raised his eyebrows: "Have you thought this favor through?"
Xin Ji misunderstood his meaning and sneered, with a hint of arrogance in his eyes: "Although I am not capable enough, I think I have some vision. I chose you to cooperate with me because I know you are not an ordinary person. Are you afraid that I will regret it?"
If Xin Ji, the pupil demon, had really good eyesight, he would not have been killed by his apprentice in his previous life. Gu Pinglin did not explain: "This is not difficult, but you'd better give up the other thing you have in mind."
Xin Ji was just breathing a sigh of relief, but was startled when he heard this. He said calmly, "What do you mean, Master Gu?"
Gu Pinglin said: "I just advise you not to have unrealistic thoughts."
Xin Ji rolled his eyes: "You think this is unrealistic? If you can join..."
"I won't cooperate with you." Gu Pinglin interrupted him.
Xin Ji laughed: "Forgive me for being blunt, but you two may appear to be brothers, but you are not on good terms with each other."
"Have it?"
"What happened in the Creation Cave made you want to kill him. I wonder if what I said is right?"
"Oh?" His eyes suddenly became sharp.
Xin Ji felt a chill down his spine when he was looked at. He managed to calm down and softened his tone, "Don't worry, I have the same goal as you, so I won't tell anyone."
Gu Pinglin suddenly laughed: "Do you know what happened in the Creation Cave?"
Xin Ji tried to probe: "Duan Liu is a man of unstable temperament and deep scheming. I have suffered from him before. Master Gu is a man of integrity and respect, and he also cares about the friendship between his fellow apprentices. It is not surprising that he plotted against me."
Gu Pinglin stared at him for a moment, and the murderous intent in his heart gradually disappeared.
Xin Ji was also paying attention to his expression. Seeing this, he felt that he had guessed correctly, and hurriedly struck while the iron was hot: "I just want to get the soul stone back. I have no ill will towards the Lingxin Sect. Master Gu is very intelligent. If you add the power of me and Old Demon Yan, are you afraid that we can't deal with him?"
Gu Pinglin sneered: "He is still my fellow disciple. Why should I help you deal with him? You said this in front of me, aren't you afraid that I will tell him?"
Xin Ji was startled, his eyes flickered, and he smiled as if nothing had happened: "Since Master Gu has already seen through my thoughts, why do I have to wait until now to tell him? Besides, I am also thinking about you with good intentions. You two don't get along well, and Duan Liu's talent is far better than yours. As far as I know, the master values him very much. His staying in Lingxin Sect will do you more harm than good. The position of the future leader..."
Having said this, I suddenly felt a pressure coming down on me, and the internal energy flow was not smooth.
Xin Ji was horrified, and then he came to his senses.
——I have always underestimated the opponent's strength!
Gu Pinglin stood up and walked in front of him: "Don't worry, I'm just reminding you kindly that you're using the wrong person for provocation. How can an outsider arbitrarily instigate the disciples of the Lingxin Sect?"
The pressure was gone, Xin Ji breathed a sigh of relief, but he still didn't give up: "Are you afraid of him?"
"I don't want to go against him for now," Gu Pinglin said, "Even if I want to kill him, it's a contest between the two of us. I don't need to join forces with anyone, and he will only die in my hands." Seeing Xin Ji was about to speak, he waved his hand to stop him: "I won't interfere, but if you deal with him, how do you know he won't deal with you first?"
After what happened just now, Xin Ji was secretly on guard. He was shocked again when he heard this and shook his head subconsciously: "He used the soul stone to subdue us, which shows that we are always useful to him. No one will easily destroy their own chess pieces."
"Maybe," Gu Pinglin paused, "he is not a human?"
Xin Ji laughed loudly upon hearing this: "Mr. Gu is really good at joking."
Don't blame him, most people would think so. But in Duan Qingming's view, if a chess piece dies, it's because the chess piece itself is not good enough, and it can be found again. There is no such thing as "reluctant" at all. When the "Seven Sects Fighting for the Heavenly Jade" incident broke out in the cultivation world, eight inner alchemy masters died in three years. Most of them were caused by him who made trouble out of nothing and fanned the flames, including two elders of the Duan family and an elder of the Xuanming Sect. As a result, he was still sitting in the Xuanming Sect playing the piano and drinking tea. It has been said that Xin Ji didn't believe it, and Gu Pinglin didn't remind him again: "In this case, I hope you can get what you want soon."
Seeing that his persuasion was of no use, Xin Ji bowed, thanked him, and left.
The next day, everyone set off as usual and did not encounter any danger along the way. Although Xin Ji suspected that Duan Qingming was lying to him, he did not dare to let his guard down. The next two days were calm. As everyone was about to leave the jurisdiction of Huajian Wan's family, Duan Qingming still lay on the crane's back with his arms as usual, pretending to be asleep, without any worries that his lies would be exposed.
Xin Ji became more suspicious, and glanced around, making small talk: "Another fifty or sixty miles away is the territory of the True Water Sword Sect. There are many lakes and islands in that area. It is said that the True Water Sword Technique was learned from the water. Hehe, that's interesting."
Duan Qingming seemed to have really fallen asleep. Gu Pinglin was still sitting cross-legged, sitting upright. Even Cheng Yi, contrary to his usual behavior, did not react. He had been staring at Xin Ji since morning without blinking.
Xin Ji was also puzzled and asked Cheng Yi: "Why do you keep looking at me, young friend?"
Perhaps because he was staring at him for too long and felt uncomfortable, Cheng Yi rubbed his eyes twice and continued to stare at him: "Look at how you die."
You're the one who'll die! Xin Ji's beard twitched, and he said with a fake smile, "Three days will pass, or maybe God wants to spare my life, who knows."
Cheng Yi insisted: "Duan Qingming wouldn't be wrong."
Duan Qingming laughed out loud and opened his eyes: "Oh, thank you Brother Cheng for your trust."
Cheng Yi had a blind admiration for him. Hearing this, he explained seriously: "You're welcome. It's because you're smart."
Duan Qingming laughed and pointed at Xin Ji: "It's good that you just know about this kind of thing. If you say more, I'm afraid he will want to kill you."
"Really?" Cheng Yi turned his head cautiously, "No wonder there was murderous intent."
Xin Ji had no idea that the topic would suddenly turn back to himself. He was caught off guard, and the murderous intent in his eyes had not yet completely disappeared. He could only force an awkward smile: "Mr. Duan is really good at joking."
Cheng Yi was fed up: "Okay, I promised to help you, but you want to kill me!"
"Really not," Xin Ji cursed in his heart, but he didn't dare to offend him, "My friend, you misunderstood, I... am not good!"
"There's murderous intent!" Cheng Yi shouted even louder than him, "It really wasn't you!"
With the invisible barrier covering your head, the terrifying pressure is suffocating!
The crane cried loudly and flapped its wings vigorously twice. Finally, it succumbed to the pressure and fell to the ground. The four people on the crane's back turned over and rushed out at the same time. It would be fine for others, but Xin Ji was extremely frightened. To face a great inner alchemy cultivator for no reason was a catastrophe of life and death! He no longer dared to doubt Duan Qingming's words, and showed his true strength and rushed out as fast as possible.
I've fallen into a trap. Gu Pinglin paused.
Sure enough, nine sword cultivators appeared in front of them, all with their faces covered, and Xin Ji just happened to rush into their encirclement.
"Xin Ji has looked for you." someone beside him said.
Since that night, Gu Pinglin's attitude suddenly changed, and the two of them hardly spoke. At this moment, he noticed someone's gaze on him, and his reaction was polite and cold: "Your plan is very good, I have no reason to ruin it."
The gaze locked onto him for a moment, then moved away.
Seeing Duan Qingming coming up to help, Xin Ji felt that his guess was correct, and thought that he would not let himself die easily. However, Duan Qingming obviously did not use his full strength, and he also used the authentic Lingxin swordsmanship. Xin Ji was not surprised at this. Fortunately, Gu Pinglin and Cheng Yi joined in soon, so he was not too sad for a while. However, he was under the pressure of the realm. The nine people on the opposite side were all outer alchemy cultivators, and there was also an inner alchemy master who had not yet appeared. It would be difficult to break through the barrier.
Xin Ji was completely puzzled as to why these people were targeting him. While dealing with the siege, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "I am just a casual cultivator. I don't know how I have offended you, Excellency?"
The other party didn't answer at all, and the siege became more fierce. It seemed that they were determined to get rid of the four people.
If we don’t fight now, when will we fight? Xin Ji was originally a demon. Now his path has changed because of Gu Pinglin, but his spirit is still there. He sneered, “Don’t pretend. You imitate the swordsmanship of the True Water Sword Sect, but you are not sword cultivators at all, right?”
The nine men on the opposite side slowed down their swords.
As expected! Xin Ji was secretly surprised, and then he felt a little more pressure on his body. Without thinking too much, he immediately shouted "formation", and then summoned the spirit sword, and he actually used the first move of Gu Ying Sword Technique "Jiaohong Passing Shadow".
It turned out that he had changed to swordsmanship and learned Gu Ying swordsmanship. Duan Qingming did not avoid him at all and answered all his questions. The "Nine Chapters of Refining the Spirit" technique he practiced was similar to the "Heaven-Repairing Art", which just met the needs of Gu Ying swordsmanship. However, as Gu Pinglin had expected, it was difficult for ordinary people to comprehend the essence of Gu Ying swordsmanship and could not remember all the complicated changes. This move was only 50% similar, but his cultivation was better than Duan Qingming, and the power he used was still considerable.
Upon hearing the sound, Cheng Yi and Gu Pinglin drew their swords in coordination, and the Shadow Breaking and Sky Opening Formation was immediately formed. The nine people on the opposite side seemed to know how powerful this formation was, and they dodged out of the formation first.
Xin Ji shouted in a hoarse voice: "Go!"
The combined power of the formation was considerable, and the barrier was broken. Xin Ji's eyes turned bloodshot, and he was about to escape, but was stopped by a black-robed monk holding a sword.
The black-robed monk, wearing a veil on his head, spoke in a hoarse voice, which was obviously changed on purpose: "Good swordsmanship."
Knowing that he didn't want to reveal his identity, Xin Ji didn't ask any more questions, his eyes were sinister: "Master Gu, Young Friend Cheng..."
Looking back, Cheng Yi had disappeared. It turned out that he had taken the opportunity to slip away as soon as the barrier was broken.
Xin Ji suppressed his anger and looked at Gu Pinglin hurriedly. Seeing Gu Pinglin nod, he felt relieved. The two of them formed a formation and rushed towards the black-robed monk.
However, the more people there are in the Shadow Breaking Formation, the greater its power. Now that Cheng Yi is gone, its power has been greatly reduced. The black-robed monk blocked Xin Ji's sword move and said, "What a great swordsmanship! Aren't you from the Lingxin Sect?"
"Who said the Lingxin sect doesn't have good swordsmanship?" Duan Qingming suddenly took the initiative and also used the move "Jinghong Passing Shadow". As expected, he still did not use his full strength in this move, and it seemed that he became the weakest one.
The black-robed monk sneered: "So what if you have good swordsmanship? You are still a second-rate sect."
Gu Pinglin's eyes were slightly cold.
Duan Qingming smiled and said, "Don't worry about the Lingxin Sect. But you, sir, disguised yourself as a sword cultivator and didn't dare to try your best. Are you afraid of being discovered? Does anyone among us know you?"
The black-robed monk did not answer, but waved his hand: "A quick battle and a quick decision."
The other nine people gathered around again. It seemed that Duan Qingming was right. He didn't want to take action himself and leave a loophole.
Xin Ji was secretly anxious, not noticing that he had been mistaken for a member of the Lingxin Sect. He said to Duan Qingming, "Since I am under your command, if you disregard..."
"It's not that I won't help you," Duan Qingming said, "I don't know how to use this Shadow Breaking Heaven Formation."
Xin Ji was surprised and asked, "How could you not know?"
Duan Qingming laughed and said, "Oh, I can't possibly know everything. Shadow Breaker, the name sounds unfriendly, why should I learn it? Junior Brother Gu, don't you think so?"
Gu Pinglin ignored it.
The nine people on the opposite side were not sword cultivators, so using swords inevitably reduced their strength. Seeing that they had been unable to defeat him for a long time, the black-robed monk waved his sleeves, and the dirt and rocks on the ground floated up and smashed towards the three people. Xin Ji was the first to be hit by a stone in the chest. Seeing this, a masked monk rode his sword and wanted to kill him, but fortunately Gu Pinglin blocked it for him in time.
Xin Ji turned over and stood up, blood dripping down his beard, looking ferocious: "I don't believe I can't survive this!"
The sudden evil spirit caught everyone present off guard.
Xin Ji pointed his left hand toward the sky and a shadow emerged from above his head. It turned out to be a huge eye!
The black eyeballs kept turning, flashing a strange light.
It was rare that he had hidden for so long. Gu Pinglin had already secretly used the Creation Art and the Heart Purification Art to calm his mind and slightly lower his gaze.
The black-robed monk was indeed a great inner alchemy cultivator, and was the first to react: "Not good, everyone close your eyes!"
However, it was too late for these words. Most of the nine monks had been hit, and five of them had dull eyes, as if they had lost their souls.
"You are a demon cultivator!" The black-robed monk was furious. He quickly threw the sword in his hand and stabbed it straight at the giant eye in the air.
Xin Ji risked exposing his trump card, intending to catch the enemy off guard, but the difference in cultivation level was too great, and he was not fooled. Xin Ji hurriedly retracted his pupil technique and turned around, only to find that the black-robed monk had already stood behind him without anyone noticing: "Die!"
He also saw that this technique focused on the soul. Even if the five people woke up, their minds would probably be damaged. He was heartbroken and angry, and slapped Xin Ji with a palm that contained all his life's skills, enough to explode a person.
"My life is over!" Xin Ji was horrified.
Sudden--
"Over there!" Cheng Yi shouted, "Don't let him get away!"
The black-robed monk paused and made a prompt decision: "Retreat!"
He withdrew his palm and put his fingers together, drawing a talisman in the air. The talisman was imprinted on the ground. In an instant, a teleportation array appeared three feet away. The four sober masked monks hurriedly took the five injured people into the array. Then the black-robed monk also wanted to slip in, but unexpectedly a forest of swords rose from the ground, blocking him and the teleportation array.
The phoenix is perched on the wutong tree!
"How dare you, kid!" The black-robed monk sneered, spread his hands, and two hibiscus flowers flew out of his hands.
The flower looked fragile, but it was able to disperse a large forest of swords!
The black-robed monk sneered and was about to run away when he suddenly felt a darkness in front of his eyes.
The sword realm opened again, and purple light lit up between heaven and earth. The vast sword energy was like a long dragon, rolling and rushing over, forming a perfect coordination with the phoenix shadow swooping down from mid-air, blocking the way.
Dragons roared and phoenixes cried out, their powers collided, and the black-robed monk was caught off guard. He was anxious to escape, and although he broke through the siege with the help of his inner alchemy skills, he was seriously injured and staggered into the teleportation array.
As soon as several people in the formation disappeared, Cheng Yi arrived with a dozen disciples of the Zhenshui Sword Sect. With a loud "bang", the teleportation formation was destroyed.
Xin Ji managed to escape with his life and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly took out two pills and swallowed them.
The sword light faded, revealing the figures of two people. Duan Qingming put away his sword, and seeing that Gu Pinglin looked pale, he reached out to help him: "Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Gu Pinglin turned sideways inconspicuously and walked towards the people from the Zhenshui Sword Sect, just avoiding the hand.
Duan Qingming narrowed his eyes slightly.
The Zhenshui Sword Sect was not a big sect and had always had dealings with the Lingxin Sect. Gu Pinglin went up to express his gratitude and the disciples were very friendly and immediately helped to find clues. However, the black-robed monk had been well prepared and had even arranged a teleportation array, so naturally they could not find anything.
A disciple of the True Water Sword Sect speculated: "There seemed to be an evil aura just now, could it be a demon cultivator?"
"Perhaps, demon cultivators never ask why they kill people," Duan Qingming came over, "Luckily you all arrived in time and saved our lives."
The disciple pointed at Cheng Yi and said, "It is this Junior Brother Cheng who arrived just in time."
Cheng Yi said honestly, "Duan Qingming asked me to come." Then he said to Xin Ji earnestly, "He asked me to find someone to save you. You should thank him."
Xin Ji's face twisted for a moment, but soon he regained his composure and said with a smile, "My friend is right. Thanks to Master Duan's clever plan, I was able to escape this disaster. I also want to thank all my friends from the True Water Sect."
Gu Pinglin glanced at him.
The black-robed monk was forced to use his own Taoist magic. He was from the Wan family of Huajian, not a demon cultivator. If I guessed correctly, this person should be Wan Sanhe, the patriarch of the Wan family. If a disciple of the Lingxin Sect died in the Wan family's territory, Wan Lai would never be able to join the Lingxin Sect again. He wanted to cut off Wan Lai's path, so he was not targeting Xin Ji at all, but himself and Duan Qingming. Duan Qingming deliberately used the "great catastrophe" to lure Xin Ji to fight for his life. The fact that the two of them did not use their full strength just now was also to mislead Wan Sanhe, making him think that Xin Ji was a disciple of the Lingxin Sect and the strongest one.
Gu Pinglin did not feel much guilt towards Xin Ji. If not for this, even if Xin Ji was concerned about the Soul Stone, he would definitely not be willing to use his full strength. This old demon was not a good person either. On the surface, he handed over the pupil painting, but in fact he still had some reservations. It was a good opportunity to teach him a lesson.
Not finding any clues, the people of Zhenshui Sword Sect sighed and invited Gu Pinglin and the other three to visit the sect.
Since he had received a favor, he should go and thank them in person. Moreover, in order to cooperate with Duan Qingming's sword move "Phoenix Shadow Resting on the Wutong Tree", Gu Pinglin had to overdraw his true energy to make up for the difference in cultivation and use a new move "Wandering Dragon and Startling Phoenix". He was a little exhausted at this time and needed to find a place to rest, so he went with the flow and agreed. The four of them went to the Zhenshui Sword Sect together.