Looking up, there was no sun or moon, only dark water.
The water was very calm, bottomless, without sunlight, and lifeless black, but it was not dead water. Occasionally, there would be "islands" floating on the water. These "islands" were made up of strange aquatic plants, vines, tall trees... Their roots were intertwined, and there was no soil under the roots. All the plants floated on the water, moving with the current, and no one knew where they would drift to. If the monks were not able to read the air, it would be easy to get lost.
Youyou Sea, this world-famous secret place, soon revealed its mystery and danger.
The plant island was floating all over the place, making it difficult for boats to sail, so everyone could only ride the wind. The creatures in the sea were very different from those outside. The plants on the floating island, the strange birds in the sky, and even the ordinary small fish in the water could attack people. In just half a day, everyone encountered several attacks. Fortunately, several Penglai guards had come in for experience and gave advance warnings, so no one was injured. At this point, everyone became really alert.
After walking for another two days, they were about to enter an unknown area with few people. Jun Muzhi suggested that they stop to rest and regroup.
"The sea realm is indeed worthy of its reputation," Nanzhu sighed as she looked ahead, then turned to look at Gu Pinglin, puzzled, "Why do you insist on going north? Few people go north, and it may be more dangerous."
Gu Pinglin pulled his cloak and said, "I feel like having fewer people may not be a bad thing. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Nanzhu thought for a moment and said, "The road ahead is dangerous, why don't you go to my side."
Penglai has many guards and is relatively safe. He meant well, but Gu Pinglin could not abandon a few people from the Lingxin Sect. He politely declined the invitation and thought to himself - this man dominated the East China Sea in his previous life, was ambitious, and was always ruthless, but he was unexpectedly a loyal person.
Qu Lin, Lady Ming, Jun Muzhi and Bu Shuihan were standing together and talking. Jun Muzhi was waving a fish bone fan and talking and laughing. Although his cultivation was limited, he was very good at handling things. Lady Ming was fine, but Qu Lin obviously had a good impression of him. Bu Shuihan had not worn arrow sleeves recently, but instead wore a flowing wide-sleeved robe, which did make him look much more gentle. However, he was belligerent by nature and not good at socializing. The situation was completely controlled by Jun Muzhi. He could hardly get a word in. He gritted his teeth and stared at Jun Muzhi, and his whole body was cold.
Gu Pinglin shifted his gaze and glanced at Duan Qingming.
Duan Qingming and Yao Feng were sitting on a small floating island. They were probably talking about swordsmanship, gesturing with their fingers from time to time. When they talked about something interesting, Duan Qingming clapped his hands and laughed, and Yao Feng also nodded slightly.
Qi Wan'er was impatient: "I've rested enough, when are we leaving?"
Nanzhu turned around and called Jun Muzhi: "Muzhi, what are your plans next?"
Jun Muzhi hurried over and said, "There are few people ahead, so why not send someone to explore the way and find out the situation first."
Gu Pinglin agreed: "Envoy Jun Ling has thought it through."
Nanzhu nodded: "You arrange it."
"Wait a minute, Brother Nan," Duan Qingming came over, "We have already taken advantage of Penglai on this trip. Exploring the route is just a small matter. If we don't contribute even a little, it would be a shame. Why not let cousin Wan'er go?"
Qi Wan'er heard this and asked, "Why should I go?"
"The more capable you are, the more work you should do," Duan Qingming thought for a moment, "Never mind, exploring the road is a bit dangerous. Since you are afraid, I'll go."
Qi Wan'er said angrily, "Who's afraid? Just go."
"I'm going too." Yao Feng walked over.
Qi Wan'er snorted coldly and floated away. Yao Feng nodded to everyone and followed.
There was no danger on the road ahead. On the way, she encountered some attacks from intermediate-level monsters, all of which were killed by Qi Wan'er's sword. Qi Wan'er ran for dozens of miles before stopping to look.
Yao Feng caught up with him and said disapprovingly, "It's dangerous for you to walk so fast in a strange place."
"What are you afraid of?" Qi Wan'er didn't care at all. "It's obviously nothing. Why be so timid?"
"You have such a bad temper. It's not good." Yao Feng frowned. As the eldest son of the head of the Yao family, he was taught to set an example since he was a child. He was also responsible for teaching his younger brothers and sisters on weekdays. Therefore, he developed a steady and mature temperament. Now seeing Qi Wan'er being willful, he naturally regarded him as an ignorant brother and couldn't help but scold him.
Qi Wan'er was the darling of the Qi family. Her parents and elders rarely scolded her. She had been spoiled and had a spoiled temper. She was furious when she heard that: "What's wrong with my temper? Swordsmen are not afraid of danger. I just can't stand your hypocritical behavior!"
Seeing that he was angry, Yao Feng stopped talking.
Qi Wan'er felt bored, thinking that he had helped her make a bet with Duan Qingming before, and she felt bad about it. After a long while, she said, "I'm not saying anything bad about you. I know you're a good person, but I just don't like Duan Qingming..." She stopped talking here and raised her eyebrows, "Okay, let's not talk about this, let's fight a few moves."
Yao Feng shook his head: "No."
Qi Wan'er was unhappy: "What?"
Yao Feng said: "You can't beat me."
"You..." Qi Wan'er pointed at him and was about to get angry again.
Yao Feng pursed his lips and remained silent.
After a while, Qi Wan'er suddenly put down her hand and snorted, "I know I can't win, I just want to learn some special sword skills."
Seeing that he had calmed down, Yao Feng advised: "The cultivation of the Tao should be based on the cultivation of the mind. There is nothing wrong with sparring, but your aggressiveness is not a good thing in the end."
"Winning or losing is just a common thing. What does it have to do with self-cultivation?" Qi Wan'er was puzzled and waved her hand to summon the Jade Emperor Sword. "Don't worry, I, Qi Shisan, am not someone who can't stand losing. You are looking down on me if you refuse to fight me."
Yao Feng was forced into a corner and finally gave in: "One move."
"One move, one move," Qi Wan'er was overjoyed, and could not wait to make a sword gesture, "Name of the move: Chaoge Yexian Fifty Miles!"
At this time, Chaoge's swordsmanship was considered first-rate in the world of cultivation, but it was still far behind the Yao family's Shushi swordsmanship and the Li family's Yinlan swordsmanship. Now, when he used it, it seemed to have a new style. Unfortunately, no matter how creative he was, he was still too young and had practiced for too short a time, so he was still unable to break free from the original shackles.
Yao Feng looked up for a moment, then drew out the black sword from behind him and slashed it lightly. Immediately, it was like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. The gorgeous sword shadows disappeared one by one, wiped out by the invisible force.
There was no trick, just the simplest sword, the so-called "return to the basics" is nothing more than this. The move did not hurt anyone, which further demonstrated the swordsman's control over the sword intent.
The Jade Emperor Sword circled, and Qi Wan'er was stunned for a long time before she came to her senses. Without saying a word, she sheathed the sword and descended from mid-air.
Yao Feng said, "I am older than you, so winning is nothing."
Qi Wan'er said nothing.
Yao Feng was silent for a moment, then said, "You are already very good."
"I'm not that petty!" Qi Wan'er waved her hand and said proudly, "Although you are stronger than me, my talent is not inferior to yours. As long as you practice hard, your swordsmanship will be more than this." He paced two steps, "Shushi's swordsmanship is well-deserved. Chaoge's swordsmanship is not as good as it is. Let's not compete. I will find you again when I come up with a solution in the future."
I didn’t expect him to be so open-minded. Yao Feng was a little surprised and pursed his lips.
Qi Wan'er glanced at his sword and said, "What a nice sword. What's its name?"
"Xugu."
Guessing the meaning of "humble and open-minded", Qi Wan'er curled her lips and looked back: "I don't know Duan Qingming's swordsmanship..." At this point, he finally showed a bit of disappointment, but in the blink of an eye, he regained his high-spirited appearance, "There is no problem in this area, let's go back."
The two were about to walk back when they suddenly heard a woman's voice calling from a distance.
"There is an evil spirit." Yao Feng had a higher level of cultivation and discovered it first.
"Someone is calling for help," Qi Wan'er turned into a white light and fled, "Let's go check it out!"
The Yao family was originally a kind family, and Yao Feng had received orthodox education since childhood, so naturally he would not stand by and watch someone die. He thought about it, took out the incense from his arms, lit it, and then followed.
Here, Gu Pinglin and Nanzhu stood on the floating tree trunk, watching Qu Lin and the others talking.
Duan Qingming also joined in. He was good at leading the topic. Jun Muzhi was fully focused on competing with him. The two girls were completely attracted to them. Bu Shuihan could not get a word in and just stood silently beside Qu Lin.
Nanzhu smiled and said, "A gentleman loves a beautiful lady, but women all like dishonest men. I'm afraid Brother Bu will lose to Mu Zhi."
Gu Pinglin said: "Senior Brother Bu has a simple mind. It would be a blessing if Miss Qu takes a fancy to him."
Nanzhu was silent for a moment: "Muzhi is also my brother. He was born with a defective Dao meridian, so he can only put aside his cultivation to help me with worldly affairs. Therefore, he is quite worried. It is not appropriate for me to interfere in this matter."
Gu Pinglin nodded: "This kind of thing cannot be forced."
Seeing that he didn't mind, Nanzhu breathed a sigh of relief and found it interesting: "A good girl is sought after by hundreds of families. I think it's hard to get what I want. I heard that Cheng Daxiu intends to match Mr. Duan Liu with Miss Qu."
Gu Pinglin understood Cheng very well. She now hoped that Duan Qingming and Qu Lin would develop a relationship so as to pull Duan Qingming back from the path of being a "homosexual".
"I don't know what Mr. Duan Liu thinks," Nanzhu said half-jokingly, "Miss Qu is a good person, but Mr. Duan Liu is too careless to let Miss Ming get close to her. Women are just as cunning as men."
Ming Gongnu is interested in Duan Qingming. Knowing Cheng's intention, she took the initiative to approach Qu Lin. Her motives are worth considering. Gu Pinglin doesn't understand what Duan Qingming is thinking.
"What's that smell?" Nanzhu frowned.
"Xinxiang," Gu Pinglin quickly took out the Xinxiang from his sleeve to confirm, "Brother Yao and the others are in trouble."
Bu Shuihan on the other side also noticed it. Without caring about Jun Muzhi, he hurried over, said, "I'll go first," and left.
Xin Ji also came over and asked: "My two friends are in trouble, should I…"
Gu Pinglin waved his hand: "Senior, please stay and look after Gan Li."
Xin Ji was happy that there was less trouble, so he pretended to be concerned for a few words and then walked away.
Qu Lin was very nervous and wanted to come over, but Duan Qingming calmed her down, glanced at Pinglin, said nothing, and left with a smile.
Nanzhu beckoned over several senior guards and said to Gu Pinglin, "I'll go with you."
Qi Wan'er and Yao Feng were both Waidan cultivators, and the difficult issues that they found difficult could not be solved by just one or two people. Gu Pinglin turned around and called Jiang Ruoxu, and told Leng Xu to take good care of Qu Lin, and then he left with several Qi cultivators.
The black water surged, the waves were as high as walls, and there was a murderous aura hidden in it. A black shadow like a small hill was moving quickly in the waves, and it was surrounded by black fog.
"Be careful, the fog is poisonous!" Qi Wan'er's voice came.
Bu Shuihan and Duan Qingming have already joined the battle. Gu Pinglin and Nanzhu arrived later. Nanzhu immediately took out the Shenyi Xiao and sang a killing song to help. Several Penglai guards and Jiang Ruoxu also went up to help.
A young girl sat on the water, her hair disheveled and her beautiful face haggard. She carefully held a young man and looked at the battle circle nervously. The man had his eyes closed, his face was pale, and his body was covered in blood, obviously seriously injured.
The two of them were dressed in extraordinary clothes and had some similarities in their eyes and eyebrows, so they must be siblings.
A Penglai guard screamed and fell from midair. Gu Pinglin rescued him and quickly sealed the acupuncture points on his body. Jun Muzhi arrived with a few guards, and Gu Pinglin handed the man over to Jun Muzhi.
"A ferocious beast?" Jun Muzhi gasped.
A dozen external alchemy monks went into battle at the same time, but still could not gain the upper hand. The hillock moved quickly in the water, releasing water blades to hurt people from time to time. Gu Pinglin noticed that anyone who was touched by the outer black fog would become sluggish in movement.
In a blink of an eye, two Penglai monks were injured again.
Nanzhu saw this and used all her strength to activate her true energy, and the sound of the flute became harsh.
The ferocious beast was affected and started to become restless, swimming faster. Suddenly, a black shadow as long as a snake jumped out from the water and rushed straight towards Nanzhu!
"Li Gui!" Without time to think, Gu Pinglin summoned the Gu Ying Sword and slashed at it.
The fierce turtle spits water blades that can hurt people, and the poisonous mist it carries can paralyze people. The small hill is its back shell, and the "long snake" is its head. The Penglai Divine Will Flute has a great influence on its mind. It is angered by the sound of the flute, so it attacks Nanzhu.
Gu Pinglin turned one sword into three swords and directly used the newly created "March Orioles Flying". The power of "March Orioles Flying" was not as strong as "Flowers and Butterflies", but it was also extraordinary. The fierce turtle was hit, but it was a mid-level ferocious beast, and this sword did not hurt it. In unbearable pain, it sprayed a poisonous mist directly at Gu Pinglin.
A hand grabbed Gu Pinglin's arm and led him away.
Gu Pinglin was not surprised to see the person coming: "Brother Zhou."
Zhou Yi let go of his hand, and a trace of doubt finally appeared on his rock-hard face: "Outer Dan Realm?"
It had been only a dozen years since the last meeting, and Gu Pinglin had already formed an external elixir. No wonder he was surprised. But the situation was urgent, and Gu Pinglin had no time to answer. The fierce turtle failed to attack Gu Pinglin, and its body spun rapidly. Several layers of water blade circles spread out. Qi Wan'er and others retreated one after another, and the fierce turtle took the opportunity to take the South Pearl!
Nanzhu had just avoided the circle of water blades and had not yet stopped when she saw this. She immediately raised her palm to set up a barrier, but the beast was too powerful and the barrier shattered in the blink of an eye. Nanzhu spurted blood and staggered backwards. The head of the fierce turtle was already in front of her!
"Young Master!" Jun Muzhi was shocked and used his folding fan to block it. He was only at the second stage of Qi Refining, how could he stop the fierce beast Ligui? The light of the fishbone fan dimmed and fell into the water, and he flew backwards.
"Get out of the way!" Nanzhu shouted angrily.
Seeing Li Gui rushing towards Jun Muzhi, Gu Pinglin thought it was not good. Just as he was about to take action, Zhou Yi next to him waved his hand to push him away, and flashed over to save Jun Muzhi. Li Gui was finally restrained by Duan Qingming and Yao Feng again.