Chapter 162: Arrival of Jun Linxuan and Liu Qingmei
“Hmph. There’s no way that ugly monster can still be alive if he’s fallen into the Death’s Gorge.” Du Lianqin took delight in Jun Xiaomo’s misery as she chuckled, “Seems like you’re not aware of what exactly the Death’s Gorge is, huh? Since time immemorial, no one that has fallen into the Death’s Gorge has been able to come back out alive. That ugly monster martial brother of yours has already joined the ranks of these fallen ancestors of his.”
Jun Xiaomo turned around fiercely and glared menacingly at Du Lianqin. An all-consuming hatred swelled up within her and filled her gaze with the desire to destroy everything around her.
Du Lianqin was momentarily stunned by that ghoulish gaze on Jun Xiaomo’s eyes, but she reminded herself that Jun Xiaomo was all by herself right now. There was nothing to be afraid of. Thus, a vicious smile crept up her charred face as she smirked, “What is it? Do you hate me? This cultivation world has always been dominated by the strong. So what if you hate me? How about this, why don’t you let me send you down to the depths of the abyss to join your ugly companion, hmm? This way, you won’t be left all alone on the surface, and you can join your ugly companion in death.”
The indignation in Jun Xiaomo’s heart burnt like a roaring inferno. Every cell within her body was crying out “revenge” in unison right now. The true energy within her body toiled and flowed incessantly…until finally, a wave of strong ripping sensation coursed through the meridians within her body, and Jun Xiaomo spat out a mouthful of crimson-red blood!
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. But under the operation of the intense hatred which filled every corner of her body, Jun Xiaomo had just experienced two breakthroughs at once!
The present Jun Xiaomo had just attained the fifth level of Qi Mastery!
A violent rush of spiritual energy swept through Jun Xiaomo’s body and was rapidly transformed into true energy as they filled Jun Xiaomo’s enlarged meridians and Dantian once more. Yet even then, Jun Xiaomo was incredibly sullen.
The anguish in her heart had caused her breath to become shallow. There was only one thought running through her mind right now – revenge for Ye Xiuwen!
She was going to kill everyone around right now, and then jump in after Ye Xiuwen to look for him.
Du Lianqin was momentarily shocked by the fact that Jun Xiaomo’s cultivation level had experienced a breakthrough twice in quick succession in the midst of this crisis. But she quickly collected herself and smirked at Jun Xiaomo once more.
“So what if your cultivation level has risen to the fifth level of Qi Mastery now? Any one of us here possesses a stronger cultivation than you. Any one of us here can easily squash you like an ant.”
As Du Lianqin finished speaking, she no longer waited for Jun Xiaomo’s response. Instead, she brandished her whip as she pounced at Jun Xiaomo once more.
She had suffered tragic injuries under the effects of Jun Xiaomo’s Thunderbolt Talisman earlier. She absolutely had to get back at her. She absolutely had to repay her a thousand times more!
However, was Jun Xiaomo’s increase in cultivation level really useless? Jun Xiaomo was prepared to prove Du Lianqin wrong. An increase to the fifth level of Qi Mastery in these circumstances might have been useless to any other cultivator, but this certainly did not include Jun Xiaomo!
Under the effects of her Nineform Spirituo-Demonic Refinement Technique, one part of true energy could be transformed into two parts of spiritual energy or demonic energy.
In other words, even though the amount of true energy within Jun Xiaomo’s body was akin to that of a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Mastery, the amount of spiritual energy would be twice that after factoring its conversion from true energy.
Jun Xiaomo shelfed the thoughts of using the spirit sword that she had been using earlier. Instead, she now retrieved a whip that was stored within her Interspatial Ring.
This whip was something that could only be used by cultivators of at least the fifth level of Qi Mastery. There were even complex inscriptions set out on its body.
In fact, even Jun Linxuan and Liu Qingmei were unaware of the fact that Jun Xiaomo’s greatest expertise was not with a spirit sword, but a whip. Earlier, she had only chosen to use a spirit sword because her cultivation level had fallen. But she whipped out her weapon of choice right now because she was fixated on revenge for her martial brother.
Most importantly, this whip had been modified by Jun Xiaomo so that it no longer required spiritual energy to operate, but demonic energy.
Demonic energy was far better suited to cause harm and destruction.
Jun Xiaomo no longer intended to conceal the fact that she was a demonic cultivator. So what if these people knew about her secrets? Right now, she was only concerned about dishing out the punishment due to these Du Clan disciples that they thoroughly deserved!
Du Lianqin immediately noticed the strange, peculiar aura emitting from Jun Xiaomo’s whip when she first took it out.
Something’s not right! Du Lianqin paused in her steps and retreated slightly as she looked at Jun Xiaomo in astonishment.
On the other hand, Du Yongxu was far more learned. He knew with one look what the peculiarity with Jun Xiaomo’s weapon was.
“You’re actually a demonic cultivator?!” Du Yongxu exclaimed.
“So what about it?” Jun Xiaomo’s eyes began to grow slightly bloodshot as she responded grimly.
Du Yongxu chuckled sardonically, “It’s nothing much. It’s just that we’ve got even more reason to dispose of you now.” As he finished speaking, he glanced over at his fellow disciples meaningfully. Moments later, everyone began to rush towards Jun Xiaomo in a concerted attack.
They no longer had any qualms killing Jun Xiaomo. After all, killing a demonic cultivator was something that this “righteous and upstanding” sects would celebrate, and there was no need to conceal this fact at all. In fact, it was something that they could even boast of as an achievement!
With such a notion in their minds, the Du Clan disciples began to attack Jun Xiaomo with ever increasing ferocity.
Yet even though they were ferocious, Jun Xiaomo was even more so. This was because Jun Xiaomo was fueled by the immense hatred festering in her heart right now. Her sole intention was to destroy and devastate everyone around her.
It was as though she had returned to the past, when everyone had abandoned her, leaving her all alone as she walked along the lonesome path of revenge. It was as though she could not escape such a fate of hers.
That’s right. An inescapable fate. Right now, Jun Xiaomo was absolutely uncertain whether she would become as fanatical and frenzied as she had been in her previous life if she had truly lost her martial brother again.
The shadow of Jun Xiaomo’s past had begun to creep up on her. The bloodstains on Jun Xiaomo’s body had completely soaked through her garments, and she looked as though she were dressed in striking red right now.
Those who were vicious were afraid of those who were suicidal.
Jun Xiaomo gave off a fierce suicidal intent as she battled the Du Clan disciples. If not for the fact that the artefacts given to her by old man Chi and Rong Ruihan had been protecting her, she might already have been reduced to her final breaths right now.
Just like that, the Du Clan disciples found themselves getting increasingly injured. To begin with, several disciples had already been reduced to a sorry state by Jun Xiaomo’s powerful Thunderbolt Talisman earlier. Now that Jun Xiaomo had thrown all caution to the wind and battled with the sole goal of causing the most devastation possible without a care for self-preservation, these Du Clan disciples found themselves reduced to an even more tragic state.
Thoughts of retreat began to surface on their minds.
“No retreating! There must be valuable treasures on her body!” Du Yongxu demanded as his eyes glistened with avarice.
That’s right. In Du Yongxu’s eyes, the fact that this female cultivator at the measly fifth level of Qi Mastery could hold her own against so many cultivators who possessed a far higher cultivation level meant the existence of several treasures on her body which augmented her abilities.
From the start, Du Yongxu had never abandoned his intention of killing and robbing Jun Xiaomo.
But just as he yelled out his orders, a loud voice bellowed out of nowhere, “Who dares to bully my daughter?!”
A powerful aura instantly engulfed the surrounding lands. Du Yongxu’s reflexes were the quickest, and he immediately retracted his attack and took two steps back. Despite that, a bolt of lightning still managed to strike his arm.
Instantly, his arm turned black, and he lost all senses from that arm.
It’s been crippled!
The other Du Clan disciples were hardly in a better state. They had not been able to retreat in time, and two disciples were instantly killed by the bolts of lightning, while others were barely hanging on to their lives.
Du Yongxu cursed in his heart. He had never expected this young lady to have such a powerful backer behind. Furthermore, how was he going to account to his sect for the death of these two Du Clan disciples?!
Nevertheless, he knew that now was not the time to languish in his infuriation. The person who had just arrived was a fearsome expert. This was his final opportunity to make his escape.
Thus, Du Yongxu retrieved a spirit tool from his Interspatial Ring, dripped a drop of blood on it and began to recite some mnemonics… Moments later, a bright blue light engulfed all the Du Clan disciples.
Jun Xiaomo immediately rushed towards Du Yongxu in the center of this bright blue light. However, she was too late.
The blue light intensified quickly. Then, in the blink of an eye, the light faded once more, and Du Yongxu and the rest vanished together with that blue light.
This was a spirit tool that the Du Clan had given to their disciples travelling out of the sect for their use as a last resort. Even though all Escape Scrolls were ineffective beside the Death’s Gorge, these restrictions did not include their live-saving spirit tool.
This tool’s effects were quite similar to a normal Teleportation Scroll, but it was of much higher quality. This was because it could detect and pick out everyone within a three-hundred-meter radius who possessed the same bloodline as the user and send them all back to their sect.
Their possession of this live-saving spirit tool was one of the other reasons why the Du Clan disciples had tyrannically killed and robbed people along the way on these travels as well.
They thought that as long as they had this spirit tool with them, there was no way anyone would be able to take their lives. Furthermore, they banked on the fact that most cultivators would at least show deference to them on account for the fact that they hailed from the eight great sects. Thus, they felt incredibly safe and secure on these travels.
At the same time, Jun Xiaomo could only stare vacantly at the space that they had vanished from, and she was at a complete loss of what to do.
“Damn!!! Come back! Come back right now!” Jun Xiaomo was on the verge of losing her mind. She had never lost her mind like that ever since she had been reborn. She brandished her whip and lashed out at her surroundings where each of the Du Clan disciples had been standing just a little while ago. But they had already all vanished – what was the use of her actions right now?
A man and a woman slowly descended from mid-air. The lady’s heart constricted in pain as she called out, “Mo-Mo.” The man remained sullen for a while. Then, he stepped forward and snatched the whip from Jun Xiaomo’s hand as he bellowed, “Xiaomo, enough!”
The two who had just arrived were none other than Jun Linxuan and Liu Qingmei. They had earlier detected the confrontation at this location with their divine sense. But given that they were still located some distance away, they released a wave of oppressive pressure, while Jun Linxuan used a long-range lightning spell to launch a first wave of attack on the assailants.
However, it was also because they were located too far away that the power of the attack was substantially diminished. Otherwise there would be no way that Du Yongxu would have survived Jun Linxuan’s attack. After all, the difference between Jun Linxuan’s current cultivation level and Du Yongxu’s cultivation level was simply far too great.
Regardless, that was how things had turned out. Jun Linxuan’s anxiety to rescue his daughter had inadvertently given Du Yongxu and the others a chance to escape.
Jun Xiaomo’s eyes reddened as she ran towards Jun Linxuan. She wanted to snatch her whip back from Jun Linxuan. She wanted to kill those people!
Smack! Jun Linxuan gave his daughter a tight slap on the face.
Jun Xiaomo’s cheek immediately reddened and swelled up slightly, but her madness finally subsided.
“Are you finally awake?” Jun Linxuan sternly rebuked her.
Jun Xiaomo held her cheek, and tears began to roll out of her eyes in large beads. She hung her head low and grew taciturn.
“Jun Xiaomo! I’m asking you – are you finally awake?! Answer me!” Jun Linxuan’s tone of voice grew increasingly harsh.
“Why did you hit her!” Liu Qingmei couldn’t bear to see her daughter hurt like that, and she anxiously stepped forward to take a look at her daughter’s swollen cheek.
As she drew closer, Liu Qingmei’s body shuddered involuntarily – she had just noticed that her daughter was not dressed in red. Rather, her clothes had been dyed red from her daughter’s blood!
Jun Linxuan did not notice Liu Qingmei’s reaction. This was the first time that he had ever disagreed with Liu Qingmei’s spoiling their daughter. He gritted his teeth as he exploded, “Hasn’t she caused enough trouble yet? Huh?! Look! Just look at what she’s become! Leaving a letter behind and running after Xiuwen like that. Who does she think she is?! A cultivator at the second level of Qi Mastery travelling out of the Sect? Doesn’t she know how much she worries us?! Will she wake up from this stupor of hers if I don’t slap her?!”
Jun Xiaomo’s hands quivered slightly. The emptiness in her heart had once again been dispelled by Jun Linxuan’s mention of “Xiuwen”, jolting her attention back onto her task at hand.
“Martial brother! That’s right! Father, mother, we’ve got to go rescue martial brother. That’s right, we’re going to rescue martial brother now!” Jun Xiaomo exclaimed as she wrested her hands free from Liu Qingmei’s grasp and began running towards the edge of the Death’s Gorge.
“Mo-Mo!!!” Liu Qingmei had never expected her daughter to act so rashly. In that brief moment of complacency, Jun Xiaomo managed to wrest free of Liu Qingmei’s grasp just like that.
Jun Xiaomo’s mind was still trapped in the mire of her despondence right now, and the only notion on her mind was to save her martial brother!
As to how she should go about saving him, or whether she would even be able to rescue him after jumping down the Death’s Gorge, these were considerations that could be dealt with later.
The veins on Jun Linxuan’s head bulged and throbbed. As a Peakmaster, he naturally had heard of the Death’s Gorge before. If his disciple had truly fallen into Death’s Gorge, chances were…
A trace of agony flashed across his eyes. But he knew that the matter with his disciple had already happened. What was more important was to prevent his daughter from following in his disciple’s footsteps.
Thus, with two large strides, Jun Linxuan appeared behind Jun Xiaomo. Then, just as she was about to take one last step before leaping down into Death’s Gorge, he knocked her unconscious.
Just before passing out, Jun Xiaomo’s mind was filled with only disbelief, as though she simply could not understand why her own father was preventing her from saving Ye Xiuwen.
The thick stench of blood assaulted Jun Linxuan’s olfactory senses, and his heart swelled with uncontrollable rage!
If he could just wind back time slightly, he would most certainly have obliterated those bastards!
“Then, about Little Wen…” Liu Qingmei had roughly managed to guess what had happened to Ye Xiuwen from Jun Xiaomo’s words and actions.
Liu Qingmei saw Ye Xiuwen almost as a son to her. Naturally, she was incredibly worried for Ye Xiuwen’s safety as well.
Jun Linxuan sighed, “The energy in Xiaomo’s body is extremely unstable, and there are signs of her forcibly breaking through the bottlenecks of her cultivation level. In fact, there are even signs of a demonic upheaval. We can’t let her remain like this. We’ll need to stabilize her condition right now. As for Xiuwen…”
Jun Linxuan paused for a moment, and a trace of unwillingness flashed across his eyes, “We’ll have to wait till Jun Xiaomo wakes up before making any further decisions.”
Teardrops began to roll out of Liu Qingmei’s eyes. As she continued to stare blankly into the deep, dark abyss, a wave of despondence washed over her heart.