Coming out of Qiling Town, and walking forward along the dense Evil Qi, many Evil Seeds had already begun to appear.
Especially in the direction of entry, they became more and more numerous, extending all the way to the wild path leading into the mountain.
And that wild path, to the north, was the entrance to Hongshan Mine.
Other unidentified cultivators were currently soaring through the air, casually striking down a few obstructing ones, then hurrying away, entering the Qi Ridge Mountain, where black mist billowed.
They didn't care about the Evil Seeds, nor did they care about the mine surrounded by Evil Seeds; their hearts held only purposes known to themselves.
At this moment, Ji You reached out and gripped his sword, beginning to pass through the black mist, and with a sword strike, he pierced through the hearts of two Evil Seeds.
Evil Seeds would quickly gather upon sensing human Qi, which saved him the trouble of searching back and forth.
Thus, whistling sword waves continuously flashed within this black mist.
After a few rustling sounds, the Evil Seeds wandering on the periphery fell to the ground one after another. Ji You stepped over their charred black corpses and continued towards Hongshan Mine.
Deeper inside, the Evil Seeds here had begun to become dense. Ji You dared not be overconfident and waved his hand to summon two more swords.
Just like that day on Wanzhuo Mountain, Ji You cleared a path with sword waves, but he never recalled his sword, always omitting unnecessary sword forms when taking them out.
Then he moved in an arc, clearing out the Evil Seeds on both sides.
“It feels like a boar demon chopping trees.”
“But… it’s not helpful for Realm improvement.”
“If it were a one-shot kill, maybe I could become the Sect Master tomorrow…”
After several rounds, Ji You gradually began to understand the consumption and replenishment speed of Spirit Origin under this black mist.
Then, Spirit Origin surged beneath his feet, and he shot out like a bolt of lightning. In the originally silent black mist, sword waves suddenly surged like radiating light.
Meanwhile, Wen Zhengxin was leading five Tong Xuan Realm Inner Courtyard Disciples and fifteen Outer Courtyard Disciples to the outer foot of the mountain to observe the situation in the Qiling Mountains.
Here, she encountered the Disciples of the Chen Clan.
The two leaders were both in the Rongdao Realm, and coincidentally, they were acquaintances: one named Chen Yushan, and the other Chen Wenliang.
Wen Zhengxin and Chen Yushan had fought three years ago at a Dao discussion conference. At that time, Wen Zhengxin had been superior, defeating her off the arena. Upon meeting again, their gazes were both somewhat sharp.
“I heard Miss Wen wanted to become a personal Disciple of Zizai Hall at Tianshu Academy, so why are you out here now?”
Wen Zhengxin looked at her coldly: “Aren’t you the same?”
Chen Yushan looked far into the misty sky: “Us? The Sect Master once said that if we gain something in the ruins, we can enter the Desolate Pagoda for cultivation. Is it the same for you?”
The Desolate Pagoda was a Sacred Artifact controlled by the founding patriarchs of the Chen Clan, similar to the Heavenly Book of Tianshu Academy.
Upon hearing this, Wen Zhengxin’s expression changed.
Since many years ago, Tianshu Academy Disciples had not seen the Heavenly Book's true form, and Chen Yushan’s tone was quite sarcastic.
However, at this moment, all three heard a clear sword hum from afar, a buzzing sound like demonic music in their ears, constantly ringing out with great rhythm.
Looking out, beneath the black mist, a man in a Tianshu Academy immortal robe was continuously swinging his sword, leaving not a single Evil Seed alive in a small area.
Moreover, his sword strikes were extremely peculiar; the long sword in his hand continuously stacked sword waves, while his other two swords circled around him.
Between the intervals of the sword waves, he made no wasted movements, taking one suspended sword and then suspending another, gradually fighting his way deeper.
Lingjian Mountain…?
Among the Seven Great Immortal Sects of the current era, the Disciples of Lingjian Mountain were the most obsessed with the Dao of the Sword. They believed this person was a Disciple of Lingjian Mountain.
Because earlier in Qiling Town, they had seen traces of Lingjian Mountain Disciples.
However, they could not understand why the man was heading north when the entrance to the mountain was clearly on the south side.
“It’s Ji You.”
“Who?”
A Tianshu Academy Outer Courtyard Disciple spoke: “It’s Ji You from our Outer Courtyard. He practices Dual Cultivation of martial arts and Dao, and he’s the only one who uses three swords.”
Wen Zhengxin was slightly startled: “That name… I think I’ve heard it somewhere?”
“He’s this year’s New Year student in the Outer Courtyard, the one who resonated with the Heavenly Book.”
“Someone who resonated with the Heavenly Book, sent to investigate the ruins?”
The Outer Courtyard Disciple pursed his lips: “He’s a rural private cultivator, not a Worldly Family Disciple. Also, someone is faster than him…”
Wen Zhengxin thought for a moment: “Are you referring to Chu River?”
“Precisely. Although Ji You resonated with the Heavenly Book, he’s still a bit short of breaking through to the next Realm, while Chu River has already touched the threshold.”
“The talent of the Chu Clan is truly terrifying…”
Wen Zhengxin sighed upon hearing this and turned to look at Chen Yushan and Chen Wenliang, only to find that they were still staring into the distance, their brows furrowed slightly.
They had already discovered upon their arrival that the Evil Qi here had the effect of suppressing Spirit Origin. Although it did not greatly restrict the Realm, the recovery speed was extremely slow.
But they noticed that the Tianshu Academy student named Ji You, after wielding so many swords, still seemed to have abundant Spirit Origin.
After a long while, Ji You had already plunged deep, swept his surroundings clear, and stood still.
That Evil Qi could suppress a cultivator’s Spirit Origin was indeed an extremely terrifying thing.
But what was even more terrifying was that he had no Spirit Origin…
In fact, even his Spirit Spring was shattered.
After wielding his sword and moving for a hundred meters, Ji You was a bit out of breath. He landed on a short tree by controlling his Qi, looking at the distant mine.
Hongshan Mine had high walls built beforehand. Evil Seeds gathered outside the high walls and could not enter.
But a nearby shed was now in ruins, and upon closer inspection, some scattered corpses lay on the ground, causing his heart to sink.
On New Year’s Day night, there must have been many miners sent by the Immortal Sects, hoping for better days in the shed, only to die there.
“There are too many Evil Seeds. If they were to be released, the Central Continent would be finished.”
“However, these Evil Seeds are different from those on Wanzhuo Mountain; there’s no sign of them being artificially controlled.”
“Tianshu Academy claims to be here to investigate the Evil Seeds, but they are insistent on entering the mountain. Other Sects have also followed for unknown reasons. I feel like there might be something wrong with the mountain…”
“And Hongshan Mine, it being attacked was probably to cover up something, after all, the two entrances are too close.”
“What are they covering up?”
As Ji You frowned slightly, he suddenly saw another team of cultivators fighting their way into the Evil Seed horde. It seemed there were quite a few of them.
And their target was not the mountain pass, because if it were there, cultivators would only need to fly over these Evil Seeds.
Even more interestingly, among these cultivators was a young man, who looked to be about his age, constantly dodging with his head in his hands, seemingly in a panic.
The cultivators had originally been protecting him, but as the Evil Seeds continuously swarmed, their formation gradually broke apart.
Seeing an Evil Seed heading towards the gap in the crowd, Ji You took out his bow and arrow from the green jade gourd, tightened the bowstring, and shot it out.
With a whoosh, the Evil Seed rushing towards the young man was directly pierced through the head.
The young man’s face was pale. Seeing this, he looked towards the direction of the arrow and then bowed.
Ji You smiled faintly, thinking to himself that he saved his life because they were also helping to kill Evil Seeds.
But then, his expression began to change.
Because he had cleared out the Evil Seeds here earlier, he now saw that clever young man frantically running towards him, attracting a pile of Evil Seeds behind him.
“Damn it, he wants me to shield him?!”