Chapter 74
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 74: Blue Ice Grass
Ye Yun frowned slightly, sensing Duan Chenfeng was intentionally provoking trouble, yet believing there must be deeper motives behind his actions.
“Hmm? I recognize you—you’re Ye Yun,” one of the Yellow Robed Disciples, surnamed Jin, suddenly exclaimed, his eyebrows twitching in recognition.
“Senior Brother Jin, how did you reach this place?” Ye Yun asked calmly.
Fear flickered in Senior Brother Jin’s eyes as he replied gravely, “After entering the passage, we arrived at a grand hall filled with raging floods and unknown poisons. Everyone else perished. Only the two of us managed to break the restrictions and escape here.”
“Even Senior Brothers like you…” Yu Minghong trembled, his voice shaking. “How many were in your group?”
Senior Brother Jin inhaled sharply, teeth clenched. “At least sixty or seventy.”
“What?!”
Yu Minghong and the others cried out in horror. Ye Yun’s face darkened completely.
If Senior Brother Jin spoke truthfully, over a hundred disciples selected by Tian Zhu Peak had perished within hours, leaving only those present. Including Su Ling, just nine remained!
Even Duan Chenfeng fell silent. From a hundred to eight in mere hours—the first layer of Hualun Secret Vault was lethally dangerous. Who would be next to die?
Su Ling stared at them, stunned. After a long pause, she tugged Ye Yun’s sleeve.
“Ye Yun, what’s happening? Weren’t there a hundred outer disciples from Tian Zhu Peak? Are only eight left?”
“You’ve seen it yourself. This is our fate as outer disciples—decided by the sect’s higher-ups.” Though Ye Yun’s voice remained cold, fury simmered within him. He nearly lashed out at Su Ling, certain she was the daughter of a Heavenly Sword Sect elder.
“Why?” Su Ling demanded, unable to accept this.
“Because we’re expendable!” Senior Brother Jin laughed bitterly. Though they’d schemed over spirit stones, losing so many sect brothers still filled him with despair.
“Senior Brother Jin,” Yu Minghong said, pale but steady, “we must unite to find this layer’s array eye and destroy it. Only then can we survive.”
“Really?” Senior Brother Jin’s gaze snapped to Su Ling. “I’ve never seen you at Tian Zhu Peak. How did you enter?” He stepped forward, blue dagger gleaming coldly. “Who are you?”
Su Ling froze, unprepared for such hostility.
“Senior Brother Jin.” Ye Yun moved between them. “She’s no threat. She saved me once. I vouch for her.”
“Then you’re responsible for her,” Senior Brother Jin relented, wary of Ye Yun.
“I don’t need your protection!” Su Ling protested.
Ye Yun glanced at her. “Survival matters more than pride.”
Grumbling, Su Ling fell silent.
“We’ve checked this area,” Senior Brother Jin said, pointing to distant green mountains. “Our answer lies there.”
Warm sunlight bathed them as they walked. Thick spiritual energy wafted from the lush landscape—denser than Tian Zhu Peak’s best cultivation grounds.
Senior Brother Jin breathed deeply, savoring the humid energy. Part of him wished to stay forever.
Ye Yun inhaled the moist air, refreshing yet useless. At the Connecting Orifices stage, he couldn’t absorb spiritual energy directly.
“This energy can’t be refined,” Su Ling said coldly. “Qi refining disciples would explode if they tried absorbing it. That’s why they’re barred entry.”
“Explode? But it’s spiritual energy!” The group stared in shock.
“Not all energies are absorbable,” Su Ling explained, brushing against Ye Yun as they walked. “This type resists refinement.”
Ye Yun’s eyes narrowed. As a former servant disciple, he’d only recently learned about energy types through the Little Absorption Technique.
“So this is why only pre-Qi refining disciples were sent?”
“Look!”
Senior Brother Jin halted abruptly, crouching to pluck a pale blue plant.
“Blue Ice Grass! So much of it!”
“The main ingredient for Spirit Gathering Pills?” Disciple Chen exclaimed.
Senior Brother Jin nodded eagerly. “Over a hundred plants here. Their value alone is astronomical if we escape!”
