Chapter 34

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Chapter 34: Bracing for the Thunder

The so-called slender waist and muscular arms are like this, every muscle is just right, not too weak or too thick, only with such harmony can it be called perfect.

This figure is so distinctive and memorable, even from just looking at the trapezius muscles on the back, one can recognize the person who took off their pants.

He is the top muscle figure in the cultivation world… no, the top knife cultivator, Jiang Si.

However, nowadays, besides Wen Yun, no one appreciates his beautiful muscles anymore. Wen Yun is blocked by Ye Shubai and cannot see, while in the eyes of the sword cultivator, only the soon-to-be tarnished spiritual spring is left.

What a pity for such good muscles.

Bao Pilong and Zhu Erchong flew together with their twin swords, rushing to stop Jiang Si before he takes off his pants.

"Rascal! How dare you urinate in the spiritual spring!"

Jiang Si was still shirtless, looking puzzled as he turned to the crowd, his face blushing suddenly upon hearing the words, "So, it’s the two senior brothers from Qingliu Sword Sect… But I didn’t plan to urinate!"

"You can’t even bathe here!"

Bao Pilong held a sharp sword, looking serious, "The world of cultivation does not allow such wasteful actions like yours. Being reckless with nature will attract lightning!"

Wen Yun, who had bathed in the spiritual spring, stayed calm as she saw that there were no signs of thunder in the clear sky above. She felt relieved.

Jiang Si, who was being pointed at by two flying swords, sighed helplessly, "I wasn’t planning to take a bath either. It seems there has been a misunderstanding. I assume you were also told by your elders about the spiritual spring here? I was just lucky to land near the spring when I entered the secret realm, and I was planning to fetch some water."

He boldly showed the still tied belt around his waist to everyone, revealing a space bag wrapped around it.

"I wrapped my space bag around my belt. I need to untie it to take out the jade bottle for the spiritual spring water. Unfortunately, you arrived at the wrong time and this misunderstanding occurred."

Although they understood Jiang Si’s explanation, the two sword cultivators, while putting down their swords, did not relax their guard and still tightly gripped the handles of their swords secretly.

They did not forget that the previous demon cultivator was from the Jiang family. Who knew if Jiang Si in front of them had also switched sides to the demon cultivator?

Wen Yun had repeatedly warned them to keep the encounter with the demon cultivator a secret, so the two of them remained silent, staring at Jiang Si vigilantly, especially focusing on the back of his neck.

If it were someone else, they would have noticed something amiss, but these two sword cultivators were facing a knife cultivator with thicker nerves, so…

"Haha, you two brothers have been watching for so long, do you want to come and feel it?" Jiang Si thought they were admiring his muscles, so he generously showed off his bare upper body, even encouraged the two to try, "You don’t have to be shy, many fellow practitioners have asked me about the secrets of training privately, I don’t keep it to myself."

Zhu Erchong and Bao Pilong were quite excited, but they never failed at crucial moments.

Zhu Erchong stopped Jiang Si and humbly asked how to build such a good body.

Bao Pilong quietly walked behind Jiang Si and carefully observed.

Bao Pilong saw Jiang Si’s neck skin smooth and spotless, without any tattoo.

The two relaxed a little, glanced at Wen Yun quietly, waiting for her decision.

Just as Wen Yun’s eyes shifted, the man next to her coldly said, "Wen Yun."

With just a name call, she immediately understood and casually said, "There’s nothing interesting, I’m not looking anymore."

She knew she shouldn’t have accidentally revealed Ye Shubai’s identity in the past!

Look, this man used to be obedient when he was a sword spirit, but now that he’s a master, he’s fighting fiercely. She is really taking the pressure now.

Ye Shubai looked at Jiang Si and coldly reminded, "There are female cultivators here, please behave."

Jiang Si stopped showing off his body and casually put on a dark outer robe, looking extremely surprised at Wen Yun and Ye Shubai.

"Martial Sister Wen, you’re here! And who is this?"

This time, without Wen Yun saying anything, Zhu Erchong skillfully informed Jiang Si of what had been said earlier.

After listening, Jiang Si pondered for a moment, "A secret realm requires the joint effort of several powerful Transmigration experts to open. It seems some seniors left Blizzard Island hastily that day due to some urgent matters, causing the Dark Heaven Secret Realm to open half a month earlier. You two might be the ones who accidentally entered at that time."

He glanced deeply at Wen Yun, suddenly bowed with his fists clasped, and humbly said, "My Jiang family’s elders were involved in capturing the thief and implicated Martial Sister Wen. We owe our younger martial sister for this. If you need anything this time, just instruct Martial Sister Wen."

Jiang Si, being naive, did not doubt what his elders said and felt sorry for Wen Yun, wanting to make it up to her.

Shen Xinghai, holding a sword, stared alertly at Jiang Si and said, "Our younger martial sister from my family has our protection. Please don’t worry about us, friend!"

After thinking about the sentence in his mind a couple of times, Jiang Si finally understood and straightforwardly said, "Mr. Shen, your words are getting harder to understand."

At first, he would just say some strange things occasionally when they first met, but now he was acting more and more strangely.

Shen Xinghai coldly snorted and stopped talking.

Over there, Bao Pilong eagerly helped Jiang Si open the space bag and they happily went to fill it with spirit spring water.

Even though Zhu Erchong also wanted some spirit spring water, he remembered more important matters and whispered, "There’s no mark on his neck, could he not be a demon cultivator?"

And he actually quite liked the honest Jiang Si, and found it hard to believe he was related to the treacherous demon cultivator.

Wen Yun glanced at Ye Shubai.

He calmly said, "It might not be on the neck, some high-ranking demon cultivators may have their tribe totem tattooed elsewhere."

Even though Jiang Si confidently bared his chest, he still had his pants on properly.

Wen Yun whispered, "I wish I had asked him to take off his pants earlier."

She patted Zhu Erchong’s shoulder and said, "Brother Zhu, find a way to take off his pants, carefully check if he has any demon cultivator markings on his body, make it look natural, don’t make him suspicious."

Seeing Zhu Erchong’s reluctance, Wen Yun offered, "I have a big jar in my space bag, I will take it out later and fill it with spiritual spring water for you."

Zhu Erchong was really hesitant, after pondering for a while, he let out a sigh and said, "Alright, I’ll take off the pants."

＊

Wen Yun sat on the side, holding a delicate jade bottle pretending to fill it with spiritual spring water, but her ears were perked up, listening intently to the sounds nearby.

Zhu Erchong was persuading Jiang Si to take off his pants.

Suddenly, he pretended to fan himself with a sword near his face and dramatically said, "I didn’t expect it to be so hot today, no wonder Master Jiang took off his clothes earlier."

After speaking, he smoothly took off his outer robe, revealing a thick chest hair blowing in the wind.

Jiang Si was squatting by the spring, scooping up water and laughed, "It’s a bit hot."

Then he didn’t react anymore.

Zhu Erchong wasn’t satisfied and said, "It’s still too hot. How about we take off our pants together?"

Jiang Si looked up at him silently, moved aside a bit, and quickly shook his head, "No, friend Zhu Erchong, you go ahead. I won’t join you."

Zhu Erchong’s first attempt ended in failure.

Next up was Bao Pilong, who laughed and said, "This spring water is so cool. Ginger, shall we take a bath together?"

Jiang Si frowned, puzzled, and asked, "Brother Bao, you said before that bathing in the spring will attract lightning. Plus, the spring water is for drinking, how can we pollute it?"

Bao Pilong, who was not good with words, couldn’t say anything, so he nudged Shen Xinghai next to him to go next.

"Junior Brother Shen, you are good at talking, can you persuade him?"

"But I don’t know how to persuade people to… take off their pants."

Shen Xinghai’s face turned bright red, but unable to resist the expectant gazes of his two senior brothers and Wen Yun, he reluctantly braved up and went up.

However, instead of using his usual stern sentences to influence Jiang Si, he waited for the moment when Jiang Si was crouching by the spring to fetch water, he shook his leg, then fiercely rushed forward, lifted his long leg and kicked out—

As long as he kicked him into the water, Jiang Si would have to go change his pants later. In order to expose Jiang Si’s demon cultivator identity, he even reluctantly sacrificed that pool of spiritual spring water.

However, the sword cultivator’s sword was fast, but the leg was not fast enough.

Moreover, Jiang Si was at the peak of the Golden Core Stage, while Shen Xinghai, who had just entered the Golden Core Stage, was no match for him.

So, Wen Yun saw Jiang Si grabbing the leg that Shen Xinghai kicked out, showcasing a high-level leg maneuver.

Jiang Si frowned, showing displeasure, "Friend Shen, what are you doing! Are you trying to ambush me from behind and monopolize this spiritual spring?!"

Shen Xinghai took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "We cultivators, when we meet a strong opponent, we seek only one battle. I just wanted to have a friendly match with my friend Jiang."

Jiang Si heard this and felt at ease, then he laughed and fought Shen Xinghai with a knife, knocking him down on the spot.

Wen Yun sighed, feeling sorry for her three honest senior brothers.

The sword cultivators’ education was lacking, teaching only sword skills but not strategies. If her senior brother Xu Wanfeng was here, even the straightforward knife cultivator wouldn’t be deceived.

Finally, Zhu Erchong, who had initially failed in battle, came up with an idea. He poured two pots of spring water for Jiang Si, claiming it was the taste of water from the heavens, then invited him to go to the small forest together.

When Jiang Si returned, he had changed his pants and looked upset, but he didn’t say anything harsh. He just sat by himself looking gloomy.

Zhu Erchong sneaked over to sit beside Wen Yun with a relaxed smile, saying, "Martial Sister Wen, my investigation was successful."

Wen Yun’s eyes brightened as she looked at him expectantly, asking, "What did you find out?"

Zhu Erchong replied seriously, "I carefully examined him and found no tattoos anywhere, even the soles of his feet were clean. It seems that he is not a demon cultivator. Of course, it’s also possible that he has turned traitor but hasn’t had the chance to get tattooed yet."

After speaking, Zhu Erchong looked at Ye Shubai and asked, "Junior Brother Ye, what do you think?"

Ye Shubai calmly said, "Those who fall into darkness will treat it as their lifelong belief. The inner demon will manifest as a black totem on their body. Since Jiang Si shows no signs of this, it seems he has not fallen into darkness."

Wen Yun also breathed a sigh of relief, "The person from the Jiang family last night shouldn’t have been sent to assassinate Martial Brother Shen. But we must stay vigilant, as matters involving demon cultivators affect the lives of many. It’s better to remain suspicious than to trust others easily."

In the previous battle between good and evil, demon cultivators were able to invade the righteous land so smoothly because they had insiders who discovered many secrets.

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Martial Brother Zhu, we tried many methods earlier. How did you check him afterwards?"

Zhu Erchong looked embarrassed, glanced cautiously at Jiang Si, then quickly looked down and whispered, "Didn’t I ask him to accompany me to the restroom?"

"Hmm, what happened next?"

"Although he is usually quick to react and vigilant, who thinks about that when going to the restroom?"

Wen Yun vaguely guessed what was happening and looked puzzled. "So you…"

Zhu Erchong cleared his throat, feeling extremely embarrassed. "So I pretended to accidentally touch him and even sprinkled some powder on his shoes to examine him carefully."

"…"

Wen Yun sighed, worried about her senior brother’s future. Today, he did something unethical, and she feared he might get struck by lightning when he ascended in the future.

Jiang Si felt very wronged. Unfortunately, it was embarrassing to talk about such matters, so he vented his frustration on the spirit spring, desperately filling up the bottle with spring water.

As he turned around, he saw the delicate and gentle Wen Yun holding a large urn confidently, pouring water into it.

Finally, the knife cultivator brothers understood why people said sword cultivators were not good people.

The only consolation was that after five hundred years, the spirit spring water had filled up completely. Even though everyone had filled their bottles, there was still water left in the spring, unlike the first time Ye Shubai came back, where not a drop was left.

Jiang Si carefully kept the jade bottle, then turned around and elegantly bowed to the fellow martial brothers of Qingliu Sword Sect, "Dear friends, the spirit spring has been obtained. It seems each of us has responsibilities at home. Why don’t we bid farewell here, and I wish everyone good fortune in finding opportunities in the secret realm!"

Though he had just mentioned staying to help Martial Sister Wen, Jiang Si couldn’t wait to distance himself from this strange group of people.

It was a pity as he sadly looked at Wen Yun. She was a very smart and pretty girl, why did she choose to become a sword cultivator?

However, before Jiang Si could pick up his sword and run away, a terrified cry suddenly came from a distance.

Everyone was shocked, those with swords drew their swords, those with knives grabbed their knives, and all rushed towards the direction of the sound.

Jiang Si led the way, not avoiding the dense trees along the path, chopping his way through with his knife in hand, each stroke stronger than the last, creating a path for the others behind him.

"Follow me, everyone!"

However, he didn’t notice that there was no one behind him, they were all above his head.

The sword cultivators flying in the sky looked down with sympathy, sighing, knife cultivators really can’t compare to us sword cultivators, look at them, they can’t even fly!

When they reached the area where the cry for help came from, everyone’s eyes widened.

Shen Xinghai gritted his teeth, "It’s that black python again!"

In the dense forest, they saw a young cultivator entangled and unable to move, weakly calling out for help.

The big python attacking him now looked similar to the one from last night, but it was smaller and not the same one!

Shen Xinghai kicked his leg onto the sword, then jumped forward to catch the sword that was kicked at him, twisting his slim waist to attack.

But Jiang Si had already moved ahead of him.

He slashed more than ten times along the way, the Jiang family’s eighteen slashes were already layered with hidden power, now reaching their peak.

With a fierce swing of his knife in his hands, his eyes filled with killing intent, he angrily said, "Face your death!"

Unexpectedly, the python dodged the supposed fatal blow, the black snake that should have been entangled with him now seemed to have gained intelligence and quickly fled!

Jiang Si was about to chase after it, but the person who fell to the ground stopped him with a weak voice.

"Senior from the Jiang family… cough, cough…"

As soon as he spoke, he vomited a pool of blood, his face became pale like gold paper, as if he could die at any moment.

Jiang Si had to stop chasing the giant python and walked over to the man, helping him up and giving him a bottle of magic spring water to drink, "Don’t talk yet, drink quickly."

The young man’s face improved after drinking the magic spring water, he took a few deep breaths, grabbed Jiang Si’s hand, his eyes excited as if he had seen a lifesaving straw, "Senior Brother Jiang Si! Do you remember me? I am a disciple of the Yu family, ranked nineteenth in the clan."

As he spoke, he suddenly knelt down in embarrassment, knocking his head heavily in front of Jiang Si, "Martial Brother Jiang, we cannot communicate with the outside world in the Dark Heaven Secret Realm. Yu Shijiu is incompetent. Now I can only seek your help!"

Jiang Si’s warm-hearted character was well known in the cultivation world, without waiting for the other party to speak, he immediately agreed enthusiastically, "Friend Yu, don’t worry! Anything that Jiang Si can do, I will do my best to help. Tell me what is going on."

Yu Shijiu burst into tears, crying bitterly, "My family’s Young Master Qing Hong has been trapped in a maze, which is filled with strange dangers. He is now in grave danger! Please, Martial Brother Jiang, come with me to rescue Young Master Qing Hong!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Si was stunned for a moment, then he showed a happy expression, "A maze? That’s great news!"

Hearing this, Yu Shijiu cried and raged, "Martial Brother Jiang, if you don’t help, do you have to rub salt in the wound?!"

Realizing the misunderstanding, Jiang Si quickly waved his hand, "No, that’s not what I meant. I meant that if we encounter a maze, we don’t need to be afraid because we have an expert on breaking mazes here."

Wen Yun, who was a short distance behind, happened to jump down from her flying sword, asking, "A maze? Where is it?"

Yu Shijiu looked surprised at a group of people suddenly coming down from the sky, "This is not…"

"Yes, all the friends from Qingliu Sword Sect are here! Taoist Friend Yu, don’t worry, with so many people we will surely save your family’s Young Master Qing Hong!" Jiang Si comfortingly patted his shoulder. "Quick, lead us to that maze!"

Yu Shijiu nodded repeatedly, but then hesitated and looked at Wen Yun, "Is this the famous Martial Sister Wen from the Swordsmanship Contest? Since there are already many senior brothers going, it’s better for you to wait here."

He paused, seemed to remember something, and a look of extreme fear appeared on his face. He urged, "In that maze, there are several giant pythons, with a terrible smell, so terrifying. How dare I let you, such a fairy-like younger martial sister, take such a risk!"

"It’s nothing," Wen Yun said calmly, even showing a hint of what could be considered a gentle smile, although her words didn’t sound very gentle —

"Just some long bugs, I killed a big one last night, was just starting to enjoy myself, a few more for practice will be great."

Yu Shijiu looked stunned, seemingly scared by her words, and didn’t speak for a while.

Wen Yun took a wooden sword and walked ahead, turned back to look at Yu Shijiu, raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Why are you standing there? Lead the way to save Yu Qinghong."