Han Tao glanced at him and said in a low voice, "I will naturally handle the abnormalities in the Dragon Palace, but I need to go find someone now."
The spirit of the secret realm paused for a moment, then a look of sudden realization appeared on its chubby little face.
"I understand. Are you looking for the man whose blood contains your dragon blood?"
Han Tao found his statement a bit strange, but without thinking too much about it, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it and just nodded.
"I'll help you look for it."
With a wave of its hand, the spirit of the secret realm revealed a scene before him: Fu Mingxu leaning against the cave wall, panting and moaning softly.
Moreover, just below, across the waterfall, a sword cultivator was experiencing unusual fluctuations in his spiritual energy and appeared restless.
A note from the author:
Han Tao: What should I do if my wife has another man next to her? I need help urgently!
...
Chapter 51
After Fu Mingxu regained consciousness, he felt weak and sore all over, his throat was hoarse and dry, his undergarments were soaked with sweat, and even his outer blue shirt was damp.
A cool breeze carrying moisture blew into his half-open shirt, and he sneezed loudly.
He closed his clothes, channeled a wisp of the newly accumulated chaotic energy throughout his body, and felt much better after drying his clothes.
The cave was pitch black, with only some light coming from outside the waterfall.
Fu Mingxu rested for another quarter of an hour, ate a spiritual fruit to moisten his throat, and then slowly got up, leaning against the wall.
He frowned at the musky scent in the air, his cheeks still flushed slightly, thankful that no one here could spare him from his shame.
After he crushed the two spirit fruits, letting their fragrance dispel the stench, and cleaned up the marks around the walls, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
His ears turned bright red as he looked at the contents of the fabric in his hand, finally understanding where the taste he had experienced in the guest room at Yunshilou had come from.
Compared to the faint scent I was currently catching, the aroma that vanished in an instant was indescribably rich.
Fu Mingxu quickly stuffed the clothes he had changed into his storage bag, straightened up, and then walked towards the waterfall.
He was relieved that the noise of the water saved him from embarrassment.
Li Chixue quickly noticed the commotion behind the waterfall, swiftly flew over, and naturally brought Fu Mingxu down with her.
Fortunately, this time the two were riding flying swords, keeping a short distance between them.
Previously, Fu Mingxu had always followed Han Tao in teleportation and flight, and over time he hadn't thought about how he could manage on his own. Fu Mingxu glanced at the flying sword beneath his feet and decided to put purchasing a flying artifact on his agenda.
Seeing that he had gotten off the flying sword safely, Shen Ange breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "It's good that you're alright."
Yan Yun, who was strolling outside, also came over with a fruit in her mouth. Her gaze darted back and forth between her senior brother and Fu Mingxu before she let out a soft sigh.
His senior brother is truly an iron tree that never learns.
Fu Mingxu didn't notice the abnormality in his expression. After standing still, he said to Li Chixue, "Thank you all this time. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask."
"While I may not be of much help in fighting, I am quite capable in alchemy and medicine making."
After this incident, he now regarded Li Chixue and his fellow disciple as friends he could make.
Yan Yun immediately winked at her senior brother and said with a big smile, "Since we're all going to the high palace, let's go together. That way it'll be safer."
Shen Ange glanced at Fu Mingxu, frowned, and agreed.
“Okay.” Li Chixue still held her longsword in her hand, her face calm and natural. “The further we go, the more dangers there will be. It’s safer to travel together.”
Since everyone else was doing the same, Fu Mingxu naturally nodded in agreement, at least that way he wouldn't be a burden to Shen Ange.
Are you sure what I want is in the palace up there?
The Mirror Spirit rolled around in his dantian, its divine sense transmitting to his mind.
[Of course, I would not deceive my master. The celestial secrets that the Mystic Mirror deduced for my master tell me that my master will benefit greatly from going there.]
This reminded Fu Mingxu of the extraordinary opportunities that happened to the protagonists of the novels he had read.
Has his good fortune finally arrived? He was a little excited.
[By the way, Master, why did you just block us? Is there something about Master that we can't see?]
Fu Mingxu snorted inwardly, "There are plenty of things you can't see."
Then, ignoring the Mirror Spirit's tantrums in her dantian, Li Chixue, who was ahead, glanced back and quickly followed.
Shen Ange and the others' concerns were indeed valid; the further they went in the direction of the palace, the more people they would encounter.
There were people from sects, as well as independent cultivators, and they even encountered two female cultivators who had talked with Shen Ange before.
Without exception, most of the people who made it this far were at the Golden Core stage, or were junior brothers and sisters like Yan Yun. As for someone like him, whose cultivation was not much different from that of an ordinary person, he was the only one there after looking around for a long time.
He didn't forget to put on his veiled hat when he came out of the waterfall, but unfortunately, the effect was the opposite when he was in the crowd; he became the most conspicuous one.
Even so, Fu Mingxu did not remove the veil.
"Didn't you encounter any other members of the Qingheng Sect?" He glanced at Yan Yun beside him and asked curiously.
Yan Yun could only see half of his chin peeking out from under the flowing veil as he moved. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Fu, you may not know this, but my master said that you can't put all your eggs in one basket. Our Qingheng Sect already has few disciples, and good talents are hard to come by. We can't lose too many at once, so it's just my senior brother and I who came to explore."
Upon hearing this, Fu Mingxu couldn't help but give his master a thumbs up for his foresight, and he also couldn't help but wonder how many people were in his sect that his master was so meticulous in his calculations.
Seeing his keen interest, Yan Yun spoke even more enthusiastically: "My master said that Senior Brother Li has a strong destiny and cannot be killed by ordinary people, so he sent him."
Fu Mingxu: Your master is truly a remarkable person.
"And what about you?" Shen Ange's curiosity was piqued, and she smiled, "Are you also born with a strong destiny?"
Yan Yun shook her head: "No, I came here secretly. I'll probably get beaten to death by my master when I get back."
He said this with a tragic expression, which made Shen Ange burst into laughter, breaking down the unfamiliar barrier between the four of them.
Fu Mingxu chuckled softly, and exclaimed, "Your sect sounds really interesting."
The Qingheng Sect wasn't very famous, but through his interactions with these two disciples, he couldn't help but develop a better impression of them.
The four walked and talked, and Yan Yun even invited him to visit the Qingheng Sect after leaving the secret realm. Fu Mingxu didn't think much of it and readily agreed. The two immediately hit it off and even exchanged telepathic communication on the spot.
Li Chixue remained vigilant about her junior brother's big mouth, and only breathed a slight sigh of relief when she saw that he was not talking nonsense.
As they went uphill, the atmosphere among the four of them was harmonious.
Perhaps because everyone was heading towards the higher palace, the groups of people who met were not in the mood to fight and were only focused on getting up. Some were curious about how Fu Mingxu, with his cultivation level, could get here, but seeing that Li Chixue and Shen Ange looked formidable, they didn't want to cause trouble at such an important opportunity.
The higher they went, the more Golden Core cultivators they encountered. Li Chixue whispered a reminder to them, "Get closer."
So Yan Yun immediately moved closer to him, worriedly asking, "Are they going to fight now?"
Fu Mingxu stood between Shen Ange and Yan Yun. The four of them were already close together, and now they were practically crammed together. He looked ahead and saw that it wasn't just them; many others were huddled together, standing very close to each other.
Looking at the long queue in front of him, he even had the illusion that he wasn't going on an adventure to find treasure, but rather queuing to buy food.
"Is this the only way?" Yan Yun frowned and suggested, "How about we go around from the side?"
Li Chixue glanced at him briefly: "You can give it a try."
That glance was chilling, and Yan Yun dared not daring to look at it.
However, there are others who think like him, after all, everyone wants to get to the top as soon as possible.
Fu Mingxu didn't think there was anything wrong with walking slowly like this, at least his ankle could withstand it.
Perhaps because he had vented his anger in the cave, the corrosive effect of the demon bone chain on him was much less.
He looked up and, following the long path formed by the dense crowd, could already see half of the palace's appearance.
But the palace seemed to be hidden in the clouds, and when viewed from a distance, one could only see the golden light reflected in the clouds.
The first impression of the entire palace is that it is magnificent and luxurious, and looks like it contains a lot of treasures.
Just as Fu Mingxu finished admiring the palace, he heard a scream behind him. The scream was so shrill that it gave him goosebumps.
He turned around and saw a cultivator being pushed into the bushes outside the road by someone next to him. The branches that stretched out from the bushes were like iron claws, viciously digging into the prey's flesh.
The cultivator only had time to scream twice before his once full body instantly withered, leaving only an empty human skin.
"Ugh..." Someone standing nearby who witnessed it couldn't help but gag.
Those who were standing together immediately retreated, as if a raging flood or ferocious beast was lurking in the bushes.
Fu Mingxu witnessed the second half of the match and felt a chill run down his spine.
Yan Yun shut her mouth tightly, looking like she was still in shock.
"Just a fool," someone above said. "The more one dies, the fewer competitors we have for the treasure."
The atmosphere was already tense among the tightly packed crowd, and many people were wary of each other.
Upon hearing this, Fu Mingxu inwardly sighed that something terrible was about to happen. Sure enough, as soon as he said this, the previously noisy crowd fell silent, and when they spoke again, it was a continuous series of screams.
The constant screams made this place feel like a living hell, with new human skin constantly forming.
Shen Ange held the whip and looked around warily. Fu Mingxu finally recovered from his initial shock and looked at everything in disbelief.
"This is the real world of cultivation," Li Chixue said to someone, seemingly to herself. "Take care of yourself."
"Senior brother, save me!" A panicked voice rang out, followed by the person's scream.
The man he called senior brother suddenly withdrew his outstretched hand and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't blame me. You're already injured. Even if you go to the palace above, you won't be able to compete with them. You'll only be a burden to us."
In less than half an hour, the long queue had been reduced by half.
As the screams subsided and the crowd grew quieter, the surviving cultivators drew their weapons, wary of their surroundings like trapped beasts.
Fu Mingxu had never seen such a cruel scene before. He thought to himself, "This isn't about finding any opportunity; it's practically a death sentence."
But there was no way to retreat at this point; they could only keep moving forward.
"Take some more pills." Fu Mingxu couldn't save that many people, but he could provide more protection for those around him. "They're all made by me, and the quality is pretty good."
Yan Yun accepted it generously, then curiously lifted the bottle and glimpsed the intricate patterns on the pills inside, which made her gasp in surprise.
That's more than just okay!
Li Chixue glanced down at it, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "Keep it safe and shut up."