After Yang Ling reached the 9th layer of the beginning realm, the sword spirit resealed back the remaining energy that Yang Ling hadn't absorbed.
Yang Ling then stood up, changed into a new robe, and left her dwelling. She then walked towards the outer mission hall.
_____
Outer Mission Hall
When Yang Ling entered the Outer Mission Hall, the hall elder stared at Yang Ling's enchanting body with eyes filled with desire.
Yang Ling ignored the hall elder's gaze and walked to him. She gave the elder an elegant smile and said to him, "Elder, I have completed my missions."
When the hall elder heard this, he was surprised at how quickly Yang Ling completed the missions she had chosen.
When Yang Ling saw the hall elder's surprised expression, she took out the mission forms along with the space belt that Ji Min gave her.
The hall elder examined the mission forms and the herbs that are stored in the space belt.
After he finished his examination, the hall elder nodded his head in satisfaction. He smiled at Yang Ling and said to her, "Good job; you finished those missions quite fast. Do you want to get another mission?"
Yang Ling shook her head. "No, I think I should focus on my cultivation for the time being."
The hall elder nodded his head and gave Yang Ling a smile. He then said to her, "If you ever needed any help in your cultivation, come and find me, girl; I will be happy to assist you."
Yang Ling gave the hall elder a beautiful smile, cupped her fist, and said to him, "Thank you, hall elder, for your kindness. If I ever needed your assistance, I will come looking for you."
The hall elder nodded in satisfaction, then Yang Ling turned around and left the outer mission hall.
The hall elder kept gazing at Yang Ling's buttocks as she was leaving the hall; his eyes were burning with desire. After Yang Ling left, he frowned and contemplated, "When will those idiots return with the union tea leaves?" He was eager to have his way with this girl.
______
Outside the Outer Mission Hall
After Yang Ling walked out of the Outer Mission Hall, she heard the sword spirit say in her mind, "We need a map, girl." I don't think you know where exactly the Five Volcanic Forest is."
Yang Ling nodded her head in response to the sword spirit's words, saying, "Don't worry, I know where the Moonlight City is located. I will buy a map when I reach there."
The sword spirit nodded her head in satisfaction when she heard Yang Ling's words; then Yang Ling walked to the Martial House gate and exited the Martial House.
Seated above the outer mission hall building was Che Lisha. She observed Yang Ling departing from the Martial House. Suddenly, she noticed Audriana trailing Yang Ling from a distance. She narrowed her eyes and wondered, "Could Audriana be the spy? I noticed Audriana spying at Yang Ling a couple of times. I should report this to teacher."
She quickly took out the transmission talisman from her space belt and reported her doubt to Tian Jian.
When Tian Jian heard what Che Lisha just said, he asked her through the transmission talisman. "Lisha I understand that you are naturally proud, but I need you to be honest with me. Are you confident you can capture Audriana alive?"
Che Lisha thought for a second, narrowed her eyes, and answered honestly, "If I use my bloodline ability, I am pretty confident that I can capture Audriana or kill her if I wanted to."
Tian Jian nodded with satisfaction, saying, "Go ahead and capture her. I will act as your backup just in case something unexpected happens. I suspect she and Cheng Chong are spies."
Che Lisha was shocked and asked Tian Jian, "How is this possible teacher? I understand your suspicion about Audriana being a spy since I saw her couple of times following Yang Ling, but elder Cheng Chong is an elder of our Martial House."
Tian Jian narrowed his eyes and started explaining, "Lisha, remember this: you always need to think outside the box if you want to survive in the cultivation world. Audriana declined Elder An's invitation to become his disciple, despite the fact that he is the strongest elder in our Martial House. She instead chooses to be the disciple of Cheng Chong, the weakest elder among us. I always have my own suspicions about these two.""
Tian Jian continued, "When the Martial House Master told me that he believed that we had a spy in our Martial House, I checked Cheng Chong, Audriana, and all our deceased disciples records, and I discovered something interesting."
Che Lisha got intrigued when she heard this and asked, "Teacher, what did you discover?"
Tian Jian sighed and answered Che Lisha, "Ever since Cheng Chong and Audriana joined our Martial House, the deaths of our talented disciples skyrocketed, and according to the records I checked, the deaths of our talented disciples correlate with the timing and dates whenever Audriana and Cheng Chong leave our Martial House."
Che Lisha eyes narrowed in anger after hearing what Tian Jian said, and Tian Jian continued, "Right now we need to capture Audriana alive, no matter what. You don't need to follow Yang Ling; for now, capturing Audriana is our priority."
Upon hearing this, Che Lisha nodded her head seriously and carefully placed her transmission talisman back in her space belt. Her gaze sharpened as she focused on Audriana's disappearing figure. "So you are our spy," she thought to herself, then whispered to herself. "I always didn't like you. Unfortunately, I can't kill you now; we need you alive." She sighed in disappointment.
Che Lisha then followed Audriana with incredible speed, leaving afterimages behind her.
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
_______
With Audriana
Audriana was following Yang Ling, but all of a sudden she felt a presence rushing toward her with incredible speed. She narrowed her eyes and, after a moment, gritted her jade-like teeth in frustration.
Audriana cursed, then thought to herself, "Damn it, it is Che Lisha. I was sure she wasn't nearby when Yang Ling left the Martial House. How is this possible? My sensing martial skill is an earth-rank martial skill; this doesn't make any sense."
"BZ, BZ, BZ."
"SWISH."
With incredible speed, a ball of lightning flew towards Audriana. Audriana dashed to the side, dodging the lightning ball.
"BOOM."
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
When the lightning ball hit the ground, it exploded into multiple lightning waves, and Audriana danced around the lightning waves, dodging each one of them.
After dodging the lightning waves, Audriana narrowed her eyes, turned her head, and looked at Che Lisha. She then said to her, "Che Lisha, what is the meaning of this? Why did you attack me?"
"You have been following Yang Ling for quite some time now, and don't tell me you are ordered to protect her, as her protection is my teacher's responsibility," Che Lisha scoffed, and then she continued saying. "The Head Master assigned this task to my teacher, and you are currently under arrest due to suspicions of being a spy."
When Audriana heard this, she giggled and asked Che Lisha, "Do you think you can arrest me, Che Lisha?" What proof do you have that I am a spy?
Che Lisha smiled and said, "There is no concrete evidence, but your actions till now are very questionable. First, when you arrived at the Martial House, you had the opportunity to be a disciple of elder An, but you rejected his invitation, and you chose to be the disciple of the newest and weakest elder of our Martial House, elder Cheng Chong."
Audriana's eyes narrowed slightly when she heard this. Che Lisha didn't notice it; however, up in the sky, elder Tian Jian, who was floating in the air while keeping himself hidden, noticed Audriana's narrowing her eyes with his own sharp observation.
Che Lisha continued, "Next, since your arrival at our Martial House, our talented disciples have been killed whenever they temper themselves in the outside world or take on missions outside the Martial House."
Audriana's face darkened at what she just heard.
"I suggest you come quietly, Audriana If the Head Master is merciful, you might survive after he and other elders finish integrating you." Che Lisha said sincerely to Audriana.
Audriana didn't respond to Che Lisha; she pulled out a green short sword from the space ring she was wearing. When Che Lisha saw the green short sword, she was shocked, along with Tian Jian, who was hidden in the sky.
The short sword had a very sharp green blade with a golden handle and guard.
"I can't believe it is an artefact From where did you get this artefact?" Che Lisha questioned Audriana in a tone of disbelief.
Audriana smirked when she heard Che Lisha's question and said, "You don't need to know Lisha; you already discovered my secret. I need to kill you now quickly, knowing how prideful you are. You came chasing me by yourself without informing Tian Jian, which is a good thing for me. All I need to do now is kill you in order to protect my secret."
Che Lisha's face darkened when she heard this and said, "So I was right, who sent you to our Martial House?"
Audriana shrugged her shoulders and answered Che Lisha, "You are going to die any way; there is no point in hiding the truth from you. The one who sent me to your Martial House to spy and kill all your talented prospects is the inner elder Xiao Jin of the Scorching Sun Sect."
Che Lisha widened her eyes in shock when she heard this, but Tian Jian's face darkened when he heard Audriana's words.
Che Lisha was confused and asked, "Why did the Scorching Sun Sect target a Martial House under the Crescent Moon Sect? This doesn't make any sense."
When Audriana heard this question, she sighed and began to answer Che Lisha. "I am sure you are aware that the Crescent Moon Sect was a rank-one sect 70 years ago before the other world war took place." Because of the casualties the Crescent Moon Sect suffered from the war, the Crescent Moon Sect rank has fallen into a third-rank sect."
Che Lisha nodded her head and said, "I know the history of the Crescent Moon Sect. What are you trying to say?"
Audriana sighed again and said, "Do I need to be direct with you? Simply put, we aim to prevent the Crescent Moon Sect from regaining their former glory, but we are unable to directly destroy it due to the sect being under the protection of Star Emperor."
Both Tian Jian and Che Lisha's eyes widened in shock, and Audriana continued, "In the recent years, the Crescent Moon Sect started regaining their past vitality. Thanks for all the talented prospects your Martial Houses had recruited, so we sent some spies to your Martial Houses to kill those talented prospects."
After hearing what Audriana said, Che Lisha's spiritual energy exploded into lightning.
"BZ,BZ,BZ."
Audriana's spiritual energy also exploded, but it was accompanied by a wind element.
"WHISH, WHISH, WHISH."
"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM."
Both elements clashed against one another, creating multiple explosions.
Che Lisha looked at Audriana with hatred and said to her, "I am going to kill you."
Audriana smirked and said, "You are not my match; beside, I have the advantage because of the human rank artefact that I wield."
Audriana coated the human rank artefact with wind element spiritual energy, and Audriana started swinging the artefact at Che Lisha from a distance.
Multiple condensed wind blades flew at Che Lisha with incredible speed, ready to cut her into pieces.
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
Che Lisha moved with incredible speed, leaving behind multiple afterimages.
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
The wind blades cut through the afterimages as Che Lisha continued to dodge the wind blades.
With an arrogant laugh, Audriana addressed Che Lisha, saying, "Hahahahaha, you are dancing well, Lisha, but for how long can you use the illusory steps martial skill?" Sooner or later, you will exhaust yourself, and when the time comes, I will cut you into pieces. I only need to expend a small amount of spiritual energy to create these wind blades. This is this artefact's special ability."
Tian Jian furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the battle, then he smirked when he saw Che Lisha's determined gaze and thought to himself, "Show me how much you have grown, Lisha. I know you can beat Audriana because she lacks your warrior heart."
Che Lisha gritted her teeth as she continued dodging using illusory steps martial skill. Then she thought to herself, "I have no choice. I must use my bloodline ability to have a proper fighting chance; otherwise, if this continues, I will die from exhaustion."
Che Lisha's eyes shone with resolve, and suddenly she stopped moving. After a second, powerful lightning bolts shot out from her body in every direction.
"BZZZZ, BZZZZZZ, BZZZZZZ, BZZZZZZZ."
The body of Che Lisha was covered in blue lightning bolts. Audriana was confused at what she was witnessing and thought to herself, "What is she doing? Is this a martial skill? I have never witnessed her using this martial skill before."
When the blue lightning covered Che Lisha, dissipated. Audriana widened her eyes because Che Lisha had transformed.
Her silvery long hair became spikier and changed into a dark blue color. The tip of her spikey hair emitted a blue spark of lightning.
A blue lightning spark was dancing inside Che Lisha's onyx eyes.
Che Lisha academy robe was now covered with a layer of blue lightning.
Three enormous blue lightning snakes emerge from Che Lisha's back, while numerous smaller blue lightning snakes coil around her four limbs and her silver spear, which she retrieved from her space belt.
Audriana then said in surprise, "I can't believe this is a bloodline ability. Why has no one told me you possess a bloodline?"
"Since you've been honest with me earlier, I will respond to your inquiry. Yes, this is a bloodline ability. When I participated in the awakening ceremony, my teacher, the Martial House Master, and elder An were the only ones present. I was the sole survivor of the awakening ceremony. I awakened my bloodline in the ceremony. My teacher instructed me to keep my bloodline a secret from that day on, so it's understandable that you don't know anything about it." Che Lisha answered Audriana's question.
Audriana looked at Che Lisha, her eyes blazing with jealousy. She then swung her human rank artefact, and a blade made of compressed wind flew at Che Lisha.
"SWISH."
However, Che Lisha vanished from her spot in an instant, evading the wind blade and leaving behind a spark of blue lighting.
""BZZZ."
Audriana suddenly notices from her side a large blue lightning snake opening its jaw and preparing to swallow her whole.
She covered her entire body in wind and moved with the speed of a ghost, dodging the huge blue lightning snake.
"SWISH."
However, a dozen small blue lightning snakes lunged at her with their jaws open, ready to bite her from every direction.
Audriana cursed loudly when she saw this: "Damn it, curse you; show yourself, you coward."
She started cutting the blue lightning snakes using the human-rank artefact by sending multiple wind-compressed blades everywhere around her.
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
While Audriana was busy cutting the blue lightning snakes, she failed to notice that Che Lisha was standing on the head of a huge blue lightning snake above her.
All of a sudden, the huge blue lightning snake opened it's jaw wide and charged at Audriana.
Audriana's instinct screamed at her to move from her spot, so she jumped to the side.
However, multiple small blue lightning snakes bit her legs, arms, and shoulders.
"BBBZZZZZZZZZZZZ."
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH."
Audriana screamed in pain as the small blue lightning snakes, which had bitten her, discharged lightning throughout her body.
"THUD."
Audriana fell to the ground paralyzed because of the lightning discharge that she received from the small blue lightning snakes.
When Che Lisha saw that Audriana was paralyzed, she flew down while standing on the head of the huge, blue lightning snake.
Audriana looked at Che Lisha with hatred filling her eyes; she couldn't even speak because she was paralyzed.
Suddenly, Tian Jian teleported in front of Audriana and Che Lisha. He looked at Audriana with murderous intention.
When Audriana saw Tian Jian's murderous intention, she was frightened.
Tian Jian then turned his head to Che Lisha and smiled at her. He then addressed her, saying, "You did well, disciple." I am proud of you."
Che Lisha smiled upon hearing Tian Jian's words, immediately deactivating her bloodline ability.
After deactivating her bloodline ability. She fell to the ground, gasping for air.
Tian Jian looked at Che Lisha in concern and asked, "Disciple, are you alright?"
Che Lisha kept gasping for air for a few seconds and said to Tian Jian, "Teacher, I am fine, but I will not be able to move for some time. I exceeded my time limit when I used my lightning punishment bloodline ability during my fight with Audriana."
Tian Jian nodded in understanding and said, "Don't worry, I will take care of our spy from here. Just rest. I will drop you at your dwelling and rest for today."
Che Lisha nodded her head, then she felt an invisible force carrying her and Audriana, then they flew back to the Martial House.