"..."
After formally bidding farewell to Shen Mu, Jiang Ning'er watched his departing figure. Her eyes, which had always been gentle and clear, gradually dimmed.
Brother Shen Mu, after I personally deal with those people, I will definitely reveal everything to you and be with you properly.
So, before that, you must not have any accidents.
Of course...
You are not allowed to be fickle either.
Her peripheral vision casually swept across a corner of a deep alley, revealing a hint of coldness.
...
"Brr..."
Shen Mu, who had left Tianjian City, suddenly shivered. He felt as if he was being targeted by something all over his body.
But when he looked around, this feeling inexplicably subsided. It was very strange.
"Is it just my imagination?"
Shen Mu's eyes slightly furrowed. His nerves couldn't help but tense up, and a hint of caution appeared on his face.
It seems that one can't be too relaxed when traveling outside...
He quickly darted into a dense forest. He took out a black robe from his storage ring that could conceal his aura and put it on, hiding his cultivation realm's aura.
Then, he put on a black mask that could block spiritual consciousness to prevent others from recognizing or remembering his true appearance.
After finishing all these, he quickly moved around in the forest and found a relatively hidden bush to sit cross-legged.
He waited for nightfall and then set off under the cover of darkness.
.....
"Tsk~"
"He's really not just an ordinary cautious person."
On a huge tree with lush branches and leaves, a bright-eyed and fair-haired girl stood on a branch. Strands of her golden hair danced in the wind as she looked out at the dense forest and let out a soft click of her tongue.
[You didn't choose to show up in time and confess to him when you were in Tianjian City. Instead, you went to follow that mysterious girl. Now you can't catch up with either of them, right?]
"There's no help for it. I didn't expect that guy's spiritual consciousness perception ability to be so powerful. He could sense my presence even from a distance of two or three li."
Lin Yuhe slightly shook her head and let out a helpless sigh.
[I told you long ago that that girl is no ordinary Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Yet you just had to go and follow her without believing me.]
[You're lucky she didn't kill you with a single sword strike.]
"If she really had murderous intent towards me, that sword strike just now would have already fallen."
Although the thought of that girl appearing behind her like a ghost and pressing the cold sword edge against her neck still made her shudder with fear.
But since that sword didn't fall, it was enough to show that that person definitely had some understanding of her.
Perhaps...
She might have met her somewhere before.
[Alright, anyway, you've sworn an oath. She probably won't come looking for trouble with you anytime soon.]
[You'd better think about how to search for a needle in a haystack. I can't detect his aura anymore.]
"..."
Lin Yuhe looked wordlessly at this extremely dense jungle. For a moment, her face showed a look of distress.
...
A few days later.
The Hundred Demons Forest.
Several young men and women wearing white robes with moon patterns, with varying levels of cultivation, were flying across a spiritual lake on their swords, besieging a more than ten-zhang-long spirit toad with a golden-red body.
They formed hand seals and cast various colorful spells, continuously bombarding the surface of the spirit toad.
However, there was always a faint hazy light film covering the surface of the spirit toad, causing the spell attacks they launched to all turn into a cloud of red mist and dissipate, unable to harm it in the slightest.
"Sister! The defensive means of this Scarlet Spirit Treasure Toad seem to be able to directly dissolve our spiritual power. We can't hurt it at all!" A man in a black robe with an ordinary appearance shouted to a tall and slender blue-haired woman.
"Form the Heavenly Moon Sword Formation!"
The blue-haired woman immediately gave an order. She held her sword in front of her, silently recited an incantation, and strands of silver light appeared around her body. In an instant, a sky-blue sword formation that covered a hundred zhang in radius unfolded.
The other cultivators also held their swords in the same way, recited an incantation, and dots of blue spiritual light appeared around them, converging into the sword formation!
A nearly twenty-zhang-wide bright silver moon slowly emerged in the center of the sword formation, emitting strands of bone-chillingly cold sword qi...
"Goo... Goo..."
The Scarlet Spirit Treasure Toad felt the icy cold sword qi filling the surroundings. Its pale golden demon pupils shrank slightly, as if it also sensed the threat of the sword formation to itself. It began to puff out its cheeks, and a red glow appeared in its abdomen.
"Croak——!"
After a while, the spirit toad opened its large mouth and spat out a large amount of red-black mist in all directions. In just three breaths, it spread in front of everyone present!
"Not good!"
One cultivator inhaled a wisp of the red-black mist. He let out a cry of alarm, his expression changed drastically, his pupils constricted suddenly, and he couldn't stop coughing up a mouthful of black blood. His spiritual power circulation was blocked, and his body instantly fell into the spiritual lake.
"Ah!"
Then, another cultivator was entangled by the red-black mist. He let out a loud cry, and his body, along with his spiritual sword, uncontrollably fell into the lake.
Splash!
Splash!
As the red-black mist spread rapidly, more and more cultivators in the formation fell into the lake and lost consciousness.
The blue-haired woman, who was in charge of the sword formation, saw her fellow disciples maintaining the formation falling one after another. She felt that the spiritual power in her body was draining away like a flood, and the pressure suddenly increased. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
"Damned beast!"
She let out a shout, mobilized all the spiritual power in her body and injected it into the sword formation. She made the bright silver moon turn into a silver-white moon shadow giant sword and slashed it down when the red-black mist spread around her!
"Buzz!"
The next moment, a dazzling golden-red glow surged on the skin of the spirit toad. It condensed into a scale-like golden-red barrier around its body, forcefully withstanding the strike of the moon shadow giant sword!
"Boom!"
In an instant, spiritual power waves like huge waves swept out, setting off dozens of meters high waves of water, shaking the mountains and forests in all directions!
"Cough! Cough!"
"I was still a bit too slow..."
The woman, who had inhaled some of the red-black mist, had a pale face. She coughed up a large mouthful of black blood, and her body was like a broken kite, rapidly falling in the air. Her eyelids slightly trembled as her consciousness gradually became blurred.
It seems that it's still too difficult to subdue this guy with the cultivation level of the Foundation Establishment Realm...
Listening to the wind whistling constantly in her ears, the falling blue-haired woman also felt a sense of powerlessness in her heart.
"Swish!"
However, as her eyes were gradually closing, she vaguely saw a black shadow flash past in front of her eyes...
Then, a gentle spiritual power wrapped around her, pushing her towards the grass on the shore and slowly lowering her, saving her from falling into the deep lake.
Immediately afterward, there was a loud banging sound like a huge object hitting the ground. And...
The croaking and wailing of the Spirit Toad.
...
"Croak——!"
In a forest about one or two li away from the spiritual lake, the Scarlet Spirit Treasure Toad rolled on the ground for a few weeks and stopped after hitting a hundred-year-old giant tree. It let out another painful wail, closed its eyes, and seemed to have passed out.
Shortly after, a black-clothed man wearing a black mask flashed over.
He held a black giant ruler with mysterious patterns in his hand and slowly walked to the back of its butt. He aimed at the center of its butt and gave it a slightly forceful kick.
"Hey! Don't pretend to be dead. If you keep pretending, I'll make you fly again!"
"..."
The Scarlet Spirit Treasure Toad didn't respond at all, still maintaining the appearance of being "completely defeated and unconscious."
"Fine, fine, fine... It seems you really want to experience the feeling of flying." The man casually turned to the side, and the black giant ruler with mysterious patterns in his hand transformed into a giant hammer with mysterious patterns.
He held the handle of the giant hammer with both hands, lightly pressed the cold hammer surface against its butt, and moved his neck slightly.
"I'll count to three. You'd better get ready."
"Three..."
"Two..."
With each count, the cold hammer surface pressed harder against its butt, making its body tremble slightly with an extremely small amplitude.
"One!"
The man finally gave a soft shout, and the giant hammer slammed hard towards the butt of the Scarlet Spirit Treasure Toad!
"I surrender, croak!"