CH 11

A third handsome man stood in stark contrast to that initial pair. His masculine charms had attracted a crowd of young and naive female disciples. He even held one in each of his arms, drinking and carousing. <sarcasm> How utterly delightful! </sarcasm> He was precisely that Chu Feng who was taking the lead for Taixu Peak. Gu Feng’s eyebrows rose higher and higher. This guy is disgustingly romantic.

One final lead disciple was left, that woman with fiery red robes, her whole appearance bright and colorful. She was force of nature, with her every frown and smile currying favor among the many male disciples and capturing their hearts. She was Tempering Talents Peak’s lead disciple, Hua Yan. 

As for the other stunningly gorgeous woman, Gu Yunxi, Gu Feng purposely skipped over and did not mention her.

Presently, everyone remained on the ship. Gu Feng realized they were waiting for the three other sects to arrive. Taixu Sect was the closest to the hidden realm, so it stood to reason they had arrived first.

The next to arrive was Hundred Flowers Palace. The name was obviously because the sect was comprised entirely of women. Their magical flying vessel was an enormous pink lily. Each and every petal was piled with flowers and silks, alongside pink clad beauties dancing gracefully. From the center of the pink lily something that looked like a pistil emerged and flew blazing into the air. A loud bang echoed, and countless petals burst out to flutter down, filling the sky as far as the eye could see. Then, each of the giant lily’s petals slowly descended to the ground. There really could be nothing more excessively beautiful.

Wiping his forehead where a falling petal had stuck, the corners of Gu Feng’s mouth twitched. He was reduced to silent ridicule. We’re here to seize treasures, not to compete in a beauty pageant, dears! Thinking of the beauty beside him, Gu Feng coincidentally looked over at Su Mujin, but didn’t anticipate that Su Mujin would look at him at just that moment, his eyes seeming to glisten with starlight. 

Caught red-handed in the act of peeping, Su Mujin felt extremely awkward and planned to nonchalantly look away after a moment, but just then Gu Feng leaned in close to him, and Su Mujin was stunned by the sudden proximity.

While he was still caught in a daze, he felt Gu Feng’s hand seeming to stroke his hair. As quickly as the motion had begun, it had already stopped, and Gu Feng had once more moved away.

“There was a petal in your hair, so I took care of it for you.” Gu Feng’s face was unperturbed as he spoke, and he opened his hand to drop the petal.

Was it really necessary to lean so close just to pluck a petal? Su Mujin looked at Gu Feng in doubt, but saw that Gu Feng’s expression was honest and unguarded—he didn’t seem to be lying. Su Mujin once again was forced to let it go.

Gu Feng let out a breath. That was a close call! He was nearly exposed. He didn’t know why he wanted to caress his companion’s face just a moment ago, but fortunately he was able to stop himself in the nick of time and switch to plucking the flower petal. Otherwise, his companion would have misunderstood his actions as being perverted, and the results would have been disastrous.

But back to the completely bewildering Hundred Flowers Palace. Did they have nothing better to do than create this impractically romantic scene? After barely avoiding an egregious mistake, he completely passed the blame to Hundred Flowers Palace. Then Gu ‘Refuses to engage in introspection’ Feng secretly congratulated himself.

The Wandering Cultivators Union and Sword Pavilion Sect arrived at the same time.

The magic vessel belonging to the Wandering Cultivators Union was entirely unremarkable, and appeared to be an ordinary warship. This was to be expected. After all, the Wandering Cultivators Union’s rules and regulations were laid back. It had been established simply for the sake of providing protection for non-affiliated cultivators. Therefore, the economic resources and social cohesion of the union were nothing compared to a traditional sect. 

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Standing there, dressed all in black, and enveloped by an imperious air, his handsome face held an expression of peerless intellect, and he looked as if he could stand alone against the force of an army of thousands. Who else could it be, but Mo Ran?

It turned out that the rumors that Gu Yunxi’s fiancé was a Sword Pavilion disciple were correct, but it was also a fact that he was Mo Ran. 

Gu Feng felt as though he had been struck by a bolt from the blue.

He was impressed with the sheer tenacity of those two. They had to be predestined by heaven with a love as inviolable as gold. Regardless of how the world had changed, they had already drawn together to conspire.

He let out a long exhale. Forget it. It seems I can’t prevent them from collaborating in this lifetime. Since prevention is impossible, I can only prepare for battle!

“Welcome. All you ladies and gentlemen may now enter. Once again I remind you that in a year’s time, you must promptly exit. Good luck, everyone!” A demigod stage cultivator gave the crowd an appraising look over as he imparted those instructions. 

As soon as he fell silent, everyone discussed their plans within their groups, then raced toward the entrance to the spiritual ruins. Afterall, if they were too slow, perhaps all the good items would be taken by others. Then what could they do?

“Xiao Jin, when we enter, you must remember to hold onto me and don’t let go for any reason.” Gu Feng also set out for the entrance. He recalled hearing in his previous incarnation that when one entered the spiritual ruins, they were sent to a random location within. If two people wanted to stay together when they entered, they had to hold fast to each other and not let go for even a second.

“Be at ease, Gege, I’ll hold on tight.” Su Mujin listened to what he was told, grabbed hold of Gu Feng’s arm and held on securely. Immediately after, they went through the entrance together.

The light curtain had the limpid appearance of a lake’s surface. When Gu Feng pierced through, the light curtain suddenly began to distort, ripples quickly covering the surface like waves on water, while a tendril emerged and sucked the two within. 

As soon as they entered, before they even had come to a stop, Gu Feng sensed a surprise attack arriving from all directions. Fuck, a sneak attack this early was too insidious.

Gu Feng evaded and dispersed the attack in a single move. After quickly coming to a halt, he finally had a chance to get a good look at the people who attacked them. He and Su Mujin seemed to have drawn the short straw when entering the secret realm. Their attackers were a group of wooden puppets. Though there were only about a dozen, each and every one of them had the aura of a middle stage golden core cultivator. Without waiting for Gu  Feng to counter attack, the puppets launched another assault.

Gu Feng, “. . .”

Damned cheating Heavens! Do you dare to challenge me? 

“Xiao Jin, although these puppets are in the middle of the golden core stage, their attacks are clumsy. For the time being, it’s not difficult to deal with them. But we must find their weakness as quickly as possible. Otherwise, with this many puppets, they’ll wear us down and kill us.” Gu Feng kept fighting the puppets as he shouted the warning.

“No problem, Gege. We’ll first try attacking their heads and hearts. You take the head, I’ll take the heart?” Su Mujin asked while panting.

“Great!”

Hardly had he finished speaking, when the two of them simultaneously launched their attacks at their targets. The two puppets merely paused before once again resuming their assault. 

“No good, let’s try another spot.”

The two of them tried numerous targets, but all of them were wrong. The puppets seemed to lack a single weak point. No matter how strongly they were hit, they showed no sign of damage. The two humans were already dripping with sweat, and the situation looked anything but reassuring.

“This isn’t working. Try using your ‘Wind Blade‘!” Gu Feng repelled the puppets once more with his palm, managing to spare the energy to instruct Su Mujin.

“But my ‘Wind Blade’ doesn’t discriminate between friend and foe. What if I accidentally injure you?” Su Mujin looked a little hesitant. 

“Don’t worry, I have my ways. Feel free to go all out.” After finishing his words, Gu Feng formed his spiritual qi into a shield around his body.

“Okay!” Su Mujin silently recited the spell. Countless wind blades appeared all around, and began attacking in all directions. Cracks started to appear on the surface of the wooden puppets, quickly multiplying. But still, they ferociously and without fear of death kept rushing forward . . .

Finally, one of the puppets came to a stop. Gu Feng and Su Mujin looked in the direction of that puppet, glanced back at each other, and having come to a silent agreement, they attacked that puppet together. Gu Feng aimed at the head while Su Mujin took care of the heart. That puppet truly had ceased.

After that, the duo used the same method to swiftly defeat the remaining puppets. 

“It seems our guess was correct. These puppets have two control centers — one in the brain and the other in the heart. If you just attack one or the other, they can rapidly repair themselves, so you must attack both at the same time. Xiao Jin, how do you always understand what I’m thinking? Could it be you’re the roundworm in my stomach?” Gu Feng collected the damaged puppets, but didn’t forget to tease Su Mujin while he was at it.

“Gege, have you ever seen a roundworm that looks as handsome as me?” Su Mujin asked in dead earnest.

“Since when did you become so . . .” Gu Feng originally intended to mock him, but upon seeing how Su Mujin looked at that moment, he was stunned. His vision was fixated, his throat turned dry, and he swallowed his final word, “sappy.”

Su Mujin’s current appearance had a much greater impact on Gu Feng than normal. His cultivation was a little lower than Gu Feng’s, and while in the middle of the battle just now, his black clothing had been ripped in many places, revealing bits of his fair skin beneath. His cheeks were flushed faintly red from the exertion of the fight, and together with his messy hair, he looked utterly ravishing. 

Succubus! Gu Feng cursed in his heart, feeling himself once again tempted to commit an indiscretion. Impossible, I am a man of unbending will. I absolutely must not be lured by beauty. After silently reciting this mantra several times, Gu Feng forced himself to look away.

They were surrounded on all sides by mountain peaks, and they stood at the entrance to a valley filled with a white mist that obscured what lay within. Since they had already eliminated the puppets guarding it, they knew treasures must lay within.

“. . . Xiao Jin, let’s go in and take a look. This valley should have some good stuff.” Gu Feng said as he strictly controlled his expression. His heart was in turmoil, but he had decided not to tell Su Mujin about his ripped clothing. That is also ‘my’ body. There’s nothing wrong with looking at ‘myself’. Gu Feng rationalized with himself.

Su Mijin silently nodded. He had a strange feeling about the cold wind emanating from this valley. It was unnaturally chilly! 

As soon as they entered the valley, the layer of mist suddenly dissipated, and they could see clearly. A fresh medicinal scent wafted over. This was the elixir garden of an immortal cultivator. Because nobody had come to pluck materials from it for countless years, it was abundant with spiritual plants.

“Amazing! Gege, these lingyao can increase your power. You should quickly absorb them while I’ll watch over you,” Su Mujin exclaimed in delight. He was happier about this than had these treasures been something he could use himself.

“Okay!” Gu Feng didn’t demur, and began absorbing the energy from the plants on the spot. He really did need to absorb lingyao in order to advance. Compared with collecting them bit by bit, directly absorbing the lot was more expedient.

The vast expanse of the field of elixir began to wither. Having absorbed nearly all the lingyao, Gu Feng had already begun to break through the boundary of the summit of late stage golden core. The remaining plants he hadn’t yet absorbed were covered in a glittering light, and he was about to study those plants when he heard the footfalls of someone entering the valley.