Chapter 641: Hiding in the Depths of the Valley

Chapter 641: Hiding in the Depths of the Valley

Deep inside the valley, Hui let the tree dip to the ground and float to a halt. He hopped off, and the other disciples followed. With a wave of his hand, Hui cut a board off the tree, then slid it under Zhang Zhisho. Another wave, and she floated alongside them on the board, still unconscious.

As usual, thick yin qi swirled in the valley, darkening the sky and chilling their bodies to the bone. The abandoned chains that had once held the resentment demons laid still on the floor, infused with such intense yin that they emanated dark clouds of it, as if the chains themselves sucked the light out of the air. Dark clouds obscured their view into the distance, hiding the details of what laid ahead in a pit of interminable darkness. Even Huis senses could barely pierce the yin. That is, unless I intentionally try and pierce it but its not as if Ai Tuzi has a third eye. Im probably safe. Probably.

Hui circulated his phoenix fire, using it to emanate yang around him and drive off some of the yin chill. The other disciples huddled close to the warmth, instinctively flinching back from the yin.

Tian Mo gave Zhang Zhisho a worried look. Is she going to be okay?The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

I dont know. When we get somewhere safe, Ill take a moment and look at her, Hui promised. I wouldnt mind bringing her back to consciousness. Shes at least fifth realm, and should be able to hold her own against Ai Tuzi. Compared to the rest of the disciples, shes a powerful cultivator.

Eh? Gui Hui, youre a healer? Tian Mo asked.

Ah, only to the small extent everyone is in the Southern Sect Conference, Hui lied easily. He glanced at Tian Mo. What happened to Zhang Zhisho? She seemed like a fierce fighter. Im surprised she was taken down so easily.

Tian Mo spread his hands. It was a surprise attack. In the middle of a lesson, a spell suddenly wrapped around Zhang Zhisho. She escaped it once, but it chased her down and landed on her again. Then then, something happened, and she passed out.

Hui nodded, his brows furrowing. Hmm. If this is a magical effect, itll be harder to clear. Physical injuries only require a smattering of life qi, but spells Ill have to search out the spell and destroy it, and that will take time and concentration. Ill need a safe, quiet place where Im able to ignore the disciples and focus solely on healing Zhang Zhisho in order to remove the spell.

He lifted his head and looked over the group. Does anyone know a secret place in this valley? Somewhere quiet, where Ai Tuzi wont be able to find us immediately?

Meimei lifted her hand. I do!

The other disciples gave her suspicious looks.

Of course you do

Planning on hiding Zhang Zhishos body there?

Or is Gui Hui your next target?

I dont kill all my Masters, Meimei protested. Only the bad one. And its only one! So far.

Hui looked at Meimei. That rollercoaster of a statement really didnt do much to reassure me, except to strengthen my resolve that I most definitely do not want to become your Master, no matter how good of a disciple you might seem!

Hmm what kind of disciple is she, anyways? Someone as adept at being a disciple as her, to the extent that even I want to take her on that suggests that she has some protagonist-like qualities, after all. She cant be discounted as a mere side character or a future mother of a protagonist, no. She has true protagonist qualities!

But what kind of protagonist? A black lotus? Its rare to see the archetype in a female, or really outside of very specific anyways. A villainess? Could be! She could very well be a villainess in training. A villainess in training, with the true reason she killed her Master hidden Im seeing it. Of course, that means that Ill need to figure out why she actually killed her Master, if I dont want to end up on her bad side when she grows up. After all, an extreme event like that is usually a triggering event for a villainess, that exposes her darkness for the first time!

Oh! Here it is. Meimei pressed on a jut of stone. The wall before them slid away, revealing the dark, tunnel-like entrance to an immortal cave. Dipping into the earth, the darkness grew deeper within the tunnel, and likewise, the yin grew yet more extreme.

Hui coughed, waving his hand on instinct. Is this the source of the yin? But if thats the case how could Meimei survive finding it on her own, without someone like me around to help her?

But on the other hand the source of the yin! I need to know. Whats down here? Huis eyes glittered. Lifting his hand, he put the phoenix fire into a ball that hovered above them, then closed his eyes and absorbed the yin, subtly adjusting his body as he did so to swap to his yin form. There we go. Thats more comfortable down here. Plus if I have the chance, I might as well absorb some yin. I still have much to learn about this energy. Its distinct from qi, even dark qi types such as death qi but its still a form of energy that can be used for casting, and even has its own properties such as coldness and darkness. Im truly curious about it!

He nodded to himself. And Im also very glad that Bai Xue isnt here. I dont even want to know what shed think about this new form of mine!

Tian Mo inched closer to Hui. Is it safe in there? he asked quietly.

Hmm probably not. But I can keep you safe, Hui promised. Its also exactly the kind of quiet spot I can use to examine Zhang Zhisho. The fact that Im also curious about the source of the yang is merely secondary!

Tian Mo looked at him. I wanted to know earlier, but Gui Hui, when did you get so strong?

Hui scratched the back of his head. Ah, well, I guess I just trained with Jizhi Zhimei for a day, right? And that was enough!

Tian Mo squinted for a moment, then sighed. If you dont want to say, you dont want to say. I get it. You cant share whatever miracle you found, so theres no point asking.

But but actually, Hui muttered, half to himself. Actually, it really was training with Jizhi Zhimei for a single day that got me to fourth stage! True, I did already cultivate to seventh stage, so it was easy to retread my original cultivation path, but even if I wasnt secretly hiding my cultivation, I still might have skipped two stages right there in Jizhi Zhimeis pool! Is there anything I can say to convince you? Anything at all?

Shaking his head, Tian Mo walked ahead. Hui looked after him, then sighed. Oh well. Cant please everyone, I guess. He followed Tian Mo and Meimei in, with the rest of the disciples following after him.