Chapter 86: Breakthrough Success! The Disciples’ Astonishment

Translator: Minotauruz

On the other side, Qin Lingyu, Ke Xinwen and the others continued to run desperately from the Demonvine. However, they couldn’t seem to lose the quickly approaching Demonvine appendages no matter what they did.

Ke Xinwen possessed a wind-based spiritual root just like Ye Xiuwen. Naturally, he was proficient with his wind-based spells. When they were first retreating from the Demonvine, Ke Xinwen had intended to increase his movement speed by imbuing his feet with his wind abilities. However, once Qin Lingyu discovered his intentions, he secretly activated the poison within Ke Xinwen’s body and caused Ke Xinwen to stumble momentarily. Ke Xinwen was almost caught by the Demonvine as a result.

At that time, Ke Xinwen glared furiously at Qin Lingyu, only to receive an even more threatening glance back at himself.

Qin Lingyu’s intentions were clear – Don’t forget that you’re now my subject. You’d better not think of escaping before I do!

Therefore, Ke Xinwen had no choice but to continue running alongside Qin Lingyu instead, as he continued to use his wind-based spells to slow down the Demonvine appendages that was hot on their tail.

At the same time, Ke Xinwen stared viciously at Qin Lingyu’s back. Oh, how he wished he could tear Qin Lingyu to shreds right now!

Yu Wanrou’s cultivation level was only at the fifth level of Qi Mastery, and she did not possess much combat experience to begin with. Therefore, her overall abilities could be considered to have been the weakest among all the disciples around. Notwithstanding that, her good luck more than made up for her inadequacies. Several disciples in Dawn Sect were her secret admirers, and they all made it a point to protect and cover her from the Demonvine’s pursuit, allowing her to escape easily without too much trouble.

As they ran along and the Demonvine’s appendages continued to pursue them relentlessly, the disciples felt increasingly despondent about their situation. At one point, they were even resigned to the fate of barely escaping with severe injuries, if they were even lucky enough not to end up as nutrients to the Demonvine. After all, the reservoir of spiritual energies within their bodies were limited and dwindling extremely quickly, and they knew that they would be at the end of their road soon.

Fortunately, the heavens favoured them – it was not their time yet. Just as they were almost completely drained of their spiritual energies, a loud, shrill shriek travelled from afar, and the Demonvine’s appendages suddenly thrashed about violently where they were, before they slowly retracted like a receding tide.

This...What’s going on?! Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at each other, absolutely confuzzled by the present situation.

At this moment, none of them had expected that they were only able to avert this calamity at the eleventh hour because Yao Mo had activated the Savage Augmentation Array and delivered that fatal blow to the Demonvine.

As a result of her attack, the Demonvine had retracted all of its appendages to protect its main vine, ceasing its pursuit of the other disciples.

The disciples looked on in bewilderment as the Demonvine’s appendages disappeared out of their sights. Then, a bright glint flashed across Qin Lingyu’s eyes as he instructed, “Let’s go back and take a look at what’s going on. We’ll take a detour out of these woods if we can’t deal with the Demonvine.”

Truth be told, what Qin Lingyu was investigating was nothing more than an inkling that the Demonvine’s sudden cessation of attack and retraction of its appendages might have had something to do with Yao Mo and Ye Xiuwen.

But at the same time, he sincerely hoped that this inkling was wrong. This was because he, as the Sect Leader’s First-Seat Disciple, would seem useless compared to what Ye Xiuwen would have achieved in this skirmish.

Qin Lingyu clenched his fists discreetly, and a trace of vicious indignation flashed across his eyes.

None of the other disciples expected Qin Lingyu to have contemplated all these things. At this moment, the only thing that was on their minds was how fortunate they had been to be able to avert this calamity unscathed.

Even now, all the disciples continued to shudder in their lingering trepidation as they recalled how they had been running for their lives just moments ago. As they headed back to where they came from, their legs continued to shake uncontrollably with soreness and numbness.

“That...the Demonvine isn’t going to appear again, is it?” One of the disciples asked with paranoia as his teeth chattered slightly.

“I don’t know. This has been the scariest experience since leaving the Sect yet.” Another disciple chimed in, teeth chattering in the exact same manner.

If Jun Xiaomo had heard their grumbling and complaints, she would absolutely have burst out in uncontrollable laughter – That’s your definition of scary?! How are you guys going to survive the Mystic Woods which is fraught with much greater danger than this?!

Yet in reality, these disciples had been spoilt by the safety and comfort of their Sect. After all, their usual day at the Sect comprised only of some meditation and cultivation, and there was no impetus for them to consider how the spells or techniques that they had learnt could be implemented in actual combat. Take their escape earlier for example – they had in their desperation cast a multitude of spells at the Demonvine’s appendages with reckless abandon, hardly pausing to even consider how they could chain their spells or use their spells to greater efficacy. As a result, they grew more and more pathetic as their reservoir of spiritual energy dwindled rapidly with every casting of a spell.

This was one of the main reasons why the Sect encouraged its disciples to go out on these travels. The Sect had hoped that these disciples could gain some practical combat experience so that they would be better able to utilize the spells they had learnt. Otherwise, these disciples would have nothing more than book smarts, and they would be unable to react accordingly in the face of real combat.

As the disciples drew closer to the place where they encountered the Demonvine, the disciples started to notice how several towering trees with incredible girths had been snapped in half like twigs by the Demonvine’s appendages. Instantly, they shuddered, and they grew increasingly anxious and fearful.

If such incredibly sturdy trees had been snapped in half just like that, one could only imagine the outcome if they were to be hit squarely by one of these thrashing appendages.

Subconsciously, the footsteps of several disciples started to slow down in reluctance, and their sweat thoroughly permeated their inner wear. However, they did not dare to retreat without Qin Lingyu’s orders.

“Ah! Isn’t that Di Yue?!” Yi Hong’s sharp eyes spotted a bloodied figure dangling from the branches of one of these great, towering trees that had not been snapped in half by the Demonvine. That figure was drooping over one of the tree’s branches, and his head hung down facing the ground. No one could tell whether he was alive or not.

“It’s Di Yue. I recognize the colour of his clothing!” Another disciple exclaimed.

Everyone here had abandoned Di Yue earlier, and they felt extremely remorseful in their hearts right now. Therefore, they quickened their steps as they hurried over to Di Yue’s side.

Di Yue had been placed on a branch that was some distance from the ground. Ke Xinwen saw this as an opportunity to redeem himself and salvage some of his lost reputation. Therefore, he operated his Windwalk technique, swiftly leaping up to that tree branch to rescue Di Yue.

Qin Lingyu possessed a lightning-based spiritual root. while his offensive capabilities were extremely strong, he was hardly as nimble as a person who possessed a wind-based spiritual root. Therefore, he ceded the opportunity to show off to Ke Xinwen this time.

Di Yue was in a horrendous state. Almost all of his skin had been corroded, thereby exposing the raw flesh and blood of his body. Some of his wounds even ran so deep that his bones were visible. Yet everyone could tell that this was the result of the corrosive poison secreted by the Demonvine appendages which had so tightly wrapped around Di Yue earlier on.

Everyone’s shuddered in horror as they saw Di Yue’s present condition. If they had also been caught by this Demonvine’s appendages earlier, they might well have suffered the same fate. Even if they managed to escape alive, there was no doubt that these injuries would leave them experiencing immense pain for several days to come.

Earlier, Ye Xiuwen had placed Di Yue onto this tree before hastily returning to Yao Mo’s side. Therefore, Di Yue had not received any treatment for his injuries yet, and he was now left hanging onto his life by a thread. His breathing had become extremely weak, and he was desperately gasping for air.

Qin Lingyu immediately retrieved a medicinal pill from his Interspatial Ring and tossed it into Di Yue’s mouth.

While Qin Lingyu was quite reluctant to waste a medicinal pill on someone other than himself, he nevertheless had to maintain his appearances in front of the others. This medicinal pill was of a relatively lower grade, and its healing effects were nothing extraordinary. At best, this pill would only preserve Di Yue’s life. Yet to Qin Lingyu, this was more than enough.

“Eh? There seems to be someone breaking through a bottleneck.” All the disciples here were at least of the fifth level of Qi Mastery, while Jun Xiaomo was only breaking through the first level of Qi Mastery into the second level of Qi Mastery. Therefore, there was no way of concealing her aura from the rest.

Qin Lingyu’s eyes gleamed meaningfully, before directing the rest, “Come, let’s go take a look.”

I only hope it’s not Ye Xiuwen. Otherwise......

Ye Xiuwen was already at the peak twelfth level of Qi Mastery, and he would be at the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation if he broke through again. Qin Lingyu had always seen Ye Xiuwen as a thorn in his side that he needed to get rid of. Naturally, he did not wish for Ye Xiuwen to break through into the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation before he did.

When the entourage finally arrived at Ye Xiuwen and Yao Mo’s location, they realized that the person breaking through right now was not Ye Xiuwen, but that array master, Yao Mo.

“Is he really only breaking through the first level of Qi Mastery into the second level of Qi Mastery? How is the aura that he’s giving off so strong and intense?!” Yi Hong exclaimed in horror. He was already at the sixth level of Qi Mastery, yet the aura released by Yao Mo at this instant was sufficient to cause him to feel pressured.

This pressure was not something that was overwhelming to Yi Hong. Therefore, this was testament to the fact that Yao Mo’s cultivation did not exceed the sixth level of Qi Mastery. However, the aura he gave off still was not something that someone at the mere second level of Qi Mastery should possess.

Yu Wanrou was only at the fifth level of Qi Mastery, so the amount of pressure that she experienced was even greater than what Yi Hong experienced. She bit down on her lower lip as she glanced over at Yao Mo. Right now, she was mentally revising her original estimation of Yao Mo’s potential and value.

If Yao Mo’s abilities are greater than what he publicly reveals, then I must find a way to get into his good books. At the very least, I can’t let him be my enemy.

Just this moment, one of the disciples suddenly exclaimed in shock,“Demonvine...The Demonvine has been burnt to a crisp!”

Hearing this, everyone reacted in shock and immediately walked towards the location that disciple was pointing towards. As they arrived, they noticed that the original location of the Demonvine’s main vine was left with nothing more than a patch of black ashes and soot. That fearsome and vicious Demonvine that had relentlessly pursued them earlier was completely burnt up and razed to the ground – not a single shred of the vine remained.

Tsss--! The disciples unanimously drew a cold breath in shock – Who had managed to accomplish such a feat?!

Some disciples with keener senses noticed that there were four small formation arrays that had been set up north, south, east and west of where the Demonvine’s main vine had been. But these formation arrays had already become gray and evidently spent.

“Could Yao Mo have done this? That’s simply incredible. I never knew array masters were so formidable...” Presently, the disciples had forgotten about the incidents which caused them to ostracize Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen earlier, and they could only exclaim in shock when they saw what Yao Mo had achieved.

Qin Lingyu’s heart also roiled with complicated emotions. Yao Mo was far more formidable than he had given him credit for. Not only was Yao Mo able to utilize such a powerful formation array, he was even able to determine the most effective formation array to use against the Demonvine and set it up under such time constraints.

What Qin Lingyu found completely bewildering was how Yao Mo could possibly have done all of this. Qin Lingyu’s personal knowledge of formation arrays and talismans were cursory at best. However, he had heard from others about the professions of array masters and talisman masters some time ago, and his assessment of these professions was that their disciplines were hard to pick up, and even harder to utilize with flexibility. Therefore, to master these disciplines and become an outstanding talisman master or array master was an almost impossible feat.

It could not be understated how complicated formation arrays and talismans were. Most people pursuing these paths spent at least ten years of time building a foundational level of knowledge of either discipline, before spending the next twenty years internalizing this knowledge. After that, one would have to invest even more time transforming their head knowledge of these disciplines into practical applications...

This was an extremely arduous process. If Yao Mo was able to achieve this level of proficiency with formation arrays only in his teens, then how talented would he be?! His potential would practically be limitless!

Qin Lingyu secretly hated the fact that he was not the one who had first encountered and gotten to know Yao Mo. Otherwise, he wouldn’t need to be put through all the trouble to separate the two of them before dealing with each of them separately.

It suddenly occurred to him that it was going to be very difficult for him to deal with Ye Xiuwen if Yao Mo continued to hang around Ye Xiuwen’s side.

Under the baptism of everyone’s watchful eyes, Ye Xiuwen continued to stand guard valiantly by Yao Mo’s side, protecting him from any potential interference as he broke through.

He had already discovered the arrival of Qin Lingyu and the others, but he couldn’t be bothered to even throw them a glance to acknowledge their presence. In fact, he was prepared to ignore their presence as long as they did not interfere with Yao Mo’s break through to the next level of Qi Mastery.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Jun Xiaomo’s breakthrough to the next level of Qi Mastery was extremely smooth. The threat of the Demonvine had already been overcome, and with Ye Xiuwen standing guard beside her, she entered a deep meditative state and completely immersed herself in the process of her breakthrough. As the clashing spiritual energy and demonic energy were gradually converted to true energy and stored within her meridians and Dantian, Jun Xiaomo also gradually calmed down and stabilized her body’s condition. The faintly gold coloured true energy slowly coursed through her meridians and Dantian, gently repairing and nourishing her meridians that had been damaged by the clashing energies in her body earlier.

Approximately one hour later, Jun Xiaomo finally successfully broke through to the second level of Qi Mastery. Right now, her meridians and Dantian had expanded to more than twice of their original size, and the amount of true energy stored within her body had increased by several times.

Then, as Jun Xiaomo slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a snow-white garb flickering about before her eyes –

“Brother Ye.” Jun Xiaomo’s bright eyes glowed in delight as she cast her eyes upon Ye Xiuwen with eyes that were so deep and profound that they seemed to contain the boundless skies and all its constellations.

“Thank you, brother Ye!” Jun Xiaomo smiled with cheerful eyes as she thanked Ye Xiuwen.

She knew that Ye Xiuwen had been standing guard beside her throughout the process of her breakthrough. The safe environment created by Ye Xiuwen might have been one of the main reasons why her breakthrough this time had gone by so smoothly.

Besides, Ye Xiuwen gave her a sense of peace and security whenever he was around her.

As this “young man” addressed him with a crisp tang in his voice, Ye Xiuwen noticed that he was no longer sick and pale as before, and a healthy pink glow had returned to his face.

Seeing this, Ye Xiuwen could not help but smile warmly to Yao Mo. In the next moment, Ye Xiuwen realized that Yao Mo could not see his expressions because he still donned his veiled conical hat of his. Therefore, he promptly walked over to Yao Mo’s side, gently tousling his hair as he warmly replied, “It’s good that you’re fine now.”

The other disciples around watched on awkwardly as this scene unfolded before their eyes. At this moment, they unanimously felt that Ye Xiuwen and Yao Mo’s interactions somehow generated an atmosphere about them that left no room for a third party to interject.

If not for the fact that Ye Xiuwen and Yao Mo were both males, their thoughts might well be at other places by now...