Chapter 507: Allies On The Surface

Through all of Lan Huilin's long years of cultivation, she had never once been this shocked.

The man standing right in front of her had subdued her in only two moves. His clothes were even more tattered, and he looked a bit weary, yet she could still tell he was "Wang Qiu," who had astonished her long ago.

During their two hundred years of chiseling at the cliff, his cultivation had progressed in a strange and continuous way. Now, after being sent to the mines for another long stretch of years, his cultivation had already reached the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal Realm. He had even easily countered her surprise attack with the celestial sword in his hand.

Fiend-blood energy was poisonous to any cultivator. Even ordinary fiend cultivators found it difficult to control. Moreover, it was overwhelmingly thick in the blood mine, and even the primal qi was contaminated.

How could he keep cultivating? He was just at the early stage of the Ascended Immortal Realm when she had first met him. Now, just a few hundred years later, he had advanced at an incredible speed to the middle stage of the Primordial Immortal Realm and was already close to breaking through to the late stage.

She had taught Wang Sheng his aura concealment spell. Hence, she naturally saw through it.

Though she was a True Immortal, she had reached the end of her rope. She was even prepared to leave at any moment to negotiate with the Celestial Wind Sect. Meanwhile, the man she believed had been dead for many years had somehow survived. Anyone would feel bitter after such astonishment.

"How are you still alive, Daoist Friend Wang?"

Lan Huilin regretted asking such a question the moment it left her lips. This was not the time to pry into Wang Qiu's secrets. Judging from the strength he had just displayed, killing her would take little effort if he wanted to.

Moreover, she had been trapped here for far too long, and her immortal power was almost completely depleted. Despite having used up all her Immortal Stones, she still couldn't find a way out. In the end, all she could do was hide in this small pocket, where the fiend-blood energy was relatively thin.

Wang Sheng clasped his hands behind his back and looked around. In a familiar, ancient accent, he replied, "Daoist Friend Lan, this is a nice place you've got."

Having already noticed that Lan Huilin's immortal power was nearly exhausted, he didn't take her as a serious threat. It was confidence born from ability.

Besides, he had been trapped in this blood mine for far too long. Right now, he would probably start a conversation with a stray dog if he found one, let alone someone he had crossed paths with before.

They shared a common enemy and had similar goals in a sense, anyway. As long as Lan Huilin hadn't lost her senses, she wouldn't betray him.

Having already recovered from her earlier loss of composure, Lan Huilin smiled faintly. "You're funny, Daoist Friend Wang."

Though she looked disheveled, her clothes were still tidy and her posture graceful. She kept her features refined, maintaining the bearing of an immortal maiden.

"Meeting you here truly feels like some strange fate. Allow me to be bold and address you as Brother Wang."

Wang Sheng smiled. "Just call me Wang Qiu. The last female immortal who called me Brother Wang tried to kill me several times. I'm in here partly because her Primordial Spirit fled chaotically when I killed her."

Lan Huilin's heart tightened. She knew he meant it as a warning.

First, he had just revealed that he had no rule against killing women. Second, he'd chase down his target to the ends of the earth and even risk being enslaved just to eliminate his target.

Lan Huilin sighed. "You should see it by now, Wang Qui. I am nearly at the end of my path."

Wang Sheng nodded, casually broke open the array's blue barrier, and drew out the meditation cushion inside. He then sat down. "No need to be so formal. Why don't we sit and talk? We did share the same cage for two hundred years."

The way he confidently took control of the space surprised Lan Huilin. She rubbed the corner of her eye, retrieved a meditation cushion from the jade bracelet in her sleeve, and sat across from him.

"Let's speak casually," Wang Sheng said. "We're trapped here. Though I'm in fairly good condition, you've clearly seen better days. Let me repay you for teaching me the aura concealment spell."

He tossed her a storage artifact. "I found this here. I haven't undone the seal, but you'll probably find Immortal Stones inside."

Lan Huilin kept her composure, yet her hands betrayed her urgency. Starving for Immortal Stones and any trace of clean primal qi, she quickly broke the seal. She then took out one Immortal Stone after another and arranged them around her, forming a qi-gathering formation.

Wang Sheng could have simply placed a thin layer of tribulation cloud around her to provide a constant flow of pure primal qi, but he chose not to reveal his trump card.

Lan Huilin began absorbing primal qi. Staring at Wang Sheng, her eyes brightened, and her tense expression softened into a far gentler one.

She smiled. "Thank you, Wang Qiu. Aren't you afraid that once I recover, I'll capture you and force you to tell me the secret of how you cultivated here?"

He answered calmly, "We're a realm apart, but in here, if you attack, you will die before me."

Lan Huilin simply nodded, openly acknowledging it. Having already seen his unusual lightning technique, she knew he wouldn't even have to attack her. He could just keep moving and stalling her until her immortal power ran dry. The fiend-blood energy would then erode her and torture her endlessly.

Wang Sheng added, "We owe each other nothing, and we barely know each other. If we want to break out of here together, we need basic trust."

Lan Huilin nodded again. "What can we do to make us trust each other?"

"Simple. We swear on the Great Dao and ask each other what we have to know."

"Very well."

Lan Huilin immediately swore on the Great Dao. If even half of her claims were false, her own Dao would abandon her, and her cultivation would never advance again.

Wang Sheng felt a jolt of surprise.

Since when did female immortals swear such harsh oaths?

Yaoyun had suggested this oath-bound question-and-answer method. When a cultivator swore on their own Dao or the Great Dao, a mysterious resonance would arise.

Wang Sheng also made the oath, then gestured for her to begin.

Lan Huilin smiled. "I am curious about one thing. How did you manage to survive and even keep breaking through here for so long?"

Wang Sheng casually summoned a clump of fiend-blood energy, swallowed it in one gulp, and even burped in satisfaction. He only ate it for effect, though. Being trapped here for so many years had bored him, not made him deranged.

As he had expected, Lan Huilin's expression darkened. She turned pale as she stared at him. "A-are you some kind of fiend who feeds on fiend-blood energy?"

"I'm not."

A mass of Pure Yang Enchanted Power rose in his palm. The pristine, radiant immortal power spread outward and pushed back much of the nearby fiend-blood energy.

He offered no further explanation, though. Instead, he let her imagine whatever she wished. He did not lie and merely showed her the nature of his power.

Lan Huilin's eyes still wavered with shock. "You... Never mind. Whether you are a fiend or whether you cultivate some method that restrains fiend-blood energy, you are the only person I can work with right now. That is undeniable."

"My turn. You asked three questions, so I will ask three as well," Wang Sheng whispered. "Who are you, what is your real name, and why did you come to this place?"

Lan Huilin gave him a long, weary glance, clearly feeling she had lost out in the exchange.

"My real name is Lan Huilin, though most people know me as Caiwei, my Daoist name. I'm from the Fengli Sect. In all of the thirteen qi stars of this ancient battlefield, we are second only to the Celestial Wind Sect. My purpose here is simple: to investigate whether the blood mine still has any hidden treasure."

"Oh, so you're Fairy Caiwei." Wang Sheng cupped his hands. "Pardon my manners."

Lan Huilin raised an eyebrow. "You've heard of me?"

"No, I was just being polite."

Lan Huilin was speechless.

"Why the Pineapple—

ahem

, the Fengli Sect[1] send you alone?"

Lan Huilin's gaze dimmed. "I'm not ashamed to say it, but I angered my master over a certain matter. They gave me this task as a punishment and an opportunity to redeem myself. I have a jade talisman that I'd crush once I have confirmed that an immortal with a powerful divine ability had fallen here and left behind unclaimed treasures. Once I do, many of the Fengli Sect's experts would immediately attack this place."

"Oh? You're already in dire straits. Why not crush the talisman now?"

"Why would I? I haven't found any treasures yet," Lan Huilin countered. "If I break the talisman, another bloodbath will begin. I wouldn't be the only one who dies in that scenario."

Wang Sheng nodded slowly. "You're not entirely heartless, then."

Lan Huilin shook her head. "The world is never simply black or white. My turn. What is your real name, and why are you here?"

Wang Sheng opened his hand. "Wang Sheng. Sheng as in ascension. An old dragon caught me and put me here. I have no other goal aside from surviving and getting out of this place. Alright, we understand each other enough. From here on, we'll join forces and find a way out together. That concludes the questioning."

The corner of Lan Huilin's mouth twitched. She felt she had truly suffered a loss.

Wang Sheng rose and looked at the collapsed section on the far side of the passage. "I want to check the core of this mine, which should be at the end of this route. Want to come with?"

Lan Huilin frowned slightly. "Considering my purpose here is to confirm whether there are still treasures here, I naturally have to explore. The fiend-blood energy ahead is unfortunately too dense, though. Even after countless calculations, I still couldn't find a way to approach the core. The longer I stay in there, the weaker my immortal power becomes. It's essentially a dead end for me."

"In that case, stay here and focus on recovery. I'll scout ahead."

Wang Sheng waved a hand and walked off. He then started digging another tunnel right in front of her.

Lan Huilin stared for a moment, then laughed helplessly. She closed her eyes and completely focused on absorbing primal qi, wasting not even a single thread.

These few Immortal Stones were nowhere near enough for a True Immortal. Fortunately, the storage artifact that Wang Sheng had given her still had plenty of it. She should have enough to restore quite a bit of her primal qi.

"

Her master's quite stone-hearted,

"

Yaoyun telepathically murmured.

"

Considering she had sworn an oath to the Great Dao, she couldn't have been lying. Doesn't that mean she would die here if the Celestial Wind Sect had already taken all the treasures in this mine?

"

"

You're wrong. Her master never intended to help her.

Even if she crushed the jade talisman, the Fengli Sect wouldn't send anyone.

"

"

Oh? What makes you so sure?

"

"

Her master no longer trusts her. If you were her master, and you received a message from her, how would you know it was not an attempt at revenge? How would you know the Celestial Wind Sect hadn't captured her and was using her to lure you into a trap? That female immortal seems bright, but deep down, she's not very perceptive.

"

"

Perhaps she simply can't believe her master would deceive her.

" Yaoyun sighed weakly. Her presence wavered with a hint of sorrow.

Wang Sheng was about to ask her about it, but Yaoyun had already withdrawn into Spiritless. She focused on watching Lan Huilin, as though she could relate to her past.

1. Feng li(凤梨) means pineapple in Chinese, and Lan Huilin's sect(凤黎) has the same pronunciation, but different characters. ☜