Chapter 47: Chapter 43: Entering the Mine
In Chu Zheng's perception, the Yin Qi around him suddenly surged, even overpowering the Yang Qi in the surroundings during noon.
His gaze firmly fixed on the entrance of the mine, a black cloud suddenly burst forth, enveloping a silhouette faintly visible within—it was Han Mingdan, whom he had seen not long ago.
A dazzling divine light followed from the entrance of the mine, and Han Yuliang, holding a pagoda in his palm, took a few steps to catch up with the black fog ahead. The pagoda soared and cast down Immortal Light, suppressing the black fog under the base of the pagoda.
Under the Immortal Light, the black fog enveloping Han Mingdan desperately rushed into her seven orifices. The next instant, Han Mingdan's tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open, pitch black as ink, her pupils no longer visible.
Immediately after, she pinched finger seals, her Blood Qi surged wildly, and she slightly opened her teeth, spitting out a Blood Sword that instantly tore through the descending Immortal Light from the pagoda and began to flee again.
Chu Zheng, watching from the side, quickly understood the situation.
Han Mingdan was inherently a woman with a special constitution, heavier in Yin Qi, therefore, when the Evil Spirit entered her body, the balance of Yin and Yang within was instantly disrupted, leading to a loss of mental control and her body being overtaken by the Evil Spirit.
In such a case, expelling the Evil Spirit was not very troublesome. One simply needed to inject a large amount of Yang Qi to reawaken Han Mingdan's consciousness, but first, they had to catch her.
As Chu Zheng was pondering, Han Yuliang, who stood in the sky above, wore a cold expression, his brow shimmering brightly as he sent forth a vague silhouette.
Chu Zheng's eyes narrowed, just as he tried to get a good look, in the next instant, the vague silhouette had traversed hundreds of feet and entered directly into Han Mingdan's body.
Han Mingdan's body stiffened, falling from mid-air, and after a few breaths, a thick black fog burst from her mouth, which was then immediately drawn up by the pagoda above.
Only when the black fog had completely dispersed did the vague silhouette walk out from within Han Mingdan's body and return into Han Yuliang's forehead.
He raised his hand to collect the pagoda, landing beside Han Mingdan, feeding her a Spirit Pill, and after a brief examination, he sighed in relief.
After a moment, Han Mingdan slowly opened her eyes, her expression confused, struggling to grasp the situation, "Uncle Si... what happened to me just now?"
She only felt weak in her limbs as if she had been through a severe illness, unable to muster any strength at all.
Han Yuliang helped her up and spoke soothingly, "An Evil Spirit entered your body. It's nothing serious. Go back and rest for a while. This time was my oversight."
That Blood Sword had nearly concentrated all of Han Mingdan's essence and Qi. After it was cast, her Blood Qi suffered a great loss; she definitely needed time to recuperate.
"Soul Condensing... This is Soul Condensing."
From afar, Chu Zheng watched with barely concealed admiration. To strengthen the Divine Soul, even visually manifesting it, was nothing short of miraculous; this was still the first time he had seen such a high-level cultivator in action.
In comparison to the Immortal Path, Qi Cultivators place more emphasis on the physical body. After undergoing a Spirit Transformation, they use the Yin and Yang Qi to refine the body, nurturing Jade Bones and Golden Muscles, and then casting the Dao Embryo.
Dao Embryo is the preparation for the Golden Core. Once the Golden Core is consolidated, Qi Cultivators' Divine Skills greatly enhance, finally achieving the power close to moving mountains and seas. As for mind becoming divine, that is an even higher realm.
This disturbance had many martial masters watching, causing some unrest as they stared into the dark mineshaft, slightly intimidated.
Having lingered in Illusory Spirit City for a long time, they knew too much, and thus were more fearful. They were mere mortals; even if strong in Qi Strength, they lacked methods to defend against such sinister and ghostly matters.
"Rest assured, in the coming days, I will be stationed here. All the evil spirits within have been cleared by me and will no longer pose any threat."
However, this assurance by Han Yuliang did little to ease their worries, sounding too ethereal to be credible.
These martial masters were well aware of their own worth; their lives were far less valuable than Han Mingdan's, and Han Yuliang might not necessarily be willing to exert effort to save them.
Sensing the subtle shift in the atmosphere, Han Yuliang immediately declared, "The compensation for everyone will be doubled, as previously stated. Those still unwilling to stay may return with the Flying Boat."
This statement finally elicited some response, with most martial masters visibly relaxing and their expressions much soothed; this attitude alone was enough to reassure them.
This handling by Han Yuliang somewhat surprised Chu Zheng, as he had initially thought that Han Yuliang would not care about these people's lives and deaths.
Fu Quanliang moved to Chu Zheng's side and, seeing the surprise on his face, knew what he was thinking and immediately transmitted:
"After all, we need to save some face, many of these people here are connected to the Phantom Spirit Sect."
Upon hearing this, Chu Zheng realized that the martial masters within Illusory Spirit City were indeed different from ordinary mortals. Tracing back eight generations, there might even be contemporaries of Han Yuliang. It was necessary not to embarrass them too much.
It was the same old story: within the Immortal Sect, relationships were complex, and people were inevitably social creatures, with unavoidable social needs.
Chu Zheng retracted his wandering thoughts and transmitted, "How is it, have you found out anything yet? When can we enter the mine?"
"You still want to go in? Aren't you afraid of dying?" Fu Quanliang widened his eyes slightly, thinking that this unexpected situation would change Chu Zheng's mind.
Chu Zheng shook his head. This unexpected situation had, in fact, reassured him quite a bit. Such evil spirits were not considered dangerous to him.
He had previously worried about evil spirits that transformed from corpses in extremely Yin places into zombies; those were the real trouble.
But the commotion caused by Han Yuliang going in and only these kinds of spirits being disturbed was enough to prove the safety of the place, allowing for much reassurance.
Seeing that Chu Zheng had made up his mind, Fu Quanliang sighed softly, "You can go down to the mine tomorrow."
"I won't be able to go in then, I can only wait for you outside. Be very careful. If anything goes wrong, immediately transmit to me, and I will try to get Han Yuliang to rescue you."
The aura inside the mine was mixed, detrimental to cultivation; a normal cultivator would be reluctant to descend.
Fu Quanliang had only recently joined the power of the Han Family, and if he acted too unusually, it might lead to unnecessary speculations.
If a problem arose, all he could do was try his best to assist Chu Zheng in escaping.
"Thank you," Chu Zheng nodded, "get me a map of the mine."
"I've already prepared that."
Fu Quanliang leaned over and stealthily slipped a folded map into Chu Zheng's hand:
"Be careful in everything, I'll wait for your return."
......
......
The next morning.
Before the mine, over three hundred martial masters each held an iron pickaxe, ready to descend.
Even with Han Yuliang's assurance, over sixty individuals still chose to return with the Flying Boat.
A disciple from the Phantom Spirit Sect stood at the entrance of the mine, distributing a Poison Warding Pill and a headband embedded with Luminous Pearls to each martial master.
The mine extended deep underground, inevitably filled with some Turbid Qi which might not affect cultivators, but could still significantly harm the bodies of ordinary people.
Inhaling too much Turbid Qi could lead to numbness in the limbs, weakened body, and most importantly, affect the mining.
Chu Zheng followed the crowd, walking slowly into the deep mine.
Fu Quanliang watched him enter, and in the blink of an eye, all that was left in his field of view were the faint star-like lights of the Luminous Pearls.
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