I Outworked the Entire Cultivation World

Chapter 172: Chapter 146: Desperation

Outside Coiled Snake Valley.

Night immersed in darkness, the air was muggy and hot, red mist enveloped the swamp, and everywhere one looked, black snakes with red lines on their backs slithered, hissing as they crawled.

Ge Yuchan staggered forward, finally unable to hold on, collapsing by the humid and hot swamp, her body covered in marks from sharp claws.

The Fire Evil attacked her heart, old wounds combined with new ones, Ge Yuchan’s face was deathly pale, painfully curled up.

The hissing noise grew closer, Ge Yuchan struggled to stand up, but her body refused to move.

Give up!

”Here it comes again...”

Half of Ge Yuchan’s body submerged in the scorching swamp water; throughout this journey, she heard this voice countless times.

Give up, all of this is useless persistence!

It’s all wishful thinking on your part, everyone is fleeing, nobody needs your perseverance.

Give up, and the pain will cease.

”I won’t...”

Hiss!

A Red Line Flood Dragon was spiraling down from a tree, slithering in Ge Yuchan’s direction.

*

Behind the forward base camp, under the cliff.

Boom!

Two forces that had been deadlocked suddenly erupted, a ferocious shockwave sent the three behind flying backward, slamming them hard against the cliff.

Yun Shang landed heavily, the Bald Giant Ape that had been protecting her whimpered and reverted to a small monkey.

Squish!

The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed, accompanied by a desperate screech, as Yuu Qiuqi severed the last head of the mutated two-headed Wolf King that almost claimed all their lives.

Gu Liu and Zheng Chong struggled to get up, seeing Yuu Qiuqi’s clothes in tatters, her body covered in wounds, half her face soaked in blood, trudging towards them from the field of dead wolves.

Before reaching them, Yuu Qiuqi suddenly collapsed.

”Senior Sister Yuu!”

Gu Liu scrambled over, examining, discovering Yuu Qiuqi was gravely injured, her breath weakening steadily.

She hurriedly searched her body for Healing Pills, finding only empty bottles.

”Elixir, who has any elixir left?”

Zheng Chong shook his head, Yun Shang also searched herself, but there were no Elixirs left.

Throughout this journey, beasts, Evil Corpses, insect swarms, each time nearly took their lives, every time it was Yuu Qiuqi who turned the tides; holding on till now was her limit.

Yun Shang stood dazed under the cliff, watching Gu Liu at a loss, seeing Zheng Chong with reddened eyes, seeing Yuu Qiuqi’s face slowly losing color.

The sounds of the world faded, leaving only a sharp ringing in her ears and the sound of her increasingly rapid heartbeat.

Yuu Qiuqi was about to die, the person who killed her parents was about to die!

But...

Her last family member, her aunt, was going to die too!

Yun Shang snapped back to reality, strode over to Yuu Qiuqi, eyes red, shouting.

”Yuu Qiuqi, your life is mine, you can’t die without my consent!!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Yuu Qiuqi’s hand twitched slightly, but that was all.

Zheng Chong glanced up at the cliff, speaking coldly.

”We cannot delay further, in four hours we’ll miss the second Transmission Array opening, we must climb now.”

Gu Liu was very conflicted, ”But what about Senior Sister Yuu? We can’t just leave her, can we?”

”Bringing her will kill us all!” Zheng Chong shouted.

Yun Shang clenched her fists, lowered her head, her face shrouded in shadow, ”If you’re leaving, go by yourselves!”

Zheng Chong gritted his teeth, bowed to Yun Shang and without hesitation, grabbed the vines beneath the cliff and began to climb upward.

Gu Liu hesitated repeatedly, but finally stood up.

”Junior Sister Yun, hold on, we’ll find help once we get out.”

Saying this, Gu Liu also dashed to the cliff and climbed with determination.

Roar!

The ground shook, the roar of the Evil Corpse approached rapidly, the scent of dead wolves’ blood was drawing more bloodthirsty beasts closer.

Yun Shang drew the Flying Blade, staying close to Yuu Qiuqi, not moving a step away.

＊

Deep within the abandoned mine.

The clinking sounds of mining echoed from the dark tunnel, and from time to time, spider-like puppets, waving their eight mining pickaxe claws, crawled out, dumping a pile of deep purple mineral stones beside Jiang Yuebai.

This was already the deepest part of the mine, where the abundant Fire Crystal Ore Veins painted the tunnel crimson.

Ordinary Fire Crystal Stones are a main material for crafting Fire Attribute Magic Artifacts, appearing bright red, and the deeper the color, the more rare it is, and the higher quality the artifact crafted will be.

Jiang Yuebai was mining the top-grade, deep purple Fire Crystals, which could be used to refine Magic Treasures surpassing Magic Artifacts.

During the past few days, whenever she rested, she would release the Mining Puppets to dig as much as possible.

Zhao Fuyi awoke after adjusting her breath, and aside from her Dantian being sealed, her Divine Soul, Sea of Consciousness, and meridian states had all recovered.

When the time comes to forcibly break through the seal on her Dantian, she would be able to hold on for a moment longer.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Jiang Yuebai sitting upon a pile of Purple Fire Crystals, practicing spells with two Jade Scrolls in her hands.

One was the ’Blade Flow Wind Kill’ that Jiang Yuebai had seized, and the other was the ’Five Thunders Righteous Method’ exchanged from the Heavenly Interence Sect’s Library.

Zhao Fuyi noticed that since they started traveling together, Jiang Yuebai had been learning during every rest, and aside from causing her inconvenience, she never slackened, not even for a moment.

This determination was even stronger than her own when she studied arraying at the Ten Thousand Laws Hall, at least she needed an hour of sleep each day to recover her energy during the Qi Cultivation Stage, whereas Jiang Yuebai never slept.

”Your Mining Puppets spend a lot of time going back and forth; two Small Transposition Array Plates would eliminate the need for running back and forth.”

Jiang Yuebai’s ears perked up suddenly, ”What Small Transposition Array? I’ve only heard of the Big Shift Array, simpler than the Transmission Arrays and incapable of transporting living beings.”

Zhao Fuyi looked at Jiang Yuebai expressionlessly, ”Do you want to learn?”

Jiang Yuebai was just about to nod but suddenly froze.

Wait a minute! This trick felt familiar!

Just like last time when Moh Baichun hid silk in a puppet wooden doll, luring her into the trap.

With a rebellious heart rising, Jiang Yuebai shifted her body, ”I don’t want to learn.”

Zhao Fuyi briefly smiled, but immediately suppressed it, looking worriedly toward the depths of the tunnel.

”According to the path marked by Weimian, we are very close to the exit beneath the volcano at Divine Silence Ridge. When that time comes, we’re not sure whether we’ll face the evil cultivators of the Three Elements Sect or those immortal monsters of the Ghost Clan.”

”Mm.”

”Are you afraid?”

Jiang Yuebai focused on moving her ten fingers, feeling the rhythm of the wind, and replied without looking up, ”We’ve gotten this far; does saying I’m afraid help?”

Zhao Fuyi said seriously, ”You only need to escort me to the core formation location, then take the Earth Evil Fire and escape as soon as you can.”

”I hadn’t planned on helping you either way.”

Zhao Fuyi: ......

Jiang Yuebai paused her fingers, awkwardly smiling and explained, ”What I mean is I won’t interfere with your arraying, I’ll just stay hidden beside, watching and giving some covert assistance.”

Zhao Fuyi brought out the Four Symbols Eight Trigrams Array Map, once again confirming the arraying process, casually asking, ”Do you still hold a grudge against me for rejecting you in public?”

Jiang Yuebai shook her head, ”You just made your choice. No one in this world has an obligation to prioritize me, to cherish me, nor is there an obligation to like me or care for my feelings. Whatever I want, I can’t force it. I must boldly pursue and also boldly accept failure.”

”My grandfather told me to follow my heart, accepting the outcome with composure, regardless of what it may be. Regret doesn’t matter, what’s important is not being trapped in regret, fearing gains or losses, and missing out on something better.”

Zhao Fuyi chuckled lightly, ”You speak so nicely, yet who has been sarcastic to me along the way? Saying one thing and doing another, that’s you.”

Jiang Yuebai huffed and turned her head, ”So I accept failure, but does that mean I can’t be upset? I mock you, not that you’d actually kill me, but you were still annoyed. Just like when my parents would argue, they were genuinely angry, but they never really planned to divorce; it’s two separate things.”

Zhao Fuyi was stunned, suddenly finding it very reasonable. Jiang Yuebai understood reason but wouldn’t use high-sounding principles to tie herself down, causing herself distress.

It seemed contradictory, yet seeing through it gave Zhao Fuyi a sense of enlightenment.

After looking at the array map for a moment, Zhao Fuyi suddenly thought of something, ”Jiang Yuebai, could you lend me your Array Plate for a look?”

Rumble!

The ground shook, large pieces of rubble fell from above, and the mountain wall suddenly cracked, vicious fissures spread rapidly in all directions.

Streams of black Evil Qi, like thick smoke, spread out from the cracks.

Jiang Yuebai took all the mineral stones from the ground and rushed to Zhao Fuyi’s side in one leap, sensing an icy chill akin to the Nine Netherworld Hell in the Evil Qi, causing her hair to stand on end.

Even Little Green within her Sea of Consciousness cowered under two Leaf Hands, trembling.

Uh uh!

Eerie moaning sounds echoed in the narrow mine tunnel, clusters of blood-colored mist surged from the cracks, blending with the Evil Qi, exuding a deathly aura.

In an instant, they coalesced into humanoid ghost shadows, revealing bloodthirsty eyes, glaring fiercely at Jiang Yuebai and Zhao Fuyi.

”These are the long-extinct Netherworld Blood Evils of the Ghost Clan!”

Zhao Fuyi was deeply shocked, looking around. They were already trapped in the mine tunnel by the Netherworld Blood Evils, with no way out.