Chapter 80

"Rumble, rumble."

The scene on the water curtain was no longer Yun Chuyou’s place, but a sky full of lightning.

Inside the hall of law, the person being questioned, Xuandaozi, suddenly began to tremble violently.

"Xuandaozi, why are you shaking?"

"I… I don’t know…"

Purple lightning crackled from Xuandaozi’s hair, shocking him all over, and his smooth black hair dramatically turned into fluffy curls.

"It seems that Taoist Friend Yun has gained some tremendous fortune from the Thousand Mile Landscape Map, and is now experiencing the heavenly Thunder Calamity of the Astral Projection Stage in a small world!"

"How is that possible? My Thousand Mile Landscape Map is a Divine Artifact that can independently possess a small world, and the heavenly thunder cannot strike in!"

If it weren’t for this, the Magic Demon Vine wouldn’t have tried so hard to hide in the Thousand Mile Landscape Map.

Even though Xuandaozi trembled from the lightning, he insisted strongly, showing the pride and determination of a cultivator for his own Spirit Qi.

Elder Yan, who was in charge of the Hall of Justice, looked at him speechlessly and said, "What do you know? Even one’s own magical tool can be invaded by demonic energy; it’s no surprise to attract lightning."

Xuandaozi’s confidence suddenly faded; it was true that he thought he controlled the Divine Artifact tightly, but he didn’t notice the tricks in the Thousand Mile Landscape Map at all.

To be exact, many years ago, the Thousand Mile Landscape Map was controlled by the Magic Demon Vine, which deliberately chose him. He was foolish to think he really had the ability to contract such a Divine Artifact.

Thinking of this, sadness filled Xuandaozi’s heart, and forgetting about his image as an Astral Projection Stage cultivator, he cried out loud.

Humans do not share each other’s sorrows and joys. While Xuandaozi cried in despair, the spirits trapped above the palace wept tears of joy after being frightened.

When the lightning struck, the Magic Demon Vine tried to absorb these cultivators to replenish its spirit.

But when the wildly thrashing Demon Vine moved toward the weak protective barrier, a rocket shot through the Demon Vine just in time, forcefully interrupting its attack.

Yun Chuyou watched the phoenix turn its feathers into fiery arrows and couldn’t help but feel a bit sad, "Are you pulling out your own feathers to attack? Does it hurt?"

Xie Fuzhi wanted to say it hurt, but he knew that the worst thing between a couple is deception, so he only pretended, "It doesn’t hurt; it’s not as painful as when Chuyou bit me yesterday."

Remembering what happened yesterday, Yun Chuyou shot him an annoyed look. How could he mention what happened last night? He had no shame, and she still felt embarrassed.

Seeing Xie Fuzhi’s condition, she felt relieved; the phoenix’s fiery arrows should be its power and wouldn’t harm him.

With the help of the Magic Demon Vine, Yun Chuyou found the Astral Projection Stage Thunder Calamity to be quite easy to handle.

When the calamity cloud disappeared, she reached out to touch the colorful spirit rain falling from the sky.

Not far away, a group of cultivators were excitedly laughing and crying, "The barrier is open! We can finally go out!"

The Thousand Mile Landscape Map, twisted and affected by demonic energy, was forcefully cut open by Yun Chuyou’s Astral Projection Stage Thunder Calamity, creating a path.

"Chuyou, let’s hurry and get out of here."

Xie Fuzhi transformed into a human figure and quickly flew away from this secret small world with his sword. He knew that Yun Chuyou actually did not like being in the spotlight, and to avoid a bunch of cultivators coming to disturb them, it was best to leave quickly.

"Stop calling, let’s hurry and get out of here." When they saw Yun Chuyou’s light leaving through a gap in the sky, the other cultivators wasted no time and quickly followed to escape.

The Magic Demon Vine, as an ancient magical creature, was not directly struck down by lightning. After all, Yun Chuyou only faced the Astral Projection Stage Thunder Calamity, not the Ascension Thunder Calamity.

But this level of attack was enough to severely injure it, causing it to fall into a long period of deep sleep again.

Without the Magic Demon Vine’s continuous supply of demonic energy, the chaos in the outside world finally stopped completely.

The number of cultivators who had fallen into madness no longer increased, but the number of people soaking in the Pure Heart Pool suddenly grew a lot.

Seeing their disciples return safely, most of the waiting masters outside excitedly patted their shoulders and said, "It’s good to be back safely."

Some cultivators were lost, their bodies and souls devoured by the Magic Demon Vine. Even though the Magic Demon Vine was dead, they would never be able to return.

Although it was very painful, the fall of young disciples in the cultivation world was common. The more important thing now was to find out the reason for the Magic Demon Vine’s attack and to check internally if anyone had colluded with the demon cultivators.

Those disciples with lower levels of skills were arranged to clean the battlefield after everything had calmed down completely.

At this time, Yun Chuyou and Xie Fuzhi also returned to their spirit boat belonging to the Qingxu Sect.

When Zhong Wei saw Yun Chuyou, she hurriedly ran over and said, "Elder Martial Sister, do you want to soak in the Pure Heart Pool too?"

Yun Chuyou shook her head, "I checked, and there is no demonic energy invading my body. I don’t need to soak in the Pure Heart Pool."

Guanshan Yue, who had competed with her before, was grimacing in the Pure Heart Pool now. Although they had used protective devices, their souls were attacked before their memories returned, causing them to feel a burning pain when they left the Pure Heart Pool.

Yun Chuyou felt nothing at all. On her way back, she also used a device to test for demonic energy, and everything was indeed fine.

"Then Elder Martial Sister must be the first place in this Nascent Soul competition!" These words came from Meng He, who confirmed that Yun Chuyou was okay.

As a competitive cultivator, Meng He clearly valued rankings very much. The honor of Elder Martial Sister was the honor of the Qingxu Sect, and naturally, it was also his honor.

The rankings for the Foundation Establishment Stage and Golden Core Stage competitions had already been released, but the Nascent Soul Stage rankings were delayed due to the unexpected incident with the Thousand Mile Landscape Map and had not been arranged yet.

Blue Smoke immediately said, "Everyone else is gone, only the Master is left. The Master is definitely the first! If the Master is not the first, I will report that the Grand Tournament has been rigged!"

The speaker was not Hu Xiao Bai, but Blue Smoke, the merperson who had always wanted to leave Yun Chuyou.

Everyone was very surprised. The straightforward Hu Xiao Bai even asked out loud, "Blue Smoke, when did you change? You aren’t being controlled by an internal demon too, are you?!"

The old Blue Smoke always acted indifferent and preferred to stay alone like a fish in the pool.

Blue Smoke tapped his fish tail and playfully hit Hu Xiao Bai, saying, "What nonsense are you talking? I have always had my heart on the Master."

He was a very practical merperson. Before, he desperately wanted to escape because Yun Chuyou was just too weak. When he made a pact with Yun Chuyou, the latter was only at Golden Core. He gained the secret realm inheritance and then broke through to Nascent Soul.

But there was only one secret realm inheritance, and he didn’t know when he would see Yun Chuyou reach Astral Projection.

He didn’t expect the other person’s training speed to be so fast. A few years ago, they had just come out of the secret realm, and now, just a few years later, they participated in the Grand Tournament and broke through to Astral Projection Stage during the competition.

With such a training speed, even among the demon races known for their training abilities, no one trained as fast as Yun Chuyou.

The master cultivates quickly, so his strength returns just as fast. If Yun Chuyou smoothly reaches the Soul Changing Stage, merges, and even ascends, then being a spirit pet would not embarrass the merfolk.

Of course, he has another important reason for wanting to stay: Yun Chuyou treats both people and her demon beasts very well, being generous and kind.

If the other person were a cultivator who abused demon beasts, even if it meant risking everything, he would find a way to escape from them.

Hu Xiao Bai glared fiercely at Blue Smoke and pledged loyalty to Yun Chuyou, "Merfolk can lie like you without blinking, turning one feeling into ten. No wonder so many boatmen get tricked. Master, I am your most loyal spirit pet."

Yun Chuyou found it a bit amusing, but in her heart, she knew Hu Xiao Bai was definitely more important than Blue Smoke. Besides, no matter how beautiful merfolk are, they cannot compare to her master Xie Fuzhi.

Another important reason is that Hu Xiao Bai has a fluffy, big tail, and being furry is certainly much better than the slimy scales of a merfolk.

It’s just that the two of them are different; one excels in physical attacks with fire, while the other specializes in mental attacks with water. The two spirit pets complement each other, so it’s hard to favor one over the other.

Yun Chuyou decided to avoid this topic directly, "If Junior Martial Brother Meng He didn’t mention it, I almost forgot this is only the second round of the competition; there should still be a third round."

When she didn’t want to answer Hu Xiao Bai, she naturally picked up on what Meng He said!

She felt a bit troubled and said, "But now there has been a little accident. I have come out of the Thousand Mile Landscape Map no longer at the Nascent Soul Stage, but at the Astral Projection Stage."

"That’s right, the master is now at the Astral Projection Stage!"

Hu Xiao Bai exclaimed, "Master, no wonder I have grown a sixth tail!"

From the Nascent Soul Stage to the Astral Projection Stage, that is a big leap in cultivation. Hu Xiao Bai, as a spirit pet, also benefited from this. At first, he only had five tails, but now he truly has six.

Fox spirit.

The fox spirit’s peach blossom eyes turned into starry eyes, "When my master ascends, I will definitely become the first nine-tailed of the Fox tribe!"

Yun Chuyou smiled, "How can ascension be so quick?"

Her training speed is so fast because she received a great opportunity from the Sword God Secret Realm. This opportunity connects the main characters from the beginning to the end of the story, and we do not encounter it again in the later chapters.

As for the other opportunity, there is only one phoenix in the world, and after gathering the essence for thirty thousand years, it is likely that it has absorbed all the heavenly pride’s essence, but it still can’t match the improvement gained from Xie Fuzhi.

Moreover, she is a proper person, not a female cultivator from the Hehuan Sect.

However, what surprised Yun Chuyou was that the cultivators represented by the Tianheng Sect did not let the nascent soul cultivators continue the competition as she expected, but instead brought the first place prize directly.

"Taoist Friend Yun is now at the Astral Projection Stage, so there is no need to compete; he should rightfully take this first place."

Even top talents like Song Mingzhu and Ye Xuanye could only fight against a cultivator one level higher, and battling against two levels higher was simply impossible.

As for the other nascent soul cultivators, many of them were immersed in demonic energy pools and could not participate in the competition normally for a while.

The plot shifted significantly once again; just as there are good shifts, there are also bad ones, and the war that should have erupted at the end happened earlier.