usatvline Chapter 226 No Successor
Chapter 226 No Successor
Some summoned the power of fire, condensing several fire snakes that lunged at the sand wolves, burning them and making them howl in agony; others used wind magic to whip up a sky full of yellow sand, engulfing the flying sand leeches and disorienting them before striking them one by one with the talismans; still others summoned earth spikes that burst from beneath the sand worms, piercing them before they could escape and fell silent after struggling for a few moments.
The Celestial Masters began a full-scale counterattack, and the desert monsters' offensive gradually weakened.
Under the constant bombardment of heavenly thunder, the sand demon was completely reduced to a pile of loose sand; most of the sand wolves were burned to death by the fire snakes, and the rest fled in panic; the flying sand leeches were hit by the double blow of wind and talismans and fell to the ground; the sand worms lay scattered on the ground, showing no signs of life.
The celestial masters automatically formed teams to hunt down the fleeing demons. Under the starlight, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and blood energy soared into the sky.
Ning Xiaoxi suddenly turned her head. Under the northern sky, blood energy began to gather and flow, slowly and imperceptibly. If it weren't for her greatly increased affinity with the elements these past two days, and her constant attention to the dynamics of spiritual energy, she wouldn't have easily noticed the movement there.
A dark red figure appeared, circling in all four directions, but found nothing. The elder standing in the middle of the camp looked very grim. He sensed the flow of blood energy, but as soon as he appeared, the flow of blood energy disappeared.
"Elder!" Two Heavenly Generals appeared behind the elder. They thought the elder was worried about the Celestial Masters, but now it seemed that wasn't the case!
The elder's expression softened slightly. "This batch of Celestial Masters is still a bit too inexperienced. If they enter the trial, the damage will likely be severe."
When the last monster fell, peace was finally restored around the camp.
The Celestial Masters looked at each other wearily, but their faces showed relieved smiles. They had annihilated all the attacking demonic beasts, and amidst the blood-red aura filling the sky, they began to cheer.
The elder's expression, which had just begun to improve, darkened again. He had overestimated these celestial masters; it would be good enough if they didn't all be wiped out in the trial. Thinking of this, he turned and left angrily, not wanting to see the celestial masters' nonsensical cheers any longer.
Seeing the elder's behavior, Ning Xiaoxi couldn't help but laugh out loud. He must also be very disappointed in these Celestial Masters. Relying on these people to fill the Celestial Master Pavilion is a worrying prospect!
"Sister Sui, how many Celestial Masters do you think will pass this trial?"
Sui Lanting also felt that it was somewhat disappointing. These celestial masters were all acting independently and had no tacit understanding with each other. They could only say that they knew how to use the correct spells when necessary. However, when spiritual energy was scarce, they used a lot of spells that consumed spiritual energy without considering the issue of replenishment.
Sui Lanting glanced at Su Yu, who smiled and turned away.
“Xiao Xi, I think we can hold off on moving forward and let them go first.” Sui Lanting pondered how to say it. “Trials are always going to result in injuries.”
Seeing that Sui Lanting didn't seem very confident, Ning Xiaoxi suddenly didn't want to participate in the trial anymore. What if she was the only one who went out? How would she explain it?
"Sister Sui, what will happen if I sign up but don't participate?"
Sui Lanting shook his head, "You must participate, otherwise you will lose your Celestial Master qualification."
Well, she can't lose her identity as a Taoist priest.
Back in the tent, lying on the small bed, Ning Xiaoxi lost all interest in cultivation.
[Tuanzi, it seems there's nothing to look forward to in the Western Trials.]
Did you have any expectations?
Through the gap in the tent flap, I looked at the barrier in the distance, shimmering with an otherworldly light under the night sky.
That's a breeding ground for venomous insects!
"Hmm!" Ning Xiaoxi quickly stepped out of the tent, and that faint trace of blood aura reappeared.
"Xiao Xi, what's wrong?" Sui Lanting sat in his seat and looked up at her.
The battlefield was still being cleared around them. The Taoist priests used various methods to bury the flesh and bones with a mix of wind and earth. The traces of blood essence were hidden in the wind and were constantly being sucked away.
Ning Xiaoxi took off running, and Sui Lanting called to the three people behind her, and they chased after her together.
The noise from the Taoist priests cleaning up the battlefield was too loud. Ning Xiaoxi moved through the wind, the earth, and the fire, smelling all sorts of strange odors, and soon left the battlefield area.
The stench of blood here is not as strong as it was on the battlefield, and the breeze makes it even more elusive.
Ning Xiaoxi's feet barely touched the ground as she sped westward with the increasingly cold wind.
Sui Lanting and the others watched as Ning Xiaoxi ran further and further away, and even after they mobilized all their spiritual power, they still lost her.
Ning Xiaoxi didn't wait for Sui Lanting and the others; if there was any danger, she couldn't take care of them all by herself.
The sand beneath my feet undulated, and the aura of blood seeped into a patch of quicksand. The movement of the sand was very obvious, and the aura of blood had already stained this patch of quicksand red, a faint red.
Her vital energy was slowly dwindling. Ning Xiaoxi stepped into the quicksand, her scales flashing as they blocked the surrounding sand from engulfing her. She smoothly descended with the current, and as she counted to eight, her footing gave way, and she fell to the ground.
The Spirit Crystal Heart nimbly transformed into wings, carrying Ning Xiaoxi as it circled downwards. It was a wide passage, and not yet the bottom. Ning Xiaoxi flew down the passage.
The cave passages meander and twist, like a sleeping dragon coiled underground. Thick sand, slid down from above, covers the passages, varying in thickness depending on the direction of the flow, revealing a mixture of rock and soil beneath. Some sections are wide enough for several people to walk side-by-side, while others are so narrow that one can only pass sideways.
As we flew deeper into the cave, the walls gradually became damp, likely due to the seepage of underground water. In some places, strange mosses grew, tenaciously surviving in the darkness, shimmering with a faint fluorescence—perfect for a ghost movie scene.
Then, Ning Xiaoxi flew out of the cave passage, below which was a damp cave. In the center of the cave was a clear underground pool, its surface as calm as a mirror, reflecting the scenery of the cave ceiling and walls, like a dream.
Ning Xiaoxi turned around and flew back.
【What's wrong?】
[Flew to the wrong place.]
What went wrong?
[It's so cold and far away, the smell of blood didn't even get in! I was too busy admiring the scenery.]
Halfway down, Ning Xiaoxi stopped. Something was wrong. It seemed that the blood energy only seeped into the quicksand and didn't go any further. Could it be that the quicksand was absorbing the blood energy?
They continued forward, but as they approached the hole where she had fallen, they slowed down again, gently approaching the sand that was still slowly flowing through the hole.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
This time, Ning Xiaoxi finally noticed something different: there seemed to be a heartbeat sound coming from the quicksand.
The Spirit Crystal Heart surrounded Ning Xiaoxi, transforming into a quicksand-like texture, and slowly carried her into the quicksand, as if she herself were a part of the quicksand.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
It wasn't a hallucination; I could really hear a heartbeat.