Chapter 235 - 229: I Was the One Fighting Back Then?
In the swamp, "Most Handsome Flame Wolf" saw the announcement and froze, nearly charring the crocodile he was fighting to a crisp.
"Damn! How are Eldest Brother and his team so fast?! We can almost see the entrance to the Divine Hall!"
In the Burning Valley, "Most Handsome Sacrificial Spirit Sword" also stopped in his tracks.
"Sigh... We could already see the outline of the Divine Hall. We were so close. If we’d been just a little faster, maybe that title would’ve been ours."
Similar discussions erupted among the other teams.
"That’s our Eldest Brother for you! He still managed to be the first to arrive!"
"Did they find some kind of shortcut? This is insane!"
"Damn it! I wanted that title, too! A direct five-point boost to Willpower and Dao Heart... that’s too good!"
Meanwhile, Lin Qingfeng, now deep beneath the Xiguang Divine Hall, looked at the new title on his character panel and nodded.
’I’ve got another limited-edition title!’
KEKKEKKEKKEKKE!!!
...
Stepping into the depths beneath the Xiguang Divine Hall, the group was instantly enveloped in darkness.
It was a magnificent underground palace, but all its light sources had been extinguished.
Lin Qingfeng scanned his surroundings, his brow furrowing.
"Another one of these pitch-black puzzle stages? What a pain."
He walked over to a wall by himself, extended a finger, and gathered Sword Qi at its tip before stabbing at the wall!
He wanted to see if he could use brute force to break through the wall and take a shortcut.
However, the Sword Qi struck the wall and vanished like a clay ox entering the sea, not even causing the slightest ripple.
[Game Tip: This area is protected by a special law and cannot be destroyed.]
"Tch."
Lin Qingfeng pursed his lips. Not giving up, he tried to use the Earth Escape Technique, but that failed as well.
Su Ling’er watched from behind, completely bewildered.
’Wait, what are you doing, Eldest Brother?’
’Poking and drilling at the wall... are you performing some kind of special worship ritual?’
’Or is there some peerless arch-demon sealed inside that you want to become sworn brothers with?’
Only after confirming that he couldn’t exploit any bugs through conventional means did Lin Qingfeng finally give up and start following the proper procedure.
"Everyone, spread out and search along the walls. Watch your step. Look for mechanisms or special items."
Soon, a disciple discovered a crystal on a pedestal in a corner.
"Eldest Brother, there’s a crystal here!"
Lin Qingfeng walked over, placed his hand on the crystal, and infused it with Spiritual Power.
BUZZ—
The crystal instantly lit up, emitting a soft glow that illuminated a small area around it.
In the light, they saw countless crystals hanging from the hall’s dome, apparently some kind of refraction mechanism.
Lin Qingfeng tried again to use a Magic spell to refract the light directly, but he failed once more.
"I get it."
Lin Qingfeng now understood.
"This is a light and shadow puzzle. We need to find more crystals, place them on specific pedestals, and then adjust the angles of these refraction mechanisms to guide the light to the main statue in the center of the hall."
However, the moment the light appeared, the surrounding darkness began to squirm.
"Shadowgazers" and "Voidwalkers" emerged from the darkness and launched an attack on the group.
"Tank, hold the aggro! Everyone else, protect the person holding the crystal and prioritize clearing out the monsters interfering with the mechanism!"
Lin Qingfeng’s commands were methodical and orderly.
The battle and the puzzle-solving began simultaneously.
Just then, Lin Qingfeng turned his gaze to Su Ling’er.
"Little Junior Sister," he began, "you’ve fought Core Formation Stage opponents several times now. Why don’t you give it a try this time, too?"
Hearing this, Su Ling’er nearly choked.
’Was that really *me* fighting before?!’
’Those two times... one time, you were controlling me the entire fight, and I was just a puppet on a string!’
’The other time, that Cursed Spirit used me as a punching bag! The only reason I just got knocked around was because it wasn’t fully conscious!’
’Can’t you get a clue about my actual skill level?!’
Lin Qingfeng saw her constipated expression, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn’t, then glanced at the monsters’ levels.
"They’re merely Early-stage Core Formation. You’re not even going to fight them?" he asked, shaking his head in mock disappointment.
’Although these mobs have three health bars and their mechanics are pretty annoying, they’re still just mobs. They’re perfect for Little Junior Sister to practice on.’
Then, he glanced disappointedly at Wang Xiedi, who was standing nearby.
’A Qi Refining Stage cultivator, and not even the Body Refining Style. He’s squishy with low health—he’d just be an appetizer if he went up there.’
Wang Xiedi caught that sigh as Lin Qingfeng looked over at him.
’What’s that supposed to mean?!’
’What do you mean by looking at me and then sighing?!’
’Are you saying I’m trash?! You think I’m useless?!’
’I... I know I’m trash, but you don’t have to be so blunt about it!’
’It’s so humiliating!’
Lin Qingfeng’s gaze swept over to Li Chunfeng.
Li Chunfeng just shook his head, indicating he couldn’t be of any help.
"Sigh."
Lin Qingfeng sighed again. He hadn’t expected this mortal to be able to do anything in the first place.
In the end, Su Ling’er steeled herself and stepped forward.
’Early-stage Core Formation...’ she thought.
’Eldest Brother is watching from the side. He should... probably... maybe... not let me die so easily, right?’
’Probably...’
She took a deep breath and charged toward a pouncing Voidwalker!
BANG—!
Unsurprisingly, she was sent flying by a single swipe of its claw.
But in the instant she was knocked away, an idea sparked in Su Ling’er’s mind, and the Sword Refining Skill began to circulate wildly within her!
Her Wooden Sword and the ancient sword began to melt and fuse with the surface of her body!
The abstruse inscriptions from the ancient sword appeared on Su Ling’er’s skin, which even began to emit a metallic sheen.
BANG!
The Voidwalker’s sharp claws struck her body again, but this time they produced a muffled thud!
Su Ling’er felt a massive force slam into her, sending her flying once more. But most of the excruciating pain she had expected was dissipated by the True Understanding of Ten Thousand Transformations Returning to the Origin.
She realized that although she was still being sent flying, it seemed... it didn’t hurt as much?
The attacks of an Early-stage Core Formation expert still hurt when they landed, but it was no longer the kind of overwhelming, irresistible force from before!
And so, she began to charge again and again.
Though she was knocked back time after time, she got up time after time, engaging the mobs in close-quarters combat!
Meanwhile, the disciples’ puzzle-solving had also reached a critical moment.
All the Xiguang crystals had been found and activated, and the light path was mostly complete. Only the final beam of light remained, which needed to cross the grand hall in the center of the temple.
They were just one step away!
Su Ling’er looked at the mechanisms and walls before her, her assessment of this secret realm rising to a new level.
Even someone with Eldest Brother’s level of Cultivation couldn’t so much as budge a single brick or tile here; he could only obediently follow the rules and solve the puzzle.
This [Guixi Secret Realm]... just what was its origin?
Just how powerful were the demons who created it?!