met free Chapter 234 Is this hellhole about to explode?
Chapter 234 Is this hellhole about to explode?
"In your current state, you can't even beat a late-stage Core Formation cultivator."
"If you want to argue, go somewhere far away."
He glanced at Jin Qiaoqiao, then at Yu Jianhuan.
"I don't care who throws a tantrum at this time; they can stay here and wait to die."
After saying that, he turned and walked east.
Yu Jianhuan and Jin Qiaoqiao both fell silent for a moment.
Then, almost at the same time, they took a step and followed.
Su Qingying was at the end, holding the Jade Spirit Sword horizontally in front of her, its emerald green sword energy as thin as a cicada's wing.
She glanced at Jin Qiaoqiao's back; the seven-colored patterns were faintly visible beneath her tattered clothes, and the aura of her demon bloodline was clearly discernible even though it was suppressed.
There was no hostility in her eyes, only calm scrutiny and assessment.
Then she looked away and silently followed the group.
The four of them quickly passed through the group of stone statues and headed east.
Mo Chengyue walked at the front, continuously scanning ahead with his divine sense, with Jin Qiaoqiao half a step behind him to the left.
This was a position she chose unconsciously, as if she had become accustomed to some old marching rhythm.
Upon seeing this formation, Yu Jianhuan accelerated directly from the right rear to Mo Chengyue's right side, forming a symmetrical pincer movement with Jin Qiaoqiao.
Su Qingying remained at the rear, her Azure Spirit Sword silently swirling with emerald green energy at her knees.
But her position changed from "three steps behind" to "two steps behind".
After walking for about a hundred feet, we left the group of stone statues and entered a low shrubland.
Mo Chengyue slowed his pace, took out three concealment talismans from his storage bag, and handed one to Jin Qiaoqiao.
"Place it on your dantian to shield yourself from spiritual energy fluctuations."
"The aura of your peacock bloodline is too obvious. If you don't conceal it, you'll be discovered by the spies of the Roc clan halfway there."
Jin Qiaoqiao took the concealment talisman, paused for a moment when her fingertips touched his fingers, and then quickly tore it open and stuck it to her dantian.
A flash of spiritual light appeared, and the aura of the great demon in the Transformation stage receded like a tide, completely turning into an ordinary stone under the scan of divine sense.
"You're certainly well-prepared."
Jin Qiaoqiao's voice regained some strength, carrying three parts mockery and seven parts emotion.
"We even have extra invisibility talismans."
"It's not redundant. It's reserved."
Mo Chengyue didn't even turn his head.
Jin Qiaoqiao paused for a moment.
Reserved.
Did he leave extra concealment runes before entering the core area?
Who was it reserved for?
She stared at the back of Mo Chengyue's head for several breaths with her phoenix eyes, her lips pressed into a line, but in the end she didn't ask anything.
Yu Jianhuan glanced at Jin Qiaoqiao's expression and her smile turned even colder.
The four continued eastward, and after passing a section of broken walls and ruins, they entered a relatively safe depression.
After confirming that there were no spiritual energy fluctuations around them, Mo Chengyue slowed down, allowing the group to recover their strength as they walked.
Jin Qiaoqiao pressed her right hand against the wound on her left arm. The medicine had begun to take effect, and the bleeding had stopped, but the wound would still need time to heal.
Mo Chengyue asked her, "What did you encounter in the core area? Tell me from the beginning."
Jin Qiaoqiao was silent for a moment, then her voice rang out, low and calm, as she recounted her experiences in the core area.
After separating from Mo Chengyue, she transformed into a seven-colored stream of light and rushed towards the core area, relying on the strength of a great demon in the transformation stage and the concealment techniques of the Peacock Clan.
They silently infiltrated an ancient cultivation cave on the edge of the core area and obtained some spiritual herbs and a fragmented scroll of demonic cultivation techniques.
However, when she left the cave, she was spotted by a sentry of the Roc clan—it wasn't a chance encounter, but rather someone had leaked her possible location beforehand.
Jin Qiaoqiao sneered: "Those surrender faction members in the clan are doing very well, as if they're afraid the Great Peng Clan won't be able to find me."
She secretly killed three experts from the Great Roc Clan—two at the peak of the Core Formation stage and one at the early stage of the Transformation stage.
The technique was clean and efficient, leaving no trace.
However, the fourth target was the young master of the Great Roc, and after killing him, the young master himself tracked down the traces of his demonic power.
Then came the relentless pursuit, from the edge of the core area all the way to the stone statue cluster.
When Yu Jianhuan heard Jin Qiaoqiao describe the process of assassinating the expert of the Dapeng Clan, a glint flashed in her phoenix eyes.
Decisive and ruthless—in some ways, he's the same kind of person as her.
This made her dislike Jin Qiaoqiao even more.
Su Qingying listened carefully from behind. When Jin Qiaoqiao mentioned "secrets leaked within the clan," she lightly tapped the spine of the Biling Sword with her finger—she remembered this information.
After the four people walked out of the depression, the terrain in front of them gradually opened up.
The sounds of spiritual energy clashing from the direction of the palace in the core area in the distance have clearly diminished; they haven't stopped, but rather the battle has shifted from a chaotic melee to a final showdown between a select few.
This means that the powerful figures have already determined the outcome of a phase of the battle; the losers will either die or escape, while the victors will soon sweep away the remaining forces.
Mo Chengyue quickened his pace.
"It will take another half a day to get out of the affected area of the core zone."
Jin Qiaoqiao followed beside him, and after a long silence, she suddenly spoke.
"Human brat."
Her tone was softer than before, but it still carried the unique reserve of the Peacock Princess.
"Regarding Young Master Dapeng..."
"You're welcome."
Mo Chengyue interrupted her, his tone as casual as if he were throwing away trash.
"He has a personal grudge against me."
"Killing him was for my own benefit, and I helped you incidentally; there was no favor involved."
Jin Qiaoqiao's phoenix eyes widened slightly for a moment.
She opened her mouth, but the words she wanted to say were swallowed back down.
Yu Jianhuan, who was standing nearby, rarely chimed in with a comment.
"My junior brother is telling the truth."
"That bastard almost killed me, so he has to die."
"It's none of your business."
When she said that, there was a sense of "don't flatter yourself" in her tone.
Jin Qiaoqiao turned her phoenix eyes to Yu Jianhuan.
She looked at Yu Jianhuan carefully for a long time.
From those upturned phoenix eyes to the beauty mark at the corner of her eye, from her rose-purple dress to the nail polished on her fingernails as she gripped the hilt of a sword.
Then the corners of her mouth curved slightly, a very small but extremely striking curve.
"A senior sister from the Hehuan Sect..."
Jin Qiaoqiao's voice was very soft.
"His cultivation level is at the peak of the early Core Formation stage, and he looks to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old."
"To be able to coordinate with a powerful demon in the Transformation stage without holding them back—"
"You are very strong."
Yu Jianhuan was surprised that Jin Qiaoqiao would praise her, and blinked her phoenix eyes.
Then came Jin Qiaoqiao's second half of the sentence.
"But you're also very jealous."
Yu Jianhuan: "..."
Su Qingying let out a very soft laugh from behind, which was covered by the sound of the Biling Sword being drawn.
The four continued on their way, the terrain alternating between low hills and shrubs making their field of vision sometimes wide and sometimes narrow.
Mo Chengyue maintained a ten-zhang range of divine sense scanning, his steps as steady as a pendulum.
The atmosphere between the three women behind him gradually cooled from a tense standoff to a delicate balance, each with their own thoughts.
As Jin Qiaoqiao walked, she gradually moved from behind Mo Chengyue's left to directly behind him.
Because she noticed that whenever she stood next to Mo Chengyue, Yu Jianhuan would move closer from the other side, as if marking off her territory.
She didn't want to argue with a Core Formation stage cultivator about this.
But she didn't want to fall behind Yu Jianhuan. So she chose the back—not on either side, but closest.
Yu Jianhuan noticed this change in position.
She glanced back at Jin Qiaoqiao with her almond-shaped eyes, then a meaningful smile appeared on her lips.
She suddenly reached out and grabbed Mo Chengyue's right arm, pressing her whole body against it.
Mo Chengyue paused in his steps.
"What are you doing?"