Chapter 61: Labyrinthine Realm

  Red clay small stove, mysterious iron small medicine pot, Lin Xiao bitterly squatting on the ground, carefully taking care of the two medicine pots on the stoves, carefully adjusting the soup medicine inside. One dose is Ding Shen Tang, one dose is Xiao Jin Gao. Ding Shen Tang specializes in treating various internal injuries and damage to the primordial spirit, while Xiao Jin Gao is specifically used to deal with various flying sword wounds, most skilled at removing residual sword energy from the body.

  The two doses of medicinal soup had been prepared at the time of Qiyuan Star, and when used, they still needed to be opened with fire to release their efficacy, and only then would they have an effect. Lin Xiao carefully tended to the flames, his face pale, his eyes drooping as if he could burst into tears at any moment. Qing Chu crouched beside Lin Xiao, tilting her head to gaze at his profile, her small face etched with worry. Her small hands fluttered, wanting to tug on Lin Xiao's sleeve and say something, but she didn't dare disturb him as he adjusted the flames.

  Qing's small face also scrunched up, she saw Lin Xiao was unhappy, and felt that a piece of sky in her heart had collapsed, she too became unhappy.

  In the largest hall of Biyun Xuan, two soft couches were placed on either side. Shen Xiaobai, with a face as pale as gold paper and bloodstains at the corners of his mouth, lay on one couch, while Ao Xue, with a transparent hole the size of a bowl in her right chest, from which blood flowed continuously, lay on the other. The two pairs of eyes stared at each other fiercely, their gazes seeming to shoot out countless swords and knives that clashed in mid-air, striking out invisible sparks. A solemn and murderous aura enveloped the entire pavilion, making the air inside seem to congeal into a large iron lump that suffocated people.

  Pffft, Ao Xue spat out a mouthful of blood. She struggled to lift her hand and wiped the bloodstain from the corner of her mouth, gazing at Shen Xiaobai with a cold smile: "Little girl's treasure isn't bad, what's the name of that flying sword?"

  Pffft. Shen Xiaobai almost simultaneously spat out a mouthful of blood. She rolled her eyes and coldly gazed at Ao Xue, saying in a chilly tone: "The sword's name is Tulong, my master Mingqing Shitai found it in the stone tower of a ruined Chan temple, where hundreds of yao dragon souls were entwined around it. The sword also had the Buddhist mantra of the Buddhist monks' generations added to it, which has great lethality against those scaly and armored beasts."

  A scaly and armored beast enraged Ao Xue. Ao Xue's eyes flashed, and she was about to punch Shen Xiaobai, but accidentally pulled on her wound, causing her to let out a groan of pain, and the fist that had just been raised slowly fell back down. In Shen Xiaobai's palm, he had already grasped a small golden flying dart, ready to be released, but seeing Ao Xue put down her fist, he slowly retracted it into his sleeve. Shen Xiaobai looked at Ao Xue with a cold smile and said: "Don't think that just because you're a transformed Blood Dragon, you can act recklessly. The Buddhist artifacts on my body have at least three items specifically designed to restrain you!"

  Ao Xue's face turned green with rage, but she couldn't say a word. She glared at Shen Xiao Bai with a ferocious gaze, as if she wanted to swallow him whole. As the Blood Dragon of the Dragon Clan, she possessed the strength of an immortal, yet was defeated by Shen Xiao Bai's Buddhist artifacts. Her body, as hard as gold steel, was pierced through by that strange dragon-shaped long sword, and the sword's aura, devoid of any Buddhist flavor, suppressed her entire being, causing her cultivation to drop from the Immortal level to the early stages of the Void Realm.

  "What are you proud of? That one punch. Was it enjoyable?" Ao Xue looked at Shen Xiao Bai with a very proud smile. He had suffered greatly, but Shen Xiao Bai hadn't gained the upper hand either. Although Shen Xiao Bai relied on the Sheli Luli Pagoda to protect his body and wasn't pierced by Ao Xue's fist, he still received an enormous shockwave, severely injuring his internal organs, even affecting his primordial spirit, causing his cultivation to temporarily drop to the level of a beginner. The two were evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand.

  Shen Xiaobai glared at Ao Xue with a fierce gaze, muttering in a low voice: "You wicked woman! Hmph, it's good that you know this Dragon-Slaying Sword is your nemesis. Next time, this sword will definitely not miss its mark." Shen Xiaobai gave Ao Xue's heart a menacing stare. Her small mouth pursed into a tight line as she thought to herself: "Next time, if you dare to threaten Lin big brother again, I'll break the rule that Master forbids me from taking lives. This sword will definitely pierce through your heart."

  Ao Xue was startled by Shen Xiao Bai's fierce gaze and instinctively covered her chest with her hand. A hint of murderous intent also emerged in her heart, and she narrowed her eyes to think: "This little girl has seven pieces of Buddhist treasures protecting her body, all of which are top-grade treasures. As long as I drive them with my mind, they won't consume too much cultivation to exert their power. With my immortal cultivation, it's extremely difficult to break through the protection of the seven treasures and kill her in one move. Maybe next time I should attack from behind?"

  Two women simultaneously thought of the cruel move, and a nearly substantial killing intent burst out from their bodies at the same time. The killing intent was like a knife, crazily surging towards each other, entwining and colliding in mid-air. A fine blue vein on the center of their eyebrows jumped up, almost releasing their primordial spirit to make that desperate strike due to each other's provocation.

  At this moment, Lin Xiao led Qingkuo in. As soon as they saw Lin Xiao, the two small women with a fierce and evil appearance simultaneously retracted their murderous intentions. Shen Xiaobai restored her innocent and lovely girl nature, laughing and calling out to Lin Xiao "Lin Gege". Ao Xue, on the other hand, put on an icy demeanor of a beautiful woman, not taking the initiative to greet Lin Xiao, but intentionally sticking out her right side of her body, exposing the ferocious wound in front of Lin Xiao. She even stirred up her true yuan to activate the flesh around the wound, and the strong recovery power of the Blood Dragon clan made the flesh around the wound churn with blood, countless flesh buds popping out wanting to repair the body, but were shaken by a strand of sword energy on the wound, causing the flesh to fly horizontally, the scene was as tragic as it could be.

  Lin Xiao fiercely glared at Ao Xue, then casually grabbed the Golden Ointment from Qing's hand and threw it at Ao Xue: "Apply it yourself. Three quarters of an hour later, the sword energy should dissipate. But the Buddhist True Power attached to the sword energy still needs you to force it out of your body. The Golden Ointment can only remove the sword energy, not eliminate the Buddhist Demon-Subduing True Power. You are a demon dragon in human form, currently being restrained by the Buddhist True Power, so deal with it yourself."

  Lin Xiao's words were harsh and cold, but Ao Xue happily accepted the medicinal paste, smiling brightly as she looked at Lin Xiao: "Did you specially make medicine for me?"

  Lin Xiao turned around and asked Shen Xiaobai about her well-being, inquiring about her experiences over the past few years. Shen Xiaobai sipped on the calming tea that Lin Xiao had personally handed to her, recounting her stories of the past few years while occasionally popping out from behind Lin Xiao's shoulder to make a silly face at Ao Xue.

  Her face turned pale with anger, she viciously grabbed the scalding red gold ointment from the medicine bowl and roughly applied it to her sword wound. A thread of crystal clear silver white sword energy slowly emerged from the wound, and the rapidly growing flesh quickly closed together, Ao Xue's injuries were rapidly recovering. Her fingers lightly stroked over her wound. Ao Xue muttered in a low voice: "My man, how could you be snatched away by these little monsters? He is mine, Ao Xue's, just mine. Hmph, it's just because I don't have a powerful treasure to rely on."

  With narrowed eyes, Ao Xue said in a low voice: "This is the Ruins of Heaven, it's very likely that there are remaining divine artifacts or treasures with a higher grade than divine artifacts left behind. Didn't Gu Weng and the others obtain the Town God Seal, those extraordinary treasures, here? As long as I can get a suitable treasure, with my cultivation, I can unleash the strongest power of the divine artifact. At that time, you little girl will still be food in my mouth! I must swallow you whole and savor you for three to five years before swallowing you down." Thinking of the cruel part, Ao Xue unconsciously stuck out her tongue and lightly licked her lips.

  Qing Yue saw Ao Xue's ferocious smile and was frightened, hastily shrinking to Lin Xiao's side, tightly embracing his arm. Ao Xue's face twitched slightly, the name on her list of people to devour had increased by one more person. However, she knew that devouring Qing Yue wasn't urgent for the time being, after all, she couldn't devour her in front of Lin Xiao.

  "Just you wait, there will be opportunities! " Ao Xue's true yuan was rapidly circulating in the meridians for thirty-six weeks. The remaining Buddhist door's true power at the wound site was forced out and turned into a few strands of colored light. Ao Xue coldly spat out a mouthful of coarse air towards those few strands of colored light, shattering that bit of Buddhist door's true power into powder.

  Lin Xiao sat on the soft couch where Shen Xiaobai was, with a smile on his face, listening to Shen Xiaobai's chatter about her experiences over the years. His heart was filled with serenity. He naturally stretched out his hand and gently stroked Shen Xiaobai's head. Shen Xiaobai blinked once and snuggled into Lin Xiao's arms, wrapping her hands around his waist, and let out a comfortable yawn. Everything was just like it was back in the days when they were in the military camp of the Overlord! Shen Xiaobai felt a warmth and sweetness swirling in her heart. She only wished that this moment could last forever, never to be interrupted.

  Aoyuki's face turned even paler. She jumped up in a rage and rushed out of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. From afar, she could be heard shouting loudly: "I'm going to find those old Taoists and see when we can set off again to explore this ancient ruin. That damned Xuan Luo is really annoying, every time he gets hurt and has to be sent back, it's just so infuriating!"

  In the outer pond of Biyun Xuan, Yaojing, who had just grown half a body, was angrily waving her fists and staring at the back of Ao Xue, who was running wildly away. She cursed in a low voice: "Evil woman, evil woman, one day you will be refined into a magic treasure by being drained of your tendons, peeled of your skin, sawed off your horns, and extracted of your bones! Evil woman, humph, evil woman!" Her gaze shifted, and Yaojing looked at the seven little spirits playing by the pond. She pitifully cried out: "Don't run away, bite me once, just once is fine, okay?"

  Time just passed by leisurely for three days. In these three days, everything was calm and peaceful, without a single thing happening.

  Ao Xue Cheng Tian was arguing with Gu Weng and the others, asking them when they would set off to continue exploring the ancient ruins. Gu Weng and the others were waiting for Xuan Luo Dao Ren to recover from being bitten by a three-headed snake, although Lin Xiao had managed to neutralize the poison in time, Xuan Luo Dao Ren was still severely injured and had to meditate and cultivate his internal energy for several days to recover.

  Shen Xiaobai was recovering from her internal injuries at a rate of one day, thousand miles under Lin Xiao's care. Her injuries were actually much more severe than Ao Xue's, after all, her yuan Shen had been shaken by Ao Xue's fist. Yuan Shen injury is the most troublesome in the cultivation world, and there are few methods to accelerate the recovery of yuan Shen. However, with Lin Xiao, the successor of the Great Luo Dan Jing, Shen Xiaobai's injuries recovered within three days. Moreover, perhaps because of their consistent hatred for Ao Xue, Shen Xiaobai, Qing Gun, and Yao Jing, the three little girls, quickly became inseparable, spending their days together, whispering to each other about who-knows-what.

  Lin Xiao was delighted to see Shen Xiaobai and the other two getting along well. In his heart, these three little girls were all his younger sisters, and he couldn't help but dote on them. He didn't want Shen Xiaobai and the others to have a relationship like they did with Ao Xue - tense and irreconcilable. The three little girls being able to become good friends made Lin Xiao feel very relieved.

  This time, Lin Xiao got up early in the morning and took a deep breath of the spiritual energy that was transformed from yin to yang at dawn. He stretched his body and was about to call Qingtuo to get him a bowl of clear porridge and a small dish when he suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound coming from outside the door. Along with the rumble, there were also gentle yet tenacious Buddha's power fluctuations as well as overbearing and sharp dragon's energy aura.

  "What are you doing?" Lin Xiao knew something was wrong, he hastily rushed out of Biyun Pavilion, jumped onto a big tree, and stared blankly at a small patch of flat land far away.

  Right next to him, the eighteen Vajra Guardians of the Buddhist gate, each three feet tall and shining with golden light all over their bodies, swung the giant demon-subduing pestles in their hands and smashed them down at Ao Xue who was surrounded in the center. Ao Xue, empty-handed and bare-fisted, faced these eighteen Vajra Guardians whose faces were blurry but clearly not human, yet showed no signs of weakness. He swung his fists and collided head-on with the eighteen giant demon-subduing pestles. The golden Buddhist power and the blood-colored dragon power clashed, producing a deafening roar that shook the sky. One by one, the Vajra Guardians were sent flying by Ao Xue's brute force, but they quickly jumped back into the fray, continuing to swing their demon-subduing pestles and smash down.

  Boom, boom, the frequency of Ao Xue's fist swings became faster and faster, and the speed at which the eighteen Vajra Guardians flew out also became faster and faster. However, the frequency at which they jumped back into the battle array became slower and slower. The golden light on their bodies gradually dimmed, and the golden glow on their demon-subduing pestles also gradually dissipated, revealing cracks one after another. Ao Xue excitedly let out a dragon's roar. With a surge of red light, she leapt into the air and swung her eighteen fists downwards with all her might. The eighteen Vajra Guardians let out a loud roar as their bodies were blown apart by the dragon's power, scattering into a rain of light that filled the sky. The rain of light spun rapidly in mid-air before condensing into eighteen golden Buddhist beads the size of thumbs, which flew towards Shen Xiaobai with a hissing sound, who was standing one hundred meters away.

  Shen Xiaobai raised his hand and put away the eighteen Buddhist beads, without even blinking, a golden gong flew out of his hand and hit Ao Xue.

  Just defeated the eighteen Vajra Guardians, Ao Xue was laughing triumphantly with her head thrown back, when the golden alms bowl flew to the top of her head. The golden alms bowl split open, and the two halves clashed violently in mid-air, producing a loud, ringing sound as petals of heavenly flowers scattered everywhere. Countless flying shadows flickered in and out of sight amidst the golden waves of sound. Six reincarnations of colorful illusions struggled and howled, while numerous divine beings, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Vajras, and other powerful deities revealed their forms within the golden waves of sound. Chanting true words in unison, billions of voices merged into a drowsy wave that rolled towards Ao Xue.

  Ao Xue was caught off guard and was hit by the golden gourd's strange attack. Unfortunately, she was originally a Blood Dragon who had spent tens of thousands of years cultivating in order to finally take shape, but everything she did was only based on her instincts, and her actual cultivation level was not very high. The golden gourd emitted illusions and hallucinations, immediately causing Ao Xue to become immersed in an endless state of great pleasure. She seemed to see the perfect world that she had always idealized in her mind, a world where she could live forever without worries or troubles. A foolish smile appeared on Ao Xue's face as she stretched out her hands and pounced towards the two golden gourds floating in mid-air.

  "Hmph! Great Heavenly Dragon, descend and slay!" The originally gentle and lovely Shen Xiaobai suddenly became extremely ruthless and ferocious upon seeing Ao Xue. Thirteen golden dragons burst forth, each sword beam striking towards Ao Xue's vital points. Her hand also released a red-colored Li Mang, its radiance like two intertwined rings that hovered above Ao Xue's head. The red light carried an aura of cruel and merciless intent, which was actually the Pu Du Huan created by Shen Xiaobai's master, Mie Qing Shitai, using secret techniques. Named Pu Du, it was actually a vicious instrument that destroyed a person's primordial spirit, making them forever unable to transcend.

  Thirteen golden lights approached, born from the instinct of the Blood Dragon. The intense sense of crisis forced Awu Xue to break free from that illusionary realm. Awu Xue suddenly opened her eyes, staring at the thirteen majestic golden lights rushing towards her in shock. She shouted loudly: "Little girl, do you really want to fight to the death?" Awu Xue also became urgent, she pinched a hand seal, and spat out a blood light from her mouth. In the blood light, there was a fist-sized crimson bead floating on the wave, releasing strong lights in all directions. Awu Xue shouted sternly: "If you really want to fight to the death, I'll abandon my thousand years of cultivation and self-destruct the Dragon Dan!"

  The Xian-class Blood Dragon self-destructed with a dragon dan, Ao Xue himself was severely injured, but there would be no survivors left on this small peak.

  However, Shen Xiaobai's thirteen strokes of the Great Wei Tianlong Sword were too urgent, and she was unwilling to withdraw her hand. Shen Xiaobai closed his eyes and let the golden light continue to shoot past him. Only, the direction of the golden light changed slightly, from stabbing towards Ao Xue's vital point to slashing towards a non-lethal part of her body.

  Ao Xue also saw the change in sword momentum, and she hesitated for a moment before swallowing the Long Dan into her abdomen. If she were to self-destruct with the Long Dan, she would lose thousands of years of cultivation, and Ao Xue really couldn't bear to part with it. It was better to endure some physical suffering and settle accounts with Shen Xiao Bai afterwards, rather than resorting to self-destruction. Today, she learned that Shen Xiao Bai had a Buddhist artifact that could attack the mind, so in the future, Ao Xue would definitely take precautions, and it wouldn't be easy for her to fall into his trap again.

  However, the thirteen golden lights did not pierce into Ao Xue's body.