Chapter 64: Private Journey

  "Why can't I eat them?" Yaojing suddenly let out a mournful sigh, her voice filled with resentment and anger, like the sigh of a palace maid in a haunted mansion. The sound startled Qingtuo, who was crouched on the corridor drinking porridge, and he almost fell to the ground. Qingtuo glared at Yaojing with some reproach, but she didn't notice his warning gaze and continued to sigh mournfully: "Why is it that just because I want to catch one of them and hold it close to me, heaven and earth come crashing down on me?"

  Slowly finishing off the last bit of medicinal porridge in his bowl, Qing Yun raised his head to gaze at the sky and couldn't help but think back to three days ago.

  Three days ago, Yaojing had just recovered her true body, and Guweng and others were not on the small peak. Yaojing's instincts immediately overwhelmed the little spiritual wisdom she had just given birth to, like a hungry wolf, chasing after the seven spirit medicine transformed children who ran wildly around the ground. Just as she was about to catch one of the children, Yaojing, with her mouth open wide, began to fantasize about the pleasure of swallowing that mouthful of blood and flesh filled with spiritual energy into her belly. At this moment, a certain restriction on the small peak suddenly activated, and a thunderbolt as thick as a fist fell from the sky, blasting Yaojing until she was charred all over, and then she was thrown into the pond by Qingtuo and soaked for three days before recovering her ability to speak and move. That restriction, however, was specifically used to protect these seven children!

  So, Yao Jing greedily stared at the seven children, wishing she could swallow them in one gulp, but she only dared to fantasize about it in her heart and didn't dare to act rashly again.

  "How boring! Why is it like this?" Yaojing flipped over and lay on her back by the pond, staring blankly at the three suns in the sky, the white clouds, and the distant mountains floating near and far. "It's so uninteresting! Lin Gege isn't here, no one to play with me... that fierce woman and Xiao Bai aren't here either, no one to fight for me to watch... everyone is gone. It's completely meaningless! Qingtuo, do you think Lin Gege is doing something now? Will he be struck by lightning like me and turn all black?"

  "Huh?" Qing Yue's hand relaxed, and the blue ceramic bowl shattered on the ground. The fragments scattered everywhere, but Qing Yue seemed to have not noticed at all. She stood up blankly, gazing in the direction where Lin Xiao and the others had flown away. Suddenly, tears began to fall from her eyes, rolling down her small face, and dropping onto the ground, shattering like powder.

  Yao Jing saw Qing Chu crying. She was suddenly frightened and jumped up in a flurry, rushing to Qing Chu's side and carefully wiping away her tears with her fingers. As each tear fell, Yao Jing gently wiped it away with her fingertips. In a soft and gentle voice, she comforted: "Qing Chu, don't be sad, how could Lin Ge possibly be struck by lightning? He's not me, if he were struck by lightning, he would probably be electrocuted to death in an instant! So he won't be struck by lightning! He's not me, how could he possibly be struck?"

  Qing Yue stared blankly at Yao Jing, her tears welling up more and more. Yao Jing's words of comfort only made her worry even more. Yes, Lin Xiao was not Yao Jing, and this little monster didn't know how to deal with him, it seemed like he couldn't be killed no matter what, but Lin Xiao was not Yao Jing, and a single bolt of lightning could turn Lin Xiao into fragments! "Waaah!" Qing Yue suddenly hugged Yao Jing and burst out crying loudly. Her tears quickly soaked Yao Jing's shoulder. Yao Jing was frightened stiff. The seven children who were cultivating their energy also froze in fear, stopping the operation of their array. They rushed to Qing Yue's side and gently patted her body with their small hands.

  Yao Lian lowered her head, gazing at the seven little children with an extremely mysterious and sinister gaze. The seven little children were startled, hastily retreating behind Qing Le's back, then poking their heads out to stick out their tongues and make faces at Yao Lian. Three of the children even ferociously pulled out a three-inch-long flying sword that shone brightly, making threatening gestures towards Yao Lian, as if warning her that if she dared to lay hands on them again, they would not hesitate to resist.

  She wiped away her tears and gazed in the direction Lin Xiao and the others had left, saying in a low voice: "I'm going to find Brother Lin and the others!"

  "Huh?" Yao Jing stared blankly at Qing Luo, and after a long while, she suddenly slapped her forehead and exclaimed in shock: "What did you say? You want to go find them? Haven't you heard? This place is extremely dangerous! I'm not afraid of death, but what about you? Even if I were chopped into pieces, I could still live, but what about you?" Yao Jing shook her head repeatedly and backed away, saying: "I won't accompany you to find Lin Gege! They told us to stay here and guard the place well, and not to go out! I won't go with you!"

  Qing Yun didn't even glance at Yao Jing. She resolutely wiped away the tears on her face, turned around and walked into Biyun Xuan, starting to pack everything she might need. A large amount of food and water, some spare clothes, a batch of medicinal pellets left by Lin Xiao for her and Yao Jing, flying swords, magical artifacts, various attack and defense talismans, as well as all sorts of miscellaneous items that might come in handy.

  Yao Jing was stunned for a moment, then tilted her head and muttered: "You're not afraid, what am I afraid of?"

  Yao Jing also rushed into Biyun Xuan, starting to search for everything she liked. The seven little boys cheered and followed Qingchu's side, busily handing over things they thought were useful to Qingchu and Yaojing. With the large capacity of the storage ring given by Yuanzong, Qingchu and Yaojing accepted everything without exception. In the end, they even took several beds from Biyun Xuan with them.

  After a whole incense stick, Qingchu and Yaoyue carefully descended the small peak with the help of a long rope, leaving behind the safe haven protected by countless seals. They arrived at the vast and perilous land of Yuanyou, where seven small black shadows followed them out, brandishing tiny flying swords and magical artifacts. The seven children's eyes sparkled with mischievous intent as they eagerly called out to join Qingchu and Yaoyue on their quest to find Lin Xiao.

  Their abacus was calculated very accurately: if they were discovered by Gu Weng and others to have privately left Xiaofeng, they could push all the responsibility onto that hateful little green-haired girl's body, saying it was Yaojing who forced them to leave Xiaofeng! This way, not only could they avoid their own guilt, but also severely punish this hateful little monster who wanted to eat them up - truly a win-win situation! The thoughts churning in these seven little guys' hearts weren't very kind-hearted!

  One person and eight nature spirits set foot on the vast land, starting their seemingly purposeful yet aimless search. They followed Lin Xiao's group in the direction of the distant horizon, heading towards the endless snowy mountains. They traversed grasslands, crossed rivers, and walked through desolate forests devoid of any wild beasts, after a journey of over five months. Without encountering any risks along the way, they arrived at the edge of a vast ocean. The snowy mountain they sought was on the other side of the sea, but they lacked the ability to cross it! They didn't possess the magical power to fly thousands of miles through the air, nor did they have any tools for crossing the sea.

  Looking out at the vast and rolling sea, Qingchu was stunned, her tears falling again. The seven children who had been so excited also stared blankly, squatting in a row on the beach. They gazed stupidly at the sea, sighing intermittently. Only Yaojing stood solemnly beside Qingchu, her face filled with an odd smile. She looked gleefully at Qingchu's sorrowful heart and the seven children's worried faces, then suddenly burst out laughing: "Actually, I have a way to cross this vast sea, what can be difficult for me, Yaojing?"

  "What's the solution?" Qing Yue's tears immediately stopped, and a bright smile appeared on her face. She quickly turned around to look at Yao Jing, grabbed her shoulder with one hand, and shook her body violently: "Xiao Qing, speak up! What's your plan? Tell me quickly! Hurry up, you hurry!"

  With a pleased expression, she narrowed her eyes, and her eyebrows rose to the sky. She let the green bamboo sway her body, making satisfied humming noises with her mouth, but refused to speak.

  How could Qing Yue not know the true nature of Yao Jing? Even when she was feeling sad and sorrowful in her heart, she still saw that Yao Jing's eyes were constantly glancing at those seven spiritual medicine transformed children. Qing Yue rolled her eyes, let out a soft sigh, slowly loosened her grip, and patted Yao Jing's head with force, saying in a deep voice: "Little Qing, even if we don't cross this vast ocean to find Lin Gege, I won't let you act rashly. Let's go back, return to Biyun Xuan and wait for Lin Gege and the others to come back. Lin Gege has Ao Xue Jiejie and Xiao Bai Jiejie by his side, they won't let Lin Gege get into trouble."

  She jumped up, shouting loudly: "It's because of that wicked woman Ao Xue by Lin Ge's side that we have to rush! What do you mean, Qing Yu? I just want those seven little guys to give me a mouthful of their pure blood each, so I can increase my cultivation a bit! How can I get you all across this vast ocean without any cultivation?"

  Qing Yue quietly gazed at Yao Jing, only shaking his head repeatedly. However, the seven little kids' eyes lit up, and they jumped up in unison, shouting: "Is what you said true? Can you really take us across this vast ocean? That's great! Let's give you a bite!" Without hesitation, before Qing Yue could stop them, they each made a cut on their wrist, and streams of blood, either pale or faintly blue, spurted out. Each person's wrist sprayed out just the right amount, about a mouthful, which shot straight towards Yao Jing.

  "Haha, it's all here without any effort!" Yaojing laughed triumphantly and swallowed the seven pellets of refined blood in one gulp. She immediately sat down cross-legged on the ground, closed her eyes, and began to absorb the vast spiritual energy within them. The seven spirit medicines had taken shape as children, with a long history and rich experience, although their individual cultivation levels were not high and their magical powers were weak. However, the spiritual energy stored in their bodies was astonishingly vast. Yaojing slowly refined the seven pellets of refined blood, and strand after strand of condensed spiritual energy, like liquid silver, rapidly flowed through her body. Yaojing's tender face matured slightly, and her body grew taller by about a finger's thickness. A faint grass-green aura with a hint of aquatic scent slowly emanated from her body. Her temperament became much more ethereal, the demonic aura on her body weakened, and instead, she gained a hint of the aroma of a human cultivator!

  "Whoosh!" Yao Jing spat out a mouthful of fragrance, and with a refreshed spirit, she jumped up from the ground. She slightly moved her body. Suddenly, a burst of crackling sounds came from inside her body. With a long, mournful cry to the sky, Yao Jing's body transformed into a huge, round, rolling ball of green moss over a hundred feet in diameter, flying high into the air. Countless fine, green tendrils drilled out of her body, like an octopus's tentacles, waving and floating about in the empty space.

  The night sky of the meteorite is also bright, with stars all over the sky emitting a bright silver light, illuminating the world. The meteorite seems to have no wind and rain changes, and there will be no dark clouds covering the starlight.

  Jade's body rose into the sky, with tens of thousands of extremely fine green silk threads extending from all over her body. The green silk threads moved rapidly, creating a faint humming sound in the air. The starlight in the sky condensed into a sparkling rain, like fireflies on a summer night, flying over in clusters. The starlight entered the green silk threads, and it could be vaguely seen that the starlight was gathering inside Jade's body, forming streams of silver light. The streams converged into a mighty river, which surged and churned inside Jade's body, transforming her green body into a large silver star.

  Seven children gave their spiritual energy and starlight to Yaojing, which merged into a pure and powerful demon force flowing within her body. The cyan-purple demon force with a hint of silver glow churned inside Yaojing, making it look exceptionally beautiful. Yaojing's body gradually expanded, the largest ball made of green moss expanding to about three hundred feet in diameter before slowly shrinking, continuously compressing the purple light flow inside, and compressing it further into her core.

  A sharp creaking sound echoed through the air. The dark purple, silver-speckled aura within Yaojing had been compressed to its limits. Yaojing let out a shrill cry. She bellowed in extreme frustration: "Just add a bit more strength! Just a bit more and it'll be enough... How can forming a demon core be so difficult?!"

  "Hey?" The seven little kids looked at each other. They scratched their heads, exchanged a quick glance, and suddenly jumped up high, forming strange hand seals with both hands, and simultaneously pushed out a palm towards Yaojing. Seven beams of energy shot out from their palms, accurately hitting Yaojing's body. Yaojing was rapidly trembling, her body on the verge of exploding outward, but it suddenly shuddered, as the seven beams of energy exerted an extremely strong pressure, forcing Yaojing's body to contract inward violently.

  Jade's body shrunk to the size of a fist, and the compressed demonic energy inside her let out a deafening explosion. Countless tiny light dots shot out from Jade's body, leaving only a sesame-sized point of extremely piercing pure light within her semi-transparent body. Jade's body rapidly spun in mid-air as she let out a triumphant laugh: "Demonic core, I've finally condensed it! I, Jade, am now a great demon, no longer just a little demon!"

  A massive, nearly thousand-zhang-diameter sphere of cyan moss fell from the sky and landed heavily on the surface of the sea, creating a gigantic wave that splashed over Qingchu and the seven little ones. A huge head emerged from the sphere of cyan moss, and Yaojing called out proudly: "Come on, let's cross the sea! Cross the sea!" After shouting these words, Yaojing's head suddenly withdrew, and it wasn't until much later that she sighed faintly: "Just now, you all used your life force to help me condense my demon core. I'm sure you've also expended a lot of cultivation energy. From now on, I won't eat you!"

  The green-haired girl smiled! The seven children also smiled! They looked at each other and jumped onto Yaojing's body.

  The thick moss was soft and comfortable, the huge body floated on the surface of the sea, extremely stable, giving people a warm sense of security. A few curious children jumped up and down on Yaojing's body, excitedly chasing and playing on the thousand-meter-wide green moss. Qingchu, on the other hand, sat quietly with his knees crossed, staring blankly at the distant snow-capped mountains.

  Jade ornaments lightly moved, countless green moss formed long feet quickly swam underwater, driving her huge body extremely fast forward.

  Having left the coast for about ten miles, a series of gloating muffled laughs suddenly came from inside Yao Jing's huge body: "From now on, I won't have to chase you guys to eat you. There are too many ways to make you voluntarily offer your essence blood to me. Uh, I'm so stupid, why did I say that?"

  Qing Yun almost fell on top of Yao Jing, and the seven children were also stunned. They looked at each other in annoyance and stomped their feet on Yao Jing's body.