"Mortal World? No, no. The spiritual energy there is so thin as if it had been mixed with water. A visit there will make you shed a layer of skin!"
"It's worth it to shed a layer of skin! I've heard that Chu Xuan is leading the team himself, taking advantage of his aura, and coming back at least saves half a year of hard training!"
"Really or not? Then I have to sign up!"
Outside the Inner Gate Mission Hall, the disciples were so crowded and noisy that it was like a market. Chu Xuan stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, dressed in a white robe and gold, with a faint mark on his brow. Hearing the discussion, he laughed with sharp teeth and a sharp tongue: "It's not that the skin will fall off, but it's possible that the treasure will fall off - the divine herbs of the mortal world, first come, first served, no time to wait!"
The crowd erupted in an instant, and the registration form was snatched with a loud noise. Lin Hao pushed to the front, his voice louder than a loudspeaker: "Junior brother, oh no, Captain Chu! Reserve a spot for me. I'll carry the bag!"
Chu Xuan kicked him on the bottom with his foot: "You can carry the bag, but don't lose it."
In front of the task card, the deacon elder announced with a smile -
"Mortal World Training Team, Captain Chu Xuan, Deputy Captain Lin Hao, ten members, objective: Search for the thousand-year-old spirit herb 'Frost Flower', by the way... Well, Captain's personal visit to relatives."
There was a burst of laughter below. Chu Xuan was not embarrassed either, shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Visiting relatives is incidental. I mainly want to take my mother to taste the sugar-coated haws of the sect, authentic!"
Laughter, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a line of small characters at the end of the mission scroll -
[Intelligence: There has been a recent demonic activity in the northern part of the mortal world, suspected of searching for something. Be careful.]
The black fog pattern, like a venomous snake spitting out a letter. Chu Xuan gently stroked his fingertips, and a cold light flashed in his eyes: Magic cultivator? Dare to run wild in the mortal world, I won't turn you into magic balloons!
...
Warships break through the air, after a stick of incense, pass through the boundary wall, and the spirit is instantly thinned. Many of the disciples wrinkled their noses as if they had suddenly fallen into a greyish foggy city. Chu Xuan took a deep breath, and the earthy air filled his chest. He grinned, "Home!"
Mortal World, Qingzhou, Qingyang Town.
The battleship was hidden in the clouds, and the people, riding their weapons, flew low, looking down at the familiar yet strange fields. Chu Xuan pointed to the smoke from the chimney in the distance: "That is the smoke from my mother's pancake, is it fragrant?"
Lin Hao sniffed: "It seems... It really smells nice."
At the entrance of the village, the old locust tree was still there, but under it it was surrounded by people, all stretching their necks to look up at the sky. Chu Xuan folded up the red sky wheel, and the fire wheel shrank and hung behind him like a festive badge. He landed and raised a smile: "Mother, I'm back!"
The crowd fell silent for a moment, followed by an explosion --
"Chu kid? Wasn't he taken away by the gods?"
"Oh, really Xuanzi! Is the fire wheel behind him a magic treasure of the immortal?
Mother Chu squeezed out of the crowd, her apron still smeared with flour, and her eyes instantly reddened when she saw Chu Xuan: "You brat, you've been away for two years, are you willing to come back?"
Chu Xuan strode forward and hugged his mother, his voice choked: "Mother, I brought sugar-fried haws, extra-large size!"
Behind him, Lin Hao, with great insight, handed over the big gourd he had prepared earlier. It was bright red and shiny. Mother Chu stopped crying and smiled, patting her son on the back: "It's good to come back. I'll keep the sugar-coated haws and eat them slowly."
The onlookers were very enthusiastic and pulled Chu Xuan to ask all kinds of questions, from "What do immortals eat?" to "Can they fly and dive?" Chu Xuan answered patiently, occasionally pinching a spell, his fingertips condensing ice flowers and flames, drawing exclamations of amazement from the children.
In the midst of the commotion, Cunzheng rushed over, looking rather gloomy: "Xuanzi, you're back just in time! The northern mountain forest has not been peaceful recently, with black fog and strange laughter, and some hunters have gone missing..."
Chu Xuan glared, black fog? Laughter? Exactly the same as the description on the mission scroll! He said with a smile on his face, "Uncle Muramasa, don't worry. I'll go and have a look right now and make sure to turn 'laughter' into 'crying'."
The villagers burst into laughter, and the tension was dispelled. Mother Chu worriedly grabbed her son: "Be careful, don't show off."
"Mother, don't worry. I'm really good now. I won't be out of breath even if I hit ten." The young man grinned, revealing two little tiger teeth, like a young tiger just having its claws fully grown.
...
In the northern mountain forest, black fog swirled and cold winds blew. Chu Xuan led his team in, with the Red Sky wheel behind him burning brightly like a little sun, making a big hole in the darkness. Lin Hao drew his sword and muttered in a low voice, "This smell is more pungent than rotten eggs. How long has it been since a demon cultivator took a bath?"
Chu Xuan laughed and scolded, "Don't be poor, watch around." As soon as the words were spoken, the black mist rolled violently, and a scarlet talisman certificate emerged in the air, pounce like a venomous snake! With a flick of his finger, the young man's ice and fire spirit power turned into a long knife, and with a "whep", he cut the runes in two. From the black mist came a shrill roar of rage --
"Who dares to ruin my good deeds!"
Chu Xuan grinned, the tip of the knife pointed forward: "Your Grandpa Chu! Come out and die!"
The wheel of fire swirls, the blade of ice passes through the air, and the young man leads his team into the black fog, like a sharp knife piercing the enemy's heart!
...
In the depths of the black mist, a broken altar was faintly visible, on which a black jade box was placed, and the runes on the box moved like living creatures. Chu Xuan glared: The target of the mission, Frost Flower, is inside the box! Beside the altar, a black-robed figure turned slowly, revealing a pale face and a cold voice --
"Qingyun Sect? Oh, it's just right to offer your blood sacrifice."
Chu Xuan sneered, the flames of the Crimson Sky wheel shone brightly, as if responding to provocation: "Blood sacrifice? I'm afraid your teeth aren't tough enough!"
The wheels of fire roared like a little sun crashing straight into the altar. The figure in the black robe shook his sleeve, and the black mist condensed into a huge python, opening its mouth to swallow the crimson sky wheel. With a "boom", the fire waves and the black fog tore in the air, and ice crystals and sparks flew everywhere, making a big hole in the night sky.
Chu Xuan, on the tip of his foot, leaped up like a swallow, and slashed across his palm with a long sword of ice and fire: "Crack it!"
The blade light split the black python, its momentum undiminished, and it directly took the head of the black-robed man. He sneered, his fingers clenched, and the black jade box bounced open with a "bang", and a wisp of dark green mist shot out like an arrow, with a foul smell.
"Poisonous!" Lin Hao shouted loudly, slashed his sword to create a wave of air, and forced the poisonous mist back. The team members behind quickly formed an array, and the spiritual light curtain rose to keep the poison mist out.
Chu Xuan squinted his eyes and saw through the jade box - inside the box, a pure white spirit grass lay still, its petals frosted, which was the target of the mission: the thousand-year frosted flower! And beneath the leaf lay a scarlet talisman, with a sinister aura.
"Using flowers as bait, the seal is the killer move? Good means." The young man sneered, and the ice and fire spirit power in his palm suddenly gathered into a half-transparent large hand. "Alas, you met me."
The ice and fire hand crashed down, seized the jade box, and lifted all the flowers and talismans. The black-robed man's face changed abruptly. With his hands, he made a swift gesture, and the scarlet talisman "stung" spontaneously burned and turned into a blood-red fire snake, entwining around Chu Xuan's arm.
"Burn me?" The young man raised his eyebrows, and the Red Sky wheel descended from the sky. The edge of the fire wheel was sharp like a knife, and with a "swish" it cut the fire snake into two pieces. The ice and fire spirit power rolled up and swallowed the remaining fire completely.
The man in the black robe was counterattacked and spat out a mouthful of black blood, staggering. How could Chu Xuan give him a breath? With a flick of the ice and fire long sword, the tip of the sword pointed straight to the other's brow: "Who sent you here? Speak!"
The man in the black robe sneered, his teeth black: "Say it and you'll live? A demon cultivator does things without leaving any survivors!" Before he could finish his words, he bit his tongue and spat black blood on the altar. The broken altar "whoosh" up a thick black mist, like an abyss with its mouth wide open, to devour everyone.
"Back out!" Chu Xuan shouted loudly, and the flames of the Crimson Sky wheel grew so high that they turned into a fire curtain in front of everyone. The black mist crashed into the fire curtain, making a "hissing" corroding sound, sparks and black dust splashed everywhere, like a storm of ice and fire.
Lin Hao took the opportunity to raise his hand, and a flare shot up into the sky, glowing red in the night sky - a distress signal.
Seeing this, the black-robed man's face was even more hideous. He stepped on the altar with a sudden thrust, his figure turned into black smoke, and he was about to flee.
"Want to run?" Chu Xuan sneered, the mark of Dao Qi between his eyebrows flashed, and the shared vision opened instantly - he "saw" the trajectory of the black smoke fleeing, like a black lightning bolt, straight into the depths of the mountain forest.
"Chase!" The young man pointed his toe, and the fiery tail of the red sky wheel dragged, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, chasing closely. Lin Hao followed closely behind, the interweaving of ice and fire spirit power and blade light, tearing the night into cracks.
...
Black smoke fled fast, and Chu Xuan pursued even more fiercely. He made his way through the thick forest, crossed the mountain stream, and finally, before a cliff, the man in the black robe was forced to show himself, his face pale and obviously exhausted.
"Run again?" Chu Xuan landed, the Crimson Sky wheel hung above his head, and the firelight illuminated the cold profile of the young man. "Master of magic cultivation, short legs won't do."
The man in the black robe gritted his teeth and suddenly pulled out a black bone whistle and blew it hard to his mouth --
"Squeak --"
The shrill screeching echoed through the mountains and forests. Below the cliff, the black mist rolled, and three black-robed figures emerged again, their breaths above the fourth floor of the foundation!
"Hey, you're hiding a helper?" Chu Xuan raised his eyebrows, but there was no fear on his face. Instead, he grinned, "Just right, one pot."
He raised his hand slowly, the Red Sky wheel was burning brightly, and the ice and fire long sword was condensed in the palm of his hand, with the tip pointing straight ahead: "Chu Xuan, the captain of the third team of the Qingyun Sect, here - please go to your death!"
The fire wheel swirled and the ice blade flew across the air. The young man, each with a sword, faced the four demonic cultivators, but with an imposing presence, like a freshly drawn sharp sword, full of sharpness!
...
Below the cliff, black mist swirls, like a pot of boiling ink. The four cultivators spread out in a fan shape, their imposing momentum piling up, making the grass bow and the rocks tremble. Chu Xuan, as if he didn't see, turned his head and grinned at the team members coming from behind: "Brothers, the back is yours, the front is mine."
Lin Hao laughed and pointed his knife forward: "Captain, don't worry, none of you can escape!"
The flames illuminated the resolute profile of the young man, and he slowly exhaled a stale breath, ice and fire energy interwoven in his palm like two playing dragons, entwined around the blade -
"Come, let me see how many teeth a demon cultivator has!"