Qingyun Sect, Main Peak Training Ground.
Just as the sun was rising and the mist had not yet dissipated, five hundred inner disciples had already formed their formation, their ice-blue "Tan" character on their chests shining in the morning light.
In the middle of the high platform, Chu Xuan leaned against the railing, his green robe half-open, with a foxtail grass in his mouth. His gaze lazily swept over the crowd, as if he were picking watermelons in a vegetable market - first observing the patterns, then taking a couple of photos and listening to the sound.
"Deputy Leader is so laid-back." Lin Hao came closer and lowered his voice, "There are two hundred more people this morning, saying they would rather pay the spirit stone to go with you to the Ten Thousand Demons Cave to see the scenery."
Chu Xuan spat out the grass stem and laughed and scolded, "To see the scenery? Let's talk about fate. "Go, list those whose spiritual roots are more fiery. The den of Ten Thousand Demons is cold and gloomy. Don't freeze into popsicles and hold them back."
"Get it!" Lin Hao scurried away.
On the other side, Ling Qingxue, dressed as white as snow, was looking down to check the list, and wherever her fingertips passed, ice crumbled down.
She looked up at Chu Xuan, "Five-man squad, the last three spots, will you choose or will I choose?"
"I'll choose." Chu Xuan stretched his body and gazed at the back of the crowd. "The spirit told me there was something wrong over there."
Ling Qingxue followed the line of sight - three disciples stood with their hands hanging down, the man in the middle had an ordinary face and a restrained air, seemingly honest and simple, but when Chu Xuan's gaze swept over, his eyelashes quivered imperceptibly.
"The one in the middle," Chu Xuan said in a low voice, "is called Zhou Mo, Earth Spirit Root, Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, the information is too clean, not even a record of stealing spirit fruit when he was three years old."
"Too clean is dirty." Ling Qingxue summed up inwardly. With a tap of her finger on the register, an ice flower mark immediately appeared beside Zhou Mo's name. "Eyeliner?"
"Nine times out of ten. Chu Xuan grinned, showing his white teeth, "keep it for now, let the long line catch the big fish."
...
The point is about to begin.
Chu Xuan paced off the stage, his blue robe slightly raised, his voice not high enough for the front row to hear clearly --
"First team, Vanguard group, I'll lead it myself."
"Second team, support team, Lin Hao in charge."
"Team 3, logistics team, Su Mei 'er in charge."
"Fourth team, Rescue Team. Elder Ling will be the grand finale." "
Every time he spoke, the crowd lit up with excitement.
Until the last sentence --
"Team Five, Covert Team, Zhou Mo, Zhao Xiaodao, Sun Qing, stand out!"
The three who were called forward quickly, Zhou Mo, in the middle, lowered his head and walked as lightly as a cat.
Chu Xuan patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "Brother, the undercover mission is heavy. Don't let me down."
Zhou Mo hurriedly bowed, his voice earnest: "Deputy Leader, rest assured, disciple will protect you to the death!"
"Death is not necessary." Chu Xuan moved closer and said in a volume that only the two of them could hear, "Live longer to see the good show."
Zhou Mo's pupils shrank slightly, and then he returned to a simple smile as if he had heard nothing.
...
The call was over and the crowd dispersed.
In the corner of the training ground, Zhou Mo, under the pretext of packing up his equipment, slipped alone to a secluded spot, looked around to make sure no one was around, and then pulled out a copper mirror the size of a fingernail from his bosom.
He made a gesture with his fingertips, creating ripples on the mirror, and a blurry figure emerged - a black robe with golden edges, and the cuffs were "ground four".
"The target has called on me to join the team and set off in three days." Zhou Mo lowered his voice, and there was not a shred of honesty in his tone. "As planned, create chaos at the entrance of the secret realm and take the opportunity to get rid of Chu Xuan."
A deep laugh came from the other side of the bronze mirror: "Very well, when it's done, the Broken Infant Pill and the spirit vein won't be missing you."
Greed flashed in Zhou Mo's eyes and he was about to speak again when he suddenly felt a chill in the back of his neck as if he were being stared at by some ferocious beast.
He turned his head sharply --
The empty mountains are filled with the chirping of birds, and there is nothing unusual.
In the darkness, Chu Xuan leaned against an ancient pine tree, his fingertips twisting a wisp of chaotic qi. At the other end of the qi thread, it was entangled in Zhou Mo's shadow.
"Indeed, I can't bear the loneliness." The young man chuckled, but there was no warmth in his eyes. "Want to get rid of me? Then let's see who gets rid of me first."
He retracted his air thread, turned away, his figure drawn long by the setting sun, like an undrawn sword, its edge dimmed, yet chilling.
...
In the middle of the night, the flying boat made a temporary stop.
Chu Xuan sat cross-legged in the quiet room, and the wisp of chaos in his palm vaporized into tiny talismans, quietly disappearing into the crack of Zhou Mo's door.
The talisman moved along the ground without a sound, sneaking into the other's bag and leaving a faint, imperceptible mark on a blank jade slip.
Having done all this, the young man opened his eyes, and a cold glint flashed in them.
"The game begins." He said softly, his voice spreading through the night wind, like the back of a knife brushing against a stone, cold and hard.
Outside the window, the waning moon, like a hook, shone on the icy blue shield of the flying boat, reflecting a faint, cold light.
In the distance, the mountain shadow lay down like a giant beast, quietly waiting for its prey to step into its trap.
The moon was waning in the west, and the deck of the flying boat was covered with a thin layer of frost.
Chu Xuan gathered the primordial energy, stretched his body, and his bones made a crisp "crack" as if to remind him that he too was freezing cold.
Just as he was about to return to the cabin, a faint sound of wine wafted from behind.
"Deputy leader, practice standing guard in the middle of the night?"
The voice was laughing but very low.
Chu Xuan turned back and saw Su Mei 'er leaning against the mast, carrying a purple jade pot in her hand. Steam was rising from the mouth of the pot, and the sweet and spicy aroma of the spirit wine mixed with the night wind blew straight into people's noses.
"Just warming up." " Chu Xuan rubbed his fingertips. "By the way, listen to the mouse digging a hole."
Su Mei 'er raised her hand, and the wine drew an arc and fell into the small cup between her fingers. "Well, listen together? By the way, warm it up."
Chu Xuan took it, gulped it down, and the fire spirit wine, like a scalding little snake, darted down his throat and into his dantian, instantly driving away the chill.
He spat out a mouthful of white mist and was about to speak when the primordial energy jumped abruptly - Zhou Mo's door moved.
"Here he comes." The young man narrowed his eyes, tapped his finger lightly on the railing, and a wisp of invisible air crept past the crack of the deck.
...
Zhou Mo slipped out of the cabin like a thief, his cloak wrapped up tightly, leaving only a slit at the cuff, revealing half of the bronze mirror.
He turned left and right, avoiding the night watchman, and slipped into the storage room at the tail of the flying boat.
As soon as the door was closed, a faint mirror light immediately appeared in the darkness.
"Ground four, the target has set out, three days later at midnight, gather in Blood Raven Valley."
On the other side of the bronze mirror came a deep voice, "Remember, create chaos, take advantage of the chaos to get rid of Chu Xuan, throw the corpse into the eye of the Ten Thousand Demons, once and for all."
A fierce look flashed in Zhou Mo's eyes, and just as he was about to answer, he suddenly felt a chill down his feet, as if a cold little snake were climbing up his ankle.
He lowered his head and saw that a wisp of greyish-white mist was quietly enveloping his shadow in the crevices of the deck - chaos!
"Not good!" He stomped his foot hard, his spirit burst, trying to shatter the mist.
But the mist, like a bone-attached abscess, slid down the meridians into the sea of consciousness, cold all the way, peeping all the way.
The light of the mirror went out in an instant, and the bronze mirror clanged to the ground.
Zhou Mo's face turned pale and he was about to rush out of the door when he heard a "bang" as the door of the storage room was kicked open, and the moonlight streamed in, reflecting the tall figure of the young man.
"Senior Brother Zhou, staying up late at night to practice your voice?" " Chu Xuan leaned against the doorframe with a smile on his lips, but his eyes were as cold as ice chips.
Zhou Mo forced his composure, "Deputy leader, I... I just came out to get some fresh air."
"Fresh air?" Chu Xuan raised his hand, his fingertip curled, and that wisp of chaotic air "whoosh" flew back, condensing into a small grayish-white ball in his palm, the center of the ball clearly reflected the image of Zhou Mo's voice transmission just now --
"Get rid of Chu Xuan, and throw the corpse into the evil eye..."
The sound echoed in the cramped storage room, like a slap, hitting Zhou Mo's face one after another.
His pupils constricted and suddenly bulged, a flash of cold light flashed in his sleeve, and a short blade as thin as cowhairs pierced Chu Xuan's throat!
"Look for death!" Chu Xuan sneered, with two fingers together and a gentle pinch --
With a "ding", the short blade was split into two pieces, and the broken blade turned into iron filings between his fingers, rustling down.
Zhou Mo was horrified and turned to break through the window to escape, but his feet sank and he was firmly frozen in place by a thin layer of ice!
Ling Qingxue's voice came from outside the door, a faint sentence: "Catch him in the act and still want to run away?"
Su Meier followed, purple fire dancing on her fingertips, making the storage room flicker, "Oh, the 'Eroy spirit liquid' on this short blade? It's a standard part of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion."
Zhou Mo's face turned deathly grey, knowing that his sophitis would be of no use, suddenly sneered, his spiritual energy reversed, and he was about to explode!
"Sure." Chu Xuan spoke, and the chaos vaporized into chains, instantly entwining the other's dantian and forcefully suppressing the spirit energy of the rebellion.
Zhou Mo gave a muffled groan, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, and collapsed to the ground.
Chu Xuan crouched down and patted him on the cheek in a low, cold voice: "Want to die? Easy. But you have to spit out everything you know first."
He raised his hand, and a wisp of ice-blue flame danced on his fingertip - it was Ling Qingxue's "Cold Spirit Flame", which burned the soul and was extremely painful but not fatal.
The flames drew close to Zhou Mo's brow. He trembled violently at once, his eyes filled with terror.
"I say... I'll say it all!"
...
After half a stick of incense, Chu Xuan walked out of the storage room with an extra black jade slip in his hand, which recorded the entire list of hidden lines of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion in the exploration team, as well as the details of the Blood Raven Valley ambush.
He raised his eyes and looked into the dark night ahead of the flying boat, his eyes flashing with cold light.
"Want to play the mole game?" The boy chuckled softly, but his voice was like a blade brushing across the ice. "Let's see who gets killed first."
He raised his hand, and the jade slips turned to dust in his palm, scattering with the wind.
Behind him, Zhou Mo was tied into a zongzi with purple fire ropes, his mouth tightly blocked, like a dead dog being dragged into the bottom of the cargo hold.
Ling Qingxue stood at the bow of the boat, her sleeves fluttering, and her voice carried by the wind: "The list is confirmed, to catch it all in one net?"
Chu Xuan stretched his body and smiled freely, "No rush, cat and mouse, play slowly."
He turned his back to the night and walked towards the brightly lit cabin, his back as sharp as a sword.
In the distance, the waning moon finally sank to the top of the mountain, the deepest part of the night, like a huge opening, quietly opened.