Li Chuxue had a clear understanding of the situation. The more dangerous the matter was, the more effective a test it would be for her juniors. As for their safety, she was not worried at all since there were others in charge of that instead of her.
When people like Beishan Mo and Nangong Wei traveled far, they would not be in any mortal danger from the moment they stepped out of Shushan.
It was highly likely that the Seven Immortals of Shushan had set up some defenses on their bodies. Furthermore, there were definitely top-notch experts protecting them in secret as they traveled.
As such, Li Chuxue only had to be responsible for leading them in battle, practical training, and strategizing.
Therefore, she immediately sprung to action. After surveying the surroundings, she said, "Everyone, Yin Yang Mountain is too big, and there are many entrances to this ore vein as well. Now that we are here, we naturally have to protect the valuables that belong to our Shushan Immortal Sect and our fellow Shushan disciples. Now that the location of the blue jade mines may have been leaked, we need to split up in order to fortify it. We have to rein in the entire Yin Yang Mountain into the purview of our domain."
"That"s right. Even if the demons attack, we can"t allow them so much as a single step," Beishan Mo decisively replied.
It was indeed true that if the demons attacked, it would be unwise to turtle in the surrounding area. The more appropriate move would be to extend the battlefront in order to detect the enemies" movements earlier. This would allow them to protect the entire Yin Yang Mountain. If they did not do so, the demons did not even need to attack them. They could just dig their own tunnels in the Yin Yang Mountain and start to mine blue jade mines of their own.
"Listen to the following plans I"m about to make. We need to spread out in order to surround the entire Yin Yang Mountain. At the same time, we still need to maintain a line of communication with one another. The moment we come across a demon, we need to be able to swiftly a.s.sist each other. We also need to be able to contact each other with core-tail talismans."
Li Chuxue took out a map of Yin Yang Mountain. She coughed a few times and marked out several spots on the map. They were all roughly in the vicinity of the entrances to the ore vein and were able to cover the entire Yin Yang Mountain. At the same time, the s.p.a.ce between each of these spots was not that far either.
"All of you spread out to these positions. I"ll be stationed in the very center in order to offer my aid as and when you need it. I"ll guard the grand blue jade ore as well."
Her position was close to everyone else. Once an enemy approached, she would definitely be able to respond the quickest and head in any direction to provide support.
Soon after, Li Chuxue a.s.signed everyone to their respective positions. Wu Yu noticed that there was an extra position marked out. Apparently he had been included in the plans for this mission as well.
"Wu Yu, you"ll be here." Li Chuxue pointed out a position that was on the south side of Yin Yang Mountain. This was slightly further away from the rest, and was also the spot that was the furthest from the Endless Demon Seas. It was probably the safest spot.
The fact was that Nangong Wei and Beishan Mo"s positions were both at the most northernmost points. These positions had the highest chance of contact with the Endless Demon Seas. An even more important thing was that these positions were very close to each other, so they were well-suited to offer support to each other.
Nangong Wei had an unhappy expression on her face as she said, "Why did you arrange a position for him as well? He"s only tagging along with me and isn"t taking part in this mission. You"re not going to give him any merits either, so I don"t think it"s justified for him to put in any effort to help us."
Li Chuxue did not dare to b.u.t.t heads with Nangong Wei, so she meekly replied, "Don"t worry, I"ve already informed the Achievement Hall about this. If Wu Yu completes this mission well, he"ll get 30,000 merits. He can"t just tag along and do nothing. This isn"t in accordance with the rules of Shushan."
This was treatment that Nangong Wei could barely accept. She replied, "a.s.sign me to a spot that"s close to Big Brother."
Li Chuxue was in a bind.
Beishan Mo was feeling uneasy as he said, "Big Sister Nangong, the positions close to the north are of great importance. It"s really likely that we"ll come across demons there. If you let him go there, it"ll be of no good to him, and if he doesn"t perform up to expectations, he"ll implicate the rest of us in this mission as well."
Truth be told, the slight difference in distance did not matter that much. If nothing else, Li Chuxue just wanted to provide more opportunities for Beishan Mo and Nangong Wei to interact with one another. Wu Yu felt that these small gimmicks were utter nonsense, so he waved his hands and said, "Wei Er, don"t worry. The south side is safer for me. If there"s any issue, we can just communicate with core-tail talismans. I"ll be there in no time."
He was instead dissatisfied about the danger that Nangong Wei was being put in. She was a partner of his that he wanted to protect the most after all.
"Mm." Only then did Nangong Wei not continue to argue.
"Hurry to your positions and exchange core-tail talismans with one another."
Under Li Chuxue"s arrangements, the group exchanged core-tail talismans with one another in order to ensure that everyone was able to contact each other. However, Wu Yu noticed one small detail. As he received his tail talismans, he realized that besides Li Chuxue and Nangong Wei, the others had broken the talismans he gave them. It was obvious that the rest did not want to receive any news from Wu Yu. The fact that they were so brazen in their actions made Wu Yu totally understand that other than Nangong Wei, everyone else harbored feelings of hostility against him.
In fact, if Nangong Wei did not treat him so well, they would not behave in such a way either. They were all from the same social circle, whereas Wu Yu originated from some unknown and rural locale. This was why they looked down on him and were unwilling to a.s.sociate with him in any way.
Over here, Beishan Mo had the highest authority, yet he was under Nangong Wei"s control. At the same time, Nangong Wei would surely be influenced by Wu Yu to some extent. How could Li Chuxue and the rest, especially Mu Lingche, accept this in their hearts?
After breaking Wu Yu"s tail talismans, the others quickly left. Wu Yu guessed that if there was any news whatsoever, they would not inform him about it either.
"Wait and see." He felt unhappy about this as well.
"Big Brother, don"t bother with them," Nangong Wei said.
After exchanging some short words with each other, they both headed off in different directions. Wu Yu crossed a few mountains and came to the location with the lushest of greenery on the south side of the Yin Yang Mountain. In the vicinity was a mine that led to the vein of ore, but it was quite small. Inside it were six or seven Shushan disciples who were mining. Wu Yu"s task was to protect them and guard this mine.
"There will basically be no demons coming from the south. Li Chuxue does not want to give me a single chance to get some practical training." Wu Yu coldly laughed. He had been discriminated against for a few days now, so he was feeling quite unhappy about it.
He sat in the lotus position on the branches of an old and wide tree. As he observed his surroundings, he truly felt like there was only a tiny chance of any threats appearing. If this was the case, there was no need for him to be on high alert or patrol the area. As such, he started to refine immortal medicines as he sat in the lotus position. The most pressing matter of the moment was for him to raise his cultivation level. This was also the best way for him to catch up to Nangong Wei and the rest.
"I truly wonder what"s in the Shushan Reincarnation Realm. It unexpectedly allowed the two of them to make such immense progress. Ever since they returned, they"ve been improving at around the same speed as me. I may even be slightly faster than them."
It was obvious that Nangong Wei and Beishan Mo"s terrifying progress was all accomplished within the Shushan Reincarnation Realm.
On account of this, Wu Yu felt like it was only a matter of time before he would be able to catch up to them. It was just that n.o.body else felt the same way as him.
"Dao."
The process of refining immortal medicine involved the pursuit of dao. In the course of cultivating one"s dao, all the enlightenment gained from everyday life was a.s.similated into the process of refining immortal medicine.
Wu Yu had 80,000 merits now. He had traded a small portion of them for Inner Sea Essence Pills for his everyday training. These Inner Sea Essence Pills were far too demanding, so even with his valiant corporeal body, he was only able to refine one every once in a while.
Refining immortal medicine in the Yin Yang Mountain where danger lurked on every side carried a sense of nervousness with it.
Three to four days pa.s.sed by quickly.
"There"s no news at all. I think they"ve probably not met any demons. Perhaps this means that the existence of the blue jade mines may not have been exposed after all."
Just as Wu Yu had these thoughts, he suddenly sensed a wave of demonic aura. There was a black mist surging out from the mine close to him. As the demonic aura a.s.sailed his nostrils, there was a great momentum behind it. This was certainly not a young demon.
"Why did it come around here?" Wu Yu was taken aback, but his feet were swift. Before the mining Shushan disciples even realized the demon"s presence, Wu Yu had already appeared before the mine. With a clear voice, he called out, "Where do you hail from, demon? Why have you not revealed yourself?"
After hearing Wu Yu shout, the Shushan disciples in the mine immediately started to feel nervous.
Even though they had been cultivating for a longer time than Wu Yu, most of them were middle-aged cultivators of that were over 100 years old. They had been persecuted by demons before, and they were still slightly traumatized by their past.
"Pssshh." Out of the black mist ahead came a sharp, ripping sound that pierced the ears. The Shushan disciples in the mine covered their ears and had pained expressions on their faces.
The black mist started to coagulate and form into a white-skinned man before Wu Yu"s eyes. The man had two sharp teeth protruding from his mouth and his zombie-like eyes were narrow slits that had small pupils within. While his gaze was lifeless, there was a dense murdering intent behind it as well.
Wu Yu had followed many Earth sword rank disciples at the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm over here, so he had a clear understanding of the differences between the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm and the Jindan Dao Realm.
The male demon before him was clearly at the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm. This was definitely a strong enemy. When he appeared before Wu Yu, Wu Yu realized that his mission was no easy task.
He immediately sent out two core-tail talismans. One was to report the situation to Li Chuxue, whereas the other was to Nangong Wei. After all, Li Chuxue had instructed them to report back the moment they found a demon.
He did not care to inform the others. They broke the tail talismans he had given to them after all.
"He seems quite young. What a shame," the demon indifferently remarked the moment it appeared and sized Wu Yu up. Without even a slight pause, the demon made his move.
He did not even reveal his true form. From his fingers, sharp claws suddenly grew, and without a second word, he tore towards Wu Yu. In an instant, his silhouette transformed into the remnant of a shadow and he swiftly and violently appeared before Wu Yu.
From the demon"s words, Wu Yu determined that this was a predetermined attack by the enemy. They had clearly known about the existence of this vein of ore and were now launching an attack.
Wu Yu quickly responded to the attack. At such a close distance, they fought in fierce hand-to-hand combat. The enemy still did not reveal his true form, and he continued to fight Wu Yu with his bare hands. In a moment of imminent peril, Wu Yu"s corporeal body started to move at even more violently quick speeds. As his opponent slashed at him with his claws, Wu Yu grabbed onto his wrists and gave them a forceful twist. With a cracking kacha sound, his opponent"s wrists had been snapped.
Weng!
The demon"s gaze turned cold. With an explosion of strength, he knocked Wu Yu away through the air and drew back his wrists. Before Wu Yu"s eyes, his wrists started to recover at a pace that was discernible to the naked eye. However, the demon still had an expression of surprise as he asked, "You"re a strange one indeed. You"re not a demon, so why do you have such immense corporeal strength? It"s even more heaven-defying than that of myself and other demons."
Wu Yu declined to answer and instead asked, "Who might you be, your majesty? If you"re just a nameless demon, I can"t be bothered to kill you."
"Keke, you"re an arrogant one as well." His counterpart declined to reply him too. At this very moment, however, demon winds started to wreak havoc as he started to reveal his true form.