Chapter 118: The Enemy Hidden Behind
Jiang Lan didn’t think too much about it. Finding Senior Sister Ao to test this move out required some delicate planning.
He needed to complete his mission first.
The innkeeper’s mission was to catch two specific ice cicadas. It seemed that he was the one who raised them here.
Only the ice cicadas he marked counted.
Jiang Lan continued forward.
However, he had only taken two steps when he felt a surge of power.
Clang!
He slashed out with his Dragon Slaying Sword.
However, after a crisp sound rang out, Jiang Lan felt that the impact of the other party’s attack didn’t weaken at all.
Helpless, he could only use his Spirit Ape Spell to retreat some distance.
It didn’t take long for Jiang Lan to see what was charging towards him.
It was a tree root.
“There are trees here that have become demons?”
Jiang Lan made up his mind. He didn’t stay any longer.
It was not that he couldn’t win against it.
Even if he only used the strength of a perfected Golden Core, he could easily destroy the tree root.
However, he wasn’t sure where the main body of the tree root was. That was the trouble.
As for the failure of blocking the attack, it could only mean that the Dragon Slaying Sword was useless against plants.
Jiang Lan began to retreat.
However, just as he retreated, he felt another tree root attacking him.
He still used the Dragon Slaying Sword to attack.
Clang!
It was still useless.
Jiang Lan retreated again.
He was not bothered by it. Instead, he continued to advance, using the power of a perfected Golden Core.
Although he was dodging the tree roots, he was still vigilant of his surroundings. He was also ready to use his Power of Nine Bulls.
This attack must have been set up by someone else to attract his attention.
Therefore, he had to be vigilant.
Of course, there was no need to be overly cautious.
He was just being vigilant.
After Jiang Lan retreated some distance, he saw fog appear in front of him.
Spirit Language Spell.
The instant the mist dispersed, Jiang Lan saw an ice cicada, a cicada that met the requirements.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Lan unleashed a Thunder Palm.
Rumble.
The ice cicada was. .h.i.t.
Then, it dropped to the ground.
Jiang Lan naturally reached out to catch the ice cicada.
“One.”
He was only half a step away from completing the mission.
A long time later, Jiang Lan left the Ice Cicada Forest.
At this moment, his body was in a sorry state and the sword in his hand was broken.
In order to catch the second ice cicada, he had encountered many things.
This path was abnormal.
The tree root was merely the weakest enemy he faced.
The subsequent array formations and spirit beasts that he had encountered were stronger one after another.
And sometimes, he could only watch the ice cicadas as they flew away. If he was too anxious to catch them, they would easily run away.
Fortunately, he was a calm person.
However, using the strength of a perfected Golden Core was indeed not pleasing. It was a little difficult to go any deeper.
After that, Jiang Lan returned on his sword.
He did not lack spirit swords.
He had received a lot of them from signing in.
He had all sorts of them.
Over a hundred years, he had acc.u.mulated a lot of resources.
However, if he wanted other Dharma treasures, he would have to buy them. Or perhaps, he would have to rely on his own abilities to get them from the main hall like he did in the beginning.
But as they were all relatively weak Dharma treasures, he did not go and get them even when he had the time.
Most of the Dharma treasures he got from signing in appeared repet.i.tively.
However, Dharma treasures such as the red gourd were truly rare.
Not long after Jiang Lan left, Nan Xin and Bu Qing came over with a dog.
“Why use this method to determine his whereabouts?” Bu Qing asked while holding the oil paper umbrella.
“Such a method is safe.” Nan Xin closed the fan and asked.
“Have you heard of intuition?”
“What intuition?” Bu Qing and Nan Xin stopped before the Ice Cicada Forest.
Nan Xin looked at the forest and said.
“There’s a kind of person who is born with a sense of danger. As long as someone has their eyes on him, they would be discovered. Although I am unsure whether our target has such intuition or not, it is better to a.s.sume that he does.
If he really has such intuition, alerting him is a small issue. There is a higher chance that we would get surprised and killed by him instead. By then it would be too late for regrets.”
Bu Qing looked at Nan Xin and said.
“Aren’t you being too careful?”
Nan Xin opened a fan and fanned himself twice.
“You can act separately from me. I don’t mind that. And I have never asked you to listen to me.”
Bu Qing was silent.
In the end, she only said.
“What’s the next step? Go in and take a look? ”
She was referring to the Ice Cicada Forest.
“Of course.” Nan Xin smiled. “We can’t go in there.”
Finally, Nan Xin walked in another direction.
“Let’s go find the Heavenly Human Race’s spies. I heard that they have lost contact.”
…
…
Jiang Lan’s sword flew through the air. He looked behind him, a bit puzzled.
“I feel like I’ve overlooked something.”
“Looks like I need to be more vigilant these days and see if there’s anything I’ve overlooked.”
Jiang Lan didn’t feel like he was being watched, nor did he feel like anyone was trying to track him down.
At present, there was no danger lurking around.
However, ever since he met those two people yesterday, he felt that something was amiss.
It was probably because the other party checked his cultivation level and didn’t find trouble with him.
This was different from before.
After that, Jiang Lan didn’t think too much about it and decided that he would just pay more attention and be extra vigilant during this period of time.
Sometimes, enemies would not reveal their tails.
However, they could still kill him without him knowing.
When he returned to the inn, Jiang Lan found Senior Sister Xiao Yu standing at the counter with a dark expression.
It was as if she had encountered something unhappy.
He didn’t ask further.
Instead, he put the ice cicadas away.
Then, he waited at the counter for the innkeeper to return.
Now that the innkeeper was back, there was no need for him to stay here any longer.
Just as she stood at the counter, she saw the account book in front of Xiao Yu. She had written some words on it.
Seven broken bottles, eight broken teacups, three broken teapots, and one broken plate.
Jiang Lan was silent.
So that was why.
It seemed like they were all broken.
Jiang Lan didn’t see any remains. It should have been eaten by the Pixiu, or Xiao Yu had collected them herself.
After the innkeeper returned, Jiang Lan and Xiao Yu left the inn and returned to Kunlun.
Xiao Yu rode her sword back at a speed faster than yesterday.
Jiang Lan was still walking, but he did not meet anyone. When he returned to the Netherworld Cave, he continued to eat Dao Comprehension Tea and began cultivating.
This time, he focused on his Nine Steps of Heavenly Travel.
The night pa.s.sed uneventfully.
When he woke up, his Nine Steps of Heavenly Travel had indeed improved a bit. However, he still didn’t have the feeling where he had completely mastered it.
His progress in this technique was much lower than his progress in the Power of Nine Bulls.
“It seems that some deficiencies cannot be made up for purely by insights.”
Jiang Lan felt that the barrier that was stopping him from mastering the Nine Steps of Heavenly Travel had something to do with his cultivation level. This might be a small part of it.
The most important thing was that he hadn’t used this skill much, which limited his understanding of the Nine Steps of Heavenly Travel.
On the other hand, he had been constantly using the Power of Nine Bulls.
As he had used the skill to its limits many times, it was easier for him to comprehend further.
However, using the Nine Steps of Heavenly Travel was more difficult.
He could only use it when he went out to train.
After pouring some spirit liquid onto the plant egg, Jiang Lan set off for the old wine tavern.
He planned to use the Dao Comprehension Tea to increase his cultivation base tonight.
If the effect was good, he would continue using it to increase his cultivation base. If the effect was average, he would leave it to comprehend the Power of Nine Tribulations.
Now that he had cultivated the Power of Nine Bulls to its limit and his attainments in his cultivation of the Spiritual Suppression Force was not weak either, he could perhaps start trying to cultivate the Power of Nine Tribulations.
He did not know if he could succeed in cultivating this technique before he became an immortal.
He needed some time to try.
Xiao Yu arrived at the inn before Jiang Lan. She seemed to be impatient.
Jiang Lan didn’t understand.
This time, the innkeeper opened his door very early.
“Jiang Lan shall watch over the store today. Xiao Yu will be going to catch Ice Cicadas.”
After Jiang Lan and Xiao Yu agreed, the innkeeper left the inn once again.
Not long after, Xiao Yu also set off for the Ice Cicada Forest.