"Aren’t we also going to be exposed under the Evil Star?" Pan Yang’s voice beca a bit dry.
He had just broken through to the Late-stage Qi Cultivation and wasn’t completely confident that he could survive the outside world during the Evil Star Shift.
"No worries, as long as we control the ti well and enter the cave mansion, even the Star Evil won’t be able to harm us," Liou Yuan said with a leisurely smile.
"At worst, we’ll just wait until the Evil Star passes before coming out."
Actually, there is still the worst outco.
That is if they fail to find the cave mansion and both are sensed by the surrounding Star Evil.
The nearest county city is still two days away, and they would indeed be taking a great risk.
Fortunately, while stationed in Chouhuai City, Liou Yuan had already witnessed the ferocity of Star Evil during the Evil Star Shift, which at most had the strength around Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.
A single Star Evil isn’t much of a threat; the danger lies in the sheer number of them.
Yet even if surrounded by Star Evil, Liou Yuan was confident he could survive.
Moreover, with Pan Yang at Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer by his side, his confidence only increased.
Pan Yang was determined to seize this opportunity, without leaving any escape route.
After a brief period of hesitation, he revealed a decisive expression and said solemnly, "Alright! I’ll go with Mr. Liou’s plan."
"Then let’s withdraw for now, find a place nearby to stay, and act when the ti cos." Having reassured Pan Yang, Liou Yuan’s tone also softened considerably.
The scorching sun blazed down.
The shadows within the mountains and forests could block out much of the heat, and occasional mountain breezes offered a rare coolness.
Liou Yuan and Pan Yang dug a cave within the shadows of the dense forest, so ten miles away from the naless lake, as a temporary resting place.
While waiting for the Star Rotation, Liou Yuan continued his cultivation, taking out the prepared Star Stones to assist in his daily practice.
Over these days, as Liou Yuan had said, they did encounter several cultivators passing through.
In Jiuli State, where many sects flourished like stars in the sky,
finding a place without any cultivators was nearly impossible.
Only then did Pan Yang realize how absurd his previous plan was, and more than once acknowledged Liou Yuan’s ticulous thinking.
During this period, Pan Yang wasn’t idle either. Wielding his large blade, he hunted down and slew the two demons at the locations where Liou Yuan had sensed their demonic aura one night.
With his Late-stage Qi Cultivation strength, ordinary mountain demons were nothing for him to kill.
Pan Yang didn’t keep all the demon materials to himself; he offered to share so with Liou Yuan, saying it was he who discovered them.
Liou Yuan declined with a smile.
He wasn’t interested in such low-level demon materials, and Pan Yang, being rather impoverished, needed these materials more to exchange for money.
Seven days passed, and for cultivators, that was just a short period of secluded cultivation.
Soon, they awaited the once-a-month Star Rotation day.
Liou Yuan and Pan Yang stood atop the mountain, gazing up at the starry sky, silently hoping in their hearts that this ti it would be the Evil Star Shift.
"It’s funny, really; in this world, the existence of the Evil Star is feared like the plague,"
"Yet at this critical mont, I wish it were the Evil Star Shift." Liou Yuan chuckled to himself.
As the constellations shifted and stars moved across the night sky, eight stars emitting a blood-red glow stood between heaven and earth.
The stars were arranged very systematically, forming two horizontal and two vertical lines, resembling the character ’井’ (well).
Their na was Pleiades.
"Pleiades! Indeed, it’s evil," Pan Yang’s excited voice echoed through the mountain.
Liou Yuan bead and said, "We’re lucky; we bet correctly on the first try."
No sooner had he finished speaking.
Roar! Wail! Bellow!~
The howling and roaring of the Star Evil rose and exploded in the mountains and forests.
Those Star Evil, usually lurking in the dark, awakened simultaneously under the glow of the Evil Star.
The ferocious sounds continued, one after another.
Liou Yuan looked down from the mountain peak and saw images of three Star Evil creatures erging from their hiding spots at the foot of the mountain.
They were extraordinarily sensitive to the breath of living beings, and almost the mont they appeared, their vicious gaze fixed on Liou Yuan.
They climbed rapidly towards the mountain peak where he and Pan Yang stood.
Liou Yuan’s strength had grown since his ti in Chouhuai City, and he faced the approaching three Star Evils without changing his expression. He turned slightly and murmured to Pan Yang, "Mr. Pan, we must act quickly."
"Understood!"
Without looking at the three Star Evils, the two of them rushed towards the direction of the naless lake.
It was well-known that during the Evil Star Shift, the Star Evil could not be completely destroyed.
They were like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, endlessly erging.
Many ancient texts compared the Star Evil to crops in the field, while the Evil Star was said to nourish them like fertilizer.
These creatures had no physical bodies and could possess objects or living beings.
Along the way, Liou Yuan and Pan Yang encountered a Star Evil charging towards them.
Liou Yuan decapitated it with a single sword strike, the gushing Green Tide Sword light shredding both the Star Evil’s body and core.
During the Evil Star Shift, hardly any cultivators appeared in the outside world, so there was no need to hide their skills.
At the sa ti, both of them maintained their speed, reaching the lakeside of the naless lake and diving headfirst into the cold water, creating two white splashes.
Splash!
Liou Yuan, with the Treading Flowing Wave Body Technique, moved even faster in the water than on land.
The azure spiritual light ford a vacuum barrier, isolating Liou Yuan from the surrounding water; he swam through it like a fish, freely gliding in the water.
Pan Yang’s speed lagged, and Liou Yuan occasionally had to stop and wait for him.
Star Evil also lurked in the water.
Most were parasitized fish in the water, drawn to the path of Liou Yuan and Pan Yang.
The first to charge was a black catfish longer than an adult, with fangs sharper than daggers.
It lunged at Pan Yang, who found maneuvering in the water difficult, severely hindering his combat effectiveness.
In a clumsy scramble, he slashed several tis with his large blade before finally cutting it down.
Liou Yuan, anwhile, dealt with the remaining Star Evils in the water, about three of them, all various fish species.
Clang! Green Tide Swordlight spewed forth.
The sword light stirred the surrounding water, coalescing into substantial waves, which Liou Yuan swept outwards.
Thud, thud, thud!
The three Star Evils, with cultivation akin to Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, were instantly annihilated by the sweeping sword light, their host fish splintering into blood in the water.
Liou Yuan didn’t give the Star Evil cores any chance to escape, unleashing a deafening roar within the Treading Flowing Wave Spiritual Light barrier.
Sound traveled quicker underwater, instantly shattering the three Star Evil cores.
"Mr. Liou, impressive swordsmanship!" Pan Yang had heard many tales about Liou Yuan, but it was only today he witnessed his prowess firsthand.
Seeing him slay three Star Evils with one strike filled Pan Yang’s eyes with joy and confidence for their forthcoming mission.
Liou Yuan sheathed his sword, appearing relaxed and content.
Though the strike seed impressive, only he knew why it was so powerful.
"The Green Tide Pure Water Sword is indeed enhanced by water. Such a vast body of water grants every advantage in swordsmanship."
"In other environnts, it wouldn’t be so effortless."
These thoughts Liou Yuan had no intention of sharing with Pan Yang, surveying the surroundings to confirm the absence of Star Evil before urging:
"Mr. Pan, don’t delay too long. The scent of a cultivator is imnsely tempting to Star Evil. The longer the delay, the more Star Evils will be drawn here."
"Understood." In fact, Pan Yang didn’t linger; after complinting Liou Yuan’s swordsmanship, he had already taken out a map to carefully refer to the routes.
Comparing with the surrounding environnt, he imdiately pointed in a direction and said, "This way."
The surface of this naless lake was expansive enough, comparable to the size of a county city.
The water beneath was unfathomably deep.
Liou Yuan followed Pan Yang, diving towards the lake’s bottom, deeper and deeper.
Even after descending nearly a thousand ters, the lake bed was still nowhere in sight.
At such depths, the light from the stars and moon above the night sky couldn’t penetrate.
The surroundings were pitch black, with no sight beyond their reach.
Simultaneously, the water pressure was imnse.
The Treading Flowing Wave Skill enveloping Liou Yuan, designed to isolate the water, was slightly flattened under pressure.
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