Volume 1 Chapter 40: Senior Brother’s Here!

Note: Character Illustration  

Volume 1 Chapter 40: Senior Brother’s Here!

The spiritual energy in Visionlost Swamp was wild and chaotic.

Feng Yudie and the others couldn’t see far through the fog, and when it came to spiritual sense, they were clearly outmatched by Zhuang Hu and his companions. Now they were stuck, entirely on the defensive.

In an environment like this, being surrounded was a death sentence. If they couldn’t find a way to break through or take to the skies, they’d be worn down and picked off, sooner or later.

Clangs of metal rang through the mists.

Feng Yudie and Pei Lengxue both looked increasingly anxious, their brows knit tight, sweat glistening on their foreheads.

They had no idea where the next attack would come from.

They had to fend off wave after wave of Foundation Establishment attacks, while also protecting Xiao Yunluo—a burden that quickly drained their stamina.

Elsewhere, atop a patch of higher ground in the misty marsh, Ye Anping sat cross-legged, eyes closed but fully observing the battle through his spiritual sense.

And yet, despite watching others fight, he was the one sweating bullets.

Why?

Because he hadn't expected Xiao Yunluo to be with Feng Yudie and Junior Sister Pei.

Xiao Yunluo was the only daughter of the Moon Dan Master—the top cultivator in the sect—and she had a personal protective charm set by her mother.

Once that charm was activated, Moon Dan Master would sense it immediately and teleport straight here.

When that happened, that loli-looking granny would probably show up and slap him and his “Big Bros Two through Five” into the afterlife before they could even beg for mercy.

Ye Anping swallowed hard and quickly pulled a tubular iron whistle from his storage bag, clenching it in his mouth.

He was preparing to step in.

But before he could blow the signal, something happened on Feng Yudie’s side.

. . . . .

Schlick!

The wet, chilling sound of steel sliding into flesh broke through the tension. Blood spattered in the mist.

Just as “Fifth Brother” thrust his sword toward Xiao Yunluo’s chest, Feng Yudie made a split-second decision.

Instead of parrying like she had done the entire time, she threw herself in front of the blade.

It pierced straight through her left shoulder.

The attacker’s eyes went wide. He hadn't expected her to block with her body.

But that one moment of hesitation was all she needed.

Gritting her teeth against the searing pain, Feng Yudie locked her left hand onto the blade and grabbed his wrist with her right.

“Junior Sister Pei!!” she shouted.

That was all Pei Lengxue needed.

Shing!

With a flash of cold steel, she appeared at the attacker’s side—and in a single stroke, took his head clean off.

Fifth Brother, gone.

From another direction, “Fourth Brother” witnessed the scene and lost his composure.

“FIFTH BROTHER!!” he cried out.

But that outburst gave away his position.

Feng Yudie’s ears perked. Without hesitation, she released her grip on her sword and formed a sword seal with her fingers. Spiritual energy surged forward, and her weapon shot through the fog like an arrow.

Swish—!

Fourth Brother hadn’t expected his shout to expose him. He didn’t even have time to raise a defensive spell.

The blade pierced clean through his abdomen.

Guh—!

Sensing the feedback through the sword, Feng Yudie flipped her fingers again.

The flying sword spun upward with a sharp twist—slicing his body clean in half.

“Now! Go!”

Blood dripping from her shoulder, Feng Yudie yanked the sword out with a wince, then grabbed Xiao Yunluo by the hand and pulled her forward, charging straight toward the source of that earlier shout.

“Pei Lengxue, follow us! That direction’s clear!”

She had already figured it out during the earlier skirmishes:

There were four enemies, positioned at the cardinal directions around them—east, south, west, and north.

Now two were down.

The encirclement had collapsed.

Her only regret?

The two they killed were the weakest—just the early stage Foundation Establishment realm one.

If only they could take down one of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators—then they might’ve had a clean shot at escaping.

“Tch...”

Feng Yudie clicked her tongue in frustration. She had barely dragged the others twenty feet forward when, all of a sudden, a beam of crimson light burst from the ground ahead and shot straight into the sky, blowing a hole in the dense fog above Visionlost Swamp.

Seeing it, Feng Yudie’s heart sank.

They were inside a formation.

The four attackers from earlier had just been the distraction—stalling them long enough for someone else to set up the trap.

A fifth person… hiding in the shadows.

“Seriously?!” Feng Yudie cursed. “You’re Foundation Establishment cultivators going after three Qi Refining juniors, and you’re still pulling out formations?! What, too rich and bored to spend your spirit stones?”

A man's voice echoed from every direction in the mist, smooth and mocking.

“‘Hehe~ If you weren’t so valuable, little friend, I wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble…’”

Feng Yudie twitched at the sound, her brow spasming in irritation.

At that moment, Xiao Tian reemerged from her soul Realm, hovering just above her head. Its tiny arms opened the Heavenly Dao Scriptures—and began flipping pages.

『Yudie, that’s the Seven-Star Spirit-Choking Formation. It can trap enemies and drain their spiritual energy. It’s a single-core formation for Foundation Establishment realm users. Destroy the core, and the whole array collapses.』

“Where’s the core?!” she asked immediately.

『This array has four possible nodes that can serve as the formation eye: Tianxuan, Tianshu, Kaiyang, and Yaoguang.』

While Xiao Tian read off the names, Xiao Yunluo had also recognized the formation and chimed in from behind:

“I’ve seen this one before! The formation eye can be at any of the four—Tianxuan, Tianshu, Kaiyang, or Yaoguang!”

“Four spots?!” Feng Yudie hissed through her teeth.

Each of the possible cores was placed at a cardinal point—east, south, west, and north. They didn’t have time to scout one by one. Even gambling on a one-in-four chance was risky.

“We split up,” Pei Lengxue proposed immediately. “I’ll go east and south. You two handle west and north. If we break the formation, head straight north—I’ll catch up.”

“No way,” Feng Yudie shot back without hesitation. “If we split up, they’ll pick us off one by one. And with my arm busted, I can’t defend Senior Sister Xiao alone.”

“…”

Xiao Yunluo lowered her head, guilt tightening in her chest.

First, she’d lost her sword. Now, she was a burden on the people protecting her. She bit her lip.

“I’ll stay behind and hide,” she whispered. “You two don’t have to worry about me.”

“You’ll die if you stay here!” Feng Yudie snapped. “They’re not here to capture us—they’re here to kill us!”

Xiao Yunluo winced and fell silent, eyes glued to the ground.

Feng Yudie paused, gritting her teeth, then spoke:

“Fine. We’ll go together. West, then south, then east, then north. We’ll hit all four points in that order—if we’re lucky, we’ll break the array early.”

As she spoke, she hoisted Xiao Yunluo onto her back and began sprinting west.

But just as the trio were about to move, they suddenly heard it.

Chirp-chirp~~ Chirp-chirp-chirp~~

Birdsong.

Specifically, a mockingbird.

Pei Lengxue stopped in her tracks.

“Wait!!”

“Huh? What now?!” Feng Yudie looked back, confused.

“Shush!” Pei Lengxue hissed, raising a hand.

Again, from the woods—

Chirp-chirp~~ Chirp-chirp-chirp~~

In the middle of the forest, birdsong was normal enough. To Feng Yudie, it meant nothing.

But to Pei Lengxue, it meant everything.

That wasn’t a bird. That was her Senior Brother.

“One short, one long… then two short, one long,” she whispered. “That’s the signal. Formation eye is at Kaiyang. North. Let’s go!”

“Eh?!”

Feng Yudie blinked in confusion. But she didn’t question it.

She adjusted her grip on Xiao Yunluo and took off after Pei Lengxue, straight toward the north.

---

If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 each month to read the latest update, please go to my Patreon.

Current Chapter In Patreon: Volume 4 Chapter 59 / Chapter 333: Senior Brother, Entwined Fates

Link to the current chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/volume-4-chapter-131911760

Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/ZaztraVandesh419