Countless fire ants surged up like a tide, bringing with them a wave of scorching fire spiritual qi.
The earth fire here was not the highest grade of supreme yang true fire, but it wasn't too shabby either. Mo Tiange thought to herself that on the surface of Wind-Sand City, there wasn't a trace of spiritual qi, yet unexpectedly, deep underground, there was spiritual fire. It seemed there was a spirit vein here, but it didn't cover a large area and was buried deep underground, hence the lack of spiritual qi on the surface.
"Hum!" A humming sound rang in her ears as Qin Xi's Three Yang True Fire Sword transformed into countless small swords, blasting towards the fire ants. Wherever the sword light reached, the fire ants retreated in waves.
Mo Tiange formed a hand seal, thunder light flickering around her body as she also surged forward.
Among the various elemental arts, fire was the most destructive, while thunder was the most powerful. With one using fire and the other thunder, the fire ants were quickly cleared by more than half. The two of them stepped on the stone slabs in the middle, slowly moving forward.
Killing as they went, after one hour, they passed through this stone passage and arrived at a stone chamber.
The moment they stepped into the stone chamber, they heard continuous "bang bang" sounds. All the stone slabs that had flipped down earlier flipped back up, and the fire ants also disappeared without a trace.
Seeing this scene, Mo Tiange sighed, "To be able to restore itself after being triggered, this mechanism is truly marvelous."
Qin Xi didn't respond, his eyes fixed on the stone passage, not moving for a long time.
Seeing this, Mo Tiange tugged at his sleeve, "Senior Brother?"
Qin Xi snapped back to attention and said, "Did you notice? Once the mechanism here is activated, spiritual qi leaks out."
"Mm."
"There's spiritual fire here, so naturally, there's a spirit vein. Since there's a spirit vein, the restrictions here are likely still intact."
Mo Tiange had already thought of this earlier, but she wasn't worried. "It's fine. The spirit mountain in the Guixu Sea had such abundant spiritual qi, yet its restrictions still weakened. Here, it's just a small spirit vein. Even if the restrictions remain, they should be easy to break."
Qin Xi thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. "Mm."
The two rested for a while. Just as they were about to set off again, they suddenly heard "bang bang" sounds coming from behind.
Turning to look, they saw the stone slabs flipping open again.
Mo Tiange was surprised. "What's going on?" They had already passed through this stone passage, so why was the mechanism triggered again?
"Someone's coming!" Qin Xi's divine sense had already detected the presence of others. "Both are early Nascent Soul stage. Could it be those two demonic cultivators arrived so quickly? No, one is a Dao cultivator, one is a demonic cultivator. It's not those two."
The two exchanged a glance, both showing puzzled expressions. The Dao cultivators were only the two of them and Huo Ziqi. Huo Ziqi and Zong Si were already dead, so how could there be another Dao cultivator? Had more people come to Wind-Sand City?
"One Dao, one demonic?" Mo Tiange was confused. "Could it be that male cultivator brought someone else in?"
Those two demonic cultivators were clearly no match for them. Perhaps that male cultivator had found some help. The Extreme West was so remote; to have found help so quickly, could their accomplices have been right behind them?
"It's fine," seeing Mo Tiange's inquiring gaze, Qin Xi gently shook his head. "As long as they're early Nascent Soul stage, I doubt they're my match." With the Vermilion Bird Bow, he could now contend with late-stage cultivators. No matter how strong an early-stage cultivator was, they couldn't reach the level of a late-stage cultivator. For example, Jing Xingzhi was a sword cultivator who also cultivated an ancient secret technique, arguably among the top of early-stage cultivators. But he was only somewhat stronger than an ordinary mid-stage cultivator, far from being a match for a late-stage cultivator.
Seeing his confidence, Mo Tiange said nothing more. After a moment's thought, she said, "These two not only killed Huo Ziqi and the other but also found their way here. Could their goal also be this secret treasury?"
"Very likely. For a place like Wind-Sand City, having one secret treasury is enough; there can't be too many secret locations." He paused, then suddenly thought of something. "If they really are after the secret treasury, they probably have a map in their hands too."
Catching the implication in his words, Mo Tiange said, "Shall we wait here and snatch theirs?"
Qin Xi smiled. "That would save a lot of trouble."
Mo Tiange thought about it and also smiled. "Alright. They attacked first earlier, so they can't blame us."
Qin Xi scanned the area but found no danger. He then found a corner and sat down on the ground. "Let's recover our spiritual qi first, then strike preemptively."
Mo Tiange also looked around, chose a spot, had the puppet hold the Fusheng Sword lying in ambush to the side, then set up a Concealing Spirit Array before sitting down as well.
This stone passage was long. The divine sense of early-stage cultivators wasn't enough to extend this far, so those two probably hadn't detected them yet.
Two hours passed. The sounds of spellcasting came from far to near.
Mo Tiange opened her eyes to see Qin Xi had already stopped meditating and was listening intently. Seeing her open her eyes, he extended an index finger, signaling her to be quiet.
To avoid alerting the enemy, they didn't use their divine sense to monitor. At this moment, they only heard the sounds of spellcasting getting closer and closer, mixed with light, shallow footsteps.
"These two are quite capable," Qin Xi transmitted via divine sense. "To get here in such a short time."
Although those fire ants weren't strong, they could fly and crawl, endless and troublesome. It had taken the two of them over an hour to get through; these two were only slightly slower.
Mo Tiange listened for a while and said, "There seems to be a sword cultivator?" The sound of sword qi was the clearest and sharpest; she shouldn't be mistaken.
"Mm." Qin Xi frowned slightly. "Be extra careful."
As soon as he said this, the two had arrived.
The moment they stepped into the stone chamber, several more "bang bang bang bang" sounds rang out as the mechanism closed again.
"Huff..." Someone gasped for breath and was about to speak when suddenly, a sword light silently swept over, startling them into swallowing their words.
"Clang!" With a sound, that person blocked with their flying sword, barely managing to parry Qin Xi's sword qi.
As their sword qi clashed, they looked at each other and were simultaneously startled. "You—"
At the same time, the puppet lying in ambush to the side raised the Fusheng Sword and slashed down.
"Boom!" The other person was faster. A mass of demonic qi surged over, forcing the puppet back several steps.
Mo Tiange stepped forward, gripping the Heaven-Earth Fan, ready to attack, but she was also stunned. "You..."
The imminent Nascent Soul-level battle suddenly halted. Four people stared wide-eyed at each other, not speaking for a long time.
"Ahem!" Finally, someone coughed. "Qin Shoujing, you're really like a lingering ghost. Why do I run into you wherever I go?"
Qin Xi flicked his sleeve, withdrawing his sword qi, and countered with a question instead of answering. "How did you return to the Tianji Region?"
The sword cultivator, Jian Xin—that is, Jing Xingzhi—wiped his face, revealing his true appearance. As he sheathed his sword, he curled his lip. "Whether I returned to the Tianji Region or not is none of your business."
"Then me being here is none of your business either."
"..." Three years apart, and after just two sentences, he was blocked again. Jing Xingzhi was so frustrated he wanted to bang his head against the wall.
"Can't you two talk properly?" Mo Tiange recalled the puppet and turned to Jing Xingzhi, asking the same question. "Fellow Daoist Jing, how did you return to the Tianji Region?"
Facing Mo Tiange, Jing Xingzhi put away his rebellious attitude and answered, "I had nothing to do staying in Yuan Prefecture, so I returned to the Tianji Region." He looked at Qin Xi and Mo Tiange, puzzled. "What are you two doing here? Why did you come to the Extreme West?"
"We have a mission," Mo Tiange said briefly. "And you?"
"Heh heh, not telling you." Jing Xingzhi smiled smugly, looking them up and down. "You two are doing well, huh? Your cultivation has improved again!"
"You're not bad either. Your sword qi has become more formidable." Mo Tiange glanced at his gleaming flying sword; he must have refined quite a bit of crystal jade.
Jing Xingzhi looked at her puppet with envy and said nothing.
Seeing this, Mo Tiange smiled and turned to the other person. "And you? After all these years apart, have you been well?"
The old demonic cultivator was stunned. "You... you recognize who I am?"
"You have Origin Demon qi on you. Who else could it be?" Mo Tiange said. There were only a few people who cultivated the Origin Demon Great Method. Mei Feng was dead, Yang Chengji wouldn't disguise himself, and Perfected One Songfeng was already at the late Nascent Soul stage. She didn't believe she would run into another person cultivating the Origin Demon Great Method. The answer was obvious.
The old man's eyes flickered. He reached to his chin and gently peeled off a layer of soft leather mask. Underneath was a young, delicate face.
"Long time no see," Nie Wushang said, her voice clear and pleasant, no longer hoarse and aged.
Hearing this, Mo Tiange was about to say something when she suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Your voice..." The Nie Wushang of before not only had a hoarse voice but also spoke ventriloquism. How come now...
Nie Wushang smiled. She said, "I've already formed my Nascent Soul."
Mo Tiange was taken aback, then suddenly understood. After forming a Nascent Soul, one could reshape their body. She couldn't speak before, likely due to some injury. Now that she could speak, it was naturally because she had healed after forming her Nascent Soul.
Looking at her sincere smile, Mo Tiange said sincerely, "Congratulations." It was both congratulations for forming her Nascent Soul and for leaving the shadows of the past behind. When they met in Yunzhong, Nie Wushang had psychologically broken free from Perfected One Songfeng. And now, the physical scars left by Perfected One Songfeng were also gone.
Nie Wushang understood and looked at her with shining eyes. "You too. Not only did you return safely from Yunzhong, but you also successfully formed your Nascent Soul."
"I..."
"Alright," Jing Xingzhi interrupted their conversation. "Stop congratulating each other back and forth. How about I congratulate both of you, and that's it?"
"..."
"..."
"Time is short. We can catch up later," Jing Xingzhi said seriously. "Let's talk about why we're here first. We all know that meeting here is definitely not just a coincidence."
Meeting in the Extreme West could still be called a coincidence, but meeting in an underground stone passage leading to a secret treasury—the odds were too low. Even if their goals were different, their destination must be the same.
Four people, four pairs of eyes, stared at each other for a while. Mo Tiange coughed and took out the Black Gold Fragment. "I guess you have one of these in your hands too, right?"
Seeing this, Nie Wushang said, "So the last piece of the map is with you. It seems the Dao cultivators those two Yunzhong demonic cultivators mentioned were you."
"Yunzhong demonic cultivators?" Mo Tiange and Qin Xi exchanged a glance. "So those two are demonic cultivators from Yunzhong. Why would demonic cultivators from Yunzhong come here?"
"We'll talk about that later," Nie Wushang looked at them. "Now it's confirmed that our goals are the same. So, shall we cooperate next?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Mo Tiange said. "If we don't cooperate with you, should we cooperate with those two demonic cultivators? They have a map too, right?"
Nie Wushang smiled. "Good. Then let's compare maps first and see how to cooperate."