Fellow Disciples

Shen Jing gripped her bronze mirror magic tool, gazing nervously at the mirror array. Her fingers tapped rapidly against the bronze mirror several times, sending it soaring into midair. Hovering above the mirror array, it sealed the sole remaining gap. The incessantly trembling bronze mirrors settled at once, spewing forth even more black mist. Gathering together, the dense mist formed what looked like a black iron curtain. Sweat beaded on Shen Jing's brow. Only then did she let out a long breath, muttering, "Junior Brother Qin, catching you in a scheme really isn't easy." A look of hesitation surfaced on Shen Jing's face. Finally, she patted her mustard seed bag, from which flew an arrowhead resembling an ice crystal. She poured spiritual power into it. The crystal arrowhead radiated brilliant, icy light and shot up toward the sky. With a loud crack, it detonated in midair, its sound echoing through the mountain forests as a shower of ice shards scattered like fireworks. A moment later, from the direction they had come, a gust of gray wind howled into view. Shortly after, it touched down before Shen Jing and came to an abrupt halt. The swirling wind converged into a single wisp, which was sucked right into the belly of a young-looking man. A sword was strapped to his back, and a small green snake was coiled around his left arm. The green snake flicked its tongue with a hiss, coiled its body, and sprang from his arm into Shen Jing's hand, affectionately rubbing its small head against her palm. The man glared at Shen Jing, his expression clearly displeased. "Junior Sister Shen, I told you long ago that it would only take a few hours for me to refine the century-old stalactite milk. Once I break through to the seventh layer, why worry about not being able to gather enough jade plaques for both of us? Why did you have to send the green snake to wake me right now?" Shen Jing tossed her head sharply to the side and gave a petulant huff. "The stalactite milk won't vanish if you don't refine it right this second. Could it be that in Senior Brother Yang's heart, my life isn't even worth a few drops of stalactite milk?" The man looked sheepish. After a moment of hesitation, he walked over to Shen Jing, awkwardly raised his hands to hold her shoulders, and softly consoled her, "Junior Sister, I was only anxious. With so many experts in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground, if we can't get into the Yuanzhao Sect, who knows how those old ghosts in the Kuiyin Sect will torment us? Besides, you've already trapped this person easily with your Soul-Bewildering Mirror. What are you still afraid of him for?" Trapped inside the mirror array, Qin Sang could hear the conversation outside with complete clarity. When he heard the man's voice and how Shen Jing addressed him, his heart jolted in shock. The newcomer was actually a fellow disciple from the Kuiyin Sect as well—Senior Brother Yang Yuanzang, the one who had obtained the Chilong Sword in the Sect Master's cave abode! By sheer coincidence, all three of them had landed in the same area. What was more, these two had long been colluding together! Qin Sang's expression shifted uncertainly as he stared darkly at the barrier of black mist surrounding him. By now, he mostly understood how he had fallen into the trap. During the clash with the conical-hatted swordsman, those golden rings certainly hadn't come from the Soul-Bewildering Mirror. Shen Jing must have possessed another defensive magic tool to pull the wool over everyone's eyes, concealing the Soul-Bewildering Mirror's true function without even him noticing. Falling into this trap was no stroke of bad luck; the woman's acting was simply too consummate. She had disguised the true abilities of the Soul-Bewildering Mirror and feigned weakness to disarm his vigilance. From the very moment he appeared, she had probably been plotting how to scheme against him. Qin Sang sighed inwardly, frowning deeply in unease. Facing two fellow disciples armed with top-grade magic tools, how was he going to escape? The mist only seemed capable of trapping people. Qin Sang felt as though he were trapped inside a hollow iron ball. Wisps of mist drifted past him; aside from being bone-chillingly cold, there was nothing unusual about them. He waved a hand, unleashing a blast of cold energy that coalesced into icicles, only to bounce off the moment they struck the mist barrier. Simultaneously, the mirror array outside shuddered slightly. Shen Jing's eyes widened, and she pointed at the mirror array, shouting, "Easily? Do you even know who this person is?" Yang Yuanzang was taken aback. "Could it be..." Shen Jing nodded. "It's our junior fellow disciple, Qin Sang!" "The guy who fainted from fright in the Sect Master's cave abode?" Yang Yuanzang laughed, clearly having a deep impression of Qin Sang as he immediately recalled, "I remember Martial Uncle Yue saying he seems to possess a five-element spiritual root. Having stumbled onto dog-shit luck, he swallowed some strange fruit and barely managed to step onto the immortal path. Why bother worrying about a cowardly rat like that..." Shen Jing huffed, "Senior Brother Yang, if you keep looking down on people like this, you're bound to take a nasty fall one day! You have no idea how difficult Junior Brother Qin is to deal with. I exhausted every trick, yet couldn't win a shred of his trust or even get a chance to leave a secret mark. I tried tempting him with jade plaques and spirit herbs to lure him to the mountain crocodile's lair to find you, but he wasn't moved in the slightest. What's more, he never once revealed the full capabilities of his pair of wings in front of me. I had to wrack my brains just to find an opportunity to set up the Soul-Bewildering Mirror, or else..." Before she could finish, Yang Yuanzang's face turned dark as the bottom of a pot. He barked angrily, "What kind of tricks did you use to try to win his trust? Don't tell me you also..." "What kind of person do you take me for?!" Shen Jing looked thoroughly aggrieved, tears brimming in her eyes. "Ever since I gave myself to you, I've been completely devoted to you! After being coerced by Junior Brother Qin, I had no choice but to play along with him while sending the green snake to ask you for help. Not for a single moment did I forget trying to get away, and yet you suspect me!" "I only said that because I care about you..." Seeing tears streaming down Shen Jing's face, Yang Yuanzang's anger dissipated entirely. He apologized repeatedly, and seeing that it did little good, he promptly bellowed, "Junior Sister Shen, open the mirror array! That Qin fellow dared to coerce you—I'll hack him to pieces with the Chilong Sword right now to vent your anger!" "The person I hate most is you!" Shen Jing cast Yang Yuanzang an alluring glare. "What's the rush? I suspect Junior Brother Qin's winged magic tool very likely has a flight ability. It's a top-grade magic tool refined by our sect, so your Void-Traversing Wind probably won't be able to catch up to it. Let him stay inside the array a while longer. The mist of the Soul-Bewildering Mirror also has the power to bewilder the spirit. It won't be too late to strike once he becomes dizzy and disoriented. He has at least three jade plaques on him—whatever you do, don't mess this up!" Yang Yuanzang's eyes lit up. "Three jade plaques! With ours, won't that make seven plaques in total?!" Shen Jing nodded with a smile. ... Inside the mirror array, countless shattered icicles whipped into a bluish-white chilly wind that filled the cramped space, battering against the mist barrier and obscuring sight. Qin Sang sat cross-legged, a spirit stone clutched in each hand. The ebony sword flew out from his qi sea and hovered horizontally before him. Its glow of spiritual power grew increasingly dazzling, the blade trembling unceasingly as though unable to restrain its thirst for slaughter. After being trapped in the mirror array, Qin Sang had originally planned to use the Cloudfall Wings to flee for his life the moment Shen Jing opened the formation. But after overhearing Shen Jing and Yang Yuanzang's conversation, he immediately decided to deploy the ebony sword. He had felt no spirit-bewildering effects whatsoever from the mist inside the mirror array; his mind remained completely clear. To amass enough spiritual power as quickly as possible, Qin Sang did not hesitate to take a risk and absorb energy from two spirit stones simultaneously. Terrifying spiritual power surged into the meridians within his body, inflicting tearing, searing agony upon them, while his qi sea felt as though it were on the verge of bursting under the relentless impact. Qin Sang gritted his teeth and endured. Though his features contorted in sheer agony, his eyes remained exceedingly calm.