Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World

Chapter 1243: Chapter 645: Forgot the Situation (Part 2)

Ling Xiao quickly stepped forward, checked Gu Sheng’s pulse, and exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Still alive."

At this moment, Long Yi also arrived nearby.

He warily scanned the surroundings, finally fixing his gaze on Ling Xiao.

"Who are you? What is your relationship with this Gu Sheng?"

Ling Xiao smiled indifferently, spreading his hands.

"Just passing by, I have no connection with this person."

Long Yi suddenly noticed that Ling Xiao was standing right in the shadow of a Taotie Stone Pillar, and his heart filled with alarm.

In a place like Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge, there’s no such thing as a mere ’passing by.’

"No matter who you are, having seen what you shouldn’t have, you must die!"

Long Yi sneered and raised his Spirit Sword. Though his Spiritual Power was running low, it was more than enough to handle a cultivator whose aura was merely at the Nascent Soul Stage.

Ling Xiao sighed.

"Is it really necessary..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly turned and ran, disappearing into the depths of the Stone Forest in the blink of an eye.

"Trying to run?"

Long Yi shouted angrily, chasing after him without thinking.

"Today, you all must die!"

The two quickly moved away from the spot where Gu Sheng lay unconscious, one in pursuit of the other.

The more Long Yi chased, the more shocked he became. The speed of the person ahead rivaled his own at peak condition, making it impossible for this to be the true strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator!

"Who on earth are you?"

Long Yi shouted loudly, while simultaneously taking out a Communication Jade Scroll from his pocket and crushing it, notifying his sect members to come and encircle.

Ling Xiao did not answer; instead, he suddenly turned around a massive stone pillar and vanished from Long Yi’s view.

Long Yi hurriedly followed but found a desolate scene ahead, with only a Taotie-patterned stone pillar standing silently.

"Pretending to be supernatural!"

Long Yi sneered, about to continue his search, when suddenly his body froze.

He lowered his head slowly and saw a pale hand emerge from his chest, gripping a still-beating heart.

"You..."

Long Yi turned his head with difficulty, seeing Ling Xiao standing behind him at some unknown time, with an expression that was half a smile and half a frown.

The most terrifying thing for Long Yi was that Ling Xiao’s eyes had turned completely black, devoid of any whites, like two bottomless black holes.

"Thanks for your ring."

Ling Xiao whispered into Long Yi’s ear before withdrawing his arm.

Long Yi fell to the ground with a crash, his final consciousness witnessing the pattern on the Taotie Stone Pillar start moving, greedily absorbing the blood gushing from his chest...

...

"Why hasn’t Senior Brother Long returned yet?"

Gong Xuefeng nervously rubbed his hands; they had been waiting for an hour.

"Should we go take a look?" suggested another cultivator.

After a brief discussion, they decided to search in the direction Long Yi had gone.

They hadn’t walked far when a harrowing scream broke the silence, raising the hair on everyone’s neck.

"It’s Senior Brother Long’s voice!"

The faces of the Luotian Sect members changed dramatically, and they hurried to the source of the sound.

As they pushed through the last stretch of Stone Forest, the scene before them was like falling into an ice cave—

Long Yi’s corpse lay on its back, a bowl-sized bloody hole in his chest, his heart nowhere to be found.

Even more bizarre, the pattern on the adjacent Taotie Stone Pillar was glowing with an eerie red light, as if it had just enjoyed a sumptuous meal.

"It’s... it’s the Taotie Beast Soul!"

Gong Xuefeng’s voice trembled.

"Senior Brother Long was devoured for his soul!"

Everyone took several steps back in tandem, fearing the pattern on the stone pillar would come alive and attack them.

"Quick, get out of here!"

Someone shouted, and the members of the Luotian Sect immediately scattered like frightened animals, scrambling to escape the basin.

They failed to notice that Long Yi’s Void Ring had vanished.

...

"A bunch of cowards."

Inside the cave, Ling Xiao toyed with an ancient-looking ring, a mocking smile on his lips.

Black light gleamed at his fingertips, effortlessly breaking through the restriction left by Long Yi, as he probed the ring’s space with his Divine Sense.

"Quite a harvest."

He flipped his palm, and the Ancient Reincarnation Bell appeared in his hand.

The runes on the bronze bell sensed Ling Xiao’s aura, emitting a faint glow.

"So it really is you..." Ling Xiao murmured softly.

The Ancient Reincarnation Bell landed heavily on the cave floor, stirring up a dust storm.

Ling Xiao waved his right hand, and a Qing Feng materialized out of nowhere, sweeping the dust out of the cave.

He crouched down, checked Gu Sheng’s pulse, and his expression softened slightly.

"Fortunately, his life is quite resilient."

He retrieved a Jade Bottle from his pocket and poured out a red Elixir Pill, the size of a dragon’s eye.

The surface of the pill had golden runes, emitting a faint glow in the dim cave.

"Seven-turn Soul Pill, lucky for you, kid."

Ling Xiao pried open Gu Sheng’s mouth and stuffed the elixir pill inside, then placed his right hand on Gu Sheng’s chest, channeling a pure spiritual power to aid in refining the medicinal power.

As the spiritual power flowed in, Gu Sheng’s pale face gradually gained some color.

The deep wounds that reached the bone were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, new flesh wriggled and interwove.

"This recovery power... it’s simply inhuman."

Ling Xiao was somewhat surprised and intensified the spiritual power output.

Under the combined effects of the elixir pill and spiritual power, the damaged meridians within Gu Sheng’s body began to repair, and the dried-up Dantian gradually saw spiritual power circulating.

A quarter of an hour later, Ling Xiao retracted his hand and stood up, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead.

"Finally snatched back a life."

He murmured softly, walked to the cave entrance, sat cross-legged, and vigilantly watched the outside.

...

Uncertain of how much time had passed, Gu Sheng’s fingers suddenly twitched.

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the rough stone ceiling of the cave.

Consciousness gradually returned, and memories before the coma surged back—Long Yi’s pursuit, resistance with the Ancient Reincarnation Bell, and finally escaping towards Ling Xiao with all his might...

"Awake?"

A familiar voice came from the cave entrance.

Gu Sheng turned his head with difficulty, seeing Ling Xiao sitting there with his back to him.

"Where... is this?"

Gu Sheng’s voice was hoarse, his throat feeling like it had been burned by fire.

Ling Xiao turned around and tossed over a water pouch.

"A mountain cave on the outskirts of Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge. You were unconscious for three days."

Gu Sheng took the water pouch and gulped down a few mouthfuls, the cool liquid soothing his parched throat.

He tried to sit up; though his muscles were still sore, he was able to move freely.

"Where is Long Yi?"

Gu Sheng looked around but didn’t see the enemy’s figure.

Ling Xiao’s mouth slightly curved.

"Dead."

Those two simple words made Gu Sheng’s pupils shrink.

He clearly remembered Long Yi being a Tribulation Crossing Realm expert, while Ling Xiao appeared to be merely at the Nascent Soul Stage.

"Did you kill him?"

Gu Sheng asked tentatively.

Ling Xiao did not answer directly but threw over an item.

Gu Sheng caught it, discovering it was the Ancient Reincarnation Bell, its bronze surface still etched with ancient runes, though its luster was somewhat dull.

"Returned to its owner."

Ling Xiao said lightly.

"I used you to draw Long Yi’s attention and seized the chance to deliver a fatal blow."

Gu Sheng caressed the surface of the bell, feeling the familiar fluctuations, and felt slightly at ease.

He looked up at Ling Xiao.

"Thank you. But... how did you do it?"

The gap between Tribulation Crossing Realm and Nascent Soul Stage is like a chasm; normally, it’s impossible to cross the levels and kill.

Ling Xiao was somewhat amused.

"Some things are safer the less you know."

He paused.

"You just need to understand that now we are even."

Gu Sheng wisely did not pursue further questions.

He checked his own condition and found that although external injuries were healed, his internal spiritual power had only recovered to less than thirty percent.

"I need to meditate for a while."

Gu Sheng sat cross-legged and activated the Taiqing Unity Skill.

In an instant, the spiritual energy of nature within the cave seemed to be summoned, frantically surging toward Gu Sheng.

The concentration of spiritual energy was so high, it formed a faint mist around Gu Sheng.

"Stop!"

Ling Xiao suddenly shouted.

"Are you trying to attract all the ferocious beings from Ten Thousand Ghost Ridge?"

Gu Sheng realized his mistake and quickly restrained his cultivation technique.

The vortex of spiritual energy gradually dissipated, but threads of spiritual mist still lingered.

"Sorry, forgot about the situation."

Gu Sheng smiled awkwardly and took out a crimson, blood-like crystal stone from his bosom.

The moment the crystal appeared, the temperature inside the cave abruptly rose.

It seemed as though flames flowed within the crystal stone, emitting a striking energy fluctuation.

"Vermilion Bird Tear Stone?"

Ling Xiao raised his eyebrow.

"You’ve got quite a number of good things on you."

Gu Sheng did not explain, simply held the crystal stone in his palm and began slowly absorbing the energy within.

Compared to directly absorbing nature’s spiritual energy, this method is extravagant, but more concealed and safe.