Chapter 688: Purple Heart
"Is it snowing?" Flurries of snowflakes drifted down onto Yue Yu's head.
It was currently summer in the Manghuang Realm, and this definitely didn't look like proper snow. Yet, the icy coolness melting in her palm silently confirmed its identity as snow.
"It must be his doing again." She vaguely sensed that the source of this climatic anomaly was the "Polluted Land" she had recently teleported dozens of kilometers away.
However, she wasn't in the mood to join the commotion. She simply walked back into the house, thinking, "Let whoever wants to stir trouble, stir trouble."
......
Across the prairie, three figures, one in front and two behind, chased endlessly.
The one running ahead was a vibrant young woman, dressed like a scholar, yet her gender was unmistakable from her delicate features. She leaped forward like a dragonfly skimming the water, each touch of her toes sending her body forward by over ten meters. Clearly, she had cultivated an excellent lightness skill.
Chasing behind her were a man and a woman.
The woman's face was clouded with a dark fury, her hatred etched upon it, as if she wished the young woman would perish on the spot. Her strides were like a giant's, each step a thunderous thud, leaving a three-inch deep footprint behind her.
"Damn it, why is it suddenly snowing?" It was summer, and the young woman wore only a thin layer of clothing. Even as a martial artist, her lips were turning blue and purple from the sudden onslaught of wind and snow.
Though the snow raged, she dared not halt her steps for a moment. If the "tigress" behind her caught up, her fate would surely be worse than death.
After running for several li in the snow, the biting cold seeped into her body, and she began to feel her mind grow hazy. She had to repeatedly bite the tip of her tongue, using the pain to sharpen her senses.
"Heaven truly means to destroy you, you little vixen! How dare you try to snatch my man?" The middle-aged woman behind her, charging through the snow like a tank, clearly possessed a much stronger resistance to the cold than the young woman.
Conversely, the man beside her was also beginning to succumb to the chill.
"No, if I keep traveling in this blizzard, even if the tigress behind me doesn't catch up, the snow itself will kill me."
But she had no way to break free from this predicament; she could only steel her mind and flee desperately.
The snow grew heavier, her body temperature plummeted, and her vision began to darken. Only a single breath pushing her forward remained.
Just as the situation grew increasingly dire, the young woman's eyes lit up, as a patch of green suddenly appeared before her.
Without even time to think, she plunged headfirst into this verdant expanse.
Stepping inside felt as though she had entered another world entirely.
"Am I... dead?" The young woman doubted her very existence, for this place was simply too different from the outside.
She greedily basked in the warm sunlight, and her strength, exhausted by the cold and intense exertion, seemed to recover rapidly.
The snow was less than ten meters behind her, yet it felt as distant as a scene on television.
"I didn't let you die. Can you die?" A voice like a hellish demon eerily emerged from behind the young woman.
To be fair, the woman in purple who had been chasing the young woman wasn't really a "tank"; at most, she was a little plump, seemingly of similar build to the somewhat timid man behind her.
The young woman, slumped on the ground, gasping for breath, tried to struggle to her feet. But having entered this comfort zone, and with that surge of single-minded energy having dissipated, she found she couldn't move.
"This place has a nice environment. You picked a good grave site." The woman in purple knew that the other party's stamina had reached its limit and she had absolutely no strength left to escape.
"Qing Zixin, you're chasing me so fiercely. Do you really think I don't know it's for the Divine Court Token, and not for this useless wretch?"
"It's good that you know. Hand over the Divine Court Token, and I can leave you a pretty, complete corpse."
As the two spoke, they clearly paid no mind to the man beside them.
"I..." The man seemed to want to interject.
"'I' what? This cheap hussy just wants to use you to steal the Divine Court Token kept in the family. You fool, do you really think she likes you?"
"You..."
"Sigh, hopeless." Qing Zixin was utterly disappointed with the man behind her.
Having married into her family ten years ago, he had always maintained this spineless character. He had finally stood up for himself once, only to be tricked by a vixen.
The Divine Court Token was a token bestowed by the Divine Court of the Manghuang Realm—which was the Ark—upon families that had made significant contributions. One Divine Court Token could be exchanged for an opportunity to join the Divine Court, or for a high-tier cultivation legacy.
"Amidst the swirling snow, only this place is vibrant with spring. There must be an ancient treasure appearing. Why don't you and I join forces to secure the treasure first? This is far more valuable than an Outer Divine Court Token."
Divine Court Tokens were also divided into Outer Divine Court Tokens and Inner Divine Court Tokens. An Outer Token, at most, allowed the holder to become a peripheral member of the Divine Court, or to exchange it for a Fourth-Tier legacy. For the flourishing Qing family of treasure hunters, it wasn't an overly precious item.
Only the exceedingly rare Inner Token could grant the holder direct entry into the Divine Court's core, or be exchanged for a legacy directly pointing to the Six Tiers. That was the true family heirloom.
"Hand over the Divine Court Token first, and I'll spare your life for now." Qing Zixin pointed her sword at the young woman.
"Here." The young woman reluctantly took a square, non-metallic, non-jade token from her bosom.
"The situation is unclear, so I'll keep you, vixen, to scout the way."
Outside, Qing Zixin would certainly have ended her life with a single sword stroke. But now, it was different. An extra piece of cannon fodder to scout increased the chances of obtaining the treasure.
......
The three walked deeper into the Secret Realm, but not far along, the young woman looked at the ground in surprise and exclaimed, "Look, aren't these Spirit Runes?"
"Spirit Runes?" Qing Zixin and her husband followed the young woman's gaze and indeed saw numerous winding patterns.
They then looked up, and at some point, these Spirit Runes covered the entire mountainside. Moreover, when they brought their hands near these patterns, they felt a terrifying heat, like a roaring furnace.
The three stared, gradually becoming mesmerized. Their eyes filled with light, and their limbs began to move involuntarily, as if flames were spreading over their bodies.
"Amazing! These Spirit Runes hide a terrifying lightness skill, the Blazing Body! When cultivated to its peak, it allows one's form to spread like flames!" the young woman exclaimed first.
"Nonsense! This is clearly the Sky-Burning Sword Art! One sword burning the heavens, banishing all demons!" Qing Zixin brandished her long sword.
"I seem to have seen a set of fist techniques..." the man said, less confidently.
"..."
The three disagreed, unable to convince each other, and so they each began to practice their respective martial arts.
The more they practiced, the more profound and extensive they felt their chosen techniques were. Qing Zixin even believed that the Sky-Burning Sword Art she had comprehended was more wonderful than her family's Six-Tier legacy sword art.
Any demon or monster would be reduced to ashes and smoke under a perfected strike of this sword.
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