Chapter 184: Sword Tomb Mist! What Should I Do If Senior Sister’s Protective Instincts Are Too Strong?

The mist in the core area of the Sword Tomb was much denser than that on the outer periphery.

This was not just ordinary water mist; it was mixed with the grievances of Sword Cultivators who had died in battle here for thousands of years, as well as the rust scent emitted by countless broken swords.

Inhaling a single breath made one's lungs ache faintly.

"Everyone stay close and don't get separated."

Jiang Wanqing walked at the very front of the team, her taie sword not sheathed, but instead held in her hand.

This number one divine weapon of the Righteous Path was truly overbearing.

It did not even require Jiang Wanqing to deliberately urge her spiritual power; the faint golden light naturally emitted by the sword body forcefully drove back the gray poisonous miasma within a radius of three zhang around them.

Forming an absolutely safe vacuum zone around them.

Jiang Wanqing's Aura at this moment was simply like a female god of war inspecting her territory.

Not only did she walk in front to clear the way, but she also turned back from time to time, her gaze always falling on Gu Lan first.

"Junior Brother, if you feel a tightness in your chest, stay closer to me."

Although Jiang Wanqing's voice remained cold and aloof, anyone could hear the concern within it.

"The righteous Aura of the taie sword can suppress evil spirits. Since you have worn those evil objects of the Demonic Path all year round, it is inevitable that Devilish Qi has accumulated in your body. Being tainted with more righteous Aura will be good for you."

Gu Lan walked in the middle of the team and could only let out a dry laugh upon hearing this.

"Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister, I feel much better."

Better my ass!

Gu Lan muttered inwardly.

Inside the "original-flavored sword sheath" hanging from his waist, the Soul-Devouring Sword Spirit was curled up at this moment, trembling wildly in his mind.

[Big Boss! Make the mistress stay away! That golden light makes me feel extremely uncomfortable all over! I feel like I'm about to be purified!]

Not only was the sword spirit suffering, but Gu Lan himself was also not very comfortable.

He was now a solid Purple Extreme Golden Core Cultivator, and what flowed in his body was the absolute top-tier demonic essence.

The righteous Aura of the taie sword shining on him was like boiling a frog in warm water; although not fatal, it made one feel itchy all over.

Yet he could not show it, and could only bite the bullet and put on an expression of "feeling very comfortable bathed in the glory of the Righteous Path".

"Pfft."

Hongxiu, who was walking beside Gu Lan, couldn't help but laugh out loud when she saw his deflated expression.

Jiang Wanqing immediately turned her head, her brows slightly furrowed: "Junior Sister Hongxiu, what are you laughing at? In such a dangerous place, please be serious."

"It's nothing, Senior Sister."

Hongxiu immediately restrained her smile, putting on an obedient appearance, but her eyes glanced playfully at Gu Lan.

"I just feel that Senior Sister is truly so good to Junior Brother Gu. For Junior Brother Gu to have a Senior Sister like you to protect him is truly a blessing cultivated over eight lifetimes."

Jiang Wanqing calmly withdrew her gaze, her tone taking it for granted.

"He is my Junior Brother, so I naturally must protect him comprehensively. It was my negligence before, but in the future, I will not let him suffer the slightest grievance."

Hearing this, Hongxiu rolled her eyes frantically in her heart.

She quietly leaned closer to Gu Lan, condensing her voice into a line, and directly transmitted her voice:

[Junior Brother, did you hear that? You eat this soft rice so steadily. Senior Sister even took out the taie sword to act as an air purifier for you.]

[Does that Purple Extreme Golden Core in your body feel exceptionally wonderful and tangy when illuminated by this divine weapon of the Righteous Path?]

Gu Lan glanced at her sideways and transmitted his voice back in retaliation:

[Senior Sister, stop gloating. Don't forget you are also from the Hehuan Sect. If your Devilish Qi is detected by the taie sword, Senior Sister will split you in half first.]

[What I cultivate is the top-tier breath-concealing technique. As long as I don't make a move, no one can tell. Unlike you, still hanging the Demon Lord's personal sword sheath on your waist and swaggering through the streets.]

Hongxiu's transmitted tone exuded a hint of sourness.

The two bickered secretly in the middle of the team, while Luluo and Lanyu walking in the back were much more well-behaved.

Luluo walked while looking around, tightly clutching a glowing Spirit Stone in her hand for illumination.

"Senior Brother, why is this fog getting thicker and thicker? I feel like something is watching us ahead."

Luluo pulled Gu Lan's sleeve with some fear.

Lanyu gripped her sword hilt, and her gaze instantly became sharp; she had also sensed something was wrong.

"There is Killing Intent," Lanyu said in a low voice.

Just at the moment Lanyu's voice fell.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

From the thick gray mist around them, several extremely faint sounds of breaking through the air suddenly came out.

There was no roar of a Yao Beast, nor any violent fluctuation of spiritual power.

Only three gray afterimages, like ghosts, pierced towards Gu Lan and Hongxiu in the middle of the team from three different directions at extremely bizarre angles!

It was an attack by Sword Cultivators!

And they were Sword Cultivators proficient in assassination!

"Courting death!"

Jiang Wanqing reacted the fastest. Without even turning her head, she swung her sword with a backhand strike.

The golden Sword Qi of the taie sword carved a dazzling half-moon arc in the thick mist.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Three crisp sounds of metal clashing rang out simultaneously.

Those three ambushing afterimages were directly blasted away by the overbearing and unmatched Sword Qi of the taie sword, slamming heavily into the piles of abandoned broken swords around.

Everyone looked closely.

That was not any living Cultivator at all!

Instead, they were three mummified corpses covered all over in grayish-brown corpse spots, with dim green ghost fires burning in their eye sockets!

Their arms had grown together with the long swords they used during their lifetime, the sword bodies and bones fused into one, looking indescribably bizarre and disgusting.

"They are sword ghosts."

Lanyu stepped forward, her tone solemn.

"The Sword Cultivators who died in the Sword Tomb, because their obsessions were too deep, their corpses did not decay, and their Souls were eroded by Evil Qi, ultimately transformed into monsters that only know how to kill."

"They retain a portion of their sword-technique instincts from life, and they are not affected by the poisonous miasma here, making them very troublesome."

"Roar—"

The three sword ghosts that had been knocked flying crawled up from the ground.

They did not shrink back because of Jiang Wanqing's strength; instead, as if angered by the pure Aura of the taie sword, they let out a leaky-wind-like roar from their throats.

Immediately after, the thick mist around them began to roll violently.

Pairs, tens of pairs, hundreds of pairs of dim green ghost eyes lit up one after another in the depths of the thick mist.

The dense footsteps and the scraping sounds of weapons dragging on the ground made one's scalp tingle.

"We are surrounded."

Hongxiu put away her previous languor, and the red silk ribbon in her hand had slid into her palm, ready to strike at any time.

At a rough glance, there were at least two or three hundred sword ghosts surrounding them, and among them, a few even exuded a fierce Aura comparable to the Early Golden Core Stage.

"You all step back and form a defensive formation."

Jiang Wanqing stepped forward, blocking everyone behind her.

The taie sword in her hand pointed obliquely at the ground, her white clothes fluttering loudly in the chilly wind.

"Senior Sister, the number is too great, let's attack together!" Gu Lan said as he prepared to draw his sword.

"I said, step back."

Jiang Wanqing's tone grew a bit heavier as she looked back at Gu Lan.

"Your injuries are not fully healed yet (she thought Gu Lan's previous vomiting of blood was due to severe injuries), and the Devilish Qi in your body is unstable. Using true essence at a time like this will only increase the burden."

"I am at the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm, and I am also the taie sword master; a mere few hundred evil spirits cannot do anything to me."

With that, she didn't give Gu Lan any chance to refuse.

Jiang Wanqing tapped her toes lightly on the ground, her entire body like an arrow released from a string, charging directly into the dense crowd of sword ghosts ahead.

"taie sword Technique—Subdue Demons!"

Boom!

Dazzling golden light instantly erupted in the gloomy Sword Tomb.

Jiang Wanqing's figure was so fast that people couldn't see it clearly at all; one could only see streaks of golden Sword Qi shuttling and interweaving among the corpses.

The taie sword truly lived up to its name as the number one divine weapon of the Righteous Path.

Those sword ghosts, as hard as iron and impossible to chop down with ordinary Magic Treasures, were as fragile as dead wood in front of the taie sword.

Every time a sword was swung, several sword ghosts were bound to be cut in half at the waist.

Furthermore, the righteous Aura attached to the taie sword directly ignited the Evil Qi at the wounds, giving those sword ghosts no chance to reorganize and recover, turning them directly into flying ash.

"Such powerful Sword Intent."

Lanyu watched Jiang Wanqing slaughtering everywhere among the corpse crowd, a trace of yearning and awe flashing in her eyes.

"After obtaining the taie sword, Senior Sister's entire Dao of Sword Realm has sublimated."

"At this speed, these sword ghosts are simply not enough for her to kill alone."

Gu Lan stood at the back, looking at Jiang Wanqing's near-invincible back, clicking his tongue inwardly.

Senior Sister's combat power right now was indeed a bit off the charts.

The Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm coupled with the attribute suppression of the taie sword was simply a ruthless bulldozer.

However, Gu Lan did not completely lower his guard.

His Divine Sense was quietly released, covering a range of dozens of zhang around them.

Suddenly.

He acutely sensed that behind a sword-mountain ruin to their right, an extremely concealed and chilly Aura was rapidly approaching.

This Aura was not a sword ghost, but a living person!

"Lanyu, to the right!"

Gu Lan suddenly shouted in a low voice.

Lanyu's reaction was extremely fast.

Almost the instant Gu Lan spoke, she had already drawn her sword from its sheath and violently spun her body to the right.

At that moment, a black poisoned dart shot out from the thick mist, heading straight for Lanyu's face.

"Clang!"

Lanyu swung her sword to parry, accurately knocking down the poisoned dart.

The poisoned dart fell to the ground, instantly corroding a piece of stone into black water.

"What person, get out here!" Lanyu shouted coldly.

"Heh heh heh… As expected of Disciples of the Qingyun Sect, your reactions are quite fast."

Accompanied by a burst of eerie, strange laughter.

Five Cultivators wearing grayish-brown Taoist robes and complexions as pale as paper walked out from the mist.

A rich stench of corpses emanated from their bodies, and they held various bizarre Magical Artifacts in their hands, including Soul-recalling banners and mourning staffs.

"They are people from the Corpse-Driving Sect."

The Corpse-Driving Sect was an extremely disgusting faction in the Demonic Path, specializing in robbing Ancient Tombs and refining zombie Puppets.

The leading hook-nosed Cultivator looked greedily at Lanyu and Hongxiu, and finally his gaze fell on Gu Lan.

"That crazy woman Jiang Wanqing is having a blast killing upfront and completely can't take care of you."

"Brothers, capture these stragglers!"

"These women have decent looks, just right to take back to make into 'pink skeletons'. As for that pretty boy, drain his blood directly to feed my bronze-armored corpses!"

As soon as the words fell, the hook-nosed Cultivator waved the Soul-recalling banner in his hand.

In the thick mist behind him, four zombies covered all over in copper-coin-sized scales immediately leaped out, lunging towards the three of them with a fishy wind.

"Bronze-armored corpses? Equivalent to Body Cultivators at the Peak of the Late Foundation Establishment stage."

Hongxiu sneered, "Just relying on these few rotten pieces of wood, you want to capture this lady?"

Hongxiu was about to make a move.

But Gu Lan pressed down on her shoulder.

"Senior Sister, protect Luluo. Let Lanyu practice her skills."

Gu Lan turned his head to look at Lanyu.

"Senior Sister Lanyu, you've been watching Senior Sister's sword technique the whole time, your hands must be itching by now, right?"

"Leave these pieces of trash to you."

Lanyu did not speak, but the Battle Intent in her eyes explained everything.

Holding her long sword, she headed straight to meet those four bronze-armored corpses.

"Ignorant and reckless girl!" The hook-nosed Cultivator sneered dismissively, "My bronze-armored corpses are impervious to swords and spears; that broken iron sword of yours won't even leave a mark!"

Lanyu did not answer.

Her movement technique was agile, instantly dodging the lunge of a bronze-armored corpse, and with a backhand strike, she stabbed it on the back.

"Ting!"

Sparks flew in all directions.

Just as the hook-nosed man said, although Lanyu's sword was sharp, it could only leave a white mark on the scales of the bronze-armored corpse.

The bronze-armored corpse roared angrily, turning around and swinging a claw.

Lanyu's brows furrowed slightly, and she was forced into defense.

Under the siege of the four infinitely strong, tireless bronze-armored corpses, she gradually fell into a disadvantage, and fine beads of sweat seeped out on her forehead.

"Lanyu."

Just as Lanyu was forced to retreat step by step, Gu Lan's unhurried voice suddenly came over.

"A sword is an instrument for killing, not used for blacksmithing."

"Although bronze-armored corpses are covered in scales all over, the joint connections are still dead flesh."

"Lower your wrist by half an inch, let your sword take a unorthodox path. Do not use brute force to chop and slash; use the sword tip to pry at the gaps in its joints. Use the surrounding mist to cover your sword path."

Hearing Gu Lan's guidance, Lanyu's eyes suddenly lit up.

Without any hesitation, she did exactly as Gu Lan said.

When a bronze-armored corpse swung its fist to smash down again.

Lanyu sank her wrist, and her long sword bizarrely traced an arc, avoiding the hard fist surface under the cover of the thick mist.

The sword tip pierced with absolute precision into the scale gap on the inner side of the bronze-armored corpse's elbow!

"Pfft!"

The sword blade sank three points into the flesh.

Lanyu gave a fierce pry.

"Snap!"

The entire right arm of that bronze-armored corpse was actually directly dismantled by this light sword strike of hers!

"How is this possible?!"

The hook-nosed Cultivator widened his eyes, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Lanyu ignored him. After finding the trick, her sword technique became even sharper and more bizarre.

In no more than a dozen rounds.

The four bronze-armored corpses, which were originally impervious to swords and spears, were dismantled into pieces by her, falling to the ground and unable to get back up ever again.

Lanyu withdrew her sword and stood, her breathing slightly rapid.

She turned her head to look at Gu Lan, who was standing in the back directing the situation, and on that habitually ice-cold pretty face, an unprecedented faint smile unexpectedly appeared.

That smile was like an iceberg snow lotus blooming, stunning beyond compare.

"Thank you."

Lanyu said softly, her eyes full of admiration.

Gu Lan's seemingly casual remarks of guidance directly hit the vital point; this sharp insight into the battle situation far surpassed ordinary people.

Hongxiu watched from the side and curled her lips directly.

[You're really something; you can even make an ice block like Lanyu laugh.]

Hongxiu transmitted: [Be careful later when Senior Sister slaughters her way back and sees this scene, she'll split you in half along with her.]

"You… just what kind of people are you?!"

The five Corpse-Driving Sect Cultivators, having lost their bronze-armored corpses, were scared out of their wits by now and wanted to turn and run.

"You come when you want, and leave when you want?"

Gu Lan sneered, just preparing to make a move to resolve these few minions.

Suddenly.

The thick mist ahead rolled violently.

Jiang Wanqing, holding the taie sword, strode back out from the mist.

A few drops of black foul blood stained her white clothes, but her Aura had climbed to its Peak.

Hundreds of sword ghosts had already been slaughtered by her completely.

She coldly glanced at those Corpse-Driving Sect Cultivators who were escaping.

She couldn't even be bothered to say an extra word.

She waved the taie sword through the air.

A dazzling golden Sword Qi roared out, directly splitting those five people together with the surrounding thick mist into two halves!

Instant kill.

Having finished all this, Jiang Wanqing walked back to the team expressionless.

When she saw the remains of the bronze-armored corpses on the ground, and then looked at Lanyu, who still had a faint smile hanging on the corners of her mouth.

Jiang Wanqing's brows slightly twitched.

She walked straight up to Gu Lan, looked him up and down, and after confirming that he hadn't lost a single hair, she then spoke coldly:

"When I was not here just now."

"Were you chatting very happily?"

Gu Lan's hairs on his back instantly stood on end.