Chapter 55: Great Derivation Spirit Refining (Requesting Monthly Tickets!)

Shao Heng retreated a few steps, leaving no trace of her movement.

Captivated by the fragmented moon, Yu Wen had long since lost his patience and charged forward. However, three clumps of black mist suddenly emerged from nowhere, rushing toward him as well.

"Watch out! They are Yin Ghosts of the late First Realm!"

Jiang Feng shouted sharply while performing hand seals. A massive hand of magical power gripped one clump of black mist, while Bai Hong’s cyan silk ribbon flew out from her sleeve, instantly entangling another clump.

Yu Wen was startled at first and intended to retreat quickly, but seeing his two companions step in to help, his courage surged once more.

His entire body glowed with golden light as his physique became even more burly. He threw out both fists, striking the Yin Ghost directly in front of him.

*Swish!*

A streak of light shot forth, suddenly splitting into three.

Ignoring the entanglement of the three companions, the light instantly pierced through the black mist, transforming into three ropes of light that bound Jiang Feng and the others on the spot.

Zhao Qingtu walked forward slowly, his expression unperturbed, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He looked toward Shao Heng, who was leaning against the wall, and finally spoke.

"A skillful method, Fellow Daoist."

"The labyrinth map of this Flying Moon Mirror is inherently complex, changing every quarter-hour according to the laws of the Eight Trigrams. There are eight paths in total, but finding this single 'true' path is the greatest challenge, requiring one to constantly calculate the shifting orientation of the maze."

"I have crossed paths with these three fools once or twice. Without such ability, I suspect only you could have achieved this."

"Being merely a mid-stage First Realm cultivator, you are unable to deal with a swarm of late First Realm Yin Ghosts. Thus, you lured these three here to serve as your pawns. As long as they delay the ghosts, you can seize this opportunity to claim the true inheritance of the labyrinth, is that not so?"

The three bound by the light ropes had been prepared; they knew this girl named Shao Heng was likely not simple, but they had assumed she was merely competing for the fragmented moon.

If three late First Realm cultivators were still afraid of what a mid-stage cultivator could pull off, they might as well forget about entering secret realms or practicing cultivation altogether and go back to farming in the mortal world.

They never expected that Shao Heng’s target was not the fragmented moon, but the true treasure of this labyrinth.

Shao Heng clapped her hands. There was no longer a trace of shyness on the face belonging to "Jiang Yunjiang"; instead, it was full of playfulness.

"How could you be so timely, Fellow Daoist Zhao?"

"With your peak First Realm cultivation, if I had practiced for a few more years, I might have been able to contend. But as it stands, isn't everything just in vain, merely preparing the wedding dress for you?"

Zhao Qingtu returned the smile. "I shall not decline your compliment."

*Bang!*

After replying, he did not hesitate and charged directly toward the white vortex. But just as he approached, an extremely dense cloud of black mist lunged toward him!

A Yin Ghost of the peak First Realm!

Starlight surged from Zhao Qingtu's body. Fortunately, his reaction was timely, and he directly blocked the attacking Yin energy.

But at that very moment, Shao Heng flicked her finger, shooting out a crimson blood arrow. Zhao Qingtu failed to dodge in time, and his clothes were soaked in blood. An extremely foul, fishy stench filled the air, and the Yin Ghost became even more agitated.

Even though Yin Ghosts possessed cultivation, their intelligence was extraordinarily low; they acted on instinct. Smelling the blood qi sent it into a frenzy, and it began to bite at Zhao Qingtu relentlessly.

Shao Heng secretly sent a voice transmission to Ao Chuan: "You have quite a heavy palate. This blood left behind by the spirit dolphin meat is so pungent and foul; I'm surprised you actually like eating it."

"What I love is fresh! This is clearly old, rancid meat you've left out for too long! I wouldn't dream of eating it," Ao Chuan retorted, defending his reputation.

While Shao Heng was communicating, her figure had already rushed toward the white vortex, and a white shadow flew out from her right sleeve. Ao Chuan's speed was so extreme that even Zhao Qingtu could not see it clearly; he could only watch helplessly as the four fragments of the moon vanished.

Only when half of Shao Heng's body had entered the vortex did she turn her head and smile.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, let me teach you a lesson: don't start opening bottles of fine wine halfway through a battle."

How could Zhao Qingtu not understand? He realized that a clever female cultivator like her likely had ways to deal with three late-stage Yin Ghosts. Dragging Jiang Feng and the other two along was clearly because of this peak First Realm Yin Ghost!

He suddenly raised his head and laughed loudly, "Is that so, Fellow Daoist? I return the sentiment!"

"The Big Dipper shifts, and the stars revolve!"

Seven star points lit up on his body one after another. Suddenly, Shao Heng felt a strange spatial force surging around her.

Her expression instantly darkened, and her Yellow Bud magical power erupted.

That eerie spatial force transformed into a silver ring, about to fall upon Shao Heng. However, her left hand glowed like a ribbon of moonlight while her right hand shone like molten sunfire; she directly grabbed the ring, obstructing its power from activating.

Coincidentally, having suffered from spatial turbulence when she was sent into the Mysterious Moon Secret Realm, she had gained some insight into the laws of spatial flow.

Zhao Qingtu's expression went from clear skies to light rain, then from light rain to clear, and now directly to a torrential downpour!

Everything happened in a flash. Seeing that Shao Heng's entire body was about to enter the vortex, he had to make a decisive move. Borrowing the starlight to shift his form, he moved with incredible speed, barely managing to fall into the vortex in sync with her.

The vortex vanished instantly, leaving only the three bound by light ropes. They finally managed to break free, their faces filled with indignation, yet they still had to contend with the peak First Realm Yin Ghost.

"Shao Heng, is it? I'll remember that face!" Yu Wen spat fiercely.

"It doesn't matter. She is young yet has mid-stage cultivation; she hasn't been in the inner sect for long. She might hide her face and forge her name, but once we return to the sect and conduct a thorough search to narrow the scope, we will definitely drag her out!" Bai Hong's willow-leaf brows were furrowed in rage.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the vortex, Shao Heng and Zhao Qingtu tumbled to the ground.

They stabilized themselves almost simultaneously—one holding a bow, the other a compass. In the next instant, they were poised for a lethal struggle.

"Impressive methods. May I ask your esteemed name?"

Zhao Qingtu's eyes were full of interest; this was the first time he had faced consecutive setbacks.

Shao Heng did not answer. Just as she was about to release her arrow, she noticed the ground beneath them vibrating repeatedly.

She exchanged a glance with Zhao Qingtu, temporarily setting aside their magical tools to observe the situation.

They seemed to be inside a hexahedral space. The six walls were pure white, and in the center floated a scroll inlaid with gold and jade.

"It looks worthy of me," Shao Heng commented silently to herself.

Zhao Qingtu intended to use his cultivation to seize it first, but as soon as he flew up, he was struck back by a mysterious force. Then, in front of both him and Shao Heng, a diagram formed of faint light appeared.

"Arithmetic?"

Zhao Qingtu looked at Shao Heng, his eyes unable to hide his smugness.

"The aura of your magical power suggests you are a disciple of the True One Sect. This trial requires us to see who can solve this arithmetic problem first; whoever does will obtain the inheritance. Our Woxing Sect is famous for divination, the Eight Trigrams, and Feng Shui; arithmetic is our specialty."

"It seems that in this round, my victory will be unearned."

Shao Heng didn't care about his nonsense.

She stared intently at the contents on the light-condensed paper, scrutinizing it carefully as her mind began to deconstruct, extract, and deduce.

Zhao Qingtu also immersed himself, beginning to analyze the problem.

To find the "true" exit of this labyrinth, a First Realm cultivator required extraordinary memory and calculation abilities; essentially, it was a search for someone with exceptional spiritual sense.

Zhao Qingtu was such a person, and having broken through to the peak of the First Realm, his spiritual sense had greatly increased. This problem, which should have been as difficult as reaching the heavens, was now solvable in his eyes.

When he had completed approximately one-quarter of the solution and was still deeply focused, he was forcibly expelled from the space by a sudden force!

Zhao Qingtu looked up in disbelief, only to see that the light membrane in front of the girl had already dissipated. She had flown forward and grasped the scroll.

"The [Great Derivation Spirit Refining Art]? So it is an immortal technique specifically for cultivating spiritual sense. No wonder the labyrinth and the arithmetic problems were arranged this way."

Shao Heng looked down at Zhao Qingtu, who had been ejected by the spatial repulsion, and spoke nonchalantly.

"Tsk tsk, you're not quite up to it, are you, male cultivator?"

"If you're this bad, you'll just have to practice more."