No matter how Zhang Ping pressed her, Murong Xi refused to say what that treasure was. In the days that followed, Zhang Ping did not give in to despair. Instead, he trained by the lakeside, hoping to see whether an increase in cultivation could allow his body to heal itself.
Murong Xi, on the other hand, went to cultivate the divine art on the mountain wall.
Days passed one after another.
Zhang Ping's legs never regained any sensation, causing his heart to sink deeper and deeper.
Occasionally, stones would be thrown down from above, and sometimes there were even shouts. Zhang Ping recognized those voices—they belonged to the people chasing Murong Xi—so he did not respond.
Above the lakeside where he stayed, there was a slanted rock wall blocking the view. The people atop the pit could not see him.
Those people refused to leave for a long time, clearly suspecting that they were still alive.
Zhang Ping worried they might come down. He did not dare relax for even a single day.
Although his legs were broken, he was still confident he could ambush anyone who descended.
Even if he were to die, he would drag a few down with him.
…
On this day, snowflakes drifted down from the sky. Zhang Ping opened his eyes and looked up. Snow fluttered down through the sunlight pouring from above, leaving him momentarily dazed.
He had actually been trapped here for a little over one month.
He had considered whether to fly out on his sword. During this time, his vital energy had mostly recovered, but he found it very difficult to maintain balance. Trying to fly out of a pit over six hundred sixty meters deep would be extremely dangerous.
In the end, it was because his skills were not refined enough. Losing both legs made it very hard for him to control the Sword Riding Technique.
Moreover, even if he escaped, running into that group of experts from Murong Manor would likely mean certain death.
"What kind of background does this Murong Manor have, to possess so many formidable experts?" Zhang Ping was full of confusion.
He had never heard of Murong Manor before. With his Nurturing Essence Realm cultivation at the fourth layer, he still found dealing with those experts rather difficult.
Although those experts were far inferior to the Yan Daozong, they were still enough to shock him.
Sure enough, one could not underestimate the people of the world.
The world was simply too vast. Before truly succeeding in cultivation, he could not afford to look down on everything.
As he was lost in thought, Murong Xi emerged from the darkness, holding a red fruit in her hand.
"This is the last one. After eating it, we'll have to go into the lake and see if there are any fish," Murong Xi said as she came to Zhang Ping's side, handing him the red fruit with a sigh.
Zhang Ping glanced at her and said, "In that case, you eat it."
There was still quite a bit of dried food and specially prepared spirit rations from the Cultivation Hall hidden in his storage pouch. He simply had never revealed this to Murong Xi.
Murong Xi did not reply. Instead, she looked toward the snow falling over the lake, her gaze drifting as though lost in thought.
After a while, Zhang Ping asked, "By the way, have you noticed that these fruits are rather special?"
Murong Xi snapped back to attention and looked at him. "How are they special?"
"Recently, I've felt changes in my tendons and bones, with a warm current constantly flowing. I can only think of these fruits, but what's strange is…" Zhang Ping replied, hesitating at the end.
He had not sensed any spiritual energy from the fruits. Logically speaking, they should not have any special effects.
After a moment of hesitation, Murong Xi said, "It has nothing to do with the fruits. It should be the Vermilion Bird blood taking effect."
"Vermilion Bird blood? What is that?" Zhang Ping asked in surprise.
Murong Xi took a deep breath and said, "When you were poisoned before, there was no medicine that could save you. I could only use the Vermilion Bird Blood Jade I carried with me to treat you."
Thinking back to that poisoning incident made Zhang Ping feel rather awkward. A dignified cultivator had actually been poisoned and knocked down by martial world figures—it was utterly absurd. If this got back to the Spirit Management Hall, he would definitely be laughed at.
It was precisely that poisoning that caused his vital energy to suffer heavy damage, after which he was chased all the way here.
However, when he recalled that Bai Ning'er had also once been poisoned by people of the martial world, he felt relieved again.
Human hearts were the most terrifying things in this world—more terrifying than any technique!
"Actually, the treasure they're after is the Vermilion Bird Blood Jade. Now that it's been absorbed by you, if they come down, I'll definitely tell them the truth. When that happens, they'll surely skin you alive and drain your blood," Murong Xi said with a gloating smile.
Zhang Ping rolled his eyes at her and said, "This Vermilion Bird blood couldn't even heal my legs. It doesn't seem that useful."
As soon as he said that, Murong Xi immediately became anxious. "This is the ancestral treasure of our Murong Manor, passed down through generations. Only this single piece of Vermilion Bird Blood Jade remains. My grandfather gave it to me hoping that one day I would give it to—"
"Give it to what?" Zhang Ping asked.
"Nothing!"
Murong Xi turned her head away, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Vermilion Bird blood was extremely yang in nature. Women could not use it—only men could. However, she did not want to tell Zhang Ping this.
Zhang Ping was a cultivator. Even in the dim light here, he could clearly see the changes in Murong Xi's expression.
He did not feel joy—only worry.
This was bad. A worldly love tribulation had arrived!
He, Zhang Ping, was a man determined to pursue longevity. He absolutely could not fall at the hands of this woman.
He immediately changed the subject and asked, "So how is the divine art on the wall? Have you learned it?"
Upon hearing this, Murong Xi instantly became excited. She looked at Zhang Ping and said enthusiastically, "I barely managed to learn it. That divine art is incredibly profound. This time, it truly turned misfortune into blessing. If you don't learn it, you'll regret it later. When that happens, don't come begging me to teach you!"
Zhang Ping curled his lips, but her words about "turning misfortune into blessing" struck a chord with him.
Having consumed the Vermilion Bird blood—did that count as turning misfortune into blessing?
His thoughts drifted along with the falling snow.
The snowfall grew heavier and heavier, continuing day and night without pause.
In the days that followed, the surface of the underground lake slowly began to freeze, cold air rolling across it.
On this day, close to noon, Zhang Ping was still cultivating when he suddenly heard a voice come from above the pit:
"Is Zhang Ping of the Spirit Management Hall here?"
The voice echoed through the pit like muffled thunder. Murong Xi, who was practicing nearby, was also startled.
"The Spirit Management Hall?" Murong Xi looked at Zhang Ping in surprise.
She only knew Zhang Ping's name, not his background. She could not help but feel curious—what kind of force was this so-called Spirit Management Hall?
Upon hearing the voice, Zhang Ping did not respond with joy. He frowned, hesitating, unsure whether he should answer.
Could it be that the people from Murong Manor had already figured out his identity?
But then, why would people from the Qingxiao Sect come looking for him?
There was still some time before the disappearance period he had set for himself. It should not have attracted the attention of the Sword Sect.
Suddenly—
A figure fell from the sky, crashing into the underground lake, smashing through the thin layer of ice and sending water splashing everywhere, causing Zhang Ping and Murong Xi to tense up at once.
Murong Xi moved to Zhang Ping's side, nervously staring at the lake surface.
As the water splashes subsided, a surge of blood-stained water rose up, mixed with severed limbs—gruesome and terrifying.
Zhang Ping seemed to sense something. He abruptly twisted his head to look up and saw a figure descending from the sky on a flying sword, stopping above the lake surface.
Sunlight bathed the man's body. He stood on a flying sword with one foot, his blue robe fluttering, looking like a living immortal. Murong Xi stared, eyes wide.
This person was actually flying in the air!
Xiao Wuqing hovered in midair, his gaze falling on Zhang Ping and Murong Xi. Noticing Zhang Ping's broken legs, he frowned and asked, "Are you Zhang Ping?"
Zhang Ping felt the man looked familiar. Very quickly, he remembered.
Wasn't this Xiao Wuqing, one of the Xiao brothers?
The Xiao brothers were dazzling geniuses within the sect—Zhang Ping had naturally seen them before. He just never imagined that they would come looking for him, which left him both shocked and flattered.
"I am. May I ask why you are looking for me?" Zhang Ping came back to his senses and asked cautiously.
Could it be because he had offended Lord Jing, and Lord Jing had sent Xiao Wuqing to deal with him?
That would be far too ruthless!
As soon as Zhang Ping thought this, he felt it was absurd.
Aside from that, he could think of no other reason why Xiao Wuqing would come for him.
After all, even Hall Master Zhang Yuchun could not mobilize the Xiao brothers.
Seeing how nervous Zhang Ping was, Murong Xi was quite surprised. Previously, when Zhang Ping had been poisoned and chased into a desperate situation, he had never been this flustered.
During this period together, she had developed a sense of admiration for Zhang Ping, though she never voiced it.
So seeing him this tense made her emotions rather complicated.
Hearing Zhang Ping's question, Xiao Wuqing's brows furrowed even more, making Zhang Ping's heart skip a beat.
"Of course we're here to save you. The people above are all your enemies, right?" Xiao Wuqing replied.
This fellow was really a bit foolish. He was already in such a miserable state, yet upon encountering him in a place like this, he was worried about being targeted?
Still, Xiao Wuqing was very curious. For the Sect Master to dispatch the three of them to search for him, Zhang Ping must have something extraordinary about him.
Zhang Ping froze for a moment, then felt an overwhelming surge of joy. Although he did not understand the reason, Xiao Wuqing's words instantly lifted much of the pressure weighing on him.
"Yes, they're the ones who forced me into this situation," Zhang Ping quickly answered.
No sooner had he spoken than screams rang out. Immediately after, one black-clad figure after another fell from the sky, dropping behind Xiao Wuqing and crashing into the lake.
From beginning to end, Xiao Wuqing never turned his head. Looking at Zhang Ping, he said, "With us here, you don't need to be afraid anymore. We'll escort you back to the sect."
Zhang Ping gratefully raised his hands in salute and asked, "May I ask why the three of you came to save me?"
"Naturally, it was arranged by the Sect Master. We don't know you personally. The Sect Master calculated that you might be in trouble and immediately sent us to find you. I'm also curious—what is your relationship with the Sect Master? This level of treatment is almost on par with his disciples," Xiao Wuqing answered honestly.
Zhang Ping's eyes widened, suspecting he had misheard.
The Sect Master personally sent people to save him?
In all the years since he joined the sect, he had exchanged fewer than three sentences with the Sect Master. Even those were brief encounters within the sect, where he paid his respects and the Sect Master smiled and greeted him once.
In his eyes, the Sect Master stood high above, like the sun in the sky—far beyond his reach. He had never dared to imagine receiving the Sect Master's favor.
At this moment, Xiao Wudi and Xiao Wuming descended on their swords. Each of them held a person in hand.
When Murong Xi saw her most hated Third Uncle being carried by Xiao Wudi like a chicken, she felt both vindicated and shocked.
She knew her Third Uncle's martial arts very well. Within Murong Manor, he was definitely among the top five. How could he be in such a miserable state?
Xiao Wudi snorted and said, "These people really are vicious. All those hidden weapons were coated with deadly poison. But trying to deal with us using poison is simply laughable. How could people like us possibly be affected by the poison of mere mortals?"
Hearing this, Murong Xi subconsciously looked at Zhang Ping. Feeling her gaze, Zhang Ping's utterly ordinary face instantly flushed red.