Free Web NovelChapter 345: Chapter 345: Seizing the Crystal Marrow
But the feeling of suffocation was like a giant hand, gripping her neck tightly.
Soon, Xie Qinglan’s eyes bulged. No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t break through the great net to escape.
Just when she felt she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, something black suddenly emerged from the swamp, transforming into dark shadows that shot toward her.
’What are these things?’
Xie Qinglan was horrified. Her instincts screamed that this was bad!
The dark shadows coiled around her like countless fine threads, rapidly burrowing into her body.
"AHHH—"
Xie Qinglan let out an agonized scream. The fine threads were burrowing into her meridians without any resistance.
As they moved, excruciating pain erupted from every part of her body.
The pain instantly twisted Xie Qinglan’s lovely face into a horrifying mask.
The black threads writhed like countless earthworms beneath her skin. An ordinary person would have likely fainted on the spot at the sight.
"AHHH—"
Xie Qinglan collapsed in agony, curling into a ball, but even that did nothing to lessen the pain.
She felt as if the threads were boring through her entire body. ’It hurts so much, so much...’
Time trickled by. Xie Qinglan’s struggles weakened until she was left lying limp on the ground, groaning helplessly.
The great net blocked all her escape routes, trapping her in this confined space to endure the unending, piercing agony.
At that moment, Xie Qinglan wished for nothing more than for the pain to render her numb, but cruelly, every stab of agony was impossibly clear, impossible to ignore.
In her entire life, she had never suffered such torment.
She would rather fight a life-or-death battle than endure this passive torture.
But this was precisely Xiao Heyun’s plan.
Xie Qinglan had a wisp of her master’s Divine Thought on her. If she were to face a true life-or-death crisis, the Divine Thought would sense it immediately.
Therefore, he didn’t dare put Xie Qinglan in a real life-or-death situation, so he had resorted to this underhanded move.
He would make Xie Qinglan suffer endless torment, and then he would descend like one of the Heavenly Gods to rescue her from her dire straits...
By then, Xie Qinglan’s heart would be completely his.
Xiao Heyun had calculated every step perfectly. The only thing he hadn’t expected was to be hunted by a demon beast himself.
He was now fleeing for his life somewhere, completely unable to come and rescue her.
Xie Qinglan moaned in agony, her body twitching uncontrollably.
To her, time seemed to slow to a crawl, as if it had no end.
’Am I going to die from the pain, right here, right now?’
She refused!!!
...
Meanwhile, under the Dragon Spirit’s guidance, Song Wanning found several precious Spiritual Medicines. After a fierce battle with a demon beast, she stored them in her internal space.
The internal space was far more useful than a Storage Ring. Not only was it secure, but it also preserved freshness, so she didn’t have to worry about the Spiritual Medicines losing their potency.
She mentally calculated the time. ’That senior said it would take about half a month for them to arrive. It’s only been seven days. I’d better lay low here for a bit before heading out.’
"Big Sister, over there, over there..."
The Dragon Spirit suddenly spoke up again, pointing in another direction.
"Alright, let’s go take a look!"
A smile spread across Song Wanning’s face. The Dragon Spirit was even more capable than Ye Chuxue’s old Treasure Hunting Mouse. This little fella’s nose was incredibly sharp.
The Golden Small Sword and the Divine Nether Profound Fire were now thoroughly impressed by the Dragon Spirit, too. However, to protect its status, the Golden Small Sword was as haughty as ever, insisting that the Dragon Spirit call it "Big Bro" every day.
Watching the little ones banter back and forth every day always lifted her spirits, giving her a pleasant, if false, sense of peace and quiet.
Soon, following the Dragon Spirit’s guidance, she arrived at a grotto.
"A grotto! There must be crystal marrow inside!"
The Golden Small Sword pulsed with light. Crystal marrow was a powerful tonic; it would surely help Big Sister’s cultivation advance by leaps and bounds.
"There’s a barrier here."
Song Wanning spoke suddenly, her gaze turning serious.
"This is an man-made barrier."
Natural barriers have a different aura. Someone has clearly been here, and they might still be inside right now.
"Little One, is there still dense Spiritual Energy inside?"
Song Wanning asked.
’If the treasure is still there, then it’s fair game.’
’If someone has already taken it, there’s no need to pick a fight over it.’
"It’s there! It’s there! There’s a lot, Big Sister!"
The Dragon Spirit nodded eagerly.
"Alright. In that case, let’s go in and take a look."
Song Wanning didn’t dare to be careless. Who knew what cultivation level the person inside had? The last thing she wanted was to walk into her own doom.
So, she cautiously applied several Concealing Breath Talismans before carefully taking out a jade hairpin and passing through the barrier.
As soon as she entered the grotto, she was met with the sight of countless crystal marrows. Even Song Wanning raised an eyebrow in surprise. She couldn’t imagine how many ages it must have taken for so much crystal marrow to condense in this place.
She scanned her surroundings again, and her surprise deepened when she confirmed there was no one else there.
’It seems the barrier outside was set to protect this crystal marrow... but why didn’t the person just take it all?’
Doubt flickered in Song Wanning’s eyes; she had a feeling this wasn’t so simple.
’No matter who it was, no one could remain indifferent after seeing so much crystal marrow. They would definitely harvest it first.’
’But this person just set up a barrier and then vanished.’
’Well, this worked out perfectly for me.’
The corner of Song Wanning’s mouth lifted into a smirk. She leaped into the air and began to rapidly harvest the crystal marrow.
The multi-hued crystal marrows shone with an alluring luster. Just by touching one, Song Wanning could feel the Spiritual Energy within her body thrum in resonance.
A pleasant sensation spread through her entire body.
She took a deep breath of the rich Spiritual Energy, and every pore on her body seemed to sigh in comfort.
’With all this crystal marrow, reaching the Mid-stage Void Refining realm will be much easier.’
She collected all the crystal marrow, and in just a few minutes, she had swept the entire grotto clean.
’I wonder if that person will have a heart attack when they come back and see this?’
Song Wanning wasn’t burdened by morals. Unclaimed treasures were fair game for anyone, regardless of who arrived first.
After collecting the crystal marrow, she looked around once more. Her gaze swept over the swamp below, and when she didn’t spot anything unusual, she prepared to leave.
Suddenly, a black bubble broke the surface of the swamp.
A thin wisp of black smoke immediately rose from it, drifting upward.
Song Wanning froze. She smelled the scent of Demonic Qi.
’There’s Demonic Qi under this swamp?’
’And what’s this smoke carrying Demonic Qi?’
The Demonic Qi within her body stirred, seeming to sense it with excitement.
Her gaze shifted. ’To others, Demons might be nothing but trouble,’ she thought, ’but to me, they can be incredibly useful.’
So, she was no longer in a hurry to leave. She decided to go down into the swamp and investigate.
’If there’s anything good in there, I’ll take it all.’
After taking the proper precautions, Song Wanning carefully submerged herself in the swamp.
And at that very moment, deep in the swamp, Xie Qinglan was nearly mad with pain.
But she refused to give up, desperately clinging to consciousness.
