Chapter 22: Remnants

Luo Qingchen stood at the edge of the Heavenly Pit and looked down.

Below was a pitch-black void.

Several massive stone pillars emitted an eerie red light.

Xiao Bai lay flat on the edge of the pit, its four legs trembling uncontrollably, refusing to jump down no matter what.

“Stay up here and don’t run around,” Luo Qingchen said as she gave Xiao Bai a kick.

Ling Xiyue didn’t waste any words and leaped down.

Luo Qingchen followed immediately after her.

The two landed steadily at the bottom of the pit.

Beneath their feet was a thick layer of withered leaves.

It felt soft as they stepped on it.

*Crunch.*

Luo Qingchen took one step forward and crushed a dry leaf.

Suddenly, a strange change occurred.

The originally quiet withered leaves instantly turned into flying ash.

Blinding, dark red array patterns lit up on the ground.

The patterns centered on the two of them and spread frantically in all directions.

*Hum.*

A dull sound echoed.

A dark red, semi-circular light curtain rose from the ground, trapping the two of them inside.

The surrounding air was instantly sucked dry.

A thick smell of blood rushed straight to their heads.

“Step back.” Ling Xiyue grabbed Luo Qingchen and pulled her behind her.

The Green Scale Sword was unsheathed.

The sword’s cry echoed within the light curtain.

This residual array had been forcibly activated.

The red light from all directions began to twist, condensing into dozens of half-moon-shaped, blood-colored wind blades.

The wind blades swirled in mid-air and then charged directly at the two to strangle them.

They moved at extreme speed.

The air was sliced open, emitting a piercing shriek.

Ling Xiyue’s wrist flicked.

The spiritual power of the middle stage of the Golden Core realm erupted completely.

The green sword qi transformed into a dense, airtight sword net that blocked the area in front of them.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

The wind blades crashed into the sword net, exploding into clouds of blood mist.

Ling Xiyue stood her ground, refusing to retreat a single step.

The sword net blocked all the indiscriminate attacks.

Luo Qingchen hid behind her, poking her head out.

‘This Senior Sister is for real; she actually steps up when it matters.’

Before she could even voice her praise, the array sensed the resistance.

The flow of the patterns on the ground suddenly accelerated.

The wind blades, which were originally 0.5 meters long, instantly expanded to over 1 meter.

Their color also changed from dark red to a purple-black.

A new wave of wind blades slammed into the sword net.

*Sizzle.*

A piercing corrosive sound rang out.

The green sword qi was actually corroded, and several gaps appeared under the assault of the purple-black wind blades.

Ling Xiyue’s face turned slightly pale.

She increased her spiritual power output, forcibly mending the gaps in the sword net.

“This array is devouring my spiritual power,” Ling Xiyue said without looking back.

“The wind blades are highly corrosive; I can’t hold on for long.”

She swung a blast of sword qi, shattering the approaching wind blades.

“Don’t you understand arrays? Quickly, find a way to break it!”

Luo Qingchen hid within her sword net.

In her mind, she frantically flipped through the *Guide to Picking Doors and Prying Locks*.

“Don’t rush me, don’t rush me! I’m looking for a way to dismantle this thing.”

Luo Qingchen muttered as she searched.

“I have to say, the cultivators of your Xuanzhou Continent specialize too much in one thing.”

Ling Xiyue blocked another wave of attacks, her breathing becoming ragged.

“What do you mean by specialize?”

“It means you only cultivate one path.”

Luo Qingchen stood up and pointed at the light curtain outside.

“You’re a sword cultivator, so when you encounter an array, you can only hack at it blindly. The cultivators from my place aren’t like that.”

Luo Qingchen began to talk nonsense.

“Back home, we focus on comprehensive development. Sword techniques, alchemy, arrays, forging, talismans—you have to learn a bit of everything. Especially that Senior Brother Han of ours; he’s a true all-rounder. Before a fight, he retreats behind everyone and sets up several dozen arrays. If he really can’t win, he just pops a pill and runs away.”

Ling Xiyue frowned as she listened.

She activated the Green Scale Technique again, shattering several wind blades that had slipped through the net.

“A bunch of nonsense.”

Ling Xiyue’s tone was serious.

“A cultivator’s lifespan is limited, and their energy is even more so. Specializing in one path already requires a lifetime of effort. Dabbling in everything will only result in achieving nothing. No matter how much that Senior Brother Han of yours learned, it would be futile if he faced absolute power.”

Luo Qingchen curled her lip, clearly disagreeing.

“Enough talk!” The Green Scale Sword in Ling Xiyue’s hand let out an overwhelmed moan.

The purple-black wind blades increased in number, and the sword net was suppressed to less than 1 meter in front of them.

“Resisting this array consumes extreme amounts of spiritual power. I can hold on for half a stick of incense at most.”

Ling Xiyue barked through gritted teeth.

“If you keep dallying, we’re both going to die here today.”

Luo Qingchen put away her joking attitude.

She could see that Ling Xiyue was indeed reaching her limit.

“Alright, alright! Almost there, I’ve got a lead.”

Luo Qingchen took a step forward and stood beside Ling Xiyue.

She raised both hands, her ten fingers quickly forming hand signs.

Specks of golden light seeped from her fingertips.

The golden light stretched out, transforming into over a dozen extremely thin threads of spiritual power.

Luo Qingchen’s gaze became focused.

All of her previous playfulness vanished.

“Cover me. Don’t let the wind blades touch my threads.”

Ling Xiyue nodded and turned her blade, intercepting all the attacks in front of Luo Qingchen.

Luo Qingchen pushed her hands forward.

The dozen or so golden threads ignored the wind blades’ attacks and burrowed directly into the dark red light curtain.

The advanced chapter of the *Guide to Picking Doors and Prying Locks*: Peeling the Silk.

The threads followed the textures of the light curtain, moving rapidly through it.

Luo Qingchen closed her eyes, sensing the array’s spiritual power circuit through the threads.

Nested structure.

Dual circulation nodes.

Found it.

The Gate of Life is 3 feet underground.

Luo Qingchen’s fingers flicked rapidly.

The golden threads frantically crisscrossed inside the light curtain, attempting to cut off the array’s spiritual power supply.

The barrier’s light curtain began to flicker violently.

The frequency of the wind blade attacks slowed down significantly.

The pressure on Ling Xiyue plummeted, and she let out a sigh of relief.

‘This little thief… she really can be counted on at the critical moment.’

Right then.

The light curtain suddenly stopped flickering.

The dark red array patterns on the ground abruptly contracted.

The array had sensed that someone was forcibly dismantling its core.

It gave up on condensing wind blades.

At the top of the light curtain, red light gathered.

Three blood-colored bolts of lightning, as thick as water barrels, crashed down without warning.

Their target was Luo Qingchen, who was currently casting her technique.

The speed was too fast, completely sealing off any space to dodge.

Luo Qingchen opened her eyes and looked at the lightning crashing down toward her head.

The threads had already snagged the array core.

If she let go now, all her efforts would be wasted, and the array would immediately lash back.

But if she didn’t let go, she was only at the early stage of the Foundation Building realm—this lightning would turn her into ash instantly.

“Keep breaking it!”

Ling Xiyue’s low shout rang in her ear.

A purple figure blurred.

Ling Xiyue moved directly above Luo Qingchen.

She did not retreat.

The Green Scale Sword was held horizontally above her head.

Ling Xiyue opened her mouth and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the blade.

The Green Scale Sword absorbed the blood and erupted with a blinding green light.

*Boom!*

The first blood-colored bolt of lightning slammed into the sword.

Ling Xiyue’s knees buckled, and she nearly fell to the ground.

The skin between her thumb and forefinger instantly split, and blood flowed down the hilt.

*Boom!*

The second bolt of lightning followed immediately after.

The green light was smashed into pieces.

Ling Xiyue let out a muffled groan as blood seeped from the corners of her mouth.

Her body was pressed down half a foot by the lightning’s residual force, but she managed to stop right above Luo Qingchen’s head.

“Hurry!” Ling Xiyue’s voice was hoarse.

*Boom!*

The third bolt of lightning fell.

Ling Xiyue gripped her sword with both hands, holding it up with everything she had.

The lightning charred her purple robes and tore at her flesh.

Yet, she did not move an inch.

Luo Qingchen grit her teeth, the veins on her forehead bulging.

“Break for me!”

Luo Qingchen yanked her hands outward.

The golden threads finally pierced through the heavy obstacles and touched the array core deep within.

As long as she shredded this core, the array would completely collapse.

Luo Qingchen was just about to exert her strength.

Suddenly, her movements froze.

The sensation transmitted through the spiritual power threads was completely wrong.