"Phew, finally made it down..."
At this moment, on the other side of the valley, Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei finally reached the bottom. Standing amidst the lush and tangled grass, they took a brief rest. Ma Sai surveyed their surroundings, then looked up at the circular sky screen in the middle of the valley. Pointing to the opposite direction, he said, "They jumped down from above. Let's head over there and search."
"Okay, let's go..."
Liu Hongwei, taking a drink of water, took the lead with his machete, hacking through the obstructing weeds and thorns as he moved towards the opposite side. Ma Sai followed behind...
The valley floor was vast, over two hundred meters in diameter, and covered with dense trees and overgrown bushes, making progress extremely difficult...
"Slowly now..."
Meanwhile, above the cliff face where they had descended, Lu Feiyue and Tan Tiancheng were lowering the connected ropes. They were also secured with safety buckles. Tan Tiancheng was the first to go down, with Lu Feiyue constantly cautioning him to be slow...
Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei, who had descended two hours earlier, soon arrived at the hot spring pool. They were immediately astonished. "I didn't expect there to be a hot spring down here. No wonder it's so hot."
Ma Sai stood by the edge of the hot spring pool and spotted a pile of smoldering embers on the ground on the opposite bank. His eyes widened. "It looks like they really didn't die after jumping!"
Liu Hongwei saw it too and looked up at the sky. "That kid and the pretty girl from Emei sect are really lucky. They probably fell into this pool after jumping. Heh, Second Brother, if you hadn't insisted on coming down, they would have truly escaped."
Ma Sai glanced at him. "I've told you, my intuition is always accurate."
"Yes, yes..."
Liu Hongwei chuckled. Ma Sai didn't bother with further conversation. "Let's go check it out..."
The two walked around the hot spring pool to the other side. Looking at the bonfire on the ground, Liu Hongwei wondered, "Where did they go?"
Ma Sai turned around and immediately spotted a cave opening on the distant stone wall behind them. He exclaimed in surprise, "There's a cave entrance over there. They're probably inside."
Liu Hongwei, who had also turned, saw it and waved his machete, a wicked grin on his face. "Let's see where that kid can run to this time. I wonder if that pretty girl is still alive. If she is, I can have some fun with her..."
However, inside the cave, Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi had also tidied up their belongings. They looked at the ice bed in the stone chamber and the wooden box on the stone table. Wan Yunting didn't take all the martial arts manuals with him; he left them there.
However, Wan Yunting had already read most of these martial arts manuals and memorized them. Now, he and Zhou Ruoxi only took the Gentleman's Sword and the Lady's Sword, leaving everything else in its original place.
"Senior Sister, let's go," Wan Yunting said with a gentle smile, glancing at the ice bed.
"Mmm..."
Zhou Ruoxi's delicate face blushed. Thinking of the happy moments they had spent in the stone chamber over the past two days, she felt reluctant to leave. She wondered if she would have the chance to return here with Wan Yunting next year...
The two emerged from the stone chamber. Wan Yunting closed the stone door, and the mechanism of the stone table slowly returned to its position. Wan Yunting walked over and placed the tea set back on the table, blocking the handprints on the surface. He turned to Zhou Ruoxi, nodded with a slight smile, and then they both walked out of the room, into the outer living area, and headed directly towards the cave entrance...
As soon as they stepped out of the cave, they ran into the arriving Second Master Ma Sai and Third Master Liu Hongwei.
"Hey, they came out on their own!"
Seeing Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi emerge, Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei stopped in their tracks, sizing them up from head to toe...
Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi were also stunned, looking at the two powerhouses of the Sky Eye Divine Cult, surprised that they had also descended into the valley.
For a moment, the two parties confronted each other. Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi's expressions grew colder. As the saying goes, enemies meet with a fiery gaze.
"Good kid, if we hadn't come down, we would have let you escape." Liu Hongwei smirked as he looked at Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi.
Ma Sai, his eyes narrowed, observed that Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi looked healthy and ruddy, not at all like they were injured. Moreover, they were each holding long swords, which were not the ones they had used before. Ma Sai's gaze fell upon the cave behind them, suspecting there was something more to it!
"We were going to find you too. I didn't expect you to come down yourselves!" Wan Yunting said with a cold smile, his lips curling upwards.
This time, facing the two martial artists at the mid-stage of Dan Jin, Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei, he and Zhou Ruoxi were no longer afraid.
They were now also at the mid-stage of Dan Jin, and even inching towards the late stage. Wan Yunting's Dantian had already condensed the form of a Qi Pill. If it solidified into a Qi Pill, he would truly enter the late stage of Dan Jin.
During this time, Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi had been practicing day and night in the stone chamber. Their internal and external injuries had basically healed, and their cultivation had doubled. Now, upon seeing their two enemies, Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei, they naturally had less apprehension. "Perfect," Wan Yunting said with a cold laugh, "Let's have you two stay here and guard the cave mansion for Senior Kang and Senior Li!"
This statement caused Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei's eyes to widen, and they had an ominous feeling!
Ma Sai's horse-like face turned grim. His sharp gaze fixed on Wan Yunting, and he snorted, "Kid, it seems you've stumbled upon a great opportunity in that cave, haven't you?"
"That's right, and it's a great opportunity indeed," Wan Yunting replied with a light laugh.
Ma Sai's heart sank. He quietly said to Liu Hongwei, "Be careful..."
Seeing them assume an offensive stance, Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi exchanged glances. With a swish, they drew the Gentleman's Sword and the Lady's Sword, their blades flashing with a cold glint, which made Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei exclaim in surprise, "What a fine sword!"
Wan Yunting looked at the Gentleman's Sword in his hand and smiled. "Forged from cold iron, a peerless sword."
"Heh, kid, don't get too cocky."
Liu Hongwei was displeased with Wan Yunting's smug demeanor and said with a sinister grin, "Remember how we forced you to jump down back then."
"Indeed."
Wan Yunting swung the Gentleman's Sword in his hand, his gaze instantly becoming sharp and fierce. He glared at Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei. "So, it's time to settle the score. Senior Sister..."
As Wan Yunting raised his left hand, Zhou Ruoxi, who was beside him, turned to him and nodded. With a leap of her toes, she sat her right foot on Wan Yunting's palm. He then exerted force and tossed her forward. Zhou Ruoxi, holding the Lady's Sword, flew directly towards Liu Hongwei ahead...
Swish...
Wan Yunting followed closely behind, his Gentleman's Sword aimed at Ma Sai. The two were using the Unparalleled Sword Technique...
Upon seeing this, Ma Sai immediately produced his grappling hook blades and shouted, "Third Brother, be careful! Kill them..."
"Alright..."
Liu Hongwei responded with a shout, swinging his machete and charging towards Zhou Ruoxi, who was flying towards him with her sword. The scene resembled a fairy descending from heaven, her white gauze dress and long black hair fluttering in the air. Zhou Ruoxi's beautiful eyes were sharp, and the Lady's Sword in her hand was even more formidable...
Clang!
The saber and sword clashed, emitting a crisp sound and sparks. Zhou Ruoxi landed with both feet, immediately spun around, and the Lady's Sword in her hand lightly swept towards Liu Hongwei again, releasing sword energy...
Liu Hongwei hadn't expected her swordsmanship to be so agile and sharp. He quickly swung his machete to block, and the two began to fight...
On the other side, Wan Yunting, wielding the Gentleman's Sword, also engaged Ma Sai. Sparks flew from the friction between the indestructible Gentleman's Sword and the grappling hook blades. As Ma Sai threw them with force, Wan Yunting leaped to dodge. At the same time, Zhou Ruoxi leaped over. The two clasped their left hands together and, with a 360-degree spin in the air, directly exchanged opponents.
Clang!
Wan Yunting, holding the Gentleman's Sword, slashed down fiercely at Liu Hongwei. Terrified, he quickly raised his machete to block. A crisp sound followed, and his machete was severed by the Gentleman's Sword, a section of the tip flying out and sticking into the grass beside them...
Liu Hongwei's eyes widened in astonishment as he looked at the clean cut on his broken machete and the undamaged blade of Wan Yunting's Gentleman's Sword, which clearly demonstrated the sword's extraordinary quality.
Zhou Ruoxi's Lady's Sword thrust directly at Ma Sai. He quickly used his dual grappling hook blades to entwine, catching a section of the Lady's Sword's tip. However, Zhou Ruoxi rotated her right hand, and a powerful surge of sword energy instantly erupted!
"Ugh..."
Ma Sai's expression changed drastically. His hands were shocked, and the grappling hook blade in his left hand was cracked and broken by the sword energy released by the Lady's Sword. He staggered backward...
Wan Yunting, holding Zhou Ruoxi's left hand, also retreated, creating distance between them...
Ma Sai looked up, his eyes filled with shock as he stared at the two. He exclaimed in surprise, "Mid-stage Dan Jin!"
"What?"
Liu Hongwei heard this and looked at Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi in disbelief, exclaiming, "How is that possible? Weren't they at the early stage of Dan Jin? How did they reach the mid-stage of Dan Jin in just two days?"
Ma Sai frowned. He dropped the broken grappling hook blade from his left hand, his eyes fixed gravely on Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi, and said, "It seems they truly encountered a great opportunity in that cave!"