Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Companions on the Road
"Swift!"
Purple light shone brightly, an astonishing sword momentum instantly enveloped the entire area.
The nine spirit veins within surged simultaneously, an endless stream of spiritual power poured out and fully integrated into Ji Chen’s sword.
The speed of the purple sword light was extremely fast, in just an instant, it appeared before Xia Hui and the other two, like a ghost, piercing through their bodies in the blink of an eye.
"Puff!"
Blood spurted from their mouths, the strength and speed of Ji Chen’s sword left Xia Hui and the others unable to react.
Until their moment of death, they could not imagine that they couldn’t even withstand a single sword strike from Ji Chen!
"Bang!"
In the end, the three of them fell to the ground, all life drained from their bodies, completely dead here.
This scene left Qu Luoning, who was not far away, utterly stunned.
At this moment, her face was full of incredulous expressions, to the extreme degree.
In just a moment, Xia Hui and the others died entirely at Ji Chen’s hands.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Qu Luoning would never dare to believe it was true.
These were Sword King Sect disciples, whose cultivation had entirely reached the Spirit Transformation Realm level.
Even with her three spirit veins, after a prolonged battle, now she was at a loss for what to do.
But who would’ve thought, Ji Chen, upon his appearance, swiftly ended the battle!
While Qu Luoning was shocked by this, Ji Chen had already put away the Cyan Emperor Sword and approached her.
"Your sword technique just now..."
Qu Luoning was somewhat dazed, looking at Ji Chen in front of her, she couldn’t help but ask, "Was that a Profound Tier martial technique?"
The terror of that sword just now, Qu Luoning clearly detected it too.
If it hadn’t been a Profound Tier level martial technique, in her view, Ji Chen absolutely couldn’t have easily eliminated Xia Hui and the others with just one sword.
Moreover, typically, for a cultivator at the Seventh Layer of Vein Condensation Realm to unleash a Profound Tier martial technique, it would inevitably exhaust all stored spiritual power within.
But now, looking at Ji Chen, he seemed unaffected at all.
Even if she were foolish, Qu Luoning could now think that the spirit veins within Ji Chen’s Spiritual Sea were definitely more than just one or two!
"Are you alright?"
But Ji Chen didn’t respond to her question, instead asked with concern.
Qu Luoning shook her head, then slightly cupped her hands to him, "Thank you."
"They are, after all, Sword King Sect disciples, now dead here, will this..."
As she spoke, Qu Luoning couldn’t help but frown.
The Sword King Sect is a top-tier sect in the Profound Domain, its power completely surpassing royal authority.
Xia Hui and the others were the elite disciples of Sword King Sect, being killed would certainly attract the sect’s attention.
If traced, it would be quite a trouble.
"There’s no one else here, if you don’t speak, and I don’t speak, who would know?" Ji Chen said.
Though he said so, he dared not fully assure, for when he killed the Celestial Profound Sect’s Young Sect Leader Nie Yuan, it was in complete secrecy, and in the end, it was still discovered.
"Moreover, there already existed some enmity between me and Sword King Sect, killing a few of their disciples is nothing significant." Ji Chen added.
Hearing this, Qu Luoning was surprised.
When did Ji Chen form a grudge with Sword King Sect?
How would she know, that during the war between Celestial Profound Sect and Lingyun Sect, Sword King Sect’s Venerable Zhou attempted to preserve Celestial Profound Sect Leader Nie Yunchang by revealing his Dao Body, but Ji Chen killed him with one sword.
Currently, this Venerable Zhou should still be in seclusion, but Ji Chen knew, once out, he would certainly cause trouble for Lingyun Sect.
"By the way, why did these Sword King Sect disciples attack you?" Ji Chen curiously asked.
Qu Luoning flipped her hand, taking out a Copper Mirror from her Storage Treasure, and said, "I recently found this in some ruins, and that’s why they targeted me."
Ji Chen was intrigued, took the Copper Mirror to inspect it closely, then showed a slightly surprised look, "A Dao Artifact?"
"Indeed a Dao Artifact, but seemingly due to damage, it cannot be used for now, repairs are needed." Qu Luoning nodded.
"It’s still quite a find."
Ji Chen returned the Copper Mirror to her hand, then continued to ask, "What’s your plan next?"
She remained silent for a moment, then said, "I know of a place, most likely holding significant treasures, but alone, I can’t find it, would you be interested in joining?"
The Emperor Ye’s Ancient Ruins have existed for tens of thousands of years, for centuries, it opens once every ten years, thus many places here have been explored.
The place Qu Luoning mentioned, every time the ancient ruins opened in several hundred years, Chu Kingdom purposefully sent people to investigate it.
Unfortunately, in those several hundred years, the ruins opened dozens of times, yet they never fully explored this place.
"Where is it?" Ji Chen, after understanding asked inquisitively.
Qu Luoning replied, "If the direction is correct, it should be roughly a few hundred miles southwest of us."
"About five days left before the relic closes, we can take a look." Ji Chen finally stated.
For Chu Kingdom to explore this place so many times without giving up, it indicated that they must have sensed some unusual aura back then, possibly pointing to some secret treasure.
Soon, after confirming their current position, the two set off together towards the place Qu Luoning mentioned.
After about a day’s time, they finally arrived before a dense forest.
From some traces on the ground, Ji Chen could almost ascertain that before them, some people had clearly been here too.
"It seems apart from your Chu Kingdom, other forces have likely been exploring this area for years." Ji Chen said.
Without hesitation, the two stepped into the dense forest.
Here, ancient trees reached the sky, and the flora was more abundant than anywhere else in these ancient ruins, clearly somewhat unusual.
Not long after entering the forest, they encountered a bloody scene ahead.
On the ground not far away lay several corpses, some decapitated, their deaths extremely tragic.
"From the traces, it seems they clashed with powerful demon beasts from the mountains." Ji Chen said.
Judging by the attire on these corpses, they were clearly from the same sect, with the symbol on the chest indicating they belonged to Lingxiao Palace, a super faction comparable to Sword King Sect, one of the Profound Domain’s overlord-level forces.
The two pressed on without stopping, but after witnessing this, their alertness clearly heightened significantly.