The Shocking Secret of the Cursed Marks, Burning Scales Approaching the Abyss

The mountain stream wind carried a biting chill, swirling fine mist that stung my face.

Xiao Yunsheng's grip on the Guixuan Sword tightened slightly, the prophecy left by the white-haired old man echoing repeatedly in his mind—

You broke the curse of one person, but others want the fate of a nation for a hundred years.

"Tell me, who exactly is this senior?" Shen Lingxi squatted by the stream, wiping the bloodstains on her sword with clean water, her brows furrowed. "He not only saw through the flaws in your swordsmanship, but he also seems to know about what happened in the Xuanqi Cave."

Xiao Yunsheng nodded slowly, his fingertips tracing the twin pendants on his chest.

"The murals and manuscripts in the Xuanqi Cave have clearly been tampered with..." he said in a deep voice. "Could it be that someone intentionally guided us?"

Everything was too coincidental, as if someone had predicted that he would bring the Mother-Child Pendant and that he would follow the guidance to open the Qilin Altar.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lingxi was startled and instantly understood the key point.

She bit her lip and finally revealed the secret she had kept for three days: "There's one more thing I haven't told you. When I was healing you that day, I saw on your back... a complete Qilin incantation. It was exactly the same as the totem on the fire wall of the Xuanqi Cave."

Xiao Yunsheng looked up abruptly, his eyes filled with shock.

He subconsciously touched his back; his skin was smooth, without any raised lines. But he knew that Shen Lingxi would never joke about something like this.

"A spell? When did it appear?"

"It only manifested after you were poisoned by Chan Li's Illusion Gu, stimulated by the Gu's power." Shen Lingxi's voice became even softer. "Those incantations glowed with a golden-red light, gradually devouring the Gu poison in your body, as if they were born with the ability to suppress these evil forces. I was afraid that you would lose your mind, so I didn't dare to tell you before."

Xiao Yunsheng stood there, his fingertips trembling slightly.

Could it be that I am related to this damned Qilin Burning Curse?

But my father and mother never said anything to me!

"The full moon is just two days away, and we haven't even caught a glimpse of the Qilin Heart Flame." Shen Lingxi stroked the hilt of her sword with her fingertips, her brows furrowed.

"The main peak is where the Qilin resides year-round, so the Heart Flame must be near it," Xiao Yunsheng said in a deep voice. "However, Chanchen said that a nine-layered Gu formation has been set up around the main peak, so we may have to deal with this problem!"

His gaze fell upon the main peak of Yanyu Mountain, shrouded in mist and clouds, and he was getting closer and closer to the answer!

Just as the two rounded a dense forest, the sound of clashing weapons suddenly rang out from the mountain stream ahead, accompanied by a boy's sinister shout.

Xiao Yunsheng immediately raised his hand and pressed down on Shen Lingxi's shoulder. The two of them lowered their bodies and quietly moved forward under the cover of the ancient tree.

On the clearing in the mountain stream, Chan Chen, accompanied by four elite members of the Jade Toad Sect, was surrounding a man and a woman.

The two were dressed very differently from the cultivators of the Central Plains. The man was wearing a close-fitting outfit made of animal skin, with wolf tooth ornaments hanging from his waist. The woman had eagle feathers in her hair and held a bone flute in her hand.

Both men were injured and their breathing was erratic; they clearly wouldn't last much longer.

What made Xiao Yunsheng's pupils shrink was that there were seven disciples dressed in red robes of the Tianque Sect standing beside Chan Chen. The one leading them was none other than Zhao Jinghong, an old acquaintance who had bullied him, the abandoned son in blue robes, several times!

"Remnants of Mugu, hand over the Qilin bones in your hands, and I'll leave you with a complete corpse." Chan Chen crossed his arms, a gentle smile still on his face.

The ancient herdsman spat out a mouthful of blood and shouted angrily, "The people of the Central Plains are indeed untrustworthy! Bah!"

"If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences." Zhao Jinghong stepped forward, his longsword drawn. "These mere remnants of foreign races dare to act so presumptuously in the Central Plains?"

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Jinghong lunged forward with his sword, aiming straight for the ancient hermit's heart.

The two men, already severely injured, were no match for the sword. In just three moves, the man was pierced through the shoulder by a sword and fell heavily to the ground!

"Kill them!" Zhao Jinghong sneered.

Just then, a sharp sword aura pierced through the air and struck Zhao Jinghong's sword precisely.

The sharp clang of metal striking metal rang out, and Zhao Jinghong was jolted back, his hand gripping the sword going numb.

He turned his head sharply and saw Xiao Yunsheng and Shen Lingxi walking slowly out of the dense forest.

"Who do we have here? It's you!" Zhao Jinghong sized Xiao Yunsheng up and down, his eyes full of disdain. "What? Junior Brother Xiao, you've also come to this Dead Man's Mountain to play the hero?"

After saying that, he glanced at Shen Lingxi again, his brows furrowing slightly. Shen Lingxi's presence was not a good thing for him!

Shen Lingxi's face darkened: "Zhao Jinghong! As an inner disciple of the Tianque Sect, you actually colluded with the Yuchan Sect. Aren't you afraid of the sect's rules?"

"Junior Sister Shen, don't be fooled by this kid. I was ordered by the Pavilion Master to go into the mountains with the Jade Cicada Sect to jointly open the Qilin Altar! Where did this talk of collusion come from?" Zhao Jinghong replied in a flippant tone.

Shen Lingxi was about to burst into a tirade when Xiao Yunsheng stopped her! He stepped forward slowly, shielding the two Mugu clan members behind him, and slowly drew his Guixuan Sword.

He had had enough of the humiliation inflicted by red-robed disciples like Zhao Jinghong, and he had seen them trample on the lives of lower-ranking disciples by abusing their status!

"Get out!" Xiao Yunsheng's voice was calm, but carried an undeniable chill.

Zhao Jinghong burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world: "You want me to get lost? A blue-robed outcast who can't even get into the Sword Pavilion dares to point fingers at me?"

Before he finished speaking, he swung his sword and lunged at Xiao Yunsheng with fierce and ruthless moves, aiming straight for Xiao Yunsheng!

In his view, although Xiao Yunsheng showed extraordinary swordsmanship at the foot of the mountain, he was ultimately a direct descendant of the Red Robe Clan. Killing Xiao Yunsheng, a lowly outcast, was just a matter of lifting a finger!

Xiao Yunsheng shifted his toes, his figure as swift as a breeze as he dodged the sword strike. With a flick of his wrist, the Guixuan Sword drew a smooth, seamless arc, the second move of the Seven Forms of the Flowing Cloud Sword Essence, "Flowing Clouds Return to the Valley"!

With a crisp crack, the longsword in Zhao Jinghong's hand was sent flying!

His face was filled with horror, and before he could react, Xiao Yunsheng's sword was already pressed against his neck.

Just one move!

"You... how could you know the Flowing Cloud Sword Essence?!" Zhao Jinghong trembled all over, his eyes filled with disbelief. This was Shen Qingzhu's secret technique!

"You abused your status to bully your fellow disciples and colluded with foreign enemies to indiscriminately kill innocent people. You deserve to die!" Xiao Yunsheng's eyes were as cold as ice!

"You dare kill me? I am a core disciple of the Sword Pavilion!" Zhao Jinghong roared fiercely. "If you kill me, the sect will never let you get away with it!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Yunsheng twisted his wrist.

Pfft—!

The Guixuan Sword pierced his neck with pinpoint accuracy. Zhao Jinghong stared wide-eyed as he slowly collapsed!

The surrounding Tianque Sect disciples panicked instantly, looking at each other in bewilderment, none of them daring to step forward.

They all knew what Zhao Jinghong did in his daily life, but Xiao Yunsheng was able to kill Zhao Jinghong with a single sword strike, so naturally they couldn't shake him!

Throughout the entire process, Chan Chen stood aside and watched coldly, his smile never changing, as if the battle before him had nothing to do with him.

Only when Xiao Yunsheng sheathed his sword and turned around did he clap his hands and say with a smile, "Wonderful, truly wonderful. Brother Xiao's swordsmanship is improving by leaps and bounds."

Xiao Yunsheng gripped the Guixuan Sword tightly, watching him warily.

"Brother Xiao, rest assured, Zhao Jinghong and I were merely using each other. So what if he dies!" Chan Chen waved his hand and gestured with his chin to the Jade Toad Sect disciple beside him.

The four Jade Toad Sect disciples immediately sheathed their bone blades and stepped aside.

Xiao Yun Sheng remained vigilant. He couldn't see through Chan Chen's true nature, and the more friendly the man appeared, the more dangerous he felt.

He turned and helped the two aliens to their feet, asking, "Are you alright?"

The man bowed deeply to Xiao Yunsheng and said in broken Central Plains dialect, "Thank you! I will never forget your kindness!"

Just as Xiao Yunsheng was about to reply, a sudden change occurred!

"roar--!"

A deafening roar from a Qilin exploded from the summit of Yanyu Mountain!

The entire mountain range trembled violently in an instant, the ground beneath our feet cracked open with countless ravines, and a gale swept down from the main peak, carrying thousands of pebbles!

This scene astonished everyone, and Shen Lingxi quickly ran to Xiao Yunsheng's side!

Immediately afterwards, countless red-hot flints rained down from the summit of the main peak like a meteor shower!

The moment the flint hit the ground, the raging fire spread rapidly with the wind, and within moments, the entire depths of Yanyu Mountain were engulfed in flames!

"Not good! The Qilin Fire is out of control!" Chan Chen's expression changed drastically, and he could no longer maintain his smile. He shouted sharply, "Retreat! Retreat towards the Xuanlin River! Quickly!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately turned and ran towards the Xuanlin River.

The flint kept falling, and disciples behind them were constantly being hit by the flints or swallowed by the sea of ​​fire, their screams echoing one after another.

Xiao Yunsheng grabbed Shen Lingxi's wrist and shouted to the two aliens, "Follow me!"

The four of them ran wildly along the mountain path toward the Xuanlin River, with the sea of ​​fire behind them getting closer and closer, and the scorching heat waves burning their skin.

Countless towering ancient trees were snapped in two by the fire and crashed onto the road behind them. A slight misstep could have resulted in them being swallowed by the inferno.

Just as the wave of fire behind them was about to sweep over, an old figure suddenly appeared!

It was the same white-haired old fisherman we had met by the mountain stream earlier.

Xiao Yunsheng and the others stopped in their tracks, watching him warily!

The old man smiled, raised his hand, and an invisible barrier instantly opened, blocking the surging fire wave.

"You two little ones, come with me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's figure transformed into a gentle breeze, carrying Xiao Yunsheng and Shen Lingxi, and instantly disappeared into the sea of ​​fire!

When the two regained their footing, they found themselves in a hidden stone chamber inside a mountain.

On the stone walls of the stone chamber, there were actually the same Qilin spell patterns as those in the Xuanqi Cave!

The white-haired old man stood in the center of the stone chamber, turned around, and looked down at Xiao Yunsheng's back. He slowly spoke:

"Boy, do you want to know what the origin of the Qilin incantation on your back is?"