Chapter 16: Acquired a proud and arrogant martial nephew 🔒

Suddenly the ground vanished beneath his feet, and Lin Xi fell straight down.

He only felt someone tightly holding him, protecting him in front. There were many jagged rocks jutting out, nearly crashing into Lin Xi, but each one was shattered by a burst of spiritual energy before it could touch him.

The fall was unexpectedly smooth.

Finally, with a buzzing sound in his head, he landed on solid ground.

Rubbing his eyes, Lin Xi saw that they were surrounded by an open stretch of grassland, not a floor paved with boulders as he had imagined. For some reason, the interior was astonishingly spacious and bright.

So this was the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole? Lin Xi was surprised. As expected, the spiritual energy here was incredibly dense, so much so that he felt slightly unaccustomed to it.

“So,” Lin Xi finally remembered how they had gotten down. “Sect Master Senior Brother, you were the one who broke open the barrier?”

“En, it was me.” Gui Ying looked at Lin Xi with a smiling expression, his voice soft and velvety.

Lin Xi instantly bristled. What was with that expression and tone? Why do you seem so off? “Ah… thank you.”

“However,” Lin Xi suddenly recalled something important, “the barrier must be furious right now, right?”

Gui Ying nodded, “The sinkhole has a spirit. It’s probably not in a very good mood.”

“And what happens when it’s in a bad mood?”

“Nothing much. It might just release a few more Nascent Soul–stage demonic beasts,” Gui Ying replied lazily. “Or it might just directly kill to silence us.”

Saying that, Lin Xi laughed too.

Another classic Bi’An Sect–style smile.

So they’d just been put on the barrier’s blacklist, huh?

Sect Master Senior Brother, I must really thank you for that!

Gui Ying turned his head away, clearly a little guilty: “Don’t look at me like that. I told you we definitely won’t die.”

Lin Xi: Oh yes, yes, yes. Everything you say is right.

Truthfully, Lin Xi also felt that the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole wouldn’t be able to kill them.

They were all cultivators of the Bi’An Sect. The Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole had originally been created by Shu Yan and later passed down to Shu Ling—it was practically the sect’s heirloom. In the future, it would also be inherited by Shu Ling’s disciples, including them.

So no matter how much the sinkhole wanted to kill someone, it wouldn’t truly act against them.

The two of them had been sitting face-to-face when suddenly something sky-blue dropped straight down from above, landing between them.

The instant it touched the ground, a profound sword sprang from its sheath, vigilantly aimed at the two of them.

But once the newcomer clearly saw Gui Ying’s face, that vigilance instantly turned into awkwardness, and he turned to run.

Gui Ying raised a hand, and a vine shot out, coiling around the person’s legs and tripping him before binding him tightly.

Upon walking to the front to take a look, they saw it was a young man in a sky-blue cloak.

Gui Ying sighed, “Young Master Shangguan.”

Lin Xi glanced at the youth’s sky-blue cloak, then at his delicately carved, almost girlishly beautiful features, and burst out laughing.

What was this supposed to be? A nephew falling from the sky?

The youth struggled fiercely a few times, found he couldn’t break free, and reluctantly gave up.

Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “Your Highness Ying.”

Then he looked at Lin Xi and said darkly, “And what kind of thing are you?”

Lin Xi promptly smacked him on the head, “So rude. Call me Martial Uncle!”

The other’s face instantly shifted from pale to pink, and then flushed bright red: “You shameless—!”

Gui Ying chuckled and held his forehead, pulling Lin Xi back. “That’s enough. He cares very much about his dignity.”

The youth’s name was Shangguan Luo, the novel’s female protagonist Bei Yueli’s older brother.

They were twins.

But their intelligence differed quite dramatically.

One took their father’s surname, the other their mother’s. For certain reasons in the past, Shangguan Luo had apprenticed himself to his much younger uncle, Shangguan Shilin—more than ten years his senior—and had been raised by him ever since.

Back then, Shangguan Shiyao and Shangguan Shilin had parted ways due to differing positions. Shangguan Luo, however, chose to follow Shangguan Shilin.

So in a sense, Shangguan Luo really was Lin Xi’s martial nephew.

But Gui Ying and the others had always spared Shangguan Luo’s pride by not stating it outright. Now Lin Xi had bluntly exposed it and even spoke to him with the tone of an elder lecturing a junior. Of course he wasn’t happy.

“So,” Gui Ying asked, “Young Master Shangguan, what exactly brings you here?”

Heavenly treasures? A trial for training?

The Luoyun Sect shouldn’t be lacking in those.

“Or could it be,” Lin Xi smiled as he circled around Shangguan Luo, “that my Senior Brother had another insanity episode? Oh, you poor thing.”

Shangguan Shilin’s madness was usually kept under control through suppression.

But every so often, there would inevitably be times when it could no longer be restrained.

Normally, it was just that his mental state wasn’t quite normal. But once an episode struck, he would go completely mad—childish and reckless. And as a martial arts fanatic, whenever he had a flare-up, he might start beating other people up.

Back in the Bi’An Sect, when Gui Ying wasn’t yet sect master, when Yue Chuyin was still a normal person, and when Shangguan Shilin hadn’t yet founded the Luoyun Sect, they would often beat each other up.

Gui Ying couldn’t win in a straight fight, but he had brains, great talent, and ran fast—so he naturally avoided getting beaten. Yue Chuyin, on the other hand, was always the most tragic one.

The now “simple and honest tradition” of brawling kin within the Bi’An Sect had originally been stirred up by Shangguan Shilin.

Now that he was in the Luoyun Sect, the one doing the mutual brawling—well, no, the one getting beaten—was probably just this mid-stage Golden Core Shangguan Luo.

The reason he had run to the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole to join the excitement was precisely to avoid being beaten up.

Lin Xi did some quick calculations and asked: “By the way, dear martial nephew, you’re seventeen this year, right? What a coincidence, I’m seventeen too.”

In fact, he was even a few months younger than Shangguan Luo.

Shangguan Luo glared, “You’re only at Foundation Establishment and dare to act like my elder?”

Thus, the topic circled right back to the beginning, and the two of them resumed their endless bickering.

On the surface, Gui Ying held his forehead with a bitter smile, looking helpless. In reality, he was thoroughly enjoying the show, thinking the journey ahead would be even livelier.

Gui Ying coughed twice, “Enough shouting. When the demonic beasts arrive, you’ll have plenty of chances to shout.”

Shangguan Luo scoffed, “It’s just a few demonic beasts! What’s there to be afraid of? Hey, hey, you two, don’t go! Untie me first!!”

…

However, Shangguan Luo was about to find out exactly what was so frightening about demonic beasts.

When a large pack of Golden Core-stage demonic beasts led by several Nascent Soul–stage ones charged towards them in high spirits, he was instantly dumbfounded.

Lin Xi looked calm, as though already used to it. He placidly watched the beasts: “There’s probably a few dozens, right?”

Gui Ying curled his lips, “Quite a few.”

Shangguan Luo was directly stunned, “Wait—are you saying you run into this many demonic beasts all along the way?”

Lin Xi, “Yeah. What else? Don’t tell me you haven’t run into any Nascent Soul–stage beasts on your entire way here?”

Shangguan Luo blinked his big, wide eyes, “No, they were all Golden Core, and every one had a demon core.”

Lin Xi felt that comparisons could infuriate you to death.

Not encountering a single Nascent Soul beast the entire way—what unbelievable luck.

He finally understood why Shangguan Luo, despite not being the protagonist and only at mid-stage Golden Core, had managed to last this long.

As the pack of demonic beasts thundered toward them, clearly intent on tearing them to pieces…

Lin Xi skillfully drew his sword.

At the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole, his immortal sword finally found use. He leapt onto it and began flying through the midst of the beasts. Shangguan Luo watched in disbelief as Lin Xi’s sword-flying speed was actually faster than his own.

Lin Xi even cheekily pulled out a stack of talismans Gui Ying had given him. As he passed each beast, he thoughtfully slapped one onto it. In the blink of an eye, explosions rang out everywhere. Several beasts puffed up like overinflated balloons and floated into the air; some even shot straight upward, tracing perfect parabolas across the sky.

After all, running fast wasn’t enough. You also have to be agile to get the best results.

But just because Lin Xi was fast didn’t mean a Foundation Establishment cultivator could outrun a whole pack of Golden Core-stage beasts.

Even with top-grade talismans and a few heaven-grade ones in hand, it still wasn’t enough.

Before long, he was chased all over the place by the enraged demonic beasts.

Seeing this scene, Gui Ying leisurely tossed out handful after handful of talismans, weaving through the beast horde like a shadow.

His speed was far beyond what the beasts could catch. Combined with the talismans in his hand, the demonic beasts were tormented to the point of utter exhaustion. How could they spare any attention for Lin Xi?

Lin Xi flopped back down, lazily using his immortal sword to slice apart the scattered fragments of spiritual energy around him.

From time to time, Shangguan Luo’s ghastly screams could be heard from within the beast pack, mixed with explosions and the thunderous sounds of beasts being blasted skyward and crashing back down.

After the third time something shot into the sky, a Nascent Soul-stage beast let out a mournful cry.

In the blink of an eye, the once imposing and spirited beast horde vanished from the group’s sight at was like three hundred kilometers per second.

“Chase them?” Lin Xi looked up and sprang to his feet from the grass.

Gui Ying calmly shook his head. He glanced over to see Shangguan Luo lying on the ground like a corpse, battered and bruised.

With his tongue hanging out, Shangguan Luo said despairingly, “I’ve never fought this many demonic beasts before…”

Lin Xi grinned like a villain, “You’ll fight many more in the future!”

Shangguan Luo directly rolled his eyes back and nearly fainted on the spot.

***

Lan Xing flipped her palm and formed a healing seal. Instantly, the injured alchemists and talisman cultivators of the Green Apricot Sect began to recover.

This time, fewer than ten of them had entered the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole. Among them, Lan Moqian had the lowest cultivation, only early-stage Golden Core.

Moreover, a group composed of alchemists and talisman cultivators would find it difficult to protect themselves here. They could only rely on some of Lan Xing’s high-grade and top-grade talismans to hold out.

Lan Xing’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. It seemed they would still need to find some reliable sword cultivators to cooperate with.

Preferably Nascent Soul-stage ones.

She wondered whether Yue Chuyin and Ye Mei were also inside the Forgotten Heavenly Sinkhole.

As for Gui Ying and Shi Danyao, she didn’t have much hope in them.

After all, those two would most likely act alone. So when she saw two young male cultivators walking while bickering, with Gui Ying standing beside one of them watching the show with great interest, Lan Xing was completely stunned.

She called out “Sect Master” blankly. Behind her, a whole group of Green Apricot Sect disciples instantly bent at the waist.

Mainly because they were too excited.

Under normal circumstances, they rarely had the chance to see Gui Ying up close. Today was the first time they could observe at such close range the peerless beauty of their sect master, who was also the crown prince of the Yangxin Empire.

“Sect Master Lan,” Gui Ying replied with a smile.

His tone was noticeably more polite than when he spoke to Yue Chuyin.

“The Green Apricot Sect disciples appear rather fatigued. Have you encountered a group of demonic beasts?”

“Indeed,” Lan Xing sighed. “The Green Apricot Sect primarily consists of alchemists, with a few talisman cultivators as well. When we encounter beast hordes, it is truly difficult to defend ourselves. I wonder… are there any lone sword cultivators nearby? Someone like Lord Kui Zhuo for example.”

On one hand, Gui Ying had his junior martial brother and another young sword cultivator to look after. On the other hand, she felt somewhat embarrassed to ask directly for his help, so she mentioned Kui Zhuo first.

Shangguan Luo eagerly chimed in: “This big sister, I think we’re quite suitable! I’m at mid-stage Golden Core, so I should still be of help! And the Sect Master here is actually my mas—friend. Late-stage Nascent Soul, very strong. But this guy is only at Foundation Establishment, so he’s definitely useless!”

Lin Xi shot him a look, “My Sect Master Senior Brother hasn’t even spoken yet, so why are you butting in? When you saw the beast horde earlier, your screams were even more shrill than the beasts’. How exactly are you going to protect them?”

Gui Ying directly hauled both boys behind him, “They are usually quite mischievous. I’ve made you seen a spectacle, Sect Master Lan.”

Although Lan Xing was merely the head of one of the four branches within the Bi’An Sect, Gui Ying’s attitude toward her was extremely courteous.

If Yue Chuyin were here, he would surely shout about the unfairness.

But Lin Xi understood: despite Lan Xing looking like nothing more than the head of an environmental cleanup crew with little prestige, she was actually very important within the Bi’An Sect.

Without them, not only would the sect’s pill supply run short, but the mountains themselves might have already been blasted into collapse by the hot-tempered sword cultivators.

Alright, a salute to the working people.