Chapter 723: The Pure Gold Armor

　　A stream of white light streaked across Chu Liuyue’s mind.

　　She had known from the start that Shangguan Wan had a motive for bringing so many people to the Mystic Forest, but it was only now that she finally figured out what exactly Shangguan Wan was planning to do. She wants to use these people to recover her Yuan meridian and strength!

　　A lot of the people who came along with Shangguan Wan had Dijing Yuan meridians, and this was especially so for the various sects’ disciples. After all, they were the most outstanding picks and seedlings of their respective sects.

　　So the Wan Zheng Competition was held for the sake of this! She couldn’t heal her Yuan meridian by herself, so she’s eyeing other people’s Yuan meridians instead? This might sound terrifying, but if my guess is correct, then everything that previously happened makes sense now! Chu Liuyue couldn’t help but be horrified at the thought. She knew how vicious Shangguan Wan could be, but she hadn’t expected the latter to have the guts to go to such lengths. How many talented cultivators is she going to kill? The nerve of her!

　　For a moment, Chu Liuyue was so overwhelmed with emotions that she didn’t know what to say. Her Yuan meridian was destroyed by my Tianjing Yuan meridian back then, and that damage is unhealable given how powerful a Tianjing Yuan meridian is. I can’t think of any methods that can help Shangguan Wan heal her Yuan meridian, but she must’ve found a way—a despicable and vicious one, at that—if she’s taking action.

　　“What’s wrong, Liuyue?” asked Ye Ranran as she tilted her head in concern. Liuyue doesn’t seem to be looking good…

　　The question pulled Chu Liuyue out of her thoughts. She took a deep breath in before landing on the ground again, attracting everyone’s attention as she did so. In a solemn voice, she said, “I’m afraid that we won’t be able to leave.”

　　A deep frown formed on Qin Yi’s forehead as he heard her saying, “The entire Mystic Forest is crumbling, save for this area!”

　　…

　　Meanwhile, underground.

　　After a long period of free-falling, Shangguan Wan finally ended up in the soil again. She took out a water pearl that illuminated her surroundings with its faint glow.

　　Having been here previously, she wasn’t too scared and worried this time. In fact, she was a little bit excited.

　　She was checking out her surroundings when her gaze was suddenly drawn to a dark-green light not far from her. The light looked a bit creepy and queer.

　　After a brief hesitation, she decided to go closer to check it out, only to find an imposing platform right in the middle of this moving black mud. The dark-green light was currently floating above it.

　　All of a sudden, Shangguan Wan felt something underneath her foot. Her heart thumped hard as she looked down, and she shifted her foot to reveal a head that had surfaced because of the moving soil.

　　That was the very thing that she had just stepped on. Most importantly, the head had yet to decay, so it revealed an ashen face with protruding eyes and deeply sunken cheeks.

　　Whoever this head belonged to looked like they didn’t die in peace.

　　A wave of nausea overcame Shangguan Wan as she stomped her foot on the head, pressing it down again. It was only when the head was swallowed by the black soil again that she patted her chest and closed her eyes to heave a sigh of relief. The soil underneath the ground really is fluid. I was quite far away from here when I killed that person, yet I still managed to find their head here. Just my luck!

　　She quickly left that spot and ran toward the platform. She easily stepped on the edge of the platform as there wasn’t any barrier cast around it.

　　After shaking the dirt off herself, Shangguan Wan looked up to study the dark-green light floating in the air.

　　It was a palm-sized fireball.

　　What’s that? Shangguan Wan wondered curiously. Judging by its position, it’s located directly underneath that mother tree.

　　A tree root from the opposite direction suddenly came flying toward her, which made her startle and hurriedly crouch down.

　　The root’s target wasn’t her though—it had obviously come for that fireball as it stopped right in front of it.

　　A thin stream of fire flew over to touch that root, and the force contained in the root began flowing into the fireball. Not long after, the root disappeared.

　　The fireball, however, had grown in size.

　　Shangguan Wan’s heart started racing. So… The force was swallowed up by this fireball. If… this fireball becomes mine, won’t that mean… that force will become mine too?!

　　Her eyes lit up at the thought of this, and she could barely contain the excitement inside of her. She then took out a blood-red pill and swallowed it down.

　　Soon, her damaged Yuan meridian came to life again as if it had been stimulated by something. Her skin became red with strange and faint black lines running across it.

　　She was just about to approach the fireball when she suddenly stilled herself. That fireball might be dangerous…

　　With a mere thought, the pure gold armor appeared right in front of her.

　　She quickly put it on, and only then did she feel assured enough to step forward.