Chapter Ninety: The Six-Legged Newt-Lizard

The wife of the master of Sword Mountain, Madam Qin Xinyue, lived on the same peak as her husband. As a result, the disciples under her command were likewise granted the privilege of residing on Sword Origin Peak. Even so, the two sides kept separate dwellings: the eastern cluster belonged to the disciples of Li Xingjian, while the western cluster belonged to those of Qin Xinyue.

All the disciples under Qin Xinyue were women. Fang Xinyi was the daughter of an ordinary family, but on one of Qin Xinyue's rare excursions, she had caught her eye with her docile cleverness and been taken in as a disciple, often serving at Qin Xinyue's side.

Though called master and disciple, in truth she was little more than a maid to be ordered about.

Fang Xinyi's dwelling was fairly well placed, perhaps because Qin Xinyue had deliberately arranged it not far from her own so that Fang Xinyi could attend her more conveniently.

These dwellings were rich in spiritual energy and were, in every sense, a paradise for cultivation. That alone made plain the advantages enjoyed by inner sect disciples. With better talent came better treatment; with better treatment, how could their cultivation fail to remain ahead?

Such was the way of the cultivation world, where the weak were prey to the strong. Talent itself was part of strength, and so those who possessed it naturally commanded greater resources.

There was nothing to resent in that.

Zhan Bai had already told Qin Feng the exact location of Fang Xinyi's dwelling. It was not too hard to find, but it was late at night, and this was an area where inner sect disciples lived, so patrols were naturally numerous. Qin Feng still had to spend some effort.

Arriving at Fang Xinyi's door, Qin Feng used the method Zhan Bai had taught him to pry open a small gap in the dwelling's restriction and quietly slipped inside.

Things went far more smoothly than Qin Feng had expected.

Yet once he entered the dwelling, he was dumbfounded. After searching for some time, he still could not find any sign of Fang Xinyi. According to Zhan Bai, Fang Xinyi had clearly been lying on the bed inside.

"Strange. Where is she?"

Qin Feng sensed that something was wrong, and his expression immediately turned cold.

He did not panic, however. Instead, he carefully released his spiritual sense to probe the situation inside the dwelling. Sure enough, on the right side of a wall in a side chamber, he found something amiss.

There was a hole here.

It was no small hole either, as tall as a man. From the broken rock at its mouth, it seemed to have been forcibly dug out by some beast of great strength. The rubble was still fresh; clearly, the hole had only just been made.

"Could it be...?"

At the thought of a certain possibility, Qin Feng was suddenly shocked.

Clearly, there had been a restriction outside this dwelling. Although breaking the restriction to enter would be easy, it would inevitably draw the attention of the Sword Mountain disciples on patrol. Thus someone had chosen this rather clumsy method of entering Fang Xinyi's dwelling by digging a tunnel.

"Don't tell me this was done by those two strange men I ran into at Ghost Sword Cliff before?"

But almost immediately, Qin Feng rejected that guess.

Those two men had gone in a different direction. Moreover, Fang Xinyi was merely a very ordinary inner sect disciple. Though she was decent-looking, she was far from the most outstanding. Most importantly, apart from being of some importance to Zhan Bai, she held little real value to anyone else.

"Who could it be?"

With no time to think further, Qin Feng quickly draped the black cloth over himself once again and leaped into the hole. Pushing off with his foot, he sped forward, fearing that if he were even a moment late, Fang Xinyi might suffer some misfortune.

The tunnel was long, and it kept sinking deeper underground. Clearly, whoever made it had been afraid of attracting attention and had dug it very deep.

After descending underground, the tunnel suddenly changed direction and extended eastward.

"This direction?!"

Qin Feng was startled, a trace of confusion flashing through his eyes.

Because this tunnel was heading toward the dwelling area of the disciples under Li Xingjian.

Without further hesitation, Qin Feng accelerated once more, not even caring if he made a sound, determined only to get there sooner and see whether he could still rescue Fang Xinyi in time.

The tunnel was pitch black, so dark that one could not see one's own hand, but for Qin Feng, whose spiritual sense was exceptionally strong, that was nothing.

After another half an hour or so, from the darkness ahead came the faint sound of something crawling. Qin Feng was taken aback and hurriedly stopped. Violet light flickered in his eyes as he strained his vision and looked forward.

At the far end, a crawling beast about a man's height was moving swiftly ahead. It looked somewhat like a lizard, yet it had six legs and vicious spines growing along its back. Its two front claws were long and powerful, like twin iron talons, gleaming with a chilling light in the darkness; at a glance, one could tell they were immensely destructive. The beast had a large head, somewhat like a earth dragon's, while its body was flat, long, and broad. A long tail dragged behind it, wrapped around Fang Xinyi as it retraced the path of the tunnel at great speed.

Six-Legged Newt Lizard Beast!

It was a demonic beast, and an especially mutated one at that!

Its cultivation was at the demonic core stage!

Qin Feng's brow furrowed tightly.

This beast's aura was the same one Qin Feng had sensed just a few days ago: the mysterious creature that had always stayed by Li Haoran's side to protect him.

Not only could it burrow through the earth, it could also blend into its surroundings like a chameleon.

Fortunately, the beast was anxious to return, and Qin Feng was hidden beneath the black cloth, so it did not discover his presence.

Qin Feng's face was now dark as thunder, his eyes seeming ready to spit fire.

It was obvious the beast was acting on Li Haoran's orders. That troublesome fellow was causing more trouble again. But what should be done now? Charge straight at this demonic beast of the demonic core stage and fight it to the death?

Absurd. This was a beast whose cultivation could rival that of a strong expert at the earth aura stage!

And Qin Feng was only at the second level of the human aura realm!

The vast gap in cultivation could not be bridged by his strange abilities alone.

"What to do?"

Just as Qin Feng was rapidly searching for a solution in his mind, the Six-Legged Newt Lizard Beast ahead suddenly turned and plunged into another pre-dug passage before quickly disappearing.

Qin Feng saw that things were bad and hurriedly followed.

Now was truly not the best time to make a move. He had to wait for an opportunity.

Qin Feng had always acted only after careful planning, striking once for certain death. This time was no exception. After settling on his course of action, he immediately quickened his pace and entered the other passage as well.

This passage had clearly been dug long ago, with several branch tunnels connecting outward in all directions.

Obviously, these were older tunnels.

"What on earth is Li Haoran up to?"

At this point, Qin Feng was genuinely shocked. What exactly was Li Haoran trying to do, digging so many tunnels into the body of Sword Origin Peak?

Carrying his doubts and uncertainty, Qin Feng quickened his pace.

Fortunately, this tunnel was not long. After walking for a short while, he reached the exit.

Outside, the place was brightly lit.

Qin Feng, still wrapped in the black cloth, stood within the tunnel entrance and leaned out to glance inside. But the sight that met his eyes nearly made him topple headfirst to the ground.

Truly—

What a Li Haoran he was, what a son of the master of Sword Mountain indeed!