I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 235 Star Moon Sect

"You...you're a human...or a ghost?"

Jiang Yingxue was startled when she heard the woman in red in the iron cage next to her suddenly speak, and her voice trembled.

She had been locked up here for almost a day. The woman in red had been sitting there motionless, not even breathing. She had always thought she was dead.

Her sudden outburst startled her so much that she almost thought she had come back to life.

The woman in red said calmly, "Of course I'm human. If I were a ghost, I would have eaten you long ago."

At this moment, Jiang Yingxue noticed that she was breathing again, and felt relieved. She thought of some strange martial arts techniques in the martial arts world, such as the Turtle Breathing Technique, and figured that she must be faking her death.

She patted her chest, still somewhat shaken, and asked, "Sister, were you also captured by those villains? Who... am I?"

Jiang Yingxue suddenly saw a figure flicker at the entrance of the stone chamber and shouted angrily, "You old lecher, you want me to cultivate with you? Go look in the mirror! With your looks, you can forget about it in your next life. Here, take this filthy thing back! Go ahead and kill me if you dare, I'll haunt you even as a ghost..."

She cursed angrily as she picked up a book from the ground and threw it away.

The walls of the stone chamber were inlaid with some luminous stones, making the light somewhat dim.

After Jiang Yingxue finished cursing, she saw a handsome young man walk over and take the book. She was stunned for a moment; his appearance and demeanor clearly indicated that he was from a noble family.

The young man, while flipping through the book, smiled and said, "Didn't you just say that you would repay whoever saved you with your body? Why are you cursing me now?"

After her initial shock, Jiang Yingxue asked with delight, "Young Master... are you here to rescue me, ours?"

Chen Ming casually tucked the book into his pocket and teased, "Then we'll see if what you just said counts."

"Young master, you... Oh dear, how could you say this in front of my sister..." Jiang Yingxue stamped her foot, feigning shyness.

If Chen Ming hadn't known beforehand that she was a scheming woman with superb acting skills, he would have been fooled by her current appearance.

He laughed and drew his "Broken Army Sword".

Jiang Yingxue hurriedly said, "It's no use, this is forged from black iron, even divine weapons can hardly withstand it—"

Ding!
The chain, forged from black iron, was severed by a single sword strike, and with a clanging sound, the chain fell to the ground.

Chen Ming sheathed his sword and asked with a smile, "What did you just say?"

Jiang Yingxue looked at him, her mouth slightly agape, as if she were speechless with shock. "Third rank?"

Judging from his age, he seems to be a few years younger than Brother Chen, yet he has already reached the third rank of cultivation. What an astonishing talent!
When did Jiangzhou produce such a peerless genius?
Seeing her standing there motionless, Chen Ming teased, "What's wrong? You're addicted to staying inside and don't want to come out?"

Jiang Yingxue then seemed to wake from a dream, quickly got out of the iron cage, walked to the young man's side, and introduced herself, "My name is Jiang Yingxue. May I ask how you are addressed, sir?"

Gu Xianyu.

After giving his name, Chen Ming cut the chains of another iron cage and asked the woman in red inside, "What is your name, young lady?"

The woman in red was extremely beautiful. At first glance, she had the air of a mature, sophisticated woman. But upon closer inspection, her skin was delicate, and her eyebrows were arched and delicate, clearly revealing her to be a young girl, not much older than Jiang Yingxue.

The woman in red seemed to think for a moment before saying, "Nie Hongyi."

Chen Ming nodded and said, "This place is not safe to stay in. We must leave as soon as possible. Do you two know of any other exits from here?"

Jiang Yingxue was incredibly clever. Hearing him say that, she guessed what he meant and her expression changed. "Brother Gu, did you sneak in?"

Chen Ming said, "You could say that, the situation is rather complicated and can't be explained in a few words. In short, that old scoundrel Xie Jianqiu could catch up at any time, and if he does, we're all finished. Do you know if there's any other way out here?"

He asked the same question again.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yingxue became even more frightened. She grabbed Chen Ming's sleeve and shook her head vigorously. "I don't know. I was only locked up here yesterday. That thief drugged me and when I woke up, I was here."

Chen Ming didn't have much hope; it was just a casual question.

Unexpectedly, Nie Hongyi said, "I know a place that the old thief will never find."

"Oh?"

Chen Ming looked at her and asked, "Where is this place?"

Nie Hongyi said, "Please come with me."

So he led the way.

Chen Ming hesitated for only a second before following.

This woman was also imprisoned in the stone chamber, so she was definitely not with Xie Jianqiu. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend; at this moment, he couldn't afford to think too much.

Nie Hongyi was very familiar with this place, and after many twists and turns, she walked for about fifteen minutes.

Suddenly, a roar came from the passage behind them, but it was too far away to hear clearly. It must have been Xie Jianqiu who was furious because he discovered that his two prey had been rescued.

Jiang Yingxue became even more frightened, gripping Chen Ming's clothes tightly and following closely behind him, as if this would give her a greater sense of security.

"Miss Nie, that old thief will catch up soon, we have to hurry."

A first-rank expert possesses extraordinary intuition due to their powerful spiritual sense. Despite the winding and circuitous route, Xie Jianqiu will most likely still be able to track them down.

"Ah."

Nie Hongyi responded, and after a moment, she finally led them to a dead end.

Chen Ming looked at Nie Hongyi, waiting for her to explain.

She didn't say anything, she just patted the wall next to her.

Rumble.

With a clanging sound, a stone door opened, revealing a dark cave entrance from which a damp breath blew out.

Nie Hongyi said, "Below is an underground river that leads directly to the Danjiang River. You'll need to hold your breath for about half an hour. There's a cave along the way where you can breathe."

Chen Ming was overjoyed, finally seeing a glimmer of hope for escape.

Suddenly, Jiang Yingxue tugged at his sleeve and said anxiously, "Brother Gu, I've been given a drug that can disrupt my internal energy. I can't hold my breath for that long." "Don't worry, I'm here."

Chen Ming took out a black leather rope from the leather pouch at his waist, tied one end around her waist and the other end around his own waist.

He asked, "Does Miss Nie need it?"

Nie Hongyi shook her head, indicating that she didn't need it. Seeing that he was ready, she went into the cave.

Chen Ming and Jiang Yingxue followed them inside.

Nie Hongyi pressed a button on the wall of the corridor again, and the mechanism clicked again, closing the stone door once more.

As you walk down the steps for about ten meters, the air becomes increasingly humid, and you can even hear the sound of flowing water.

Soon they reached the end of the steps, where a large cave appeared before them, leading down to a deep pool. Water flowed continuously into the pool from above.

Nie Hongyi said, "The underground river is right at the bottom of the pool. Stay close to me."

After saying that, she jumped in, and when she landed in the pool, the splash was perfectly contained.

Chen Ming asked Jiang Yingxue, "Are you ready?"

She shook her head vigorously, about to say something, when Chen Ming had already pulled her down.

"what--"

Jiang Yingxue let out a scream and gurgled until she choked on two mouthfuls of water before she calmed down.

The ground was already very dark, and the water was so dark that you couldn't see anything at all.

Based on his intuition, Chen Ming sensed Nie Hongyi's location and swam towards it.

The pool was extremely deep, estimated to be twenty or thirty meters deep. He dived down and reached the bottom of the pool, where he indeed found an underground river.

At this point, he didn't even need to swim anymore; the suction from below pulled him and Jiang Yingxue into the underground river.

This underground river is quite narrow at first, and the current is not rapid, but the further you go in, the stronger the current becomes.

After a moment, Jiang Yingxue frantically tugged at the leather cord, indicating that she was about to break free.

Chen Ming pulled her over with a leash, thinking, "You're lucky." He then brought his breath close to her mouth and transferred a breath of true energy to her.

This was his first kiss in the world.

They didn't give any to Su Zhining, nor to Yu Haitang, nor even to Xia Mudan; instead, they gave one to a little green tea.

After about fifteen minutes, Chen Ming had transferred more than a dozen breaths of true energy to her, and he seriously suspected that this little girl had developed a taste for it and was deliberately taking advantage of him.

It finally surfaced.

"You—" Chen Ming was about to warn her not to push her luck.

At this moment, Jiang Yingxue hugged his arm tightly, pressed her body against his, and suddenly whispered to him, "Brother Chen, you have to take responsibility for her."

The word "Brother Chen" shut him up completely.

Chen Ming said calmly, "What did you call me?"

“Brother Chen, although you used a sachet to cover your scent, the fragrance disappeared after you went into the water, and I recognized your scent then—”

Her voice carried a seductive quality.

Through her soaked clothes, he could feel her body burning hot.

Chen Minggang gave a slight jolt, shaking her away, and said calmly, "You've mistaken me for someone else."

Jiang Yingxue floated on the water, her eyes red as she looked at him, but dared not approach further. Her lips trembled, and she said in a pitiful voice, "Brother Gu, do you think I'm frivolous? I'm never like this in front of others. I thought you liked me, so I—I promise I'll never do it again, please don't hate me…"

Chen Ming really didn't know how much of what she said was true and how much was false.

"Now is not the time to talk about these things. Miss Nie is over there."

He pulled on the rope, carrying Jiang Yingxue up to a high platform on the side, a man-made space of several hundred square meters.

There were several corpses on the platform. The bodies were not decomposed, but the clothes on their bodies were rotten and looked quite old.

The fact that the corpses were preserved so well indicates that these people all possessed cultivation levels of at least the first rank, which allowed them to maintain their physical bodies from decay.

Nie Hongyi stood in front of the corpses, lost in thought.

Chen Ming walked over and asked, "Who are these people?"

Nie Hongyi said calmly, "This is my master, this is my master's wife, my second master's wife, and my third master's wife."

"Our sect, the Star Moon Sect, is not well-known. It is descended from an ancient branch of Taoism and specializes in the art of dual cultivation. Back then, my master and that old scoundrel Xie were close friends. Who knew that the old scoundrel Xie harbored evil intentions, coveted the divine skills of our sect, and poisoned my master and his wives."

"He also wanted to cultivate with me, but after I refused, he locked me in that cage for several years. If it weren't for your rescue, young master, I don't know when I would have been able to escape. I thank you so much, young master. I have no way to repay you, but here are the secret inscriptions of our sect, all the secret cultivation techniques are on them. If you are interested, young master, you are welcome to learn them."

Only then did Chen Ming learn about this past event. It turned out that Xie Jianqiu's technique of sexual cultivation came from the Star Moon Sect.

However, he still had doubts and said, "I see that you are a virgin and unmarried, how could that old thief let you go?"

Nie Hongyi said, "That old thief is a self-taught practitioner, and he has only learned the basics of our sect's dual cultivation method. He wants to use my essence, but that's just a pipe dream. I'm afraid he'll just end up using all his power to benefit me. He knows the risks involved, so naturally he wouldn't dare to touch me."

"I see."

That makes sense.

Since they had already said that, Chen Ming wasn't embarrassed at all. He walked inside and began to look at the stone carvings on the stone wall. They contained the Star Moon Sect's martial arts techniques.

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(End of this chapter)