Why do you always want to be my Taoist partner?

"Yeah, I've slept enough and feel a little stuffy. Let's go downstairs for a walk." Zhu Taozhi put on her shoes. Jiang Li also came to the door and walked out with her. The scattered people below gathered in a group, leaving a large open space in the middle. Two people were discussing swords in the open space.

There are two men.

Zhu Taozhi went over to take a look and saw the two men, one using a knife and the other a sword, seemingly in a fierce fight. These two men were the third and fourth ranked independent cultivators in Zhongzhou, but Jiang Li and Zhu Taozhi could not remember their names.

They didn't have the patience to remember these people's names, but they all watched the two men's entire set of knife and sword techniques with great interest.

"Who do you think will win?"

"The one with the knife." Jiang Li answered casually.

"Bet one hundred spirit stones?" Zhu Taozhi said.

"It's a bet."

Zhu Taozhi took advantage of the gap when both of them retreated half an inch and said with a smile to the monk holding the sword, "His sword will be vulnerable when he chops down. You just need to use your third move just now when he chops down, and point the tip of the sword directly at his throat. You will definitely win."

Her voice was particularly pleasant, like a lark escaping from a valley. The originally noisy crowd quieted down a bit, and Jiang Li spoke indifferently, "If he uses his third move, you can use your sixth sword. With your sword speed, you can just chop off his head before his sword falls."

"Then use the seventh sword! Stab him in the right chest!"

"Don't dodge. Just break the upper half of the fifth strike and cut off his right hand. His sword tip can only penetrate halfway."

Zhu Taozhi seemed a little anxious, and looked at the monk holding the sword, "What other tricks do you have? Use them, I will teach you how to win!"

The monk holding the sword blushed and was speechless. He had already run out of tricks, and now that Zhu Taozhi said this, he couldn't hold back his face any more. Jiang Li sighed helplessly, shook his head, and stretched out his hand to Zhu Taozhi, "Give me the money."

"You owe me. I will pick some good fruit for you in the secret realm later."

"You're refusing to pay again." Jiang Li sighed helplessly. Zhu Taozhi snorted and walked towards the stalls selling women's jewelry.

Chapter 138: Chapter Loopholes

Zhu Taozhi seems to like these exquisite little jewellery very much.

No, how many women can refuse small jewelry that can make them look prettier? Jiang Li followed Zhu Taozhi and watched her pick and choose. Most of these jewelry were engraved with miniature arrays. Besides being pretty, they were also quite practical. But Jiang Li remembered that bargaining was common among casual cultivators. Zhu Taozhi was just a sucker. Not to mention bargaining, sometimes she was too lazy to even ask for the change after throwing away the spirit stones.

But she was so rich, yet she wanted to owe Jiang Li the gambling debt of 100 spirit stones.

The secret realm was about to open. Jiang Li took a quick look and saw that there were about two hundred independent cultivators who came to explore Qianyuan Mausoleum. The one with the highest cultivation level he had seen so far was an eighth-level Spirit Transformation cultivator. The eighth-level Spirit Transformation cultivator certainly did not belong to the younger generation. Jiang Li also saw several fourth- and fifth-level Spirit Transformation cultivators. In front of these people, his and Zhu Taozhi's cultivation levels seemed a little inferior.

After accompanying Zhu Taozhi for an hour or two, Zhu Taozhi finally got tired and returned to the inn with him, and started playing Go again. Unfortunately, Jiang Li had no desire to give in to her and still easily defeated her. Zhu Taozhi liked to cheat and regretted her moves several times and lost. She kept playing again and again, and after being defeated several times, she finally overturned the chessboard and stopped playing.

Jiang Li sneered contemptuously in his heart.

Little guy, when he was trying to conquer that senior sister who was considered the best chess player in Zhongzhou, he put in a lot of effort and worked day and night to improve his proficiency. Finally, he defeated her and got that hug of love. But the reward he drew was also chess skills, which directly brought his chess proficiency to the maximum level and there was no possibility of any further improvement.

It was a pity that he got tired of it after only three days and parted with that senior sister. Jiang Li suddenly recalled the confused look of that senior sister in his mind, but unfortunately, as soon as a trace of guilt arose in his heart, he quickly suppressed it.

If a scum like him is not a little selfish, he will suffer countless pains. He understood this truth a long time ago, and now his heart is as cold as the cold sword.

After playing chess, Jiang Li sat by the window in a daze. He stared like this for a long time, until it got dark. Zhu Taozhi was looking at his profile from behind him, and she felt that there seemed to be thick fog in those dark and clear eyes.

This man named Jun Moxiao is always mysterious.

She and Jun Moxiao have explored the secret realm together more than a dozen times, but she has never seen his limit from beginning to end. Every time she thinks that this time it’s bad, it’s terrible, and she has to use her trump card, this guy can always come up with some new tricks like a magic trick.

In fact, she had seen many cultivators with great abilities and extraordinary skills over the years, but it was rare to find someone like him who had such a high level of cultivation and a kind heart.

His kindness is real kindness. He will never kill unless necessary in the secret realm, and he will generously donate to any monks who can help him.

As for his cultivation level that seemed to be at the initial stage of foundation building, Zhu Taozhi certainly didn't believe it. Naturally, no one in the Zhongzhou casual cultivation circle believed it either. Thinking of this, Zhu Taozhi became curious, "Where is your cultivation level?"

"About the same as you." Jiang Li answered casually. This question itself was of no significance to him. His cultivation was usually enough, and when it was not enough, he relied on experience scrolls. It was a pity that after killing the two elders of the Dark Moon Blood Evil Sect yesterday, he had few experience scrolls left.

"Who hurt you?" Zhu Taozhi was still very concerned about this question, but Jiang Li waved his hand and stood up, "Okay, it's time to go down and prepare to enter the secret realm."

Zhu Taozhi curled her lips slightly.

This guy can be so annoying sometimes.

.......................................

The outside of the dense forest was already full of people, and the secret realm of Qianyuan Mausoleum was about to be opened. Jiang Li and Zhu Taozhi were already prepared. The two stood here silently waiting for a long time, and a twisted space vortex appeared in front of them.

This is the secret realm of Qianyuan Mausoleum. Generally speaking, people who enter the secret realm will be teleported to every corner immediately, so if you want to travel with others...

Jiang Li naturally took Zhu Taozhi's hand and said, "Let's go."

Although this was not the first time, Zhu Taozhi's body suddenly froze for a moment. Her hands were wrapped in that warm big hand, and her steps became a little unnatural. Why did this guy's eyes still have no expression at all?

Zhu Taozhi inexplicably began to think about all sorts of things. Did he really know nothing? Or did he know but pretended not to know?

She vaguely felt that it was the latter, but unfortunately she had no time to think about it. The two of them stepped into the vortex together. They felt a brief sense of weightlessness and darkness in front of them. Gradually, there was light again, as if the eyes of a blind person were given color again. When they came to their senses, they were already in an open space.

The first thing to do when entering the secret realm is to observe the surroundings. Jiang Li raised his head and saw the stars and the moon in the sky. It seemed that the time in the secret realm was the same as outside. At this moment, he and Zhu Taozhi were standing on a barren plain. There were no plants or animals around, and even no edge could be seen.

Fortunately, before the two of them could discuss countermeasures, a ball of light appeared in front of them, and a sound soon came out of the ball of light.

"Welcome to my world."

Jiang Li was stunned, but this kind of situation is actually quite common. This ball of light is most likely something left behind by Empress Qianyuan. Jiang Li looked at the ball of light in front of him respectfully and spoke to it tentatively, "Senior, are you..."

"I am a mark left by Empress Qianyuan. I am in this secret realm. Empress Qianyuan left a will before her death, which brought trials to you practitioners who entered the secret realm. If you can pass the trial, you will naturally obtain Empress Qianyuan's treasure. If you can't... then I will forcibly expel you."

Jiang Li and Zhu Taozhi looked at each other and replied respectfully, "I understand."

"Empress Qianyuan was a sword cultivator in her lifetime. This first test is to ask the sword. Next... I will send out clay dolls made of yellow mud from the secret realm. Their cultivation will be the same as yours. Each time you smash a clay doll, you will get a point. The points can be used to exchange for treasures in Empress Qianyuan's treasury."

"The trial begins."

The ball of light did not give the two people time to prepare, and Jiang Li and Zhu Taozhi were forcibly separated by ten meters. A clay doll holding a sword began to emerge from the ground in front of them.

The clay doll that Zhu Taozhi faced was at the third level of the minor calamity.

Jiang Li looked at the clay doll in front of him and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

The early stage of foundation building.

..........................................

A so-called genius naturally has to be able to challenge opponents of higher levels and fight against many enemies at once. Zhu Taozhi looked at the clay doll in front of her seriously, but she didn't have anything to worry about.

With her cultivation, bloodline, and swordsmanship, challenging a dozen of them would be no problem at all, and she naturally didn't need to worry about Jun Moxiao. She concentrated on swinging her sword at the clay doll in front of her. The clay doll was much weaker than she had imagined, and she solved it with one sword. So, all in all, she should be able to deal with about fifty of them.

The clay doll she smashed into pieces, and soon two more emerged from the ground. She chopped the other two into pieces with her sword, and four clay dolls appeared. She chopped the four of them slowly, and then eight clay dolls appeared in front of her.

Zhu Taozhi suddenly felt a little uneasy. She took a deep breath and clenched the spirit sword in her hand. The next moment, the sword force surged out from her side. Her spiritual energy floated around her like flower petals. She concentrated on swinging the sword, and all the flower petals fell on the clay dolls. All of them were chopped into pieces by her, and then sixteen more emerged from the ground.

While the clay doll was still being formed, Zhu Taozhi couldn't help but turn her head to glance at Jiang Li. The next moment, her eyes widened like copper bells.

Jiang Li... was having a great time playing with the more than a thousand clay dolls in front of him.

.............................................

Jiang Li hasn't been this happy for a long time.

Although his soul was injured and his meridians were not very stable at the moment, the spiritual energy in this secret realm was more than twenty times that of the outside world. He only needed to open all the acupoints of his Tianyan Shenqiao, and his spiritual energy consumption rate would be the same as his replenishment rate. The flaws of these clay dolls in front of him were too obvious, and he only needed to use a little cleverness to kill a large number of them.

In just an incense stick of time, he chopped up all the 1,024 puppets in front of him as if they were melons and vegetables. He looked at the mud in front of him, looking forward to the next 2,048 puppets.

But he waited for a long time and saw no movement on the ground in front of him.

"Just... that's it?" Jiang Li looked disappointed.

The ball of light in front of him remained silent for a long time. Perhaps it had never seen such a scene before. Jiang Li scratched his head and looked at the ball of light in front of him. "I think I can give it another try."

"No more." A calm voice came from the light ball.

Jiang Li felt quite regretful and turned to look at Zhu Taozhi, who was currently struggling with thirty-two clay dolls. Jiang Li waited silently for a while until Zhu Taozhi dealt with the thirty-two clay dolls. She waved her hand and said, "The trial ends here. I'm tired."

In fact, she still had some strength left, but she didn't want to push herself too hard. The light ball was very tolerant and stopped generating clay dolls. It also mechanically announced the scores of the two people.

"You scored thirty-six points."

"You earned one thousand and twenty-four points."

Zhu Taozhi was finally able to approach Jiang Li. She poked Jiang Li's waist with her hand and asked quietly, "How did you trick it that you are only in the initial stage of foundation building?"

"Actually, I'm really only in the initial stage of foundation building..." Jiang Li couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth. He had told Zhu Taozhi about this before, but Zhu Taozhi just thought he was making fun of her and was sulking because of it.

Zhu Taozhi widened his eyes, and before he could ask any more questions, the ball of light made a second sound.

"Both challengers have done very well in the first round of the trial. Empress Qianyuan loved formations, alchemy, and talisman paper. The two challengers can choose one of them to challenge. After completing it, they can also obtain corresponding generous points."

Zhu Taozhi turned around and glanced at Jiang Li.

Jiang Li's eyes were shining.

Chapter 139: Chapter I Don’t Know

"Report to the senior, I apply for all challenges!" Jiang Li was like a diligent and studious student at this moment, and the expression on his face was extremely enthusiastic.

"you sure?"

"of course."

"There have been precedents in the past, so I'll give you a chance."

Soon, a pile of materials for drawing talisman paper, a formation plate for drawing formations, many elixirs and a pill recipe appeared in front of Jiang Li.

"Here are the yellow-grade talisman paper, array plates, and materials for elixirs. Once you complete them within the specified time, the black-grade materials will be delivered to you. As for how much you can complete, it all depends on you..."

Before the light ball finished speaking, Jiang Li drew a talisman with his left hand and a formation with his right hand. Then he put all the elixirs in his hand, glanced at the recipe, and pinched them lightly.

"Okay, senior."

The ball of light remained silent for four or five seconds before responding.

The most difficult part of Jiang Li's previous actions was not drawing the talisman paper and the formation, but the fact that he could easily make a pill with just a pinch of his hand. The light ball couldn't help but ask, "How did you do that?"

"Ah, this is my original method of refining pills. I have water spiritual roots, so I can use water spiritual energy to directly extract the essence of spiritual medicines and make pills. However, this method can only be used to refine pills below the heavenly level. It won't work for higher levels."

Jiang Li's answer was bland, but it silenced the light ball. It was a spiritual consciousness left behind by Empress Qianyuan. It possessed all of Empress Qianyuan's memories, but it had never seen such a strange method of alchemy.

Jiang Li soon had Xuan-level materials for refining pills, drawing formations, and drawing talismans in front of him, and he began to draw seriously. Zhu Taozhi on the side could only choose to draw talismans silently. She only knew how to draw a few simple talisman papers. As for refining pills and drawing formation plates... she didn't know how to do either. In her past understanding, those were things that servants did, and it was not her turn to do it herself.

Therefore, the most she could do was to obtain Earth-grade talisman paper, which earned her ten points, bringing her current total score to forty-six points.

At this moment, Jiang Li was drawing top-grade talisman paper, formation plates, and elixirs. Zhu Taozhi was watching him quietly on the side. As soon as Jiang Li finished drawing the talisman paper, his expression became particularly tired.

Zhu Taozhi couldn't help but say, "You already have so many points, why are you so greedy?"

"I will definitely earn more if I can. You have enough spirit stones, but I do." Jiang Li answered helplessly and began to draw the array. When these methods reached the heavenly level or above, they would consume the soul more or less. However, his soul was already a little weak at the moment. By the time he finished drawing these exquisite things, his vision had become a little blurry.

"For exceeding the target for the second level trial, I will reward you with 1,500 points."

At this moment, Jiang Li's points reached 2,524 points.

"The previous two trials tested your basic skills in cultivation, but the third trial is the most important one. If you cannot pass it, all the points you have earned previously will be forfeited."

The sound of the light ball actually became somewhat playful. The next moment, a gray fruit appeared in front of Jiang Li and Zhu Taozhi respectively.

"This is……"

“Whenever a cultivator goes through the tenth level of the minor tribulation, he will encounter a Heart Demon Tribulation. Those who fail the Heart Demon Tribulation will never be able to enter the Spiritual Transformation Realm again. That’s why many cultivators look for this fruit. This fruit is called the Heart Demon Fruit. After eating it, one can experience the scene of the Heart Demon Tribulation in advance. Even if one fails to go through the tribulation in the end, as long as the Heart Demon is not too severe, one will naturally wake up over time.”

Zhu Taozhi was not worried at all. She didn't think she would have any demons, so she picked up the fruit and asked, "Will I get a reward for waking up quickly?"

"There is no reward for this level, but only after passing it can you enter the next level. In other words, this Heart Demon Fruit itself is a particularly precious thing in the world, and it is the reward for this level."

Zhu Taozhi ate the Heart Demon Fruit, closed her eyes, and gray mist quickly enveloped her entire body.

Jiang Li picked up the fruit, hesitated for a long time, but never put it into his mouth.

"What are you hesitating about?" the ball of light asked him calmly.

"I..." Jiang Li vaguely knew what his inner demon might be.

"Everything after eating the Heart Demon Fruit is illusory. If you let go of your obsession, you can break out of the cocoon. This is a good thing. Why are you hesitating?"

Jiang Li looked at the ball of light in front of him, and finally raised the fruit and put it into his mouth.

....................................