The Arrogant Immortal
Chapter 146 - 145: The Born Bad Seed

Chapter 146: Chapter 145: The Born Bad Seed

Xie Jiuniang couldn’t possibly try each exit one by one.

Once she entered an exit, turning back was impossible, unless she went through it eighty-one times!

Eighty-one times, is that possible?

Xie Jiuniang pondered solutions.

Ultimately, the only viable method was the ability of the Time Leaf.

To conserve the foresight expenditure, Xie Jiuniang decided to predict only when near each exit.

Xie Jiuniang asked, "Little Jianjian, do you have a map of the exit’s terrain?"

"Ah, I’ll share what I’ve seen with my master."

Jian Lingyan acted quickly, sharing a bit of its memory with Xie Jiuniang.

Soon, an image formed in Xie Jiuniang’s mind, with eighty-one little white dots appearing within the fog, some near, some far. Just as Jian Lingyan had described, there was an exit not far away.

Just to be safe, Xie Jiuniang planned the quickest route to check all the exits.

If she found it midway, the rest would be unnecessary.

She came before the first exit.

Xie Jiuniang threw out the Great Tortoise Shell and crawled inside.

Activating the Time Leaf’s ability was better inside the Tortoise Shell; there was no need to worry about being detected by the people from Trial Peak.

Xie Jiuniang took out the Time Leaf, activating the foresight of the future.

A flash of silver light, and she found herself in the long river of time.

She took a step forward, and it seemed as if she saw herself emerging from the Tortoise Shell and stepping into the exit outside.

[The environment suddenly changed, all around her eyes filled with endless white snow, ice, and snow-covered lands...]

Knowing it wasn’t the same path from her past life, Xie Jiuniang immediately exited.

The time spent was short, so the consumption was minimal. Xie Jiuniang hurried to the next exit and repeated the previous actions, unfortunately without success, then moved on to the next location.

Within the Mist Array, one couldn’t see anyone within half a length.

Occasionally running into one or two disciples, everyone imperceptibly passed by each other.

Xie Jiuniang tirelessly did the same thing, while Wu Shuangshuang and others in the Mist Array were searching for Xie Jiuniang, almost bursting with frustration.

A female cultivator said, "Shuangshuang, could she have already found the exit?"

"Impossible. It’s her first time here, how long has it been? She’s definitely still inside the Mist Array." Wu Shuangshuang wasn’t admitted into the Inner Sect through Sect exams. Wu Sheng was from a collateral branch of the Wu Family, but Wu Shuangshuang was from the direct line.

Almost all direct descendants of the Wu Family joined the Minghua Sect.

Yet, Wu Shuangshuang was sent to the Tianxu Sect.

Normally failing to pass the Sect’s examinations, her father had requested Wu Sheng to take her as his disciple.

Before arriving, Wu Shuangshuang naturally sought information about the Trial Area from senior brothers and sisters. Precisely because she was informed, she couldn’t believe that Xie Jiuniang could have found the exit in such a short time.

As Wu Shuangshuang suspected, Xie Jiuniang indeed hadn’t left the Mist Array.

Not because she hadn’t found an exit, but because she had found over fifty, and after predicting them all, none were the path from her past life, making her feel on the verge of madness.

Anyone repeating the same task over fifty times would become frustrated and irritable.

"Master, what exactly are you looking for?" Jian Lingyan was puzzled.

Xie Jiuniang said, "Looking for the second level, it’s the Fire Realm Sea."

"The previous fifty-odd exits weren’t it?"

"None of them; I’ve checked them using the Time Leaf."

"Oh, oh, then master keep going, only twenty-some left. After all, you’ve tried over fifty; don’t mind..." Jian Lingyan oddly picked up such talkative ways somewhere.

Making Xie Jiuniang’s heart skip a beat, "Just shut up."

Jian Lingyan was often scolded by the master, getting a strange sense of joy whenever the master was upset.

Suddenly, Jian Lingyan let out a "hmm" sound, "Master, a hundred lengths ahead, it’s Wu Shuangshuang and the others."

Xie Jiuniang arched her exquisite brow.

Meeting in the Mist Array, could it be said that Wu Shuangshuang and the others were just lucky?

Thus, Xie Jiuniang, while in a bad mood, decided to seek some amusement. Knowing Wu Shuangshuang had sent some Foundation Establishment cultivators to search for her, she deliberately let the man who had drugged her before encounter Xie Jiuniang again.

As expected, that man once again dusted Xie Jiuniang’s vestment robe with a trace of the powder.

This time he was more discreet than before, and without a thorough check using Divine Sense, one would not find the faintest trace of powder on the robe.

The male cultivator was quite clever, not daring to rashly make a move against Xie Jiuniang.

Because Xie Jiuniang had many life-preserving items on her, he wouldn’t be able to overpower her even if he tried.

After parting ways with that man, Xie Jiuniang promptly went to the next exit and performed the same operation, only to find it was still not the one she sought, so she hurried to the nearest one.

Wu Shuangshuang and the others kept circling behind Xie Jiuniang.

In the lead was a male cultivator, with a Tracking Butterfly flying in front of him.

"How can that wretched woman run so fast?" Wu Shuangshuang grumbled, her face contorting with anger.

A female cultivator speculated suspiciously, "Could it be that she knows someone is following behind?"

"Impossible, the Tracking Butterfly didn’t show any abnormalities." Wu Shuangshuang looked ahead at the Tracking Butterfly with a grimace.

Jian Lingyan relayed their conversation to Xie Jiuniang, "Master, how do you plan to trap them? There isn’t much danger in this Mist Array, at most they’ll just be trapped and unable to leave."

"No rush, to make them perish, we must first drive them mad."

Xie Jiuniang had never intended to take action within the Mist Array.

The Mist Array was the first barrier, and for thousands of years, nobody had died there, the most that would happen was getting trapped.

After searching for several exits consecutively, she finally used the Time Leaf to find the one she was looking for, and on the other side of the exit, she saw a sea of fire.

Xie Jiuniang wiped off the cold sweat, "Damn it, finally found it."

She put away the Time Leaf and then put away the Great Tortoise Shell.

She began to dilly-dally outside the exit, waiting for Wu Shuangshuang and the others to come over.

"Does the master want to lead them to the second barrier?" Jian Lingyan was very curious.

Xie Jiuniang inwardly rolled her eyes, "Isn’t that obvious? Do you even need to ask?"

"I’m just seeking confirmation, heehee."

"Speak properly."

"Okay okay, Master, they’re coming, just over ten zhang away."

Not long after Jian Lingyan spoke, indeed, Wu Shuangshuang and others hurried over.

Xie Jiuniang deliberately left them her back to see, stepped into the exit, and after a flash of white light, disappeared.

The next moment, the environment changed again.

Before her was a glow of fire, waves of heat hitting her face, only half a zhang away from a huge flame.

Behind Xie Jiuniang, suddenly several figures flashed into appearance.

Wu Shuangshuang suddenly appeared behind Xie Jiuniang, and without uttering a word, made a move to push Xie Jiuniang into the Fire Realm Sea!

Xie Jiuniang, caught off-guard, turned sideways and grabbed the arm Wu Shuangshuang stretched out from behind, flinging her whole body into the Fire Realm Sea.

"Ahh—"

Wu Shuangshuang fell into the Fire Realm Sea, followed by another scream.

"Shuangshuang!"

"Junior sister!"

The others who had just entered were startled and immediately wanted to save her.

Meanwhile, a female cultivator wanted to make a move on Xie Jiuniang, but Xie Jiuniang sneered, "What? What is this? Do you all want to harm me one by one?"

"Nonsense, it was you who threw Sister Wu into the fire sea just now. We will definitely report you to the Discipline Hall once we get out." The female cultivator said excitedly, excitement gleaming in her eyes.

This was the excitement of having caught Xie Jiuniang red-handed.

Xie Jiuniang sneered, "Then go ahead and report, and tell them how your dear junior sister plotted against me and then got a taste of her own medicine."

After saying that, Xie Jiuniang turned and left.

The female cultivator wanted to stop her but didn’t dare.

She could only watch helplessly as Xie Jiuniang walked into a sea of fire and disappeared into it.

"How, how is she unharmed? Sister Wu was burned, but..." The female cultivator was full of shock.

A male Foundation Establishment cultivator next to her spoke up, "Junior Sister Miao might not know since it’s her first time here, but this level is called the Fire Realm Sea, it’s half real and half virtual. Just now, Sister Wu was unlucky and encountered real fire."

This meant that just now, Xie Jiuniang had found a virtual spot.

Therefore, she walked into it unscathed and disappeared instead.

Wu Shuangshuang was pulled out of the Fire Realm Sea, her vestment robe burned beyond recognition, her soft long hair almost completely singed, even her eyebrows scorched off mostly, and her arms severely burned.

A female cultivator hastily took out a cloak and draped it over Wu Shuangshuang.

The several male cultivators occasionally stole glances at Wu Shuangshuang.

Wu Shuangshuang was driven mad, screaming incessantly, utterly unable to accept her appearance...

Hearing those screams, Xie Jiuniang chuckled, "This is just the appetizer."

"That woman is too mean, seeing the master standing in front of the fire sea, she pushed you as soon as she appeared, no hesitation at all before harming others, such a vicious person." Even though Jian Lingyan knew the master intended to set a trap, she was still shocked by Wu Shuangshuang’s ruthlessness.

Xie Jiuniang had expected as much.

It was as if Wu Shuangshuang was born with a wicked nature, ready to harm others without hesitation at the first opportunity.

It would be surprising if she hesitated before harming someone.

Jian Lingyan exclaimed indignantly, "Master, kill her!"

"This place isn’t very dangerous, the fire can’t kill you if it touches you, at worst you just shed a layer of skin, and those with great determination can even use it to temper their bodies," Xie Jiuniang said serenely.

The Fire Realm Sea was made up of many small arrays, which could be called a complex formation.

The flames inside were half real and half illusory.

With Jian Lingyan to cheat, Xie Jiuniang could easily distinguish the real from the fake.