Chapter 145 - The Mask and the Ashen-Blood Miasma
Chapter 145: Chapter 145 - The Mask and the Ashen-Blood Miasma
Weapons rose almost at the same time.
The scraping sound came again from beyond the broken wall.
Everyone’s expression tightened.
Chen Feng’s sword ignited with a thin layer of fire sword Qi.
Zhao Heng stepped forward and lowered his stance.
Mu Qing’s fingers moved, green wood Qi quietly gathering around her sleeves.
Qiao Wen raised one hand, and a faint layer of water light formed before him.
No one spoke.
For cultivators who had entered the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, a sound coming from outside a safe zone was not something to treat casually.
The red mist beyond the outpost boundary stirred.
A silhouette appeared inside it.
At first, it was bent and unclear.
Then it staggered closer.
Everyone’s grip tightened.
Then the silhouette passed through the broken wall.
The miasma clinging to him hissed faintly as it brushed against the outpost’s purification boundary.
What appeared was not a beast.
It was a young cultivator.
Several people released quiet breaths of relief.
Qiao Wen’s expression changed first.
"Junior Brother!"
He stepped forward instinctively.
But before he could run over, a hand stopped him.
Su Bai had raised one arm and blocked him lightly.
Qiao Wen froze.
"Brother Su?"
Su Bai did not answer immediately.
He only looked at the young cultivator who had just entered the outpost.
The young man stood near the broken wall, breathing heavily. His blue robes belonged to Blue River Pavilion. His hair was slightly scattered, and his face looked pale.
But his reaction was slow.
For a breath, he only stared at Qiao Wen as if he had not expected to see him.
Then, as though he finally remembered what to do, he waved.
"Senior Brother..."
Qiao Wen’s face showed both surprise and joy.
Su Bai narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Do not be too trusting," he said. "Verify whether he is truly your junior brother."
The moment those words fell, everyone tensed again.
Even Qiao Wen’s expression stiffened.
Chen Feng glanced at Su Bai.
The others also turned more cautious.
Su Bai did not explain too much.
He had only noticed a few small things.
The young cultivator’s robes were too clean.
His fear looked real, but his reaction had arrived half a breath late.
And the faint white lotus-light barrier around him did not feel quite the same as the normal Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill barrier.
It was not enough to accuse him.
But in the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, Yue Cangyu’s warning was still fresh.
If one met another disciple, confirm their identity before trusting them.
Qiao Wen took a breath and looked at the young cultivator.
"Junior Brother, prove your identity."
The young cultivator looked confused.
"Senior Brother?"
Qiao Wen’s expression became serious.
"Do it."
The young man hesitated, then quickly took out a blue jade token from his waist.
The token bore the mark of Blue River Pavilion.
He held it up.
"Blue River Pavilion inner disciple, Luo Shenshui."
Then he looked at Qiao Wen and continued, "Senior Brother Qiao Wen entered the sect seven years before me. Your master is Elder Qiao Yunhe. You once fell into the Blue Scale Pond while practicing Water-Walking Steps, and told us that you had been testing whether the pond had hidden currents."
Qiao Wen’s expression changed.
Several cultivators looked at him.
Qiao Wen’s face reddened slightly.
"That matter is not important."
Luo Shenshui added carefully, "You also hate bitter tea but pretend to like it in front of Elder Qiao."
"Enough."
Qiao Wen immediately raised his hand.
"It is him."
His tone was firm.
The others relaxed again.
Some even smiled.
A junior brother recognizing his senior brother’s embarrassing history was usually convincing.
Su Bai also lowered his arm.
Perhaps he had been overthinking.
Of course, inside this place, overthinking was healthier than underthinking.
Qiao Wen walked over and checked Luo Shenshui’s condition.
"Why are you alone? Where did you land?"
Luo Shenshui’s face turned ugly.
"I was unlucky. I landed directly inside the Ashen-Blood Miasma."
Several people inhaled sharply.
Luo Shenshui touched the faint lotus glow around his body.
"Fortunately, I reacted quickly and swallowed an Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill. Otherwise, I might not have reached this outpost."
Qiao Wen frowned.
"You ran here alone through the mist?"
Luo Shenshui nodded.
"I saw a faint light from a distance. I followed it and found this place."
Chen Feng asked, "Did anything chase you?"
Luo Shenshui shook his head.
"Not that I noticed."
Chen Feng’s expression did not ease.
In the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, not noticing something did not mean it was absent.
Su Bai asked, "What did you see outside?"
Luo Shenshui looked toward the red mist.
"There are strange structures east of here."
The moment those words appeared, several people’s eyes changed.
Strange structures.
Inside a mystic realm, those two words were almost never simple.
They could mean danger.
They could mean traps.
They could also mean inheritance, herbs, ancient weapons, formation cores, or forgotten chambers.
Most cultivators heard danger last.
They heard opportunity first.
Luo Shenshui continued, "I did not dare approach alone. The mist was too thick. I wanted to find a group inside the outpost first."
Qiao Wen’s eyes brightened.
He turned to Su Bai with a laugh.
"Brother Su, if my junior brother located a possible treasure area, does that count as contribution?"
Chen Feng’s face darkened immediately.
It had the look of someone who had just seen his own contribution being diluted by a man who stumbled out of mist.
Su Bai glanced at him.
Then at Qiao Wen.
He shook his head lightly and smiled.
"Of course."
Qiao Wen’s smile widened.
Chen Feng looked aggrieved.
Several others smiled too.
The atmosphere became slightly lighter.
Qiao Wen looked at Luo Shenshui.
"Can you still lead the way?"
Before Luo Shenshui could answer, Su Bai spoke first.
"Should you not let your junior brother rest?"
Qiao Wen paused.
That was reasonable.
But Luo Shenshui hurriedly waved his hands.
"No need, Brother Su. I am not tired. The lotus barrier still has strength left. I can lead the way."
Su Bai looked at him.
Luo Shenshui’s expression was earnest.
Too earnest, perhaps.
Su Bai then looked at the others.
"Is that acceptable to everyone?"
The cultivators exchanged glances.
A strange structure was nearby.
The outpost was safe, but safe places did not produce treasures.
In the end, one by one, they nodded.
"I have no objection."
"We can go and look."
"If the danger is too high, we retreat."
"Agreed."
Chen Feng crossed his arms.
"If we are going, go quickly. The longer we wait, the more likely another group finds it first."
That sentence convinced the last few people.
Su Bai looked at Luo Shenshui again.
"Can you lead us?"
Luo Shenshui nodded.
"Yes."
The group moved toward the eastern boundary of the outpost, the same direction Luo Shenshui had come from.
Before stepping out, Su Bai said, "Eat your Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills."
Everyone obeyed immediately.
Jade bottles opened. Pills entered mouths.
A faint white lotus-light barrier appeared over each cultivator’s body.
The barrier clung closely to their skin like a second layer. A small lotus symbol appeared briefly between their brows before fading.
Luo Shenshui did not take another pill.
The white glow around him was already present.
Mu Qing noticed Su Bai had not taken a pill.
She hesitated, then asked, "Brother Su, how about you? Should you not take one as well?"
Several people turned toward him.
Su Bai paused.
"I will be fine."
Zhao Heng looked at the pale bone mask covering Su Bai’s lower face.
Then his eyes showed realization.
"I understand. That strange mask of yours must be a treasure for resisting miasma."
The others also looked enlightened.
So that was why Su Bai had it on.
A few even looked impressed.
To prepare a special miasma-resisting mask before entering the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, Radiant Sky Sect was indeed thorough.
Su Bai was silent for a breath.
Then he said, "Something like that."
This explanation had arrived by itself.
There was no need to reject it.
Luo Shenshui looked at Su Bai’s mask for slightly longer than the others.
His gaze was not greedy. It was alert.
Su Bai noticed.
His expression did not change.
"Are you ready?"
Everyone nodded.
Then they stepped out of the outpost boundary.
The Ashen-Blood Miasma immediately surrounded them.
Hiss.
The white lotus-light barriers on the cultivators reacted at once.
Red fog touched the barriers and was consumed by the pill’s energy. Thin wisps of white light evaporated with faint sizzling sounds.
The group became more serious.
Even though the miasma here was still considered thin compared to deeper zones, no one dared underestimate it.
Luo Shenshui walked at the front.
Su Bai followed behind him.
Chen Feng stayed slightly to the side, sword in hand.
Zhao Heng protected the rear with the other defensive cultivators.
Qiao Wen and Mu Qing stayed near the middle.
The red mist curled around Su Bai.
It touched his robes first.
Then his exposed skin.
The Glacier-Lung Bone Mask made his breath cold and smooth, but it did not block all contact with the miasma.
Su Bai took one slow breath.
Ashen-Blood Miasma entered.
It was supposed to corrode.
But for Su Bai, the sensation changed the moment it touched him.
The corrosion turned inward, twisted once, and became something cold and heavy.
His meridians loosened.
His spirit, instead of being scraped, seemed to be polished.
Su Bai paused.
Then took another breath.
This was the effect he had expected.
Unlike the trial.
Every breath felt like a harsh medicinal bath that had been forced to become polite halfway through.
His Macro-Taiji circulation moved quietly.
The faint irritation on his skin was healed almost as soon as it appeared.
His body was also tempered as a body cultivator, so the current miasma could not truly damage him.
Only his robes were less fortunate.
The outer layer of fabric slowly thinned at the edges.
Su Bai glanced down.
That was acceptable.
He had many robes. A mountain of robes, in fact.
At the moment, the greatest loss caused by Ashen-Blood Miasma was clothing.
This was an unusually merciful result.
He briefly considered taking one of Ji Ruyue’s Reversed Lotus-Heart Pills.
Then he dismissed the thought.
It’s too early for that.
The miasma here was too thin.
That pill’s value lay in denser fields, where its inward-drawing effect could be reversed into a proper miasma-refining circulation.
Using it here would be wasteful.
Su Bai continued breathing.
The others gradually noticed.
At first, they thought Su Bai’s mask was truly powerful.
Then they realized something was wrong.
The rest of them were walking carefully behind white lotus-light barriers.
Every time the miasma touched their barriers, the pill energy thinned a little.
Su Bai, however, looked as if he were walking through light rain with only a pale bone mask and calm steps.
Even his breathing was too steady.
Qiao Wen stared.
Mu Qing blinked.
Zhao Heng’s eyes widened.
The others almost tripped over a broken stone.
Chen Feng looked at Su Bai’s back with a complicated expression.
If he did not know better, he would suspect that the thing walking in front of them was not Su Bai.
Perhaps it was a beast pretending to be Su Bai.
But if a beast could pretend this calmly, then it deserved some respect.
Luo Shenshui, who was leading the way, looked back once.
His gaze paused on Su Bai’s mask.
Then he turned back again.
The group continued deeper into the red mist.