Chapter Ninety-Nine: Divine Mud-Transforming Water

Yun Qing stepped forward at once. She slipped one arm behind his back and the other beneath his legs, intending to carry the cultivator up the slope in a princess hold.

But she had overestimated herself and underestimated his weight. Cultivators had to temper their bodies through training; though he did not look fat, his flesh, bones, and sinews were as solid as steel. He weighed more than a mortal wild boar of five hundred jin.

She could barely lift him. The moment she tried to stand, her old waist gave out. Even walking was a struggle, much less climbing an incline.

The cultivator, however, seemed to feel nothing at all. No matter how she jostled him, he did not make a sound.

Realizing she simply could not carry him, Yun Qing let go.

Before she could even think of abandoning him, she saw that both her hands were smeared with the cultivator’s blood.

Since she had already gotten involved, it would not do to leave him here now. Yun Qing had no time for further deliberation; within the limits of her ability, she would do whatever she could.

She moved behind him, threaded both arms under his armpits from back to front, and clasped her fingers together over his chest. If she could not carry him, she would drag him.

Dragging was indeed much easier. With only half her strength, Yun Qing was able to move the level sixty cultivator.

Lacking spiritual sense, she could only keep turning her head to make sure she did not waste time dragging him along a crooked route, and she backed toward the slope as quickly as she could.

The rough pulling tore at Xiao Haoran’s wounds, and the unconscious man’s brow furrowed faintly.

Turning her head, Yun Qing saw the change in his expression.

He still had consciousness.

Cultivators generally disliked others getting too close. Yun Qing was worried he might suddenly wake and strike at her.

As she dragged him, she explained, “Immortal master, there seems to be a landslide below us. It’s going to bury us. We need to get to the highest place we can.”

“Immortal master, I’m just a mortal. I’ve already used all my strength dragging you. If I’ve hurt you, please bear with me.”

“Immortal master, I’m Yun Qing from Ye Family Village in Yunquan Town. Some time ago, when you came to our area, you rescued the village chief’s daughter in Wheatfield Village, and you also took me and several members of my team back on your flying ship...”

Under ordinary circumstances, Yun Qing would never have introduced herself so readily.

But with the system, things were different. For the sake of affection points, she had to state her name. Worried she might draw hatred? That was fine. With the system, she could clearly tell who doubted her and who hated her.

“Affection toward you from Xiao Haoran: +50.”

“Affection toward you from Xiao Haoran has risen to acquaintance.”

Yun Qing’s muttering had clearly worked. By the time she dragged the level sixty cultivator to the slope, she saw the system notification.

So his name was Xiao Haoran, and he had been conscious enough to hear her.

Come to think of it, dragging him out of danger also counted as saving him. Yet how petty—could he not have given a little more affection? Not even a hint of friendliness.

On level ground, he would be easy to drag, but uphill was another matter.

Just as she was grumbling inwardly, the system’s voice rang out: affection points increased by 500.

Why had the affection points suddenly risen by 500 for no reason? Yun Qing looked at the affection list, but there was no huge value there; Xiao Haoran’s affection for her still showed only 50.

“Liu Liu, why did so much affection suddenly appear?”

“When someone two major realms above you develops affection for you, the system grants a tenfold affection bonus.”

“So I should try to win the favor of people with higher cultivation? But why doesn’t Qin Feng’s affection for me trigger a reward?”

“That is because Qin Feng is no longer truly human.”

“What if a level seventy, eighty, or ninety person likes me—would the reward be even greater, like a hundredfold?”

“As long as they are two major realms above you, the reward is always tenfold.”

What a simple formula. Yun Qing said, “Does hatred work the same way?”

“Hatred works the same way.”

Yun Qing secretly hoped Xiao Haoran would not, like Qin Feng, begin to suspect her. Her cave dwelling had not yet been reinforced; it could not withstand the ravages of those little chickens and lambs.

The rumbling grew louder and louder. Yun Qing had no time to study affection points. Gritting her teeth, she forced out another thirty percent of her strength, and at last dragged Xiao Haoran onto the upward slope.

Step by step, she retreated uphill. Each step was agonizing, each harder than the last.

Thinking of the slope she had slid down earlier—endless in length, with iron-red spirit worms and poison water in the middle—Yun Qing felt that dragging Xiao Haoran to safety was as difficult as ascending to heaven itself.

After dragging him upward for more than ten meters, she saw black foul mud gushing out from the stairwell entrance.

Warning: leave the secret realm as soon as possible.

“Liu Liu, why didn’t you tell me when I entered the secret realm that I could just climb up to get out?”

“At that time, the slope was protected by a formation. Now the formation has failed.”

“So that’s it. Is there any other way?”

“Searching.”

“At first we didn’t even see water. Why can mud flow like it?”

“You need to get closer to the black mud. Perhaps the system can calculate a solution.”

“But I already ran to the stairwell entrance to look. Now this waterlike mud is only a little more than ten meters away from me. It’s already very close.”

“Searching for a solution.”

Using all the strength she had, Yun Qing kept dragging Xiao Haoran upward. She watched the earth below already completely covered, still continuing to rise.

Then she looked up at the cave’s ceiling. The glowstones above were still shining, but once the black muck completely covered that light, her situation would become even worse. She would no longer be able to tell where the poison water lay, when the red iron spirit worms would appear, or how far the rising earth below would reach—every one of them a danger.

Just then, she seemed to hear sounds coming from above as well. Not as deafening as the thunderous crashing below, but not small either.

Soon, Yun Qing saw the cause: all kinds of objects, large and small, were rolling down from above. She could not tell whether they were rolling out of the mine or from the collapsing cliff inside the alchemy workshop.

A torrent of stones, earth, and ore came rolling down, striking Yun Qing’s heels, calves, thighs, and even her back before spilling past them to continue downward.

In this situation, even without Xiao Haoran, it would have been hard to move.

Weakly, she said, “Immortal master, the upper side may be collapsing. I’m afraid we’ll be buried alive.”

The stones battered her from every direction. Her life force kept dropping, and in the blink of an eye it was about to fall below fifty.

Dizziness already blurred her vision. If she kept losing blood, she would become dazed. Yet Xiao Haoran, whom she was dragging, still gave no response at all.

This would not do.

Yun Qing simply turned around, crouched down, and supported Xiao Haoran with her left hand alone. She extended her right hand, and in order to avoid being struck by even more falling debris, she intended to gather the objects that hit her into the system inventory.

A stone the size of a basin came crashing down. Yun Qing concentrated her inner force into her right hand and blocked it.

Acquired: Stone x1.

A mineral ore the size of a fist, wrapped in mud, came flying at her. Yun Qing caught it with her right hand.

Acquired: Black iron ore x1.

...

Above, stones continued to roll down without end. Below, the earth had already turned into a mire.

A huge ore, a full meter across, tumbled down. Yun Qing frowned and gathered all her inner force into her hand, hoping not to be struck hard by it. She doubted this stone could be stored in her pack; her goal was to knock it aside.

The instant the large stone touched her right hand, Yun Qing felt a force of nearly a thousand jin collide against her palm. Her footing went unstable, and she slid backward.