Shu Han carried Chu Ruolin and ran all the way. Along the way, they indeed encountered a few who were blind to their situation. Shu Han didn't hold back and used all his skills, killing these low-cultivation cultivators in an instant. In the end, they didn't encounter a large group of people and successfully reached the edge of the five-color barrier.
The barrier was rapidly advancing, and Shu Han put Chu Ruolin down to conserve his strength.
Chu Ruolin noticed that this little boy, who was only in his twenties, was surprisingly mature and steady. He was methodical and clear in his actions. When dealing with enemies, he was decisive and ruthless, which made her admire him.
"Hey, kid, are you really only in your twenties? Your mentality is like those old antiques that are hundreds of years old."
Shu Han opened his eyes and smiled, "Part of it is my personality since I was young, and the other part is due to my past experiences in the sect."
Chu Ruolin chuckled, "An interesting boy. I don't accept male disciples, but if you can keep me safe, I can make an exception and accept you as my disciple."
"Thank you for your kindness, senior. I already have a master. Although my master is no longer with us, I still respect him in my heart. I don't want to choose another sect."
"Heh! If others heard about me accepting disciples, they would betray their masters and join me, but you refused me for a dead person? That's not acceptable. After we leave this place, either you become my disciple or you become a corpse, it's your choice."
Shu Han: ...
"But senior, this is different from what you said before!"
Chu Ruolin huffed, "I promised to take you out, but I never said you would be alive. No one can refuse me, especially a Qi Refining stage brat like you."
Shu Han was speechless, "Aren't you supposed to be focusing on breaking the suppression in your body? How can you concentrate if you keep talking?"
"Hmph! The method within my body is automatically breaking it, what does it have to do with what I say? Besides, it's pitch black in this tunnel, and the more I look at it, the more boring it becomes. Boy, keep me company and talk, tell me about your short twenty-year life."
Under the dim light, Shu Han looked at Chu Ruolin's face, and couldn't help but say, "Senior, are you scared?"
Chu Ruolin glared, biting her teeth, and rebuked, "What a joke! Would I be afraid of a bunch of Qi Refining stage ants?"
"You didn't talk this much when you were sure of winning."
Chu Ruolin's chest heaved up and down, angrily said, "I did not! I did not!"
Shu Han gestured for her to be quiet, "Keep it down, don't let others hear you. To tell you the truth, I am also scared, scared to death."
Shu Han sighed and said, "Without hiding from senior, I came from afar and have not been in Great Cloud for a full month. I have witnessed the cruel fights among the cultivators. In your eyes, the other cultivators in the vein are ants, but they are different in my eyes. They are all people who have struggled to survive in a dangerous hell, you should not underestimate their desire to live."
Upon hearing these words, Chu Ruolin fell silent. She said solemnly, "You're right, I am scared. I can't use my many magic treasures and spells. For the first time in my hundred years of cultivating, I need to rely on someone else to survive. You'd better protect me, or I won't let you off!"
"Don't worry, since I've promised, I will do my best to protect you!"
Looking at Shu Han's sincere gaze, Chu Ruolin's hanging heart felt somewhat safe. She took out a shiny sachet from her storage bag.
"Kid, the formation treasure you used earlier was not bad, but it seems to consume quite a bit of middle-grade spirit stones. I have more than a hundred here, you take them. If you encounter an emergency, don't hesitate to use them. If worse comes to worst, I'll give you a formation treasure when we get out!"
Shu Han looked at the sachet handed over by Chu Ruolin but didn't take it.
"Senior, to tell you the truth, that formation treasure can't be used too many times, and there's no need for so many. You don't need to use these middle-grade spirit stones to motivate me. When it's time to fight hard, I will definitely do so."
Chu Ruolin was surprised, "Even middle-grade spirit stones don't attract you? Kid, do you know the value of middle-grade spirit stones? You can't gather this many middle-grade spirit stones in your entire life!"
Shu Han said, "Indeed, but a gentleman doesn't live off others' charity. I just want to make you feel at ease. I'm not the kind of person who only cares about gains and losses. If I only want to fight for you after receiving this bag of spirit stones, then I may also betray you for more benefits in the future."
However, Shu Han thought to himself: Middle-grade spirit stones? I can have as many of those as I want. Can you come up with something more practical?
Chu Ruolin frowned. This was the second time she was rebuffed by Shu Han. The first time she wanted to take him as a disciple, he actually refused. The second time she wanted to give him an astronomical number of spirit stones, he still didn't accept.
Suddenly, Chu Ruolin's temper flared. She wanted to belittle Shu Han but couldn't find a reason after much thought. She could only huff, "You're so sanctimonious! The person I hate the most is hypocrites like you!"
Then, Chu Ruolin's restless emotions calmed down a bit, she no longer kept chattering, just occasionally spoke up. Shu Han had no choice but to chat with her intermittently. He realized that this senior, who was over eight hundred years old and highly cultivated, was actually not much different from ordinary girls. When they were nervous and panicking, they needed someone to comfort them. The only difference was that the former was highly cultivated and rarely panicked.
In this way, Shu Han wandered with Chu Ruolin on the edge of the five-color barrier, and they safely passed six hours.
Shu Han looked at the map, and the five-color barrier on the surface had shrunk to a circle. He thought that at this rate, in eight hours, the five-color barrier would encircle everyone in a very small range. That would be the real life-or-death moment!
At this time, the old man's voice echoed in the mine again.
"How did this girl find help after I had a nap? This is against my original intention. Now, the real-time location of this Foundation Establishment girl will be marked on everyone's map. And the reward is doubled, offering ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones!"
Hiss!
All the people in the mine stopped their struggles, stunned by the ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones. Killing that cultivator who was now unarmed would not only get them immediately teleported out of the underground mine, but they could also get ten thousand spirit stones!? They all opened their jade map, and a red dot flashed on everyone's map, which was exactly where Shu Han was hiding with Chu Ruolin.
"Kill!"
"First come, first served!"
The remaining eighty-three cultivators rushed toward that location.
Chu Ruolin turned pale with fright, but she was furious, "This is too much! I will wipe them all out when I get out!"
Shu Han quickly stopped her and tried to calm her down, "Alright! Can you spare them?"
Chu Ruolin looked at Shu Han and relented, "Alright, for your sake, I'll let them go. So, what should we do now? You can't abandon me!" After speaking, she took the initiative to hold onto Shu Han's arm tightly.
Shu Han was also extremely nervous at this moment. All the remaining cultivators were coming towards them. How could he stop them? Right now, it seemed that the only option was to leave Chu Ruolin. But he had already promised to protect her, and if he ran away now, she would certainly not let him go. She might not be able to kill all the other people, but if she only wanted to kill him, Shu Han had every reason to believe she had the means!
Suddenly, Shu Han looked at the mine tunnels around him and had a plan.
Alright! You all know my position and are coming for me, right? Then let you pay the price along the way!
Shu Han carried Chu Ruolin and ran all the way. Along the way, they indeed encountered a few who were blind to their situation. Shu Han didn't hold back and used all his skills, killing these low-cultivation cultivators in an instant. In the end, they didn't encounter a large group of people and successfully reached the edge of the five-color barrier.
The barrier was rapidly advancing, and Shu Han put Chu Ruolin down to conserve his strength.
Chu Ruolin noticed that this little boy, who was only in his twenties, was surprisingly mature and steady. He was methodical and clear in his actions. When dealing with enemies, he was decisive and ruthless, which made her admire him.
"Hey, kid, are you really only in your twenties? Your mentality is like those old antiques that are hundreds of years old."
Shu Han opened his eyes and smiled, "Part of it is my personality since I was young, and the other part is due to my past experiences in the sect."
Chu Ruolin chuckled, "An interesting boy. I don't accept male disciples, but if you can keep me safe, I can make an exception and accept you as my disciple."
"Thank you for your kindness, senior. I already have a master. Although my master is no longer with us, I still respect him in my heart. I don't want to choose another sect."
"Heh! If others heard about me accepting disciples, they would betray their masters and join me, but you refused me for a dead person? That's not acceptable. After we leave this place, either you become my disciple or you become a corpse, it's your choice."
Shu Han: ...
"But senior, this is different from what you said before!"
Chu Ruolin huffed, "I promised to take you out, but I never said you would be alive. No one can refuse me, especially a Qi Refining stage brat like you."
Shu Han was speechless, "Aren't you supposed to be focusing on breaking the suppression in your body? How can you concentrate if you keep talking?"
"Hmph! The method within my body is automatically breaking it, what does it have to do with what I say? Besides, it's pitch black in this tunnel, and the more I look at it, the more boring it becomes. Boy, keep me company and talk, tell me about your short twenty-year life."
Under the dim light, Shu Han looked at Chu Ruolin's face, and couldn't help but say, "Senior, are you scared?"
Chu Ruolin glared, biting her teeth, and rebuked, "What a joke! Would I be afraid of a bunch of Qi Refining stage ants?"
"You didn't talk this much when you were sure of winning."
Chu Ruolin's chest heaved up and down, angrily said, "I did not! I did not!"
Shu Han gestured for her to be quiet, "Keep it down, don't let others hear you. To tell you the truth, I am also scared, scared to death."
Shu Han sighed and said, "Without hiding from senior, I came from afar and have not been in Great Cloud for a full month. I have witnessed the cruel fights among the cultivators. In your eyes, the other cultivators in the vein are ants, but they are different in my eyes. They are all people who have struggled to survive in a dangerous hell, you should not underestimate their desire to live."
Upon hearing these words, Chu Ruolin fell silent. She said solemnly, "You're right, I am scared. I can't use my many magic treasures and spells. For the first time in my hundred years of cultivating, I need to rely on someone else to survive. You'd better protect me, or I won't let you off!"
"Don't worry, since I've promised, I will do my best to protect you!"
Looking at Shu Han's sincere gaze, Chu Ruolin's hanging heart felt somewhat safe. She took out a shiny sachet from her storage bag.
"Kid, the formation treasure you used earlier was not bad, but it seems to consume quite a bit of middle-grade spirit stones. I have more than a hundred here, you take them. If you encounter an emergency, don't hesitate to use them. If worse comes to worst, I'll give you a formation treasure when we get out!"
Shu Han looked at the sachet handed over by Chu Ruolin but didn't take it.
"Senior, to tell you the truth, that formation treasure can't be used too many times, and there's no need for so many. You don't need to use these middle-grade spirit stones to motivate me. When it's time to fight hard, I will definitely do so."
Chu Ruolin was surprised, "Even middle-grade spirit stones don't attract you? Kid, do you know the value of middle-grade spirit stones? You can't gather this many middle-grade spirit stones in your entire life!"
Shu Han said, "Indeed, but a gentleman doesn't live off others' charity. I just want to make you feel at ease. I'm not the kind of person who only cares about gains and losses. If I only want to fight for you after receiving this bag of spirit stones, then I may also betray you for more benefits in the future."
However, Shu Han thought to himself: Middle-grade spirit stones? I can have as many of those as I want. Can you come up with something more practical?
Chu Ruolin frowned. This was the second time she was rebuffed by Shu Han. The first time she wanted to take him as a disciple, he actually refused. The second time she wanted to give him an astronomical number of spirit stones, he still didn't accept.
Suddenly, Chu Ruolin's temper flared. She wanted to belittle Shu Han but couldn't find a reason after much thought. She could only huff, "You're so sanctimonious! The person I hate the most is hypocrites like you!"
Then, Chu Ruolin's restless emotions calmed down a bit, she no longer kept chattering, just occasionally spoke up. Shu Han had no choice but to chat with her intermittently. He realized that this senior, who was over eight hundred years old and highly cultivated, was actually not much different from ordinary girls. When they were nervous and panicking, they needed someone to comfort them. The only difference was that the former was highly cultivated and rarely panicked.
In this way, Shu Han wandered with Chu Ruolin on the edge of the five-color barrier, and they safely passed six hours.
Shu Han looked at the map, and the five-color barrier on the surface had shrunk to a circle. He thought that at this rate, in eight hours, the five-color barrier would encircle everyone in a very small range. That would be the real life-or-death moment!
At this time, the old man's voice echoed in the mine again.
"How did this girl find help after I had a nap? This is against my original intention. Now, the real-time location of this Foundation Establishment girl will be marked on everyone's map. And the reward is doubled, offering ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones!"
Hiss!
All the people in the mine stopped their struggles, stunned by the ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones. Killing that cultivator who was now unarmed would not only get them immediately teleported out of the underground mine, but they could also get ten thousand spirit stones!? They all opened their jade map, and a red dot flashed on everyone's map, which was exactly where Shu Han was hiding with Chu Ruolin.
"Kill!"
"First come, first served!"
The remaining eighty-three cultivators rushed toward that location.
Chu Ruolin turned pale with fright, but she was furious, "This is too much! I will wipe them all out when I get out!"
Shu Han quickly stopped her and tried to calm her down, "Alright! Can you spare them?"
Chu Ruolin looked at Shu Han and relented, "Alright, for your sake, I'll let them go. So, what should we do now? You can't abandon me!" After speaking, she took the initiative to hold onto Shu Han's arm tightly.
Shu Han was also extremely nervous at this moment. All the remaining cultivators were coming towards them. How could he stop them? Right now, it seemed that the only option was to leave Chu Ruolin. But he had already promised to protect her, and if he ran away now, she would certainly not let him go. She might not be able to kill all the other people, but if she only wanted to kill him, Shu Han had every reason to believe she had the means!
Suddenly, Shu Han looked at the mine tunnels around him and had a plan.
Alright! You all know my position and are coming for me, right? Then let you pay the price along the way!
