Genius in the whole system: The useless young lady dominates the world

Lu Lingxi knew that the poisonous dragon was at its last gasp, but its final counterattack should not be underestimated. Her eyes sharpened, and she decided to finish the battle quickly.

"Phantom, now's the time!" Lu Lingxi said to the phantom in her mind.

Just as the Poisonous Dragon's attention was completely drawn to Lu Lingxi Yao, the phantom's figure silently appeared behind the Poisonous Dragon. With his current strength, confronting the Poisonous Dragon head-on would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock. Only by taking it by surprise could he have a chance of survival.

The phantom's body transformed into several dark green vines, which quietly spread towards the venomous dragon. They avoided the dragon's hard scales and instead quietly burrowed into its body through the wound inflicted by the Flying Snow Sword.

Although the venomous dragon was severely injured, its senses remained sharp. It immediately noticed the abnormality within its body, and its massive body trembled violently, attempting to shatter the illusory vines.

However, the vines of the phantom were exceptionally tenacious. They spread rapidly within the venomous dragon's body and began to frantically absorb its flesh and energy.

More importantly, the phantom vines are quietly extending towards the head of the venomous dragon, where its soul resides.

"Roar!" The venomous dragon roared in pain, its body trembling violently. Clearly, the phantom's actions had caused it immense pain and a sense of threat.

"Master, I'm about to touch its soul!" The phantom's voice rang in Lu Lingxi's mind, filled with excitement and tension.

"Okay! Be careful!" Lu Lingxi Yao replied. This was a crucial moment for them to defeat the poisonous dragon, and they absolutely could not afford any mistakes.

The phantom's vines finally reached the head of the venomous dragon and began to attempt to invade its soul. However, although the venomous dragon's soul was weak, it was still powerful, and it desperately resisted the phantom's invasion.

"Master, I need your help!" Phantom's voice became urgent.

Without hesitation, Lu Lingxi Yao poured her spiritual power into the vines of the phantom to help it fight against the soul of the poisonous dragon.

With Lu Lingxi's help, the vines of the phantom finally broke through the defenses of the poisonous dragon's soul and began to devour its remnant soul.

"No!" the venomous dragon roared in despair as its soul rapidly dissipated under the devouring of the phantom.

As the venomous dragon's soul dissipated, its body ceased its struggles, and its massive form crashed to the ground, stirring up a cloud of mud.

"Success!" Phantom's voice rang in Lu Lingxi's mind, his voice filled with exhaustion and joy.

Lu Lingxi and Yao breathed a sigh of relief; they had finally defeated the powerful venomous dragon.

"Phantom, are you alright?" Lu Lingxi asked with concern.

“Master, I’m fine, just a little weak. I’ll be fine after a rest,” Phantom replied. “However, I devoured the remnant soul of the Poisonous Dragon and obtained some of its memories, which may be useful to us.”

“Okay, we’ll learn more about it once we’re safe,” Lu Lingxi said.

"Phantom, you said the lair is three hundred feet below the swamp. Do we still have a chance to go down?" Lu Lingxi asked Phantom in her mind.

"Master, the chances are slim. The Poisonous Dragon is dead, and the passage below has probably been blocked." The phantom's voice was tinged with seriousness.

"hateful!"

Lu Lingxi gritted her teeth, and the Flying Snow Sword in her hand spun in a series of sword flowers, dispelling the surrounding poisonous mist. However, the poisonous mist quickly spread again after being dispelled, and could not be completely eliminated.

Just as Lu Lingxi was anxiously racking her brains for a solution, Huan Yue suddenly exclaimed, "Master! Look over there!"

Lu Lingxi looked in the direction Huan Yue pointed and saw that in the center of the swamp, where the explosion had occurred earlier, the mud was churning even more violently, and a huge whirlpool was slowly forming.

At the center of the vortex, a dark cave entrance was faintly visible. Around the entrance, the previously moving dragon scale patterns were densely packed, and now these patterns were frantically converging towards the entrance, as if performing some kind of ritual.

"That's... the passage to the lair?" Lu Lingxi's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the venomous dragon's lair was located beneath the swamp?

"Master, those dragon scale patterns are opening a passage! This may be our only chance!" The phantom's voice was full of hope.

"Okay! Let's go down!"

Lu Lingxi and Yao made a decisive decision. The situation left them no room for hesitation. Rather than being worn down by the poisonous fog here, they should risk entering the nest and perhaps find a glimmer of hope.

"Vermilion Bird, Illusion Moon, Illusion Shadow, stay close to me!" Lu Lingxi Yao instructed, then leaped into the air and flew towards the cave entrance in the center of the vortex. Illusion Moon, Vermilion Bird, and Illusion Shadow followed closely behind and jumped into the cave entrance as well.

"Whoosh!"

A strong sense of weightlessness washed over her, and Lu Lingxi felt as if she had fallen into a bottomless abyss. It was pitch black all around, with only the whistling wind in her ears. She gripped the Flying Snow Sword tightly and cautiously observed her surroundings.

They didn't know how long they had been falling when a faint light suddenly appeared before their eyes. As they continued to fall, the light grew stronger and stronger until finally, Lu Lingxi, Yao, and the other three crashed heavily to the ground.

"Oh!"

With a muffled thud, Lu Lingxi felt as if all the bones in her body were about to fall apart. She quickly got up, looked around, and was immediately stunned by the scene before her.

This is a huge underground lair, with an exceptionally spacious interior. Some unknown minerals are embedded in the rock walls, emitting a faint glow that illuminates the lair. However, this light appears sinister and eerie, casting a gloomy atmosphere over the entire lair.

The ground of the lair was covered with countless skeletons, some human and some beasts. The white bones were piled up like mountains, resembling small hills, exuding a chilling aura. A strong stench of decay permeated the air, making people want to vomit.

"Ugh..." Zhuque couldn't help but gag, her face pale. "What...what kind of place is this?!"

“This… should be the lair of the venomous dragon.” Lu Lingxi’s voice was also somewhat solemn. The scene before her was too terrifying. She had never seen such a gloomy and terrifying lair before.

Phantom Moon and Phantom Shadow also cautiously surveyed their surroundings. They both sensed the chilling aura permeating the nest, an aura that made them feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Master, look over there!" Phantom suddenly said, pointing to the rock wall of the nest.

Following the direction indicated by the phantom, Lu Lingxi looked and saw some ancient and incomplete patterns carved on the rock wall of the nest. These patterns had rough lines and a strange style, and seemed to be some sacrificial scenes, but they were incomplete and many parts were blurred and difficult to recognize.

"These patterns... have such an ancient feel to them."

Lu Lingxi frowned as she carefully observed the patterns on the rock wall. She vaguely sensed that these patterns seemed to contain some kind of mysterious power and were somehow related to the eerie atmosphere of this swamp.

Just then, Suzaku suddenly exclaimed, "Look here!"

Lu Lingxi, Yao and the others quickly walked to Zhuque's side, only to see Zhuque squatting next to a pile of bones, pointing to an object in the pile of bones that was glowing with a ghostly light.

It was a jade pendant about half the size of a palm, translucent dark yellow in color, emitting a faint glow in the dim light.

The surface of the jade pendant is carved with exquisite patterns, one half of which is a bewitching red spider lily, and the other half is a broken road, which looks ancient and mysterious.

"This is……"

Lu Lingxi Yao's heart stirred. She sensed that the aura emanating from this jade pendant was somewhat similar to the aura of the demonic poison within Nalan Rongzhi's body.

She stepped forward and carefully picked up the jade pendant. It was cool to the touch, and the surface of the jade pendant was smooth and delicate, with a warm feel. On the edge of the jade pendant, Lu Lingxi noticed some dried bloodstains. The bloodstains had turned dark brown, but the shape of fingerprints could still be vaguely identified.

“This jade pendant… seems to have bloody fingerprints on it,” Lu Lingxi said softly. She carefully examined the bloody fingerprints on the jade pendant, a strange unease rising in her heart.

Just then, the phantom suddenly stretched out its vines and gently touched the jade pendant.

"Om-"

The moment the vine touched the jade pendant, a faint halo suddenly appeared on its surface, and within the halo, a phantom scene slowly emerged.

It was a withering plant. Its roots were intertwined, but it had lost its vitality and was slowly withering away. The roots of this plant were extremely similar to the pattern of the Yellow Spring Root that Lu Lingxi had seen in a book before!

"The Root of the Underworld?!" Lu Lingxi exclaimed in surprise. She suddenly raised her head and looked at the jade pendant in her hand, her heart filled with shock and doubt.

"This...this jade pendant actually has the phantom of the Yellow Spring Root?!" Huan Yue exclaimed, his eyes wide as he stared at the jade pendant in disbelief.

Zhuque lit a flame at her fingertips, brought the jade pendant closer, and carefully observed the patterns on it. After a moment, her expression changed slightly, and she exclaimed in surprise, "This carving... it's the soul-suppressing jade from the coffin of a ghost marriage! The patterns on this jade pendant look like the jade used to suppress the soul on the coffin of a ghost marriage!"

"A coffin for a ghost marriage? A soul-suppressing jade?" Lu Lingxi and Huan Yue both looked at Zhuque with confusion, not understanding why Zhuque would suddenly bring up the coffin for a ghost marriage.

Zhuque explained, "The coffin for a joint burial in the underworld is a special type of coffin used specifically for the joint burial of deceased individuals with special identities. This type of coffin is usually sealed with a soul-suppressing jade to suppress the yin energy and resentment within, preventing the corpse from turning into a zombie."

The patterns on this jade pendant closely resemble the soul-suppressing jade found on the coffins used in ghost marriage burials. Furthermore, the red spider lilies and broken lines depicting the path to the underworld on the pendant are also related to the underworld.

As Zhuque spoke, she examined the jade pendant in her hand. Suddenly, a fiery red feather slipped from her sleeve and gently fell to the ground, automatically pointing in the west.

Zhuque paused slightly, picked up the feather, and looked thoughtfully to the west.

"How can even broken jade have such a heavy yin energy..."

Huan Yue clutched his injured arm and muttered to himself. Although he didn't understand what a ghost marriage coffin was, he could feel the cold aura emanating from the jade pendant, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Lu Lingxi tightly gripped the half-piece of ancient jade in her hand, staring at the withered phantom of the Yellow Spring Root that appeared on the jade pendant, her heart filled with worry.

"Rong Zhi, wait for me, I will definitely find the Root of the Yellow Springs!"

She silently vowed to herself, her eyes filled with unwavering determination. The appearance of this half of the ancient jade might be the key to unlocking the demonic poison in Nalan Rongzhi's body. No matter how many difficulties and obstacles lay ahead, she would find the other half of the ancient jade and a way to cure the poison.