A magical journey of a sharp-tongued woman and a goofy man

Deep within the cave, a faint green light flickered, like a wild beast lurking in the darkness, exuding a chilling aura.

"It seems... not so good..." Jiang Ye swallowed, his excited expression instantly freezing.

The two approached cautiously and discovered that the green light was emanating from a pile of scattered rubble. In the center of the rubble, a fist-sized spirit crystal emitted a faint green light, completely different from the spirit crystals they had collected before.

"This...this is...a top-grade spirit crystal!" Ye Shuli recognized the origin of the spirit crystal at a glance, her tone filled with an incredulous surprise.

Top-grade spirit crystals contain dozens, or even hundreds, of times more spiritual power than ordinary spirit crystals!

The two looked at each other and saw excitement in each other's eyes.

With this top-grade spirit crystal, their path to advancement will be much smoother!

Without a moment's delay, the two quickly pocketed the top-grade spirit crystal and left the cave without stopping.

Having found a secluded valley, Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye sat cross-legged, preparing to begin the advancement ceremony.

"Sister Li, are you ready? I'm about to begin!" Jiang Ye took a deep breath, tightly gripping an ordinary spirit crystal in his hand.

"Bring it on!" Ye Shuli's lips curled up slightly, her eyes flashing with determination.

The two simultaneously circulated their spiritual energy, slowly absorbing the spiritual crystals in their hands.

As the energy of the spirit crystal continued to flow into their bodies, the auras of the two gradually strengthened.

Suddenly, a mysterious dark force appeared out of thin air, clinging to the two of them like a leech.

"What's going on?!" Jiang Ye's expression changed drastically as he felt his spiritual power being devoured by this dark force.

Ye Shuli also felt the terrifying power; her body felt as if it were being gnawed by millions of ants, and the pain was unbearable.

"Ugh..." Jiang Ye groaned in pain, feeling his consciousness gradually fading.

Ye Shuli gritted her teeth and desperately resisted the erosion of this dark power.

"Trying to stop me from advancing? No way!" A ruthless glint flashed in Ye Shuli's eyes. She suddenly opened her eyes, and a powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted from her body...

"Sister Li..." Jiang Ye's weak voice came through, "I...I think...I can't go on..."

Ye Shuli suddenly turned her head to look at Jiang Ye, only to see that his face was pale and his breath was weak, as if he would faint at any moment.

"Hold on!" Ye Shuli grabbed Jiang Ye's hand, and a surge of pure spiritual energy flowed into his body, helping him resist the erosion of the dark power.

However, this dark force grew stronger and stronger, devouring their spiritual power like a bottomless pit...

"What's going on... this power..." Ye Shuli felt her body growing heavier and heavier, and her consciousness began to blur...

"Jiang Ye...can you...feel it...?"

Ye Shuli wasn't easily intimidated!

Modern knowledge raced through her mind, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck her—the law of conservation of energy!

This dark force must be drawing energy from somewhere to grow stronger!

"Xiao Jiang! Stop lying there like a corpse! Set up the formation!" Ye Shuli shouted, startling the half-dead Jiang Ye.

"Li, Sister Li, I'm about to die..." Jiang Ye said weakly, feeling like he was about to ascend to heaven at any moment.

"Stop talking nonsense! Use spirit crystals! Set up a counter-array! The one we researched before!" Ye Shuli glared at him with exasperation. Why did he have to drop the ball at such a crucial moment!

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ye disregarded the matter of ascension and forced himself to stay alert. With trembling hands, he pulled out a handful of spirit crystals and began setting up the formation according to Ye Shuli's instructions.

"Sister Li, is this formation reliable? Won't it blow me to heaven?" Jiang Ye complained as he arranged the spirit crystals.

"Don't worry, I can't blow you up. At most, I'll send you to another world," Ye Shuli replied irritably, continuing to channel the spiritual energy within her body.

Once the formation was complete, the spirit crystals emitted a dazzling light, forming a massive energy barrier that kept the dark forces at bay.

Hey, you know what, this formation actually works!

The dark forces, as if encountering their nemesis, frantically attacked the barrier, yet could not break through it even slightly.

Without energy replenishment, the dark power gradually weakened and eventually dissipated into nothingness.

As the advancement ceremony continued, Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye's bodies were enveloped in increasingly intense spiritual energy.

They felt their power constantly increasing, as if they had broken through some kind of limit.

The surrounding space began to distort, revealing strange phenomena: one moment a vast starry sky, the next a continuous mountain range, and then a surging sea...

This is a sign of promotion!

"Sister Li...I...I feel...I'm going to..." Jiang Ye was so excited that he was incoherent, feeling like he was about to become invincible.

"Shut up! Feel it properly!" Ye Shuli interrupted him, focusing intently on controlling the spiritual energy within her body.

Just then, a powerful surge of energy erupted from the two of them, instantly shattering the surrounding scenery...

"It's done!" Ye Shuli suddenly opened her eyes, her eyes sparkling with confidence.

Jiang Ye stared blankly at his hands, muttering, "I...I seem to be...truly invincible..."

Suddenly, Ye Shuli's expression changed, "Wait..."

"Wait... I think I heard something." Ye Shuli squinted and listened intently.

Jiang Ye also perked up his ears, looking completely bewildered: "What was that sound? Sister Li, are you hallucinating from the promotion?"

"Shut up! You're the one hallucinating!" Ye Shuli glared at him fiercely. "It looks like something is coming, and there are quite a few of them!" Just as she finished speaking, a series of noisy footsteps came from outside the valley, accompanied by the metallic sound of weapons clashing, getting closer and closer.

"No way? No way? I'm not going to be dragged back to do hard labor right after my promotion, am I?" Jiang Ye was on the verge of tears. This promotion experience was just too awful!

"What's the panic! We'll deal with whatever comes our way!" Although Ye Shuli said this, she was also a little nervous inside.

After all, they have only just advanced to the mid-stage of the Spirit Realm. If a group of experts were to come, things would get complicated.

"Here it comes!" Ye Shuli shouted, drawing the dagger she always carried.

Jiang Ye quickly drew his longsword and assumed a defensive stance.

At the entrance to the valley, a group of men in black filed in and surrounded them.

The men in black all had fierce eyes and held sharp blades; they were clearly not good people.

"Who are you people?" Ye Shuli asked warily.

"Hmph! You know perfectly well what I'm asking!" The leader of the men in black sneered. "Hand over the spirit crystals you have, and I'll spare your lives!"

"You bunch of trash?" Jiang Ye curled his lip in disdain. The group of men in black varied greatly in strength, with the strongest being only at the late stage of the Spirit Realm. They were no match for him at all.

"You're asking for death!" the leader of the men in black roared, launching the first attack.

The other men in black also drew their weapons and charged towards Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye.

"Xiao Jiang, get ready to unleash your ultimate attack!" A glint of excitement flashed in Ye Shuli's eyes. This was their first real battle after their advancement, and it would be a perfect opportunity to practice on these people!

"Sister Li, I've been itching to get started!" Jiang Ye grinned, brandishing his longsword with impressive skill.

In an instant, the valley was filled with the glint of swords, the clash of spiritual energies, and the deafening shouts of battle.

Ye Shuli and Jiang Ye stood back to back, working in perfect harmony, like two killing machines, knocking down the black-clad men who rushed at them one by one.

"That's it? That's it?" Jiang Ye taunted his opponents while easily dodging the attacks. "You guys are too weak! You're not even good enough to tickle me!"

"Damn brat! Don't be so arrogant!" The leader of the men in black was enraged and launched a fierce attack on Jiang Ye with all his might.

However, Jiang Ye was as slippery as an eel, and no matter how the leader of the men in black attacked, he could not touch him at all.

"Sister Li, this guy is yours!" Jiang Ye dodged the attack from the leader of the men in black and said to Ye Shuli.

"Okay!" Ye Shuli responded, and in a flash, she appeared in front of the leader of the men in black.

"Little girl, I am your opponent!"

Ye Shuli's lips curled up slightly, revealing a wicked smile: "Is that so? Then let me see what you're capable of!"

A cold glint flashed in her hand...