I will be stronger after the remake

Yu Shujiang quickly used the Five Elements Spiritual Technique to join the attack, but the effect was minimal.

At this moment, a huge mouth emerged from the void, swallowed the treasure basin whole, and then retreated with satisfaction.

Chapter 233 Time-Space Vortex

After the treasure basin was sacrificed, thick, inky black mist rose from Cao Poshi's body, and distorted human faces vaguely appeared in the mist, emitting mournful howls as if cheering for the evil that was about to descend.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Ji adopted a solemn expression as if facing a formidable enemy, and turned to Yu Shujiang, saying, "You must leave here immediately!"

"Oh."

Yu Shujiang readily agreed; she wasn't the kind of pretty face who was only there to cause trouble for the main characters.

But the moment she turned around, the distorted face vanished, the wailing stopped abruptly, the black mist dissipated like rootless duckweed, and even the cracks on the ground began to heal slowly.

For a moment, the collapsed city lord's mansion fell into an eerie silence, with only Cao Poshi's heavy breathing echoing in the ruins.

"This means... the ritual failed?"

Yu Shujiang stopped in her tracks, a look of bewilderment on her face.

Yuan Ji said seriously, "Perhaps the object of the sacrifice is a rogue who takes money but does nothing. In the end, why should we give back after receiving the offerings? It makes even so-called evil gods seem to have a strong sense of contract. Think about it carefully, since you have nowhere to complain, why can't you keep it for yourself?"

Yu Shujiang said, "This won't do. If we keep the money for ourselves every time, who will be willing to offer sacrifices to us? Re-developing believers is also a very troublesome thing. From a long-term perspective, if we give them a little reward this time, they will continue to offer sacrifices next time. So this is not a matter of trust, but a choice between long-term and short-term interests, whether to choose to drain the pond to catch all the fish or to choose a steady stream."

Yuan Ji pondered, “Even if you’re right, from a profit perspective, if this believer is destined to die, then there’s no need to give any feedback. Once the person dies, there’s no way to give a bad review, so there’s no fear of ruining our reputation. On the contrary, keeping our promise and giving feedback would be a losing proposition and would harm our interests.”

The two talked back and forth, which made Cao Poshi both surprised and angry. He felt that their analysis made a lot of sense. If he were a god, he would definitely do the same. Isn't a contract meant to be torn up?

Besides, he didn't sign a contract with her. It was a one-sided support from him, expecting something in return. If this were a romantic relationship, would the woman be obligated to reciprocate if the man gave her a gift? Why can't she be a fairy?

Upon realizing this, Cao Poshi felt a chill run down his spine.

"Looks like your last hope has been dashed. Just accept your fate and die!"

Yuan Ji sneered and took the initiative to attack. His spiritual power surged along the halberd, and a giant halberd shadow wrapped in gale-force wind broke through the air, causing the air to explode wherever it passed.

Yu Shujiang followed closely behind, lightly touching the ground with her toes, and like a ghost, she circled around to Cao Poshi's side. She knew that her opponent was likely a master of internal energy transformation, so she dared not engage in close combat. Instead, she unleashed stardust sword energy from a distance, forming a pincer attack with the thunder halberd, and was ready to retreat at any time.

"Even if I'm destined to die here today, I'll take a few unlucky souls with me!"

Cao Poshi's eyes were bloodshot, and flames erupted from his arm as he slashed at the halberd shadow with his hand. The blazing fire wave collided with the lightning, bursting out with blinding light. Although he successfully blocked it, the ring and little fingers of the hand he used were broken. He did not show the slightest pain, but turned sideways and slashed, shattering the Stardust Sword Qi.

As the saying goes, you should pick the softest persimmon to squeeze. It's obvious who is stronger between Yuan Ji and Yu Shujiang. After Cao Poshi blocked the attack, he decisively rushed towards Yu Shujiang, wanting to capture her as a hostage.

Although he acted as if he was ready to die, who would want to die if they could live? They would hold on to even the slightest chance of survival!

Unfortunately, Yu Shujiang was very self-aware. Not only did she cautiously maintain her distance, but she also secretly prepared a "divine speed technique." When she saw the enemy turn and rush towards her, she decisively activated the spiritual technique, and her legs instantly transformed into tire legs like those in a comic book. With a whoosh, she escaped to the outside of the ruins.

Just as Cao Poshi was at a loss, Yuan Ji opened her hand as if tossing something, but her palm was empty, and there was no real object thrown out, nor any force that broke through the air. This puzzled Cao Poshi, who did not know how to deal with it.

Bang!

Like a grenade exploding above his head, Cao Poshi was instantly blasted, his head bleeding profusely. Accompanied by a concussion, his ears were ringing incessantly, his mind was a complete mess, and he was filled with intense dizziness and confusion.

He had no idea whether it was martial arts or spiritual magic.

Without giving the other side a chance to reply, Yuan Ji swept his halberd horizontally, the force of the halberd blade carving a three-zhang-long scratch into the ground. Yu Shujiang, on the other hand, carefully used her spiritual technique to launch a sneak attack.

Cao Poshi was still dizzy and dared not move recklessly for fear of falling to the ground. He could only spread out the tattered wings on his back and fan out several wind blades carrying sparks.

Yuan Ji easily dodged the attack, which was completely inaccurate and weak, while simultaneously using his halberd to hurl stones at his opponent's face.

Even though Cao Poshi had temporarily lost his sense of balance, as a master of internal energy, he possessed the ability to foresee danger before the wind even blows. The parts of his body that were being attacked would automatically give him a warning. He immediately blocked all the rubble according to the sensitivity of his skin, and then struck the halberd with a palm, unleashing a burst of hidden energy that forced Yuan Ji back.

However, his danger warning ability was not as good as Yuan Ji's innate intuition. It was only effective against physical attacks and was much less effective against energy attacks. At this moment, he suddenly felt a pain in the sole of his foot. It was Yu Shujiang who summoned a ground spike that pierced through his foot. Blood splattered and he staggered to his knees.

"Gravity Spin Thrust!"

Yuan Ji seized the opportunity, leaped into the air, and merged with his halberd, spiraling rapidly.

At the critical moment of life and death, a crazy determination flashed in Cao Poshi's eyes. He immediately roared to the sky, and his body was engulfed in raging flames. In the flames, his body underwent a rapid transformation, and his bones made a teeth-grinding "crackling" sound. His arms were covered with crimson feathers, his hands turned into huge claws, and sharp blades over a foot long grew from his knuckles. The tattered wings on his back grew wildly, turning into giant wings that blotted out the sky, with eerie flame runes flowing on the feathers.

It was as if it had entered a state of deep spiritual resonance, and it had almost completely transformed into the appearance of Garuda.

With a flap of his wings, Cao Poshi barely dodged Yuan Ji's ultimate move, only having a few feathers torn off by the force of the attack. He then lashed out with his sharp claws like lightning, striking the halberd with a clang that caused Yuan Ji's tiger's mouth to split open, sending him flying back at an even faster speed.

Having entered a deep spiritual resonance, Cao Poshi completely lost his mind. He stopped attacking the weaker Yu Shujiang and instead launched wave after wave of fierce attacks on Yuan Ji, the flames scorching the air and distorting it.

Yuan Ji channeled her spiritual power to the fullest extent, entering a state of spiritual resonance. Relying on her extraordinary martial arts intuition, she managed to hold on against the relentless onslaught. Fortunately, her opponent only had one arm, which allowed her to exploit several openings.

Seeing this, Yu Shujiang became very anxious and hurriedly used her spiritual techniques to snipe, but Cao Poshi's whole body was engulfed in flames, blocking all spiritual techniques and remaining completely unaffected.

Seeing that Yuan Ji's situation was extremely precarious, suddenly, a Vajra pestle, carrying immense power and enveloped in golden Buddhist light, descended from the sky.

Cao Poshi hurriedly dodged, but as soon as he retreated, a magnificent Buddha's palm attacked from the side and behind, blocking his retreat. It was Tang Ping's Tathagata's Great Compassion Palm.

Bang!

Cao Poshi swung his claw and shattered the Buddha's palm. The force of the palm strike made Cao Poshi's blood surge and he could hardly control himself.

Zhao Yeman's sword came one after another. Cao Poshi barely avoided the vital points, but was still pierced through the shoulder. The cold aura spread rapidly, freezing his body from the wound.

"King Kong subdues demons!"

Ling Chong shouted and his golden avatar struck down with a palm, hitting Cao Poshi as if swatting a fly. The powerful force slammed him into the ground, creating a crater.

Having suffered repeated blows, Cao Poshi could no longer hold on, his consciousness fell into a coma, and he was forced to exit the state of spiritual resonance, reverting to human form.

"it is finally over."

Yuan Ji breathed a sigh of relief and was about to step forward to check if the other person was alive or dead.

Suddenly, a tooth-grinding sound of space tearing came from the crater, and a huge spacetime vortex appeared without warning. The center of the vortex emitted a dark purple light, and a powerful suction force instantly enveloped the entire area.

The blood-red runes left over from the previous sacrificial ritual swirled at the edge of the vortex, dancing wildly like the tentacles of a demon. The unconscious Cao Poshi offered no resistance and was directly sucked in, disappearing into the dark purple light.

"No! Back away!"

Yuan Ji shouted out and, prompted by his intuition, turned and retreated a step ahead.

However, the suction force of the spacetime vortex was too strong, and the group was too close together, causing them to slide uncontrollably toward the pit.

Ling Chong intended to use the golden Dharma body to pull everyone out, but to his surprise, he found that even the golden Dharma body could not resist the suction. Cao Poshi was then sucked into the vortex, severing his mental connection with him.

Yuan Ji raised his halberd and thrust it into the ground, attempting to stabilize himself. Yu Shujiang frantically activated her Divine Speed ​​Technique, her feet practically bursting into flames, but these resistances proved insignificant in the face of the terrifying suction.

Seeing that the two closest people were about to be sucked in, especially Yuan Ji, a thought inexplicably flashed through Tang Ping's mind: I must protect her!

He immediately took a deep breath, and his Tai Chi energy circulated wildly throughout his body. Under the influence of spiritual energy, it transformed into a Yin-Yang symbol, using the opponent's force against them, and briefly resisted the pull of the spacetime vortex.

He quickly calculated a route in his mind. He first rushed towards Zhao Yeman, who was closest to him, and pushed out with a palm, sending her flying far away. Under the effect of the recoil, he was bounced towards Ling Chong. So, after getting close, he struck out with another palm, sending Ling Chong flying.

Using the same method, Tang Ping successively shook Yu Shujiang and Yuan Ji out of the gravitational pull of the spacetime vortex. However, because he was too close, his Tai Chi energy could not counteract the suction force, and he was sucked into the spacetime vortex with a wry smile.

"elder brother!"

Yu Shujiang cried out, her eyes turning red with anxiety, and rushed toward the spacetime vortex.

Yuan Ji tried to stop her, but the Divine Speed ​​Technique was still in effect. Yu Shujiang ran incredibly fast, and Yuan Ji couldn't even touch her clothes. She could only watch helplessly as Yu Shujiang rushed into the spacetime vortex and disappeared.

She paused for a moment, and was about to follow him in when Ling Chong, sensing her intention, hurriedly said, "Don't be impulsive! Yu Shujiang is just a high school student and doesn't know any better. Don't act like her. Tang Ping is willing to sacrifice himself to save us. We can't let his efforts go to waste. Besides, we can better rescue them from outside. Acting rashly can easily backfire and just add another person who needs to be rescued."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ji couldn't help but weigh the pros and cons, but before she could figure out which was more important, the spacetime vortex had already disappeared, leaving only a vast and silent void.

……

On the other side of the spacetime vortex, Tang Ping was thrown out with great force, rolling on the ground more than a dozen times before all the impact was canceled out.

Before he could catch his breath, he ran towards the spacetime vortex on all fours, intending to go back inside. But halfway through, he saw a familiar figure being thrown out of the vortex. He quickly jumped up and caught the person, only to fall back to the ground.

This time, the momentum was neutralized after only five or six rolls. Tang Ping quickly got up, but when she looked up, she found that the spacetime vortex had disappeared.

"...Never mind, judging from the time, even if I don't pick them up, I probably won't make it in time."

Tang Ping shook her head helplessly, bent down to help the dizzy Yu Shujiang up, and asked in surprise, "Didn't I push you out? Could it be that I misjudged the force and didn't push you far enough?"

After resting for a while and shaking off the dizziness, Yu Shujiang said, "No, I was wheeled out."

Tang Ping was even more puzzled: "Then why are you here? If the spacetime vortex has changed and expanded outward, Ling Chong and the others should have been swept up as well."

Yu Shujiang was a little embarrassed and lowered her head, saying, "Because I ran towards the whirlpool on my own initiative."

"What?"

"It was just a moment of impulse, I was worried about you being alone, so I followed you."

"...Are you an idiot? Did your brain become muscle-bound just because you chose the sports-based admission program? What use are you here, just a burden to me?"

Yu Shujiang said with some grievance, "Brother, I meant well."

Tang Ping said irritably, "What's the use of good intentions? You did something bad with good intentions, and you don't expect others to thank you, do you? You didn't listen to a word of the advice I gave you before the operation."

“But I’ve already come all this way. What’s the point of assigning blame now? Let’s quickly check the surroundings and see if we can find a way back.”

"That statement is at least somewhat rational."

Tang Ping shook his head and looked around. He saw a stream not far away, with a few pink and white peach blossoms swirling in the crystal-clear water. The water reflected the continuous peach groves on both banks, with no gaps between the intertwined branches. Looking into the distance, he saw that the hills were shrouded in a thin mist and could not be seen clearly.

Yu Shujiang looked around and said, "It doesn't seem dangerous."

“Hmm, there are no monsters, not even a large wild beast, but I can sense spiritual energy,” Tang Ping thought for a moment. “Let’s follow the river first. If there are people living nearby, they must be not far from the river.”

Yu Shujiang naturally had no objection, and the two walked upstream. After walking for about twenty minutes, they came to a small hill and a tunnel, from which the stream flowed gently.

Yu Shujiang sighed, "It seems we can't find any other people along the river. Is there any other way?"

"No need, I think I know where we've been teleported to."

Tang Ping stared at the tunnel and said.

Chapter 234 They were actually a couple

"During the Taiyuan era of the Jin Dynasty, a fisherman from Wuling made his living by fishing. He followed a stream, forgetting how far he had gone. Suddenly, he came upon a peach grove, stretching for several hundred paces along both banks. There were no other trees, only fragrant grasses and fallen petals. The fisherman was greatly surprised. He continued forward, wanting to explore the grove to its end. At the end of the grove, he found the source of the stream, and there was a mountain with a small opening, from which light seemed to emanate..."

Having already seen the stream and peach blossoms, Tang Ping immediately thought of "The Peach Blossom Spring" when he saw a small hill and a cave entrance.

Moreover, before they went to Changde, they had analyzed the most likely mythological sites to appear there, which were nothing more than the city built by the treasure basin, the Taoist siblings cutting scenery, and Peach Blossom Spring. Now that they had been transported to Peach Blossom Spring, it was quite reasonable.

Yu Shujiang tilted her head: "So, if we go through this cave, we'll arrive at Peach Blossom Spring?"

"As long as this mythical relic doesn't mutate."

"But our goal isn't to find the Peach Blossom Spring, it's to get back as soon as possible. Whether we go in or not doesn't really matter."

Tang Ping exclaimed in amazement, "You were able to notice that? That's amazing!"

Yu Shujiang puffed out her cheeks in anger: "I'm actually very smart, okay? I just lack a little experience, don't treat me like an idiot."

"Intelligence is subject to different fields. A great poet who can speak eloquently may be full of knowledge, but he will still be dumbfounded when faced with advanced mathematics. So is he intelligent or not? If you only analyze it to this extent, it proves that you are not good at this kind of thing. Don't force yourself."

"Wait, wait, let me think about it some more, I can do it."

Yu Shujiang was determined to prove herself, so she racked her brains and thought: "Judging from the content of 'The Peach Blossom Spring,' it has already begun when we encounter that stream. The other end of the cave is the village in the story that is isolated from the world. It may be called 'Peach Blossom Spring' in name, but as a mythological site, it actually includes the stream and peach blossom forest outside the village. This is what is described in the original text, so we are now in the mythological site."

Tang Ping nodded and said, "That's a good analysis. So, what should we do next?"

"Most mythological ruins are not dangerous, unless there is a villain in the original story. Otherwise, it's all about solving puzzles and obtaining treasures. Although I don't know what kind of treasure will be found in 'The Peach Blossom Spring,' the puzzle is definitely in the village on the other side of the cave. If we don't intend to seek treasures, there's no need to take the risk. We can just turn around and leave!"

Yu Shujiang's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands excitedly, "That's right! We don't need to enter the village. If we go back along the original route, we can escape the mythical ruins. According to the original text of 'The Peach Blossom Spring,' we won't encounter any obstacles when leaving here, and that fisherman left very easily."

The original text says, "After leaving the cave, he found his boat and followed the path back." This means that after the fisherman left the cave, he found his boat and returned along the original path. Since he was returning by boat, he must have been following the direction of the stream. Therefore, we only need to follow the stream.

Tang Ping remained noncommittal, simply saying, "Then let's go back."

"Eh, really going back?" Yu Shujiang hesitated instead.

"Didn't you say that yourself?"

Tang Ping turned around and walked along the stream, with Yu Shujiang hurrying to follow.

The two quickly returned to the starting point from which they had crossed over, and without stopping, continued downstream.

They walked for another ten minutes before being forced to stop.

"What...what is this?!"

Yu Shujiang stretched out her hands and groped around in front of her, as if an invisible wall was blocking her way, making her groping posture look rather ridiculous, as if she were performing a pantomime.

Tang Ping showed no surprise, as if this situation was within his expectations. He immediately flicked his finger, shooting out a Brahma Wheel Breaking Finger. The golden finger energy hit the invisible barrier in front of him and dissipated on its own, without achieving any effect.

He sighed, "Looks like we've encountered an invisible wall."

"An invisible wall! Could it be that we weren't teleported to the mythical ruins, but instead into some kind of game?"