Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 92: Chaos Mirror

"Why isn’t Ye Su here again?" Ma Congqiu looked around, glanced at Yi Xuan with his blank face, and then at You Fushi, who didn’t acknowledge anyone at all, before finally deciding to ask Lu Jiu, "Always showing up at the last minute like this is going to get her in trouble."

"She went to the outer city of Kunlun to refine artifacts," Lu Jiu replied.

These days, because Ye Su had left You Fushi in the courtyard, she’d been deliberately moving quietly in and out, afraid he might glare at her.

Before Ye Su left, she had told her and Yi Xuan to remember to wake up You Fushi when it was time for the competition.

Back then, Lu Jiu had actually worried whether she’d get yelled at, but early this morning, You Fushi had already woken up on his own, standing motionless outside the courtyard.

In the end, it was Yi Xuan who spoke up, telling them to go ahead to the arena first.

"At a time like this?" Ma Congqiu was shocked. They’d been studying the arena matches every day for the sake of the sect competition, trying to learn and patch up their shortcomings, or spot their opponents’ weaknesses.

How could Ye Su either be selling goods or refining artifacts instead?

Oh, right, Qianji Sect was, after all, an artifact-refining sect.

At that moment, a group of people entered the center of the arena from outside, each one at the Combined Soul stage or higher.

After the last round of the lottery matches, half the people in the arena were already gone, and the sect masters of the five great sects had all gathered in the arena.

The arena looked very different now: the fighting platforms had all been removed, and several chairs had been placed in the middle. The sect masters of each sect sat cross-legged on either side, and when they saw the five grand sect masters arrive, they all rose to bow respectfully.

"All of you young disciples present," said an elderly man in the center, with white hair and beard, wearing a white Daoist robe embroidered with red trim around the collar and sleeves, his bearing both immortal and dignified, "are the future pillars of our Fushi Continent."

This was the first time any of the disciples had seen the sect master of Kunlun, the Daoist Fengchen.

He stood at the highest point, and every disciple in the arena could feel the overwhelming pressure he radiated.

"Next, we will begin this session’s sect grand competition…" Before he could finish, he saw someone hurrying into the arena, walking quickly toward the east side in front of all the sect masters.

Daoist Fengchen stroked his beard and called out to her, "Young friend, please hold on."

Ye Su hadn’t realized the arena was packed with people, so as she headed for the east side, everyone could see her clearly.

"I’m here to compete," Ye Su said, taking out her access pass.

The brown-haired elder next to Daoist Fengchen scolded her, "If you’re here to compete, why didn’t you come wait earlier?"

"I’m not late, am I?" Ye Su asked, looking at the three sticks of incense burning on the tripod in the middle.

The brown-haired elder wanted to say more, but Daoist Fengchen stopped him and said kindly, "Go on, young friend, you are not late."

"Small sects really have no discipline," the brown-haired elder still muttered.

Ye Su glanced back at them, then walked to the east side. This time they were no longer standing by ranking, but grouped by sect.

"You’re dirty," Yi Xuan looked at her and pointed at her left cheek.

Ye Su was already not quite awake, and reacted half a beat slow.

Standing beside her, You Fushi said nothing, but a cleaning spell smashed down over Ye Su’s head.

For some reason, she sensed a trace of anger in her junior brother’s movements.

Ye Su rummaged through her qiankun bag, crushed a few spirit stones in succession, and finally felt the dried-up spiritual sea inside her meridians moistened again, bringing her a bit of clarity.

"There are only four of us from Qianji Sect competing. If I missed the match, you’d still be here," Ye Su explained to You Fushi as she stood properly.

You Fushi slowly raised his hand to cover his ear, making his resistance perfectly clear.

Ye Su: "…"

"You said before you’d definitely make it in time and go to the arena with us," Lu Jiu reminded her in a small voice, even though you also told me and Yi Xuan you might be a bit late.

Ye Su pulled down one of You Fushi’s hands and gestured toward the center, "The competition is about to start."

The lottery matches were really just for eliminating people so not too many would gain benefits. The real sect grand competition was starting now, and the first round would be going to Kunlun’s trial ground, the Chaos Mirror.

Daoist Fengchen continued from just now,

"Inside the Chaos Mirror, you cannot see the Dao, you cannot hear the Dao; there are many creatures and fierce beasts. I hope you all seize this opportunity. Also, one month inside the mirror equals ten days outside. If you encounter danger, you may crush your access pass."

Everyone listened in a daze, only to see Daoist Fengchen flip his hand and produce a mirror. With a flick of his hand, the mirror expanded and appeared before everyone.

"You may freely take anything inside the mirror. In this round, you will be judged by the number of beast cores you collect. If you can gather one hundred fourth-rank beast cores within the allotted time, you will be considered to have passed." said the brown-haired elder. "Other than one forbidden area inside the Chaos Mirror, most of the monsters there are fourth- or fifth-rank. Fifth-rank beast cores count as ten fourth-rank beast cores. If you can gather ten fifth-rank beast cores, you will also pass."

"Are there any sixth-rank monsters inside?" Mei Chouren raised his hand to ask.

The brown-haired elder snorted, "There are. But you had best pray you don’t run into one, or else you’ll either have to crush your pass or be eaten."

Only a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage could handle a sixth-rank monster.

Mei Chouren shut his mouth and obediently waited to enter.

The mirror wasn’t very big, and could only admit one person at a time, so each sect had to line up to go in, with smaller sects at the back. The cultivators from Wuming Sect were arranged to enter last.

Yi Xuan could have entered with Sword Sect, but he chose to stay with Qianji Sect and enter with Ye Su and the others.

"Even if we go in one after another, we might not land in the same place," Ye Su reminded him.

"Mm." Yi Xuan indicated he understood, but still stood there without moving.

After waiting a long while, it was finally Ye Su’s turn. Before stepping in, she looked back at the three behind her,

"See you inside the mirror."

Ye Su stepped into the Chaos Mirror and was instantly sucked in. She forced herself to stay clear-headed, and when she opened her eyes she found herself falling from the sky. Below her was a vast swamp, and a mud dragon with its mouth wide open, waiting for her to drop right into it.

Ye Su: "…"

This random landing point was way too random.

The swamp below was so vast that Ye Su suspected even if she didn’t fall into the mud dragon’s mouth, as soon as she touched the swamp, a whole horde of monsters would appear.

At the critical moment, she drew out a sword and stepped on it, hovering above the swamp.

Ye Su did not leave. In this round they needed beast cores, and in her eyes, the one below was basically a free beast core delivered to her doorstep.

That mud dragon kept its mouth open, seeing no cultivator dropping down, finally lost patience and leapt out of the swamp to bite her.

It jumped quite high, but unfortunately Ye Su reacted fast, rising higher.

When it crashed back into the swampy mud, Ye Su deliberately lowered her position again, luring the mud dragon to jump a second time.

But this time, the mud dragon never had a chance to return to the swamp, because Ye Su flung out several talismans, forming a talisman array in midair that trapped the mud dragon.

The mud dragon seemed to be lying on an invisible ground, thrashing its tail heavily, but could not get away.

Ye Su put her sword away and stood in the air, as if on solid ground.

The entire space was surrounded by her talisman formation, every hidden path sealed with her spiritual energy. Her spiritual sea throbbed with pain, since she had exhausted so much spiritual power refining artifacts in the previous days.

Fortunately, the surrounding spiritual energy was quite abundant, and Ye Su nearly instantly converted it into her own spiritual power and sent it back out.

The mud dragon had short, thick limbs, with a tail nearly as long as its body, moving extremely quickly. Seeing Ye Su in one place, it rapidly paddled its limbs, charging toward her with its mouth open to bite.

Ye Su raised her hand, turning her spiritual power into a wall. The mud dragon slammed into it, then angrily swung its tail at her.

At that moment, another mud dragon poked its head up from the swamp. Ye Su lowered her gaze and confirmed that, sure enough, there were other monsters here in the swamp.

When Ye Su looked up again, a murderous glint appeared around her. She dismissed the spiritual wall.

At that moment, the mud dragon in midair used its tail to propel itself upward again, mouth wide, lunging straight for Ye Su’s head.

Ye Su did not move, but pulled an unstrung bow from her qiankun bag, placed her hand on it, and a strand of spiritual power transformed into an arrow on the bow.

One human, one beast. The distance grew shorter and shorter.

Ye Su could even smell the foul stench from its mouth. Her gaze stayed locked on the mud dragon without blinking. Then she let go, and the spiritual arrow shot through its mouth and straight out through its tail.

By then the mud dragon was already right in front of her, its long snout nearly touching Ye Su’s face, before it collapsed with a crash.

From beginning to end, Ye Su had not even blinked once.

A fourth-rank mud dragon aside from its tail tip, its hide was completely intact, and its eyes were unbroken.

Ye Su quickly calculated which parts of the mud dragon’s body could fetch a good price, then skillfully skinned it and took out the core, putting everything into her qiankun bag before refocusing her gaze on the swamp below.

Fishing for monsters here might not be a bad plan either.

……

You Fushi came in after Ye Su, but landed in a forest. He turned to look around, but didn’t see that familiar person.

The Chongming Sword flew out, circling around him, staying close to You Fushi.

Along the way, a fourth-rank demon beast blocked his path. The Chongming Sword swiftly killed it. You Fushi only glanced at it, then kept walking forward.

After walking for a bit, You Fushi stopped, then turned back.

He stared at the dead beast for a while, and in the end still reached out to dig out its beast core, getting blood on his hands and face no matter how careful he tried to be.

Expressionless, You Fushi cast several cleaning spells before tossing the beast core into his qiankun bag. After thinking about it, he pinched his nose and stuffed the beast’s corpse in as well.

He’d give it to that mortal when he saw her.

…and then have her pay him back for a new qiankun bag.

You Fushi kept walking forward. Maybe it was just bad luck, but a fifth-rank demon beast suddenly ran into him, and the Chongming Sword shot straight forward to meet it.

A fifth-rank demon beast was roughly on par with a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. This beast was agile enough to dodge the Chongming Sword’s first strike, then charged straight for You Fushi.

Lu Jiu had just landed nearby not long before, and saw You Fushi’s back from afar. Before she could greet him, she saw the fifth-rank demon beast charge toward him.

"Lit—"

You Fushi waved his hand, and the beast was instantly flipped over by a surge of spiritual energy. The Chongming Sword reacted and stabbed through its head, and the sword’s red jade hilt glowed even brighter when it touched fresh blood.

Lu Jiu silently closed her mouth. Someone at the peak of early Nascent Soul really didn’t need her to worry.

Maybe because she was used to seeing Ye Su take care of him all the time, she subconsciously thought You Fushi wasn’t that strong.

While Lu Jiu was still in a daze, You Fushi suddenly turned to look at her.

Lu Jiu: "…"

"You, dig out the beast core," You Fushi ordered her, as if it were perfectly natural.

Lu Jiu froze for a moment, then responded with an "oh,” stepped forward, saw the Chongming Sword hover up, and bent down to diligently dig out the beast core.

After finishing, Lu Jiu followed You Fushi as they continued on.

After that, whenever they encountered demon beasts, the Chongming Sword and Lu Jiu attacked together, then she would dig out the beast core, while You Fushi stood off to the side watching.

Anyone who saw this scene would probably think Lu Jiu was actually the Chongming Sword’s master.

After all, the sword and the person were both equally diligent.

Lu Jiu would occasionally glance up at You Fushi. He still didn’t do anything himself, but he no longer showed that completely relaxed state he had when around Ye Su.

You Fushi was only responsible for collecting beast cores and corpses, constantly wondering why that mortal still hadn’t come looking for him.

He had no idea that mortal was currently fishing for demon beasts on top of a swamp—