When Earth Awakened, I Became a Sword Saintess

Chapter 168 : The Territory of the Xi Xi

168: The Territory of the Xi Xi

Yuyin dug out the Source Crystals from all the Gu Wolves she had killed and collected them in a small pouch.

She looked around. Although this area was flatter than those ten-thousand-meter great mountains, the terrain of this night plain was still very complex, with many small mountains, ravines, depressions, and forests. It was just that the highest of these small mountains did not exceed a thousand meters.

Yuyin felt she needed to find a place to settle down first.

It was late at night, and she did not act rashly. Instead, she suppressed her aura and hid behind a large boulder, waiting. When the sky began to lighten, Yuyin started to move.

On a small mountain with one gentle slope and one steep cliff face, Yuyin saw from a distance a cave located in the middle of the cliff. Outside the cave was a rocky clearing about a dozen meters square. This place was easy to hide in and seemed easy to defend and hard to attack.

Using a few ancient pines growing on the cliff face, Yuyin made a few light leaps and jumped onto the cliff wall. Along a small path naturally formed by a fault in the cliff, she walked to the cave entrance. She carefully investigated. The cave was not deep, and it was dry and safe inside.

Moreover, below the cliff face at the cave entrance, there was a stream, and not far away, there was even a small waterfall, making it convenient to get water.

"Then I'll choose this place." Yuyin said with a slight smile.

An ordinary girl, trapped deep in this Prison Abyss, far from her homeland, with nowhere to go and dangers everywhere, would probably cry and feel helpless. But Yuyin did not think that way.

Would crying do any good?

Besides, she would have to face even greater dangers sooner or later. She had come to the Prison Abyss to train in the first place.

Yuyin rested in the cave and took out a few Source Crystals, intending to begin her cultivation.

At this moment, the sky was gradually brightening, and a series of strange, piercing calls came from outside the cave. The calls were loud, eerie, with a tremor, almost as if some creature was imitating human laughter.

"What is that?" Yuyin remained on guard.

A great wind blew, not a mountain wind, but gusts of wind with a rhythm.

She saw a great bird, four or five meters tall and seven or eight meters long, land at the edge of the clearing outside the cave. The bird had three heads and six tails. Its feathers were colorful and magnificent, but the three heads had massive, weapon-sharp beaks. It let out a threatening, human-like laugh toward Yuyin.

"It's a Xi Xi." Yuyin had seen information about this great bird in the legends and literature of beast spirits and alien beasts from a special training course. However, some of that literature was reprinted from ancient copies obtained from the Prison Abyss, and some was drawn by Source Martial Practitioners based on images. Seeing it in person was very different.

The Xi Xi was now preparing for battle. Its massive body emitted the aura of the Late-Stage of Purple Domain Realm. Its three heads twisted, looking at Yuyin from time to time. The threatening calls contained the most primitive Spirit Words, but the bird's intelligence was clearly much lower than the Zheng's.

"My, territory!"

"Your territory?" Yuyin stood up and said coldly, "Then it's mine now."

"Woman, food. Eat!"

The Xi Xi let out three piercing, strange laughs. With a flap of its fan-like wings, it charged toward the cave, but the cave was too small for it to enter. It only thrust its three heads inside, trying to peck and bite Yuyin.

Yuyin drew her longsword and slashed directly at the left head of the Xi Xi. The bird's head threw itself back. Yuyin's sword slashed down fiercely, splitting its hard beak. The middle head pecked toward Yuyin, and Yuyin kicked out with her long, beautiful leg.

Bang!

The middle head crashed into the right head, stunning it. The Xi Xi hastily flapped its wings and retreated from the cave, its colorful feathers flying everywhere.

"Trying to escape!?" Yuyin chased out of the cave. This great bird could fly. If it let it fly high into the air, she would have no way to deal with it. Yuyin's speed was incredible. In a few steps, she was on the rocks. She stepped on an ancient pine on the cliff face and leaped into the air. Just as the great bird was taking off and its speed wasn't yet at its maximum, she slashed down.

Thwack!

The power of the Yue Maiden Longsword was immense. With one slash, she severed one of the Xi Xi's wings. The Xi Xi tumbled in the air and crashed heavily against the other side of the cliff face, falling down the precipice.

Yuyin followed, jumping down the cliff. In a few steps, she crossed the stream. The Xi Xi, injured on the ground, seemed even more frantic. A cornered beast still fights. It leaped up, its sharp claws swiping at Yuyin.

But Yuyin met it with her sword.

Although Yuyin was only 1.76 meters tall, her strength was greater than that of the Xi Xi, an alien beast at the Late-Stage of Purple Domain Realm. Moreover, her longsword, wielded with the Mysterious Female Sword Art, was far more powerful than the Xi Xi's sharp claws.

Crack!

One of the Xi Xi's claws was severely wounded. It fell to the ground, rolling and thrashing. Yuyin gave it no more chances. She charged swiftly, leaped onto the Xi Xi's back, and decisively brought her blade down.

A flash of cold, silver light.

The Yue Maiden Longsword severed the Xi Xi's thick neck. One head rolled to the ground. Then, Yuyin raised her sword high and plunged it deep into the Xi Xi's chest from behind, piercing its heart.

This Xi Xi was the lord of this small mountain and the surrounding area of several li. By killing it, Yuyin, for the time being, had no more ferocious and powerful alien beasts within a few li. In a sense, Yuyin had now become the lord of this generation...

Yuyin cut open the Xi Xi's head and took out the Source Crystals. The Xi Xi had three heads, so it had three Source Crystals from the Late-Stage of Purple Domain Realm. This was quite a harvest.

The Xi Xi's claws, feathers, and so on were all excellent materials for making equipment in the Prison Abyss. But Yuyin couldn't get out for now, and she wouldn't be able to carry much with her when she eventually left alone, so she didn't collect these things.

Yuyin put away these shimmering crystals and returned to the mountain. This forest plain was surrounded by countless great mountains. The Primordial Energy from the mountains would drift and concentrate here, making it extremely abundant. Yuyin found a fruit tree on the mountain. Nourished by the Primordial Energy, it grew very lushly, with many different kinds of fruits.

There was one fruit tree, covered with fruits that looked like bananas but were purple in color. From her previous wilderness survival course in the Prison Abyss, Yuyin knew this kind of fruit was edible. When she first entered the Prison Abyss, Jiang Xue had taken her to pick some, but the fruits there were not nearly as big as these.

In this mountain, the larger and fuller the fruit, the more abundant its energy and the higher its nutritional value. Eating it was more beneficial for the body.

Yuyin picked one and peeled it. The flesh inside was full and crystal clear. Although it couldn't be considered a spirit fruit, eating one could provide a very abundant amount of energy, enough for a day's needs.

"Mmm..." Although the fruit didn't taste particularly good, it was extremely juicy and full of energy. It was very refreshing to eat. Yuyin could feel the natural gifts of this vast world, beyond the dangers of the Prison Abyss.

Having solved the problems of shelter, water, and food, Yuyin returned to the cave and rested for a while.

By evening, Yuyin felt she had rested enough. She had been through intense battles and a lot of exercise, and she had worked up quite a sweat. The sound of the stream below the cliff stirred her desire to bathe. It had already been a day and a night since she last bathed.

Yuyin went down to the stream by the cliff. The water was clear, and the sound of the waterfall upstream was crisp and pleasant. Yuyin looked around and saw that the body of the Xi Xi she had killed during the day was gone. From the dark forest not far away came the low growls of Gu Wolves. She guessed they had dragged it away. However, after yesterday's brutal lesson, they didn't dare to approach Yuyin, just as they had previously feared the Xi Xi bird. The Xi Xi bird would eat Gu Wolves, but now, it had been devoured by the pack of Gu Wolves.

Yuyin went upstream. She carefully and cautiously scouted the area. Within a few li, there were no threatening auras.

"Hmm..." Yuyin looked at the inviting, clear pool below the waterfall and began to think.

"In this vast forest plain, besides me, there probably aren't any other people. As long as I stay close to my sword and remain vigilant, there should be no danger, and I don't have to worry about anyone peeping."

"I just need to be a little careful to prevent a surprise attack by an alien beast."

Yuyin investigated carefully. There were no alien beasts lurking around the pool, including in the large trees. As for small birds and rabbits, of course she didn't need to worry about them.

So, Yuyin took a deep breath, took off her fairy-like dress, and placed it by the poolside stones along with her longsword, staff, and other items. Then, right by the stones, she began to bathe and relax.

The cool, clear pool water, poured over her body with a silk cloth, could wash away the day's fatigue and allow her to feel the true essence of the earth.

Bathing in this picturesque landscape was also a form of cultivating the mind, a type of cultivation very beneficial to a woman's body.

Bathing while training and adventuring was, in a sense, a way to cultivate the mind and body, and even more, a test of courage and bearing.

The sky had darkened. The light blue mountain rocks, the pool water, and the fair woman created a scene of mysterious, natural beauty.

Yuyin was a little reluctant to leave the clear pool.

She looked at her fairy-like dress. Although it was made of so-called Heavenly Silkworm Silk and didn't easily get stained, it had absorbed the scent of her body. Yuyin wanted to wash it. Besides, her underwear needed washing too.

Yuyin had brought several sets of underwear to change. She walked to the poolside, dried her body, and changed into a set of narrow, dry, white underwear. Then, she knelt by the stones at the poolside, stretched out her arm, and began to wash her clothes.

"I used to use a washing machine or send them out for dry cleaning..."

Yuyin wasn't very skilled at washing clothes.

After she finished, she couldn't just put on the soaking wet fairy dress. She looked around. Seeing no problem, she wore just her underwear and made a few light leaps up the cliff face.

On the cliff face, Yuyin cut a length of vine and hung it between the ancient pines outside to dry her clothes. She carefully hung her underwear, her fairy dress, and everything else.

"...Since I have no other clothes to wear for now, I'll have to make do with just my underwear." Yuyin's face flushed red, and she shook her head helplessly.

"Wait, why am I blushing? This is a vast, wild plain. There are no other people here. As for alien beasts, why should I care?"

Yuyin smiled, a little more relaxed. But under the deepening night, the blush on her face did not fade...

During the night, Yuyin went up the mountain again and picked two more fruits to have as a spare. Along the way, under the reflection of the rosy lights of the night, her snow-white skin and long, beautiful legs flashed gracefully and fleetingly through the dark, rugged mountain forest, as if she were a fairy of the mountain, a stark contrast, yet a wonderfully harmonious sight.

Back in the cave, Yuyin lit a pile of firewood at the entrance. For someone of her strength, starting a fire was easy; she could strike sparks from rocks.

Her clothes were not yet dry, so she still wore that set of small, white underwear. She sat cross-legged in the cave, poured out a few Source Crystals, adjusted her mind and breathing, circulated the secret art, and began to cultivate.