With Yun Xiao taking too long to return, Fang Zhiluo couldn’t help but worry.
She adopted Chu Hui’s suggestion and led the disciples in pursuit to see if they could assist.
If it were any other demon beast, she would not have made this decision, but it was an Illusion Beast, and one could easily fall into an illusion if careless.
The further they walked, the thinner the miasma became.
Suddenly, a disciple exclaimed, “Martial Aunt Fang, so many spiritual herbs!”
Everyone walked over and saw that this area was filled with middle-grade spiritual herbs, interspersed with several high-grade spiritual herbs.
Fang Zhiluo immediately raised her hand to stop the disciples from picking the herbs. She cautiously released her spiritual sense to check the surroundings and detected a Grade-Seven demon beast hiding in the dark.
She sent a voice transmission to the group: “Five Core Formation disciples stand guard, the rest dig the spiritual herbs.”
After handing a Grade-Six Defensive Formation Plate to Bai Mofeng, she cast a spell to lure the Grade-Seven demon beast away.
Yun Xiao, who was chasing the Illusion Beast, had successfully found its cave dwelling.
Looking at the small mountain of Storage Pouches piled in the corner, she rubbed her hands excitedly: “I’m rich, I’m rich!”
She was not in a hurry to claim these Storage Pouches. This Grade-Eight Illusion Beast was too cunning to discard these pouches like garbage in a corner, which was highly suspicious. Moreover, her intuition told her that these Storage Pouches were not her biggest gain from this trip.
Having had experience in the Heaven-Swallowing Giant Wolf’s cave, Yun Xiao examined the area particularly carefully this time.
Finally, she sensed a formation beneath the Illusion Beast’s bed. This formation was more concealed than any she had ever seen. If she hadn’t searched meticulously, she likely wouldn’t have discovered this secret.
“You thought this could stop me? Let me show you what a cheat-like power is,” she said, extending her hand toward the formation.
Just like before, the formation couldn’t stop her; her hand passed straight through it.
Yun Xiao bombarded the formation indiscriminately.
Confirming that the Illusion Beast was not inside the formation, she stepped in with confidence.
Huo, what dense spiritual energy! Everywhere her eyes could see were high-grade and supreme-grade spiritual herbs.
How could she remain calm? She immediately reached out eagerly to pick a supreme-grade spiritual herb.
I can’t finish digging it, I absolutely can’t finish digging it!
Are there really this many supreme-grade spiritual herbs?
As soon as this thought surfaced, the joy in Yun Xiao’s heart immediately receded, and rationality returned.
Looking at her hand, where were the supreme-grade spiritual herbs? They were clearly worthless weeds.
Pretending she was still in the illusion, she continued pulling weeds with a silly smile while checking for traces of the Illusion Beast.
Wait, was that milky white liquid surging from the tub-sized hollow Spiritual Spring? Judging by the spiritual energy concentration, the grade was not low; it was at least high-grade.
No wonder the Illusion Beast endured my earlier antics without lashing out.
Thinking this, Yun Xiao flew toward the Spiritual Spring.
Before she could get close, the Illusion Beast could no longer hide and darted out, baring its teeth at her, trying to scare her away.
Yun Xiao scoffed: “With just this little trick, you can’t guard this Spiritual Spring. Here, let’s make a deal: you let me take two buckets of the Spiritual Spring and lead me to find some heavenly treasures, and I’ll leave the spring for you.”
The Illusion Beast leaped and danced in anger, continuously making squeaking noises, as if mocking Yun Xiao for dreaming.
Yun Xiao shrugged indifferently: “Unwilling? Fine. If I kill you, not only is the Spiritual Spring mine, but the treasures beneath the Spiritual Spring are mine too.”
The original body’s memory explained the origin of a Spiritual Spring: either it was located atop a high-grade Spiritual Vein, and this vein had already gained consciousness, or there were supreme-grade or even immortal-grade treasures buried beneath the earth.
Regardless of which, taking it would cause a huge commotion, and cultivators from the entire Secret Realm would flock to this area.
If she were discovered, even if she could handle the looting inside the Secret Realm, what about outside?
All major sects had Soul Transformation or higher-level powerhouses guarding them, and she was no match for those old fogeys.
She said this merely to persuade the Illusion Beast to agree to her terms.
If the Illusion Beast dared to refuse, she would rather destroy the Spiritual Spring than leave it for the beast.
Who told the Illusion Beast not to quit while it was ahead.
The Illusion Beast stopped cursing, pacing back and forth, contemplating Yun Xiao’s words.
Having made a decision, it gesticulated wildly, signaling for Yun Xiao to swear a heart-demon oath.
Yun Xiao summoned a bolt of lightning as thick as a water bucket and said with a half-smile: “Do you think you have another choice?”
She had already made a concession. How could she let the Illusion Beast get its way when it tried to push its luck by demanding a heart-demon oath?
The Illusion Beast ultimately compromised. She kept her word and only took two large buckets of the Spiritual Spring.
Following behind the Illusion Beast, which she had tied up with the Binding Immortal Rope, Yun Xiao harvested over thirty supreme-grade spiritual herbs and unexpectedly obtained a treasure herb. She didn’t know its specific use yet, but it wouldn’t be too late to seek the answer after leaving the Secret Realm.
She forcefully pulled the Illusion Beast back and, pressing her advantage, said: “I have the spiritual herbs. Now I need a handy weapon. Figure something out for me.”
The Illusion Beast squealed and yelled, cursing Yun Xiao for being shameless.
Having no choice, as its little life was in Yun Xiao’s hands, it reluctantly pulled out a pitch-black sword from its inner space and threw it to Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao picked it up and examined it with her spiritual sense—it was above supreme grade.
“Alright, stop cursing. I’ll let you go once we leave,” she paused, then changed the subject, “Oh, and all those Storage Pouches in your cave dwelling are mine too.”
She stepped out of the Illusion Beast’s cave dwelling. Looking back, there was no sign of the cave dwelling at all.
She chuckled softly. This Illusion Beast is quite vigilant.
Oh no, the Azure Cloud Sect male disciple.
Yun Xiao used the Lightness Art and had only traveled two or three miles when Chu Hui’s exclamation suddenly sounded in her ear.
“Senior Yun,” Chu Hui quickly walked up, delighted, “Thank goodness, you finally appeared! You don’t know how worried we all were about you, especially Martial Aunt Fang. Her brow hasn’t smoothed out these past two days; she—”
Fang Zhiluo, who had heard the commotion and approached, interrupted in time: “Chu Hui.”
Chu Hui pouted, whispering softly, “See? She’s flustered. She usually calls me Junior Disciple Niece Chu.”
Fang Zhiluo glared at Chu Hui, then shifted her gaze to Yun Xiao. Seeing that Yun Xiao was unharmed, the worry in her heart dissipated, and she said stiffly: “It’s good that you’re fine.”
Yun Xiao hadn’t missed Chu Hui’s words. The upward curve of her lips showed her joy. She confessed, “I followed the Illusion Beast to its cave dwelling and gained a great harvest.”
With that, she took out several high-grade spiritual swords that she had no use for from her Storage Pouch and tossed them to Chu Hui: “Take these and divide them among your fellow disciples.”
Chu Hui happily accepted them: “Thank you, Senior Yun!”
Seeing Chu Hui walk away, Yun Xiao took out another Storage Pouch and handed it to Fang Zhiluo: “I can forget anyone, but I can’t forget A’Luo.”
Fang Zhiluo had noticed the grade of the spiritual swords Yun Xiao tossed to Chu Hui and believed Yun Xiao really had a considerable harvest. She accepted it generously without formality: “I will craft two Grade-Seven formation plates for you after we leave.”
Previously, her cultivation wasn’t sufficient, making it difficult to craft Grade-Seven formation plates. Now, things were different. She was confident in crafting more types of formation plates.
“That sounds great,” Yun Xiao replied with a smile.
“I’ve been patrolling these past few days and haven’t found any other demon beasts around. You also said you only came here by following the Illusion Beast, so I assume the Illusion Beast’s cave dwelling is nearby,” Fang Zhiluo looked ahead. “Demon beasts have a strong sense of territory. I have a faint feeling that a demon beast with a higher cultivation than the Illusion Beast is lurking and observing us.”
Yun Xiao restrained her smile: “I’ll go check ahead.”
Fang Zhiluo reached out and grabbed Yun Xiao’s arm, shaking her head: “Don’t alert the enemy. The most important thing right now is how to safely settle those disciples.”
She had been agonizing over this problem for the past two days.
Sending the disciples away worried her that they might run into danger.
But if she didn’t send them away, the lurking demon beast was powerful. If a fight broke out, she wouldn’t be able to look after everyone.
Yun Xiao took in Fang Zhiluo’s worry and reminded her: “A’Luo, you can protect them for a while, but not forever. They have to grow up eventually.”
“I understand the logic, but…” The loss of even one person was a loss to the sect.
Fang Zhiluo left the rest unsaid, afraid that voicing it would make it come true.
Yun Xiao felt a surge of sourness. A’Luo never cared about me this much. Why do those little weaklings deserve it?
The more she thought about it, the more unpleasant she felt. She took out a spiritual fruit and bit into it hard.
Mm, it’s still that same taste.
“Instead of struggling here, why don’t you give them the choice? Just as you once said, cultivators should advance bravely and must never retreat because of danger,” Yun Xiao said, stepping toward Chu Hui’s group.
Seeing her, the Azure Cloud Sect disciples stood up and thanked her.
She waved her hand, pulled out two handfuls of spiritual fruits from her Storage Pouch, and handed them to Bai Mofeng, instructing: “Go and divide these too.”
These were middle-grade Sour Spiritual Fruits. Thanks to her careful preservation, they were still very fresh after more than a year.
The disciples, unprepared, took the fruits and began to chew. The sheer sourness left them unable to swallow or spit.
Fang Zhiluo walked over and saw the disciples’ twisted expressions. Her gaze fell on the fruits in their hands, and the corner of her mouth twitched. She asked, “How many of these spiritual fruits did you actually pick?”
“Want one? I have more,” Yun Xiao took out the largest one and held it out to Fang Zhiluo, her expression earnest.
Fang Zhiluo quickly moved a few steps aside, refusing: “No, thank you. Only you would enjoy this unique sour taste.”
It wasn’t that the Sky Origin Realm lacked tart fruits, but most people could only tolerate a certain level of fruit acid. This Sour Spiritual Fruit had only sourness and not a hint of sweetness.
One fruit down, and the muscles in their mouths wouldn’t move.
Chu Hui had initially thought Yun Xiao was deliberately teasing them by giving them such sour fruits. But seeing Yun Xiao offer the same fruit to Fang Zhiluo, she immediately dismissed the idea.
Senior Yun is very protective of Martial Aunt Fang. She wouldn’t tease her for anything. Senior Yun must just have an unusually different sense of taste.
Thinking this, she successfully convinced herself, stuffed the unfinished Sour Spiritual Fruit into her mouth, and swallowed it whole.
The other disciples followed suit, grimly finishing the Sour Spiritual Fruit.
The image of the Sour Spiritual Fruit was imprinted in their minds. The next time they saw it, they would definitely run as far away as possible.
Seeing the disciples being so obedient and sensible, Yun Xiao’s conscience twinged a little. She reached into her Storage Pouch and pulled out eight bright red spiritual fruits, which she handed out.
These were high-grade Lucky Fruits. One fruit could help a low-level cultivator break through a bottleneck.
Chu Hui’s eyes twinkled with stars. She proactively took charge: “Senior, I’ll divide these among the Junior Brothers and Sisters right now!”
Fang Zhiluo looked sideways at Yun Xiao in confusion. High-grade spiritual fruits given away so freely, eight at once? How deep are her coffers to be so extravagant?
“Oh, and here’s one for my A’Luo,” Just like the Sour Spiritual Fruit, the Lucky Fruit Yun Xiao offered to Fang Zhiluo this time was big and red.
Fang Zhiluo accepted it and told the excited disciples: “The further we go, the more obstacles there will be. If you are not careful, you could perish here. Do you still wish to continue traveling with me?”
No one was foolish. They understood the meaning behind Fang Zhiluo’s words, yet no one retreated. Their eyes were firm, and they spoke in unison.
“We are willing!”
Fang Zhiluo’s feelings were complex, but she still respected the disciples’ choice. She said sharply: “Good. Maintain maximum vigilance and continue forward.”
Her worries were not unfounded. After the group traveled more than two hundred miles, the feeling of being watched intensified.
She raised her hand to stop them, vigilantly staring at the dense forest five miles away.
Yun Xiao also sensed this and turned, meeting Fang Zhiluo’s eyes.
They said nothing, yet everything was conveyed.
Fang Zhiluo understood. She threw out two Grade-Six formation plates—one focused on killing, the other on defense.
Yun Xiao, meanwhile, took a Concealment Pill, tore a Swift Talisman, and headed toward the demon beast hiding in the dark.
The closer she got, the more alarmed she became. Such an intense aura was likely above the ninth level.
Above the ninth level was the tenth level, equivalent to the late-stage Soul Transformation cultivation of human cultivators.
She quickly stopped in her tracks, scanning her surroundings vigilantly as she retreated.
Moo! Moo!
The aura intensified, and Yun Xiao’s hair stood on end. She had been discovered.
She stopped retreating, drew her newly acquired spiritual sword, and her fighting spirit surged.
It wasn’t that she was belligerent; if she retreated now, A’Luo and the Azure Cloud Sect disciples would surely suffer. It was better for her to confront this tenth-level Azure Ox Beast first.
If she couldn’t defeat it, she could at least use the fight to warn A’Luo.
In just over ten breaths, the massive Azure Ox Beast charged out from the depths. The ground trembled with its powerful run.