Qin Ziyan and Su Sheng’s figures quickly vanished into the woods.
Seeing the others were still gathered, the one named Luo Lin seemed to grow a little impatient.
“Let’s split up and search,” he urged. “Though Senior Sister told us to do our best, we can’t really return empty-handed.”
“Right,” Luo Yun echoed. “If we can find more Qingling Grass to take back, we can earn more contribution points.”
Hearing this, Lu Lingxiao’s expression was hesitant.
“Let’s still stick together. This is everyone’s first time in these woods, and if something happens, we can look out for each other.”
Luo Lin scoffed, seemingly not taking Lu Lingxiao’s words to heart.
“Suit yourselves.”
After speaking, he no longer paid attention to the others and headed directly south. Luo Yun followed behind him.
The remaining few exchanged glances for a moment.
Lu Lingxiao watched the Luo siblings’ figures gradually disappear into the distance, silent for a while, then suddenly whispered to Bu Qinglan, “Junior Sister, shall we go together?”
His words also implied a desire to act alone.
Bu Qinglan hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
The two discussed a few sentences, then headed off together in another direction.
Seeing that the three of them were thus left standing there, Lu Lingxiao sighed.
Just as he was about to speak, who knew that Liao Lan suddenly let out a light scoff towards Mu Qiuhan, “Senior Brother, are you coming with me or with her?”
Before Lu Lingxiao could even answer, she had already lifted her chin and headed west.
Mu Qiuhan saw Lu Lingxiao frozen in an awkward state, unable to decide whether to follow or not, so she gestured towards the direction Liao Lan had gone, “Senior Brother, hurry and catch up. Senior Sister acts impulsively, so don’t let anything go wrong.”
Mu Qiuhan originally didn’t want to travel with others, so this turn of events suited her perfectly.
Lu Lingxiao still wanted to say something. Seeing this, Mu Qiuhan added fuel to the fire.
“Senior Brother doesn’t need to worry about me. Senior Sister, on the other hand, is very competitive. If she doesn’t find Qingling Grass, I’m afraid she won’t give up easily. Her getting injured is a minor matter, but if it delays the task Master assigned because of it, that wouldn’t be good.”
Hearing this, Lu Lingxiao indeed hesitated.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place for a moment, but ultimately followed Liao Lan.
And just like that, everyone scattered in different directions.
Mu Qiuhan watched everyone’s reactions, thinking to herself, the lack of trust between the disciples of these peaks is actually a good thing for her.
If she really had to fall out with the people from Dongtian Peak in the future, Qianchen Peak and Mingkong Peak could potentially be used.
Mu Qiuhan’s mind churned with thoughts.
She casually picked a direction and walked straight ahead.
After walking for a while, she felt the surrounding cold energy seemed to be getting denser.
Mu Qiuhan’s brow furrowed slightly, and she cautiously stopped.
Not only was there no human sound on this path, but even the sounds of birds and beasts were rarely heard.
This was too abnormal.
Could it be that there was a high-level spiritual beast nearby?
But she was clearly still on the outer edge of the woods.
Mu Qiuhan circulated her spiritual energy to its peak, her body subtly adopting a defensive posture.
Although the spiritual energy in this body was too weak, her former skills were still there. Even if she couldn’t easily injure her opponent, it wouldn’t be easy for it to succeed.
She remained vigilant in place for a long time, yet saw no movement at all.
Mu Qiuhan felt puzzled.
Where was this feeling of unease coming from? Could she have judged incorrectly?
Remaining alert, she slowly walked forward for a while longer.
The further she walked, the sparser the trees became, and they eventually disappeared.
An open area with a clear view appeared before her.
Looking into the distance, the ground was actually shining with silver light.
Mu Qiuhan took a few steps forward.
When she got closer, she realized that what was shining with silver light was actually an extremely clear deep pool of water.
Under the moonlight, the water surface was like a strip of silver silk, shimmering with ripples.
Mu Qiuhan felt a sense of coldness emanating from the deep pool.
So the cold energy from before was actually coming from this pool?
In the height of summer, the temperature of this pool was simply too low.
Just as she was feeling puzzled, a jet of water suddenly shot out from the pool.
Even though she was somewhat prepared, she was startled by this sudden attack.
She saw her flick her fingers, and a thin shield condensed from green spiritual energy instantly blocked her chest.
At the same time, her agile figure flipped to the side, skillfully dodging the incoming attack.
Wood-attribute spiritual energy wasn’t strong enough in attack power, nor did it have a long range. Right now, she could only defend.
Mu Qiuhan stared intently at the water surface.
After a good while, she saw a spiritual beast about five feet tall, pure white all over, slowly crawling out of the water.
The beast wagged its head and tail, moving slowly. It looked quite lazy, but its whole body emitted a bone-chilling coldness.
The moment the spiritual beast emerged from the water, Mu Qiuhan felt an inexplicable pressure spread throughout her body, and her dantian seemed to suddenly become hot.
She immediately circulated her spiritual energy, resisting the overwhelming coldness that assaulted her.
Mu Qiuhan vigilantly eyed the slow-moving creature before her, raising an eyebrow.
That fierce attack that shot out from the water just now, was it released by it?
She was a little puzzled, yet didn’t dare to be careless in the slightest.
She condensed half of her spiritual energy onto her right hand, while the rest transformed into armor and a shield, protecting her body.
Watching the beast slowly amble towards her, Mu Qiuhan’s body tensed further, and the green light protecting her grew brighter.
The beast moved forward for a bit, but stopped about thirty feet away from Mu Qiuhan.
Its gaze landed on Mu Qiuhan, lingered for a moment, then lazily shifted away.
She saw it lift its head, bare its fangs, and roar towards Mu Qiuhan, as if certain she wouldn’t dare to approach.
Mu Qiuhan felt both annoyed and amused. She had never been so blatantly looked down upon by a spiritual beast before.
However, right now, she truly didn’t dare to move recklessly.
She couldn’t discern the cultivation realm of this spiritual beast before her, which meant it was more powerful than her.
She wouldn’t fight a battle she wasn’t confident in. Moreover, this creature in front of her didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking proactively?
The person and the beast were thus locked in a stalemate for a while.
Until Mu Qiuhan noticed new movement in the deep pool not far away.
Her heart tensed.
Could it be that this creature had a companion?
One was already enough for her to handle; what would she do if another one came?
Thinking of the slow movements of the spiritual beast before her and its very swift attack, Mu Qiuhan hesitated. Should she escape or not?
The next moment, a figure emerged from the deep pool, causing Mu Qiuhan to freeze completely.
Unlike Mu Qiuhan’s previous imagination, it was a woman with bare shoulders.
The distance was still a bit far. Apart from the person’s long hair and fair skin, Mu Qiuhan couldn’t see the details clearly.
She stared somewhat blankly at the person in the water.
There was actually a person inside this deep pool?
When had this person been there?
Even if her current cultivation was low, she shouldn’t be so unperceptive as to not sense a living person at all?
Even if the other party’s cultivation was far higher than hers, it shouldn’t be like this.
Who exactly was this person?
The woman glanced indifferently in Mu Qiuhan’s direction. Seeing her staring blankly, the woman suddenly let out a light snort.
As if no one else was present, she stood up from the water. From the looks of it, she seemed to intend to come ashore just like that, without a stitch of clothing!
Mu Qiuhan froze, subconsciously averted her gaze, but her heart felt a sudden shiver.
This person completely disregarded her presence. Could it be that she already treated her as a dead person in advance?
Her heart tightened. Just as she was about to quickly retreat in the direction she had planned, she heard the person suddenly open her mouth and ask, “Are you a disciple from Jade Dragon Peak?”
In the blink of an eye, the voice had already reached her front.
Mu Qiuhan was greatly alarmed.
She vigilantly observed the person and the beast standing side-by-side, thinking to herself, what kind of strange movement technique is this?
With this person’s astonishing speed, and having already lost the initiative, escaping without injury would likely be very difficult.
She gritted her teeth, deciding to take a gamble.
Mu Qiuhan protected the vital points around her body with spiritual energy, then cupped her hands towards the woman who had somehow become fully dressed before her eyes.
“I was unaware that Immortal was bathing here. I have disturbed you greatly, and I hope Immortal will not blame me.”
Water vapor swirled around the woman. Her ink-black long hair hung down, leaving spots of water all over her white robes.
The thin gauze robes clung closely to her body, her exquisite figure faintly visible through the fabric, yet the woman seemed completely unconcerned.
She didn’t pay attention to Mu Qiuhan, but instead reached out and stroked the head of the beast that radiated cold energy.
“Chuxue, rein in your cold energy.”
The beast let out a low growl, seeming unwilling, yet the chill in the air diminished greatly.
Mu Qiuhan only felt that the oppressive feeling that had enveloped her body lightened significantly at this moment, yet her dantian inexplicably grew even hotter.
Thankfully, the heat quickly subsided.
After calming the spiritual beast, the woman turned and asked Mu Qiuhan, “Are you a new disciple? Why are you alone? Didn’t your master warn you about the dangers in these woods?”
Just as Mu Qiuhan was about to reply, she saw the person had already lowered her head.
Mu Qiuhan discerned the words from the woman’s lip movements.
“Chuxue, is it the Fire-Breath Worm?”
The spiritual beast nodded upon hearing this.
Mu Qiuhan was stunned for a moment.
She had read about Fire-Breath Worms in ancient texts. They were legendary creatures said to live on the Ever-Burning Ancient Tree.
Having lived in the Demonic Realm for many years, she had never actually seen a living one.
It was said that this creature, like the Ever-Burning Ancient Tree, had flames on its body that burned year-round, extinguishing only upon death.
Thinking back to the woman’s gaze just now, and recalling the anomaly within her dantian, Mu Qiuhan suddenly remembered what Master Yuji had said to her before the Violet Sun Hall.
Wood-fire dual attribute spiritual energy.
At the time, she had only thought the person was finding fault and hadn’t paid too much attention to what was said.
Looking at it now, could it be that the Fire-Breath Worm was inside her body?
Ancient texts had not mentioned that such a creature could coexist with a human body.
Although she hadn’t yet noticed anything wrong with her body, thinking of the Blood Worm still unresolved within her, Mu Qiuhan’s eyes darkened.
Nice chapter