Anyway, since it didn’t concern him, he might as well start cultivating as well.
Although Li Tan thought so, he sighed and still couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Although becoming the deputy squad leader wasn’t his intention, he had taken the role, and his sense of responsibility compelled him to rise again and choose a random direction deeper into the forest.
He didn’t need to get involved in the disciples’ trials; his main task entering the mountains was to prevent powerful beasts from entering the trial area and causing casualties.
Although the map indicated that all beasts matching the criteria in this area had already been eliminated, for safety, the squad leader still needed to patrol. However, Sima Luo apparently relaxed his vigilance naturally since nothing had ever happened before.
Sima Luo was somewhat surprised when he noticed Li Tan leaving, and he probably didn’t oppose the action mentally, but for some reason, he still muttered words like “looking for trouble where there is none.”
Li Tan couldn’t hear his sarcasm anymore. After leaving the camp, he kept a distance from the disciples who had entered the forest first, hiding himself on top of a large tree.
For a while, he indeed found no threatening presence; the strongest he encountered was no more than a second-tier beast, and even that was a weaker second-tier beast.
In human terms, that would be the level of a late-stage earthly cultivator approaching the heavenly stage. All the disciples participating in this test were at the late-stage earthly level, so it would be difficult to encounter danger alone, which was why Sima Luo felt so confident.
Li Tan jumped around for more than half an hour without encountering any unexpected situations. He sat on a big tree to rest briefly. In the three o’clock direction, a five-person team was also resting, all sitting on the ground chatting and laughing.
Li Tan, with nothing better to do, watched the group.
They consisted of three males and two females. The males seemed to be single, lavishing attention on the female disciples, offering water, giving back rubs, and fussing over them.
Earthly cultivators couldn’t avoid eating regular food, so everyone had brought dried rations in their storage rings for this trial. The two female disciples must have been hungry, taking out some flatbreads to munch on. The two male disciples exchanged glances, smiling, one pulling out a piece of ordinary wild boar meat from his storage ring, the other even more brazen, pulling out a cooking pot.
These two male disciples were clearly colluding, excluding the third male.
Just as Li Tan thought they were going to waste true energy to ignite internal fire, the two males poured out a pile of firewood and happily started a fire.
Li Tan was so shocked he nearly fell off the tree. He rushed over and ordered sternly, “Extinguish the fire immediately!”
The five, especially the two male disciples, showed impatience on their faces when they saw it was Li Tan.
“Why?”
“What’s wrong with starting a fire?”
Li Tan questioned, “Are you trying to invite beasts to your deaths by making a fire in the Domain of Fallen Immortals?”
Lighting a fire in the forest was like using a giant megaphone to shout at beasts, “Here’s your snack—come eat!”
“Pfft, it’s not that exaggerated.”
One male disciple scoffed.
Li Tan, not wanting to argue, ordered firmly, “Extinguish the fire now!”
Although Li Tan was somewhat estranged from these people, he was still an honored elder with a heavenly-level cultivation. Reluctantly, the male disciple moved to put out the fire and pack up the pot.
Another male disciple stopped his hand, cunningly arguing, “Elder, I think you’re misunderstanding. Isn’t the purpose of our trial here to fight beasts?
If we light a fire and they come running, isn’t that convenient? Saves us the trouble of looking for them.”
At the mention of the word “fight,” Li Tan felt helpless.
These young masters truly never left their grand gates, completely unaware of the dangers in the Nine Provinces.
Even he, at present, faced beasts of any strength with his utmost effort, because this wasn’t a “fight”—it was a fight for survival.
He had trained countless disciples and knew well that they wouldn’t learn unless they were punished, so he turned and left, hiding again on the previous large tree.
“Pfft, treating a chicken feather as an imperial decree, thinking he’s actually someone important, coming out to lecture us.”
Thinking Li Tan was far away, one male disciple sarcastically remarked.
The arguing male disciple agreed, “Exactly, he said starting a fire is dangerous, but I asked clearly—before coming here, the elders have already cleared the trial area. Heh, only small fry will come here.”
“Wow, senior brother is so amazing!”
One female disciple praised.
“So does that mean we can complete the task soon?” another female disciple asked excitedly.
The arguing male disciple confidently patted his chest, “Don’t worry, leave it to us, junior sister.”
The isolated male disciple wore an expression of envy and resentment.
The four chatted happily, completely unaware of the danger, treating the Domain of Fallen Immortals as if it were the back mountains of Tianlang Sect.
Watching the campfire and rising smoke, Li Tan shook his head in disappointment.
The four enjoyed the roasted meat, eating heartily, but before finishing a single leg, a terrifying roar rang out.
The beast had indeed arrived! The two male disciples immediately showed delight, confidently declaring their intention to slay the attacking beast to establish brave images in front of the female disciples.
“Senior, be careful!”
“It’s coming, it’s coming, there! So scary!”
The two female disciples showed fear upon seeing the beast emerging from the shadows.
This beast coiled on a tree trunk, its body covered with steel-like scales. Watching from a distance, Li Tan was slightly startled; this creature was actually the scaly-armored snake that had chased him last time, though somewhat weaker than the one that had fought the saber-toothed leopard. It was only about the strength of a late-stage earthly human cultivator—troublesome, but manageable if the five worked together. It was a suitable first opponent for practice. Although judging from the current situation, the two timid female disciples wouldn’t help, but with the three male disciples working together, they should still win.
Therefore, Li Tan did not intervene.
The excluded male disciple placed his hands on the shoulders of the two female disciples, solemnly vowing to protect them. Then, he turned to the other two prepared male disciples and shouted, “Leave that guy to you; I’ll protect the two junior sisters!”
The two males immediately changed expressions, simultaneously shouting “bastard!” as the scaly-armored snake rapidly approached.
Then something happened that left Li Tan stunned.
The male disciple who had argued with Li Tan turned to his companion, his eyes glinting, “Brother Zhang’s sword skills are superb; I won’t steal your glory. Leave this beast to you.”
Without waiting for a reply, he ran back to the two female disciples, standing there wide-eyed with the excluded male.
The male disciple at the front had “coward” stuck in his throat, but the scaly-armored snake was already upon him, leaving no room for retreat. He gritted his teeth and charged forward, his sword landing solidly on the snake’s head.
The male disciple immediately beamed with joy, thinking the beast was nothing formidable. He was about to sever its head to claim the credit, certain he would win the admiration of the two junior sisters. But his grin abruptly stiffened—his sword hadn’t left so much as a scratch. The scaled serpent gaped its crimson maw and lunged forward, swallowing the male disciple’s head in one gulp. The lively mood instantly turned to ice. The male disciple who had quarreled with Li Tan and the one who had been ostracized both wore expressions of sheer terror, shrieking and scrambling to flee.
The two female disciples were already stunned with fear, their legs giving way as they collapsed to the ground, becoming the scaly-armored snake’s easy prey.
They were all paralyzed with fear.
At this moment, a soft sound spread, and Li Tan leapt several times, landing in front of the two female disciples.
“Li… Elder Li?”
“Elder Li, save us!”
At this moment, the two female disciples remembered Li Tan’s heavenly-level cultivation, completely abandoning their previous sarcastic attitude, overjoyed as if seeing a savior.
Li Tan didn’t bother turning to look at them, his gaze fixed forward. The scaly-armored snake was swallowing the unmoving corpse, its eyes staring fixedly at the newly appeared Li Tan, seemingly somewhat wary.
Li Tan’s eyes focused on the two human legs hanging from the snake’s mouth, a touch of sorrow rising in his heart.
He wanted to save them, but after all, he was merely a minor heavenly cultivator, having kept such a distance. In such a situation, he was powerless.
But this couldn’t be blamed on him for miscalculating, because Li Tan was no immortal descended from heaven, how could he have guessed that the three male disciples would be so obsessed with rivalry that they’d act like this?
“You two go first, find the two who ran away.”
Li Tan ordered, his voice carrying some disgust.
He hated nothing more in life than abandoning and betraying companions.
“Yes!”
“We’ll go right away!”
The two female disciples, having regained their senses, ran off like rabbits without hesitation, not at all like their previous feeble state.
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