“Hmph! Wishful thinking!”
“Don’t even bother using your brain! This time, the two of us fellow disciples just happened to be teleported together by chance—we’ve already had incredibly good luck. At the very least, our chances of survival are much higher than the others. Managing to take this guy down was pure luck too. Do you really think you’re so capable that you’d play such a foolish waiting game? Aren’t you afraid we might run into some fierce opponent who’ll smash our teeth in and cost us our lives? Besides, what are the odds anyone would come to this godforsaken place? The best strategy is to hurry to the central area as soon as possible and take advantage of the chaos!”
The older Spirit Beast Mountain disciple was clearly more dominant and cunning than the younger one. While lecturing his junior, he remained vigilant, frequently scanning the surrounding dense forest.
Seeing this, Han Li became even more cautious. He pushed his Qi Restraint Art to its limit, completely concealing his aura without leaking the slightest trace. As for the foolish idea of “taking on two at once,” Han Li had never considered it and certainly wouldn’t be so reckless as to try.
One of these two had early-stage twelfth-layer cultivation, and the other had high-stage twelfth-layer cultivation. If they joined forces, he stood little chance of victory—he certainly didn’t possess any earth-shattering power to take on a hundred alone.
Thus, Han Li could only watch helplessly as the two harvested the last few Frost Grass plants by the pond, then incinerated the body of the Sky Fortress disciple. Finally, they stored the Frost Toad in a red leather pouch and disappeared into the dense forest on the opposite side.
After they left, Han Li didn’t get up immediately. Instead, he waited for a while before shaking off the fallen leaves on his body, straightening up, and gazing thoughtfully in the direction where the two had vanished.
It seemed he wasn’t the only one with such ideas.
No wonder—how many of those daring enough to risk participating in the Blood Trial wouldn’t be tempted by the natural treasures in the central area? A fierce battle was inevitable! After all, the number of naturally formed and matured spiritual herbs each time was extremely limited, far from enough to be distributed among all the sects.
Han Li stood in place for a moment, his face dark as he bitterly pondered.
Witnessing how the blue-robed disciple, someone as cautious and careful as himself, had silently vanished from the world shook Han Li’s confidence in achieving his goal. How many similar incidents were playing out in hidden corners of the forbidden area?
He truly wondered whether coming to this forbidden area had been the right decision. Perhaps simply taking those two Foundation Establishment Pills would have been enough to succeed—was it really necessary to take such a tremendous risk?
Feeling disheartened, Han Li vaguely considered retreating. After all, it was easy to talk bravely, but when the shadow of death truly loomed, it was hard to avoid feeling unsettled.
Several hours later, Han Li set off again, heading toward the center of the forbidden area.
After some deliberation, his rationality had prevailed. He knew those earlier thoughts were merely excuses for his own cowardice. Thus, steeling himself, he continued on his way.
Instead of following the two Spirit Beast Mountain disciples directly, Han Li chose a slightly longer and more circuitous route. Although the path taken by the Spirit Beast Mountain duo was the shortest and fastest, Han Li wasn’t concerned about being detected by their own abilities. Rather, he was deeply wary of Spirit Beast Mountain’s strange and varied beast-taming techniques. Unaware if they had special methods to detect his pursuit through other means, he thought it better to keep his distance.
He recalled how, relying on a barely sentient little Cloud-Winged Bird, he had once tracked and monitored specific individuals from a distance. The beast-taming techniques of Spirit Beast Mountain disciples were undoubtedly even more concealed and bizarre—after all, they were cultivators; their methods were far beyond those of mere martial artists.
Thinking of the Cloud-Winged Bird, Han Li felt a pang of regret. When he first entered Yellow Maple Valley, to avoid drawing attention, he had released the bird into the Taiyue Mountains to roam freely.
At first, the bird often returned to its master, Han Li, to beg for its favorite “Yellow Chestnut Pills.”
But as time passed, its visits grew increasingly rare. By the time Han Li realized his mistake, the bird had completely reverted to its wild nature. After flying off during one outing, it never returned, causing Han Li great distress. Otherwise, it could have been very useful during this trip to the forbidden area.
Unbeknownst to Han Li, his decision to take a detour had actually saved him from disaster.
After leaving Black Dragon Pond together, the two Spirit Beast Mountain disciples each released a large swarm of colorful moths from a pouch.
These vibrant insects immediately scattered upon emerging, densely covering an area of over a hundred zhang. Their colors gradually shifted, blending seamlessly with the surrounding scenery until they became nearly indistinguishable unless examined closely.
Even if someone noticed the moths, they would likely assume they were native to the forbidden area and not grow suspicious.
Thus, these colorful moths became natural sentinels for the duo. Anyone approaching their perimeter would be immediately detected, allowing the two to prepare countermeasures in advance.
This living alert network, composed of countless insects, was virtually flawless in its warning capabilities—a specialty of the Spirit Beast Mountain disciples. Even disciples from other sects who were aware of this in advance could do nothing against these insects, finding it impossible to bypass them for a covert attack.
In fact, Han Li had already had a stroke of luck at Black Dragon Pond. The Spirit Beast Mountain duo hadn’t released the moths there but only after leaving. Otherwise, Han Li would never have escaped their detection.
This wasn’t due to carelessness or forgetfulness on their part. These moths were naturally afraid of cold; even slightly low temperatures would freeze them to death, which was indeed a pity.
The water of Black Dragon Pond, however, was uniquely and extremely cold, chilling the entire area around the pond like winter. Under such conditions, how could they dare release the moths and send them to their doom?
Completely unaware of his narrow escape, Han Li stood beneath a peculiar cliff, silently observing two corpses lying at his feet, their deaths gruesome.
One corpse wore black tight-fitting clothes, was burly with large hands, and had a thin crimson line across its neck. The head, eyes wide open, bore an expression of extreme unwillingness, as if the person had died with unresolved grievances. This was likely a disciple of the Giant Sword Sect.
The other corpse was of medium build, its body a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Most notably, its face was featureless, pierced through from front to back by a giant sword that pinned the body to the ground. Brain matter and blood pooled around it. Yet, on the curled ring finger of its right hand, strange transparent threads were wrapped, shimmering faintly in the sunlight.
Han Li examined the Giant Sword Sect disciple’s corpse for a long while. Suddenly, he lifted his foot and gently kicked the head with the red line on its neck. Instantly, the large head rolled away effortlessly—no force needed.
The body and head had long been separated.
Han Li sighed, then turned his gaze to the other corpse, whose identity was unmistakable even without closer inspection. Although its face was gone, the yellow robe identical to Han Li’s was proof enough. He wondered which fellow Yellow Maple Valley disciple had died here!
Clearly, the two had perished together, mutually assured destruction.
Han Li raised his head, staring motionlessly at the cliff top, but his mind had already drawn conclusions. He reconstructed most of the scene where these two had encountered each other and fiercely fought.
From all signs, the Giant Sword Sect disciple likely held a slight advantage over Han Li’s fellow sect brother.
The mangled state of the yellow-robed corpse and the unwilling expression on the black-clad head indicated as much.
This unknown fellow disciple, though at a disadvantage, was evidently cunning. His weapon appeared to be those transparent threads. He must have exploited his opponent’s complacency at nearing victory, launching a sneak attack at the last moment to sever the other’s head, causing the Giant Sword Sect disciple’s demise.
Yet, he clearly hadn’t anticipated that, for some reason, the black-clad disciple still had enough strength left before death to unleash his giant sword. With one strike, he pinned the yellow-robed fellow disciple—whether too injured to dodge or making the same mistake of complacency—to the ground, resulting in a brutal battle with no victor.
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