"Benefactor Li, is it strange that I allowed that person to leave?" The middle-aged Daoist remained silent for a moment before suddenly speaking.
"Hehe! It is a bit strange. That young man's magical tool is quite good; even I was tempted by it!" The elder didn't hide his thoughts, speaking directly.
"Then I suggest you abandon that thought early. That person cannot be killed!" The Daoist frowned slightly, his tone carrying a warning.
The green-robed elder's face showed a flash of surprise, but he didn't ask anything. He knew that since the conversation had reached this point, the other party would naturally explain things clearly.
Sure enough, the Daoist continued expressionlessly:
"This person has a significant relationship with Ma Yunlong of the Heavenly Pass Fortress. It's best not to provoke him easily!"
The elder's expression changed upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but exclaim:
"You mean that Ma Yunlong of the Heavenly Pass Fortress, who in the past hundred years has been the most likely to reach the Foundation Establishment stage?"
The Daoist gave a bitter smile and sighed:
"Who else could it be? I've seen this person several times. The Dust-Falling Pearl that young man is holding is that person's famous magical tool—there's no mistake about it! So this young man definitely has a close relationship with Ma Yunlong. It's best not to touch him!"
"Indeed, thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist! Otherwise, I would have made a grave mistake! *Cough*, let's collect the spirit herbs quickly. We don't want any more uninvited guests!" The elder finally recovered from his surprise and immediately suggested.
The Daoist naturally agreed readily, and then the two each took a "Purple Monkey Flower" before going their separate ways.
Similar events were happening simultaneously in several other locations, though their conflicts were far less peaceful and instead sparked very intense confrontations.
Beside a stone house on a ridge of the Ring Mountain, four people had split into two factions, driving various magical tools in battle.
One man and one woman wore yellow attire. They were disciples of the Yellow Maple Valley.
The man, around forty years old with a scholarly air, held a shimmering silver giant brush and a brilliantly golden book. With each wave and sweep, silver talismans and golden light filled the sky, beating the two opponents opposite into a state of desperate sweating and ashen faces.
The beautiful young woman also directed two flying sword magical tools—one blue, one yellow—to assist from the side, but anyone with discerning eyes could see at a glance that this woman's strength, let alone compared to her companion, was vastly inferior even to their two opponents. She provided virtually no restraining effect. Instead, she occasionally needed her extremely powerful companion to rescue her several times!
Their opponents, however, were not from the same sect.
One was an ugly man with a green light shield above his head, driving a flying snake as thick as a bowl and a massive swarm of giant hornets to frantically block the golden light attacks from the Yellow Maple Valley man. This was none other than Zhong Wu of the Spirit Beast Mountain, who had exchanged information with Han Li before.
The other was a handsome young man with delicate features. Judging by his blue attire, he should be a disciple of the Blade Transformation Dock.
Two red flying blades danced before him, radiating brilliant light—clearly extraordinary magical tools. These flying blades, which should have been offensive tools, had now formed two wheel-sized barriers of light before him, struggling to block the countless silver talismans that fell like stars.
"Stop, I yield! We admit defeat! Surnamed Chen, you're ruthless—the spirit herbs in this stone house belong to you!" The Blade Transformation Dock youth, unable to hold on any longer, finally spoke first to concede.
The ugly man Zhong Wu beside him, aside from showing slight reluctance, didn't speak to stop him. He tacitly accepted the young man's words and recalled the flying snake and hornet swarm to his side.
"Hmph! You think you can just admit defeat and walk away? It's not that easy!" The weakest of the Yellow Maple Valley group, the young woman, brushed back the long hair from her forehead and spoke unwillingly. Having been directly ignored just now, she couldn't help but harbor a belly full of frustration, her tone becoming quite unpleasant.
"What do you want? Do you want to slaughter us to the last? I'm afraid you don't have that ability yet!" The Blade Transformation Dock man cried out in anger, his voice unexpectedly like a frightened woman's. This gave the other three goosebumps.
"Of course not! My Seventh Sister was just speaking in anger! You two may leave freely—Brother Chen will not make things difficult for you!" The middle-aged Yellow Maple Valley man frowned slightly and immediately used a look to stop his sister's unpleasant follow-up words, then spoke calmly to Zhong Wu and the others.
"Hehe! Brother Chen truly lives up to being the eldest young master of the Chen family. Your bearing is quite different from that little girl's. Then we shall take our leave!" The Blade Transformation Dock youth suddenly calmed down, his voice returning to normal, instantly making him appear like a refined and handsome young man. The contrast was quite startling!
After saying this, the youth and Zhong Wu cast one last reluctant glance at the stone house before painfully leaving the area, disappearing behind the mountain rocks without a trace.
"Big brother, why didn't you kill those two? With just a little more effort, we could have eliminated them!" The beautiful woman finally couldn't help but turn her head and ask the middle-aged man after watching the two leave.
"Seventh Sister, I've noticed that ever since that incident, you've become somewhat extreme! Ready to take lives at the slightest provocation. Do you know who those two are? Their families are all quite renowned—though still far from matching our Yan, Chen, and other super families, they cannot be underestimated. It's best not to make enemies lightly!"
"Moreover, even if we really tried to kill them, it likely wouldn't succeed! You see, although with the power of the Golden Book and Silver Brush, it appears we had them on the verge of collapse! But in reality, this was only possible because they had no thought of fleeing. If we truly intended to kill them, they're not fools—they would naturally run for their lives. In that case, no matter how powerful my Golden Book and Silver Brush are, we couldn't do anything to them! We'd only be making enemies for nothing!"
The Yellow Maple Valley middle-aged man first spoke in a doting tone, slightly reproaching the young woman, then carefully explained his reasons for not killing them, which made the young woman suddenly understand!
"By the way, Seventh Sister! That boy from the Lu family hasn't shown his face anywhere else since he plotted against you. It seems he really was killed by the person who saved you. If that's the case, consider it his luck—otherwise, we would have made him wish he were dead, letting him know the consequences of daring to lay a hand on our Chen family. The identity of the person who saved you is quite intriguing though! I spent considerable effort investigating which disciples were absent from the valley during those days, but couldn't find anyone who posed a threat to the Lu boy. You know, that bastard's magical power was negligible, but his Azure Flood Dragon Banner was truly an excellent top-tier magical tool! To save you from his grasp means this person's strength shouldn't be weak. Could it really have been a passing cultivator from outside our sect?"
The woman's elder brother suddenly adopted an affectionate tone as he spoke to his "Seventh Sister."
It turned out this "Seventh Sister" was the same "Sister Chen" who had become cold as ice, but in front of this middle-aged man who was her elder brother, she had clearly regained some of her true nature. Upon hearing his words, she immediately blushed and spoke in a coy manner:
"Pah! Why bring up that person? Fine, he saved me, but then he left me alone in the wilderness and ran off with my Foundation Establishment Pill! I'd say there's an eighty or ninety percent chance he wasn't a good person either!"
There was considerable resentment in Sister Chen's words!
Actually, what made her most ashamed and angry wasn't this matter, but rather that thinking of this person reminded her of that embarrassing night when she had been delirious, burning hot, and completely naked.
Those rough hands that had freely roamed over her entire body, and the strong masculine scent from the other party, were still imprinted in her memory to this day.
Though ashamed and angry, Sister Chen tried her best not to think about this, burying it deep in her heart. Now, hearing her brother mention it, these feelings surged up again, causing her face to alternate between red and white as she fell into deep thought.
When Sister Chen finally came back to her senses in a daze, she found her elder brother looking at her with a half-smile, his gaze full of meaning, as if all her secrets had been completely seen through! This made the blush on her face even more vivid!
Feeling extremely shy, Sister Chen simply stamped her small foot, said "I'm going to gather herbs!" and rushed toward the stone house on her own, trying to hide the unusual shyness deep in her heart!
The middle-aged man watched his beloved youngest sister's retreating figure and couldn't help but smile slightly, already having a plan forming in his mind!
Then, he followed after her.
...
Within a dense forest, a young girl in green clothing tightly bit her lips as she directed a small white eagle in a difficult battle against a two-headed serpent. The situation appeared evenly matched for the moment, and behind the serpent stood a large tree entirely of fiery red, its branches bearing several fist-sized red fruits.
...
In a narrow, elongated underground cave, a group of white-robed men and women walked silently. There appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen of them—all the Moon Concealment Sect disciples who had survived within the restricted area were gathered here. Leading the way at the very front was the elf-like young girl who had once seen Han Li from afar!