SWISH! A sound tore through the air in the dense forest. With a flash of Sword Light, a Spirit Beast as large as a mountain crashed to the ground. Then, a figure dropped from the sky, viciously plunging the Sharp Sword in his hand into the Spirit Beast's chest!
This figure was none other than Shen Haoran, who was out searching for Spirit Medicine!
"Phew..." Shen Haoran let out a long breath as he watched the Spirit Beast at his feet slowly get devoured into a dried husk by the Soul-devouring Sword.
"Hey, Changmao, I've been walking for almost a whole day," Shen Haoran said impatiently, pulling out his Soul-devouring Sword. "This is the sixth Tier Two Spirit Beast to block my path. How are we not there yet?"
"Soon, soon! We're almost there!" Changmao said, perched on Shen Haoran's shoulder.
"Hmph. You've already said that six times!" Shen Haoran shot Changmao a glare.
"This time it's for real, we're really almost there! I can already feel it just up ahead!" Changmao said, pointing forward.
"It had better be, or I won't let you off easy!"
Hearing Shen Haoran's threat, Changmao leaped off his shoulder and took off running. Shen Haoran quickly gave chase.
Changmao was fast. Man and beast sprinted wildly through the dense forest, completely unafraid of any Spirit Beasts causing trouble. Strangely enough, ever since Changmao had started leading the way, Shen Haoran hadn't encountered a single Spirit Beast blocking their path.
They sprinted like that for over an hour before finally stopping.
"What is it? Are we here?" Shen Haoran asked, seeing Changmao come to a halt.
Changmao sniffed the air. "I can feel it," he said. "It's right around here!"
"Around here? Are you sure?" Shen Haoran glanced around. There were trees, and more trees, but not a hint of any treasure or Spirit Medicine...
BANG BANG BANG!
ROAR...
Just as Shen Haoran was searching for the treasure Changmao had mentioned, the sounds of a fight reached his ears.
'Someone's fighting a Spirit Beast?' Shen Haoran's brow furrowed as he looked toward the source of the sound.
"That's the direction! The aura of the treasure is coming from there!" Changmao climbed back onto Shen Haoran's shoulder and pointed toward the sounds of battle.
"Let's go take a look!" With that said, Shen Haoran's figure flickered as he dashed toward the sound.
In a clearing not far away, five youths leaned against each other for support. Their faces were pale, their bodies drenched in blood. They all gripped their weapons tightly, braced for a major battle at any moment.
More than a dozen Tier Two Spirit Beasts, Fiery Prison Fire Wolves, had them completely surrounded. The Fire Wolves' eyes glowed green as they stared intently at the five youths, as if they were looking at a delicious meal.
"What do we do? What do we do? Senior Brother Lin, I don't want to die here! You have to save me!" a young woman sobbed, clinging to a young man as she looked at the ferocious Fiery Prison Fire Wolves.
The young man, whose surname was Lin, looked at the girl shaking his arm and said, "Don't worry, Junior Sister Su. I'll definitely get you out of here!" After speaking, he couldn't help but swallow nervously.
Watching the two of them acting so chummy, the other three's faces darkened. They cursed inwardly, 'Hmph, if you two hadn't whooped and hollered after picking the Red Flame Grass, would we have ended up in this mess?'
It turned out that while training in the Profound Spirit Mountain Range, the five of them had accidentally discovered a stalk of Red Flame Grass. They were overjoyed. The Red Flame Grass was a Third Grade Spiritual Medicine, and turning it in to the Sect's Contribution Hall would earn them a significant number of Contribution Points!
However, Spirit Medicine of this quality was usually guarded by a Spirit Beast. Sure enough, they discovered that its guardians were a pack of Fiery Prison Fire Wolves! They wouldn't have been afraid of one or two, but these were pack animals, which put the group in a tough spot.
Giving up on the Spirit Medicine, however, was out of the question. So they planned for a long time and finally managed to sneakily pick it while the Fiery Prison Fire Wolves were asleep. But the young man surnamed Lin and that fiery-figured girl immediately started celebrating, waking the entire pack! Furious that their Red Flame Grass was gone, the Fiery Prison Fire Wolves came out in full force to hunt them down!
And so, the group had no choice but to run for their lives. But two legs are no match for four, especially in the Profound Spirit Mountain Range, which teemed with Spirit Beasts. Before long, the Fiery Prison Fire Wolves had them surrounded.
Once they were surrounded, a great battle instantly erupted. Fortunately, their skills were considerable. Even the weakest among them, Junior Sister Su, was a Tier Four Spirit User, and Senior Brother Lin was a powerful Tier Nine Spirit User! The five of them were thus locked in a bitter struggle against the Fiery Prison Fire Wolves.
After a long battle, although the five had managed to kill half of the Fiery Prison Fire Wolves with their Martial Skills and teamwork, they were also completely exhausted. Their Elixirs for Recovering Spiritual Power were gone, they were covered in wounds, and one of them had even had an arm bitten off. Yet, a dozen or so Fiery Prison Fire Wolves remained, eyeing them covetously.
"What should we do, Senior Brother Lin?" Junior Sister Su asked, her voice choked with tears. "Maybe we should just give the Red Flame Grass back to them!"
"No! Even if you give the Red Flame Grass back, they won't let this go!" Senior Brother Lin said grimly. He then glanced at the other three young men and ordered, "You three hold them off. Junior Sister Su and I need to rest and recover some Spiritual Power!"
"Senior Brother Lin, that's..." The other three looked displeased. But thinking of Senior Brother Lin's status within the Sect, they didn't dare protest further.
"What? Are you defying my orders now?" Senior Brother Lin demanded, his face darkening at their reluctance.
"Lin Ziqing, don't take us for fools! You just want to use us as cannon fodder," one of them finally snapped, unable to hold back any longer. He had even used Senior Brother Lin's full name. "Hmph, in your dreams! If we're going to die, we die together! Stop throwing your status around!"
"That's right! If we die, we die together! Dream on if you think we'll be your cannon fodder!" the other two echoed. Lin Ziqing wanted to sacrifice them to create a chance for his own survival. Faced with such selfishness, the three of them could no longer contain their fury.
"Fine! Just fine!" Lin Ziqing snarled, his face twisting with rage. "Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish right now!"
"Bring it on! You think we're scared of you?" The other three youths banded together, standing in direct opposition to Lin Ziqing. At that moment, they had completely forgotten about the Fiery Prison Fire Wolves watching them like prey and had started fighting among themselves.
"Hey, are you going to fight or not? Seriously, why make things so complicated? If you're not going to fight, then let's talk." Just as the two sides reached a standoff, a discordant voice cut in.
Hearing this discordant voice, the five looked up to see a young man sitting on a branch of a towering, ancient tree nearby. He had a giant black ruler strapped to his back.
This youth was none other than Shen Haoran. He was sitting nonchalantly on a branch, chewing on a blade of foxtail grass and watching the five below with great interest.
Shen Haoran hadn't intended to meddle. But these five were all wearing the uniform of Spirit Crane Sect disciples! And they had a Third Grade Spiritual Medicine. 'It would be a disservice to myself not to take this opportunity,' he thought.
"Who might you be?" Lin Ziqing asked, seeing a youth of about fifteen or sixteen appear in the heart of the Profound Spirit Mountain Range.
"Me?" Shen Haoran spat out the foxtail grass and gave Lin Ziqing a wide grin. "I'm here to help you solve your little problem."
"You?" Lin Ziqing scoffed. "A greenhorn who just became a Spiritualist?"
"That's right. Just me," Shen Haoran said. "Don't worry, I have my ways. Look at your situation. If I fail, you don't lose anything. At worst, you'll just have one more person to accompany you on the road to the Yellow Springs. But if I succeed, you're saved. Why wouldn't you take a sure-win deal like this?"
"You'd be that kind?" Lin Ziqing asked, clearly unconvinced.
"Haha, of course not," Shen Haoran laughed. "I'm taking a risk here, too. So, I have one condition."
"What condition?"
"If I take care of this problem for you, you give me the Red Flame Grass. How about it?" Shen Haoran proposed.
"In your dreams! We risked our lives for that!" Lin Ziqing flatly refused.
"Oh? So that's a no?" Shen Haoran said with a shrug. "Fine by me. I'll just wait for these Fiery Prison Fire Wolves to tear you all to pieces, then I'll just take it from them. It's all the same to me. Please, continue. I won't disturb you."
Seeing that Shen Haoran really wasn't going to help, Lin Ziqing grew anxious. "Young man," he said quickly, "we are disciples of the Spirit Crane Sect! If you lend us a hand, our Sect will be sure to reward you generously in the future!"
Hearing Lin Ziqing bring up the Spirit Crane Sect, Shen Haoran waved his hand dismissively. "Don't try to use the Spirit Crane Sect to pressure me. That won't work. Now, are you giving me the Red Flame Grass or not?"
Seeing that Shen Haoran was unreceptive to either threats or persuasion, and glancing at the restless Fiery Prison Fire Wolves closing in, Lin Ziqing gritted his teeth. "Fine!"
Hearing Lin Ziqing's answer, Shen Haoran let out a sly chuckle. "Now you're talking!" he said. With that, he leaped down from the ancient tree and planted the giant ruler from his back into the ground. Facing the dozen or so Fiery Prison Fire Wolves, his figure instantly vanished...