“First Elder, are you simply going to watch your disciple corrupt this trial?” 

Before the all-seeing mirror stood six white-robed elders. A tall, thin member of the six called the first elder out. The other four members also looked at the first elder, waiting for his response.

“This girl can’t die,” the first elder replied calmly.

“Why not?”

“The will of the heavens above is not mine to divulge.” The first elder shrugged.

“You…” The tall, thin elder pointed a shaking finger at the first elder, his head turning so red that it looked as though he were about to explode.

“Second Elder, calm down, Second Elder!” The somewhat corpulent fourth elder stepped forward and restrained him. “Since we’re all here, why don’t we see what’s so special about this girl that the first elder’s honored disciple would be willing to go to such lengths to save her.”

“That’s right, let’s have a look at the situation first,” the other three elders agreed.

The second elder snorted. “Forcefully operating the all-seeing mirror is a crime that requires commensurate punishment. If even the first elder isn’t worried about his disciple, why should I be?”

The first elder imperceptibly wiped the sweat from his hands as he stared at Li Mo’s spiritual body not two feet from Yun Ruoyan. 

Xun Mo, do you know what you’re doing? 

Yun Ruoyan surprised even herself with the power of her attack. What should have been a peak sixth-rank blow had, because of the sudden accumulation of spiritual energy in her body, become an eighth-rank strike.

Rong Yueshan lay lifeless about fifty feet in the distance, almost certainly dead from the close-range attack. The two youths who were glancing at the scene were so scared that they immediately ran into the forest, thankful that they hadn’t believed Rong Yueshan’s words.

Yun Ruoyan turned and looked all over, but saw no unusual phenomena. Although Li Mo’s spiritual body was so close to her that their noses were almost touching, Yun Ruoyan’s cultivation wasn’t sufficient for her to detect his presence at the moment.

Yun Ruoyan’s half-white, half-black face left Li Mo both speechless and wanting to laugh. The girl seemed almost addicted to making her face look ugly, and she had really broken new ground with her current appearance.

“Is everyone alright?” Yun Ruoyan turned from her surroundings to her three teammates. 

“We’re fine!” Lin Qingchen, Lin Qingxue, and Zhuo Yifeng chorused.

“Just weak and tired all over,” Lin Qingxue added.

“Rong Yueshan must have the antidote. Let me go bring it over.” She found the antidote hidden on Rong Yueshan’s body and passed a little to everyone. After a momentary period of rest, they recovered their spiritual energy.

Li Mo stood guarding them from any unforeseen danger, and only when they had completely recovered did he finally leave. Forcefully operating the all-seeing mirror had dire consequences he was aware of, and he would immediately be punished upon his exit. However, Li Mo’s heart was calm and unperturbed: if protecting someone could make him happy, then that someone was surely a treasure to him. Somehow, Yun Ruoyan had become one of his treasures.

Immediately after Li Mo left, something happened.

“Look, look! What’s that?!” Lin Qingxue suddenly pointed to the west, where a bright red beam of light pierced through the heavens, followed by the sudden howling of beasts.

“The birth of a spiritual treasure!” Yun Ruoyan, Lin Qingchen, and Zhuo Yifeng exclaimed together.

When Li Mo’s spiritual body returned to the peak of the tower, he found himself surrounded by all six elders. However, this was within his expectations, so he didn’t feel at all encumbered.

“I will head directly to the hall of penitence to receive my punishment,” Li Mo stated, before any of the elders could get a word in.

“To think this is how your favored disciple behaves, First Elder—” the second elder was about to continue arguing with the other elders when a sudden phenomenon seen through the all-seeing mirror caught his attention.

The other five elders, and even Li Mo, all turned to that piercing red light at once.

“A sage-grade spiritual treasure!”

“How long has it been since our secret realm last birthed one?” The first elder glanced at the red beam of light, his eyes gleaming.

“At least three hundred years!” the short fifth elder claimed.

It was well-known throughout the continent that sage-grade treasures had all but disappeared from the world. In truth, however, there were many hidden or parallel spaces on the Chenyuan continent in which such sage-grade existences—treasures, beasts, and cultivators—still existed.

However, they were far removed from the mortal world, and even Kongming Academy, revered by cultivators all across the continent, could only look up at those frighteningly strong existences.

Who would be the lucky youth that would get ahold of this sage-grade treasure? 

The gathered elders all craned their necks as they looked into the all-seeing mirror.

Yun Ruoyan’s gaze lit up when she saw the scarlet beam of light. In order for a spiritual treasure to produce such a great disturbance, it had to be of equally great rarity. The eye-catching phenomenon would surely lure a large number of cultivators in search of the treasure, and she and her three teammates hurriedly gathered their weapons.

Lin Qingchen’s sword was on the pale-faced youth’s body, but Lin Qingxue’s twin daggers had gone missing. Instead, Yun Ruoyan handed her the small silver darts that Rong Yueshan had kept on her body. Although Lin Qingxue hadn’t learned how to throw darts, she had received some instruction in archery from Zhuo Yifeng. As a result, her accuracy would be better than most. 

After they had each equipped themselves with a weapon, Yun Ruoyan’s group rushed toward that beam of light.

No one but the eagle-eyed second elder noticed that, a few moments after Yun Ruoyan’s group left, one of Rong Yueshan’s fingers twitched. 

“Young Master Wang, save me!”

In a secluded valley, Yun Ruoyao was being chased by quite a few mystic-eyed lions. She barely avoided their claws as she rushed in Wang Meng’s direction, but Wang Meng’s attention was solely fixated on the scarlet herb growing about twenty feet up a cliff. The so-called amaranthine sun was a fire-attuned spiritual herb crucial for the production of the eponymous pill of amaranthine sun, which had the startling effect of quickly helping a pillmaster condense fire-attuned spiritual energy. For those pillmasters without particularly strong affinity in pillmaking, this pill would be vital for their cultivation.

The amaranthine sun was a rare herb, but one that was still available on the Chenyuan continent at large. However, this particular herb shone so brightly that it looked as though a beam of red light had descended from the heavens.

The resonance in spiritual energy that Wang Meng and Yun Ruoyao had previously felt had come from the impending birth of this sage-grade spiritual herb. A pill of amaranthine sun, made of a regular-grade herb, was precious enough; how much more impressive would a sage-grade pill of amaranthine sun be? Would the lucky pillmaster who consumed it have an inexhaustible amount of fire-attuned spiritual energy?

Wang Meng’s heart throbbed at the thought.

“Argh!” Yun Ruoyao let out a painful yell as a mystic-eyed lion managed to claw her shoulder. The pain caused her to stumble, and another lion quickly took advantage of the opportunity to gnaw at one of her feet. It picked her up with its jaw and tossed her from side to side, the pain that burst from her leg causing Yun Ruoyao to become dazed. 

“Help! Save me!” Yun Ruoyao pleaded, looking at Wang Meng with a piteous glance. Wang Meng looked back coldly, as though she were nothing but a stranger.

“You courted your own downfall!” He turned back to the herb, imbued spiritual energy into his legs, and began jumping up the cliff. 

As Wang Meng neared the amranthine sun, the surviving youths swarmed the oasis from all over the secret realm. Among them were Pei Ziao and Yi Qianying, who were the first to arrive due to their original proximity.

“Miss Yun’s being attacked by a pride of mystic-eyed lions!” The first thing that both of them saw when they entered the valley was a lion tossing Yun Ruoyao from side to side like a cloth puppet. 

“No, don’t head over!” Yi Qianying stopped Pei Ziao before he could run in her direction. “There’s a beast-attracting powder scattered on Sister Ruoyao’s body, so unless you can deal with all these mystic-eyed lions, you won’t be able to save her!”

“Beast-attracting powder?” Pei Ziao glanced suspiciously at Yi Qianying. “From whom?!”

“Who else?” Yi Qianying laughed coldly. “Who was with Sister Ruoyao for the last two hours?”

“That’s impossible!” Pei Ziao exclaimed. “Young Master Wang likes Miss Yun!” Pei Ziao’s gaze didn’t leave Yi Qianying.

“You’re… you’re suspecting 

me

?!” Yi Qianying’s eyes flashed with hurt.

“Haven’t you done something like this before?” Pei Ziao retorted. After all, back in the imperial territory, Yi Qianying had used her beast-attracting powder to great effect on Yun Ruoyan and the two Lin sisters. However, Yi Qianying hadn’t expected that Pei Ziao would suspect her because of this.

Yi Qianying’s heart turned cold. Despite her efforts, it seemed as though her appearance in Pei Ziao’s eyes had been irrevocably ruined. No matter how much effort she put in, it would all be a waste!

In that case, she might as well just give up.

“Ha, ha.” Yi Qianying’s laugh was mocking and humorless. “If you think so, then so be it.”

Yi Qianying’s ‘admission’ left Pei Ziao more confident of his suspicions.

“Look, a spiritual herb!” Another group of youths had made their way into the valley, and one of them pointed at the scarlet amaranthine sun up on the cliff.

“That’s an amaranthine sun! An amaranthine sun of such potency would surely be enough to make even a regular civilian a peak pillmaster!”

The crowd was agape with shock.

“Quick, hurry! Someone’s about to get to it!” a nameless youth shouted, and everyone rushed toward the cliff as though their lives depended on it. Youths were still heading to the valley from all over the oases, and the once-secluded valley was now bustling with excitement.

“Your good brother’s about to claim the spiritual treasure for himself. Are you going to watch, or are you going to help?” Yi Qianying reminded Pei Ziao.

He ran toward the cliffside without another word. Yi Qianying bit her lips before scattering a colorless, scentless powder on Pei Ziao’s back, then swiftly retreated.

Roar!

The mystic-eyed lions, detecting a more alluring target, immediately shifted their attention from Yun Ruoyan to Pei Ziao, who had already rushed into the crowd. Leaving her battered body behind, they howled as they barrelled into the swarm of youths.

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