In a depression to the west of the central area, where rare herbs were produced, three cultivators were vigorously battling a three-eyed Fire Wolf. A middle-aged man in the attire of the Giant Sword Sect wielded a green giant sword, blocking most of the Fire Wolf's attacks, while an old man in yellow and a young man in gray robes assisted from the sides.
Before long, the disciple of the Giant Sword Sect, after enduring a fierce fireball attack, severed the wolf's head with a sword stroke, then retrieved his sword and laughed heartily.
"Brother Meng, your cultivation is truly profound! To slay this three-eyed Fire Wolf with a single sword strike! Truly worthy of being a top disciple of the Giant Sword Sect..." Upon witnessing this scene, the old man in yellow hurried over, showering praises without the slightest embarrassment.
Had Han Li been present, he would have recognized the old man as Xiang Zhili, who had once invited him to form some kind of alliance for the weak. However, the young fellow who was with him at the time was nowhere to be seen, presumably separated during the transmission.
"Hehe! If it weren't for Brother Xiang and Daoist Li's assistance on the side, how could I have succeeded so easily!" said the black-clad middle-aged man with humility.
"There's no need for modesty, Brother Meng! To vanquish this demonic beast, Brother Meng deserves the most credit, there's no denying that!" Another young Daoist, though young, spoke with a seasoned demeanor, neither humble nor arrogant.
At the mention of this, a smile flashed across the face of the black-clad middle-aged man, but he immediately responded with a few modest words.
"Speaking of which, those others who are still fighting are really foolish! If they knew that three cultivators from different sects could join forces to eradicate demons and gather herbs together, I wonder if they'd be stunned!" Suddenly, the topic shifted as the black-clad man spoke these words.
"That's right! It's all thanks to Brother Xiang's initiative! If it weren't for Brother Xiang's clear analysis, I'm afraid Brother Meng and I would still be fighting each other to the death!" The Daoist nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"Don't be so modest! Both of you are extremely intelligent individuals. I'm just stating the facts! There was no need for everyone to risk their lives for something that was fundamentally impossible to fall into our hands. With this time spent fighting each other, we could have cleared all the rare herbs outside the central area! Moreover, with everyone working together, dealing with these demons would be a piece of cake!" Xiang Zhili chuckled and smoothly declined the praise.
Upon hearing this, the other two immediately began to praise each other fervently.
"All right, let's hurry up and collect the 'Fire Dragon Grass'! Each of us will take an equal share!" It was the black-clad man who couldn't contain his eagerness and spoke first, his voice revealing a sense of urgency. After speaking, he headed towards the red grass behind the Fire Wolf's corpse.
Upon hearing this, Xiang Zhili and the Daoist exchanged meaningful glances and promptly agreed, walking over together.
However, neither of them noticed the faintly sinister expression that briefly flashed across the face of the black-clad man when his back was turned to them, which then disappeared without a trace.
South of the central area, in a place covered with yellow sand, there were two disciples of the Concealed Moon Sect, a man and a woman, at a relatively small location, constantly piercing the sand with ice cone techniques, as if searching for something.
However, after half a day, they still found nothing.
"That wretched woman, where could she possibly be hiding! Once I find her, I'll definitely gouge her eyeballs out!" The female disciple, who appeared delicate and beautiful but spoke with extreme viciousness, sent shivers down the man's spine with her words.
"Sister, let's just forget it! It's almost time for the appointed meeting at the sect. If we don't leave now, we'll be late!" The male disciple, appearing somewhat timid, suggested, seemingly afraid of his senior sister.
"Humph! It's all because of you, useless trash! You couldn't even watch over a mere tenth-layered technique girl, and let her slip away right under our noses! If word gets out, it will ruin the reputation of me and my sister, the Concealed Moon Twin Beauties! Really, how could the sect allow such a useless waste like you to be my cultivation partner!" The woman, not heeding the man's words, pointed at him angrily, causing the man to flush red with embarrassment, but he could do nothing about it.
Despite her words, the female disciple hesitated after checking the brightness of the sky and ultimately decided against continuing the search. After all, delaying the sect's important matters, even with her special status and powerful backing, was not to be taken lightly.
However, leaving the place empty-handed left the woman feeling somewhat unwilling. After much hesitation, she gritted her teeth and took out a blue talisman.
With a sneer, she suddenly threw the talisman behind her and then dashed out, stopping only after reaching a place tens of yards away, where she turned back to look.
Meanwhile, the male disciple, seeing this, silently lamented but dared not slacken his pace, following closely behind her.
By this time, the talisman had transformed into a massive black cloud covering the sky tightly above this area. Soon after, the nearby weather abruptly turned extremely cold.
Before long, countless large ice cones began to fall rapidly from the dark cloud, turning the small area into a dense forest of ice, resembling the spines of a cactus.
After a cup of tea's time, the dark cloud gradually dissipated. By then, the entire sandy area had turned crystal clear.
The female disciple widened her eyes, scanning the sandy area where there was almost no footing, but found nothing unusual.
Her face darkened with hatred, she scolded the male disciple without any kindness, and then left the place resentfully, followed naturally by her so-called cultivation partner.
The departing female disciple failed to notice that in a corner of the sandy area, where ice cones were scattered everywhere, there was a trace of faintly red liquid seeping out, but it was too subtle to be noticed by her.
Half an hour later, as the redness expanded, a small circular mound suddenly rose from the yellow sand, growing taller and more conspicuous.
Finally, the sand mound violently churned, and a green-clad woman rolled out from inside, a long ice cone embedded in her shoulder, blood flowing profusely and staining half her body. Her hand tightly grasped a yellow silk handkerchief, with flickering light on it, seemingly extraordinary.
As the woman slowly got up, she examined the wound on her shoulder, her eyebrows furrowed.
Lifting her other hand, she lightly grabbed the back of the ice cone. With a bite of her silver teeth, she actually pulled the ice cone out, the pain causing her to let out a soft moan, tears streaming from her beautiful eyes, and blood gushing from the wound.
Ignoring the tears on her face, she didn't dare to delay any further. After a flurry of activity, she took out a porcelain bottle from her storage pouch and poured some yellow powder onto the wound, immediately stopping the bleeding.
After completing all this, the green-clad woman sat down on the sandy ground, hugging her knees, motionless. After a moment, she suddenly covered her face with both hands and started sobbing. But fearing to attract others, she kept her crying very low.
After a meal's time had passed, the female disciple of the Spirit Beast Mountain finally stopped crying. She raised her head and looked at the empty sandy area, unable to help but shiver involuntarily.
She bit her lip, then struggled to stand up. After hesitating for a long time, she finally determined the direction and stumbled towards the central area. At this moment, her beautiful face still bore faint traces of tears, but there was also a stubborn expression that didn't quite match.
This woman was actually the same girl who sold the "Golden Bamboo Pen" to Han Li. However, now injured, she walked alone on the silent sandy ground, appearing even more pitiful and adorable, evoking people's sympathy.
After a moment, the girl, with her hand pressed against the wound, gradually disappeared into the yellow sand.
