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墨書 Inktalez
The sky gradually brightened as a red sun rose. In the distance, snow covered the Peak, tinted by sunlight, with a golden orange hue crowning the Summit like a brilliant ribbon. The monsters had all disappeared, and the sound of birds chirping echoed from the mountains. At first glance, the Ancient Celestial Field at this moment was no different from the outside Middle-Earth, serene and beautiful.
Members of the Nine Li Sect flew on swords in pairs. Chuxiong rode on Flowing Fire, with Hui Feng behind him. Hui Feng formed hand seals with her eyes tightly closed, balancing on one leg atop the sword, her snow-white robes fluttering behind her; a thin silver ribbon tied around her waist connected to Chuxiong's belt.
This was Hui Feng's idea; it ensured she wouldn't fall off the Flying Sword while cultivating and maintained a fist's distance from Chuxiong, preventing them from being too close together. However, Chuxiong still felt awkward, occasionally turning his head to sneak a glance behind him, an unusual flush appearing on his dark face.
Li Hong chuckled to himself. His younger brother was flying so close to a woman for the first time, especially one as cold as ice and beautiful as a goddess; no wonder he felt so uncomfortable. But this was good too; it spared him from having Hui Feng coldly shadowing him all day long.
He smiled for a while before turning his head and meeting Chu Xi's bright and clear eyes. He heard her voice in his mind: "You're definitely laughing at Chuxiong; be careful I tell on you!"
Li Hong spread his hands in a pitiful gesture, shaking his head while pointing at his mouth.
Knowing that Li Hong was joking and implying "I won't dare again," Chu Xi smiled.
She stood on Flowing Crystal, her Silver Moon Robe shimmering with Iridescence, revealing the white Fire Rat Robe underneath. The golden sunlight illuminated her jade-white face, and her delicate lips formed an elegant upward curve. At this moment, Chu Xi looked as pure and captivating as mountain spring water.
Li Hong felt a slight stir in his heart; the girl had truly grown up. If it were before, she would have been giggling with her hand over her mouth, but now she only smiled. However... that smile was truly beautiful.
A strange feeling rose within him as Chu Xi continued to smile lightly. Their eyes met, and Li Hong felt warmth in his heart. This feeling was reminiscent of their time together during spring at Feiying Stream, admiring Jade Flowers; everything felt gentle and flowing. Before him was no longer the perilous Ancient Celestial Field but a scene filled with falling white petals and a graceful figure weaving through the flowers.
He didn't realize that at this moment, his gaze toward Chu Xi was incredibly tender. Chu Xi smiled softly, her eyes equally gentle like water.
An unspoken warmth spread between them unknowingly.
At the front of the group, Chu Huai happened to turn around and saw this scene; an overwhelming wave of anger surged within him, making him want to jump between the two immediately.
Just then, Chuxuan suddenly pointed ahead and exclaimed, "Look over there!"
In the distance, a Peak towered into the clouds, with two massive black figures at its summit, wings spread wide and motionless, seemingly dozing. A terrifyingly large head extended a long, three-foot-long sharp beak, which was open and resting on several bloody objects. Upon closer inspection, the sharp fangs, stained gray and black, dripped with a viscous liquid mixed with bright red fluid, each drop falling onto the bloody objects below.
Dead bodies! Li Hong's heart sank as he raised a hand to signal everyone to be silent. He extended two Colorful Light Tentacles, straining to reach the Summit.
As he focused his mind, the tips of the Colorful Light Tentacles rose about ten feet high, allowing Li Hong to see the situation at the Summit clearly as if he had elevated his own height.
It seemed that a fierce battle had erupted here last night; there were many Corpses on the Summit. Several that were barely intact lay near the mouths of two Bat Monsters, their skulls shattered and completely devoured, with only gaping bloody holes remaining where their chests and innards once were. Scattered around the Bat Monsters' wings were numerous pale severed limbs. A rough count suggested there were at least ten Corpses.
At that moment, one of the Bat Monsters seemed to lift its wings slightly.
Li Hong's eyes widened as he pointed towards the left Basin with his right hand and quickly urged Lingyi to circle around. The group hurriedly followed.
In a flurry of urgency, they flew out for about thirty to fifty miles before the Peak behind them shrank into a thin black silhouette, prompting everyone to finally stop.
Li Hong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said to the group, "From their attire, they must be Emei people. They suffered significant losses last night; about ten of them are dead!"
"You counted?" asked Chuxuan.
"Yes, some could only be counted by their legs. If pieced together, it looks like thirteen to fifteen people," Li Hong replied with a tight frown.
Upon hearing this, everyone's faces suddenly turned pale; the implication was clear—many had been torn apart.
"The Emei Sect sent about one hundred eighty people in total. Now they've lost over ten in just one day. I expect Yiyang will be furious," Chuxuan said thoughtfully before asking Li Hong, "Are the Emei Four Swords among them?"
"Not present," Li Hong affirmed confidently.
"They are all above Initial Stage of Caution like us; even one hundred eighty people cannot avoid losses. Senior Brother, do you think we should still check this Second Basin?" Chuxuan then turned to Chu Huai, his expression very respectful.
Chuhai's expression was grim as he shook his head and said, "Isn't that obvious? You've analyzed it clearly. We need to get out of here quickly!" He took out a map, marked the location of the Second Basin, and then put it back in his pocket, signaling everyone to move on.
The cultivators temporarily stopped their training and began to set off, but Li Hong remained suspended in mid-air, deep in thought about a question.
"Why aren't you moving?" Chuhai called back impatiently.
"Wait a moment; we need to figure something out first," Li Hong replied thoughtfully.
"What question?" Chuxuan immediately flew back.
"There are only two big ones; where are the smaller ones? If we think carefully about last night's situation, there’s something suspicious here," Li Hong said, looking at Chuxuan, eager for his input.
He had always felt that although Chuxuan was cunning, his intelligence was indeed exceptional. At least he could remain calm and see the situation clearly—something Chuhai couldn't match. In critical moments, they were still fellow disciples who needed to work together; Li Hong believed that Chuxuan understood this very well.
As he thought this, he looked at Chuxuan, who returned the gaze with a probing expression. In an instant, they both understood each other's thoughts. Chuxuan slowly nodded and quietly said, "Sixth Senior Brother, you are a wise person; I feel the same."
This was an agreement for Li Hong to temporarily cooperate.
"Have you finished discussing? Hurry up and leave! Do you want to drag everyone down? There are already enough worries!" Chuhai flew over and reprimanded them in rapid succession, growing more agitated.
Li Hong looked at Chuxuan and noticed the clear understanding in his eyes. For a moment, there was a sense of mutual respect between intelligent individuals.
Chuxuan respectfully addressed Chuhai, "I believe Sixth Senior Brother is right. Don’t you think last night was suspicious? Two large Bat Monsters were stationed to attack the Emei people while sending some smaller ones to hunt us down. They only isolated us at One Peak without launching a full-scale attack, which means they had already targeted the Emei people as their prey. Now that the Emei people have been decimated, what if tonight's target is us?"
Impressive! Li Hong admired Chuxuan; he was on the same wavelength. These two Bat Monsters seemed to understand military strategy—first weakening the strong and numerous opponents before effortlessly dealing with the fewer ones.
Chuhai was taken aback as he gradually grasped the key point. He exclaimed anxiously, "So what should we do?"
Chuxuan looked at Li Hong. Li Hong pondered and said, "Every beast has a territory. Unless we can fly out of their range in one go, they won't be able to do anything about it. But who knows what powerful creatures might be over there? They could be even stronger than these Strange Bats. Besides, we have our own matters to attend to; we can't just keep hiding in the Ancient Celestial Field, can we? There’s only one way to make them admit defeat and not dare to chase us. Only then can we put an end to this once and for all."
Chuxuan shook his head and replied, "What you say is true, but it's troublesome to implement. You are the strongest among us; if it comes down to it, the rest of us would be at their mercy against those two monsters. Do you have any good ideas?"
"I'm curious," Li Hong said. "The people from Heavenly Grain must know about these Strange Bats. How did they deal with them when they came in to gather herbs? Did they have some good method that we don't know about?" Li Hong pondered.
The three of them discussed this while Chu Xi and the others flew back. After Chuxuan explained the situation, the timid Chu Hai immediately turned pale. "So that's how it is! No wonder they didn't eat us clean! Let's run away quickly... or maybe... I should go out first..."
Dozens of eyes glared at him fiercely, and Chu Huai shouted, "If you're leaving, you go alone! I absolutely won't leave until we've carefully mapped this place and stayed for three months!"
Chu Hai fell silent, shrinking back and not daring to speak.
Chu Xi contemplated and said, "One creature can subdue another; I suspect those Strange Bats must be afraid of some kind of herb. The people from Heavenly Grain would prepare that kind of medicine when they come in. If only we could figure out what that herb is."
"Exactly," Li Hong's eyes lit up. The people from Heavenly Grain are best known for alchemy and medicine; it must be something like that.
"In such a vast Ancient Celestial Field, how do we know what herbs those Strange Bats are afraid of?" Chu Hai said with a frown, unable to help but speak again, his expression clearly one of despair.
"If you don't keep quiet, no one will think you're mute!" Chu Huai scolded harshly.
"There’s only one way: we have to try each herb one by one!" Li Hong gradually began to formulate a plan in his mind.
********
Around the Second Basin were several slightly shorter peaks. The group chose one and summoned their Flying Swords to create a small cave on the mountainside that could accommodate about ten people. Once everyone was inside, Li Hong stayed outside and set up a Fire Wall at the entrance. This was also a Mid-Level Spirit Talisman; as long as no monster disturbed it or consumed its spiritual energy, it could last for quite some time. During the day, monsters in the Ancient Celestial Field seemed to hide away, so even if the red light was seen, it wouldn't be a big problem.
Once everything was set up, Li Hong flew alone into the Basin. This place was quite similar to One Basin. This time, Li Hong didn't waste any time; he entered various herb gardens and filled a White Jade Box with samples of various immortal herbs whose names he couldn't recall. In just an hour, he passed through the dense green Toxic Miasma and returned. Unfortunately, there were still no Fragrant Grass or Longan Flowers in this Second Basin. He could only continue searching. This was also why he was unwilling to flee like a frightened dog. If he happened to miss those two types of immortal herbs, neither Chu Xi nor Chuxiong would be able to resolve their cultivation issues afterward. Taking risks was still worth a try, especially since he had a secret technique he hadn't yet revealed. Deep down, he wasn't afraid at all.
As he passed through the Toxic Miasma, the sun was already past noon. He looked towards the prominent Second Peak. In the distance, he could faintly see that the Summit still had large patches of black.
Wanting to return to that small cave, he suddenly had a thought and decided to take advantage of the early time to head directly to the Third Basin. Without hesitation, he leaped over the range of peaks and flew towards the Third Peak.
Along the way, he still did not see any other disciples from different factions; they were likely either eaten by various monsters or had fled from this Dead Zone.
However, the situation at the Third Basin was somewhat different; its area was much larger than that of the First and Second Basins. The color of the Toxic Miasma had changed to a dark green, almost resembling stagnant water in a pond. Li Hong released Colorful Light Tentacles and flew for a long time before landing. He discovered that this Basin was much deeper than the First and Second Basins. Nevertheless, the medicinal garden remained unchanged. Li Hong continued to gather herbs but still did not find those two life-saving elixirs.
When it was almost time, Li Hong realized he had a big problem: his White Jade Box was running low. He had already used up half of it at just the Third Basin, and at this rate, it would definitely not be enough in the future. For now, he had no choice but to put that issue aside.
After flying out of the Toxic Miasma, the sun was already setting in the west, so he hurried back. As he flew, he noticed something was off with his direction. The mountain range formed a circular pattern with each Basin interconnected, clearly oriented from east to west. They had been flying east for the past two days, so the direction of sunset should have aligned with where he came from at the Second Basin. However, he noticed that it seemed slightly off; the direction of sunset did not cast a shadow from the peak he had come from but instead pointed towards an unfamiliar mountain.
What could be going on? Was there truly something strange in the Ancient Celestial Field? Did the earth shift? Li Hong felt anxious; he must not get lost.
Just then, Li Hong spotted a familiar slender figure resembling a toothpick at the Third Peak and was overjoyed. He quickly flew towards it and then leaped over its back side. By this delay, the sun had completely set, and darkness enveloped the sky.
Fortunately, before it became entirely dark, he finally saw a mountain peak emitting strange red light from its midsection. Li Hong hurriedly flew over there.
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