Spirit-Accumulating Stone

Both sides finally snapped out of their daze.

Chen He reached out in a panic, tugging at the corner of her robe. “Se-Seventh Senior Sister, what are you doing here?! Stop worrying about me and get out of here, quick!”

Lu Mingxuan and his group also recovered from their shock.

This girl was so incredibly calm that they couldn't immediately place who she was.

Furthermore, she didn't seem to care about them in the slightest.

The warm smile on Lu Mingxuan's face stiffened for a fraction of a second.

He quickly regained his composed demeanor and even nodded slightly to Song Yao. “You must be Junior Sister Lin of Nine Saints Hall? I've heard you are a rare Heavenly Spiritual Root pill cultivator. Meeting you today, your bearing is indeed extraordinary.”

“However, demon beasts run rampant in this secret realm, making it unpredictably dangerous. As a pill cultivator, it's highly inappropriate for you to be here alone. Just now, Junior Brother Chen couldn't protect the Spirit-Accumulating Stone. If you get dragged into this by interfering, the loss will outweigh the gain.”

Song Yao lifted her eyelids and cast a glance at him.

“But you don't need to worry, Junior Sister,” he continued, shifting his tone. “Our Beiyao Sect has never made things difficult for our fellow cultivators. If you are willing to hand over the Spirit-Accumulating Stone to us, we will ensure that both of you safely leave the secret realm. What do you say?”

“In your dreams!”

Chen He immediately grit his teeth and used the rock wall to support himself as he staggered to his feet.

Without a second thought, he shielded Song Yao and whispered in a rushed, raspy voice, “Seventh Senior Sister, ignore me! I'll hold them off in a moment, and you find a chance to run deep into the forest! They won't dare to actually kill me.”

Song Yao nodded her head. “Okay.”

Lu Mingxuan's lips faded slightly. “It seems Junior Sister is unwilling to show me some respect.”

He took half a step back and gave a look to the disciples behind him, his tone nonchalant. “Since that's the case, we have no choice but to search you ourselves.”

The Beiyao Sect disciples understood his meaning, their faces twisting with hostility.

Just as the cold light of their swords reflected off the tree shadows, a rustling sound suddenly echoed through the woods.

They instinctively turned around. Two emaciated figures fused together suddenly lunged out from behind a tree, charging at them with a heavy, stench-filled wind.

Their fangs bared, they pounced on the nearest disciple with lightning speed. Withered claws carrying a rancid odor lunged straight for his neck, and they bit down hard on his shoulder.

The disciple let out a shrill scream.

The Beiyao Sect disciples hurriedly swung their swords to block, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.

Chen He froze completely. It was only when Song Yao dragged him behind a tree trunk that he realized he was drenched in a cold sweat. “T-Twin Wraiths? How could there be Twin Wraiths here?”

Song Yao leaned against the stone wall, still feeling cold.

She pulled up her cloak's hood. “I don't know. It's so scary.”

Only then did Chen He remember she was just a pill cultivator who had probably never seen a demon before. He quickly comforted her, “It is indeed a bit scary, but since they're targeting the Beiyao Sect disciples right now, we can just find an opportunity to run.”

Song Yao: “Okay~”

However, the situation in the clearing left them no room to escape.

The Beiyao Sect disciples only lasted a brief moment before they were thrown into utter disarray by the Twin Wraiths.

The gentle elegance Lu Mingxuan had worn on his face earlier was completely shattered. He parried in a disheveled state, his fine robe torn to shreds, with several bleeding claw marks now lining his neck and shoulders.

The other disciples fared even worse, covered in blood from the withered claws as they dodged with screams, their sword moves completely losing all form.

Song Yao watched with a deep frown.

She had thought they could at least hold their own for a few moves, but they had collapsed so quickly.

Did Beiyao Sect even teach them how to use a sword?

What kind of nonsense was this?

A monkey show?

The Twin Wraiths didn't deal any fatal blows, only scratching them enough to leave several bloody gashes.

Amidst the chaos, they snatched the spatial pouches from the disciples' waists, shrieked, and darted into the depths of the dense forest, vanishing in the blink of an eye and leaving behind a total mess.

Only when the forest fell back into a dead silence, save for the painful groans of the Beiyao Sect disciples, did Chen He and Song Yao step out from behind the tree.

Lu Mingxuan clutched his bleeding arm and glared at them, his face livid. His voice was filled with rage and urgency, completely devoid of his previous politeness. “You sure hid quickly! Why didn't you come out and help us just now?!”

Song Yao shook her head solemnly. “How can you say that? My junior brother was injured by you, and I am just a pill cultivator. It wouldn't be good if I came out and got dragged into it.”

These were the exact words Lu Mingxuan had used to mock her earlier. Now that she threw them back at him, the disciples were left speechless with anger.

Seeing that the two were about to leave, the Beiyao Sect disciples instantly panicked.

Earlier, in order to make a move on Chen He, they had specifically chosen a spot that was out of the cloud screen's monitoring range.

Right now, those outside couldn't see what was happening here. Since they were so badly injured, if the Twin Wraiths returned or other demons smelled the blood and came over, they would be dead meat.

Worse still, their spatial pouches had been stolen, leaving them without a single healing pill.

If they kept dragging this out, they wouldn't even need a demon beast to finish them off; the blood loss and the miasma in the secret realm alone would break them.

Lu Mingxuan grit his teeth, suppressing his surging resentment. Taking a deep breath, he forced a warm smile onto his face and called out to Song Yao's departing back, “Junior Sister Lin, Junior Brother Chen, wait!”

Song Yao paused in her tracks but didn't look back.

Supporting his bleeding arm, Lu Mingxuan tried his best to sound sincere. “I was too hasty just now and spoke out of turn. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, Junior Sister. Our spatial pouches were just stolen by those demons, and we don't have any healing pills left on us. I wonder if you could do us a favor and give us a few pills to get through this emergency?”

Song Yao finally turned around. Her cloak's hood was pulled down very low, hiding most of her face in shadow.

Her soft, smiling voice drifted over. “Didn't you say earlier that in the secret realm, everyone relies on their own ability?”

The smile on Lu Mingxuan's face stiffened for a second, but he quickly recovered, lowering his posture even further. “You must be joking, Junior Sister. I was narrow-minded before. Now that we are in such an exceptional situation, I hope you can help us out for the sake of being fellow cultivators. I will certainly pay you a visit in person to express my gratitude afterward.”

Chen He was about to say they shouldn't bother with them.

After all, this was Beiyao Sect's territory; they definitely wouldn't let their own disciples actually die here.

But before he could speak, the person beside him had her eyes light up. She quickly walked over to Lu Mingxuan, squatted down, and asked, “I only have Qi-Replenishing Pills. Will those work?”

As a pill cultivator, how could she only have basic medicines like Qi-Replenishing Pills on her?

But given the current situation, having something was better than nothing.

Lu Mingxuan grit his teeth and nodded. A few porcelain bottles were handed over to him.

Song Yao kindly warned him, “There might be side effects.”

Without a second thought, the group stuffed several pills into their mouths.

What kind of side effects could a Qi-Replenishing Pill possibly have?

She was probably just reluctant to let them have too many.

Song Yao opened her mouth to speak but hesitated.

No one had ever dared to eat so many at once. Wouldn't the side effects stack?

She silently took a few steps back and pulled out her little notebook for record-keeping.

On the Viewing Platform.

Because there were very few cloud screens, there weren't many scenes to watch, and everyone was starting to feel a bit drowsy.

Feng Qing waved her hand and ordered someone to serve wine. “Since nothing major is likely to happen anyway, and it's a rare occasion for us to gather, why don't we have a drink?”

The leaders of several small sects took their cups and immediately began to flatter her with smiles. “It's been so long, yet we haven't seen the disciples of Beiyao Sect and Taiqing Pavilion in the cloud screens. They must have already reached the depths of the secret realm by now, right?”