Outside the mystic realm, Huang Siqi stared at the spirit field swept by the gray tide, his face as black as the bottom of a pot. “Utterly shameless! She actually tricked a pack of low-intelligence Medicine-Harvesting Mice into harvesting spiritual plants for her!”
Li Chengzong gritted his teeth, squeezing out the words from between them, “So the disciples of our two sects fighting the Thunder-Patterned Leopards with their lives at the front ended up becoming her shields instead.”
Beside them, Chen Shouzhuo, the Sect Master of the Yuheng Sect, was watching with great interest. Holding his teacup, he laughed and tried to smooth things over, “Calm down, you two. Those are the rules of the mystic realm—whoever harvests it, keeps it. You are both sect masters of great sects; don't let others laugh at you over this.”
Li Chengzong shot him a sarcastic look. “Sect Master Chen is indeed noble and generous. I am truly impressed.”
Facing these thorny words, Chen Shouzhuo merely smiled.
He knew very well in his heart—even without those two little thieves, his own disciples wouldn't have been able to harvest that spirit field anyway. Rather than letting the Heavenly Origin Sect and the Flowing Cloud Sect benefit, it was better to let these two unfamiliar faces have it.
Their three sects were equal in strength, but in every tournament, big or small, the Heavenly Origin Sect and the Flowing Cloud Sect always took first and second place, while his Yuheng Sect could only rank third. The two old fogeys next to him would mock him from time to time because of it.
Now they were suffering a setback, weren't they? Serves them right.
Wu Lianfeng stared at the two figures on the Floating Light Array Disk who were leisurely directing the Medicine-Harvesting Mice while sitting on a rock. Then he looked at the few Taiyan Sect disciples who were still circling the periphery, his lips twitching. “Heh, the Grand Primordium Sect really is full of talents. Congratulations, Senior Brother.”
Su Mingyuan smiled and cupped his hands. “Ah, it's nothing. It's just that I taught them well.”
Wu Lianfeng's eyelid twitched. “Don't be modest, Junior Brother. This is clearly because your disciples learned well on their own; it has nothing to do with you.”
Su Mingyuan sighed, his tone filled with genuine annoyance. “True, I indeed haven't taught them much. My disciples are self-taught, which is really quite a headache.”
Wu Lianfeng: “...”
He turned his head and stared at his own Taiyan Sect disciples, who were still dawdling outside on the Floating Light Array Disk. The more he looked, the angrier he became.
Just moments ago, the Heavenly Origin Sect and the Flowing Cloud Sect had finished fighting the three Thunder-Patterned Leopards, which was exactly when they needed extra hands. If these fools had gone up to help hunt the demon beasts just now, they could have also gotten a good share of the beast cores. What were they all dawdling outside for!
Just as he finished cursing in his mind, the Taiyan Sect disciples in the projection seemed to have suddenly seen the light. They stopped circling the periphery and finally headed toward the depths of the mystic realm.
Xie Huairen let out a long sigh of relief upon seeing this. If they didn't go in now, let alone the meat, even the bottom of the soup pot would be scraped clean by others.
In less than half an hour, the dozens of Medicine-Harvesting Mice stripped the entire spirit field bare—no, finished harvesting it.
Xue Mingzhao had Su Ye distribute the spirit fruits to the mice, exactly twenty for each, not a single one missing. She crouched on the ground, sorting the mountain of spiritual plants and spirit fruits into her storage rings.
Just the spirit fruits filled up two whole storage rings, and the spiritual plants took up another one and a half. She looked down at the necklace of storage rings around her neck. Out of the ten rings, she had only used three and a half, leaving the rest hanging emptily on the red string, dangling about.
She shook her head and sighed, “Only this much? It's still far from full.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root spoke up coldly in her dantian, “A greedy person is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. I think you're only one step away from shoveling the soil of this spirit field back to plant in your courtyard.”
Xue Mingzhao didn't stop her hands, replying with an unchanged expression, “How did you know I didn't? I shoveled two large chunks of the richest black soil to bring back for Martial Uncle Mu's spirit field.”
The Chaos Spiritual Root fell silent for a long moment before squeezing out a sentence, “...You really don't treat yourself as an outsider.”
Having received their spirit fruits, the Medicine-Harvesting Mice spun around on the ground in excitement. Before leaving, they looked back with every step, their tiny eyes filled with reluctance to part.
When would this human come back again? Working for her, they had earned several days' worth of food in just half an hour, and they didn't even have to live in fear. It was simply the peak of their mouse lives.
Xue Mingzhao also waved to them, her expression equally reluctant to see them go.
What wonderful worker mice. They were highly efficient and didn't slack off. If there was another good job like this next time, she would definitely look for them again.
Sending off the mouse army, Xue Mingzhao patted the dirt off her hands and called Su Ye to head back.
The two returned the way they came. Before they even neared the battlefield from earlier, they heard several deafening beast roars.
One Thunder-Patterned Leopard was still putting up a desperate struggle, and the disciples of both sects were all injured. The battle had reached its most critical and intense stage.
Except for Yun Yanchen, who was still standing, Lin Xibai and another disciple of the Heavenly Origin Sect, Pei Zongyuan, were also gritting their teeth and holding on. The rest were all collapsed on the ground, and even Xiao Jinghe was half-kneeling and panting heavily, his arm completely charred black.
Yun Yanchen roared, “Lin Xibai, attack its left eye! Zongyuan, the abdomen!”
The two immediately attacked the designated spots.
Yun Yanchen poured his entire spiritual energy into the tip of his sword. The blade hummed as he thrust it fiercely toward the Thunder-Patterned Leopard's throat.
Pincer-attacked from three sides simultaneously, the Thunder-Patterned Leopard let out one final deafening roar. Its front claws flailed wildly in mid-air, kicking up a crackling burst of lightning.
Yun Yanchen's sword tip precisely tore open its throat. Blood gushed out, and its massive body crashed to the ground, twitching twice before its breath faded completely.
Shen Chaoyue quickly walked over to Yun Yanchen and stuffed a pill into his mouth.
Yun Yanchen looked up at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Don't worry, I said I wouldn't let you lose.”
Shen Chaoyue reached out to cover his mouth, her eyes slightly red. “Adjust your breathing first, Senior Brother, and stop talking. I believe you.”
Jiang Yuran stumbled over to Lin Xibai's side. Her tears fell like broken strings of pearls, her voice soft and anxious, “Senior Brother, how did you get so badly injured! Senior Sister, can't you see that Senior Brother is hurt like this? How can you only take care of Senior Brother Yun?”
Lying on the ground, Lin Xibai looked at Shen Chaoyue with anticipation upon hearing this.
Up in the tree, Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye simultaneously shifted their gazes to another direction—that Heavenly Origin Sect disciple lying on the ground looks like he's about to die, aren't you guys going to check on him?
Shen Chaoyue didn't even turn her head, her voice as cold as ice, “I told you not to call me Senior Sister anymore. Do you not understand?”
Jiang Yuran's eyes reddened again. “Senior Sister—”
“Stop arguing,” Yun Yanchen interrupted her sharply, his tone leaving no room for objection. “Everyone, adjust your breathing and meditate immediately. If another demon beast comes, none of us will escape.”
Hearing this, everyone's expression turned solemn. No longer caring about bickering, they closed their eyes and began to adjust their breathing.
Even Jiang Yuran held back her tears and sat down obediently.
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