Jiang Lu had a strong premonition that following Liu Qingqing would bring unexpected gains.
Her desire for opportunities and her hesitation about trouble tangled in her mind for a mere second before she swiftly chose the opportunity.
As long as she didn't get too close, nothing should go wrong. She would just follow from a distance.
While she was thinking, the group vanished into the depths of the dense forest in just a few bounds, heading deeper in.
Jiang Lu followed behind, feeling a sudden jolt of surprise. They were actually going deep into the forest?
With her mid-stage Qi Condensation strength, she was a bit weak. She paused, but after thinking for only a brief moment, she gritted her teeth and continued to follow.
Since the demon beast tide had just ended, no demon beasts should appear here for the time being, so it should be safe.
In short, she would not give up on this opportunity.
Fortunately, they did not go any deeper.
They stopped beneath a massive tree with a towering trunk that concealed all secrets beneath its branches.
Jiang Lu carefully hid herself behind a massive leaf and extended her divine sense forward.
The others' divine senses were not as strong as hers, so they couldn't detect her presence.
She watched as Liu Qingqing circled the giant tree several times, her face filled with anxiety and eagerness.
Liu Qingqing stopped and looked around. She could feel a powerful summons from this spot, a call that struck the very depths of her soul.
The others did not dare to speak. Before leaving, they had already sent a message to Third Senior Brother. He should know what to do; for now, they only needed to wait.
They only hoped Senior Sister Liu wouldn't act impulsively, or they would definitely be punished.
It seemed their prayers had worked.
Liu Qingqing stopped in her tracks, and the corners of her mouth curled upward.
She knew it. As a female lead, how could she not have opportunities? The previous summons must have been too weak because they weren't good opportunities, but wasn't one presenting itself right now?
A blast of blue spiritual energy shot from her wrist. Seeing this, Jiang Lu's pupils contracted. She was actually wearing an offensive magical artifact on her wrist, disguised as an ordinary bracelet. If one wasn't careful in a fight, they would easily be caught off guard by a sneak attack.
Jiang Lu gained a deeper understanding of the life-saving measures employed by disciples of various factions. In the future, no matter who she faced, she had to be extremely cautious.
A loud boom echoed from the tree, followed by a green light that blanketed the entire area. A rhythmic pulsing came from within the trunk, like a beating heart.
As the green light covered the entire area, Jiang Lu felt the wood spiritual energy inside her body rejoice. She quietly suppressed it, and then she heard the group gasp in surprise.
“It's a spiritual orb!”
“But this spiritual orb seems to be tainted with demonic energy...”
“Senior Sister Liu, what do we do now?”
Suppressing the shock in their eyes, they immediately asked.
“It's just demonic energy. Master will definitely have a way to handle it,” she said as she stored the spiritual orb into her storage bag. She looked around, and seeing nothing else of interest, she prepared to leave.
Most importantly, after the spiritual orb appeared, her heart calmed down. There was a faint throb in her veins, confirming that this was indeed her opportunity.
Immediately after, a bad premonition washed over her. Her lips twitched, and she wanted nothing more than to leave quickly.
She really couldn't understand why every good thing was accompanied by a stroke of bad luck. Wasn't she supposed to be the beloved daughter of the Heavenly Dao?
She couldn't figure out why it had to be this way.
A spiritual orb was a rare treasure. Although it was heavily tainted with demonic energy, it didn't look like the energy had devoured the orb itself.
Everyone said Senior Sister Liu had great luck, and it was indeed true. However, they wouldn't covet the spiritual orb either; since Senior Sister Liu was the one who got it, it was her opportunity.
As disciples of the Three Great Sects, they possessed a certain level of foresight and wouldn't be greedy for such things.
However, good luck often brought bad luck along with it. The sect disciples had experienced this firsthand, and they now had a bad premonition.
Just as they turned around, black-glowing vines materialized around them, slowly surrounding them.
The crowd: We knew it!
Liu Qingqing: Aaaah! I knew it would be like this!
Jiang Lu carefully hid herself, wrapping herself in her wood-attributed aura to blend seamlessly into the surroundings.
A massive fireball flew toward the vines, followed by a loud explosion.
Crack—
The vines were burned, leaving a large hole. They could hear the vines crying out in pain from the burns.
“Run!”
The disciple who had thrown the fireball shouted, quickly grabbing Liu Qingqing and pulling her away.
The other disciples followed close behind.
Jiang Lu watched their fluid, practiced movements, feeling slightly surprised.
They were indeed very practiced, looking as if they had rehearsed this many times.
Seeing them flee, the vines immediately gave chase.
As a Tier Two spiritual plant, how could it maintain its dignity if it let these thieves escape just like that!
It had to stop them and teach them a lesson!
Rustling sounds echoed through the forest as the massive vines quickly extended, lashing out at them.
The group immediately activated their cultivation techniques, their steps suddenly speeding up as they fled forward.
Seeing this, Jiang Lu shed tears of envy once again. Look at that form, look at that movement technique—as expected of a great sect.
If only she could be taken in as a disciple by some powerhouse.
But...
She immediately shook her head. No, those who followed the path of caution had to have the self-awareness of a low-profile cultivator. What if her master turned out to be an arrogant madman?
Then she would just become a target!
With the vines chasing after them, her view of the area instantly opened up.
Jiang Lu leaped down from the tree, her toes lightly tapping the ground a few times as she landed steadily right in front of the tree hollow.
Now devoid of the spiritual orb, the tree hollow was pitch black. She carefully stepped forward and entered the hollow, looking at the dark opening that seemed to contain nothing.
She couldn't help but feel puzzled. She clearly felt that she would gain something from this trip, so what was going on now?
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly caught sight of a green seed on the ground. It had beautiful patterns on it.
She walked over, picked it up, and examined it in her hand. Finding nothing unusual, she casually stored it into her space.
After confirming there were no other opportunities around, she left in a different direction.
“Get lost already!”
A sudden roar boomed, and several sword lights slashed through the tangled vines, severing them.
The group trapped within the vines was revealed. They were pale and covered in wounds.
Seeing the immense strength of the newcomer, who had severed its vines in just a few moves, the plant shrank back reluctantly.
Its baby was still back there, and it was unwilling to die.
Watching the vines retreat, they let out a sigh of relief. Although the vines were only a Tier Two demon plant, they possessed extraordinary strength. Facing them head-on would only result in a pyrrhic victory...
“Waaaaah~ Third Senior Brother, you're finally here!”