Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Setting People Up in Secret

After Wei Yun Ting and Wei Zong Han found the reason they were being attacked, they quickly made arrangements.

Wei Yun Ting first had everyone put out the fire. Then, pained as if cutting her own flesh, she took out a Clear Wind Talisman from her storage pouch and used it to completely blow away the scent produced by burning Ling Jue Wood. The Emerald-Eyed Wolves attacking the barrier formation gradually became less agitated.

Then Wei Zong Han raised his hand and threw that half-burnt piece of Ling Jue Wood out of the formation, hoping to lure the wolves away.

Because he wanted to lead the pack farther away, Wei Zong Han reinforced his throw with spiritual power. The piece flew nearly eight hundred meters. That was probably Wei Zong Han’s limit.

That chunk of Ling Jue Wood had the worst timing imaginable. It smacked the little chubby Wei Zong Hao right on the head. He covered his forehead with one hand and clamped his mouth with the other, not daring to cry out.

But even his faint intake of breath startled Wei Yun Xi awake. When she saw the charred wood that had fallen under the tree, she turned to look at the chubby boy.

Wei Zong Hao lowered the hand over his mouth and whispered, “I don’t know what happened. It just fell from above and hit me on the head.”

Wei Yun Xi reflexively released her spiritual sense. She saw that the Emerald-Eyed Wolves, which had been attacking the Wei Family’s barrier formation, had already turned around and were running in their direction.

She swiftly climbed down the tree, collected the charred wood into her storage pouch, then used a Dust-Removing Talisman to erase the traces. After that, she climbed back up the tree.

“Brother Zong Hao, do you have any Presence-Concealing Talismans?” Yun Xi asked quickly.

Wei Zong Hao nodded, then pulled two first-rank Presence-Concealing Talismans from his storage pouch.

Wei Yun Xi unceremoniously took one and slapped it on herself, then signaled Wei Zong Hao to do the same and made a “shh” gesture.

Wei Zong Hao already heard the movement approaching in the distance. He did as she said at once, clinging tightly to the trunk beside him, even making his breathing as quiet as possible.

A moment later, the Emerald-Eyed Wolf pack arrived at the spot where Wei Yun Xi had been. Two wolves sniffed around for a long time, but because of the Dust-Removing Talisman, they found nothing.

In the end, the two wolves lifted their heads and howled once, then led the pack back the way they came to continue attacking the formation.

Watching that, Wei Yun Xi felt secretly satisfied. From the piece of wood she had just collected, she had already figured out why Wei Yun Ting’s group was being attacked.

That charred wood was called Ling Jue Wood. It could soothe spiritual beasts in labor. It was a kind of spiritual wood male spiritual beasts loved to stockpile. Clearly, someone among the six had picked it up like ordinary dead branches and then burned it for warmth. That was what drew the Emerald-Eyed Wolf pack over.

Wei Yun Xi guessed the one who did that was probably Wei Yun Qing. After all, Wei Yun Qing had only cultivated for three months. Reaching Qi Refining Level One was already impressive. Her understanding of spiritual plants and spiritual beasts definitely couldn’t match Wei Yun Xi’s.

Wei Yun Xi had even been taken by the Feng Family for special tutoring. And the first step to studying alchemy was recognizing every spiritual plant in the Vast Cosmos Realm. If you couldn’t even tell plants apart, how could you talk about alchemy?

Besides, because the Feng Family had a dedicated alchemy room, she could see real specimens in the plant sorting room when learning plant identification, which made it easier to remember them.

Earlier, she had decisively climbed down to collect the wood because she smelled that familiar faint sweet fruit scent and reacted instantly. Then she pocketed the Ling Jue Wood to mess with those people a bit.

Of course, she wasn’t going to tell Wei Zong Hao any of that. Truthfully, she wanted even more to put it into the wooden tablet space, which would be safer.

But considering the Hao Ran Sect cultivator observing in secret, she gave up that thought. Better safe than sorry. In any case, it had fallen from the sky, and she had only picked it up.

The Emerald-Eyed Wolves, unable to find what they wanted, grew angry. They felt these two-legged beasts were playing them, so they continued attacking the barrier formation.

Wei Yun Ting and Wei Zong Han had no idea their plan had failed, that the wood was now in Wei Yun Xi’s storage pouch. With the wolves still attacking, they had no choice but to keep feeding low-grade spirit stones into the formation plate. They had to hold out until dawn.

But this time, Wei Yun Ting didn’t consume her own spirit stones again. She was the first to demand spirit stones from Wei Yun Qing.

Wei Yun Qing knew this misfortune was caused by her. Not wanting to be kicked out of the formation, she had to take out a spirit stone. She dragged her feet for ages before producing a single low-grade spirit stone, looking pained the whole time. Then she silently sat cross-legged in a corner of the formation and began meditating.

Wei Yun Ting said nothing more. She placed the low-grade spirit stone into the slot on the formation plate and continued watching the Emerald-Eyed Wolves outside.

That night was agony for all six. Even if they wanted to settle down and cultivate, they couldn’t. With a pack of Emerald-Eyed Wolves staring at them like prey, who could meditate with a calm mind? At most, they could close their eyes and rest.

After sunrise the next day, the Emerald-Eyed Wolves saw they truly couldn’t break the formation. Flicking their tails, they left. Their kind was active at night and rested by day. Once it was light, they returned to their territory to recuperate.

Only when all the wolves were gone did the six finally breathe in relief.

Seeing that everyone looked exhausted, Wei Yun Ting knew traveling now was unrealistic. She said, “Everyone sleep for one hour first. Then we’ll continue. To avoid delaying our schedule, we’ll travel an extra hour today.”

No one objected. They had only just stepped onto the path of cultivation. Like ordinary people, they still needed food and sleep, or their small bodies wouldn’t hold up.

Wei Yun Xi and Wei Zong Hao didn’t have that concern. They had already slept three hours. After dawn, they ate a simple breakfast—a fasting pill with red fruit—then slipped down the tree and continued on.

“Yun Xi, do you think we can catch up to Sister Yun Ting and the others?”

“I’m not sure. If we speed up, we should catch them.”

Wei Yun Xi blinked her almond-shaped eyes as she spoke.

She didn’t want to get close to Wei Yun Qing, that troublemaker, so she intentionally led the chubby boy on a detour to avoid the place where Wei Yun Ting’s group was resting.

After leaving the accident-prone Wei Yun Qing behind, the two of them moved faster. Wei Yun Xi didn’t want Wei Yun Ting’s group to catch up. Wei Zong Hao was afraid that traveling as a pair would make them targets for hidden spiritual beasts in the mountains, so he subconsciously quickened his pace as well.

In this way, the two little ones hurried for half the day. When they reached a stream, Wei Zong Hao insisted he couldn’t walk anymore. He plopped down. “Yun Xi, let’s rest for a bit!”

Wei Yun Xi couldn’t keep going either. In her mind, she thought she could, but her body was already exhausted. She was still a child, after all.

So she sat down too. After resting for a short while, she got up to fill water at the stream. She drank a couple of mouthfuls, then handed it to the chubby boy. After he drank his fill, she began plucking some unremarkable little grasses by the water.

After drinking and eating two pieces of dried meat, Wei Zong Hao looked at the busy Wei Yun Xi and asked, “Yun Xi, what are you doing?”

“I’m picking Wei Wei Grass.”

“Why pick that?”

“If you crush Wei Wei Grass and rub it on your body, it can cover our scent and make animals in the mountains mistake us for plants. It can replace the effect of a Presence-Concealing Talisman.”