Chapter 064

Chapter 64: Heavenly One Sect Is Not Easy to Mess With

Ji Chang Huai was barely breathing, and the spiritual power in his body was leaking away. Ye Qian knew this at a glance: [He is dispersing his cultivation.] His source had been hurt.

Ye Qian almost burst into tears. Ji Chang Huai was already at Great Perfection of the Golden Core Stage. If he had not come with her to find the Core Formation Fruit, he would be in seclusion at Azure Cloud Peak right now, breaking through to Nascent Soul. He only came because she wanted to go out. But now… [What do I do? What do I do.]

Her sobs came out in broken sounds. She looked at Dou Ming and saw he was covered in wounds. His thick earth spiritual power had turned shaky. Even the earth wall blocking the poison fog was falling apart.

Seeing the poison fog about to sweep over them, Ye Qian cried as she pulled both men up. She summoned a flying artifact and dragged them onto it. She did not dare to fly high, so she flew close to the ground. Even so, the flying artifact that was always steady turned bumpy. It was a sign that the elements of heaven and earth were unstable.

But Ye Qian did not dare to stop. The whole forest had been polluted by that wall of poison trees. Once anything touched it, other trees would be changed and become new poison. The rot would keep eating at them, and even spiritual power could not fully block it. They had never seen poison this strong. Never.

But the one who started it, Fang He An, had already run away.

Ye Qian wiped her tears, glanced back at Ji Chang Huai and Dou Ming lying on the artifact, and felt only fear: “What should I do, what should I do.”

Dou Ming saw how frightened she was. He said in a hoarse voice: “Junior sister, crush the Message Jade Token and call for help.”

Ye Qian cried: “Master will be angry.”

Dou Ming shook his head and rasped: “Master will not ignore us. If we want to live, we have to call someone.”

“But when we left, master was in seclusion. What if he does not see the message?” Ye Qian’s tears fell faster.

“The other elders of the sect will come,” Dou Ming said, and then he seemed to run out of strength. He muttered, “I will not let those people go. I will not. I will make them pay…”

When Dou Ming looked like he was about to pass out, Ye Qian stayed silent for a long time. She really did not want to alarm the whole sect. She could not say her selfish reason out loud. She did not want Yan Ding to see that girl whose brows and eyes looked so much like Ye Wan Wan. But when she looked at Dou Ming and Ji Chang Huai, Ye Qian weighed it all and still crushed the Message Jade Token.

If they did not call for help, they might not leave this place alive. As for that woman… Ye Qian clenched her teeth: [It is all her fault. All of it.]

After the time it takes one stick of incense to burn, Ye Wan Wan slowed down while carrying Bai Jian. Li Wan Zhi and the others did the same. They were already far from the area around Cloud Mountain Cave.

They stopped and looked back. That patch of land was pitch black, like a deep sea where even if you threw something in, you would not hear a sound. At the same time, it felt like something inside was staring at them. It was deep and frightening.

Li Wan Zhi quietly hid behind Fang He An, looking a little cowardly. Fang He An’s mouth twitched as he said: “I told you to train more, but you did not. Are you scared now?” Even as he spoke, he casually moved to Ye Wan Wan’s side, hid behind senior sister Bai Jian, picked a safe spot, and cleared his throat: “Junior sister, where do we go now?”

Ye Wan Wan took out a map and said: “To the exit.”

“Leaving right away?” That felt too early.

“We will not go straight there. The Dark Nether Sect should have sensed what is going on in the secret realm. They will open the exit and come in to check. But I bet they will not open it at once. So we will not go directly. We will go around from here.” She spread the map and drew a route. “If we see anything useful along the way, we will pick it up.”

Everyone saw the route she had already circled on the map. There were two key points marked. They understood at once. They needed to escape, yes, but they also needed supplies and treasure. They had finally come out here, so they could not return empty handed. Ye Wan Wan’s plan sounded good, and no one objected. While others were fleeing, they would be collecting. Good timing.

The more Fang He An thought about it, the more he felt his junior sister was brilliant.

Before they left, Ye Wan Wan did the first thing on her list: she took out all the food from her storage. “Senior sister, eat until you are full.”

Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi copied her at once. Bai Jian scratched her head and said: “I already ate all of mine. What about you?”

Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi answered in unison: “All this is for you.”

Bai Jian fell silent. Fang He An glared at Li Wan Zhi and said angrily: “What are you doing, stealing my job? I am the one who prepares senior sister’s rations.” He bumped Li Wan Zhi and pushed him away from Bai Jian. [Annoying rival for attention.]

Li Wan Zhi looked helpless and said: “I was afraid you would not prepare enough, so I brought more. Besides, other than flatbread and steamed buns, what else can you make? I brought meat. Meat.”

“That meat is dry and tough, and it is not fresh.”

“Then put fresh meat into your storage and cook it. Go on, try it.”

Shen Nan Zhou watched them in silence and walked off. After Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi argued for a long time, they suddenly noticed one person was missing. Fang He An said: “Where is junior brother?”

Ye Wan Wan pointed into the trees. Shen Nan Zhou was dragging back a freshly killed Giant Savage Hare. The boy pulled out a dagger that flashed coldly and asked in a calm voice: “Senior sister, which part do you want to eat?”

Fang He An went quiet. Li Wan Zhi went quiet. They had guarded against other people and even against dogs, but somehow forgot to guard against their junior brother.

This small episode swept away their earlier unease. The five of them ate and drank, then set out at once. Half the secret realm had collapsed, but the other half still stood. The two points Ye Wan Wan had marked happened to be inside the safe area. They rushed along and collected everything they could. While everyone else ran for their lives, they took detours and gathered all the remaining Prismatic Stone and the herbs they had seen before.

Ten days later, they reached Glimmerstone Gate. All the young cultivators were gathered there, waiting for the exit to open.

When Ye Wan Wan’s group arrived late, many people were already there. As they walked over, the mood grew quiet. Li Yun and Wang Niu saw them too. Their lips moved, but they did not dare say anything. Their expressions turned awkward as they looked toward another corner.

Ye Wan Wan followed their gaze and saw Ye Qian protected in the middle by five or six young elites. Dou Ming sat cross legged, adjusting his breath. Ji Chang Huai’s face was so pale it had almost no color.

When the three of them saw Ye Wan Wan’s group, their eyes followed. The two groups looked at each other, and the air seemed to spark.

By the stone gate, people sucked in a breath. Someone whispered: “Please do not start a fight again.” Another said: “If the gate collapses again, we are done.” A third grumbled: “The Dark Nether Sect is really the worst. People already sent messages out. Why will they not open the exit early?” Someone replied: “This is already early. Normally it takes a full month. But Glimmerstone Gate has been shaking these last few days. That means they are trying to open it sooner.” Another asked: “It has been moving for three days. What if it still does not open today?”

Everyone imagined the next part without saying it. If it did not open, the other half of the secret realm might collapse too.

“Look, someone is getting up.” A sharp voice made Li Yun, Wang Niu, and others tense. The one who stood up was Ye Qian. Everyone wondered what she would do. [Is Heavenly One Sect easy to mess with? No way.]