At the beginning, I cleaned the Sutra Library and completed the incomplete skills.

The instant he received the message from the communication talisman,

Li Lan's eyebrows shot up, and he instinctively prepared to slip away.

Although abandoning his fellow disciples would give him a bad reputation,

and it would be difficult to explain the matter to Elder Jian Chen upon his return,

Li Lan always adhered to the principle that morality could have regrets, but his life must not have hidden dangers.

Besides, he wasn't close to A'Hua to begin with, so not saving him was also reasonable.

The moment he sensed danger, Li Lan had already thought of several escape routes.

However,

after hearing the second half of A'Hua's message,

Li Lan hesitated.

Whether or not a fifteen-year-old spiritual herb was rare was secondary.

But then again,

he and A'Hua were, after all, fellow disciples, and it would indeed be a bit inappropriate not to go after receiving the communication talisman.

Just as Li Lan was weighing in his heart whether it was worth risking danger for a mere spiritual herb,

A'Hua's voice sounded again.

"The Azure Frost Moonpetal Grass is extremely rare and is exactly what Master urgently needs. If we seize this grass, we won't have to worry about our sect contribution points this year."

Subsequently,

the cultivation levels of the five cultivators from the Spirit Cloud Sect were also transmitted by A'Hua.

Four at the first level of Qi Refining, and one at the second level of Qi Refining.

Upon hearing this, Li Lan realized that the gap between their side and the opponent's wasn't too large.

He simply steeled his heart and immediately made a decision.

Li Lan wasn't doing this for the sake of completing the sect's contribution points.

Nor was he afraid that he wouldn't be able to explain himself to Elder Jian Chen upon his return.

Nor was he worried that without a flying boat, he would have difficulty returning to Guangji Temple in time to collect his eight taels of spirit sand salary.

The chivalrous Li Lan was simply unable to stand by and watch his senior brother being bullied.

… …

In the vast, ten-thousand-mile-long jungle,

at the edge of Immortal Trace Valley, bordering the middle region,

the thick-browed cultivator A'Hua, Tie Niu, and Ding Sanquan were confronting the five opponents.

Seeming to be somewhat apprehensive, neither side dared to act rashly.

On the verdant grass between them, a faint blue light flickered continuously.

Upon closer inspection, it was a spiritual herb about half a foot tall.

On its slender leaves, like silver powder sprinkled by moonlight, hung a faint layer of white frost.

The stem of the spiritual herb was topped with a flower bud that had not yet fully bloomed, and the blue glow was emanating from the gaps in the petals.

This object was the Azure Frost Moonpetal Grass.

This spiritual herb was of the yin attribute and was rarely used for alchemy. Its greatest use was when refining magical implements.

After the magical implement was refined, it would be especially effective at amplifying water-attribute spells.

At this moment,

the cultivators from the Spirit Cloud Sect were all staring at the spiritual herb without blinking, not concealing the fiery look in their eyes.

Their greedy gazes immediately caused the three from Guangji Temple to feel a sinking in their hearts.

A'Hua suppressed the anger in his heart, stepped forward, cupped his fist, and said in a deep voice:

"Fellow Daoists, this Immortal Trace Valley was once a spiritual vein under the jurisdiction of my Guangji Temple, and I was the first to discover this spiritual herb."

"The Spirit Cloud Sect is, after all, a reputable sect. Surely, it wouldn't do something that would disgrace its reputation, would it?"

Although he had already guessed in his heart that this matter probably couldn't be resolved peacefully,

A'Hua still held a glimmer of hope.

From any angle, the situation was extremely unfavorable to them.

If it could be resolved peacefully, A'Hua certainly didn't want to fight.

The leader of the Spirit Cloud Sect was a middle-aged female cultivator wearing a light blue robe.

She giggled twice and said:

"What Fellow Daoist said is very true."

"Although our two sects have constant disputes and frictions over the years, we still belong to reputable sects after all."

"If the matter of bullying the weak today were to spread, it would indeed disgrace the name of the righteous path and be difficult to explain to the Imperial Human Hall."

Seeing that there seemed to be room for relaxation in the other party's tone,

A'Hua couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

However, before he could think of how to persuade the other party to give up the spiritual herb,

the middle-aged female cultivator changed her tone and said again:

"But, as long as we leave all of you here, wouldn't we not have to explain anything?"

"What do you think? Fellow Daoist?"

After being ridiculed in such a way, A'Hua's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

He was no longer polite, and his voice was full of coldness.

"Does Fellow Daoist really want to fight to the death? Don't you really think that my Guangji Temple is afraid of you?"

Although his words were strong,

A'Hua was actually somewhat putting on a brave front at the moment.

Both being at the second level of Qi Refining, he wasn't too afraid of the other party in terms of strength.

The only thing that worried him was the two junior brothers behind him.

Tie Niu and Ding Sanquan had shallow cultivation levels and had almost no experience in fighting others.

In addition, the other party had the advantage in numbers, so if they really fought, five against three, the situation would be extremely unfavorable to them.

Thinking of this,

A'Hua felt a burst of irritability in his heart.

Damn it, where did that kid Li Lan run off to?

The sound transmission talisman has been used for so long, why hasn't he arrived yet?

Although his cultivation level wasn't high either, and he wasn't of much use,

but in this situation, having one more person would always be one more helping hand.

Tie Niu and Ding Sanquan, who never had a backbone, were already shivering non-stop at this moment.

They couldn't help but secretly complain in their hearts, who would have thought that the seemingly easiest sect mission would actually encounter such a thing.

Although they were already in a state of panic, Tie Niu still tried his best to control his breathing.

Trying to keep himself calm.

He couldn't help but feel a little regretful in his heart.

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have cared about face and would have followed Li Lan closely.

The other party's mind was always flexible.

If he encountered such a thing, he would definitely be able to lead them to safety.

Tie Niu's cowardice ultimately failed to escape the middle-aged female cultivator's poisonous gaze.

She had originally been somewhat apprehensive, wondering if the other party had some support, which was why she had been hesitant to act.

Now, after a long period of stalemate, seeing Tie Niu reveal his fear,

the middle-aged female cultivator immediately felt relieved.

The intention to kill and seize the goods could no longer be suppressed.

Although they belonged to the same righteous path and were under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Human Hall, internal strife was not allowed on the surface.

But as she had said before.

As long as she could leave all of them here, she naturally wouldn't have to explain anything to the Imperial Human Hall.

With this thought in mind, the middle-aged female cultivator no longer hesitated.

With a wave of her fair hand, the entire patch of grass in front of her was lifted.

Several sharp stone shards shot out from within.

"Get out of the way!"

Seeing that the other party was attacking without saying a word, A'Hua was shocked.

He pushed Tie Niu and the two away forcefully.

He muttered a spell, slapped his hands on the ground, and injected his magic power into it.

The grass and trees under his feet seemed to have had the acceleration button pressed, and began to grow frantically and savagely.

In the blink of an eye, they intertwined together, erecting a shield in front of A'Hua.

Puff, puff, puff!

Those stone barbs all shot into the shield made of weeds, losing their force.

"Attack!"

A'Hua and the middle-aged female cultivator spoke almost simultaneously.

Everyone on both sides dared not be negligent.

Their actions were surprisingly consistent.

All of them hurriedly took out their respective spellcasting aids from their storage bags and began to chant spells.

As the last incantation fell, all kinds of spells began to take effect.

For a time,

heavy rain poured down, grass and trees flew, the ground cracked, and flames surged, the scene was a mess.

The cultivators at the first level of Qi Refining on both sides all poured out everything they had learned in their lives.

Fearing that they would be half a beat slower in reciting the spell and die in the other party's spell bombardment.

Just as both sides were concentrating on casting spells,

no one noticed not far away,

there was a teenager in his teens lurking in a tree, ready to go.