Are you really trying to cultivate immortality? Something feels off.

The old tree spirit exclaimed in exasperation, "You!"

Nie Zhao squinted slightly, stepped forward, grasped the herbalist's shoulder, and examined his burned forehead.

It then looked up, saw the group of people in front of it, and screamed in fright, "Ah!"

"Don't be afraid, Dad," Tui Tui explained, "They are my friends, they are good people."

The herb spirit shrank back in fear, glaring at Nie Zhao with hostility: "What good people are there in humans? The person who burned me just now looks a lot like you. You're in cahoots, aren't you!"

Nie Zhao clapped his hands, expressionless, and turned to Xie Weixing, saying, "Nanchuan Li Huo, it's Nie Shiyun and the others."

Shen Chunri sneered: "I knew it. Who else is so brainless? All she does all day is burn things. She'll burn that mentally unstable lunatic to death."

The old tree spirit's expression also turned serious: "Could it be that you came with that group of people?"

Xie Weixing chuckled, looking a bit down on his luck: "Why don't you guess why we hid here? You think she's just going to burn you all down?"

The old tree spirit was stunned for a moment.

Xie Weixing crossed his arms in front of him, gently raised his eyes, and exuded the innate spirit of a young man: "Azure Lion, it's your turn to shine."

A wisp of spiritual consciousness seeped out from the spiritual sea, and a pure white and light blue lion, the size of a small hill, appeared.

"Aww—"

It raised its head and let out a sound. Frost totems slowly appeared on its forehead. Gentle yet fierce water-based spiritual energy meandered from its body, slowly spreading outwards and nourishing the scorched brown earth beneath its feet.

The dried leaves of the herb returned to their vibrant green, and it let out a long, comfortable sigh.

Push-Push was so happy that he lay down on the ground, sliding his arms and legs around like a joyful fish.

The old tree spirit looked over in surprise: "This...this is the Azure Water Lion?"

The most sacred, gentlest, and purest water power.

"It's a spirit beast I created," Xie Weixing withdrew his spiritual sense and smiled. "We really meant no harm."

The old tree spirit nodded, finally trusting them completely.

Xie Weixing looked at the herb spirit: "I'd like to ask, where did you meet that group of people?"

The herbalist pondered for a moment and replied, "To the south, near the entrance to the Abyss of Nightwater."

Xie Weixing turned around and glanced at Tan Suiting, raising an eyebrow at him with a look that said, "See? I wasn't wrong."

Tan Suiting met his gaze, then coldly curled his lips into a slight smile: "Trying to ambush me? Not so easy."

Xie Weixing glanced at the sky and gently smiled, "In a little while, it will be almost time."

*

"Are you here yet?" Ren Wenxue frowned impatiently. She had been squatting here all morning, and in order to conserve her spiritual energy, she hadn't used the Mind-Clearing Mantra or any talismans. She was feeling dizzy from the sun.

Nie Shiyun was also extremely flustered and looked terrible.

She led the people of Tianxuan Sect and the entire Huashen Sect to wait in the Abyss of Night Water for an entire morning, but they didn't see a single hair.

The Dao Asking Sect and the Purple Cloud Palace at the Sword Tomb have yet to send any messenger talismans.

"What's going on?" Song Lingyue frowned. "Where did they go?"

She turned to the man beside her and asked, "Senior Brother Wei, should we go out and look for him?"

This is their chief disciple of the Dao Seeking Sect, who has already reached the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm at a young age.

Wei Qiqing said calmly, "There's no need to be impatient. They know we'll join forces, so they've found a place to hide."

Nie Shiyun sneered: "There are only two places in Wanjian Mountain. Let's see where they can hide and for how long."

Ren Wenxue stepped forward and smiled, "I remember that among the disciples who came to Wanjian Mountain this time, apart from my senior sister and Huo Jiangmei from the Dao Asking Sect, the one with the highest cultivation is Senior Brother Wei, right?"

Wei Qiqing looked at her and nodded.

Song Lingyue laughed: "Of course, Senior Brother is already at the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. Dealing with those Golden Core Realm cultivators from the Feng Hua Sect is a piece of cake, isn't it?"

The people nearby all turned around.

"As expected, he has already reached the Nascent Soul stage... I remember during the sect election more than ten years ago, Wei Qiqing was still in the early Golden Core stage, but now he has actually entered the Nascent Soul stage."

"The second daughter of the Nie family in Nanchuan next door looks like she's already at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. I think her talent is no worse than that of the Phoenix Maiden."

"However, Song Lingyue is a bit lacking; she's only at the late Foundation Establishment stage."

"That's not bad, considering he's not even twenty yet, still quite young."

"The cultivation speed of the Tianxuan Sect is really fast."

Nie Shiyun heard these comments and gently curled her lips.

Song Lingyue raised an eyebrow: "Of course, we are the people who followed our senior brother through the Li Huo Mountain Range, the fastest generation of direct disciples in the history of Tianxuan Sect."

"The Li Huo Mountain Range?" Ren Wenxue asked in surprise, her gaze filled with respect. "What a pity, I have a water elemental root... How many times did you manage to cross it before you succeeded?"

Song Lingyue glanced at her, a slight smile playing on her lips, and uttered a number: "Three times."

Ren Wenxue's eyes widened: "What?"

With an average age of just over twenty, it's already quite an achievement for a disciple to have managed to traverse the Lihuo Mountain Range.

Even if it takes a year or two to succeed, it's still possible.

They passed the test on their third try!

Ren Wenxue lowered her eyes and imagined how long it would take her to leave the Huoshan Mountains.

"Three times? Isn't that too few?"

"Three times is naturally too few," Nie Shiyun replied coldly, arms crossed. "We have Senior Brother Wei, who is at the Nascent Soul Realm, leading the way, and Lu Qingyou and I have also broken through to the mid-Golden Core Realm. After all, we are the Tianxuan Sect, ranked second among the five major sects..."

"I heard that when those people from the Feng Hua Sect passed through the Li Huo Mountain Range, they sealed half of their spiritual power."

Nie Shiyun frowned impatiently, interrupted: "Playing tricks. Those people are only at the Golden Core stage. They think they can pass through the Li Huo Mountain Range after sealing half of their spiritual power? They're just courting death."

"Oh. But I heard they only went once."

Nie Shiyun, her steps repeatedly pulled away, turned around angrily: "How do you know everything? You—"

Before she could finish speaking, a familiar handsome face suddenly appeared before her.

Xie Weixing curled his lips and blinked his captivating peach blossom eyes at her: "Of course, it's because I'm one of those idiots who were forced to risk their lives to quickly pass through the Li Huo Mountain Range with half their spiritual power sealed."

"boom--!"

Startled, Nie Shiyun suddenly unleashed the Southern River Fire to distance herself from him.

Everyone else immediately looked over and perked up.

Nie Shiyun's brow twitched, and she turned to exchange a glance with Wei Qiqing.

They both knew what the other was thinking.

It was astonishing that it could approach silently even with a Nascent Soul Realm expert present.

A look of surprise appeared in her slightly upturned eyes.

In just one year, Xie Weixing broke through again, and his spiritual power was even more profound than that of his own mid-stage Golden Core Realm.

Within two years, he went from having no cultivation to the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

Is he even human?

"Xie Weixing," Song Lingyue said, her teeth itching with hatred, "how dare you come here?"