Lin Tao and Ji Yun swiftly placed all of their medicine brewing equipment into their storage rings as they listened to the guardian spirit describe the incoming group.
"There are five soul masters. Two of them are spirit grandmasters and the other three are spirit grand warriors, so they're all stronger than you two. They are all running towards the Floral Lake. It won't be long before they get here."
The group consisted of three men and two women. They all appeared to be around their late twenties. However, appearances were not a good indicator for a spirit master's age.
The group swiftly arrived at the Floral Lake and were greeted by the sight of two children walking idly around the lake. Based on the children's wandering eyes, it appeared as though they were looking for something.
The group was quite surprised to see such young children wandering in the Obsidian Forest. Although the Floral Lake was in the outer region of the forest, there were still dangerous spirit beasts in the area. Normally, children would be accompanied by someone older if they entered the Obsidian Forest.
A woman in red was the first to speak up, "Why are you, children, wandering in this forest by yourselves?"
Lin Tao stoically responded, "Our master sent us here to look for some herbs."
The woman smiled sweetly, "What a coincidence! We are also looking for some herbs. We are searching for some red lavatera flowers and golden freesia roots. What are you, children, looking for? We can help each other search. The more eyes, the better."
Bai Lian explained indifferently, "Those two herbs are key ingredients for the fire mending pill. It's a rank 4 pill that is typically used to heal frostbite."
Lin Tao and Ji Yun noticed no changes to the expressions on the faces of the group, so they concluded the guardian spirit was only speaking with them.
The two children suddenly stiffened up slightly. They forced themselves to restrain from reacting to the soft humming that abruptly started to make its way into their minds.
Bai Lian noticed the children's reactions, so she explained, "It's so you two remember I'm here for you."
The children relaxed. They had only tensed up due to their surprise and forcing themselves to act naturally in front of the group of strangers. After getting over their surprise, the children found the humming to be very soothing.
Although it was only for a brief second, the slight stiffness of the children did not go unnoticed by the group of strangers.
The woman assumed the children were uncomfortable with suddenly talking with strangers. She gently revoked her earlier suggestion, "If you don't want us to help each other search, that is fine."
Two men, one dressed in white, while the other in black, silently went off in search of the herbs by themselves. They were not interested in the two brats they had happened to encounter in the forest.
Before the children could respond to the red-robed woman, a man in grey rebuked, "Children should not be playing around in this forest. Why are the two of you alone? Which master sends his young disciples alone into the Obsidian Forest?"
Lin Tao narrowed his eyes, "Why should we reveal our master's identity? We don't even know who exactly we are speaking to right now."
The man wrinkled his brows, "You should speak more politely to those stronger than you. I'll let you off this time since your young."
Lin Tao and Ji Yun frowned, but did not voice any objection. After all, it was an indisputable truth that the two of them had no way of dealing with five soul masters who had a higher level of cultivation than them.
A woman in pink smiled gently as she proclaimed, "We are disciples of the Sacred Fire Sect."
The two children stiffened up once more.
The Sacred Fame Sect was a sect that worshiped the God of Fire. As one of the eight large religious sects, the Sacred Flame Sect had influences throughout all the lands.
Lin Tao pondered to himself, 'Although master is a fire soul master, he is a member of the Shui Clan, a strong supporter of the Water Goddess Sect. The Sacred Flame Sect and Water Goddess Sect have been on bad terms for ages. Will these people attack us if they know who our master is?'
The man in grey wrinkled his brows and turned to the woman in pink, "Qing, there was no need to tell them the truth."
Murong Qing smiled sweetly as she responded, "There's no harm in letting these little children know."
The man silently shook his head, but did not argue with the lady. He turned back to the children and impatiently spoke up once more, "We have already told you our identities. Is there a problem with us knowing the identity of your master?"
Lin Tao and Ji Yun had frozen in place. Their eyes widened in shock as worry took over their faces. Unlike earlier, they were unable to force themselves to conceal their surprise.
The Sacred Flame Sect disciples noticed the children's reaction and assumed the children were weak minded and froze in fear due to the grey-robed man's intimidation.
However, their assumption did not hit the mark. The gentle humming in Lin Tao and Ji Yun's mind had come to an abrupt stop. The two children held their breaths as they waited for a gentle voice to explain herself to them. However, no voice sneaked its way into their head. Only their own worried thoughts roamed the depths of their mind.
Lin Tao recovered from his shock quicker than Ji Yun. He calmed himself and focused his attention on the grey-robed man. Lin Tao opened his mouth to respond.
However, before any words could leave his mouth, the women in red suddenly called out to the two people searching for herbs, "Oh yeah! Besides those two herbs, master wanted us to bring back some flowers from the Floral Lake."
The black robed man lazily pointed a finger, towards the lake, at a nearby flower without looking, "We can just take a few of these back to master."