In the blink of an eye, time had reached the forty-third year of Jianxing.
"Five sisters, wait for us!"
At the base of Tianshan Mountain, Li Erya and Li Qilang watched as Li Wuya vanished into the jungle in a blink of an eye, both of them feeling a bit frustrated.
"Five sisters left us behind again!" Li Qilang pouted.
Li Erya sighed, "Let's keep trying. Maybe we're not fast enough. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to outpace us."
Li Qilang grumbled, "But I'm already trying my best. Why can't I catch up to five sisters?"
Li Erya couldn't find a response to that. At this moment, she deeply understood that many things couldn't be achieved just through effort.
"Let's go and see if we can catch some game today."
While Li Erya led Li Qilang in the pursuit of prey on the outskirts of Tianshan, Li Wuya had already climbed several mountains and entered the inner region of Tianshan.
With the enhancement of her internal energy and the improvement of her footwork, Li Wuya's lightness skill also advanced significantly.
If her previous speed could be likened to a private car's top speed in her past life, now her speed had reached that of a subway running at full speed.
Throughout this year, whenever she came to Tianshan, she was always with Li Erya and Li Qilang. However, this time, she left them behind because she wanted to explore deeper into Tianshan.
It had been more than two years since her family had been using the first-generation constitution-enhancing agent, and their bodies couldn't be further enhanced or their potential unlocked. Now, she needed to find the ingredients for the second-generation constitution-enhancing agent.
The second-generation constitution-enhancing agent required fifty different medicinal herbs. The Tianshan area she had previously explored couldn't provide all the necessary herbs, so she had to venture further in.
Over the past two years, her spiritual power had also improved, allowing her to sense everything within a twenty-meter radius. This made it convenient for her to explore Tianshan.
"Swish, swish!"
Stepping on tree trunks, Li Wuya flew onto the treetops in just a few steps.
Tianshan stretched for thousands of miles, with peaks rising and falling. The tallest peaks touched the sky, covered in perpetual snow, while the lower areas connected to vast grasslands.
At this moment, Li Wuya stood halfway up a mountain, with snow-capped peaks above and grasslands below.
"My internal energy still isn't strong enough."
Li Wuya wanted to experience the thrill of leaping across mountains freely, but her internal energy fell short. She had only flown a hundred meters above the treetops before she had to fly back down.
Although there were many medicinal herbs in Tianshan, they were widely scattered, making them difficult to find.
Li Wuya had ventured in seven or eight times, even approaching the vicinity of the snowy mountains, but she still hadn't collected all the required herbs.
"Huh?"
At the end of March, Li Wuya entered Tianshan again, but this time she encountered trouble.
In a valley where peach blossoms were in full bloom at the boundary between snow and lush greenery, Li Wuya had been wandering around for nearly an hour without finding a way out.
At first, when she discovered this valley full of peach blossoms, she had been quite happy. But now that she was trapped inside, her mood had soured.
"Did I run into a legendary ghost wall?"
Li Wuya furrowed her brows, standing on top of a peach tree. She released her spiritual power to carefully probe the valley.
At first, she didn't sense anything wrong, but during her second scan, she detected something peculiar.
She hadn't encountered a ghost wall; rather, it seemed like she had stumbled upon a maze.
Creating a maze encompassing an entire valley? Quite the grand display!
Li Wuya couldn't break the maze, but she possessed spiritual power. Although she couldn't cover the entire valley, she could discern directions within a twenty-meter radius, enough to find her way out.
After half an hour of exploration, Li Wuya emerged at the mouth of the valley.
Looking at the peach blossoms in full bloom within the valley, Li Wuya didn't leave immediately. After hesitating for a moment, she unexpectedly flew back into the valley.
She wanted to see what lay at the other end of the valley.
Half an hour later, Li Wuya stood at the other end of the valley.
The other end of the valley led to a snow-capped peak. This wasn't particularly strange, given that the valley's elevation was already quite high. Snow was normal at such altitudes.
What was odd, however, was the clearly man-made stone staircase leading directly to the summit from the snow-covered peak.
"Who would live in such a remote, icy mountain?"
Thinking about the legends related to Tianshan, Li Wuya swallowed nervously, feeling somewhat guilty about shamelessly claiming herself to be the disciple of Old Man Tianchi.
Just as Li Wuya hesitated about whether to go up and take a look, a male voice filled with three parts scepticism, three parts surprise, and four parts displeasure sounded.
"Who goes there?"
A burly man in his thirties, wearing grey short trousers and a tunic, suddenly descended from the sky.
Indeed, he descended from the sky, plummeting straight down from the snowy peak like a hawk hunting for prey, appearing before Li Wuya in the blink of an eye.
Li Wuya hastily retreated, narrowly avoiding the terrifying shockwave caused by his high-speed dive.
Seeing the man less than three meters away from her, Li Wuya cautiously stepped back, looking ready to flee at any moment.
The pressure emanating from this person was so strong that Li Wuya felt a significant sense of danger.
"Kid?"
After taking in Li Wuya's appearance, a look of astonishment crossed the man's genial face. He quickly restrained his aura.
"Whose kid are you?"
"How did you get in?"
"What are you doing here?"
Three consecutive probing questions.
Li Wuya's mind raced as she speculated about this man's identity. After a moment, she replied, "I've come to find my master."
Zhan Peng furrowed his brows, "And who is your master?"
Li Wuya blinked, "My master is Old Man Tianchi."
"What?!"
Zhan Peng was stunned, looking at Li Wuya in amazement. He absentmindedly scratched the back of his head, appearing quite troubled. "That doesn't make sense. Master only has me and Big Senior Brother as his disciples."
Hearing this, Li Wuya felt relieved, realizing she had guessed correctly.
Old Man Tianchi was willing to treat common people for free and even assisted injured hunters in the mountains. He should be a benevolent person. Therefore, his disciple probably wouldn't give her a hard time for accidentally stumbling upon this place.
For the time being, she was safe, and Li Wuya slightly relaxed her guard. She looked at Zhan Peng, surprised to see his puzzled expression as he struggled to understand her claim that Old Man Tianchi was her master.
He doesn't seem very clever!
Zhan Peng gazed at Li Wuya with confusion, shaking his head. "Kid, you must have mistaken your master. Master only has me and Big Senior Brother as his disciples."
"Where did you suddenly pop out from?"
Just as Li Wuya was about to reply, Zhan Peng spoke again, "Don't lie to me, or I'll spank your butt." As he said that, he even raised his fist and gestured as if to emphasize his fake ferocity.
"I'll spank your butt into two parts!"
Li Wuya: facepalm
Seriously, butts naturally have two parts.
Uh, things have gotten twisted!
Li Wuya went into deep thought. She had lied about being Old Man Tianchi's disciple earlier to conveniently display her medical skills. She had done it with the confidence that Old Man Tianchi's elusive nature would prevent any confrontation. But now she was caught red-handed. What should she do?
Lies always run the risk of being exposed. Should she really become a disciple?
Observing Zhan Peng, Li Wuya thought that if she truly became Old Man Tianchi's disciple, Zhan Peng would be her senior brother. His martial arts were formidable, and he might even be a powerful backing.
If his disciples were this impressive, Old Man Tianchi must be even stronger.
With these thoughts, Li Wuya made up her mind, "Old Man Tianchi is really my master. He told me to come here to find him and even taught me how to navigate through the Peach Blossom Valley outside. Otherwise, I wouldn't have ended up here."
Upon hearing this, Zhan Peng scratched his chin, nodding. "Oh, right. There's a maze set up in the Peach Blossom Valley that keeps outsiders away." He then looked at Li Wuya seriously. "Are you really Master's disciple?"
Li Wuya nodded quickly.
Zhan Peng continued, "In that case, you're my little junior sister? But... why have I never seen you before?"
Li Wuya: "Um, you're seeing me right now, aren't you?"
"That's true."
Zhan Peng nodded, looking at Li Wuya with some disdain. "But you're so young. How could Master have accepted you as his disciple?"
"Yeah, I'm also curious how I accepted you as my disciple."
Li Wuya stared wide-eyed, mouth agape, at the suddenly appearing white-haired old man before her.
She was amazed, not because the newcomer appeared out of nowhere or because he had a head full of white hair, but because he was wearing a face mask, a seaweed face mask!
Li Wuya, who had trypophobia, instantly developed goosebumps and shivered.
Wasn't Old Man Tianchi supposed to have an aura of celestial tranquillity?
This vibe seems a bit off!