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In the dense jungle, towering trees reached into the heavens.
There weren't many low shrubs on the ground.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, creating a mottled silhouette on the ground.
In the mountains and forests, a stream burbled along.
A young girl flitted through the forest like a sprite, following the stream.
It was Yu Qingtan on the move.
To be able to utilize the Water Escape Technique to avoid danger in time, she had found a stream flowing from the central direction as her main travel route.
Her Spirit Stones were not plentiful, so she had to be economical with them.
Thus, even when she had come across a group of Demonic Beasts surrounding and attacking Human Race cultivators, she had chosen to flee.
Because there were two first-stage late phase Demonic Beasts and no Tianxiang Pavilion cultivators present.
Approaching noon, Yu Qingtan unexpectedly found a team composed of more than a dozen cultivators.
Among them, there were two Protecting Disciples and three Tianxiang Pavilion inner disciples.
"Who goes there?" asked a cultivator on lookout duty, spotting the approaching Yu Qingtan as the group rested.
Hearing the sound, others also looked over on alert.
Then, seeing that it was a member of the Human Race, they relaxed considerably.
The two Tianxiang Pavilion disciples stepped forward to greet her.
"Qing Tan, it's really you, it's great to see you alive!" one of them said with some joy. Yu Qingtan recognized the woman as Qi Yu, skilled at playing the pipa, who had been an inner disciple for several years and was a member of the orchestra that had come to the Ges'.
The two had a brief chat and held a favorable impression of each other.
The other, Lin Qiushuang, was also a senior disciple, who was originally slated to perform a dance with Shen Wanning and others, appeared rather aloof. Yu Qingtan had not spoken with her before.
Now, Lin Qiushuang also spoke, "It's good that you're alive."
"Thank you both for your concern, I've just been lucky. Have you seen Wanning?" Yu Qingtan asked.
"No, I've asked others too. We've come across three sisters from our pavilion, but unfortunately... sigh..."
At this time, a male cultivator in his forties approached and said to Yu Qingtan, "Fellow Tianxiang Pavilion cultivator, I am Ge Yongcheng, the ninth elder of the Ges. We are deeply ashamed for the disaster that befell at our family's event. Right now, the only way we can survive is to band together!"
"Elder Ge is right. I am Yu Qingtan of the Tianxiang Pavilion. I'll have to trouble you then!" Yu Qingtan had been planning to join this small group for the time being.
In a family like the Ges, to become an elder, one must at least have reached the ninth layer of Qi Cultivation.
Introduced by Ge Yongcheng and Qi Yu, Yu Qingtan got to know everyone in the group.
Ge Yongcheng also took out some food from his Storage Bag and shared it with Yu Qingtan.
The small team had five members of the Ges because Ge Yongcheng possessed a Magic Artifact that could detect Ges disciples within a certain distance.
The rest were guests of the Ges.
The team had five cultivators at the late phase of Qi Cultivation.
Originally, there were more in the small group, but they had encountered a pack of Two-tailed Leopards before and, after a fierce battle in which they lost seven or eight people, they had barely managed to repel the leopards and escape.
After resting for a while, the small group continued on their way, also heading towards the center.
It wasn't for the sake of opportunity, but mainly to make it easier to meet up with others.
This move by the Demonic Beasts could have been an attempt to eliminate them, to create a gap in the strength of the Human Race in Suichuan Immortal City.
Thus, the group avoided Desolate Beasts when possible.
They encountered Demonic Beasts two more times.
A first-stage late phase Demon Tiger, which the group easily surrounded and subdued.
Five Demon Apes put up a tough fight, but after a fierce battle, the team killed them all, though they lost one more person from their ranks.
Yu Qingtan and her two companions did not step in; everyone knew they were not good at fighting.
The group didn't dare to travel too fast. Although Qi Yu and Lin Qiushuang were very tired, they clenched their teeth and persevered.
Yu Qingtan appeared much more at ease, which surprised everyone, though they didn't say anything.
As the group was passing through a narrow valley, a thin mist began to form in the woods.
Soon, the fog thickened, and Yu Qingtan realized she could only see clearly for about two Zhang around her.
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"Something's wrong, everyone, gather around me!"
It was Ge Yongcheng's voice.
People hurriedly moved towards the source of the voice.
Ge Yongcheng glanced around and saw no one was missing.
But his heart sank deeper with the thickening fog.
"Thump~" Someone fell over, the youngest disciple of the Ges, only twelve years old.
Ge Yongcheng quickly went over to check and found the kid had fainted.
Then, Qi Yu also fell to one side, and Yu Qingtan, with quick reflexes, caught her.
Very soft.
Yu Qingtan gently placed her on the ground.
Because Lin Qiushuang was also on the verge of collapsing.
The crowd panicked, with several of them shouting loudly.
"Ah, I feel so dizzy, someone come save me~"
"What the hell is this place, I want to get out~"
"Sure enough, I won't make it out of the Trial Demon Tower alive, ah~"
"Don't play tricks like this, if you have the guts, come out and fight to the death~"
Even one person screamed and rushed into the thick fog.
After Lin Qiushuang also fainted clutching her head, Yu Qingtan did not feel any discomfort.
However, she too lay down immediately, closing her eyes and pretending to have fainted.
Before long, even Ge Yongcheng, who had the highest cultivation level, had fallen.
The entire valley became incredibly silent.
After a while, with light flapping sounds, a Desolate Beast butterfly, three feet long, flew out of the dense fog.
It was about to land on Qi Yu, who was lying not far from Yu Qingtan, when—
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~" Three Water Blades suddenly appeared and swiftly sliced towards it.
Everything happened so suddenly and the distance so close.
Even though the butterfly vigorously flapped its wings to dodge, the Water Blades still sliced through its belly, causing it to fall to the ground lifeless.
The one who had made the move was naturally Yu Qingtan, who was also using "Love's Protection" from Hao Can.
However, Yu Qingtan had not expected that the Desolate Beast, exuding the aura of a late first-stage, would be killed by her in one strike.
In fact, this Desolate Beast was a Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly, skilled in creating a dense fog with a unique scent that led enemies into illusions. If even those in the early stages of Foundation Establishment did not leave the fog in time, they could be affected.
Inside the Trial Demon Tower, the Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly was almost invincible, and this valley was also a forbidden zone for Demonic Beasts.
Unfortunately, except for its large-scale attacks, the Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly's other means of attack and defense were poor. And for some unknown reason, its big move was ineffective against Yu Qingtan, which led to its pitiful death by her hands.
With the death of the Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly, the dense fog began to slowly dissipate.
Taking advantage of the time left with "Love's Protection," Yu Qingtan searched the valley and indeed found its nest on one of the cliff walls.
"Jackpot~" Inside there were over a hundred Wasteland Crystals and a few unrecognizable ores.
Additionally, there was a seed as big as a fist.
With its shape and some characteristics resembling a fruit pit, Yu Qingtan deduced it was a seed, but she did not recognize it.
Yu Qingtan discreetly put these items into her System Space, leaving only four or five Wasteland Crystals behind.
Returning to where everyone had fainted, the fog was already thin, but, unfortunately, the others had not woken up yet.
After another quarter of an hour, Ge Yongcheng was the first to awake.
Sitting up, his first action was to look around warily, and he noticed Yu Qingtan meditating and the body of the Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly not far away.
Yes, Yu Qingtan had not collected it.
"Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly~" Ge Yongcheng obviously recognized this Desolate Beast and felt a wave of fear.
"Fellow Daoist Yu, was it you who killed this Phantom Mist Desolate Butterfly?" Ge Yongcheng looked at Yu Qingtan with astonishment and suspicion.