After about thirty minutes, from a distance appeared a woman in white on top of a flying sword rapidly approaching them; her hand was holding the “distressed signal” talisman.
When she was about to pass through the boundary of the Small Clear Sky Peak, the restriction spell was automatically activated, but then she flicked the talisman and was able to pass through.
A moment later, her flying sword, along with her, landed on the ground. Several black and white and blue and white disciples saluted her. “Fifth Martial Aunt!”
“No need to be polite.” The woman in white looked at the crowd and then looked at the three monsters kneeling in a row; she could not help but laugh. “Well, this is not so bad. The casualties seem to be light.”
Yue Yun said, “It’s all thanks to Senior Brother Wang Lu’s amazing ability.”
“Ah, and you are… Yue Yun, who entered the sect four years ago, right?” The woman earnestly sized up this younger disciple and then looked at the wreckage of that rock and stone cage not too far away from them; she then commented, “When Second Brother said that you are willing to sacrifice and endure hardship for other cultivators, he was indeed telling the truth. You’ve tried to sacrifice yourself to cover your Junior Brother and Sister’s retreat; as the team leader of this trip, your courage is indeed commendable.”
In his heart, Yue Yun was pleasantly surprised. According to rumors, this Fifth Martial Aunt had always been on a discord with on the Misty Peak, and though they rarely met, he always thought she was an incredibly impolite elder; he had never expected to receive praise from her!
“However…” The woman in white changed the subject and said, “Although willingness to sacrifice is good, senseless sacrifice is useless. You should know that you’re lucky to just suffer severe wounds from facing off against two Stone Wood Apes, so why didn’t you team up with Huo Ying?”
Yue Yun explained, “Because at that time, I didn’t know the extent of Senior Brother Wang Lu’s ability yet, and my Junior Brothers and Sisters needed someone to protect them, so I arranged for Junior Sister Huo Ying to…”
“Need someone to protect? That’s stupid! You two are the team leaders, not these kids’ nannies! This trip is not designed to just give these kids ‘simulated’ fear, but rather for them to experience a real ‘life or death’ ordeal so that when they go out of the sect in the future, they wouldn’t die too soon! You think encountering two Stone Wood Apes and a Full Moon Roar is already a difficult situation? When your Master and I did something similar to this in the past, from the initial team of one hundred cultivators, only ten survived. That’s a real ‘trial by fire’. What you got here is too far from it!”
Cold sweat continued to stream out of Yue Yun as he listened to her speech. There were indeed quite many stipulations from the handbook of the trip that he didn’t follow… However, his Master had always been vague and remained tight-lipped about the previous trips when his Master was still young, so when he heard about its rate of survival, his heart couldn't help but turn cold.
“Don’t think about it too much, you actually did a good job. The rest of you, don’t feel too bad about this result; the path of Immortal Cultivation, after all, couldn’t be rushed. Although your journey stops here, you have gained enough experience to absorb in quite a while.”
After she had finished speaking, she handed out several green bamboo swords to them. “Each of you, take one of these. I’ve already set the destination to the Four Divisions Peak.”
The Four Divisions Peak was the peak that connected all the twelve peaks on the Spirit Sword Mountain, so this setting was appropriate. Yue Yun and the rest of them nodded, and one by one, they took that green bamboo sword.
However, just as they were about to leave, they noticed the Fifth Elder didn’t try to move, and Wang Lu also quietly stood beside her. Yue Yun was curious and asked them, “Fifth Martial Aunt, aren’t you going to leave with us?”
The woman froze for a moment, and then coughed. “It’s like this… Since monsters seem to appear at the same time and place in this Full Moon Valley and intentionally targeted you, I’m afraid there’s something fishy happening here. If there are some problems with the restriction spells in this Small Clear Sky Peak and we just left them like that, it would give us more trouble in the future. Therefore, Wang Lu and I are going to check the nearby restriction spells; this is also an excellent opportunity for me to teach him.”
Yue Yun and the rest suddenly sighed. They all thought, “Successor Disciple is indeed a Successor Disciple. No matter how unreliable the Master is, he still has countless learning opportunities compared to the other disciples... No wonder he can withstand the full strength attack of the Full Moon Roar even though he is still in the Body Refining Stage.”
“Moreover, Fifth Elder isn’t as bad as rumored. Not only did she seem to be caring about the younger disciples, she even takes into account the safety of this place by checking the surrounding restriction spells. She truly is a model for responsibility and meticulousness!”
With a reverent gaze, Yue Yun and the rest left the Clear Sky Peak riding on top of that green bamboo sword. When their figures disappeared in the sea of clouds, the woman in white couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing.
“Hahaha, they really believed it!”
The nearby Wang Lu shrugged. “Deceiving a few kids is not something to be proud of, you know? Currently, there are no sect rules against what you just did to those kids… Otherwise, I would feel sorry for deceiving an honest man like Yue Yun. But never mind that, the question is, how do we deal with the Sect Leader and the rest of the Elders?”
The woman confidently patted her plump chest. “Of course, to deny everything! Deny, deny, deny! What do you think?”
“... Master, I want to ask you a question regarding a Successor Disciple.”
“Okay, ask away.”
“If the Master of a Successor Disciple is fired from the position of Elder, will the disciple still retain the Successor Disciple identity?”
“... Damn, have a bit of confidence in me, will you? How could this trivial thing shake my position as an Elder? ... Um, probably not.” In the end, the Fifth Elder had a twinge of guilty conscience. “So, we better hurry up.”
With that, she mounted her bamboo sword and pulled Wang Lu up. “Spunk up, specialized herbology course’ top student, this is a rare opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted even for a minute.”
“Ha! You also know that this is a rare opportunity! Without me helping you, you wouldn’t have the chance to enter this Clear Sky Peak for another one hundred years! So, how are you going to thank me?”
His Master magnanimously offered, “Fifty-fifty!”
“Deal! But first, we need to find the Cinnabar Fruit.”
“No problem, I also need that thing. Let’s pick enough of them first!”
Amidst her long laugh, the bamboo sword flew through the Full Moon Valley and proceeded into the Azure Dragon Gorge! Azure Dragon Gorge was also the boundary of the Small Clear Sky Peak and the place where the products were the richest; third or fourth rank spirit grasses were abound.
Of course, correspondingly, the place also teemed with a lot of category three or up monsters, which was far from what any low-level cultivator could contend… However, in theory, a cultivator, who has reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, could easily deal with the monsters there; the sect rules forbade them from arbitrarily entering the Small Clear Sky Peak though.
Thus, some herbal plants in the Small Clear Sky Peak were particularly precious. These riches, by sect rules, could only be enjoyed by the younger disciples who dared to challenge their limit.
However, this amazing riches of the Spirit Sword Sect was astonishingly plundered. Like a brutal invasion of porcupines, a guide carefully directed the other one to quickly and efficiently pick the various species of rare spirit grasses.
“There, at eleven o’clock, five hundred meters away from here on that platform. According to the information described in the book, it’s the growth spot for the spirit mushroom in the Azure Dragon Gorge. There’s a big probability that we can collect thousands of years old spirit mushrooms there.”
Standing on top of the flying bamboo sword, Wang Lu was holding a volume of “Records of Clear Sky”. Combined with his herbology knowledge, he pointed to his Master where the growth site of the precious plants was.
His Master swiftly reacted and directed the flying bamboo sword to the growth place of spirit mushrooms. When the green ray of light approached, it terrified the several nearby monsters, and they fled in panic and disarray.
They were supposed to be the category three monsters which guarded the place and would have been a nearly insurmountable obstacle for junior disciples who were still in Qi Cultivating Stage. For many years, only a few lucky ones who were able to fool this guardian had picked the precious spirit mushrooms… But now, the approaching Fifth Elder only needed to release her Jindan Stage aura a little bit to “shock and awe” these monsters so that they scatter away.
“Nice! Water Spirit Mushroom, Wood Spirit Mushroom, both of them are precious millennium years old medicinal plants. Azure Dragon Gorge indeed lives up to its name.” The woman in white picked up the two herbs on the platform which were surrounded with thick spiritual energy, and then she wrapped them up tightly so that their medicinal power wouldn’t leak.
Wang Lu nodded from the side. “This should be a certain spiritual energy node on the Clear Sky Peak, which is particularly suitable for the growth of spiritual mushroom with medicinal properties. Unfortunately, the legendary thousand years old Flesh Spirit Mushroom is not here.”
“No problem; the quantity can always make up for the quality. If we can’t have a thousand years old of that, we can pick many of the five hundred or six hundred years old one.”
“The hell! You even want to harvest a five hundred years old loli grass? Do you want to harvest them all?”
“In any case, I won’t be able to come here for at least another one hundred years. If I don’t take them now, wouldn’t that mean I left them for someone else?”
Seeing her Master’s delicate hands swiftly and accurately pluck all kinds of spirit mushroom regardless of their age, Wang Lu sighed with sorrow. He felt that his Master’s character was very poor. As expected, she looted them all [1] in total disregard of the sustainable development. Now, he needed to think of a way to distance himself from her deed.
He thought, “I’ve got it! I will just tell the others that I was being forced. Considering Master’s pass ‘deeds’, no one would believe that this is just a false accusation.”
The Fifth Elder was oblivious to the fact that her disciple was ready to sell her out; she was completely immersed in the happy feeling of one who just got a huge windfall.
“Very good! There’s Cinnabar Fruit, Golden Thread Grass, and two one thousand years old spirit mushrooms. Now, I can make my thousand spirit pills! Haha, come on, let’s continue! After this, I’ll brew that Cinnabar Fruit for us!”
Seeing his Master was about to advance triumphantly, Wang Lu hurriedly stopped her. “Damn! Don’t go overboard, will you! If you don’t know how to stop, Sect Leader or Disciplinary Elder will catch you in the act, and they will force you to hand over your harvest!”
Being reminded by Wang Lu, the Master was suddenly enlightened. “Good point! Okay, let’s call it a day… We must leave now so that we won’t get caught!”
Before she even finished speaking, she already mounted the bamboo sword and, along with Wang Lu, flew away from the Clear Sky Peak.
A few moment later, a golden sword light descended from the sky and landed on that platform of spirit mushroom. The golden light dissipated and revealed a furious old man. He was the Second Elder, Liu Xian, who immediately rushed to come here after he debriefed his disciples.
The old man looked down at the messed up platform and then looked around and found out that several spots where the most valuable herb grew have been ruined; they had suffered disastrous damage!
Although he was not responsible for this act, it was his disciple who re-set the “distressed-signal” talisman and released it, and that scumbag Elder took that opportunity to launch a sneak attack… If the owner of the Clear Sky Speak who was currently wandering came back, how could he explain about this!?
“Wang Wu...Wang Wu! Wang Wu!!!”
Liu Xian really couldn’t control his emotion this time. He looked up and bellowed in rage!
[1] Originally: Kill all, burn all, loot all.