Chapter 31

Dragons and serpents naturally love to hoard heavenly and earthly treasures, with a particular fondness for gems and pearls. According to the secret realm map, if a tune pleases them, the enlightened dragon-serpent will reward the performer with one of the pearls it has collected.

Some high-level demonic beasts possess inner cores, and some clam spirits contain superior spiritual pearls nurtured over hundreds or thousands of years.

Most cultivators who come here follow the rules, engaging peacefully. Those who break the rules, attempting to forcibly slay the dragon-serpent and seize its treasures, are swallowed whole by the creature.

Yan Qing and Yuan Ye were the closest, and after meeting up early, they found the dragon-serpent just ahead. After exchanging a glance, Yuan Ye pulled out his xiqin (a traditional Chinese bowed string instrument).

Yuan Ye indeed had talent. Uninvolved in the royal court’s schemes, he spent his days carrying a birdcage to watch operas, never forgetting a tune he heard. Yet, he had a knack for causing trouble.

The dragon-serpent would play a note, and Yuan Ye would mimic it exactly on his xiqin, matching the tone and phrasing perfectly. Then, he played the entire tune back to the dragon-serpent, successfully enraging it, leading it to chase him through the forest.

Meanwhile, Yan Qing leisurely jumped into the spiritual stream nearby to start fishing for pearls.

The disciples of the Supreme Sect never follow the rules. If they want something, they take everything in sight.

The elders observing everything: …Well, they truly are disciples of the Supreme Sect.

Some were hesitant to speak, but they soon witnessed something even more audacious.

Earlier, the Supreme Sect’s female disciple who blew up Qianyan Cave had extraordinary luck and found a patch of Wuhuan Grass.

However, a group of demonic beasts was eyeing the grass. The female disciple seemed adept with a whip; it hooked and retracted, gathering all the spiritual plants, weeds or not, in one sweep.

In just a moment, the once-lush meadow looked as if a hundred cows had grazed it, leaving not a trace of green.

Ju Yuan remained composed, thinking that at worst, they would seal off this small world for a while longer to let it recover. After all, the children brought a bag of seeds with them.

Sure enough, after sweeping away all the spiritual plants, Ni Jinxuan took out a handful of seeds and scattered them before hurrying off.

With seven days remaining, she wanted to collect as many spiritual plants as possible for her Uncle Junior Master, believing that the more she gathered, the more useful they’d be.

At this moment, the Uncle Junior Master Ni Jinxuan was thinking of was still in the vast desert.

“Is Lin Du out of his mind? Did he blow a hole and then jump into it? Is he digging a pit to bury himself?”

Complaining as he went, Li Dong couldn’t resist checking it out. If necessary, he figured he could at least fill the hole.

This desert was excessively barren, with hardly any insects in sight. They planned to follow the Supreme Sect disciples, figuring that being the top talents, they must have some methods.

But upon returning, they saw Lin Du jumping into the hole he had just blown open.

Lin Du was examining an exposed rock.

The bones on it were clearly fish fossils.

The ice melted first, indicating that something beneath had better heat conductivity than the soil. Lin Du had thought it might be a metal-bearing formation, but now it seemed to be stone.

Under this desert, there might very well be the walls of a buried city.

As Lin Du pondered this, she noticed the sand starting to fall. She looked up to see Li Dong using his sword to push the sand down.

She straightened up, holding the fossil that had been buried by wind and sand, casually casting a dust-clearing spell, and looked at Li Dong, who had been caught in the act, with a half-smile.

“Freind Li, what do you mean by this?”

Li Dong thought to himself, what else could it be? I was trying to bury you, of course.

But he didn’t dare say it. He couldn’t sense Lin Du’s current cultivation level, but he knew that while he hadn’t yet built his foundation, Lin Du was at least in the Qin Heart Realm. He could only stare at her, swallowing hard, “I… my hand slipped.”

Lin Du responded with an “Oh,” nodded, then turned around and casually tossed the stone in her hand upward.

The pit was extremely deep, but with just a light toss, the stone, as large as a human face, flew out of the pit. Li Dong turned to run but was still struck on the shoulder by the falling stone with a loud thud.

He cried out in pain, his body swaying, “Damn!”

A lazy voice drifted to his ears from below, “My hand slipped.”

Lin Du said this as she leaped upward, her cloak tracing a graceful arc in the air. She met Ni Si’s eyes and raised an eyebrow, “Something wrong?”

Ni Si took a step back, “Just passing by.”

Lin Du nodded, unconcerned, and turned to leave.

Despite being a frail-looking cultivator, even the sturdy Ni Si and Li Dong struggled to keep up with her pace.

Just as they were about to fall behind, the person ahead suddenly stopped.

“I don’t recall keeping two dogs.”

Lin Du had a sharp tongue, but her naturally low voice with a rising tone at the end made even insults sound like playful banter.

The two behind her stiffened.

“Just on the way,” Li Dong stubbornly replied.

Lin Du didn’t turn around, merely acknowledging with an “Oh,” and continued walking toward the only plant within her visible range.

It was a massive red willow, so thick that it would take at least ten people to encircle it.

As they neared the tree, Lin Du stopped and waited for the two behind her.

The two wanted to stop as well but, not wanting to appear like they were literally following Lin Du like dogs, forced themselves to walk past her and continue forward.

“What’s that smell?” Ni Si, being somewhat delicate, felt there was something strange in the air.

Li Dong sniffed hard, “Nothing, just the usual desert scent.”

As they approached the giant tree, something unexpected happened.

A rustling sound, like insects or snakes crawling through the sand, suddenly erupted. The willow branches shot out toward the two who had just walked under the tree canopy.

Lin Du crossed her arms, a glint of interest in her eyes, “Oh ho.”

But in the next second, some of the branches also lunged toward her.

Lin Du swiftly kicked off the ground, leaping backward, and threw a pitch-black “pill” as she did.

With a bang, the branches were blasted apart, not charred like ordinary burnt wood but rather splattered with a dark red liquid.

Lin Du frowned. Something was wrong with this tree.

Red willow was a spiritual plant, and its sap shouldn’t be blood-red. The explosion had not only released a strong medicinal and burnt odor but also a pungent stench.

This willow had become a demon tree, and it must have consumed flesh and blood.

No wonder there were no plants or animals in this area. This thing didn’t discriminate—it devoured everything, not picky at all, even consuming scum.

She narrowed her eyes, watching as the two behind her were clearly overpowered, suspended in the air by the soft yet thick branches. The crimson willow branches wrapped around them like octopus tentacles, tightening visibly.

Li Dong cried out in pain, while Ni Si screamed in panic, then pulled out a spiritual talisman. Gathering her spiritual energy, she struggled to lift her arm and slapped the talisman onto the branch wrapped around her.

In the next moment, flames ignited, and the branches made a strange, piercing sound as they burned. It didn’t sound like burning wood but more like wet pigskin being pressed onto a hot frying pan, sizzling with a sharp hiss.

Lin Du didn’t think she could defeat this thing, so she turned and started walking away, her mind probing into her storage ring, looking through items she had set aside for emergencies.

The ground suddenly shook, and Lin Du, already on high alert, immediately leaped into the air at the sound.

Almost simultaneously, crimson tree roots burst out from the ground, brushing against her as they pierced through the air.