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Song Ziyan and Mu Xingchen, as the male cultivators in the team, immediately joined the group that was drawing the attention of the Black-winged Griffin after Li Taiwen led the charge.
A true man cannot be cowardly!
Seeing this, the other male disciples from various sects quickly followed suit, rushing out of their respective groups.
In no time, the sky was filled with the shrill cries of the Black-winged Griffins, and the scene became extremely chaotic.
As the male cultivators from each sect successfully attracted the Black-winged Griffins’ attention, the female cultivators seized the opportunity to quietly approach the Thunderfire Tree.
Some even had the audacity to stealthily use invisibility talismans on themselves.
Little did they know that the Black-winged Griffins, possessing the strength of a Nascent Soul stage, had an incredibly strong perception of spiritual energy fluctuations.
Even though they might be invisible, the spiritual fluctuations and the scent emanating from the Thunderfire Fruit could not be concealed.
Once the fruit was taken, there would inevitably be a spiritual energy fluctuation, no matter how slight, that the Black-winged Griffins would detect, revealing the cultivator’s position—even if they were invisible.
Just as Ye Qingning used her Cloud-Stepping Technique to approach the Thunderfire Tree, she heard the sound of a whistling wind.
One of the Black-winged Griffins dove from mid-air, its massive claws coming down fiercely at a branch of the tree.
“Ah—!”
A female cultivator’s scream pierced the night sky.
Crimson blood gushed out in a fountain, and the cultivator lost her invisibility, falling straight down to the ground.
The Thunderfire Fruit she had just managed to pick also fell to the ground, rolling aside.
The fruit was quickly picked up by another hand.
“What are you doing! That was my fruit!”
The female cultivator from the Wuliang Sect, despite her arm being drenched in blood from the Black-winged Griffin’s claws, no longer cared about the pain and angrily shouted at the female cultivator from the Tianyu Sect who had picked up the Thunderfire Fruit.
“What do you mean it was yours? The fruit just rolled to me!”
“You shameless thing! Give it back to me!”
“Dream on! This fruit is for my senior brother, and I won’t give it to you! I’m leaving first!”
The female cultivator from Tianyu Sect said as she turned and tried to run. These beasts were terrifying, and she didn’t have time for more arguments. If she didn’t run, she might lose her life!
She wisely stashed the Thunderfire Fruit in her mustard seed bag, sealing in its scent.
“Stop! You little bitch! If you don’t return the Thunderfire Fruit, I’ll never let you off!”
The female cultivator from Wuliang Sect screamed in fury, but the Tianyu Sect disciple didn’t respond, flying away as fast as she could, her heart filled with exhilaration.
“Junior Sister, watch out behind you! Run!” shouted the male cultivator from Tianyu Sect who was also attracting the attention of another Black-winged Griffin.
He gripped his long sword and leapt toward her.
But it was too late. The female cultivator didn’t react in time and was grabbed by the Black-winged Griffin’s sharp claws, which tore through her back.
The Black-winged Griffin landed on the ground, slashing the earth with its claws, leaving a deep scar.
The female cultivator, with her back pierced, fell to the ground, blood staining the earth. The mustard seed bag in her hand was nowhere to be found.
She only vaguely saw a figure flash by like lightning but couldn’t see who it was.
“Junior Sister! Junior Sister!” The male cultivator shouted, hurriedly pulling out medicine and feeding it to her.
Another male cultivator from Tianyu Sect rushed over. Seeing the horrifying wound and her fading breath, his heart filled with anger. He brandished his sword and furiously attacked the Black-winged Griffin.
Another cultivator took the opportunity to lift the injured female cultivator and retreat to a safe area.
Compared to the Thunderfire Fruit, the life of his Junior Sister was obviously more important.
“You deserve it! You absolutely deserve it! You dared to snatch my Thunderfire Fruit, this is your retribution!”
The female cultivator from Wuliang Sect, clutching her almost severed arm, staggered to her feet, still unwilling to give up on the Thunderfire Fruit.
In her heart, she couldn’t help but envy the Tianyu Sect female cultivator who was protected by her fellow sect members after being injured.
Unlike her, her senior brothers only had eyes for their younger sister. Even if she lost her arm, all they saw was their little sister.
The female cultivator from Wuliang Sect sighed and looked up to see that, at some point, another Thunderfire Fruit had mysteriously disappeared from the tree.
In mid-air, the two Black-winged Griffins let out sharp, piercing cries and dove toward the position of the Thunderfire Tree.
It seemed that the Griffins were enraged. Their claws streaked through the air, creating a blur, as they tore wildly at the Thunderfire Fruit Tree.
At this moment, everyone saw a slender figure leap down from the tree. The figure moved nimbly between the branches, avoiding the Black-winged Griffins’ attacks just in time.
They were stunned and never expected that a food cultivator could display such swift and agile movement!
Ye Qingning’s light body jumped down from the tree, but there was no time to pick the last Thunderfire Fruit.
However, she had secretly transmitted a message to Si Qian.
“Qian, you go ahead! I’ll hold them off!” Bai Wei, gripping her long sword, its blade glinting coldly, swung at one of the Black-winged Griffins.
“Ye, Junior Sister, hurry and leave! Bai Wei and I will deal with them!” Si Nan, a weapon and sword cultivator, cooperated with Bai Wei to hold off the Black-winged Griffins’ attacks.
Unfortunately, the two of them weren’t strong enough to defeat the Black-winged Griffins, so they could only delay them as best they could.
“I got it! Ye, Junior Sister, go!” Si Qian seized the opportunity to grab the last Thunderfire Fruit, moving just ahead of the other cultivators who were trying to snatch it.
Ye Qingning didn’t hesitate. Her body moved like the wind as she and Si Qian quickly escaped. She had already stated earlier that whoever obtained the Thunderfire Fruit must immediately escape without hesitation! Otherwise, they would be surrounded by the Black-winged Griffins and face certain death.
“The Thunderfire Fruit has been taken by the disciples of the Penglai Sect! Stop worrying about the Griffins, chase them!” a female cultivator from the Wanfu Sect shouted.
She wore a face full of frustration as she couldn’t get the fruit herself but didn’t want anyone else to have it either.
With the Thunderfire Fruit gone, the Black-winged Griffins, already in a frenzy, split into two groups: half pursued Ye Qingning and Si Qian, while the other half continued to attack the sect disciples in the air.
There were already many Black-winged Griffins, and their strength was overwhelming. The sect disciples had no choice but to focus on escaping to avoid being surrounded.
Forget about the Thunderfire Fruit; survival was the most important thing now!
On the other side…
“Damned birds! How can they fly so fast!” Si Qian cursed loudly as she ran. She had never been chased by a group of birds before.
Despite using a speed talisman, she still couldn’t shake off the Black-winged Griffins.
Dozens of Black-winged Griffins had locked onto them, and no matter how they tried to evade, they couldn’t escape.
Ye Qingning knew they couldn’t keep being chased like this. She turned to Si Qian and asked, “Do you have any invisibility talismans?”
Si Qian nodded. “Yes, I do!”
“Use it. Don’t use any spiritual power. We’ve already stashed the Thunderfire Fruit, so they can’t smell it. As long as you don’t use spiritual power, the Black-winged Griffins shouldn’t be able to find you. Hide well and wait for me to lead them away. Then you can find a safe place to hide!”
“What about you?” Si Qian asked anxiously, pulling out two invisibility talismans.
“Don’t worry about me. If both of us use invisibility, they will target us, and there’s a chance we’ll be caught in the chaos. I’ll figure it out and get away.” Ye Qingning replied.
But Si Qian wasn’t convinced and handed her one of the talismans. “We’ll split up! Take this talisman, and once we’re separated, you can use it to hide.”
“Okay.” Ye Qingning, not wanting to make Si Qian worry, took the talisman and ran in the opposite direction.
At the same time, she threw a few fire talismans at the Black-winged Griffins to distract them.
As expected, she immediately enraged the Griffins, which turned their attention toward her.
Ye Qingning swiftly retreated, racing in the opposite direction. Si Qian used the talisman and quickly vanished from their sight.
Suddenly, the Black-winged Griffins’ cries grew louder as they realized that one target was missing.
The chaotic scene was now more dangerous than ever, and escape was their only hope.