"Hmph! Dream on!"
"You're not thinking straight! This time, the two of us senior and junior brothers were lucky enough to be transported to the same location. That's already a stroke of incredible fortune—at least our chances of survival are much better than the others. We were just lucky to take down that person. Do you really think you're so capable that you can pull this stupid 'wait by the tree stump for a rabbit' trick? Aren't you afraid of running into someone fierce who'll knock your teeth out and cost you your life? Besides, in this godforsaken place, who's going to come here? The smart move is to head for the center area and try to profit from the chaos!"
The older Spirit Beast Mountain disciple was clearly much more domineering and cunning than his younger companion. While lecturing him, he kept vigilantly scanning the surrounding dense forest.
Seeing this, Han Li became even more cautious, pushing his Qi Concealment Art to its limit and completely suppressing his aura, not daring to reveal the slightest trace. As for the foolish notion of taking on two opponents at once, Han Li had never considered it, nor would he be stupid enough to attempt it.
These two disciples had cultivation bases of the twelfth level—one at the early stage, the other at the advanced stage. If they teamed up, he would have no chance of winning. He didn't possess the extraordinary divine abilities to take on a hundred opponents.
Therefore, Han Li could only watch helplessly as the two finished pulling the last Frost Herbs from the pool's edge and burned the Heavenly Gate Fortress disciple's corpse to ashes. Finally, the pair placed the Ice Toads into a red leather pouch and vanished into the dense forest on the opposite side.
The moment the two left, Han Li did not immediately rise to his feet. Instead, after a considerable amount of time had passed, he shook off the fallen leaves covering him and straightened up, gazing thoughtfully in the direction the two had disappeared.
It seemed there were quite a few people with ideas similar to his own.
That was hardly surprising. After all, those who dared to take the risk and participate in the Blood Trial—how many of them weren't dreaming of the heavenly spiritual herbs at the center? A fierce battle was inevitable! After all, the heavenly spiritual herbs that appeared and ripened each time were extremely limited in number, far too few for all the sects to share.
Han Li stood in place for a while, his expression dark, thinking bitterly.
He had personally witnessed the Blue-Robed Man—someone just as cautious and careful as himself—vanish silently from the world. And how many such incidents were playing out in the corners of this forbidden ground, unknown to anyone? This shook Han Li's confidence in achieving his goals even further.
He truly didn't know whether coming to this forbidden ground had been the right decision or not. Perhaps, had he simply taken those two Foundation Establishment Pills, he could have succeeded in establishing his Foundation without needing to take such an enormous risk.
Han Li thought dejectedly, a faint notion of turning back creeping into his mind. After all, it was easy to talk tough, but when the shadow of death truly loomed over one's heart, it was impossible not to feel agitated and uneasy.
Several hours later, Han Li set off from the spot. Judging by his direction of travel, he was still heading toward the center of the forbidden ground.
After considerable deliberation, Han Li's rationality had won out. He knew the thoughts he'd just had were merely excuses for his own cowardice. Therefore, steeling himself, he continued on his way.
Han Li did not follow behind the pair. Instead, he took a slightly longer route, making a detour and advancing indirectly. Even though the Spirit Beast Mountain disciples' path was the shortest and fastest, Han Li chose to avoid them.
It wasn't that Han Li worried the pair could detect him through their own abilities. Rather, he was deeply wary of Spirit Beast Mountain's bizarre and unusual beast-controlling techniques. He didn't know if they had special methods to detect his tailing through other means, so it was better to keep his distance.
After all, back when he had a Cloud-Wing Bird that was just beginning to show signs of sentience, he could already track and monitor certain people from a long distance. Presumably, Spirit Beast Mountain's similar beast-controlling techniques would be even more concealed and eerie. They were all cultivators, after all—their methods were far beyond anything from the mortal martial world!
Speaking of the Cloud-Wing Bird, Han Li felt a twinge of regret. When he first entered Yellow Maple Valley, in order to avoid attracting attention, he had released the Cloud-Wing Bird into the Taiyue Mountain Range to roam freely.
At first, the bird still frequently returned to its master Han Li, begging for its favorite "Yellow Chestnut Pellets."
But as time passed, its visits grew increasingly rare. By the time Han Li realized his mistake, the bird had completely gone wild. After one of its flights away, it never returned. This caused Han Li considerable heartache, for if it were here now, it would have been quite useful during this forbidden ground expedition.
Han Li didn't know that this decision to take a detour had actually saved him from a disaster.
The two Spirit Beast Mountain disciples, ever since they left Black Dragon Pool together, had each released swarms of colorful flying moths from their respective pockets.
These brilliantly colored insects, upon being released, immediately scattered, densely covering an area of over a hundred zhang. The colors on their bodies gradually shifted and changed, slowly blending with the surrounding scenery, creating similar hues. If one didn't look carefully, they would be nearly impossible to notice.
Moreover, even if some observant person did spot the moths, they would most likely assume them to be natural creatures within the forbidden ground and wouldn't suspect anything.
In this way, these colorful moths became the duo's natural sentries. The moment anyone approached their perimeter, the two would be immediately alerted, allowing them to prepare countermeasures in advance.
This living early warning network composed of numerous insects was truly impeccable in its alarm capability—a signature skill of Spirit Beast Mountain disciples. Even disciples from other sects who knew about it in advance were still helpless against these insects. There was no way to bypass them for a stealthy ambush.
In truth, Han Li had already had a stroke of great luck at Black Dragon Pool. The Spirit Beast Mountain pair hadn't released the moths at the pool itself, but only after departing. Otherwise, Han Li would certainly have been unable to escape their detection.
This wasn't due to the pair being careless and forgetting about it. Rather, these moths were innately afraid of cold—even a slight drop in temperature would cause them to freeze to death. It had to be said this was a regrettable limitation.
And the waters of Black Dragon Pool were naturally peculiar, incomparably freezing, turning the large area around the pool into a winter-like environment. Under such conditions, how could they dare release the moths, essentially sending them to their deaths?
Han Li remained completely unaware that he had narrowly avoided disaster. He was standing beneath a peculiar cliff face, looking down at two gruesome corpses at his feet, silent and still.
One corpse wore black tight-fitting clothes and had a burly build with large, thick hands. A thin crimson line of blood marked his neck, his eyes wide open on his face, his expression one of unwilling defiance—as if he had died utterly unwilling to accept his fate. From his appearance, he was likely a disciple of the Giant Sword Sect.
The other had a medium build, his flesh mangled and battered. Most notably, his face was completely devoid of features, pierced straight through from front to back by a massive sword, pinning him alive to the ground. Brain matter and blood had spilled across the floor. Yet on the curled ring finger of his right hand, several loops of strange transparent silk thread were wound, glistening faintly under the sunlight.
Han Li studied the Giant Sword Sect disciple's corpse for a long time. Suddenly, he lifted his toe and lightly kicked the head with the red line at the neck. Instantly, the enormous head rolled away without any resistance whatsoever.
This person had long since been separated from his body.
Han Li sighed, then looked at the other corpse—whose identity needed no guessing. Although its face was gone, the yellow robe identical to his own was proof enough. He had no idea which Yellow Maple Valley senior or junior brother this was!
Clearly, the two had perished in mutual destruction.
Han Li raised his head, staring motionless at the cliff top, but his mind had already drawn its conclusions. In his imagination, he reconstructed the scene of how these two must have encountered each other and immediately launched into battle.
From the various signs, the Giant Sword Sect person had been slightly stronger than this Yellow Maple Valley senior brother.
The yellow-robed corpse's mangled flesh and numerous wounds, along with the black-clad man's unwilling expression, all pointed to this conclusion.
And this unidentified senior brother, though at a disadvantage, had clearly been someone who enjoyed playing tricks as well. The magical treasure he'd used was actually those transparent silk threads. He must have exploited his opponent's carelessness, thinking victory was at hand, and launched a surprise attack at the final moment, severing the other man's head with this very tool—resulting in the Giant Sword Sect man's death.
But he obviously hadn't expected that, for some unknown reason, the black-clad man had still retained enough strength before dying to launch his giant sword. One thrust had pinned this yellow-robed fellow—whether unable to dodge due to his severe injuries or犯了同样错误 (having made the same mistake due to his imminent victory)—to the ground, resulting in a brutal death battle with no victor.