Chapter 271: Ruining Their Dao Hearts
You could say the fate between these two and Song Jiulai ran quite deep.
After all, her rapid progress was all thanks to them!
Song Jiulai had felt so embarrassed taking that Magic Treasure, the Black Demon Seal. They had insisted on gifting it to her.
She simply couldn’t refuse!
Plus, relying on her newly developed Divine Sense, Song Jiulai brazenly extended it to probe the group.
She had known since she entered that the strongest disciples here were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Since they hadn’t yet developed their Sea of Consciousness, she had nothing to fear!
But he was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple, after all. Lü Rufeng was sensitive enough to feel something.
When Song Jiulai noticed his reaction, she quickly pulled her Divine Sense back a bit, keeping it just far enough to track their movements.
Lü Rufeng’s sudden stillness caught Yi Tianhe’s attention. "What is it, Senior Brother?"
Lü Rufeng scanned their surroundings, his eyes wary and dark. "I don’t know. It felt like someone was watching me."
A Cultivator’s senses were rarely wrong. If Lü Rufeng said something, it meant someone was truly nearby.
Yi Tianhe grew cautious as well. She looked around but couldn’t sense anything. "Disciples from other Sects?"
Anyone could enter Tang Valley, as long as they presented a token to the Valley Master.
They had come to Tang Valley because its master possessed a Secret Technique that increased the chance of High-level Spiritual Materials developing a Dragon Breath Spirit.
He also cultivated many rare spirit materials.
Major Sects made deals with him, sending their own disciples to retrieve various spirit materials and Spirit Grass.
The agreement stipulated that disciples sent must be no higher than the Foundation Establishment Stage, and what they could obtain depended entirely on their own strength.
The Valley Master of Tang Valley also had a strange quirk: he kept spiritual beasts he’d raised next to the spirit materials. If you couldn’t defeat the beast, you couldn’t take the material.
The other Sects agreed to these terms.
For Lü Rufeng, retrieving spirit materials on this trip was merely a secondary objective.
"Perhaps," Lü Rufeng replied, his expression dark. He was in a terrible mood.
Yi Tianhe knew why he was in a bad mood.
The Sect had been unable to find any leads regarding the deaths of Lang Yun and the others.
Normally, it wouldn’t have been a major issue. But for some reason, the Taixuan Sect Master had called a meeting yesterday and dredged up the past. The Black Demon Seal was still missing, snatched by a mere Qi Refinement Realm disciple whose whereabouts remained a complete mystery.
The other Sects were still having a field day, laughing at their expense. And though no one mentioned Lü Rufeng by name, his master had still sent a sound transmission yesterday to give him a brutal scolding.
’Senior Brother has been irritable ever since that incident. Now that it’s been brought up again, he’s grown even more morose, and his temper has become dark and unpredictable.’
’Yi Tianhe knew that with this resentment festering in his heart, his chances of reaching Core Formation were becoming a distant prospect.’
’If they had known it would come to this, her senior brother never should have suppressed his cultivation just for the Liuyao Secret Realm. If he’d broken through to the Golden Core Stage sooner, none of this would have occurred.’
Yi Tianhe and Lü Rufeng were childhood friends. If their mission in the Dragon Frost Swamp failed, she didn’t know how the Supreme Mysterious Sect would punish him.
For some reason, as she thought about it, her eyelid twitched. A sudden, groundless feeling of unease washed over her.
She didn’t dare mention this feeling to Lü Rufeng, fearing it would only agitate him further.
She changed the subject. "The Feiling Fruit is just ahead. The elders already confirmed with the Valley Master of Tang Valley that no one has come for it in years. Senior Brother, we just need to retrieve the Feiling Fruit, and everything will be alright."
The Supreme Mysterious Sect hadn’t completely given up on Lü Rufeng either.
Lü Rufeng’s body had been damaged by a restrictive technique. Although the Feiling Fruit was only Fourth Rank, it was exceedingly rare—one of the spirit materials that even a Major Sect would be reluctant to part with.
The one in Tang Valley was the most accessible Feiling Fruit known to exist.
The Feiling Fruit grew in a pool of extreme cold and only bore fruit once every ten years.
Its purpose was to strengthen and nourish; the Fourth Rank Heart Firming Pill that could be refined from it would completely restore Lü Rufeng’s body.
This would ensure there were no complications when he attempted Core Formation.
A Fourth-rank Spiritual Beast, raised by the Valley Master of Tang Valley, guarded the Feiling Fruit.
Though it would be a hassle, it wasn’t something two Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t handle.
It would just take a bit of work.
From this distance, Song Jiulai’s Divine Sense couldn’t quite make out their conversation. She only caught a few blurry words: "...fruit...retrieve..."
Song Jiulai’s eyes suddenly lit up.
’See? I told you these two were good people.’
’They bring me good news the moment we meet.’
’They’re probably here to retrieve something.’
’Lai Cai, follow them.’
Song Jiulai commanded Lai Cai in her mind.
Lai Cai, who had been scurrying about, stopped reluctantly upon hearing the command. After a moment’s hesitation, it darted after them.
’Sure enough, it has a special way of tracking people.’
Even Song Jiulai herself had needed to extend her Divine Sense to find Lü Rufeng and Yi Tianhe; Lai Cai couldn’t possibly see them from its current position.
Lai Cai grumbled internally as it went to follow them. ’So annoying! This is so annoying!’
’Annoying? What’s so annoying? I ask you to do one little thing and you act all worn out. You can’t just eat all day without doing any work!’
Song Jiulai glanced at Shuitan behind her. She figured a conflict was about to break out, so after a moment’s thought, she said, "You go find the Phoenix Cry Bamboo first. I have some business here. I’ll find you later."
Shuitan paused for a moment. He didn’t know what she was up to, but he nodded.
He turned and headed in the opposite direction.
Song Jiulai watched Shuitan’s retreating figure and rubbed her chin. "This kid’s pretty smart."
She hadn’t told him where she was going, but he knew which direction she would take.
System: "He’s not blind. He saw the scorpion crawling."
"..."
Song Jiulai retracted her Divine Sense, letting Lai Cai continue to track Lü Rufeng and Yi Tianhe.
Just as she’d thought. If even Little Cui hadn’t been able to detect Lai Cai, there was no way Lü Rufeng and Yi Tianhe could.
The pair pressed onward, and soon, an area radiating an intensely cold aura appeared before them.
It was a small pond, its clear surface covered with a dense patch of lotus leaves.
And right in the middle was a plant that looked like a green lotus pod, emitting a faint glow.
A single, deep green fruit grew upon it, its color as rich and flawless as the finest jade.
The pond’s surface was placid, but even from a distance, an intensely cold aura radiated from it, enough to make one shiver uncontrollably.
Even with their Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, they could barely withstand it.
The edges of the pond were visibly frozen, yet the center remained completely untouched.
This showed that the water was far less tranquil than it appeared.
Yi Tianhe shivered from the cold, but a look of delight crossed her face as she gazed at the Feiling Fruit. "The quality of this Feiling Fruit is incredible, Senior Brother! We’ve arrived at the perfect time!"
Upon seeing the Feiling Fruit, the gloom on Lü Rufeng’s face finally lifted for a moment, and a hint of relief flickered in his eyes.
He nodded at his junior sister’s words.
The System chimed in at that moment: "This is your cue to jump out and shatter their cultivation hearts."
’What’s the rush?’
Song Jiulai saw that they weren’t immediately picking the fruit, which told her there was more to the situation.