This Saintess is suspicious.
Planting the fake Lingcao at a remote spot along a small path leading to a major resource point, Hua Jian skillfully hid herself, then mused silently in her heart.
She felt that Linglong’s gaze at her was a bit strange. Yesterday, Linglong looked at her with that sort of indifferent, cold expression, as if she was a stranger of no importance.
But today, after finishing her cultivation and opening her eyes, she found that there was a trace of indescribable gentleness in Linglong’s gaze.
Hiss… this is way too odd.
Could it be that the Dragon Blood is finally awakening, making this Half-Dragon Saintess so desperate she’s not picky anymore?
But this is way too bold and unrestrained. Hua Jian admitted that she was indeed beautiful, with a pair of rare, colorful eyes, but that was no reason for the Saintess— such a great beauty herself— to stare at her like that.
After all, they’re both girls right now.
Sneaking a glance at Linglong, who was standing by the trap and observing it with her head lowered, Hua Jian’s mind went blank for a moment, then she finally realized what Linglong was doing.
Oh my god! Are you just standing there so everyone knows something’s wrong with this spot?
Hua Jian sprang out of her hiding place, grabbed Linglong’s arm, and dragged her away. “Just follow me, will you? Stop messing things up!”
This is the deep mountains and old forests— you’re dressed all in white, standing here like a female ghost. What cultivator would dare approach this area?
Linglong standing here was like a blaring siren— anyone would be startled by her and sense danger, then flee at once.
Every prey that escapes is at least five Spirit Stones lost income!
Hua Jian’s heart bled. Just thinking about how many Spirit Stones she might miss out on in just this short while made her want to bite a chunk out of Linglong.
“Is this how you usually do bad things?”
“I have plenty of tricks. I even like to swoop in and profit after others have fought and snatched the treasures.” Dragging Linglong to the hiding spot, Hua Jian pressed her head down to make her crouch, growling fiercely.
This Secret Realm has the longest allowed stay; each person can only remain for three months at a time.
Once three months are up, the Space Stone will automatically activate and send the cultivator out of the Secret Realm.
And Linglong Pavilion has also set up several fixed space exits within the Secret Realm.
If you leave through one of these exits, the Space Stone won’t be triggered, and you can return the intact Space Stone to Linglong Pavilion to get a coupon worth fifty Spirit Stones off your next entry into the Secret Realm.
In other words, the Space Stone itself is worth fifty Spirit Stones.
“Lurking at the Exit Point is also a good choice. Too bad there isn’t a suitable Exit Point nearby, otherwise I wouldn’t have to fish for souls like this.”
“You can’t just use the term ‘possess’ so carelessly. That’s a very evil spell.” Linglong corrected Hua Jian very seriously.
In the cultivation world, the term ‘possess’ was nearly a taboo— only the most vicious and brutal Demonic Cultivators would practice such forbidden arts.
Although what Hua Jian was doing was a bit shady, compared to the real ways of the demonic path, it was far better.
Besides, Linglong was already eyeing Hua Jian herself— she couldn’t possibly bring a little junior sister back to the sect who went around spouting ‘possess’ all the time, right?
So, it had to change!
“So sensitive, huh. Fine, fine, I won’t say it anymore, alright?” Seeing Linglong’s serious expression, Hua Jian quickly nodded.
Looks like in this cultivation world, ‘possession’ is really an unspeakable secret art…
Hua Jian wasn’t the stubborn type. Since the Saintess was this serious about reminding her, she didn’t mind accepting her suggestion.
“Shh, looks like we have guests… Oh, seems like there are two of them. Looks like business is open again today.”
……
“Senior brother, why do I feel like Linglong Pavilion is just playing tricks on us?”
“Linglong Pavilion is backed by the Five Great Sacred Sects. There’s no way they’d deceive us about this— the Secret Realm definitely has Dragon Scale, we just haven’t searched carefully enough…”
A man and woman dressed in black moved quietly through the forest, unknowingly stepping into the trap Hua Jian had set.
A faint mist began to rise among the trees, blurring their senses without them noticing.
“We’ve already been searching in this Secret Realm for half a year. The only place we haven’t entered is that Spirit Beast’s territory. If Linglong Pavilion hid the Dragon Scale there, what should we do?”
“Then we’ll go check it out. I still have a stick of Mirage Incense that can lure the Spirit Beast away. As long as we’re quick, we can search its cave thoroughly.”
The black-clad man spoke coldly.
His words made the woman beside him frown with displeasure. “That Mirage Incense was so hard to snatch from those Loose Cultivators. If we bring it out of the Secret Realm, it could sell for four or five hundred Spirit Stones…”
“Don’t forget why we’re here. Elder’s breakthrough can’t be delayed any longer— we must find the True Dragon Scale so Elder can refine a Dragon Pattern Spirit Blood Pill.” The man interrupted her muttering. For the sake of the sect’s grand plan, what were a few hundred Spirit Stones?
The price the sect paid to send the two of them to this Right Path gathering place in the Central Continent was no small matter.
How could they shirk their responsibility just because they were reluctant to part with the treasures found in the Secret Realm?
These words made the black-clad woman’s brow furrow. This was exactly the kind of talk she hated most.
They weren’t the only team searching for Dragon Scale.
To give the Elder even a sliver of hope to break through, the entire sect had mobilized, searching everywhere for traces of Dragon Scale.
Being sent to the Central Continent, the two of them were just disposable pawns.
But this ‘good senior brother’ of hers wouldn’t listen to reason— his head was full of loyalty, so much so that there was no room left for brains.
“Eh? That thing over there… is that Qianzhang Mushroom?” The woman, still grumbling in her heart, irritably glanced around, then suddenly noticed a small, unremarkable colorful mushroom not far away.
Wisps of colored mist coiled around the mushroom. The farther the mist drifted from the mushroom, the paler its color became, until it was almost milky white.
The man immediately covered his nose and mouth, took an Antidote Pill from his storage pouch, and swallowed it.
“Be careful, Qianzhang Mushroom is extremely poisonous. Our tools aren’t enough to harvest it safely…”
He finally understood why he’d been feeling dizzy earlier— it was because he’d unknowingly entered the poisonous range of this mushroom.
“A single Qianzhang Mushroom is worth no less than your Mirage Incense. I think we should take a gamble.” The black-clad woman also took an Antidote Pill, greed flickering in her eyes.
A treasure worth hundreds of Spirit Stones— how could she let it go when she saw it?
This time, it was worth the risk!
Even if they couldn’t neutralize the Qianzhang Mushroom’s poison, as long as they got it into their storage pouch, at worst, they could activate the Space Stone and leave. Either way, there was no loss.
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