A valley surrounded by mountains on three sides occasionally resounded with deafening explosions, and the faint strains of an elegant zither could be heard.
A little less than a quarter of an hour later, the sounds disappeared.
The valley was overgrown with weeds. At the far end was a Cold Pool several hundred zhang wide, and some black ice chips could be seen on the stone wall and along the pool's edge.
A huge python covered entirely in black lay by the pool, a fist-sized bloody hole in its head. A jade bottle flickering with golden light floated in midair.
Wang Defeng, Wang Yuanwei, and Wang Yulan stood not far away. Beside Wang Yulan stood a silver-skirted young woman surrounded by countless Silver Electric Arcs. Runes flashed across the silver-skirted girl's body. She was a Body Integration Realm Talisman Soldier refined by Wang Yulan and was proficient in thunder techniques.
On the stone wall by the pool, more than a dozen small plants covered entirely in black could be seen, their leaves diamond-shaped.
Dark Yin Grass grew one leaf every ten thousand years and could dispel Fire Poison. The youngest of the dozen or so stalks of Dark Yin Grass was at least ten thousand years old, while the oldest was forty thousand years old.
Wang Yulan put away the Demon Python's corpse, then offered up a command flag flickering with white light. It sank into the Pool and vanished. The Pool began to freeze, forming a white ice layer.
Wang Defeng released a Void Refinement Stage Talisman Soldier, which dug up the dozen or so stalks of Dark Yin Grass.
They collected the treasures and left. The Talisman Soldier opened the way ahead, and the three disappeared into the dense forest.
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In a vast Peach Blossom Forest, Wang