No Need to Rotate

Below the Sword Exchange Pavilion, the atmosphere was not harmonious.

After Chu Liang answered that sentence, a sudden awkwardness arose around him.

Mount Shu disciples were like one family... except for Silver Sword Peak and Jade Sword Peak.

Originally, these two peaks belonged to the five sword peaks of Mount Shu and had always been closely connected since ancient times. However, the two Peak Leaders of this generation were different. Jade Sword Peak Leader Wang Xuanling, as the Peak Leader of all peaks, was overbearing and had a rigid and stubborn personality. Silver Sword Peak Leader Di Nufeng, on the other hand, was young and spirited and never allowed anyone to be above her. This caused the two to inevitably clash every time they met.

With the two masters openly at odds, the disciples naturally followed suit. Especially since the bet between Wang Xuanling and Di Nufeng had recently spread throughout Mount Shu, Silver Sword Peak was naturally regarded as an enemy by the disciples of Jade Sword Peak.

However, they probably didn't have many opportunities to encounter this sole disciple of Silver Sword Peak on a normal day... so they naturally didn't recognize Chu Liang.

Chu Liang didn't change much, still wearing a faint smile on his face. At times like this... as long as you weren't awkward, the awkwardness belonged to others.

The expressions of the few Jade Sword Peak disciples were a bit stiff. After a long pause, Lin Bei finally let out a hearty laugh: "Hehehe!"

He put an arm around Chu Liang's shoulder: "I heard your Silver Sword Peak only has one disciple. It's really a coincidence that we ran into you today."

"Yes, quite a coincidence," Chu Liang smiled and nodded.

"Since we've already picked up the mission slips, let's head out quickly," Lin Bei then looked at the other Jade Sword Peak senior and junior brothers and said loudly.

He seemed to be urging them to leave, but the implication was that since they had already picked up the mission slips, there was no turning back... they might as well go with it.

Hearing him say this, the other three Jade Sword Peak disciples nodded in agreement and also turned to leave. However, their expressions were a bit unnatural, and they didn't look at Chu Liang much.

They were still quite indifferent.

Chu Liang didn't mind and walked alongside Lin Bei behind them. In his opinion, it didn't matter who he was with, as long as they could fight monsters.

The thick-browed and big-eyed Lin Bei was very enthusiastic and introduced the other three disciples of Jade Sword Peak to Chu Liang from behind.

The tall, strong, and stern-faced young disciple walking at the very front carried a large, wide longsword on his back and was named Fang Ting. He was the Golden Core Realm disciple leading the group this time, currently at the early stage of the Golden Core Realm.

Chu Liang nodded, as expected.

Ordinary Mount Shu disciples wore the standard Mount Shu Flying Sword Bracelet, which could change form and be worn on the wrist. Those who carried their swords like this indicated that their swords were more powerful, and the person was usually more powerful as well.

The Golden Core Realm seemed to be only one major realm higher than the Divine Intent Realm, but in reality, there was a major barrier between the Human Pass and the Earth Pass, an obstacle that many people could not break through in their lifetime, and the difference was huge.

The female disciple next to him wore a goose-yellow short jacket and skirt, with a plain white inner layer and trousers, adorned with strings of tassels. Her figure was small and cute. Her face was also fair and tender, with an oval shape that looked very young. Her eyes were gentle, and she looked delicate and timid, the kind of young girl who easily made people feel protective.

"This junior sister is named Xu Ziqing. We are mainly accompanying her because this is her first time going down the mountain for a mission," Lin Bei said with a smile. "Her brother is our senior brother Xu Ziyang of Jade Sword Peak. Because Senior Brother Xu has been in seclusion recently, we are taking her down the mountain."

Xu Ziyang, Chu Liang understood when he heard this name.

Mount Shu had been in decline for many years, and the number of outstanding young disciples was much smaller compared to other Divine Nine Immortal Sects. The few who had become famous at a young age in this generation were Jiang Yuebai, Xu Ziyang, and others.

Xu Ziqing, like Lin Bei, was at the early stage of the Divine Intent Realm, having just broken through not long ago.

In fact, disciples who had just broken through to the Divine Intent Realm usually participated in team missions like this for their first time down the mountain, finding senior and junior brothers and sisters to guide them. It was a minority like Chu Liang who couldn't wait to go down the mountain to eliminate demons by himself for the first time.

As for the last male disciple, he was at the middle stage of the Divine Intent Realm, with an ordinary appearance, named Lu Ren.

The group walked out of the Sword Exchange Pavilion and came to the edge of Reaching Heaven Peak. Xu Ziqing raised her hand and formed a hand seal, letting out a clear cry.

She saw a few specks of light emanating from her raised fingertips, as if there was a thread pulling something. A clear, long cry immediately echoed from the distant sky.

Immediately after, a massive White Bird, several zhang long, emerged from the sea of clouds. It was still covered in frost and mist, which dissipated completely as it flapped its wings and landed.

This young girl actually had a spirit beast as a mount. With her cultivation, it was naturally impossible for her to afford one. It seemed her elder brother doted on her considerably.

"Hmph—" The White Bird immediately lowered its head and rubbed its soft, feathered neck against Xu Ziqing. The young girl also smiled and hugged it, then beckoned everyone to climb onto its back.

However, after calling the people from Jade Sword Peak, she didn't call Chu Liang. She turned and went straight up.

Chu Liang didn't mind and followed suit on his own.

For long-distance flight, even though flying on a sword is fast, it's inevitably tiring and cold. Having a mount at this time was certainly a good thing.

Sitting on the White Bird's back, surrounded by long, soft white feathers, with the wind whistling in their ears, they were back in the high heavens in the blink of an eye. Their destination this time was called "Zhennan Region Mountain."

Zhennan Region Mountain was located at the border between the Southern Region and the Central Plains, stretching for eight hundred li, like a high barrier separating the two areas. Within it, the mountains were high, the valleys deep, and the forests vast and boundless, hiding countless legends of demons and monsters. Even ordinary powerful cultivators dared not venture deep.

However, the place they were going this time was only the periphery of Zhennan Region Mountain, a small patch of forest on the edge, not particularly dangerous. Coupled with the presence of a Golden Core Realm disciple, the difficulty should not be high.

On the bird's back, Fang Ting, Xu Ziqing, and Lu Ren sat in the front, while Chu Liang and Lin Bei sat in the back, quite far apart.

"This Human-Faced Jade Essence Flower, they say it's a twin flower born from the same stem. A senior from our Mount Shu encountered it before, but it wasn't ripe at the time and couldn't be picked, so they handed this matter over to the Sword Exchange Pavilion. Calculating the time, the flowering period is approaching, so we are to complete the mission..."

Lin Bei kept talking next to him, explaining the details of the mission to Chu Liang. However, Chu Liang realized that this fellow disciple didn't seem to be warm-hearted; he was simply a chatterbox.

Since meeting him, his mouth hadn't stopped. It seemed he had some strange illness where he felt uncomfortable if his mouth was closed.

Chu Liang even felt that the reason the three people in front were sitting so far away might not be to isolate him, but to isolate Lin Bei...

Boom—

After about half an hour, the White Bird flew to the foot of Zhennan Region Mountain. A gust of strong wind rippled outwards, and everyone landed steadily.

"There are many demons and fierce beasts within Zhennan Region Mountain. We can no longer fly in the air. We have to walk into the mountain for the rest of the journey," the leader, Fang Ting, finally said at this point.

"There are many plant spirits in this forest. During the day, it's full of miasma. We must hold our breath and circulate our internal energy as we move forward. At that time, our True Essence will not be replenished, so we must be restrained in our actions."

"I need to preserve my cultivation, so the task of clearing the path will be undertaken by Lu Ren, Lin Bei, and Chu Liang in rotation. Do you have any objections?" He issued the command expressionlessly.

Although there was miasma in the forest, cultivators who reached a certain realm had their energy channels connected, so holding their breath for a long time was not a problem. However, if they couldn't breathe, they couldn't replenish their True Essence. In that case, everyone's True Essence would be limited and very precious.

But if they encountered those plant spirits blocking the way along the journey, someone would always need to take action to clear the path.

As the one with the highest cultivation, Fang Ting needed to preserve his cultivation to deal with possible emergencies and not waste True Essence on trivial matters like clearing the path. Xu Ziqing had the weakest cultivation and was descending the mountain for the first time, so she was protected in the middle of the team. The other three would take turns.

Such an arrangement could definitely be called fair and reasonable.

But...

"I have a small objection," Chu Liang, who had been standing at the very back of the team, suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?" Fang Ting frowned and looked at him.

Everyone's gaze also fell on his smiling face, with a hint of unfriendliness. They wondered what kind of trouble this person from Silver Sword Peak wanted to cause.

Then, they heard Chu Liang say, "I can undertake the task of clearing the path and eliminating demons by myself. There's no need to rotate."

Thanks to "Tian Zhu Peak" for becoming the second Alliance Leader of this book, and thanks to my good brother.