Gourd Mountain's Gourd Vine

"These four are..."

Watching the one man and three women speeding toward him, Li Yun furrowed his brow slightly, not wanting to interact with them.

After all, his own strength couldn't crush them outright, and they outnumbered him. Under such circumstances, meeting them rashly was hardly a good choice.

Especially as the four drew closer, Li Yun could clearly sense that the leading man at the True Immortal Realm was injured, and the three women at the Mysterious Immortal Realm behind him were also quite battered—clearly they had been attacked.

With that thought, Li Yun didn't hesitate for a moment. He unhesitatingly rose on his cloud and pulled back.

No matter who they were, the mere fact of their condition was suspicious. He wouldn't foolishly stay put—if they were being chased, wouldn't that drag him into undeserved calamity?

"This~"

Watching Li Yun's move, Zhao Gongming and Yunxiao, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao, who were speeding over, were dumbfounded.

They never expected Li Yun to be so decisive, not even giving them a chance to approach or speak.

More importantly, his resolute boldness faintly hinted to them that he was no simple figure. Involuntarily, the four siblings slowed their flight speed, no longer intending to close in on Li Yun.

"Big Brother~"

Only after Li Yun's figure vanished did Yunxiao speak: "That person just now was no ordinary man. He's likely a Saint's disciple, just like us."

"But within the Jie Teachings, there's no such person, and I haven't seen him among the Chan Teachings either. Could he be a disciple of the Grand Master?"

Hearing this, Zhao Gongming snapped back to reality. He glanced at Yunxiao beside him and said, "Regardless, he doesn't trust us, and he even seemed to sense our intentions. Since he's also a Saint's disciple, let's not bother him further."

"Let's go. Continue searching for other beings. We must obtain that thing inside the valley."

At these words, Yunxiao, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao all nodded.

Immediately after, the four siblings no longer headed in the direction Li Yun had retreated, but turned and sped toward another area.

"They're not chasing?"

As Zhao Gongming and his siblings changed course, Li Yun sensed it at once.

For a moment, Li Yun stopped flying, but his gaze turned toward the direction from which the four had come.

Though he didn't know the specifics, their reactions made it clear they harbored ill intent. If he hadn't withdrawn just now, he would surely have been targeted by them.

But the fact that they acted this way meant something unusual lay in that area—perhaps even some Fortuitous Encounter.

At this thought, a gleam of light flashed in Li Yun's eyes as he sank into contemplation.

"Let's go."

"I want to see what's over there!"

"And those three women and one man—daring to scheme against me, I've noted this."

With that, Li Yun descended to the ground. Instead of flying, he swiftly began advancing on foot toward the direction Zhao Gongming and his siblings had come from.

Along the way, Li Yun saw nothing out of the ordinary.

But as he pressed forward, he spotted many traces of battle.

In several areas, he even saw ground stained with blood, though due to the passage of time, much of the soil had turned dark red—hard to notice without careful inspection.

At this moment, Li Yun could be certain that Zhao Gongming and his siblings meant no good.

Yet precisely because of that, his curiosity only grew stronger. He quickened his pace and dashed ahead.

Speeding along, it wasn't long before Li Yun arrived at a mountain shaped like a gourd. This area was shrouded in mist, rich with spiritual energy, and a thick smell of blood faintly emanated from within. From time to time, he could hear the roars and howls of Demonic Beasts.

"This is the place?"

His expression darkened. Li Yun was sure this was the source of the incident.

Driven by curiosity, Li Yun silently approached the mountain through the jungle.

Once inside, he immediately sensed something was off. The smell of blood in the air was more than ten times stronger than outside. He could even see many Demonic Beasts (cultivators) at the Earth Immortal Realm, Celestial Immortal Realm, Mysterious Immortal Realm, and even True Immortal Realm converging from all directions toward the mountaintop of the gourd-shaped peak.

"Good heavens!"

"So many Demonic Beasts, and cultivators too!"

"What treasure could be on that mountaintop? An Innate Spirit Treasure? Or a powerful Innate Spirit Root?"

Muttering to himself, Li Yun began advancing toward the peak.

But he wasn't in a hurry, because he knew the four siblings hadn't arrived yet, meaning this matter hadn't reached its true conclusion.

On the contrary, the mountain was teeming with Demonic Beasts—far more than he had encountered in three hundred years roaming the foot of Kunlun Mountain. This was a perfect opportunity to expand his lexicon.

With that thought, Li Yun started moving toward areas with intense battle fluctuations.

When he encountered Demonic Beasts, he didn't strike immediately. Instead, he waited patiently in the shadows nearby.

Only when the beasts had worn each other down, or were on the verge of deciding a victor, did Li Yun unhesitatingly launch a Taiqing Divine Thunder ambush. Bolts of cyan thunder crashed down, directly blasting those Demonic Beasts—already at their last gasp and heavily wounded—to death.

[Ding! Killed Demonic Beast. Obtained Green Lexicon: Strength!]

[Ding! Killed Demonic Beast. Obtained Blue Lexicon: Extreme Speed!]

[Ding! Killed Demonic Beast. Obtained Green Lexicon: Physique!]

[...]

Under these circumstances, time flew by rapidly, and the originally empty glossary began to fill up as Li Yun continuously slaughtered Demonic Beasts.

Before he knew it, Li Yun had already reached the mid-mountain area.

"Buzz~"

Just then, a sudden burst of radiant light erupted from the peak of Gourd Mountain.

Li Yun instinctively looked up and saw that atop the mountain, there was a Gourd Vine, with three gourds hanging from it, glowing in gold, black, and red!

"A Gourd Vine?"

"No way, this crappy place actually has a High-Grade Innate Spirit Root!"

Seeing this, Li Yun opened his mouth, feeling somewhat incredulous.

Gourd Vines were not rare in the Primordial World, but one reaching the High-Grade Innate Spirit Root level was almost unheard of.

Aside from the Innate Gourd Vine at Buzhou Mountain, which was one of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots, most Gourd Vines were Low-Grade or Mid-Grade Spirit Roots.

Now, a Gourd Vine of the High-Grade Innate Spirit Root level had appeared, and it had nurtured three gourds. This meant that if he could get his hands on it, he would obtain three gourds that could potentially be refined into High-Grade Innate Spirit Treasures. No wonder so many Demonic Beasts and cultivators had gathered here, no wonder...