Anomalous Movement

On the pale blue surface of the lake.

Luo Hongyan stood tall and graceful, a faint smile playing on her crystal-bright lips as she gestured for Pang Jian to take her hand and step onto the bamboo raft.

She seemed unconstrained by worldly conventions, showing no regard for the notion that men and women should keep their distance, and appeared both eager and proactive toward Pang Jian.

The distant mountains, the lake water, the bamboo raft, and the smiling woman formed a scene as moving as an ink-wash landscape painting.

The Su and He families, still reeling from their narrow escape, along with the naive and innocent Su Meng, all watched her with astonishment.

When facing the Su and He families, she exuded a cold, distant air from her very bones—the true demeanor of the Ning family lady they had come to know.

Yet, her warmth and initiative toward Pang Jian were so starkly different that it left everyone utterly bewildered.

She had been deliberately drawing close to him the entire way, even going so far as to curry favor with him, which struck Su Yuntian and He Rong as inconceivable.

As a lady of the Ning family, even if she truly harbored secret feelings for Pang Jian, was there any need to debase herself and act so humble?

Take this moment, for instance.

Under the watchful eyes of all, she reached out her jade-white hand, inviting Pang Jian to board the raft.

The young hunter, a man of few words, ignored her outstretched hand in front of everyone and leaped onto the raft himself.

"Thump!"

The raft groaned under the sudden weight, plunging deep into the water and causing the lower half of Luo Hongyan's legs to be submerged.

When the raft bobbed back to the surface, she showed no anger, merely laughing, "What a boorish fellow."

The members of the Su and He families watched as she began to maneuver the raft, their expressions growing increasingly strange.

"To think you could return alive after encountering Spirit Sha of that caliber—your lives are surprisingly tenacious."

Pang Jian, clutching his Dragon-Patterned Spear, looked toward the two families on the shore with a strange gaze and said in a low voice, "When we first encountered the Spirit Sha, many died before we could even react."

Hearing him say this, Su Yuntian and He Rong also felt something was amiss.

The "Spirit Sha" they had encountered had all assumed an attacking posture, yet when they saw them retreat, they did not pursue them to the end, but instead gathered in one area and remained motionless.

The reason they had retreated was that they recognized the extraordinary nature of those "Spirit Sha" and knew that engaging them would come at a terrible price.

For "Spirit Sha" of such strength, capable of inflicting heavy casualties, to simply gather and remain still was indeed suspicious.

"Let's go."

Pang Jian did not press for details, preparing to use his Dragon-Patterned Spear to push the water and send the raft toward Lake Heart Island.

"I'll do it; my feet are already wet anyway."

Luo Hongyan, who had already crouched down, placed a small, fair hand into the lake at the back of the raft. As spiritual energy pulsed from her palm, a propulsive force rippled across the water.

The raft carrying the two of them immediately headed toward Lake Heart Island.

Pang Jian stood at the front of the raft, spear in hand, gazing at the slowly approaching island, his entire figure resembling a sharp, piercing lance.

Luo Hongyan kept her head lowered at the back of the raft, steering while keeping a watchful eye on the water below.

Pang Jian was slightly surprised; he had not expected that after her apology, she would take on such menial, laborious tasks herself.

I have no idea what kind of game she is playing. But where there is Phoenix Bone, there must be danger. With these people along...

Pang Jian muttered to himself.

Only in Insect Valley, because the Phoenix Marrow had been snatched by Ouyang Duanhai first, had they encountered no peril.

The locations of the first and second Phoenix Bones had both been accompanied by bloodshed.

At the first Phoenix Bone, everyone from the Shangguan family, save for Shangguan Qin, had their flesh devoured by vines.

At the second Phoenix Bone, they had been ambushed by Dark Ghosts, and the followers of the Zhou family, including Ning Yuanshan, had all met their doom.

It was precisely because he sensed that the area around the fourth Phoenix Bone might not be peaceful that Pang Jian, despite his dislike for the woman, had agreed to let her bring the Su and He families along to explore.

Life and death are fated; if a disaster were to erupt, at least he would not be the only target.

Within the Void Sea of Consciousness.

"Must you debase me like this?"

Ning Yao, huddled in a dark corner, looked gloomily at Luo Hongyan—who now dominated this body and had trampled on her dignity in front of the Su and He families—and raged, "Do you find this amusing?"

"Amusing? Of course it's amusing. It's not my body, after all."

Luo Hongyan flitted about this strange sea of consciousness, her long sleeves fluttering like an ethereal goddess about to ascend to the heavens.

Dancing gracefully, she looked down at Ning Yao's faint soul-shadow with a smile and said, "The higher the pedestal you placed yourself on with him, the lower I must stoop."

"Why do this?"

Ning Yao asked, bewildered.

"I am using my heart to please him; can you not see that even now?" Luo Hongyan replied with surprise.

"You only care about the bronze medallion he wears; you simply dare not strike yet. Once you uncover the secret of the medallion and claim it for yourself, you will still kill him," Ning Yao said coldly.

Luo Hongyan suddenly stopped, crossing her arms over her chest. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with contemplation as she said indifferently, "Whether I kill him or not depends on how he treats me from here on out."

Their conversation took place within the confines of Ning Yao's mind, hidden from the awareness of all others.

On the shore.

"Why do I get the feeling that when the Ning girl faces him, she acts like... a maidservant attending to her master?"

Su Yuntian truly did not wish to discourage He Rong, but the facts were laid bare before them, leaving him unable to stop himself from speaking:

"According to the Ning girl's own account, he is merely an ordinary hunter. How could a mere hunter subdue someone as proud as her, making her act so docile?"

"I want to know the reason myself!" He Rong snorted coldly, his face ashen.

Luo Hongyan's every action was a grave humiliation to the He Family, a desecration of his late nephew's corpse!

"That young brother surnamed Pang must have some extraordinary qualities!"

Su Meng's large eyes sparkled. She clenched her fists and waved them, speaking with an air of absolute certainty:

"Sister Ning is so arrogant; she has always been my idol and was long ago scouted by the Galaxy Alliance. Someone she acknowledges must be truly exceptional—it is just that we are ignorant of that young man's prowess!"

At her words, Su Yuntian and He Rong suddenly recalled the scene where they first discovered the corpses of the Galaxy Alliance cultivators, and Pang Jian, spear in hand, had flashed past like lightning.

"Could it be that this brat truly possesses some hidden talent?"

The two men could not help but fall into deep thought.

Shortly after, they descended onto the bamboo rafts one after another, heading toward Lake Heart Island.

A quarter of an hour later, the bamboo raft beneath Pang Jian's feet reached the shore of Lake Heart Island.

Only when he was close enough did he see that the island was indeed a riot of blooming flowers, with tree leaves of such intoxicating green that the growth of all the vegetation was astonishing.

He had never seen such a miraculous place anywhere else in the Cenji Mountains.

Yet, this very location had been listed by his father as one of the forbidden zones—and the most dangerous of the three at that.

"Blood-Clearing Grass, Nine-Leaf Star-Shattering Flower, Thunder-Struck Wood!"

Luo Hongyan, who had been crouching behind the raft, had already risen. Gazing at the exotic flowers and herbs on the island, her beautiful eyes shone with disbelief as she blurted out, "This island is absolutely extraordinary!"

Pang Jian had never even heard the names of the plants she mentioned, but judging by her expression, he knew they were far from ordinary.

"Are these flowers and herbs you mentioned very valuable?" Pang Jian asked tentatively.

"They should not exist in the Fourth Realm."

Luo Hongyan took a deep breath. She had intended to explain the properties of those plants in detail, but realized Pang Jian likely wouldn't understand.

Instead, she said, "If the three types of flora I mentioned could be taken up to the Third Realm to be sold, any single stalk would be worth at least a hundred spirit stones."

"Nearly a hundred... spirit stones?!" Pang Jian gasped.

From the beginning until now, all the spirit stones he had gathered in his bamboo basket did not even add up to a hundred.

"The spirit stones I am talking about are not the ones you scavenged from those Dark Ghost fellows, the ones filled with impurities."

Fearing he did not grasp the value of the spiritual herbs on the island, Luo Hongyan curled her lips and retorted, "I mean... the ones you took from my hands."

Pang Jian seemed not to have heard her final remark.

The look in his eyes as he stared at the flowers and herbs on Lake Heart Island turned scorching, a radiance so intense it made even Luo Hongyan feel a hint of dread.

"I need spirit stones."

After dropping these words, Pang Jian seemed to forget the eerie White Tower whistling incessantly above Lake Heart Island. He leaped up with his spear in hand, drifting toward the isolated island like a bird in flight.

At this moment, Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others following behind watched him with strange expressions.

They watched as he, seemingly struck by some sudden impulse, lunged toward the island with eyes burning bright.

Just then, while still in mid-air, Pang Jian suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if he had brushed against an invisible membrane and been obstructed by a mysterious force.

The Bronze Gate Pendant on his chest grew hot for a fleeting moment.

After that, he felt no further resistance and landed smoothly on the isolated island.

"Boom!"

As his feet touched the ground, this mysterious little island in Wulan Lake suddenly sank downward with a violent jolt.

It was as if the person falling from the sky was not a spear-wielding youth, but a towering giant ten thousand feet tall.

The isolated island in the heart of the lake could not bear such terrifying, sudden weight, and was forced to sink into the water.

The sudden anomaly of the island made Luo Hongyan's heart tremble, while Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others were left dumbstruck.

The tremors were real; they were not a hallucination, and their eyes had certainly not deceived them.

However, they could not be certain whether the sudden shaking of the isolated island had any connection to Pang Jian's arrival.

It was simply too inconceivable. Given their meager knowledge and limited imagination, they found it difficult to attribute such an event to him.

"Boom!"

The eerie White Tower, which had been whistling incessantly above the island, crashed down into the center of the isle.

It was as if it had been struck by a restriction against flight, or as if some vast, heavenly might had suddenly erupted, no longer permitting the object to remain suspended in the air.

As Pang Jian's foot touched the ground, the isolated island sank abruptly, and the White Tower plummeted in an instant.

This series of bizarre occurrences changed the way the Su and He families looked at him; they suddenly felt he was shrouded in mystery.

"I just knew the person Sister Ning had her eyes on would be extraordinary!"

Su Meng whispered excitedly.

Her eyes shimmered with brilliant light.

She had secretly concluded in her heart that this Pang Jian, whom they had chanced upon at Crescent Moon Lake, must be a remarkable figure—which was the only reason her Sister Ning would be so humble as to... pursue him.

"This..."

Pang Jian, bewildered by the strange movements of the island, looked around at a loss, feeling that it was all too much of a coincidence.

"Be careful, everyone. Where Phoenix Bone exists, earthquakes often occur. And every time an earthquake happens, it usually signifies that unknown dangers will emerge from the earth in a short time."

He turned back to explain to the Su and He families.

"That is indeed the case."

Luo Hongyan, who knew of this, felt her inner doubts dissipate slightly, though her gaze still lingered on Pang Jian's chest.

"Which flowers and plants were you referring to?"

Having landed on the island, Pang Jian found himself amidst a cluster of vibrant flowers. He held the Dragon-Patterned Spear carefully, terrified that the tip might accidentally pierce those priceless plants.

—His greed had been ignited by the immense wealth.

Luo Hongyan rolled her eyes in secret. She did not rush to leave the bamboo raft, choosing instead to wait for a moment.

Seeing that the White Tower did not reappear and that the one who controlled it did not show themselves, she finally stepped slowly onto Lake Heart Island.

When she entered the island, she triggered no abnormalities; everything remained calm.

After stepping onto the island, she took her first breath of air. Before even looking at the rare flowers and plants, she suddenly sighed with emotion:

"This fragmented little world known as North Qi actually contains such a spiritual land. No wonder so many exotic flowers and herbs appear here. But how could a place with such pure spiritual energy exist in this location?"

"A spiritual land?"

Su Yuntian and He Rong, as their subordinates steered the bamboo rafts closer, both heard her exclamation.

"Pure spiritual energy?"

Pang Jian was stunned. He could not help but sense his surroundings silently, and sure enough, he discovered that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth on the small island in the lake was completely free of impurities!

Once the spiritual energy was drawn into the dantian, there was no need for cleansing or purification; it only required refinement and extraction to be converted into spiritual power.

"Such a spiritual land is rare even in the Third Realm above, though it is a bit too small."

While Luo Hongyan was still lamenting, Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others had already stepped onto the island one after another.

Feeling the pure spiritual energy on the island, and recognizing a few of the flowers and plants, they were instantly overcome with the wild joy of having entered a treasure trove.