Anomalous Movement

Over the pale-blue lake.

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

She seemed unconstrained by worldly conventions, with no notion that men and women should keep their distance. Toward Pang Jian, she was eager and forward.

The distant mountains, the lake, the bamboo raft, and the smiling woman formed a captivating ink-wash landscape.

The Su and He families, still shaken from their recent ordeal, as well as the young Su Meng, who had yet to experience the stirrings of love, all stared at her in astonishment.

When facing the Su and He families, she had been aloof and cold to her core. She had indeed acted just like the Ning Family heiress they knew.

But toward Pang Jian, she was so warm and forward. The contrast was stark, leaving everyone baffled.

She had deliberately drawn close to him the whole way, even going so far as to curry favor with him. Su Yuntian and He Rong found it incomprehensible.

As a young lady of the Ning Family, even if she truly had feelings for Pang Jian, she needn't debase herself like this or act so humble, did she?

Take now, for example.

Before everyone's eyes, she had reached out her jade-white hand, offering to pull Pang Jian onto the raft.

Yet the taciturn young hunter ignored her outstretched hand in front of everyone and leaped onto the raft.

Thump!

The raft sank sharply under the sudden weight, plunging so low that half of Luo Hongyan's lower leg went underwater.

When the raft bobbed back up, she wasn't angry at all. Instead, she smiled and said, "You ungrateful brute."

The Su and He families watched as she prepared to push the raft away, their expressions growing even stranger.

"You encountered Spirit Sha of that caliber and still made it back alive? Your luck is astonishingly tough."

Pang Jian, spear in hand, glanced at the two families on the shore with a puzzled look and said gravely, "When we first encountered Spirit Sha, we were caught off guard and lost many people."

At his words, Su Yuntian and He Rong also sensed something amiss.

The few "Spirit Sha" they had encountered had taken up attacking stances. Yet when they saw the group withdraw, they hadn't pursued them, instead gathering in one area and remaining motionless.

They had retreated because they could tell those "Spirit Sha" were extraordinary and knew a fight would exact a terrible price.

Spirit Sha that powerful could clearly have dealt them a devastating blow, yet they had simply remained gathered in place. There was indeed something strange about it.

"Let's go."

Pang Jian didn't ask for details. He was about to use the Dragon-Patterned Spear to push through the water and send the raft toward Lake Heart Island.

"I'll do it. My feet are wet already, anyway."

Luo Hongyan had crouched down earlier. Now she rose and dipped one pale hand into the lake behind the raft. Spiritual power pulsed from her palm, and a propulsive force arose with ripples across the water.

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

Pang Jian stood at the bow with his spear, gazing at the island drawing slowly nearer. He was like a keen, unsheathed spear himself.

At the stern, Luo Hongyan lowered her head as she guided the raft away, keeping an eye on the water below.

Pang Jian was a little surprised. He hadn't expected her to shoulder even this kind of rough, tiring work after apologizing.

I wonder what she's really up to. But wherever a Phoenix Bone is found, there's bound to be something dangerous. With these people along...

Pang Jian muttered to himself.

Only in Insect Valley had there been no danger, because Ouyang Duanhai had obtained the Phoenix Marrow first.

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

At the first Phoenix Bone, everyone from the Shangguan Family except Shangguan Qin had had their flesh devoured by vines.

At the second Phoenix Bone, they had also been attacked by the Dark Ghosts. Zhou Yuanshan and the rest of the Zhou Family's subordinates had all met with disaster.

Because Pang Jian suspected the area around the fourth Phoenix Bone might be just as dangerous, he agreed to let her bring the Su and He families along to explore, even though he disliked the woman before him.

Life and death were fated. If disaster struck, at least he wouldn't be the only target.

In the Void Sea of Consciousness.

"Do you really have to humiliate me like this?"

Huddled in a shadowy corner, Ning Yao glared at Luo Hongyan, who had taken control of her body and trampled on her dignity in front of the Su and He families. "Do you think this is amusing?"

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

Luo Hongyan flew back and forth through this strange realm of the sea of consciousness, her long sleeves billowing like those of a celestial goddess about to soar into the heavens.

Dancing lightly, she smiled at Ning Yao's faint soul-shadow and said, "The higher and mightier you acted toward him before, the lower I have to stoop."

"Why would you do that?"

Ning Yao was bewildered.

"I'm making an effort to please him. Can't you see that by now?" Luo Hongyan asked in surprise.

"You only want the Bronze Plate he wears. You don't dare make a move right now. Once you've figured out its secrets and taken it for yourself, you'll still kill him," Ning Yao said coldly.

Luo Hongyan suddenly stopped, crossing her hands before her chest. A thoughtful gleam appeared in her beautiful eyes as she said indifferently, "Whether I kill him depends on how he treats me from now on."

Their conversation was taking place in Ning Yao's mind. No one else could know about it.

On the shore.

"Why do I feel like, when Ning acted toward him, she was... more like a servant waiting on him?"

Su Yuntian didn't want to upset He Rong, but the truth was right in front of them, and he couldn't help saying it.

"According to what Ning said, he's just an ordinary hunter. Why would a mere hunter win over her pride and make her so docile?"

"I'd like to know that myself!" He Rong snorted, his face livid.

Everything Luo Hongyan had done was a tremendous insult to the He Family—and like digging up his dead nephew's grave to whip his corpse!

"Big brother Pang must have something extraordinary about him!"

Su Meng's big eyes sparkled. She clenched a fist and gave it a little shake, speaking with absolute certainty.

"Sister Ning is so proud, and she's always been my idol. The Galaxy Alliance had already taken an interest in her, too. Anyone she approves of must be extraordinary. We just don't know how formidable that young man is!"

At her words, Su Yuntian and He Rong suddenly recalled the first time they'd found the corpse of a Galaxy Alliance cultivator—and the moment Pang Jian had shot past them with his spear.

"Could that kid really have something exceptional about him?"

The two couldn't help pondering it.

Then they each leaped onto a raft and headed toward Lake Heart Island as well.

A quarter of an hour later.

The bamboo raft beneath Pang Jian's feet reached the shore of Lake Heart Island.

Only when they drew close enough did he see that the island was indeed filled with blossoms in full bloom. The leaves of the trees were a heart-stirring green, and all the plants grew with astonishing vigor.

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

And yet his father had listed it as one of the forbidden zones—and the most dangerous of the three.

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

Luo Hongyan, who had been crouching at the back of the raft, had already stood up. She gazed at the island's rare plants and flowers, her beautiful eyes shining with disbelief as she cried, "This island is extraordinary!"

Pang Jian had never even heard the names of those plants, but her expression told him they were far from ordinary.

"Are those plants valuable?"

Pang Jian asked tentatively.

"They shouldn't be found in the Fourth Realm."

Luo Hongyan drew a deep breath. She had been about to explain the plants' effects in detail, but then realized Pang Jian probably wouldn't understand.

So she said, "If those three plants could be taken to the Third Realm above and sold, each one would fetch at least a hundred spirit stones."

"Nearly a hundred... spirit stones?!"

Pang Jian exclaimed.

All the spirit stones he had collected from the beginning until now, including those in his bamboo basket, didn't add up to even a hundred.

"The spirit stones I mean aren't the impure ones you took from the Dark Ghosts."

Luo Hongyan's lips curled in a faint smile. She tilted her chin, afraid he hadn't grasped the value of the spirit herbs on the island. "I mean the ones... you took from me."

Pang Jian seemed not to have heard that last clarification.

As he stared at the plants on Lake Heart Island, his gaze instantly grew feverish. The light in his eyes was enough to frighten even Luo Hongyan.

"I need spirit stones."

After dropping those words, Pang Jian seemed to forget that a strange White Tower was still howling above Lake Heart Island. He leaped up with his spear in hand and drifted toward the island like a bird.

Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others, who had followed behind, stared at him in confusion.

He looked as though something had set him off. His eyes gleamed as he threw himself toward Lake Heart Island.

At that moment.

While still in midair, Pang Jian suddenly felt something strange. It was as though he had run into an invisible membrane and been checked by an unseen force.

The Bronze Gate Pendant on his chest briefly warmed.

After that, he felt no further resistance and landed on the Lonely Island without a hitch.

Rumble!

As both his feet touched down, the mysterious little island in Wulan Lake suddenly sank.

It was as if the person who had dropped from the sky were not a spear-wielding youth but a towering giant tens of thousands of feet tall.

The solitary island in the middle of the lake couldn't bear such a terrifying weight descending out of nowhere, and was forced downward beneath the water.

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

The tremor had been real, not their imagination. They had definitely seen it happen.

Yet they couldn't tell whether the island's sudden jolt had anything to do with Pang Jian's arrival.

It was simply too unbelievable. With their shallow knowledge and limited imagination, they found it hard to blame the incident on Pang Jian.

Thump!

The strange White Tower that had been howling nonstop above the island plummeted into its center.

It was as if it had been barred from the sky, as if some vast heavenly might had suddenly awakened and no longer permitted it to hover in midair.

Pang Jian's foot touched down, the island sank, and the White Tower fell in an instant.

That series of strange events changed the way the Su and He families looked at him. They suddenly felt that he was shrouded in mystery.

"I knew Sister Ning's choice would be someone extraordinary!"

Su Meng exclaimed excitedly under her breath.

Her eyes shimmered.

She secretly decided that Pang Jian, whom they had encountered by chance at Crescent Moon Lake, must be a remarkable figure. That was the only reason her Sister Ning would so humbly... beg for his love.

"What..."

Pang Jian, baffled by the island's sudden movement, looked around in confusion, feeling that the timing was too coincidental.

"Be careful. Earthquakes often happen where Phoenix Bones are found. Every time one happens, it usually means an unknown danger will soon emerge from the ground."

He turned to explain to the Su and He families.

"That is true."

Luo Hongyan knew about this. It eased her suspicions somewhat, but she still glanced toward Pang Jian's chest.

"Which plants were you talking about?"

On the island, Pang Jian stood amid a bed of bright flowers. He held the Dragon-Patterned Spear carefully, afraid that its tip might accidentally pierce and kill one of the priceless plants.

--The enormous wealth had roused his greed.

Luo Hongyan rolled her eyes to herself. She didn't hurry off the raft, instead waiting a little.

When she saw that the White Tower hadn't reappeared and its controller hadn't shown up either, she finally stepped onto Lake Heart Island.

Her entry caused no anomaly at all. Everything remained peaceful.

After stepping onto the island, she breathed in once. Before she had even looked at the rare plants, she suddenly sighed.

"This shattered little world known as North Qi actually contains such a spiritual haven. No wonder so many rare plants have appeared here. But how did a place with such pure spiritual energy come to exist here?"

"A spiritual haven?"

As Su Yuntian and He Rong approached on rafts guided by their subordinates, they heard her remark.

"Pure spiritual energy?"

Pang Jian paused, then silently sensed it. Sure enough, the spiritual energy on Lake Heart Island contained no impurities!

Once spiritual energy entered his dantian, it needed no cleansing or purification. It could become spiritual power simply by being refined and distilled.

"Such a spiritual haven is rare even in the Third Realm above, though it's rather small."

While Luo Hongyan was still marveling, Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others had all made their way onto the island.

Feeling the pure spiritual energy on the island and seeing several plants they recognized, they were overcome with the joy of having entered a treasure trove.