Hiding in the Mist, an Unexpected Gain

"Brother Zheng."

Lu He immediately stepped forward. With a sweep of the mist from his sleeve, he concealed Zheng Jingren's form and aura, then handed him an Azure Water Essence Pill.

The cultivation method the other practiced was a wood-aspect qi-consuming art. The Azure Water Essence Pill, containing a great deal of water-aspect spiritual essence, could still be of some use.

Zheng Jingren swallowed the pill, and a little color gradually returned to his withered face.

After taking a moment to recover.

He finally looked up at Lu He. His eyes were half-empty, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.

"Brother Lu, they're dead... They're all dead.

"Deng Huo is dead. Hu Changting was eaten by a squad of demon soldiers too, leaving not even bones behind. Chen Zhengchu... Somehow, Chen Zhengchu was caught by that Gongshu Jing. The two were swept away by the flood while fighting, and their whereabouts are unknown. I fear he is in grave danger as well."

"Of the Prodigy Island seeds and those Rogue Cultivators who entered this time, scarcely any survived."

They were all dead...

With those words, even Lu He, who was usually so calm, could not help but feel waves stirring in his heart.

After a long while.

"This is the Great Wilderness—fraught with danger, ever-changing, and impossible to predict..."

Lu He's gaze settled once more. He took a deep breath, activated the White Ape Dao Diagram, and looked toward the exit of the Earth-Vein Caverns.

In an instant, the distinctive auras of hundreds of water manor demons flooded his senses.

Among them was one so dazzling it was like a blazing sun. With every breath it took, vast swathes of spiritual essence churned, whipping fierce gusts through the cavern.

It was clearly a Water-Patrolling Yaksha.

Lu He frowned.

That was the only passage in and out of the Earth-Vein Caverns.

If that Water-Patrolling Yaksha kept guarding it, he would have almost no chance of leaving.

After considering it for a moment.

"No rush. The caverns have undergone a strange change; those senior brothers on Prodigy Island certainly won't ignore it. We'll wait patiently."

As though something had occurred to him.

Lu He's frown gradually eased. The dusky black mist around him thickened without his noticing, completely concealing his aura.

Several more days passed in the blink of an eye.

Within the dim, lightless cavern.

[Yuan De 1734, November 15th, the fourth quarter of the Hour of the Rat]

Lu He's gaze swept over his identity jade plaque, and a trace of fatigue flickered across his face.

"November fifteenth... Have we already spent ten days in the Earth-Vein Caverns? Counting the days, the time for the Scorching Sun Golden Ranking to be finalized is nearly here as well."

Over the past few days, he had relied on the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art to lead Zheng Jingren in hiding from place to place, and the expenditure had truly been considerable.

There were scarcely any pills left on him.

Meanwhile, the number of demon soldiers gathered at the Earth-Vein Caverns' exit had not decreased in the slightest. On the contrary, they seemed to be growing ever more numerous.

Yet at this moment.

Lu He clearly had no time to concern himself with that. His attention was wholly focused on a spot before him.

Within his sight, an ancient Golden Book that only he could see was emitting bursts of excited tremors.

Below the Golden Book, an unformed spirit vein was visibly dissipating at a rapid pace.

It had to be said.

There truly were quite a few spirit veins inside these Earth-Vein Caverns.

Even though Lu He had spent these past days constantly hiding and fleeing, he had still come across several unformed miniature spirit veins and gained quite a bit of Origin Creation Spirit Radiance.

Before long.

The Golden Book transformed into a streak of treasure light and returned to Lu He's body. The tiny words upon it flickered in and out of existence.

[Origin Creation Spirit Radiance: 21 strands]

Lu He's fingertips paused slightly.

With a thought, the Golden Book slowly opened, revealing the page that was copying the Dao essence of White-Scale Lake.

[Progress: 1.02%]

"Perhaps before the Golden Book finishes copying it, I can gather ninety-seven strands of Origin Creation Spirit Radiance and upgrade this page?"

A glimmer of hope rose naturally in Lu He's heart.

For the Dao and principles of an existence as powerful as the one behind White-Scale Lake, using only a white-grade page to bear them and evolve a gifted Dao Diagram was, after all, somewhat wasteful.

If he could raise the page to a higher grade...

His eyes flashed.

Just then.

Rustle—

A set of deliberately softened footsteps came from behind him, instantly pulling Lu He's thoughts back to reality.

He instinctively mobilized the mana in his dantian, and mist immediately spread outward.

"Brother Lu, it's me!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Lu He finally let out a breath.

"I found three Blood-Marrow Flowers. There were actually five grains of Blood Sand beneath them. These are yours, Brother Lu."

Zheng Jingren hurried to Lu He's side and held out three grains of Blood Sand. An irrepressible delight showed on his face.

"You're too courteous, Brother Zheng. Since you found them, keep them yourself. There's no need to give me any."

Lu He waved his hand.

The moment they had entered the Earth-Vein Caverns, they had encountered a great upheaval.

For Zheng Jingren, before he had gained anything at all, his talismans had already been exhausted. His remaining Dao Merit was likely not even enough to cover the pills needed for cultivation.

Finding this Blood Sand could just barely make up some of his losses.

What was more, before entering the Earth-Vein Caverns, they had agreed that all gains would depend on one's own strength and fortune.

No matter what, Lu He could not accept the other's Blood Sand.

Across from him.

At those words, Zheng Jingren's expression turned solemn. Stubbornly, he stuffed the Blood Sand into Lu He's hand.

"Brother Lu, I will never forget your life-saving grace, even when my teeth have fallen out. I absolutely cannot keep consuming your pills for nothing. Take these grains of Blood Sand as payment for the pills, at least for now!"

Facing his resolute gaze.

"Brother Zheng, you..."

Lu He hesitated for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, accepting the Blood Sand helplessly.

"That's more like it!"

A bright smile immediately appeared on Zheng Jingren's dust-covered face.

More than half a day passed without notice.

Lu He and Zheng Jingren were meditating and regulating their breaths.

At a certain moment.

"Human brats, this place is the territory of my water manor! How dare you run wild here?"

A shrill roar suddenly echoed throughout the Earth-Vein Caverns. Close on its heels, a terrifying aura comparable to a volcanic eruption surged upward.

A moment later.

Rumble—

The ground began to shake violently. The faint sounds of colliding spells, accompanied by roar after roar, came from overhead.

"Prodigy Island has sent people?"

Lu He abruptly opened his eyes. He exchanged a glance with Zheng Jingren beside him, and without the slightest hesitation, sped toward the exit beneath the cover of black mist.

Along the way, there were noticeably fewer patrolling water manor demon soldiers.

About one hundred and twenty zhang from the exit lay a broad stretch of open ground. It had once been a place for the many cultivators entering the caverns to rest, settle in, and exchange resources.

Now, it had become a brutal battlefield.

More than a dozen ragged cultivators were desperately besieging three water manor demon soldiers. Spell light and talisman light burst forth in succession, churning the surrounding spiritual essence into a boil.

"Don't hold back, everyone! People have already come from above! If we rush out, we can live!"

Someone shouted anxiously.

Yet perhaps because their earlier losses had been too great, even against only several first-layer qi-consuming demon soldiers, they remained locked in a stalemate despite outnumbering them.

Some even tried desperately to force their way through the passage guarded by the demon soldiers, only to be torn apart alive.

Suddenly.

A young figure wrapped in pitch-black escape light flew up from below.

Then, beneath the astonished gazes of the crowd, he flew straight toward the three demon soldiers without pausing in the slightest.

Before he drew near.

A treasure wheel entwined in five-colored spiritual light suddenly emerged above the figure's head. As it spun, it continuously drew in the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, spreading thread after thread of dusky black mist-light.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!

Dozens of arrows shot from the mist-light, tearing through the sky.

A heavy aura spread outward.

The three water manor demon soldiers instantly seemed to be carrying towering mountains on their backs, pinned in place and unable to move.

Arrow after arrow streaked through.

Great clouds of scarlet blood mist burst into the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The demon soldiers' corpses fell one after another, then were dragged away by three ropes extending from the black mist.

The entire process was decisive and clean to the extreme.