Tactical Surrender!

"So, there really wasn't anything between you and her..."

Xun'er lay sprawled in Gu Xia's arms, her slender jade fingers tracing circles over his chest. Judging by her tone, she had calmed down, and the hatchet had been put away as well. Congratulations to classmate Gu Xia for escaping the fate of being chopped into pieces. Of course, if he had not tied up Little Fairy Doctor beside them and gagged her, that might have been another story...

"Of course not. I only took her money pouch back then. How could a good man like me, who keeps himself so clean, possibly fool around behind your back, Xun'er?"

Gu Xia held Xun'er and spoke with righteous conviction.

Although Gu Xia's words were not particularly convincing, once Xun'er thought of just how dense he used to be, she believed more than half of it. After all, a herb-gathering girl could never handle a straight-laced fool of his caliber. Even she had only barely managed, through a chance encounter, to make this blockhead understand her feelings. Otherwise, who knew whether he would still be single now...

"Hmph, I'll believe you this time. By the way, what are you planning to do with her and those people?"

Xun'er gave a haughty snort and climbed out of Gu Xia's embrace. She walked over to the five black-clothed men whom Gu Xia had bundled together, looked at the five who had passed out perfectly, then turned around to ask what Gu Xia thought...

"Hmm... Let them be. With their intelligence, there's no way they can make it out of the mountain range alive..."

Gu Xia merely glanced at those supposedly "clever villains" who wore night-traveling clothes in broad daylight. He said there was no need to bother with them. After all, surviving until now with their intelligence had not been easy. Let them enjoy the scenery of this world a little longer...

"Fine. Then what about her?"

After hearing Gu Xia's words, Xun'er also felt that killing them outright seemed a little too cruel, so it would be better to let them live a while longer...

"Her? Uh... I think we should take her out with us. After all, robbing her money pouch last time was somewhat unfair to her..."

Gu Xia glanced at Little Fairy Doctor, who was tied up tightly and gagged, then somewhat guiltily voiced his thoughts to Xun'er. Even though he did not know why he felt guilty...

"...Do whatever you want..."

Xun'er was not an unreasonable woman. She considered Gu Xia's approach and found that it was probably the best solution.

After agreeing to Gu Xia's idea, Xun'er said nothing more. With graceful steps, she reached Little Fairy Doctor's side in no time. She used some "physical" methods to temporarily knock Little Fairy Doctor unconscious, then summoned Elder Ling and had him take Little Fairy Doctor away...

"Done. Brother Xia, let's go..."

After handing Little Fairy Doctor over to Elder Ling, Xun'er returned to her usual elegant and lively self. Although that "Brother Xia" had sounded incredibly sweet, Gu Xia somehow felt a chill down his back...

"Alright..."

Letting out a soft breath, Gu Xia followed Xun'er's footsteps. The two stuck close together once more and slowly headed toward the exit of the Magical Beast Mountain Range...

A short while later, Elder Ling had brought Little Fairy Doctor to the exit of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Due to the nature of his cultivation technique, he was not discovered by the Li Clan experts lurking in the shadows.

Elder Ling said nothing. All he needed to do was bring this little girl somewhere safe. As for everything else, Young Master Xia could handle it. After all, as his personal "guard," only he knew just how terrifying Young Master Xia truly was beneath the guise of being a somewhat foolish, straight-laced Four-Star Dou Ling...

Ignoring those hidden in the darkness, Elder Ling carefully slipped through their encirclement. He smoothly left the Magical Beast Mountain Range and settled Little Fairy Doctor somewhere safe. Then Elder Ling took out a communication jade pendant. After channeling his soul force into it, he crushed it outright!

After finishing all this, Elder Ling hid within the shadows of the room, as though he had vanished entirely.

Only Little Fairy Doctor's steady breathing remained in the room... At the instant Elder Ling crushed the jade pendant, Gu Xia sensed a communication jade pendant within his storage ring begin to tremble violently. While Xun'er, who was walking ahead, was not paying attention, he secretly took it out.

After reading the information inside the jade pendant, Gu Xia's eyes narrowed slightly. He finally understood why a mere fourth-tier alchemist possessed a pill formula that was suspected to be a remnant formula for the Emperor Pill. So that was what had happened...

"Hehe, interesting. I'd like to see what kind of strength this legendary hidden clan possesses..."

Gu Xia muttered softly, then quickened his pace to catch up with Xun'er, who was waiting ahead for him...

Near noon, at the entrance to the Magical Beast Mountain Range, everything appeared no different from usual at first glance. However, anyone observant would notice that this entrance was a little too quiet...

Although it was mealtime, and not many people would be entering or leaving the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the complete absence of even a single person at the entrance was truly strange...

Then, a mysterious figure in a white robe that concealed their face slowly approached the entrance from the direction of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, neither hurried nor slow...

As though unaware of the abnormality ahead, the white-robed figure maintained an even pace and stepped into the entrance area...

"Stop! Show your face and let this elder inspect you..."

Just as the mysterious white-robed figure stepped into the entrance area, an icy, aged voice suddenly came from midair. A black-robed old man, his face so withered that little but bone remained, slowly descended from the sky. He had not formed Dou Qi wings, yet he could stand in the air. This indicated that the old man was at least a Dou Zong-level expert!

The reason the black-robed Dou Zong had acted personally instead of sending the Li Clan disciples hidden in the darkness was because of an instinct unique to the strong!

That was right. As a Dou Zong, he had an instinct telling him that this mysterious white-robed figure, whose face was hidden, possessed strength no less than his own! And was extremely dangerous!

As one of the Li Clan's elders, he did not wish to see the Li Clan's elite forces wasted on such a dangerous person.

So he acted personally...

"Oh? Only a Three-Star Dou Zong?"

The white-robed figure made no effort to conceal their voice. A young, unexpectedly pleasant voice came from beneath the white robe. After pausing only slightly, the white-robed figure ignored the Three-Star Dou Zong's words and continued walking toward the exit step by step, as though that Dou Zong did not exist at all...

"Impudent! You dare ignore me! Today, I, Li Qushi, will teach you what it means to respect your elders!"

As he spoke, Li Qushi charged down at the mysterious white-robed figure below. Yet after moving only a few centimeters, he abruptly stopped in midair. There was no sound, no warning, as though time had suddenly frozen. Li Qushi remained suspended there blankly...

"Teach me to respect my elders? You?... You're not worthy!"

The mysterious white-robed figure slowly turned around, facing away from Li Qushi, who was frozen in midair. With a cold laugh, Li Qushi's body shattered like ice. From beginning to end, he never knew how he had died...

"And there are some small fry, along with the Li Clan's young master?..."

The white-robed figure ignored Li Qushi, who had already been reduced to fragments. After sensing the surroundings slightly, he stepped forward once more, turned, and continued walking toward the exit of the Magical Beast Mountain Range...

After the white-robed figure departed, frost abruptly spread through the area. As though it possessed intelligence, the frost did not freeze any trees or flowers. It froze only the Li Clan disciples hidden in the darkness under Li Qushi's command...

Twelve human-shaped ice sculptures slowly appeared in the utterly silent clearing. Then, all twelve ice sculptures shattered at the same instant into bits of ice. Flames suddenly appeared and incinerated every bit of ice on the ground, leaving not a single trace behind...