A Windfall
Jiang Wanyue suppressed the impulse in her heart.
"Gu Huang, you are right. In your opinion, where should that beast be hiding?"
"Besides that spiritual spring, I'm afraid it can't be anywhere else," Song Wen said.
Jiang Wanyue immediately summoned her natal flying sword. The jade-white sword soared into the sky and then descended from the heavens, shooting straight at the spiritual spring.
"Gu Huang, I'll hold off that beast. You take the opportunity to pick the Glazed Immortal Fruit."
Four scarlet tentacles emerged from beneath Song Wen's feet, sweeping towards the three Glazed Immortal Fruits and the roots of the Glazed Immortal Tree.
The Jade-White Flying Sword moved with lightning speed, arriving first; however, it did not sink into the surface of the spiritual spring, but instead suddenly burst forth with dozens of strands of Taiyin Cold Qi.
The Taiyin Cold Qi darted up and down the water's surface like a nimble snake.
White frost immediately condensed on the surface of the spiritual spring, and the frost became more and more dense, turning into solid blue ice.
The ice grew thicker and thicker, soon completely freezing the vast spring.
But the Taiyin Cold Qi did not stop; it continued to release its chill, thickening the ice.
"Bang!"
A series of booming sounds came from beneath the solid ice.
The entire ice surface trembled suddenly, revealing spiderweb-like cracks, but it did not break.
As the Taiyin Cold Qi continued to circulate, the cracks were quickly covered by newly formed solid ice.
On the other side.
Four scarlet tentacles have already arrived.
Three of them plucked a Glazed Immortal Fruit each; while the other burrowed into the soil and uprooted the Glazed Immortal Tree.
When Jiang Wanyue was overjoyed, but then she asked in confusion.
"Gu Huang, why are you pulling up this tree?"
Song Wen said, "This tree is rare; it will surely fetch a good price if we take it back."
Jiang Wanyue said, "Gu Huang, don't you know that the Glazed Immortal Tree withers once it's removed from the ground and can't be transplanted at all? Otherwise, the Purple Star Immortal Sect would have dug it up long ago, and there would be no need for you and me to come and get it!"
Song Wen was somewhat taken aback.
He really didn't know about this.
But since we've already dug it up, we can't just take it back.
He took out a huge jade box, comparable in size to Corpse Coffin, and put the tree inside.
Then he took out three jade boxes, each several inches tall, and put a Glazed Immortal Fruit into each one.
Song Wen put the four jade boxes into his storage ring. With a 'bang', the solid ice sealing the spiritual spring suddenly shattered, and ice shards flew up everywhere.
A giant python burst out of the spiritual spring.
The giant python was several meters thick, its body covered with black scales the size of a bowl, and a pair of black horns on its flat, triangular head.
A crazed killing intent flashed in his cold, vertical pupils.
Its mouth gaped open, revealing its venomous fangs, and gushed forth purplish-green venom.
"We've already got the Glazed Immortal Fruit; there's no need to fight this beast to the death. Let's get out of here!"
As Jiang Wanyue shouted, she turned and fled, but the Jade-White Flying Sword emitted Sword-Ray as it slashed towards the giant python.
The first thing to collide with the flying sword was that swirling mass of purple-green venom.
The venom exploded instantly, splattering in all directions.
However, the flying sword was inevitably tainted as well; its sharp Sword-Ray light dimmed instantly, and then green spots appeared on its surface.
Seeing this, Jiang Wanyue felt a pang of heartache and stopped running away.
"My sword!"
The Jade-White Flying Sword immediately abandoned the giant python and flew towards Jiang Wanyue.
Jiang Wanyue caught the flying sword with her right hand, her immortal Immortal Essence surging within her body and continuously flowing into the flying sword.
The green spots on the flying sword quickly faded, leaving only faint white marks.
The pain on Jiang Wanyue's face eased somewhat.
At that moment, Song Wen's voice rang out.
"Madam Jiang, don't worry about the flying sword. This beast is quite powerful; there's no need to waste your immortal Immortal Essence on it."
As the giant python lunged at Jiang Wanyue, it prepared to spray venom once more.
Having learned from past mistakes, Jiang Wanyue no longer used her Life-Bound Treasure to fight the enemy. Instead, she summoned dozens of strands of Taiyin Cold Qi, condensed them into a thick iceberg, and smashed it towards the giant python.
She herself then chased after Song Wen and left.
"Thief, don't run!"
A loud shout suddenly came from the left.
Song Wen and Jiang Wanyue then noticed that, without them noticing, three figures had appeared on their left side—two men and one woman—and were rushing towards them.
Flying at the forefront was the woman, dressed in a blue robe, with a cultivation level at the peak of the Lingxu Dao Immortal Peak.
The two men were slightly behind, but both possessed the cultivation level of the Late Lingxu Dao Immortal Stage.
Jiang Wanyue's pupils suddenly contracted, as if she recognized the three people.
The woman in blue shouted sternly.
"Jiang Wanyue, it's you! Where are those three Glazed Immortal Fruits? Hand them over immediately!"
"When the miasma weakened on the Fengdu Poison Sea, this Glazed Immortal Tree bore three fruits, but they were not yet ripe, so we did not pick them. Unexpectedly, we were only a step late today, and you two beat us to it, not only picking the fruits but also digging up the immortal tree."
"Do you know that tens of thousands of years ago, our sect's ancestors discovered this Glazed Immortal Tree? However, due to the inconvenience of transplanting it, they left it here and even released a White Glazed Viper to guard it. Today, it has been destroyed by your hands; you deserve to die a thousand deaths!"
Upon hearing Jiang Wanyue's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but she did not respond. Instead, she transmitted her thoughts to Song Wen.
"These three are all from the Purple Star Immortal Sect. The woman in green is named Qingwei, and she is skilled in Fire Element Technique Method; her strength is even greater than mine. The other two men, the slightly taller one is named Dao Lord Rending Cloud, and the slightly shorter one is named Ye Hongyi; their strength should not be underestimated."
Song Wen felt a bit overwhelmed.
He had previously claimed that he wouldn't easily run into people from the Purple Star Immortal Sect, but he did in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, none of the three were accompanied by Profound Immortal Yuxiao for protection.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, a deafening roar, like a thunderclap, erupted.
It was the giant python that suddenly lashed out with its tail, striking the iceberg that Jiang Wanyue had conjured.
The iceberg suddenly exploded, sending countless ice shards shooting out like arrows.
Song Wen and Jiang Wanyue escaped quickly, and the flying ice shards did not affect them. On the contrary, Qingwei and the other two rushed over and happened to be within the range of the attacking ice shards.
"You beast, get out of my sight!"
Qingwei roared, and suddenly a bronze lamp appeared in front of him.
On the lamp base, a cluster of pale white flames flickered slightly.
The seemingly weak and dying flames suddenly roared up and transformed into a silver-white fire dragon, heading towards the giant python.
A dragon and a python collided violently.
The raging, silvery-white flames instantly engulfed the giant python.
"Roar!"
A painful roar rang out, and the giant python burst forth from the flames.
However, its black scales were severely damaged, some falling off, others with their edges turned upside down, revealing the charred flesh beneath.
Its triangular head was held high, its vertical pupils gleaming with ferocity, and purple-green venom gushed forth once more.
However, a giant fist shadow suddenly appeared, not only shattering the venom with a single punch but also striking the giant python's head.
The python's head was instantly ripped open, and blood flowed freely.
Its body suddenly sank downwards, plunging uncontrollably down and crashing through several mountains before finally coming to a stop.
The fierce glint in its eyes vanished instantly, replaced by deep fear.
With a flick of its tail, the snake, dragging its heavily injured body, swam back to the spirit spring and never resurfaced.
The one who repelled it was a male cultivator named 'Ye Hongyi'.