Insidious Person

Su Shi'er was unaware of what happened behind him.

He also had no idea that he had already caught someone's attention.

But he acted cautiously, running dozens of li away in one breath, and only stopped after using an Escape Talisman.

Glancing at the fiery red flying sword, seeing it was merely a Low-grade Magical Artifact, he paid it no further mind.

Then, he channeled a trace of true essence to inspect the Storage Pouch in his hand.

"This... I never expected that a mere Qi Refining Stage fifth-layer disciple of Tianhua Peak could collect four Second-Grade Materials in just two days?!"

"Counting this Profound Clear Ice Lotus, that means I'm only halfway through collecting the materials needed to become an official disciple."

After inspecting the Tianhua Peak disciple's Storage Pouch, he was stunned for a moment, then a look of delight spread across his face.

Inside the Storage Pouch lay four Second-Grade Materials: one Spiritual Plant and three pieces of iron ore. Aside from these, there were only the disciple's personal belongings.

Apart from a few talismans, nothing else seemed valuable.

Just as he was about to withdraw his observation, Su Shi'er raised an eyebrow and pulled out a palm-sized sheepskin map.

On the map, several immortal paths and locations were marked. The most eye-catching was a location circled in red: the Spiritual Plant Garden.

"Hm? Is this the map of the Spiritual Plant Garden that Meng Tianyi mentioned back then?"

Su Shi'er's breath caught, and he immediately realized what it was.

But as his gaze swept over it, he couldn't help feeling a bit frustrated. The map was quite crude—aside from the marked locations and some descriptions, there was no other information.

"I have no idea where I am right now. None of the places I've passed these days match any of the locations on this map."

"It seems that even if everyone has a copy of this map, it doesn't guarantee they'll actually find the Spiritual Plant Garden."

"Still, Tianhua Peak, for all its faults, has a lot of people. With over a thousand in one peak..."

Not everyone has a map, but it's likely most know about the Spiritual Plant Garden. With that many people, at least a hundred or so should find it. No wonder... no wonder Tianhua Peak was so confident."

Though he vaguely guessed Tianhua Peak's intentions, the map being essentially useless left Su Shi'er somewhat disappointed.

But on second thought, collecting this many spiritual materials at the very start was still a good thing.

At this rate, he could try to break into the peak's top ten, or after gathering enough materials to advance to an official disciple, choose to go into seclusion for two months of cultivation.

Over the next few days, relying on his Heavenly Eye Technique, he scurried around and managed to find two more Second-Grade Spiritual Materials.

"This Ancient Forbidden Zone is truly massive! The sect really went all out to plunder the materials here! In these ten days, I've searched no fewer than twenty places, and almost all of them were already picked clean?!"

"But then again, the Heavenly Eye Technique isn't a specialized treasure-hunting art. Several times, it led me straight to beast dens! Lucky I ran fast..."

That day, Su Shi'er activated his Heavenly Eye Technique and walked briskly through an unfamiliar forest.

Under his gaze, wisps of golden spiritual power emanated from a distance.

"Judging by the distribution of golden spiritual power in the air, it's definitely a metal-attributed material."

Muttering softly, Su Shi'er soon emerged from the forest and arrived at a small hillside.

Seeing two corpses lying on the slope, his pupils contracted, and his instinct was to flee.

After taking a few steps back, he stopped and carefully observed.

The bodies were of an old man and a burly man.

The burly man lay in a pool of blood, a sword wound on his neck—clearly killed by a single cut to the throat.

In his hand, he tightly clutched a golden stone the size of a pigeon egg.

In front of him, the old man lay on the ground, holding a Low-grade Magical Artifact longsword, with three nails embedded in his forehead. Scattered on the ground nearby were four iron nails that seemed to have been hastily knocked down by a flying sword.

"Hm... if I'm not mistaken, the stone in that burly man's hand should be a Second-Grade top-grade material, Glazed Gold."

"Judging by the scene, the two must have fought over this Glazed Gold. The burly man was outmatched and killed with a single sword stroke, but before dying, he threw seven iron nails, taking the old man down with him!"

Su Shi'er silently analyzed, unable to help sighing inwardly.

Fellow disciples of the same sect, yet they fought to the death over materials.

This scene made him deeply feel the cruelty of the cultivation world. This wasn't a trial—it was a gladiatorial arena of life-and-death combat.

Shaking his head helplessly, he immediately stepped forward to claim the loot.

"Their mutual destruction works out well for me!"

Just as he thought this, his gaze fell on the burly man's tiger's mouth, and his pupils contracted, his steps faltering.

"Wait, with calluses this thick, how could this man's weapon possibly be iron nails?!"

As the thought struck, Su Shi'er's breath caught, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

He had already scanned the surroundings with his Heavenly Eye Technique and saw no one else.

If he hadn't noticed this detail in time and had just walked up, he might well have become another corpse on the ground.

"Who could be so treacherous?!"

Muttering to himself, Su Shi'er kept his expression unchanged and continued walking forward.

Just as he approached the two corpses, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He decisively executed the Object Manipulation Technique, sweeping the four iron nails scattered on the ground into his sleeve and storing them in his Storage Pouch.

Having done this, he immediately turned to leave.

"Bastard, leave this young lady's Soul Severing Nails behind!"

Just then, a crisp, angry shout rang out.

In the air, accompanied by a fluctuation of spiritual power, a woman's figure emerged—petite yet curvaceous, with a seductive allure.

The moment she appeared, she flung out three Flame Talismans. Three fireballs the size of human heads shot through the air, hurtling toward Su Shi'er.

"Oh? So there was someone! And it's her?!"

Su Shi'er's pupils contracted sharply as he instantly recognized the woman—it was that female cultivator surnamed Chu who had sold him talismans at the trading square half a year ago.

"You bitch really are no good. Scamming me was bad enough, but now you're trying to ambush me. Next time we meet, I'll make you pay!"

Su Shi'er glared viciously at her and cursed in anger.

Half a year ago, the premium talismans he had bought were swapped out, and a Qi Gathering Pill had also vanished. Aside from this woman, he couldn't think of anyone else who would pull such a dirty trick.

As he spoke, without waiting for the attack to land, he stomped his foot hard and instantly activated Shadowless Illusionary Steps. With a swirl of wind, his entire body rose into the air.

"This young lady is no good? You bastard, you're the one stealing my things and acting righteous?! Do you really think you can get away today?"

The female cultivator surnamed Chu was also surprised to see Su Shi'er. This kid was still alive? What a joke?

But then, hearing his words, she flew into a rage, her chest heaving violently with fury.

She flung out three Ice Spike Talismans.

The talismans activated, conjuring three finger-long ice spikes that shot toward Su Shi'er in the air with lightning speed.

The ice spikes glinted with a cold gleam in the air, clearly formidable in power.