Blocked

The hairs on Su Shi'er's back stood on end. Without a second thought, he immediately activated the Blood Light Shield.

A blood-red barrier promptly appeared, enveloping his entire body.

Bang, bang...

The ice spikes fell, instantly covering the barrier with cracks, yet it did not shatter.

Borrowing the force of the impact, Su Shi'er rose several more feet. With Illusory Step, he vanished in the blink of an eye.

Watching Su Shi'er's departing figure from afar, she gritted her silver teeth, her eyes wide with rage and frustration.

"That brat actually learned even Meng Tianyi's Blood Light Shield?!"

"Seeing how cautious he is, Meng Tianyi probably didn't run away—he was likely killed by that brat."

"That little bastard could have left on his own, but he even took my four Soul Severing Nails. Utterly hateful! Don't let me run into you again, or I'll chop you into eight pieces!"

As she muttered furiously, a fluorescent ribbon of starlight drifted through the air.

"Hm? Minor Tracking Spell?! Someone else is coming!"

The female cultivator surnamed Chu cried out softly. At once, she held her breath and silently recited an incantation as she moved to one side.

Under the effects of the spell, her figure swiftly vanished into thin air.

Half the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, two figures—one fat and one thin—appeared on the hillside. They were the two Tianhua Peak disciples who had been tracking Su Shi'er.

Seeing the two corpses on the ground, both men tensed and immediately went on guard.

"Hm? Judging by the state of these two, they must have perished together," the short, fat disciple said after quickly sweeping his gaze around.

The tall, thin disciple's face lit up. "Then isn't this perfect? We get to pick up a bargain! As for that brat, he saw these treasures and didn't take them—he must have discovered us!"

"Mm... Quickly pick this up. We continue the chase! A man's death is a small matter; losing the materials would be a major one." The short, fat disciple nodded and immediately stepped forward, reaching for the Glazed Gold in the burly man's hand.

Meanwhile, the tall, thin disciple did not idle about either. He

quickly went to pick up the Storage Pouches at the two men's waists, as well as the Precious Sword in the old man's hand.

The instant the two approached, a dense cloud of ink-black mist suddenly burst from the two corpses.

The black mist spread with astonishing speed, enveloping both men the moment it appeared.

"Not good! It's a trap!"

"Damn it, it's poisonous!"

As the situation abruptly changed, both the tall, thin disciple and the short, fat disciple turned pale and hurried to flee.

Yet they had barely taken a single step when their bodies convulsed. They collapsed directly to the ground, their eyes rolling white as blood poured from their mouths, dead on the spot.

"The Five-Poison Spirit Snake's venom truly is extraordinary. What a pity there was only this little. Otherwise, if I could do this a few more times, I'd be rich!"

The next moment, the female cultivator surnamed Chu appeared in the clearing.

With a smile on her face, she muttered softly to herself as she swiftly collected the items from the old and burly men's bodies.

Then her gaze turned toward the fat and thin pair on the ground.

"Good thing that brat ran away just now. Otherwise, I couldn't have poisoned two unlucky fools at once."

"Tianhua Peak is far stronger than Luofu Peak! These two aren't weak either. In the past few days, they must have found two or three materials at the very least!"

As she spoke with a smile, the female cultivator surnamed Chu's eyes narrowed into slits.

Rubbing her little hands together, she flicked her hand and immediately took the two men's Storage Pouches.

As True Yuan entered them and she inspected the contents of the Storage Pouches, her delicate brows furrowed and her expression became exceptionally sullen.

"No way. Aside from a dozen or so worthless talismans and one Low-grade Magical Artifact each, there's nothing else?"

"These are Tianhua Peak disciples? In two days, they didn't even find a single material?

What useless trash!"

The female cultivator surnamed Chu gritted her silver teeth and spoke bitterly.

How could she have known that the fat and thin pair, along with the man Su Shi'er had killed, belonged to the same group?

And all the materials the three of them had gathered over the past few days happened to be inside the Storage Pouch Su Shi'er had taken away.

Pursing her lips, the female cultivator surnamed Chu tossed out several Fireballs with an unlucky expression, burning the corpses on the ground to ashes.

"Those two used the Minor Tracking Spell just now. They were clearly after that brat. Could it be... that brat robbed them of their things?"

"Hmph. Whether that is the case or not, I need to recover my Soul-Chasing Nails first."

Her eyes darted around, and the female cultivator surnamed Chu turned to look in the direction Su Shi'er had gone.

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the ribbon of starlight from the air, activated an Escape Talisman, and gave chase after Su Shi'er.

Su Shi'er did not dare remain airborne for long. First, it consumed too much True Yuan; second, it was far too conspicuous.

After escaping, he landed on the ground and continued exploring cautiously.

When he saw the four iron nails inside the Storage Pouch, he was in high spirits.

"I never expected these four Soul Severing Nails to be High-grade Magical Artifacts?! Their green sheen means they've probably been steeped in poison plenty of times. That woman truly has a heart as venomous as a scorpion."

"Still, judging by how nervous that stinking woman was, these four iron nails must be worth a fortune! Mm... In any case, they're definitely worth far more than a Level 1 Top-grade Defense Talisman."

The more Su Shi'er looked, the happier he became. He felt as though he had finally vented his anger and held his head high.

Three days later, he had visited several places in succession but gained little of note.

That day, activating the Heavenly Eye Technique and following faint traces of earth spiritual energy in the air, he arrived before a vast stone forest filled with boulders twice a man's height.

"Judging by the distribution of spiritual energy here, there should be something good beneath these boulders. At the very least... it should be a Grade 2 Earth Spiritual Material."

"Wait... doesn't this place correspond to the Boulder Forest marked on the map of the Spiritual Plant Garden?!"

As this thought crossed his mind and he took in the scene before him, his pupils suddenly widened. He immediately pulled out the palm-sized map to confirm it.

"A stone forest stretching dozens of li deep—yes, this is definitely the place."

"That means the Spiritual Plant Garden should be a hundred li east of here. Whether it is or not, I'll go take a look after collecting the spiritual materials here!"

Having made up his mind, Su Shi'er followed the flow of spiritual energy through the air and entered the stone forest.

Before long, he had ventured deep into the stone forest.

At that moment, his peripheral vision caught sight of a figure. His pupils shrank, and his expression immediately turned solemn.

"Kid, I never thought I'd run into you so soon! The grudge from four years ago can finally be repaid today!" A fat disciple with a face full of flesh sneered as he walked toward Su Shi'er.

This disciple's cultivation was not high, only Qi Refining Stage Three. But he was an old acquaintance—the servant disciple who had deliberately made things difficult for everyone the first time Su Shi'er collected his pills, Fatty Huang.

"Repay a grudge?"

Faced with the other's provocative manner, Su Shi'er stood where he was, utterly unmoved. His gaze immediately swept over the surroundings, assessing the terrain around him.

"You're quite cautious, aren't you? Too bad you won't escape today even if you grow wings!"

Another voice rang out. Then two more figures emerged from behind the boulders on either side of him.

One of them was Zhao Yu, the Sword-Bearing Youth from four years ago.

The other was burly, with a leopard's head and ringed eyes, wearing a savage expression. Baleful Intent billowed from his body; one glance was enough to tell he was not someone to trifle with.

"Qi Refining Stage Five?! Qi Refining Stage Six?!!" Su Shi'er swept his gaze left and right. His pupils contracted, and his face instantly turned especially grim.