Just a Nobody

"We did it! We really killed that Second-tier Beast?" Su Shi'er fared a little better. He dropped onto his backside, still shaken.

But not much better. His dantian was empty, and every cell in his body groaned in pain.

The pain made him bare his teeth and grimace!

"I can never fight above my level again! It's a death sentence. That nearly killed me!"

He took the lesson to heart and hurriedly pulled out a bottle of Minor Restoration Pills, swallowing half of them in one go.

The pills dissolved on his tongue, and their pure medicinal power swiftly spread through his body. Under its effects, his injuries began to heal rapidly.

In less than fifteen minutes, Su Shi'er had recovered enough to move and rose to his feet.

His injuries were severe, though. Full recovery would take time.

He swept a quick glance around but did not act rashly. Turning to the woman before him, he asked, "How are you holding up?"

The Millennium Cinnabar Fruit was tempting, but he would need this mysterious woman's help to get out.

"What do you think?" Shen Miaoyin replied weakly.

Not only had she exhausted her true essence, but her foundation had also been damaged. She could not even open her Storage Pouch to retrieve her Medicinal Pills.

"I can help you heal, but once you've recovered, you can't attack me, and you have to take me out of here!" Su Shi'er said, watching her closely.

"Agreed," Shen Miaoyin said without hesitation.

"And I want two of the five Cinnabar Fruits left on that tree," Su Shi'er added, glancing at the Cinnabar Fruit Tree in the distance.

"Fine." Shen Miaoyin's face remained impassive as she agreed.

"You agreed awfully quickly," Su Shi'er muttered. Then he asked, "One last question. What's your name?"

"Shen Miaoyin," she said quietly.

"Shen? I remember the Peak Master of Tianyin Peak is named Shen... What's your connection to her?" Su Shi'er was startled as a bold suspicion took shape in his mind.

He was cautious by nature and always paid attention to his surroundings. Before the trial began, Fu Boren of Tianhua Peak had asked an elder of Tianyin Peak where Peak Master Shen was.

"What do you think?" Shen Miaoyin asked, a faint smile on her lips.

Gravely injured though she was, she was still the master of a peak. She had not lost her composure.

"Whoa, you're the Peak Master of Tianyin Peak?!" He had guessed that this woman held a high position, but he had never imagined she was the Peak Master herself.

"Any more questions? The people from Tianhua Peak could break through the formation at any moment. Every minute we delay puts us in greater danger," Shen Miaoyin said calmly.

"N-no more questions. Here, take this bottle of Minor Restoration Pills. Ah... you can't take them yourself. I'll help you. Forgive the intrusion!" Su Shi'er gave an awkward smile and hurriedly offered her the Medicinal Pills.

Only then did he realize Shen Miaoyin lacked the strength to take them.

He poured the pills into his palm and moved to feed them to her, worry still gnawing at him.

"What? Supreme Minor Restoration Pills? Five of them? Who exactly are you?" Shen Miaoyin asked, her fine brows drawing together as she stared at the pills in his hand.

"I'm nobody, just a small fry. I... happened to come across these Medicinal Pills!" Su Shi'er hurriedly shook his head.

Without dwelling on the subject, he picked up the Medicinal Pills and leaned toward Shen Miaoyin, nervously feeding them into her mouth one by one.

His fingers brushed her cool red

lips. At the sight of her long lashes trembling slightly, Su Shi'er felt his heart race and a strange tingling sweep through him.

An emotion he could not name lingered in his chest, flushing his face and heating his cheeks.

He was only seventeen, after all. He had never been close to a woman before, so his reaction was only natural.

Especially when the woman before him was such a peerless beauty.

As the Medicinal Pills went down, a cool current swiftly flowed through Shen Miaoyin's limbs and bones, like spring rain soaking the earth.

Her injuries temporarily suppressed, Shen Miaoyin drew a deep breath of Spiritual Qi and converted it into threads of true essence within her body.

Then, with a sweep of her hand, she took out a pale-blue Great Restoration Pill. After looking at it, she put it away again.

In theory, Great Restoration Pills were more potent than Minor Restoration Pills. But hers was only a Second-tier Mid-grade Great Restoration Pill. Compared with Supreme Minor Restoration Pills, it did not measure up.

"Come on. Gather the rest, and let's leave as soon as we can." Shen Miaoyin rose, collected her five flying swords, and walked to the Cinnabar Fruit Tree.

After a quick look, she waved her hand, condensing a mass of cold air into a throwing knife.

The blade flashed, and five Cinnabar Fruits dropped from the branches.

Before they could hit the ground, Shen Miaoyin took out two sandalwood boxes and divided the five fruits between them.

She turned and handed Su Shi'er the box containing three fruits.

"These three Cinnabar Fruits are yours."

"Thank you!" Su Shi'er accepted the box. As he gazed at the three round, bright-red fruits inside, a broad grin split his face.

His mind was filled with what Shen Miaoyin had said earlier: one Millennium Cinnabar Fruit could increase his cultivation by thirty years.

He took one out, glanced cautiously around, and eagerly raised it to his mouth.

To him

, raising his cultivation as quickly as possible was what mattered most.

"I advise you not to eat it now. The Millennium Cinnabar Fruit is extremely potent. It will take at least ten days to fully refine its effects," Shen Miaoyin said flatly.

Ten days to refine it?

Su Shi'er hurriedly put the fruit back in the box and stored it in his Storage Ring.

More than a hundred Tianhua Peak disciples were outside the Spiritual Plant Garden and could enter at any moment. Forget ten days—he did not dare linger here for even one.

"Thank you, Peak Master Shen. What should we do next?" Su Shi'er asked respectfully, cupping his fists toward her.

Standing beneath the Cinnabar Fruit Tree, Shen Miaoyin held her Ice Sword and swiftly traced a circle around it.

Then she beckoned, and the towering tree vanished. Only a vast, deep pit remained.

Once she had finished, Shen Miaoyin said to Su Shi'er, "There's still the Stone Orchid Flower and the beast's corpse. Choose one. After we collect everything and I recover a little strength, we'll leave!"

Watching Shen Miaoyin take the Cinnabar Fruit Tree, Su Shi'er felt a pang of envy.

But he knew it would be useless in his hands.

At her words, his gaze darted between the remaining Stone Orchid Flower and the Fire Cloud Python's corpse.

The Material Compendium had no entry on the Stone Orchid Flower.

Judging by Shen Miaoyin's reaction, he could tell it had to be valuable. But he had no use for a Spiritual Plant of that level yet.

The giant python was another matter. This was the corpse of a Second-tier Demon Beast. Its flesh, skin, and fangs were all valuable. Most importantly, those seven Soul Severing Nails—high-grade magic artifacts—were still inside it.

After only a moment's hesitation, Su Shi'er made his choice.

"I..."

He was just about to speak when—