Yellow Sparrow (Monthly Pass Request)

Outside the valley.

Shen Yuxin raised her hand and struck with her sword.

A streak of sword qi shot out, cutting a tiny jade-green snake cleanly in two.

"An Emerald Jade Snake? Its gallbladder alone is worth one Spirit Sand... Fifth Sister truly has a knack for wealth. This time, we'll definitely return in triumph."

At the sight, Hua Fei Yue immediately giggled, swaying her willow-thin waist as she stepped forward to gather the resources from the Emerald Jade Snake.

Ten Thousand Pill Master of Thousand Peaks Forest looked at Hua Fei Yue's slender waist and rounded hips, then could not help but smile. "Brother Chen is truly fortunate... If these old eyes are not mistaken, this woman possesses innate charm. She truly has a unique allure..."

"This old man and my sworn brothers and sisters are bound by loyalty..."

Chen Yi's expression did not change.

Chen Hongtian followed behind Chen Yi with a massive iron hammer on his back. He glanced at his second sister, his gaze similarly somewhat entranced.

Meng Yi did not notice the somewhat delicate atmosphere. Instead, he lagged a few steps behind the group and took Shen Yuxin's right hand. "You seem unsettled. Normally, you would never have allowed that little snake to get within seven steps of you..."

"I'm worried about Zi Jin..." Shen Yuxin replied with a bitter smile.

"He'll be fine. There's the Law Enforcement Team in the market... Besides, didn't we tell him not to leave the house? With the Talismans we left behind, protecting himself won't be a problem."

There was Order in the market. At the very least, as long as Qingxuan Sect's Law Enforcement Team had not all died, people should not dare forcibly break into homes and murder their occupants... right?

"I specifically told Zi Jin not to trust the people next door. Nothing major should happen..."

Shen Yuxin murmured as well.

"We've already reached Five Scorpion Valley. If we finish quickly, we can head back sooner."

Meng Yi comforted his wife.

The group of six entered the deep valley. Even the weakest among them were Innate Martial Artists, their movement techniques extraordinary. They easily crossed several natural hazards and arrived at the valley entrance.

"Be careful. There's poisonous mist here. Why don't you all take a few Poison Avoidance Pills first?"

Ten Thousand Pill Master handed over a Jade Bottle.

"Thank you."

Chen Yi accepted it with a genial smile, swallowed a pill, and then passed it to Hua Fei Yue.

Once everyone had taken the pills, Ten Thousand Pill Master said, "There are quite a few Purple Wing Scorpions living here. Let's proceed according to the plan!"

"Agreed!"

Chen Yi nodded and took out several small flags, handing them to the others. "We've practiced this set of Small Lost Trace Formation until we know it well. When the time comes, watch your steps and continuously channel Innate True Qi into it. We should be able to trap the Purple Wing Scorpions."

"Rest assured, Big Brother."

Hua Fei Yue tossed him a flirtatious glance and accepted it with a smile.

Before long, a layer of hazy white mist emerged at the valley entrance, gradually blending with the thin mountain fog until the two became indistinguishable.

Crack! Crack!

An ape-shaped puppet suddenly emerged from the mist. It stood nearly two meters tall, its arms hanging past its knees. Spiritual patterns of various colors flickered across its body, emitting powerful mana fluctuations.

At that moment, the puppet ape suddenly beat its chest and opened its bloody maw.

Pfft!

A yellowish earthen beam shot from its mouth and into the valley.

Buzz! Buzz!

The terrifying sound of vibrating wings rang out as several purple scorpion silhouettes appeared and charged toward the puppet.

The Ape Puppet immediately gave a strange cry and fled backward.

The Purple Wing Scorpions pursued relentlessly. One side fled while the other chased, and before long, they charged into the Lost Trace Formation.

The moment those Purple Wing Scorpions entered the Small Lost Trace Formation, they vanished from sight. Only flashes of Spell light and occasional explosions could be heard.

A moment later, the somewhat damaged Ape Puppet emerged once more and went to lure more Purple Wing Scorpions...

"Not bad. They even have puppet techniques?"

Fang Xing watched the scene with great enjoyment.

After all, formations and puppet techniques were both quite rare.

Of course, these people were not Array Masters or puppet masters. They had merely bought the formation and puppet, but that still showed how much they had invested!

"Comparing ordinary Demon Beasts with Cultivators... At the same level of strength, Cultivators ultimately have the advantage... After all, Cultivators know how to use tools and schemes."

After only a few glances, Fang Xing knew that if this continued, the Purple Wing Scorpion swarm would have no hope of recovery and could only be wiped out in the shadows.

Gradually, as one Purple Wing Scorpion after another was killed, much of the thin mist blanketing the valley dispersed.

Through the hazy fog, a Spirit Lake at the center of the valley could vaguely be seen.

Along the lake's edge grew several strange orchids. Their entire bodies were shrouded in fluorescent light, and several had already bloomed, releasing a dreamy fragrance. One glance was enough to tell they were no ordinary plants.

More importantly... beside the Illusion Heart Orchids, a Purple Wing Scorpion was lying there!

This Purple Wing Scorpion was the size of a millstone, its entire body seemingly carved from a piece of purple Crystal. Its translucent armor refracted a spectrum of colors beneath the sunlight.

At this moment, the Purple Wing Scorpion King also sensed that something was wrong. It beat its wings and transformed into a streak of purple light, leading the few remaining Purple Wing Scorpions straight toward the valley entrance!

"Not good! Something is off about that Purple Wing Scorpion King! It is at least a First-Grade High-Quality Demon Insect, comparable to a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator!"

Inside the Small Lost Trace Formation, Ten Thousand Pill Master, who was waving a small flag, immediately went pale at the sight.

"Go all out and let it into the formation!" Chen Yi gritted his teeth. "So what if it's a First-Grade High-Quality Demon Insect? With us joining forces inside the formation, we may not lose!"

Before he finished speaking, that streak of purple light had already rushed into the Small Lost Trace Formation.

Streams of purple poisonous mist instantly emerged and spread out, seemingly corroding the original white fog.

Meng Yi and the other Innate Martial Artists changed expression and suddenly spat out mouthfuls of Quintessential Blood. They felt their Innate True Qi draining ten, even dozens of times faster than before...

"Now seems like a good opportunity... But when the mantis stalks the cicada, the yellow sparrow waits behind. I should play the innocent bystander..."

Far away in Green Forest Market, Fang Xing watched the group fight so fiercely, a strange expression appearing on his face.

Boom!

Several minutes later, a flash of fire appeared in the surveillance feed, followed by the Small Lost Trace Formation exploding with a thunderous crash!

The dense fog dispersed, revealing the Five Heroes of Cangshan and Ten Thousand Pill Master.

Although they all looked extremely bedraggled, and Hua Fei Yue and Shen Yuxin's clothes were stained with blood, the millstone-sized Purple Wing Scorpion King was clearly already dead on the ground.

"A First-Grade High-Quality Demon Insect... How many Spirit Stones must that be worth? And the other Demon Insect materials, plus the Illusion Heart Orchids... We've struck it rich, struck it rich!" Meng Yi checked his wife's wounds and tapped several vital points to stop the bleeding. Then, seeing the scorpion corpses covering the ground, his breathing became heavy. "After this job, we can all rent a stall in the market. We won't have to keep doing this life-or-death work, and we can raise Zi Jin properly..."

"Yes..."

A tender smile appeared on Shen Yuxin's pale face.

The next moment, both her and Meng Yi's smiles froze. "Third Brother, you?"

Before their eyes, Chen Hongtian wore a savage grin as he viciously swung his iron hammer at his eldest brother, Chen Yi!

Clang!

A golden light appeared around Chen Yi's body, taking the shape of a golden bell.

The pitch-black iron hammer smashed into the golden bell. Innate True Qi surged, causing the bell to ring with a deafening boom.

"A Golden Bell Shield Talisman?"

After missing with his strike, Chen Hongtian immediately retreated. The hundred-pound iron hammer whirled in his hands so densely that not even water could pass through, like a Black Light Screen that firmly protected him. "You were prepared all along?"

"Third Brother, you really were colluding with Thousand Peaks Forest!"

Chen Yi's face was filled with grief and indignation.

"Third Brother, why?" Hua Fei Yue had already suffered serious injuries. She quickly retreated, looking at Fourth Brother and Fifth Sister, who were equally at a loss, while quietly putting more distance between herself and them.

A betrayal had arisen so suddenly. No one could be trusted now!

"Why?"

Chen Hongtian cast a greedy glance at Hua Fei Yue and sneered. "Naturally, because that old bastard relies on his status as a Cultivator to take the biggest share every single time. Why should he?"

"A wise man submits to circumstance. This old man thinks you would be better off surrendering quietly..." Ten Thousand Pill Master looked utterly confident. "Fellow Daoist Hua, what do you say?"

"This little woman..." A trace of sorrow appeared on Hua Fei Yue's bloodless face, making her look especially pitiful.

But before she could say anything, a layer of Black Qi suddenly surged over her. "Not good, you poisoned us? The earlier Poison Avoidance Pills?"

"Haha, correct, the Poison Avoidance Pills!" Ten Thousand Pill Master laughed loudly. "How do you like this pill specially made by me?"

He looked toward Meng Yi and his wife, only to find that the two Innate Martial Artists were in even worse condition, already slumped to the ground. But when his gaze shifted to Chen Yi, he froze.

The other man was full of vigor, his complexion ruddy. He did not show the slightest sign of poisoning!

At that moment, Chen Yi was taking out several attack Talismans, mana surging through his hand.

"Not good!"

Ten Thousand Pill Master instinctively crushed the Talisman in his hand, and a golden light tightly shielded him.

But the next moment!

Roar!

Accompanied by a tiger's roar, a pitch-black Tiger Head Saber suddenly emerged from the forest, drawing a saber light over three meters long as it crashed heavily into the golden light.

Ten Thousand Pill Master's expression changed drastically. "A Tiger Head Saber? A standard Black Tiger Gang magic artifact? You actually joined the Black Tiger Gang?"

From the forest, a burly man in a Black Robe slowly emerged. A ferocious tiger head was embroidered on his chest, and a savage smile appeared on his face. "Ten Thousand Pill Master, Fu Qing of the Black Tiger Gang greets you. Our Black Tiger Gang wishes to invite you to serve as a guest elder. Why have you repeatedly refused?"

Seeing this, Chen Hongtian knew things had gone badly. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

Fu Qing was positioned directly at the valley entrance, leaving him no route of escape!

Moreover, the man was a great expert at Qi Refining Late Stage. Though he could not compare to the four Qi Refining Completion elders who had founded the Black Tiger Gang, he was still not someone to be taken lightly!

"Cough, cough. This old man was merely considering it. Now, this old man thinks becoming a guest elder of the Black Tiger Gang would be quite good..."

Ten Thousand Pill Master coughed, then suddenly waved his hand.

Two pitch-black beads resembling pills shot forward.

"Those are... Pill Lightning?"

Fu Qing's eyelid twitched. One of the pills suddenly exploded, and violet-red lightning flames instantly struck the Tiger Head Saber, blasting the magic artifact away with force and making it let out a mournful cry.

Knowing things were bad, he immediately turned around and slapped his waist. A shield shaped like a pitch-black turtle shell appeared and firmly blocked before him.

"Hm? They've finally started fighting."

Inside the monitoring room, Fang Xing's eyes lit up. "Then it's time for me to make my entrance..."