An unexpected incident

Yun Mo stood a short distance from the pool, holding two rabbits whose legs still kicked from time to time.

"Tsk, what a shame. I caught two rabbits, but there isn't a trace of any spirit beasts around the pool."

He still needed five hundred spirit points to exchange for a map of the entire Spirit Road. Who knew when he would run into something valuable? Yun Mo shook his head, thinking as he prepared the rabbits whose lives were swiftly slipping away.

"I really don't understand what the Five Great Academies are thinking. Why charge so much for a map? A thousand spirit points-that normally takes two level five spirit beasts. How many people can beat a level five spirit beast right after coming in?"

By Yun Mo's estimate, the so-called prodigies entering the Spirit Road were probably between fourteen and sixteen years old.

Boys and girls that age would not have very high cultivation. At most, they would be in the Spirit Wheel Realm. Wen Qingxuan, for instance, was probably at that realm, while her physical strength was roughly at the Spirit Movement Realm. That was the conclusion Yun Mo had reached after fighting her.

The others could not possibly match Wen Qingxuan, and their physical strength would only be lower. Those capable of defeating a level four spirit beast could be counted on one hand, let alone a level five spirit beast.

That was precisely why natural treasures that enhanced physical strength were so precious during the early stages of the Spirit Road.

Yun Mo's own physical strength was only around the Spirit Movement Realm. Although his cultivation was at the half-step Divine Soul Realm and he had practiced some body-tempering techniques, physical strength was hardly his forte. Otherwise, he would not have been only a tiny bit stronger than Wen Qingxuan.

He stripped the rabbits clean of their pelts, built a fire, and set them over it. Then he added some of his own secret seasoning, and before long, a delicious aroma began to waft out.

"They'll probably need a little longer to cook. Speaking of which, when will it be my turn to bathe? It wouldn't be great if the smell on me tainted the rabbit meat." Yun Mo gazed toward the small waterfall. Wen Qingxuan was probably still washing herself there.

Her entire body had smelled like a foul ditch, mixed with the reek of dried blood. Anyone would find that unbearable, much less a young girl. It was perfectly normal for her to take a little longer.

"Forget it. I'll wash nearby first. As long as I stay far enough from upstream, there shouldn't be a problem." Looking at the pool a short distance away, Yun Mo felt the itch to jump in. More importantly, he could barely stand his own smell anymore.

After surveying his surroundings, Yun Mo swiftly stripped off his robe and plunged into the water.

The pool felt a little chilly beneath the moonlight, but after a moment, it became comfortable enough to draw a sigh of admiration from him.

But just as he was drifting with the current, a terrifying commotion erupted at the waterfall upstream.

"Hm?" Yun Mo rose from where he had been floating on the surface, his expression shifting. "So that's why there were no spirit beasts nearby. This is a spirit beast's territory. I just didn't expect it to be underwater. Wen Qingxuan is still up there!"

He threw on another robe, a flexible sword appeared in his hand, and he darted toward the waterfall upstream.

The moment he arrived, he saw the enormous silhouette of a snake with three heads.

Its body was massive. The portion rising upright from the pool alone was enough to strike fear into anyone's heart. Its green scales gleamed eerily beneath the moonlight, their overlapping layers radiating a terrifying aura.

On closer inspection, its three triangular heads seemed independent of one another, moving without any discernible pattern. Its mouths were slightly open, and its flickering red tongues produced hissing sounds. At that moment, it was staring fixedly at Wen Qingxuan.

Wen Qingxuan's pretty face was icy, and fury burned within her. She had never expected a spirit beast to be lurking underwater. While soaking in the pool, she had nearly suffered a serious injury from its sneak attack.

"No wonder there weren't any other spirit beasts around the pool. The true master was in the water." Yun Mo had been fretting over his inability to find spirit beasts, and his eyes lit up at the sight of it.

Just as he was about to dart forward as well, Wen Qingxuan shouted sharply, her pretty face frosty, "Don't come over! Stay there!"

Yun Mo raised an eyebrow and stopped, focusing his gaze on her. Wen Qingxuan seemed to have only a black robe draped over her body, and her fair thighs flashed in and out of view as she moved.

"Tsk."

This three-headed snake was most likely a level five spirit beast too. Wen Qingxuan would have little trouble dealing with it.

Just as she was demonstrating now, her spear, stained with blood and fueled by her raging anger, exuded boundless killing intent. Every strike unleashed her full strength, carving bloody wounds across the three-headed snake.

The three-headed snake howled incessantly and spewed poison mist, hoping to stop Wen Qingxuan. But she paid it no heed, letting the poison mist envelop her as she pressed on, determined to kill it right there.

At that moment, the girl before it filled it with utter terror. It whipped its tail, trying to flee, but Wen Qingxuan's delicate hands trembled as all her strength erupted at once. Her spear cleaved downward, splitting the entire pool into two walls of water as it crashed toward the snake's heads.

"Aoo!"

Its roar raged through the air, only to stop abruptly a moment later. All three heads vanished, and its enormous body slowly fell into the water, throwing up waves several meters high that swept across the surroundings.

Watching the scene, Yun Mo shrugged. He now had a deeper understanding of Wen Qingxuan in a rage.

He darted over to the giant snake's corpse and pressed the token in his hand against it.

Once that was done, he looked at Wen Qingxuan standing there, her face a little pale. This was the result of unleashing all her strength in an instant. The effects would not show during battle, but they could cause some trouble afterward.

With spiritual energy circulating through her body, she could easily recover from such a condition. Without spiritual energy, however, she would need a little time to regulate her breathing.

Yun Mo hesitated briefly, but still approached her and reached out to support her.

"Are you all right? I have some Qi Recovery Pills here. Take them first."

Wen Qingxuan let out a long breath and nodded. Just as she reached out to accept the pill bottle, a faint sound reached their ears.

The fastening in the middle of her black robe suddenly snapped open as she raised her hand.

In that instant, both their expressions froze. Yun Mo's eyes widened, his mouth fell slightly open, and he stiffened on the spot.

"So this is the map?" Wen Qingxuan took the map from Yun Mo's hand and spoke indifferently.

"Yes. This map is rather unusual. No wonder it costs a thousand spirit points." Yun Mo watched her cautiously as he answered.

"What do these glowing spots mean?"

"They should be natural treasures. That's what the token's instructions say." Yun Mo pursed his lips and handed her the roasted rabbit.

"Why would natural treasures show up on a map?" Wen Qingxuan frowned, puzzled.

"Most likely, the Five Great Academies made it specifically for that purpose. As long as someone exchanges for

this map, they can see the locations of these natural treasures or the Battlefield Ruins."

Yun Mo could not help marveling. Linking the quality of the Blood-Colored Token to the Spiritual Energy Empowerment at the finish had already made the Spirit Road incredibly brutal. Who would have thought that a single map would further set every participant's nerves on edge? It was ruthless indeed.

It truly was a breeding ground for venomous creatures, where the survivors devoured one another until only the king remained. Whoever emerged from the Spirit Road would be that king.

"Then let's go too. These natural treasures can improve our physical strength, and there should be plenty of prodigies heading there. We can find plenty of tokens." Wen Qingxuan took a small bite of rabbit meat and found Yun Mo's cooking fairly good.

She understood the Five Great Academies' intentions as well, but had no particular objection. In this world, strength ultimately reigned supreme.

Although the Extraterritorial Evil Clan was an external enemy, the struggles within the Great Thousand World continued unabated. Even those Heavenly Sovereigns spent their days fighting to the death over various things. What they were experiencing was merely child's play.

Yun Mo nodded and smiled. "There's actually no need to rush. The Spirit Road only opened recently, and not many people have maps yet. We can get our hands on the spirit medicines before they do."

"Then I think we can go here first." Wen Qingxuan pointed to a plain on the map and continued, "This is a Protected Zone. Under the Spirit Road's rules, anyone who enters is forbidden from starting fights. We can exchange a small portion of the information on this map for plenty of things there."

"Just how many rules of the Spirit Road am I still unaware of?" Yun Mo muttered under his breath.

He was groping blindly through the Spirit Road, completely unaware of what information the Five Great Academies had passed on to the Azure Wood Academy. Had Qing Yilun thought the Spirit Road trial was too easy and deliberately kept these things from him?

Wen Qingxuan glanced at him, not quite catching his muttering. "You can barter there too. You should still have plenty of good things in your storage ring, right?"

"Uh... not much. Basically just a few sets of clothes and some pills. Oh, right, I do still have an unused Mistveil Flower." Yun Mo covered the storage ring on his hand and gave an awkward laugh.

"A Mistveil Flower?" Wen Qingxuan did not notice Yun Mo's odd behavior, but she was surprised by the flower. "How did you get it? Take it out."

The corners of Yun Mo's mouth twitched. Not daring to refuse, he took the mist-shrouded Mistveil Flower from his ring and handed it over. "I ate three petals from this flower, so there are six left. As for the center, I'm saving it to attract Nocturnal Bees and see whether I can find their nest."

Wen Qingxuan did not stand on ceremony. She plucked three petals and put them in her mouth. Their rich sweetness bloomed across her tongue, complementing the rabbit meat she had just eaten and making her eyes narrow slightly. "Then we can ask around there about where swarms of Nocturnal Bees have been seen."

Nocturnal Bees roamed an extremely wide area. Those appearing in twos and threes were merely out foraging. Only the appearance of a large swarm meant that their hive was nearby.

If they used the Mistveil Flower's center then, they would be certain to find the hive.

"All right. We'll set out tomorrow and head to this Protected Zone first." Yun Mo planned their route and settled on their next destination.

"You keep watch tonight. I'm going up into a tree to rest."

Watching her turn and leave, Yun Mo touched the still-reddened handprint on his face and breathed a sigh of relief.

He felt that something was wrong with his adolescent body. His blood was far too vigorous. How could a single glance at Wen Qingxuan have made his nose bleed? It simply defied reason.