From then on, Su Qing and his companions temporarily joined Ye Qingling's group.
The members of the Ye Gang were decent people, and their respect for Ye Qingling came from the heart.
That was entirely down to her personal charm.
Most people established factions to plunder other students' marks, but Ye Qingling was different.
Her original purpose in founding this faction was to shelter students who had no faction of their own.
The Ye Gang never plundered anyone else's marks. They always raised their marks by hunting spirit beasts and searching for heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
And most of those gains were distributed to the students under her rather than kept by Ye Qingling herself.
Although their principles differed and they walked different paths, Su Qing had always admired people willing to sacrifice themselves for others.
She was worthy of that admiration, too.
"I'm at the Divine Soul Realm, so getting my mark to level four is easy. But it's different for the others. If I don't bring them together, their marks can easily be stolen. They might have spent ages building them up to that level."
"If their marks were taken, they'd probably end up being eliminated."
Su Qing recalled what the girl had said with a cheerful smile beside the campfire yesterday. The bright firelight had shone on her face, which bore a few wounds, making her look so radiant.
It was a pity they ultimately walked different paths.
Su Qing reined in his wandering thoughts and returned his attention to the meat in his hands, sprinkling a handful of cumin over it.
"You're back?"
Su Qing called out to Mu Chen and his companions as they entered the camp, without raising his head.
"We're back."
Mu Chen walked over and sat beside Su Qing.
"It went pretty smoothly, except we ran into Ge Hai there. I thought that slash back on the Spirit Road had killed him, so I was pretty surprised to see him today."
"Oh?" Su Qing raised his head and glanced at Mu Chen. "And then?"
"Then I crippled him and shattered his mark."
Mu Chen stretched as he spoke.
"You taught me that, big brother. Cut down the weeds without pulling out the roots, and they'll grow again when the spring wind blows."
Su Qing handed Mu Chen a piece of roasted meat. Mu Chen did not mind the grease on it; he wiped his hands, took it, and dug in.
Watching Mu Chen wolf down the meat, Su Qing gave a kindly smile.
He asked, "What about the Divine Soul Yin-Yang Ganoderma?"
"Sister Qian'er has it. Her mark is still a little short of level six, so she plans to hunt a couple of spirit beasts and raise it to level six before coming back."
"All right."
Su Qing placed the cooked meat on a rack made from branches beside him, then brushed the seasoning off his hands.
"Someone's been spreading the news these past few days that you, the Blood Calamity, have arrived in the Northern Cang Realm. I reckon plenty of people will be coming to find you."
Su Qing looked at Mu Chen with a hint of schadenfreude and teased him.
"Heh. They're all clay chickens and pottery dogs."
Mu Chen did not even raise his head, concentrating on gnawing his meat.
"What, does that include your girlfriend? I heard she's in this Northern Cang Realm, too."
Su Qing watched Mu Chen with a smile, one hand behind his back holding a jade talisman that shimmered with light.
"Pfft!"
Mu Chen spat out a mouthful at that and looked up at Su Qing.
"What did you say? Luo Li's in this Northern Cang Realm, too?"
"That's right."
"Pah, I take that back, I take it back! Big brother, you didn't hear a thing."
Mu Chen hurriedly tried to get on Su Qing's good side, then asked eagerly.
"Did you find out where Luo Li is now?"
"No."
Seeing the disappointment on Mu Chen's face, Su Qing added, "Everyone has to go to the Northern Cang Hall anyway. You'll definitely meet her there."
"All right."
Mu Chen thought it over, set the matter aside, and resumed tackling the meat in his hands.
Elsewhere.
A thunderous crash rang out in a mountain somewhere in the Northern Cang Realm. An enormous spirit beast, its huge body covered in spikes, collapsed with a boom. Scalding blood spread out, staining the ground red.
A figure landed lightly on the spirit beast's savage head and extracted its spirit beast essence. After a casual glance, he put it away.
"Hey, not bad. You dealt with that beast pretty quickly."
Laughter rose from a nearby slope. A handsome youth whistled at the figure standing on the spirit beast's head and spoke with a smile.
The figure who had slain the Thorn Demon Beast also raised his head, revealing a handsome face. The mark between his brows was purple-gold, the sign of a level-seven mark.
His expression remained indifferent, as though killing a Thorn Demon Beast was nothing out of the ordinary.
"That same expression again..."
The handsome youth curled his lips in boredom, then stretched and said with a grin, "But I think you'll be interested in what I'm about to tell you."
"Mu Chen, the Blood Calamity, has appeared."
At the same time, the news swept through every corner of the Northern Cang Realm like a gale. Those who had once taken part in the Spirit Road reacted differently upon hearing it.
Some merely smiled and paid it no mind; others flew into a towering rage, as though they wanted to leap straight to Mu Chen's side and kill him.
Others were ecstatic.
One such person was a black-skirted girl standing on a mountain peak. A smile appeared on her face, usually as cold and clear as a deep pool, like an epiphyllum blooming beneath the moon.
After Tang Qian'er returned, Su Qing used the Medicine Gathering technique from the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends to refine the Divine Soul Yin-Yang Ganoderma into two portions of essence, transforming its medicinal toxins into gentle spiritual energy.
After Mu Chen and Tang Qian'er each took a portion, both broke through to the Divine Soul Realm, gaining some ability to protect themselves in the Northern Cang Realm.
Over the next few days, Su Qing and his companions traveled with the Ye Gang, heading straight toward the inner reaches of the Northern Cang Realm. Although they encountered some trouble along the way, everyone resolved each problem in turn, and their journey suffered little hindrance.
As they ventured deeper into the Northern Cang Realm, they encountered more and more students and factions, whose overall strength also grew steadily higher.
A little thought made the reason clear: the strong survived, and the weak were eliminated.
However, the Ye Gang had always maintained friendly relations with others, and with Su Qing and several Divine Soul Realm cultivators serving as a deterrent, few people came looking for trouble.
Nor did Su Qing worry that the people they had previously robbed would come after them. They had already been cut down, roots and all.
Mu Chen, on the other hand, was a greater magnet for trouble now. Here, his reputation as the Blood Calamity of the Spirit Road was practically a red cloth before a bull's eyes.
Mu Chen had therefore been making fewer public appearances these past few days.
But trouble eventually came knocking anyway.
This was where several mountain ranges met. Between the surrounding peaks that towered into the clouds lay valleys, which also served as roads connecting the various regions.
Because the roads through these valleys converged here, the area had also become a gathering place.
All manner of tents had been pitched here, and in the middle of the clearing stood a trading area that the students had set up themselves.
The people coming and going lent it a lively atmosphere.
After emerging from that primeval forest and arriving here, they even felt as though they had returned to human society.
Su Qing and his companions were strolling through this trading area, entirely unaware that trouble was already on its way.