"You're awake!"
Lin He stroked the peerless beauty's black hair with one hand, while his other hand kept roaming, as though he still had not had his fill. Yet the beauty in his arms wore a cold expression, and her gaze held a trace of hurt and resentment as she stared at him.
She, Nangong Wan, was a dignified Core Formation Stage Cultivator, yet a mere Qi Condensation cultivator had taken her virginity. How could she not feel wronged?
"Get your paws off me!"
Lin He gave an awkward smile. Nangong Wan rose, walked over to her Storage Bag, and changed into a set of white clothes before looking him over carefully.
"Your looks are decent, but your cultivation... is far too low."
A powerful sense of resentment surged through Nangong Wan's heart, but if it came to killing him, she could not harden her heart enough to do it.
After glaring fiercely at Lin He, Nangong Wan said,
"You should know who I am. If word of what happened today gets out, I will be hunted by a Core Formation Stage Cultivator. Don't worry, I'll keep it secret."
"I have no desire to be hunted down by a Core Formation cultivator. Don't worry. I'll keep it secret."
Nangong Wan nodded. Then, seeing that he was still stark naked, she flushed crimson and hastily turned away, urging him, "Hurry up and put some clothes on! Have you no shame?"
"Heh heh, we just bared everything to each other. What's there to be ashamed of? Haven't we already seen everything we should and shouldn't?"
Nangong Wan's slender brows shot up at his words, and she seemed about to fly into a rage. Yet something apparently occurred to her, and she gave a cold snort.
"Enough of your slick tongue. We'll need to work together to get out of here shortly."
Lin He understood, of course, and did not dare delay. He hurriedly dressed, but before leaving, he gathered all dozen or so spirit herbs and even put away the Ink Flood Dragon's corpse.
"This Small Five-Elements Sumeru Formation isn't so easy to break. My current cultivation isn't enough. I'll need your Golden Light Brick Talisman Treasure as well."
After a thunderous boom, Nangong Wan appeared before the Covering Moon Sect disciples, her figure slightly more grown than before. None of them dared breathe too loudly, fearing that Martial Ancestor Nangong would punish them.
Yet Nangong Wan merely gazed into the distance for a while before coldly announcing, "Move out!"
Only a little while after Nangong Wan and the others had left did Lin He emerge.
"It's already the fourth day. The Forbidden Land Trial ends in one more day. I can't hold back my strength any longer. I need to gather as many Demon Beasts and spirit herbs as possible. All of you, come out together."
As he spoke, two Mountain-Pushing Beasts, Three-Eyed Fire Wolves, Icefire Wolves, Azure Water Crocodiles, Wind-Howling Eagles, and forty Frost Toads appeared around him, fifty spirit beasts in total, protecting him in their midst. After comparing several maps and settling on a plan, Lin He swept his hand forward and declared with considerable gusto,
"Move out!"
At last, the afternoon of the fifth day arrived. The seven Core Formation Stage Cultivators of the seven sects, along with each sect's stewards and even Old Monster Qiong, all gathered here. The seven sects' Core Formation Stage Cultivators joined forces once more to open the passage into the Forbidden Land.
Half an hour later, a Daoist emerged and went to stand beside the Qingxu Sect's Floating Cloud Daoist, greatly improving his mood.
Soon, disciples from the various sects trickled out, among them Senior Brother Chen Qiaoshan of Yellow Maple Valley. The moment he emerged, Senior Brother Chen looked toward Martial Ancestor Li. Not seeing Lin He, he frowned, but still obediently went to stand beside Martial Ancestor Li.
Before long, Senior Sister Chang also emerged. Senior Brother Chen immediately went over to ask whether she had seen Lin He.
Senior Sister Chang nodded. "I met Junior Brother Lin on the first day in the Forbidden Land, but he later went to the Central Area to gather spirit herbs. I didn't want to burden him, so I didn't go along. Strange, hasn't Junior Brother Lin come out yet?"
For some reason, Senior Sister Chang did not mention encountering the Moon-Covering Twin Beauties.
When Senior Brother Chen heard that Lin He had actually gone to the Central Area, his expression changed. "That Junior Brother Lin really is... ah, how am I supposed to explain this to Seventh Sister?"
Senior Sister Chang could only console him. "Don't worry too much, Senior Brother Chen. Junior Brother Lin is far more capable than I am."
Senior Sister Chang briefly described some of the abilities Lin He had shown earlier, finally easing Senior Brother Chen's mind considerably.
As time passed, fewer and fewer disciples emerged, yet Lin He was still nowhere to be seen. Senior Brother Chen could not help growing anxious.
Just then, Senior Sister Chang patted his shoulder. Senior Brother Chen hurriedly turned to look, and sure enough, a yellow-clad figure appeared. It was Lin He.
"Junior Brother Lin, you scared me half to death!"
After that plunge from hope into fear and back again, Senior Brother Chen was truly overcome with excitement. He could not help patting Lin He's shoulder. "It's wonderful that you made it back."
Lin He merely smiled faintly, even feeling somewhat apologetic. He could tell that this Senior Brother Chen genuinely cared about his safety. Though Senior Sister Chen inevitably played a part in that, having someone care for him so much in this nearly heartless world still brought a trace of warmth.
Lin He bowed to Martial Ancestor Li. Li Huayuan merely waved a hand indifferently at his return, clearly having no expectations of him at all.
Before long, Han Li and Xiang Zhili also emerged. Their cultivation was low, however, so they received the same treatment as Lin He. Martial Ancestor Li paid them no attention whatsoever.
Han Li greeted Lin He when he saw him, but did not breathe a word about Zhongwu or Han Tianya.
Lin He looked around. Few disciples from the other sects had made it out. The Giant Sword Sect, for instance, had only two, while not a single disciple from the Covering Moon Sect had emerged yet.
"Hasn't Nangong Wan come out yet?"
Just as Lin He looked toward the passage and muttered to himself, a large group of disciples suddenly emerged from it, led by none other than Nangong Wan.
Nangong Wan's appearance immediately made Old Monster Qiong breathe a sigh of relief. Fairy Nishang could not help rushing up to her, showing such concern, like a close sister, that everyone watching was puzzled.
Nangong Wan responded to her for a while, then instinctively swept her gaze around. Her eyes paused on Lin He, and their gazes met in midair before both looked away.
This was not the Forbidden Land. With so many Core Formation Stage Cultivators watching, neither Lin He nor Nangong Wan wanted to reveal any flaw that might arouse suspicion.
Next came the inspection of their harvests. After all, Li Huayuan, Floating Cloud Daoist, and Old Monster Qiong had made a wager.
On Yellow Maple Valley's side, the first few disciples only produced a handful of spirit herbs, leaving Martial Ancestor Li
so furious that his nose nearly twisted out of shape. When Senior Brother Chen's turn came, he contributed ten spirit herbs at once, finally improving Martial Ancestor Li's expression a little.
Yet a moment later, two Daoists from the Qingxu Sect contributed more than a dozen spirit herbs, immediately turning Martial Ancestor Li's newly brightened face the color of pig liver.
Meanwhile, Martial Ancestor Li had only Xiang Zhili, Han Li, and Lin He left, the three with the lowest cultivation.
Xiang Zhili chuckled and stepped forward first to offer a single purple monkey flower. Martial Ancestor Li had expected nothing of him to begin with, so there was no real disappointment.
When Lin He's turn came, he handed over only ten spirit herbs. Everything else was stored in his portable space, where neither these Core Formation Stage Cultivators nor even the Spirit-Sniffing Beast could detect them.
Seeing Lin He contribute ten spirit herbs at once naturally left Martial Ancestor Li overjoyed.
When Han Li's turn came, he took out twenty spirit herbs in one go. Martial Ancestor Li was even more delighted, instantly turning defeat into victory in his wager with Floating Cloud Daoist.
Lin He was surprised as well. He had not expected Han Li to reap such a sizable harvest elsewhere despite not having gone to the Greenstone Hall.
However, many of the Covering Moon Sect's disciples had survived, and under Nangong Wan's leadership, they had swept through numerous Demon Beasts and acquired a great quantity of spirit herbs. Thus, Old Monster Qiong still won the wager.
Although Martial Ancestor Li lost the wager, he still publicly accepted Han Li as a nominal disciple so that he could receive half the spirit herbs Han Li had contributed.
With that, the Forbidden Land Trial ended. Martial Ancestor Li carried everyone back to the sect on a spirit beast.