Suspicion

Xue Fuyao was deeply concerned about the Divine Spirit Fruits that had suddenly vanished just now.

She had already confirmed that all five Divine Spirit Fruits were real, not illusions. That meant their sudden disappearance could only have been someone's doing-or some Monster Beast's. At that thought, Xue Fuyao suddenly recalled the Mutant Spirit Mouse from earlier.

An utterly absurd idea suddenly surfaced in her mind.

Surely not.

Forget it. Even if it's true, the Mutant Spirit Mouse is in my hands now. I can verify it once I get back.

She had already spent more than ten days in the Medicinal Garden. Barring any surprises, the one-month deadline would soon arrive. She had to use her own identity to claim a share of the spoils.

Presumably, while she was away, the last Divine Spirit Fruit had already fallen into the hands of some person or Monster Beast.

By the time Xue Fuyao arrived, the Monster Beasts from before had long since disappeared. She looked around but found no sign of Gu Nian, Yan Changxi, or the other disciples. Most likely, they had gone chasing after the Divine Spirit Fruit.

The struggle for the Divine Spirit Fruits had left traces of destruction throughout the Medicinal Garden. In particular, the spirit medicines around the Divine Spirit Tree had all been utterly destroyed.

Quite a few people still remained in the Medicinal Garden, probably because they knew they could not outfight the others.

Although much had been destroyed, the Medicinal Garden was large enough, and its spirit medicines were beyond counting. Under these circumstances, there was simply no need to fight over them. Rather than spend that time fighting, they might as well dig up a few more spirit medicines.

Everyone was gathering as many spirit medicines as they could.

Seeing this, Xue Fuyao promptly joined them.

Although she already had a suspicion, Xue Fuyao still wanted to examine the Divine Spirit Tree again. Thus, while gathering spirit medicines to feed the Demon-Suppressing Bracelet, she edged toward the Divine Spirit Tree without drawing attention.

She was not the only person around the Divine Spirit Tree at that moment. The others gazed at it with greedy eyes.

Originally, Xue Fuyao had wanted to form a contract with it, just as she had with the Jade Glass of the Azure Moon and the Camellia Tree. However, this Divine Spirit Tree was already tens of thousands of years old, far beyond her current ability to contract. Her master might have had a chance.

Still, since she could not form a contract with it, she had no intention of leaving empty-handed. She broke off a branch that looked the most full of vitality and collected quite a few Divine Spirit Tree leaves along the way.

Although the Divine Spirit Fruits were the most precious things on the Divine Spirit Tree, that did not mean its other parts were useless.

As time ticked by, those who had gone chasing after the Divine Spirit Fruit returned one after another.

When they saw everyone below diligently gathering spirit medicines, they immediately grew anxious and hurried to join in.

Just then, a bedraggled Gu Nian returned as well. Everyone who came back with her was also in a thoroughly sorry state.

However, Yan Changxi was the worst off. His eyes were tightly shut, and one hand clutched his chest. He had actually fallen unconscious.

With her sharp eyes, Xue Fuyao noticed what appeared to be a fragment of a butterfly wing on Yan Changxi's clothes.

Judging by their expressions, the last Divine Spirit Fruit had probably been snatched away by a Monster Beast.

Xue Fuyao jogged over, took healing pills out of her Storage Space, and distributed them to Gu Nian and the others.

"Senior Sister, are you all right?"

After taking the pill, Gu Nian's pale face regained quite a bit of color. Only then did she slowly shake her head to indicate that she was fine.

She turned to the other Yuanji Sect disciples and said, "There's hardly any time left. Hurry and gather spirit medicines too. Don't waste time."

"Yes!"

With that, all the Yuanji Sect disciples immediately scattered and began gathering spirit medicines everywhere.

"Junior Sister Fuyao, you should hurry too. There's less than two hours left before the Secret Realm closes. You arrived late, so you need to make the most of your time," Gu Nian urged.

Hearing Gu Nian's words, spoken entirely with her interests in mind, Xue Fuyao's heart could not help but twitch.

In her previous life, she had grown accustomed to the strong devouring the weak in the Cultivation Realm. Even with a second chance, she still found it difficult to trust people. Even with Shadow One and the others, without their loyalty in her previous life and the Token's restrictions, she most likely would not have trusted them completely.

However, Xue Fuyao knew this was not the time to think about that, because Gu Nian was already urging her on.

Xue Fuyao headed toward another patch of flourishing, undamaged spirit medicines and began gathering them. This time, she put the spirit medicines she gathered into a brand-new Storage Ring.

An hour later, a deafening beast's roar suddenly rang out from the direction of the distant Monster Beast Forest. At the same time, as though responding to it, the Divine Spirit Tree began emitting a faint, lustrous white glow.

However, perhaps because Xue Fuyao had plucked so many of its leaves, the Divine Spirit Tree now looked a little bald compared with its earlier lush appearance.

But that was not the important part. What mattered was that the barrier that had disappeared now appeared again.

Watching the barrier gradually expand overhead, Gu Nian shouted to everyone, "Leave the Medicinal Garden immediately!"

The others noticed the barrier's appearance too. Without the slightest hesitation, they abandoned the spirit medicines they were gathering and rushed outside as fast as they could.

Gu Nian took Xue Fuyao out of the barrier's range at top speed. Afterward, people escaped from inside one after another. Then, before everyone's eyes, the barrier once again enveloped the entire Medicinal Garden before disappearing.

Everyone watched the scene in shock. Once they confirmed that the barrier had truly vanished without leaving a single trace, they would have thought everything that had just happened was an illusion, if not for the spirit medicines in their hands and Storage Bags.

While the others were not paying attention, Xue Fuyao examined it with the Heavenly Eye and confirmed that the barrier really had disappeared rather than hidden itself.

Where the barrier had just been, she discovered faint traces of spatial fluctuations.

From this, she surmised that the Divine Spirit Tree and the entire Medicinal Garden probably did not have a fixed location, but were constantly moving. They might not even remain within the Qingfeng Secret Realm all the time.

"No wonder we haven't found any trace of the Divine Spirit Tree all these years," Gu Nian said.

Although they had failed to secure the final Divine Spirit Fruit, their gains this time were absolutely unprecedented.

Of course, Gu Nian had not forgotten the fellow who had taken four Divine Spirit Fruits ahead of them.

Gu Nian was certain that person was not a Yuanji Sect disciple, which meant they could only have entered with the Kunlun Sect.

Although the Kunlun Sect had ostensibly brought only the Zhang Family's triplets, who knew whether the rest had disguised themselves?

In short, Gu Nian felt that those from the Kunlun Sect were highly suspicious.

As it happened, the Kunlun Sect thought exactly the same thing.