Qin Tiexin walked a few steps, stopped again, and looked back in the direction of the medicine garden.
Duan Xuan followed his gaze and knew what he was thinking.
"Want to go back and pick those blood mushrooms?"
Qin Tiexin nodded, then shook his head. "I ran all the way out just now. I don't know how far I ran. If I rush back and rush out again, the time may not be enough."
They were chased by the arm and ran all the way, twisting and turning through several ruins. Now it would take at least half an hour to go back, and it would take a full hour to go back and forth.
"Forget it." Qin Tiexin turned around and continued walking, "I have gained enough from this trip."
During this trip to the ruins, although I did not get the core maximum fortuitous opportunity, I did find the Qi and Blood Realm Cultivation Method that I dreamed of and the full version of "Heavy Mountain Saber Technique". In addition to the Jade Slip and materials that I had collected scatteredly in the past few days, I could exchange for a lot of good things outside.
And the way back is not necessarily safe. Qin Tiexin remembered Cao Mu from the ruins of Primordial Unity, who was ambushing at the exit and almost killed all the monks in one fell swoop.
During the period before the ruins were closed, all the monks were walking out and carrying their harvests with them. It was the prime time for robbery, so it was better to go back early.
The two walked toward the outskirts of the ruins along the path they came from. The sky turned from gray-blue to dark blue, and cool wind blew in from the gaps in the formation, swirling the dust on the gravel and swirling among the ruins.
When passing a narrow mountain col, Qin Tiexin slowed down.
There were several vague auras hidden in the piles of rocks on both sides of the mountain col. They hid themselves very well, breathing very low and keeping their heartbeats at a minimum. If Qin Tiexin hadn't hunted too many Devil Race and Demon Beast in Devil Domain Forest, and the intuition of hiding had been engraved into his instinct, he would never have noticed anyone behind those gravels.
Those few breaths moved slightly as they passed by, as if they were preparing to stand up. But then, someone saw clearly the heavy black knife on Qin Tiexin's back, and the slightly moving breaths solidified again. There were no footsteps, no orders, and those breaths slowly sank, as if they had retracted into the shadows.
Qin Tiexin's hand did not leave the handle of the knife, and his pace did not speed up. He just walked over neither quickly nor slowly, and Duan Xuan followed closely beside him. He could vaguely feel the eyes in the rubble on both sides piercing him like needles, but no one showed up.
After walking through the col, Duan Xuan whispered, "There are five people."
"Six." Qin Tiexin said, "Three in the rubble pile on the left, two behind the chaotic wall on the right, and one lying behind the large Shitou just above. That should be the lead sentry."
On the following road, similar encounters were repeated several times. When passing by the ruins of a half-collapsed side hall, someone was peeking behind the broken wall; when passing by a dead forest, eyes were following their footsteps between the tree trunks and bushes; when passing by a dry creek, the gravel at the bottom of the ditch had been turned over, and the traces were very new.
But no one really took action.
Duan Xuan and Qin Tiexin were in good condition. There was not much blood on their clothes. Their steps were steady and their breathing was even. They did not look like they had experienced a hard battle.
The knife on Qin Tiexin's back is too conspicuous. It is a heavy black knife. The residual fluctuations of Spirit Rune on the blade have not completely dissipated. There is a fist-sized dent on the side, which is as ferocious as if it was bitten by some monster from the front. Something that can dent such a heavy weapon is not something they want to touch.
But not everyone is so sensible.
When passing a fork in the road, three figures suddenly emerged from the ruins on the right. The leader was a bare-chested strong man holding an iron rod. The aura of Body Tempering Ninth Layer was unabashedly exuding, followed by two slender men holding knives. The monks' cultivation levels were all around Body Tempering Eighth Layer. The three of them blocked the road ahead in a glyph formation. The iron-rod monk blocked the way with his stick, and looked directly past Qin Tiexin and fell on Duan Xuan.
"You two have made a good harvest, right?" Brother Iron Bar grinned, showing his yellow teeth, "We brothers are unlucky, and we haven't caught anything decent after wandering around for several days. Why don't you two make it easier and share some with us so that we can all make friends."
Qin Tiexin glanced at him, said nothing, and continued walking forward.
The iron rod monk's smile froze, and the two slender monks beside him drew out their knives, pointing the tips in the direction of Qin Tiexin.
"Hey, I'm talking to you--"
He walked three steps away, but the other party didn't move away.
Qin Tiexin held the handle of the knife behind his shoulder.
The Iron Rod monk's expression changed for a moment. He saw the heavy black sword being pulled out from Qin Tiexin's back. The blade glowed with a dark black light in the dim light, and the fist-sized depression on the side was particularly eye-catching in the peripheral vision.
He wanted to retreat, but it was too late.
Qin Tiexin Burst Step stepped forward, Edgeless flipped half a circle in the air, with the blade facing outward, Qin Tiexin held the handle of the blade and struck out horizontally. The iron rod monk instinctively blocked with the horizontal stick, and Edgeless's blade hit the middle of the iron rod hard.
Boom!!
That force directly broke the iron rod, and the monk with the iron rod flew out as if he was hit by a giant hammer, and was smashed into a pile of rubble three feet away. His life and death were unknown.
The two slender monks behind him froze on the spot holding their swords, looking at Qin Tiexin, and then at the iron rod monk lying twitching in the rubble. The hands holding the swords were trembling.
Qin Tiexin put Edgeless back on his back and glanced at them.
"Do you still want to divide it?"
One of the lanky monks shook his head violently, and the two of them turned around and ran away, not even paying attention to their leader.
Duan Xuan When passing by the iron rod monk who fell in the rubble, he lowered his head and glanced. He was taking in less air but more outgoing. His spiritual energy began to spread throughout his body. He was about to die soon.
Qin Tiexin bent down to pick up Storage Bag from the man, weighed it, and found it was not too heavy, but still better than nothing. He casually divided the valuable items inside with Duan Xuan, and continued to move forward.
After walking a certain distance, Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan climbed over a low mountain ridge, and the view ahead became much wider.
Right in front, six Qi and Blood Realm monks exuding waves were moving slowly along a relatively open valley. Three of them were carrying a huge three-legged cauldron in front, and the other three were on guard around the perimeter.
The cauldron was much larger than the ordinary cauldron, and was completely green and black. The cauldron was covered with fine carvings of Spirit Rune, and the lines glowed with a very faint golden color under the dim light.
Qin Tiexin recognized one of them.
Zhang Chen of the Greatsword Sect.
He was carrying one foot of the big tripod, and the clothes on his back were soaked with sweat, but his steps were still steady. The other two people around him each carried a tripod foot like him, and the three of them cooperated tacitly, taking turns to rest. The other three were on guard at the sides and rear, holding Law Artifact tightly in their hands, and their eyes kept scanning the surrounding ridges.
Qin Tiexin glanced at the big cauldron, and with his eyesight he could see that it was definitely an item that exceeded the Law Artifact level.
Duan Xuan whispered beside Qin Tiexin: "That cauldron can't contain their Storage Bag, at least it's Spirit Artifact level. Maybe that's the core thing in this ruins."
Qin Tiexin nodded and avoided the direction of the six people to avoid misunderstanding.
The two of them have no interest in this big cauldron, and the six people below are all Qi and Blood Realm. If they go up to snatch it, they will die.
The two of them walked out of the valley they had just walked through another road. Before they had walked a few steps, they heard another rush of rushing wind.
A black figure quickly swept over from the gravel slope directly in front.
Qin Tiexin reached out and held Duan Xuan's wrist while he stood still.
The man's speed was very fast, his clothes were rustling in the wind, and Movement Method was extremely light. Every ten steps he took, he would use his strength on a piece of gravel or a broken wall. The whole person was like a black lynx jumping among the ruins.
Her condition was not very good. Her leather armor was in tatters, exposing a large area of snow-white skin. The remaining tattered leather barely covered key parts. Her arms and calves were covered with small wounds, and there was a sword wound above the right collarbone that was still bleeding. The mask had fallen off at some point, revealing a face with clear lines, delicate features, and eyes that were a little hasty, but not panicked.
Qin Tiexin's eyes turned cold as he recognized that face.
Jiang Li.
She threw things back as she ran. Flying needles, darts, silver needles as thin as ox hair, each hidden weapon accurately blocked the path of the pursuers, without being affected by the panic of a near-death pursuit.
The faint blue sheen on the hidden weapon made the three monks behind chase them with gnashing of teeth, but they had to stop every time to avoid the hidden weapon.
Just when she passed Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan not far away, her eyes suddenly moved - she recognized the face of Qin Tiexin.
Qin Tiexin saw her eyes stop on him for a moment, and then rolled her eyes.
The next second, a Storage Bag flew out of her hand and accurately landed three steps in front of Qin Tiexin's feet. Then she turned her feet and swept away in the other direction, as fast as a black wind.
Qin Tiexin lowered his head and glanced at Storage Bag at his feet, then looked up at Jiang Li's retreating figure. She had already turned a corner and jumped far away to the hillside on the other side.
It is indeed a speed-based physical training.
Duan Xuan's brows wrinkled almost at the same time. "The trouble is diverted to the east."
As soon as she finished speaking, the three monks fell down from the gravel slope.
The leader was a long-faced monk with a gloomy complexion and an outgoing aura. His cultivation level Qi and Blood Early Stage was undisguised. There were two short halberds stuck on his back, and there was a new wound on his left arm.
Behind him were two Body Tempering Peak monks. The robes worn by the three of them were of high quality, and the Law Artifact they held in their hands was also full of spiritual energy.
The long-faced monk stopped a few feet in front of Qin Tiexin. His eyes first swept around Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan, and then landed on Storage Bag at the foot of Qin Tiexin.
He narrowed his eyes, pointed at Storage Bag on the ground, then looked at Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan, his voice was calm but with suppressed anger:
"This Storage Bag was left by the woman in black just now? Do you two know that woman in black?"