Chapter 17: Thinking of the Lucky Ones or the Unlucky Ones

His divine sense spread out like a tide, but in the next instant it seemed to have hit an invisible wall and was forcibly blocked back.

Fu Yunshu withdrew his divine sense. This was a restriction imposed by his ancestor. Although it was nothing to him, there was no need to break it.

It's nice to experience the trial in the secret realm like this; I didn't have such an experience back then.

Fu Yunshu looked at the lake and was a little surprised that he was so lucky. This place was the core of the secret realm. The fruit of the Azure Moon Spirit Tree in the middle of the lake island was the most difficult material to find in the assessment - the Azure Moon Spirit Fruit.

But there's no rush now. We can consider these things after we find Yin Lisheng. I wonder where that child was teleported to? Could he have been teleported to some monster's lair?

Yin Lisheng wasn't that unlucky, but he certainly wasn't lucky either.

The towering trees blocked out the sun, their branches intertwined, allowing only a few weak rays of light to struggle through the layers of foliage, casting dappled shadows. An indescribable stench of decay permeated the forest, and faint shadowy figures seemed to flicker by.

The only weapon in the Qiankun bag distributed by Qingyuan Sect was an ordinary iron sword, which Yin Lisheng gripped tightly at the hilt.

His footsteps were light, but the ground was covered with fallen leaves, and even his careful movements produced a slight rustling sound. This subtle sound was exceptionally clear in the eerily silent forest, as if it were some kind of signal, and the surrounding air seemed to tense up.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind. He turned around abruptly and met a pair of greedy, emerald-green eyes—it was a huge black wolf!

The black wolf's eyes flashed with ferocity, its black fur stood on end, and a deep, muffled growl rumbled from its throat. Its brutal and savage aura seemed to materialize into a thick haze, completely enveloping Yin Lisheng.

Yin Lisheng dared not relax for a moment, his eyes fixed on the black wolf, the sword in his hand trembling slightly. He knew very well that the black wolf was only not moving now because it was looking for the right opportunity.

A bolt of black lightning suddenly shot up from the ground, hurtling straight toward Yin Lisheng with a whistling sound. It opened its blood-red maw, its sharp fangs gleaming coldly in the dim light, and bit toward Yin Lisheng's throat, as if it wanted to tear him apart.

Yin Lisheng had been watching the black wolf's movements closely. The moment it pounced, he dodged to the side, simultaneously drawing his longsword.

But the black wolf was also incredibly agile, twisting its body nimbly in mid-air to evade the blade's edge at a tricky angle.

"Awooo—" The black wolf howled.

With its strong and powerful front paws, the wolf viciously clawed at Yin Lisheng's shoulder. Yin Lisheng quickly raised his left arm and used the blade of his sword to block the wolf's claws.

"clang--"

The sharp claws clashed with the sword blade, producing a piercing sound.

Yin Lisheng felt a tremendous resistance coming from the sword, which made his arm go numb and caused him to stagger backward a few steps.

The black wolf missed its first attack, landed, quickly turned around, and pounced on Yin Lisheng again. Its speed was astonishing, and Yin Lisheng, still recovering from the numbness, had almost no time to react and stop it.

At this critical moment, a familiar figure rushed over and thrust his sword at the black wolf without hesitation.

—It's Qiu Nan.

Black Wolf seemed to realize that this was a greater threat, so he abandoned his attack on Yin Lisheng and instead pounced on Qiu Nan.

Qiu Nan dodged the black wolf's attack with a swift movement, simultaneously channeling his spiritual power to thrust his sword towards the wolf's side. The black wolf, in pain, roared angrily. Realizing he seemed unable to defeat this man, it glared resentfully at Yin Lisheng before storming off.

After defeating the black wolf, Qiu Nan rushed over to check on Yin Lisheng. He looked him up and down and asked with concern, "Lisheng, how are you?"

Yin Lisheng rotated his wrist. "It's nothing."

"That's good." Qiu Nan was relieved to see that he was otherwise unharmed except for some tears in his clothes.

"How did you find me?" Yin Lisheng asked.

Qiu Nan said with some lingering fear, "It was just a coincidence that I was teleported to this area. I heard some noise here, so I followed the sound and came here. I didn't expect to see you being attacked by the black wolf. Luckily, I arrived in time."

“I see,” Yin Lisheng said, lowering his eyes, his tone gentle yet extremely earnest. “Thank you.”

Qiu Nan waved his hand, "You kid, why are you being so polite with me?"

“However,” Qiu Nan looked around and sighed, “fortune and misfortune are indeed interdependent.”

"Why?" Yin Lisheng asked, puzzled.

"One of the assessment tasks involves the snake-like flower, which thrives in shady and damp environments and generally grows in places like valleys, caves, and dense forests where the sun never shines," Qiu Nan gestured for Yin Lisheng to look around, "Don't you think this place fits the description perfectly?"

"Hmm." Yin Lisheng responded. In the past few years of his life, he had not learned anything related to cultivation. If he hadn't happened to meet Qiu Nan, he would probably be like a headless fly searching for a needle in a haystack in the secret realm today.

Without delay, the two began searching in the woods.

However, more than half an hour passed, and they still found nothing. The miasma in the dense forest was getting heavier and heavier.

Qiu Nan covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve. "If we really can't find it, let's go out first. The miasma is getting thicker and thicker. We probably won't be able to see the road in a while, and we don't know if it's poisonous."

Just as Yin Lisheng was about to agree, his peripheral vision caught sight of a certain place.

Yin Lisheng's gaze was drawn to it, and he tugged at Qiu Nan's sleeve, "Look over there."

Qiu Nan looked in the direction he pointed and saw a strange halo faintly shimmering in the distance amidst the haze.

"Let's go take a look." The two walked cautiously toward the halo of light.

As they got closer, they could see clearly that a small patch of snake-like flowers was quietly blooming in the crevice between two rocks.

The petals of the Snake Gu Flower are an eerie dark purple, covered with patterns resembling snake scales; the stamens are a ghostly green, emitting a strange stench mixed with a sweet, cloying aroma; the roots are unusually thick and covered in slime, resembling the body of a giant python.

"This is it!" Qiu Nan was overjoyed. "This small patch has at least twenty plants, enough for the four of us."

"Can we pick this directly?" Yin Lisheng also squatted down to observe curiously.

"No, the sap on the stem is poisonous. You don't have any cultivation to protect you, so stand back and let me pick it."

He covered his palm with spiritual energy, cleared away the surrounding weeds with his sword, and carefully prepared to pick the fruit.

Unexpectedly, just as Qiu Nan was about to touch the snake-gu flower, an attack came straight at his hand.

Qiu Nan decisively withdrew his hand and pulled Yin Lisheng back several steps.

A note from the author:

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