"Uh-huh!"

Xiao Linlin was immediately startled, all sleepiness gone: "Players? Are they coming to steal our supplies?!"

Survivors cannot hide their identities from their fellow survivors unless they use special skills or talents such as "invisibility".

Players can detect each other's identity as survivors upon meeting, and this sensing distance depends on each player's "perception range" value.

Su Lin's perception range is extremely high, and with the support of his internal energy cultivation technique, he can naturally sense the identities of the people on the mountain road from afar.

The people below the mountain road only sensed something when they were about a hundred meters away from Su Lin.

Suddenly, a woman in a white dress, surrounded by the crowd, looked up and met Su Lin's gaze from afar.

She was graceful and aloof, her face veiled, revealing only her bright, clear eyes. The sect elder beside her saw this and couldn't help but smile as he introduced the two of them.

"This is Su Lin, a direct disciple of our sect's inner sect, and the only son of the Sword Gentleman Su Qingyang."

"Su Lin, this is the White Fairy of Shuyu Heavenly Palace, the only direct disciple of the Guanyin of the Plain Hands, a contemporary martial arts prodigy, and a master of both medicine and poison."

"I have met the White Fairy."

Su Lin cupped his hands in greeting. The two were peers in the martial arts world. Bai Xianzi bowed and said, "I have long admired Senior Brother Su's reputation. Today, I have finally met you. You are indeed extraordinary and heroic, and you have the chivalrous spirit of a disciple of the Sword Pavilion."

This woman was quite clever; she didn't mention his cultivation or swordsmanship, but only praised his handsome appearance and good temperament, thus praising everyone in the Sword Pavilion in one sentence.

The steward beside her smiled even more broadly, clearly very pleased with the White Fairy's demeanor.

Su Lin nodded silently in agreement. Fairy Bai noticed that although his gaze seemed to be meeting hers, his eyes kept glancing past her and towards the female disciple of the Heavenly Palace beside him.

The White Fairy glanced back at her junior sister beside her and caught her winking playfully at Su Lin, as if they were doing something silly.

Could it be... that the two are old acquaintances?

Fairy Bai pondered for a moment, but since she had important business to attend to, she didn't ask too many questions. After exchanging pleasantries with Su Lin, she followed the stewards and walked forward.

Su Lin silently watched the crowd brush past him. Once they were far away, Xiao Linlin tugged at his sleeve: "How many were there? Were any familiar faces among them?"

"Nine people, in three teams."

Su Lin spoke calmly, paused, and then added softly, "There is an acquaintance here, Xu Zhiyi, whom I told you about. She is here too."

"That prophet?"

Xiao Linlin was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Which one? The one next to that fairy? The woman who winked at you?"

"Um."

"Where is that White Fairy? Is she her?"

"She's a local."

"Oh~ then these three teams won't do, they're not on the same level as you in terms of status and position."

Xiao Linlin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction.

If there is an imbalance in status and position, the potential negative impact will naturally be weaker, so there is no need to worry too much.

The two talked as they walked toward the blessed land.

Seeing that Su Lin had remained silent the whole way, Xiao Linlin assumed that he was worried about the intentions of the three teams of survivors who came to Jian Ge. The little girl couldn't help but whisper to comfort him, "Brother, don't worry about them. If you ask me... they've probably come for the [Peace Stone]."

"Although Sword Pavilion and Jade Palace have always been on good terms, it is rare for such a formal delegation to visit. Strictly speaking, this scene can be considered a formal diplomatic event of a major sect."

"Given the current state of the martial arts world, the only matter that could involve two major diplomatic issues is the Peace Stone."

"As for those three teams, they have most likely reached a consensus. They are probably trying to get close to the Shuyu Heavenly Palace and are thinking of taking advantage of the situation to use NPCs as the main force to help them take the Peace Stone."

"Didn't you say that Xu Zhiyi is very good at uniting other people? I think the fact that they were able to get together is thanks to Xu Zhiyi."

"Based on comprehensive analysis, they pose little threat, and there is even a high probability that they want to win you over, since you are all on the righteous side and share the common goal of escaping."

"So, big brother, you don't need to worry at all!"

Xiao Linlin's analysis made Su Lin shake his head: "I have nothing to worry about, but you... how do you know so much? You even know the frequency of diplomatic exchanges between Sword Pavilion and Jade Palace?"

"Oh dear, I haven't had a moment's rest these past few days! I've been helping my brother gather intelligence!"

Xiao Linlin raised her head indignantly: "Are we really going to rely on that homeless man in the city? All he does is listen to idle gossip in taverns. How can he find any important information?"

"Yes, yes, you're the best."

Su Lin smiled, ruffled Xiao Linlin's hair haphazardly, and then quickly entered the blessed land to continue cultivating himself with the pool water.

About two or three hours later, Su Lin, who was practicing his internal energy with his eyes closed in the pool, suddenly sensed that someone was watching him. He opened his eyes abruptly and looked towards the shore.

But behind the dozing Xiao Linlin, sitting on a big tree, sat a nonchalant middle-aged swordsman, who happened to be a square-faced swordsman.

"Senior Li."

Su Lin performed the salute in the pool. He had been having a pleasant conversation with the square-faced swordsman these past few days. Although he hadn't gained any substantial benefits, he at least learned that the other man's surname was Li, that he was highly skilled in cultivation, had a fondness for fine wine, and spoke rather bluntly.

"Are you here again, studying that crappy skill you secretly learned?"

Senior Li glanced at Su Lin indifferently, hiccuped, and smiled with a hint of sarcasm: "Although it is still quite profound, the killing intent is too weak, not as good as the methods of my Sword Pavilion."

He had long since realized that the Hunyuan Qi Gong that Su Lin was using was not a Sword Pavilion technique, but he was too lazy to investigate.

Sword Pavilion does not have a rule that disciples are not allowed to learn martial arts from outsiders; otherwise, where would Sword Pavilion get so many unique manuals of non-sword-related martial arts techniques?

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!