Chapter 41 What happened? Did your sect leader anger you to death?

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhaozhao looked in the direction that Xiao Huang's bristling paws were pointing.

Where the spirit core of a Foundation Establishment demon beast should have been was a spirit core enveloped in dark demonic energy, with a faint but extremely condensed golden light emanating from its core.

This golden light, though faint, carried the imminent, chilling aura of a power about to emerge from its cocoon.

A golden core that's almost formed?!

Shen Zhaozhao's breath hitched.

Little Huang's fur stood on end: "This...this thing is about to form its core?!"

"Didn't the City Lord of Yunqi say before that these were all newly hatched chicks?! At most, they'd just barely reached the Foundation Establishment stage, but this one's almost reached the Golden Core stage and even turned into a demon! What's going on?!"

Shen Zhaozhao's face instantly darkened.

If the information from the City Lord of Yunqi is accurate, then this secret realm itself has undergone a change far beyond anyone's expectations in a short period of time.

A demonized steel-feathered chicken, nearing the Golden Core stage, not only nearly killed Chu Xiao on the spot but also destroyed one of her spirit swords, requiring Xiao Huang's intervention to resolve the situation.

What if... there's more than one of these weird things?

If this secret realm has already silently bred more of these bloodthirsty demons, then the cultivators who are still hunting spirit cores in the valley are simply offering themselves up as food.

Pei Lang.

Shen Zhaozhao's voice was more solemn than ever before. She turned her head sharply, wanting Pei Lang to immediately use a communication talisman to contact the law enforcement elder of the Chixiao Sect to see if the competition should be stopped.

She loves money, but the prerequisite for loving money is that she has to be alive to spend it.

However, when Shen Zhaozhao turned her head, she saw Pei Lang kneeling beside Chu Xiao, prying open the latter's tightly closed teeth and stuffing medicine into his mouth.

The small jade bottle she had just tossed aside now lay there all alone, completely empty.

Shen Zhaozhao: "???"

no? !

Three?!

They've all been fed?!

Her second senior brother only gave her three Nine-Turn Life-Extending Pills, which he had hidden away. In her panic, she threw the whole bottle at him, and now they're all gone?!

Pei Lang had just successfully stuffed the last life-extending pill into Chu Xiao's mouth and breathed a sigh of relief when he met Shen Zhaozhao's resentful gaze. The big dog was bewildered and asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Zhaozhao pressed her philtrum twice, then pointed to the empty jade bottle at his feet and said slowly and deliberately, "That was a keepsake left to me by my second senior brother before he passed away. It is extremely precious. One bottle is worth thirty high-grade spirit stones, and three bottles are worth ninety in total."

Pei Lang: "???"

Yes, it's familiar.

This word sounds familiar.

He was all too familiar with Shen Zhaozhao's slang for extorting money from people by staging accidents!

Pei Lang's mouth gaped open, the words "30 high-grade items?! Shen Zhaozhao, are you robbing me?!" almost escaping his lips, but—

"Hmm..."

Just before Pei Lang roared, Chu Xiao, who had been almost completely cold in his arms, stirred slightly. Not only that, but his pale and cold face also regained some color.

It seems... to be quite effective?

Pei Lang's initial pain over the price was instantly suppressed by a sense of relief that "it wasn't a waste of money."

He immediately changed his tune, even adding a touch of praise like, "Wow, this pill is amazing! Ninety percent is fine, I'll give it to you when I get back!"

After saying that, he seemed to remember something, and his tone carried a hint of regret: "By the way, is your second senior brother really gone?"

"No way, his life-extending pills are so powerful, he could easily make some longevity-enhancing pills and extend his lifespan, right?"

"What's wrong? Did your sect leader anger you to death?"

"Your second senior brother would rather die than prolong his lifespan to withstand the harm from your sect leader?"

"So fierce?"

Shen Zhaozhao: "..."

Completely ignoring Shen Zhaozhao's speechlessness, Pei Lang muttered to himself as he nimbly shoved Chu Xiao, who had just escaped death, onto Xiao Huang's back with an over-the-shoulder throw.

"You little rascal, you're incredibly heavy... remember that!"

After finishing the delivery, Pei Lang smugly patted Chu Xiao's handsome face twice: "I, your humble servant, lost a full 90 high-grade spirit stones to save you!"

"Even if you have to sell everything you own, even the junk in your Cloud Mist Sword Sect's warehouse, you still have to pay me back! Do you hear me? Otherwise, I'll be crying at your mountain gate every day!"

Shen Zhaozhao glanced at Pei Lang's awkward expression—feeling sorry for the spirit stones while resigned to saving people—and smiled helplessly.

"Alright, stop howling."

Interrupting Pei Lang's unilateral "declaration of compensation," Shen Zhaozhao's tone became serious again: "Hurry up, use your communication talisman to contact the law enforcement elders of your Chixiao Sect."

"Something has changed in the secret realm. A demonic beast that is close to the Golden Core stage has appeared. Tell him to go and discuss with the City Lord of Yunqi City whether to stop the competition and evacuate the disciples of various sects."

Upon hearing this, Pei Lang's expression also turned serious.

He was only focused on saving people, but now, looking at the huge, hideous monster's corpse, a chill instantly crept up his spine.

Shen Zhaozhao is right. Who would be so kind as to hatch monsters in a secret realm?

This place is definitely haunted.

Thinking of this, Pei Lang didn't dare to delay. He took out a talisman with intricate red cloud patterns from his storage bag, made a hand seal, and silently recited the unique communication incantation of the law enforcement elder.

However--

The crimson cloud patterns on the talisman flickered faintly for a moment before quickly fading away, leaving no trace of spiritual light.

Pei Lang: "?"

Pei Lang tried again in disbelief, but the talisman remained lifeless and dull, like an ordinary piece of waste paper.

His communication talisman failed?!

Shen Zhaozhao and Pei Lang exchanged a glance, both seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.

"Come on! You who's pretending to be dead, don't die yet!"

Without saying a word, Pei Lang turned around and pounced on his unconscious nemesis on Xiao Huang's back: "Where's your communication talisman? Hand it over right now!"

Shen Zhaozhao moved even faster. Almost at the same time as Pei Lang pounced, she had already accurately touched the antique-style storage bag embroidered with cloud patterns on Chu Xiao's waist.

"Ah, Shen Zhaozhao, you've grown young."

Pei Lang gave a confident smile and reached his hand directly towards Chu Xiao's blood-stained clothes. These poor bastards from the Yunmiao Sword Sect always liked to hide their life-saving items close to their bodies.

In an instant, one of them buried his head in Chu Xiao's chest and groped him, while the other dumped the contents of his storage bag out.

Sure enough, Pei Lang has always been far ahead of the competition in the race to "understand his nemesis".

Holding Chu Xiao's communication talisman, crimson spiritual light gathered at Pei Lang's fingertips. Then, the drifting cloud patterns on the talisman, as if blown by a gentle breeze, flickered extremely faintly...

Then.

It's off.

Just like Pei Lang's previous one, lifeless, dim, and completely devoid of any spark of life.

Pei Lang: "..."

Shen Zhaozhao: "..."

Pei Lang: "Um...we're not going to die here, are we?"

Shen Zhaozhao: "Shut your mouth."

Pei Lang: "..." Quack quack quack!