In the days that followed, they were relatively stable. Apart from healing their wounds, they spent a lot of time walking around the neighborhood, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and searching for rare and precious herbs.
Someone has unearthed a precious snow lotus, whose seeds and lotus flowers are effective alchemical materials for healing injuries and enhancing cultivation.
Someone unearthed a type of lotus root that grows in the snow and ice, and each section is priceless.
If such precious treasures can be unearthed just by wandering around the area, what kind of rare and precious materials could be found in more distant places?
When they dug up these treasures, they carefully followed the elders' instructions to leave some for the natural resources and not to exhaust the resources.
"We're much luckier than we were four years ago. Back then, we were constantly being attacked by monsters and invaded by demons, making it very difficult to find anything worthwhile!"
Elder Tianyunzi stroked his beard, looking at the rare medicinal herbs his disciples had handed over, and was very satisfied.
After the annual sect competition, the location for disciples to train is not fixed. Last year, they went to the Monster Mountain Range, and the year before, they went to the Wilderness.
Every few years, we would come to the far north, where precious medicinal herbs are abundant. Each time we harvested them, we would return with a full load, enough to sustain the sect's needs for several years.
"Senior Brother Lin, I also want to go and gather spiritual herbs!"
Murong Xuanqiu pulled Chu Yunying over, his eyes blinking, his face saying, "Come with me!"
"Let's heal our injuries first!" Lin Fan ignored her. The Crimson Blood Demon Horse's hooves were so powerful and fierce that several of her ribs were broken. If she hadn't received timely treatment with medicine, she probably would have died long ago.
“Aside from the occasional heart palpitations, I don’t have any other major problems now,” Murong Xuanqiu said.
Ding: Congratulations, host, for completing the hidden mission and safely navigating the early stages of the villain's storyline. Reward: two pieces of Golden Silk Armor and two pieces of Immortal Feather Robe.
Lin Fan's lips twitched. He knew what the reward item was for as soon as he saw it.
The dog system was definitely up to no good.
He took out the Golden Silk Armor and the Immortal Feather Robe, handed them to the two women, turned his head away, not wanting to look at them, and said coldly, "You can wear these and go out to play. I have important matters to attend to, so I won't keep you company."
The two women looked at what he was holding, and their pretty faces immediately lit up with joy. Chu Yunying's cold expression also softened slightly.
"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Murong Xuanqiu took the clothes and then pulled Chu Yunying back to the room to change.
They could tell that the golden silk armor and the fairy feather robe were extremely powerful magical treasures, and their colors and outlines were exactly what they liked.
"Senior Brother Lin, this style fits me so well. You didn't secretly take my measurements while I was asleep, did you?" Murong Xuanqiu ran out, beaming with joy.
Her face flushed, and she opened her arms, wanting to give him a hug as a thank you, but Lin Fan skillfully dodged it.
Chu Yunying also came out, watched the two chatting and laughing, and expressionlessly pulled Murong Xuanqiu away.
Lin Fan watched as the carriage slowly drove away with the two women, then turned his gaze to the fifth floor of the pagoda, where all the disciples who stayed behind to recuperate were in sight.
At night, the sounds of monsters could be heard incessantly. Several monsters were lurking nearby, hiding in the shadows, staring intently at the pagoda with fierce glints in their eyes.
Lin Fan swept his divine sense across the area for a while, then ignored them. They were all third-tier magical beasts, which his injured disciple could easily handle.
Elder Tianyunzi was the same; the purpose of the training was to enable his disciples to adapt to various harsh living environments and learn how to resolve crises.
He would not personally intervene unless there were fourth-tier magical beasts harassing him, unless the number of magical beasts was too large and exceeded the disciple's capacity to handle them.
His divine sense swept across the tenth floor of the pagoda, but he failed to sense Lin Fan's presence. His gray eyebrows furrowed slightly. Lin Fan was still there during the day, but disappeared at night. Had he gone out?
Lin Fan did not go out but stayed in the room to keep watch. He used the Sky-Concealing Pearl to hide his figure and aura, so even if Wu Qiankun entered his room, he could not find him.
He deliberately gave everyone the false impression that he was worried about Chu Yunying and Murong Xuanqiu's safety, so he secretly went out at night to protect them.
Soon, the monsters roared and launched an attack on the pagoda. The disciples who had stayed behind to heal their wounds took out their weapons to fight back.
Disciples who go out to gather spiritual herbs and mine ice ore will not return so quickly. Finding rare flowers and herbs requires effort, and may take several days or even more than a month.
They can travel together or embark on adventures alone.
Tian Yunzi guards the pagoda. He usually doesn't go out to ensure that the disciples who are recuperating from injuries don't have any accidents, and he can provide timely assistance when disciples send out distress signals.
A fierce battle soon broke out outside the tower. After the last monster rampage, these disciples had greatly improved in their fighting and combat skills and were no longer hesitant and restrained.
Previously, when faced with the onslaught of monsters, they would choose to confront them head-on, which was rather moderate and lacked versatility.
However, having gone through life-and-death trials, their eyes held a ruthless and murderous glint, and their methods were no longer confined to a single move; various insidious and vicious anal-scraping techniques emerged one after another.
Lin Fan watched Wu Qiankun's battle from inside the pagoda. He was still hiding his strength, only showing the fifth level of the Golden Core stage, and was still taking advantage of the chaos.
After a fierce battle, they drove back the monsters, and the injured disciples helped each other back to rest and continue to apply medicine to treat their wounds.
Time passed quietly, and five days quickly went by. Occasionally, monsters would invade at night, but they were all driven away.
They were lucky; no monsters of rank four or higher appeared. As their combat experience grew, they were injured less often. Once they were sure they had adapted, they would leave the pagoda to search for resources.
In addition, many disciples who are injured in battle outside will choose to return here to heal.
However, on the seventh night, Wu Qiankun also left the pagoda. This time he acted alone, concealing his presence and leaving quietly without alerting anyone.
Lin Fan looked in the direction he left, towards the far north, the legendary land of eternal night.
According to the intelligence he sent from the city lord's mansion, there is a fifth-tier beast king three hundred miles away in that direction, and the Qingxiao Sect rarely seeks opportunities in that direction.
Wu Qiankun was very cautious. He headed north and, after navigating the eighteen bends of the icy road, just as he was about to reach the Beast King's territory, he made a sharp turn and headed in another direction.
He was very alert. During his healing in the pagoda, he went up to the tenth floor many times to observe and then searched the surrounding area, trying to find any clues about Lin Fan.
However, he did not expect that Lin Fan had the Sky-Shielding Pearl with him, which could not only conceal his aura but also make him invisible, allowing him to follow behind and watch him busy.
On the seventh day, he received a message from Chu Yunying saying that she had encountered great trouble, but was able to escape thanks to Lin Fan's help.
Having confirmed Lin Fan's departure, Wu Qiankun finally made up his mind to take action that night.
Watching Wu Qiankun travel in a winding path, finally entering an ice cave, he took out a strange talisman engraved with demonic patterns and stuck it in front of the ice cave, causing ripples to spread from that spot.
He formed a hand seal with one hand, chanted a spell, and then black demonic energy rose from his body, causing the barrier of the ice cave to slowly open.
Lin Fan lurked beside him, taking the opportunity to use his Flowing Cloud Shoes to speed up, and silently entered the ice cave at the same time as him.
Wu Qiankun glanced back in confusion, watched the barrier slowly recover, frowned, then stopped thinking and walked deeper into the ice cave.
"You've arrived?"
The ice cave was filled with soaring demonic energy. Clumps of black demonic energy floated in the air, their auras were powerful, the demonic energy churned, and they were filled with extremely evil and strange fluctuations. There was actually a demon in the Nascent Soul stage.
"How's the matter going?"
Within the clumps of black mist, blue flames burned, like pairs of eyes staring down, their terrifying aura like that of evil spirits crawling out from the deepest hell.
Lin Fan hid to the side, very nervous, sweat beading on his forehead, trying his best to calm himself down. He never expected that so many demons and even a Nascent Soul Realm expert were hidden here.
He gripped the Boundary-Breaking Talisman tightly, ready to activate it and escape at the slightest disturbance.
The Heaven-Covering Pearl's power is extraordinary, with surprisingly good effects; even a Nascent Soul Realm expert didn't notice its existence.
Wu Qiankun is a member of the demonic path, which confirmed Lin Fan's suspicions. He will definitely continue to target the Qingxiao Sect and try to break the seal on the forbidden area.
"We have obtained the Evil Dragon Relic, but unfortunately, we have not been able to break the seal on the forbidden area of the Azure Sky Sect. I suspect that the Central Continent discovered our intentions and therefore planted someone to sabotage my plans!" Wu Qiankun said.
"You're overthinking it. We've been keeping a close eye on those ancient sects in Zhongzhou. They've long forgotten that the Northern Region was once an ancient battlefield."
"If you're not capable enough, let's replace you. This matter can't drag on for too long; we won't be able to explain it to you!"
"Don't underestimate the Qingxiao Sect. I sensed the aura of the Upper Realm from them. There's even someone on Youzhu Peak who cultivated from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Nascent Soul stage in just three months. That's an incredibly fast pace," Wu Qiankun said coldly.
Even when faced with the oppressive aura of a Nascent Soul Realm demon, he showed no fear or retreat.
"He happens to be in the far north right now. I will try to get him out of the Qingxiao Sect's sight. If I need your help, I hope you can help me get rid of him!"
In order to protect Long Aotian, who has already been noticed by the higher-ups of the Qingxiao Sect, he cannot directly lead the demons to attack the Qingxiao Sect's encampment.
If he does this, it will be almost impossible for him to return to the Azure Cloud Sect, and all his plans over the years will be ruined.
Therefore, he needed to devise a plan to lure Lin Fan over, and then find a way to protect the other disciples and absolve himself of suspicion, so that the sect could not find fault with him.
As long as I can return to the Qingxiao Sect, I will always find a chance to break the seal on the forbidden area.
Therefore, he needs to proceed cautiously step by step in order to make Lin Fan obediently fall into his trap.
“No problem. If he goes out to find medicinal herbs, he can send us a message. We can then drive some high-level monsters over to create a monster attack scenario, so you don’t have to worry about revealing your identity.”
The demons said coldly. They were not angry because of Wu Qiankun's failure. After all, the Qingxiao Sect had guarded the seal for thousands of years, and breaking the seal was not an easy task.
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