*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*

Chapter 2061: Where No Grass Grows

“Oh? There are mercenaries even stronger than the leader?” The old man asked in interest.

“Well, one of the mercenaries is a Mystical Cultivator and his strength is very high. He killed the leader of the opposing mercenary group in one slash.” Zhuo Junyue said. Although by the time he had arrived, he hadn’t seen what had happened, however, judging from the scene, that was indeed the case.

Upon hearing this, the old man tugged his beard and glanced at Feng Jiu: “There are strong exponents everywhere indeed, and those with strong strengths like to hide.”

Feng Jiu pretended that she hadn’t seen the old man’s gaze. She patted Could Devouring’s head, and Cloud Devouring stood up and walked forwards.

Upon seeing this, the old man got onto his contract beast and the three of them wandered into the forest again.

Two days later.

The closer they got to the crater, the less dense the surrounding trees became and the temperature on the ground and in the air also rose.

Due to the rise in temperature, Cloud Devouring was getting tired and panting as he walked. Hence, Feng Jiu placed it in space and continued walking on foot. The old man also put his contract beast into space upon seeing this and the three of them walked slowly together.

“Is the whole of this area so hot?” Feng Jiu asked. She could even feel the heat seep through her shoes when she stepped on the ground. She was sweating non-stop in this heat and she drank quite a lot of water along the way.

“We are very close to the crater. There are still some trees here, but if you go further, you won’t see a single tree, let alone weeds on the ground. Even beasts don’t come to this area.”

The old man raised his sleeves and wiped off his sweat as he spoke: “However, in this vicinity you can pay more attention to the black stones in the mud under your feet. The black stones that glow are Volcanic Flare Stones. They have fire attributes and are excellent for the cultivation of people with fire attributes.”

Upon hearing that, Feng Jiu glanced at the stones on the ground that she stepped on. The ground was very dry and there was not a single blade of grass in this area at all. As for the black stones that glowed the old man talked about, she saw none of them.

“The volcano here erupts once every three months. You should pay special attention to the rock magma and make sure you don’t get splashed by it. If you get splashed by the rock magma in here, no medicine will be able to cure it. The fire is so powerful that if you’re not careful you could lose your life.”

The old man warned them as they walked: “However, there is another treasure here other than the Volcanic Flame Stone.”

When Feng Jiu heard this, she looked at him and asked curiously: “What treasure?”

“It is the Dazzling Fire Grass, a type of spirit herb that grows halfway up the mountain. It is said that this Dazzling Fire Grass is very versatile and precious and is an elixir that is only produced once every hundred years. It is very spiritual and absorbs the Volcanic Flare Stone to supplement itself. When the volcano erupts, it moves away to another place. Once the eruption is over, it will reappear halfway up the mountain once again. It seems that only a few of these plants have been seen over the years.”

Feng Jiu was slightly surprised: “It can move by itself? Is that a magical spirit herb?”

When the old man heard this, he looked at Feng Jiu and said: “The volcano erupts once every three months, how can it have time to transform into a magical spirit herb? It is said that the herb is naturally like that and can only be found in this place. You won’t find it anywhere else.”

“So, have you come here for it?” Feng Jiu raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

Chapter 2062: Heaven-Defying Luck

“Hehe, that’s right. That’s why I’ve come.” He smiled and stroked his beard and continued speaking: “The Dazzling Fire Grass has another name. It is also called Immortal Grass. Apparently it has the miraculous effect of prolonging life, healing all internal injuries, and also the miraculous effect of helping cultivators with fire attributes advance greatly. Of course I want to find one of these plants just in case.”

Feng Jiu looked at him speechlessly. Why was this old man’s thinking so different from others? He came here just to look for the Immortal Grass, just in case? Did he think that his lifespan was insufficient? Or did he think that he would suffer some fatal internal injuries and he had better be prepared for it first?

“Hiss!”

All of a sudden, she drew a sharp breath when she felt something sharp under her foot. When she moved her foot away slightly to take a look, she saw a sharp black stone protruding out of the ground slightly. The tip of the sharp black stone reflected a shiny light.

“What?”

She squatted down in surprise and dug out the sharp black stone. The old man and Zhuo Junyue walked over. When they saw the black stone she had dug out, they were both surprised.

They hadn’t expected that she would actually step on a Volcanic Flare Stone just by walking. This kind of luck was just heaven-defying luck.

“Is this the Volcanic Flare Stone? It’s not that shiny!” She held the stone that she had just dug out from the ground in her hand. The Volcanic Flare Stone was about the size of an egg but it had a sharp tip. The stone was buried in the ground and it was the sharp tip that had hurt the sole of her foot that made her notice it.

“This is the Volcanic Flare Stone. Some are bigger than the one in your hand and there are also some that are smaller.” The old man said. He grinned and looked at her: “It’s your heaven-defying luck. I think we will definitely find the Dazzling Fire Grass if I take you to look for it with me.”

Upon hearing that, Feng Jiu played with the Volcanic Flame Stone in her hand and looked at the old man with a sly smile: “If I find it I won’t give it to you.”

“If you find it, then naturally it’s yours. I can use something to exchange it with you.” Sage Hun Yuan said. He looked at Feng Jiu: “Don’t worry! I won’t take advantage of you.”

“There is also a Volcanic Flare Stone here too.” Zhuo Junyue’s voice came suddenly and drew their attention.

“Where?” The old man hurried forward and saw Zhuo Junyue had bent down and dug up a fist-sized Volcanic Flare Stone from the ground.

The old man looked on in envy and said in jealousy: “Are the two of you bullying this old man for having poor eyesight? How come I’ve not found any along our walk?”

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Junyue threw the fist-sized Volcanic Flare Stone into his arms: “For you.”

The old man was stunned as he looked at the fist-sized Volcanic Flare Stone in his arms. He said dumbfoundedly: “Do you not want it? This is good stuff.”

“There should be more in this area, I can find more.” Zhuo Junyue said. He slowed down and walked around looking on the ground for anything unusual.

“That’s true.” The old man nodded and put the Volcanic Flare Stone away, then he looked around with him.

Upon seeing this, Feng Jiu looked at the Volcanic Flare Stone in her hand and followed them to look around for more. Just as Zhuo Junyue had said, there should be more than those two Volcanic Flare Stones in this area.

However, as they looked around in this area and made joyful sounds from time to time, some people were watching them quietly…

Chapter 2063: I Want To Fight Back

As they searched the area meticulously, they did indeed find a lot of Volcanic Flare Stones. Feng Jiu and the old man were overjoyed and they even compared their findings with each other to see who had found more.

Although the temperature here was hot, because of their good moods, their smiles and chatter didn’t cease. The sounds of their laughter naturally caught the attention of some people in this area.

There were three groups of people who had noticed Feng Jiu and the others. A man in one of the groups seemed to have recognised Sage Hun Yuan. After they saw the man squatting down and digging for stones, he waved his hand and his group retreated.

As for the other two groups of people, when they saw that there were only three of them in their group and they were digging up stones, they didn’t want to miss such a great opportunity and decided to rob them.

Whether it was Feng Jiu, Sage Hun Yuan, or Zhuo Junyue, they had already known from the start that they were being targeted. They just didn’t care to pay any attention to those people. After they had picked all the Volcanic Flare Stones that they could find, they roughly counted up the stones and collectively, they had collected about twenty stones. The big stones were the size of a fist and the small stones were the size of gravel.

“Alright, let’s go! Although it’s not that much, there should be more ahead.” The old man said smiling, with the excitement of excavating treasures.

Feng Jiu played with the Volcanic Flare Stone in her hand and looked at Sage Hun Yuan and Zhuo Junyue and said: “We keep getting robbed along the way, do you think these things will be targeted by someone again?”

In fact, at that moment, she wanted to counter rob instead. Those people who specialised in looting would no doubt have a lot of good things. When she thought of this, she was reluctant to take a step forward.

“It’s so hot, let’s find a place to rest before we set off again!”

Upon hearing this, Sage Hun Yuan and Zhuo Junyue glanced at her but didn’t say anything. The old man thought for a while, then pointed in a direction and said: “This whole area is so hot, there’s nowhere to sit down. Why don’t we go over there to take a look?”

Feng Jiu looked at the direction he pointed at. When she saw the person hiding, she couldn’t help but smile: “Who are you? Why are you hiding your head but showing your behind?”

As soon as she had spoken, the two groups of people stood up. However, they ignored Feng Jiu and the others and started fighting with each other first.

“We saw the prey first!” One of the leaders of the group shouted.

“This is our territory! Since the people are here, their things are naturally ours!”

“What? Do you want to fight? Don’t forget we have fought before!”

“Fine! Then let’s take those things first then divide them equally between ourselves!”

The two groups of people discussed the matter and when they looked up, they heard the voices of the three people faintly.

“What are you thinking? There people are robbing us, you aren’t thinking of giving them everything are you?”

“Of course not. I was just thinking since they have come knocking on our door anyway then we might as well rob them instead. It’s better than them robbing us!” Feng Jiu said matter-of-factly.

“Are you confident? The opposition has quite a big group of people.” Although they weren’t afraid of those people, they would have to fight…

“How hard can it be?” There was a sly look in her eyes, she smiled and said: “The temperature here is rising, the effect of medicine works faster. Come and look, they’ve all fallen down.”

When the old man heard the sound of bodies falling to the ground, he looked back and was shocked by the scene before him: “What’s wrong with them?” They were fine earlier, but all of a sudden…

Chapter 2064: Treasure Robbed

Feng Jiu smiled and patted her hands, then walked forward at a leisurely pace: “Have you forgotten what I do? I don’t need to lift a finger over such a trivial matter.”

The corner of the old man’s mouth twitched and he muttered under his breath: “How could I forget? You’re a bandit.”

As Zhuo Junyue watched this scene, the corners of his mouth raised slightly into a smile. He glanced at Feng Jiu and followed him forwards.

The people who had fallen onto the ground passed out one by one. Feng Jiu didn’t kill them and only retrieved everything they had on them. Finally, she looked at all her loot.

“Tsk tsk, these people have just about everything. Looks like they rob others quite often. With their strength, how are they able to survive here so well?” She shook her head and murmured softly as she put everything away.

Upon seeing her putting away everything, the old man stared at her and asked: “Are you not going to give us something? You’re just going to keep everything for yourself?”

“Huh? You want some? I thought that since you are the sacred symbol of the Immortal Sect, you would naturally be disdained at the origin of these things. If the news of this matter were to spread, wouldn’t it ruin your reputation?”

The old man grunted when he heard this: “I don’t care!”

“You don’t get anything even if you don’t care. Who was the one who wanted to stop me from coming here earlier? You didn’t even lift a finger, but…” Her eyes turned and she looked at Zhuo Junyue next to her with a smile. She reached out and patted his shoulder: “He should get something.”

“You, you’re biased!” The old man was aggrieved. He couldn’t understand how someone as popular as he was would be so unwelcome with her.

“I’m not biased. Junyue was helping me collect all the loot from these people.” Feng Jiu grinned. She said to Zhuo Junyue, whose hands were still filled with a lot of items: “Keep those few cosmos sacks and the space ring for marrying a wife in the future.”

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Junyue’s mouth twitched. He passed over the things in his hands and said: “No need, you can keep it!”

“Keep it, you’ll have many advantages following me.” She said and patted his shoulder grandly. There was no woman’s tenderness and gentleness in her mannerisms, only a man’s candidness and easy-going attitude.

The old man looked on sourly. He tugged his beard and said angrily to Zhuo Junyue: “Are you a piece of wood? You don’t even know how to keep hold of things handed to you freely. Have you never heard of keeping things given for free for the sake of it?”

Zhuo Junyue glanced at the old man silently then put the things away and said to Feng Jiu: “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Let’s go! There are more treasures inside.”

She grinned as she spoke. When she walked past one of the men who had fainted, she raised her foot and stepped on his hand. The hand that had been holding on to a sword loosened and the sound of the bones fracturing could be heard. Though there was resistance, the man made no sound.

When the old man and Zhuo Junyue saw this, they didn’t say anything. The three of them walked on as if they were taking a stroll in the back garden of their own home. Perhaps it was because of the loot that they had taken, even under the hot temperature, the smiles on their faces widened.

Not long after the three of them had left, the man whose hand had been trampled on sat up with a horrified expression. Amongst these people, it was him and one other person whose strength was the strongest. Although the drug had caused them to pass out, they regained consciousness very quickly.

Unlike the other person who had woken up, he was unhappy that his belongings had been taken and wanted to make a secret move, who knew…

Chapter 2065: Influenced By Association

“Hmph! I thought you had a few talents! But you just want to use your knife to hurt them?”

On the other side, a middle-aged man who was lying on the ground sneered and sat up slowly. He patted the dust off his body and glanced sideways at the man with the broken wrist.

“And are you any better than me? You’re still pretending and you’ve just woken up yourself. Good for nothing!” The man with the broken wrist grumbled coldy and stood up from the ground.

“How is that the same? I saw the strength of those three people and didn’t dare to make a move. Otherwise it won’t just be our belongings that are gone, we would have lost our lives too.” Although that man was unresigned, he knew when to submit to his fate. He knew clearly that if they were to fight against them they would ultimately lose their lives.

Those people obviously only took their belongings and didn’t hurt anyone, they were as merciful as could be. If the situation had been reversed, they wouldn’t have left anyone alive after they had taken their belongings.

“Speaking of which, who on earth are those people?” The two of them asked and looked at their unconscious subordinates on the ground.

“Hehe, you don’t even know who they are and you dare to make a move against them?”

A voice came from behind. It was the group of people that had left earlier. They had returned and wore a gloating expression on their faces.

“You know who they are?” They often looted around this area and were familiar with each other.

“If I didn’t know, my plight would be the same as you right now.” That man’s gaze swept over them mockingly as he looked at their bare bodies: “Everything is gone? You’re lucky that you’re still alive.”

“Who are those three people?” The man with the broken wrist asked, his heart full of angst at their defeat. Those treasures were all their wealth and they were taken away just like that.

“I don’t know about the other two, but the old man is Sage Hun Yuan from the Nebula Immortal Sect. I have to admire your guts for daring to make a move on him!” The man replied and shook his head. He couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

When the two men heard this, their faces paled and they felt a sense of astonishment and fear. He was actually Sage Hun Yuan from the Nebula Immortal Sect? The sacred symbol of the Immortal Sect? Oh My God! He is the old thing that one would have to have extremely bad luck to meet.

However, what was more annoying was that the person that took them down wasn’t Sage Hun Yuan but the young boy in azure robe that no one knew where he had come from.

“There is a cave dwelling up ahead, shall we rest there tonight?” The old man pointed to the cave dwelling in front and asked.

“Alright, you both go ahead first. I will go and take a look around to see if there is any wild game.” They had more walking to do and it would just be torture if they had no meat to eat.

“You still want to eat meat in this place? You can forget it. There won’t be any wild game in this place.” The old man waved his hand and said, then walked towards the cave.

Zhuo Junyue glanced at Feng Jiu: “I’ll accompany you! Although wild game is rare, if we are lucky we might just encounter one.”

Feng Jiu rolled her eyes and she said with a smile: “I see. Since there are very few wild animals here, then we should go and get some from other people’s cave dwellings.”

Those people who stayed in this area and robbed other people would no doubt have wild game, so why not get some from them?

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Junyue was stunned. Then a faint smile appeared: “Alright, let’s go and check it out!”

When the old man saw the two of them chatting and walking, he couldn’t help but shake his head: “Influenced by association.”

Chapter 2066: How Can I Accept

Some distance away from the cave dwelling were a team of people sitting around chatting, eating meat and drinking wine. When their conversation became interesting, the sounds of their laughter rose.

“I still think Boss is clever, he took one look and knew that it was Sage Hun Yuan of the Nebula Immortal Sect. It was a good job we didn’t follow suit and join in or we would look like fools like those two teams of idiots.”

“That’s right. When we went to take a look earlier, the men and horses from those two teams were all unconscious on the ground and all their belongings had been taken. The two team leaders did wake up first. However, when one of them wanted to use his knife to attack those people, he realised that his wrist was broken.”

“Speaking of which, those three people were merciful to not take their lives. If it had been anyone else, once their belongings had been taken, they would unlikely live.”

“Sage Hun Yuan is a member of the Nebula Immortal Sect after all, naturally he wouldn’t be too brutal. He would definitely hesitate taking so many lives at once.”

“The people from those two teams have left in humiliation. Boss is kind-hearted and didn’t kill them all.”

“That’s right, Boss is kind-hearted.”

Everyone agreed and showered their boss with flattery while one of them poured wine for everyone. The leader of the group was so pleased at what he was hearing that he held up his bowl of wine laughing: “Come on, drink, drink!”

Outside, Feng Jiu who had smelt the fragrance of the wine and meat smiled like a sly fox. She gestured to Zhuo Junyue beside her: “So? I was right wasn’t I? These people definitely have meat, and there’s even the smell of wine! It’s perfect, we can bring some back for the old man.”

“Yeah.” Zhuo Junyue nodded. He looked at the two people standing guard at the front and said to Feng Jiu: “One each.”

“Alright.”

The two of them rushed forward and came up behind the two people before they even noticed and took them down with the back of a knife. The belongings on those two people ended up in their hands and they fell to the ground unconscious.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled in unison. They smelt the fragrance of the meat and wine as they stepped inside just in time to hear a voice from inside: “Turn the meat over, don’t burn it.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Jiu swallowed, she was indeed a layman. She didn’t like to take dispelling pills and much preferred to eat meat and grains.

She came to the cave dwelling with a brisk pace and poked her head in with a smile which frightened the people inside.

“Ah! It’s the young boy in the azure robe!”

“Hey! Why have the two of them come here?”

The people who had gathered around the fire barbecuing meat were startled by the appearance of the two people who broke in all of a sudden. One by one they jumped up and quickly retreated to the back of the cave dwelling, gathering together in a dense crowd.

“Hehe, you don’t have to be afraid. We are not malicious.” Feng Jiu said with a smile. She walked over to the barbecue and smelt it: “Well, the smell of the barbecue is really fragrant!”

Upon seeing this and hearing the young boy in the azure robe’s words, the middle-aged man who was the leader said steadily: “If your good sir would like the barbecue I can give it to you.” He only hoped that they would leave quickly after taking the barbecue.

“Oh! How can I accept it?” Feng Jiu said with a smile. Her eyes landed on the jar of wine they had placed aside, her expression coy.

Chapter 2067: Bandit Amongst Bandits

When the middle-aged man who was the leader saw the young boy in the azure robe look at the jar of wine with his dark eyes, his mouth couldn’t help but twitched, he smiled stiffly and said: “It’s alright, it’s fate that we have met, this roast wild boar is our gift to you and you can also take the big jar of wine over there!”

They could always hunt another wild boar and buy more wine. However, if the treasures on them and their lives were gone, then that would really be a huge loss!

“How can I refuse your kind gesture, since you insist, then we’ll accept it!” She grinned and said, then glanced at Zhuo Junyue next to her.

Zhuo Junyue took a few steps forward and picked up the jar of wine, then placed it into space. Having done that, he walked over to the roast wild boar and carried it with Feng Jiu out of the cave dwelling, one person at each end of the wild boar.

Everyone followed them out salivating as they looked at the roast wild boar they’d caught, gluttony expressions filled their faces. At this moment, the young boy in the azure robe who was walking in front turned his head suddenly and they were so scared that they stopped in their tracks.

“You don’t have to see us out, just stay where you are!” Feng Jiu waved to them happily, then walked with Zhuo Junyue in the direction of the old man.

The people behind stood staring blankly and came out of their daze after a long time. One of them murmured: “This young boy in the azure robe is even more of a bandit than we are! He is the bandit amongst the bandits!”

“Boss, it took us so much effort to hunt the wild boar and now it’s just gone and we’ve also lost a large jar of wine.” Another person said quietly as he looked in the direction where the two people had gone. Although they were far away, they could still smell the fragrance of the roast meat from here…

“Good for nothing…”

The middle-aged man glared at them: “Those are just things, it doesn’t matter if they’re gone. As long as our lives and belongings are left untouched, they can have as much roast meat and wine as they want.”

“Boss, the men on guard have only been knocked unconscious, they’re not dead.” Another two men walked back quickly, supporting the two unconscious men.

“It’s good that they’re not dead. Bring them into the cave dwelling.” He said and waved his hand.

“Boss, shall we go back and hunt more wild game? Everyone hasn’t eaten meat for half a month.” One of the men said boldly.

“Go back? Do you think the journey to go back and hunt more wild game is short? If it’s close by, those two rascals wouldn’t have come to get it from us earlier.” The middle-aged man said angrily: “Don’t we have more dispelling pills? Just eat the dispelling pills!”

Upon seeing his anger, no one else dared to speak anymore.

At the other side, the old man who was resting in the cave dwelling was humming a tune and he murmured: “This girl is stubborn and doesn’t listen to this old man, I’ve already said that there is no wild game in this area and she won’t believe me. I don’t believe that you can come back with wild game.”

However, as he was sitting there muttering to himself, his nose sniffed suddenly and he couldn’t help but walk out and look around for the smell. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the two people carrying the roasted wild boar back.

“Huh, this girl really brought back wild game?” He ran forward excitedly and couldn’t help but asked: “Where did you get this from? And it’s already been roasted? You didn’t take this by force did you?”

He thought back to the two of them talking to each other when they walked off earlier, did they really snatch it from someone else? This girl really has a few tricks up her sleeves!

Chapter 2068: Together

“How is this possible?”

Feng Jiu’s voice raised slightly and she grinned at him: “Do you think I look like someone who robs people? This roasted wild boar was a gift, and they even gave us a jar of wine.”

Upon hearing this, the old man looked at her in disbelief: “A gift?” He refused to believe that there were such friendly people around.

“Yes, it’s a gift.” Feng Jiu said as she carried the roasted wild boar back into the cave dwelling and propped it up. She then took a knife out and sliced a small piece of meat off then gave it to the old man: “Come, try it, and yes, there is also wine.” She glanced at Zhuo Junyue.

Zhuo Junyue smiled and took the jar of wine out from space and set it aside. He heard the old man murmur.

“You’ve really got wine too? You two are really something! How did this happen? I’ve been travelling the world for years, why haven’t I had such good luck?” He took his wine gourd out from space and filled it up with wine and drank some: “Although it’s not as good as my wine, it is still quite a good spirit wine.”

Feng Jiu sliced a piece of meat and passed it to Zhuo Junyue while saying: “A wild boar this size will be enough to feed us for a few days. We can keep what we can’t finish and when we want to eat it, we can take it out and roast it again first.”

“Is this jar of wine for me?” Sage Hun Yuan asked cheerfully as he poured more wine into his wine gourd. His wine gourd was a magical artefact. It can hold up to ten jars of wine. He hadn’t bought wine for a long time or he wouldn’t have stopped drinking wine here.

“If you want it you can have it, it’s no big deal.” Feng Jiu said indifferently and she cut a piece of meat for herself to eat.

The three of them sat there eating meat and drinking wine. They rested the whole night before they went outside the next morning and continued their journey inside.

The journey was fairly calm other than the temperature getting hotter and hotter. It was the same whether it was day or night, and the further inside they ventured, the more hot air steamed up from the hot ground.

“We’re almost there, can you see it? It’s that volcano.” The old man wiped his sweat and pointed to a large volcano not far ahead in front of him: “The Dazzling Fire Grass should be halfway up the volcano. When we get halfway up the volcano we will look for it! There might even be Volcanic Flare Stones there and we don’t have to wait till the next volcano eruption.”

Feng Jiu raised her eyes and looked at the volcano that was steaming faintly. She couldn’t help but ask: “Isn’t it a bit dangerous for us to go up there? Although the magma is below the centre of the earth, what about the upper half of the volcano?”

“Don’t worry! It will be fine. Look, there are people halfway up the volcano.” The old man pointed to the man who was climbing up the hillside by the volcano.

Feng Jiu nodded upon seeing this: “Alright! Let’s go and take a look. But if there are any signs of danger we are leaving immediately.”

“Yes, alright, I don’t need you to remind me.”

The three of them walked towards the volcano. When they reached the foot of the volcano they only saw very small pieces of Volcanic Flare Stones and no larger pieces. However, as they approached, dozens of teams who stayed behind and stood guard at the foot of the volcano stared at them and seemed to be guessing their background.

“Are all three of us going up or is one of us staying behind?” Sage Hun Yuan looked at Feng Jiu and asked. If they were to leave one person behind, then that person would no doubt be Zhuo Junyue. He had to go up and so did Feng Jiu.

Feng Jiu glanced around and said: “Let’s go together!”

Chapter 2069: Three Birds With One Stone

If one person were to stay behind, that person would become a thorn that needed to be removed by everyone. It was better that they all went up together and at least they had each other for support.

“Alright, let’s go!” The old man nodded and looked at Zhuo Junyue, then the three of them went up the volcano together.

Although they were able to travel on swords in this area, they wouldn’t be able to find the things they were looking for if they were to do so. Therefore, everyone who came here to look for Volcanic Flare Stone and Dazzling Fire Grass would walk on foot so that they didn’t miss the chance of finding treasure.

“Who are those people?”

“I don’t know, but the strength of that old man is unfathomable and the other two are to be feared too.”

“Other teams have dozens of members and yet they dare to come here with just the three of them. Their courage is not small.”

“Since they are here to die, hehe, then why don’t we help send them on their journey?” One of the men in the group said, staring at the three figures. A bloodthirsty look flashed across his eyes and he took out a bow and arrow from his cosmos sack.

When the person next to him saw this, his eyes flickered slightly. Someone asked: “You want to shoot them? If you can’t kill all three of them with three arrows, then when the three of them come back down from the volcano they will surely not let you off easily.”

“How difficult can it be to shoot three arrows at the same time? My archery skills are exquisite. It’s not even a problem to shoot five arrows together.” The fat man said as he aimed his bow and arrows at the three people heading up the volcano.

Some of the people in the team stared at the fat man with a gleeful smile. More than half of the people present had recognised the old man as Sage Hun Yuan from Nebula Immortal Sect, otherwise, how could the three of them approach this area?

Sage Hun Yuan was the sacred symbol of the Immortal Sects, his combat power alone was probably even more superior that all of them together. Only overconfident people would dare to use a bow and arrow to shoot them. They were sure that if this arrow was to be shot, then the fate of this team of people would be death.

Though many people knew this, they didn’t try to stop the fat man and only stood back to watch the show, they thought that it wasn’t even lively enough.

“Make sure you aim properly and don’t let us become a laughing stock.”

The voices drifted over to the foot of the volcano and Zhuo Junyue looked back and said to the two of them: “Someone wants to use us as a target.”

“Don’t worry about it, let’s go! If they can shoot us then they have some ability.”

The old man snorted as he looked at the ground beneath his feet. There were no steps on the path up the volcano and you had to be extremely careful at every step or you’d roll down the volcano. This was no small matter at all, if you were to roll down the volcano, your skin would rub against the volcanic ground and your life would be hard to save.

“The most important thing is to be careful and not to fall.” The old man said. When he saw an exposed Volcanic Flare Stone in front of him, he couldn’t help but smile: “Look at what I have found.” He said and stepped forward to dig up the Volcanic Flare Stone. At this moment, an exclamation came from above them.”

“Ah!”

The three of them looked up and saw that a figure had slipped and was rolling down the volcano. The body rubbed against the volcanic rocks and a faint ray of fire burst out followed by a trace of burning smell.

“Boom!”

With a loud sound, the man who had rolled down the volcano fell to the ground and his team members stepped forwards quickly to check on him…

Chapter 2070: Three Arrows At Once

However, the man who had rolled down the volcano was howling in pain and wasn’t even able to stand up. He had to be supported by someone to walk to the back to lie down.

“Did you see that? If you fall down and get any bruises in this place it becomes a problem.” The old man glanced at the two of them and continued to climb up the volcano.

The volcano was very steep and there were very few places one could stand firmly on the ground. Therefore, everyone who climbed up the volcano was very cautious. However, at this time, three sharp arrows shot out in their direction in a fierce momentum.

Upon hearing the sound behind her, Feng Jiu’s lips curled into a smile: “Let’s see whose hand is quicker, we’ll kill the target in one shot!”

“No problem.”

Sage Hun Yuan responded, and just when those three arrows shot at them and were about to strike them, the three arrows were suddenly turned around and held in those three people’s hands. Almost in an instant, the three sharp arrows flew out of their hands and unanimously shot towards the fat man who was holding a bow at the foot of the volcano.

“Swish!”

“Swish!”

“Swish!”

The three sharp arrows flew down from above at an impenetrable manner towards the fat man with a fierce and cold aura. This happened too quickly for anyone to react, and they only came out of their daze when they heard the blood-curdling screams escaping the fat man’s mouth. When they saw that scene, they were stunned.

“Ah…”

The blood-curdling screams sounded sharply and echoed in the air. At that moment, whether it was the dozens of teams at the foot of the volcano or the people who had climbed halfway up the volcano, every one of them looked towards the origins of the screams.

They saw only a fat man who was holding a bow standing stiffly, his eyes were wide open in terror and the blood had drained from his face. The expression on his face was of extreme terror and there was a feathered arrow between his eyebrows. A trace of blood oozed from the wound in the flesh made by the arrow and dripped down.

Further down, there was also a feathered arrow stuck in his throat, but this arrow had penetrated right through his throat. It was also a kill with one shot.

Further down, there was also a feathered arrow pierced through his chest, into his heart. This arrow had also penetrated through his body leaving only a short length of the feathered arrow protruding out of his chest. At that moment, his stiff body fell back slowly.

“Boom!”

With a loud noise, the fat man fell to the ground. Because of his weight, the ground trembled as soon as his body hit the ground. Everyone who saw this swallowed and took a few steps away from the fat man involuntarily.

Three arrows had been shot out! All three arrows were grasped and redirected back at the fat man and had struck every fatal point of his body…

For a while, everyone’s breathing became heavier and those who hadn’t recognised Sage Hun Yuan were even more frightened. They now saw those three people in a new light and they knew that they were definitely not someone you’d want to provoke. As for those who knew that the old man was Sage Hun Yuan, they were even more shocked.

If it was just Sage Hun Yuan it would have been expected, however, those two people were so powerful as well. It was just unexpected, just unexpected…

At this moment, they counted their blessings that they hadn’t rushed forward and attacked them, otherwise, their fate would no doubt be similar to that of the fat man.

The atmosphere at the foot of the volcano felt imposing all of a sudden. Those three people were so powerful, what would happen if they were to go up?

Chapter 2071: For You

When the people who had witnessed the scene from halfway up the volcano, they glanced at the three people at once. Some of them recognised Sage Hun Yuan while others didn’t.

While everyone was vigilant and way of the three of them, Feng Jiu and the others were discussing whose arrow was the fastest.

“Mine was the slowest.” Zhuo Junyue said as he continued to climb up the volcano. Out of the three of them, his arrow was the slowest, but he did kill him with a single blow to the heart.

“Your strength is the weakest so it’s only natural your arrow would be the slowest.” Sage Hun Yuan said smiling, his eyes squinting as he did so: “I am the fastest and I shot his throat.”

Feng Jiu glanced at him: “It’s obvious that I was a bit faster than you.”

“Of course not, I was the fastest.” He refused to admit that his arrow was slower than hers.

“Alright alright, let’s keep going!” Feng Jiu didn’t really care and continued to climb up the volcano. She said to the two of them: “Be careful, don’t be too engrossed at looking for things under your feet.”

In this kind of place, although the people at the foot of the volcano were taken aback, however, they were also being watched by the people higher up on the volcano! If they were to pull a dirty trick, who knew what they would do?

“Hey, look over there, there’s a Volcanic Flare Stone over there. Just as I expected, there are more in this area. There is no need to wait for the volcano to erupt. Not many people must have come to look for it the last time the volcano erupted.” The old man said. He moved to the other side and dug out the Volcanic Flare Stone buried in the ground.

“Haha, I didn’t expect it to be so big as only a small sharp point was exposed. This is definitely the biggest piece I have dug up so far.” Sage Hun Yuan said excitedly and handed the Volcanic Flare Stone to Feng Jiu and Zhuo Junyue to have a look at.

Feng Jiu glanced at it and said: “There’s no use for so many of these things! At the most, you can sell it for some money, but I assume you’re not short of money anyway.”

“Hehe, of course, there is nothing that this old man wants and can’t get.” He raised his chin with a smug look on his face. Maybe it was because he was in a good mood, he handed over the Volcanic Flare Stone in his hand and said: “Here, for you. I noticed that you haven’t even found a big piece yet.”

Feng Jiu was a little surprised upon hearing this and looked at him strangely: “For me?”

“Yes, for you.” The old man said with a smile.

“Will you ask for it back later on?” She asked and stared at him suspiciously.

“Of course not! Do I seem that petty to you?” He snorted softly and tossed the Volcanic Flare Stone at her: “Take it. You won’t be able to find anything like this again. As for the Immortal Grass, if you find any you must remember to give me a plant. If that’s not possible then I can use the Volcanic Flare Stones I’ve collected and exchange them with you.”

When she heard this, Feng Jiu pursed her lips and smiled. She took the Volcanic Flare Stone and put it away: “Thank you.” She said, and continued to climb up.

The people above were surprised when they saw that they had found a large piece of Volcanic Flare Stone. Hadn’t they already searched through the place down below? How did they miss such a large piece of Volcanic Flare Stone? The people below were too lucky.

The people in one of the teams glanced at each other. They were already dissatisfied with those three people when they killed one of their team members with the arrows. Upon seeing this scene, they were even more unhappy and wicked ideas formed in their minds at that moment.

They moved quietly so that they were directly above those three people and pretended to unintentionally step on the gravel so forcefully that it rolled down the volcano…

Chapter 2072: A Matter Of Principle

When they saw the rubble falling from above, the three of them avoided it quickly. Zhuo Junyue had slipped a few metres downwards before he was able to stop when he lost his footing. At this time, the people above them who had deliberately kicked the rubble loose didn’t stop but became even more aggressive.

“These people are really wicked.” The old man said, frowning. He looked down: “Blockhead, how are you? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Zhuo Junyue responded and continued to climb up.

However, Feng Jiu looked up and her eyes were cold. Her palm moved and a few silver needles shot out of her hands penetrated those people’s boots directly and pricked the soles of their feet silently.

“Ssss ah!”

A few breaths of exclamations came out. When those people stepped down on the gravel, the silver needles that had penetrated their boots pierced into the soles of their feet and the pain caused them to gasp. They were unable to withstand the pain coming from their feet and couldn’t stand firmly, so they fell down one after another.

“Ah!”

As they fell, they tried to grasp any rock that they could to stabilize their bodies. However, the impact of them sliding down was too great, and finally, they lost their balance and rolled straight down the volcano.

“Boom boom boom…”

The heavy sounds of those people falling could be heard. Not only were the people below down below were shocked, even the people above were taken aback. Unexpectedly, those people who had dared take those three people on had rolled down the volcano first.

Upon seeing the fate of those people, everyone was wary of those three people and naturally didn’t dare to provoke them.

So Feng Jiu and her companions climbed up the volcano slowly while looking for Volcanic Flare Stones until they arrived halfway up the volcano and found a piece of protruding rock where they sat down for a rest.

“Although this mountain is big, there are so many people searching for it too. Can we really find the Immortal Grass?” Feng Jiu looked at the old man and asked. They had picked up a lot of Volcanic Flare Stones but they had yet to come across a single Dazzling Fire Grass plant. Moreover, they weren’t the only ones who were looking for it.

“Be quiet, they might not be looking for the Immortal Grass. Ordinary people don’t know about it.” The old man said in a low voice.

Feng Jiu rolled her eyes and said: “Do you think these people are stupid? They are in this place all year round, how can they not know the things you know?”

“It doesn’t matter even if they know about it. If they find it first, hehe, we can always snatch it from them.” The old man grinned, his smile harbouring ill intentions. He had always had this intention in his mind anyway.

Feng Jiu however, was surprised when she heard this. She glanced at him with a faint smile: “You are the sacred symbol of the Immortal Sect, you dare to snatch things from other people?”

“Hey! What’s wrong with that? It’s not like they’re good people anyway, and in this place, who doesn’t snatch things in order to survive?” Girl, let me tell you, you’re still inexperienced! In this world, you’ll become too rigid if you follow all the rules and regulations. One must learn to be flexible!”

The old man spoke slowly and glanced at those people, then he said: “Do you think that they won’t snatch it from us if we find the Immortal Grass first? Let me tell you, if the other party is an upright and good person, then we can’t do it because one must have principles, don’t you think? However, these people are obviously not good or upright people, if we don’t rob them, we will be robbed by them instead. Those people won’t talk to you about great truths and principles, to those people they will bully the weak and kind, and fear the strong and evil.”

A strange glint flashed across Feng Jiu’s eyes. She looked at the old man and said with a smile in rare appreciation: “You’re very much like me in this way.”

Chapter 2073: Are You Not Mistaken

“Really? So you’re saying that we are somewhat similar? So how about it, will you consider accepting me again? You’ll have an advantage with me, the sacred symbol of the Immortal Sects as your disciple.” The old man looked at her expectedly.

Upon hearing this, Feng Jiu put her chin on her hand. She rolled her eyes and smiled: “Well, I’ll think about it.”

When he heard that there could be a chance, the old man got very excited: “Why do you need to consider? Let’s just decide upon it! Tell you what, I have some wine here, shall we have a few cups?”

Feng Jiu stopped him when she saw that he was really going to take his wine out: “Wait, have a look around your surroundings. Do you think it’s appropriate now? Let’s put this matter aside for now and discuss it later.”

“Hey, I’m just afraid that you will fool me again.” The old man sighed lightly and glanced at her: “Or, why don’t you teach me the mental cultivation method of the Tai Chi skill first?”

Feng Jiu smiled happily upon hearing this. Suddenly, her smile narrowed: “No.” She turned her head and looked to the other side. Her eyes fell on Zhuo Junyue’s body.

When the old man saw her staring at Zhuo Junyue, he knew she was trying to guess Zhuo Junyue’s life experience. He didn’t speak for a while and just took a few sips of wine from his wine gourd. Though his eyes were on the two of them, he was also paying attention to his surroundings out of the corners of his eyes.

When he caught a glimpse of the Dazzling Fire Grass moving quietly, he blinked excitedly at Feng Jiu and lowered his voice and motioned: “Look over there, that’s the Dazzling Fire Grass!”

Feng Jiu was slightly startled. She followed his gaze and saw a herbal medicine plant moving quietly not far from her.

Was it moving in this direction? She was taken aback for a moment, but when she took a closer look, the herbal plant really did look like it was moving towards her side.

Wasn’t it said that the Dazzling Fire Grass would run away fast when it saw people? Why was it coming to her side?

“Is that really the Immortal Grass? Are you definitely not mistaken?” She asked in a low voice.

“How can I be mistaken? That is the one. There are only two leaves on the fiery-red stem. The roots below are somewhat similar to the ginseng plant but they are fiery-red in colour instead… Sss!”

The old man spoke nonstop and finally gasped for air. His eyes widened: “You, look at it quickly! Another, another plant has appeared!”

Feng Jiu looked over and indeed, another Dazzling Fire Grass plant had surfaced from somewhere. She was shocked when she saw that it was also moving in her direction.

At this moment, the two Dazzling Fire Grass plants had reached her feet. The old man had a red rope ready to catch the plants but was stopped in his tracks by Feng Jiu’s look in her eyes.

After the Immortal Grass arrived at Feng Jiu’s feet, it used one of its two leaves to gently touch Feng Jiu’s feet. Its fiery-red stem even bent downwards and plucked its roots out and leapt into her arms. Just like the old man had said, its roots resembled the ginseng plant but were fiery-red in colour.

“Um?”

Feng Jiu’s eyes widened in astonishment and thought she must have been imagining things. However, when she looked again, the Immortal Grass had indeed jumped into her arms by itself and hid in the skirt of her clothes, revealing only its two small leaves. She was so shocked that she couldn’t figure out what was going on.

At that moment, the old man and Zhuo Junyue’s faces were also filled with shock. Did they really see this happen? How did this impossible thing suddenly happen?

Chapter 2074: What’s the reason?

While they were still in shock, the other Immortal Grass had also moved quietly from behind and pulled itself up just like the other plant had and squeezed into Feng Jiu’s clothes.

Upon seeing this scene, the three of them didn’t react for a long time. As they had been sitting by the rock and hadn’t moved, the people above didn’t pay any attention to them. Therefore, besides the three of them, no one else had witnessed that strange scene.

The old man stared at Feng Jiu and said: “Tell me, what just happened?”

Feng Jiu lowered her head and looked at the two Immortal Grass plants that were hiding in the folds of her clothes and hid them in space and planted them in the medicinal field while no one had noticed. She spread her hands and said to the old man: “I don’t know either! Didn’t you say that these Dazzling Fire Grass plants don’t give birth to medicinal spirits? Now you’re asking me, who should I ask?”

“This kind of thing has never happened before and I’ve never heard of it happening either.” Sage Hun Yuan stared at Feng Jiu while stroking his beard thoughtfully and said: “There must be something strange on you.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Jiu’s heart moved slightly: “What’s so strange? What strange thing could I possibly have on my body?” She had never encountered this sort of thing in the past before either! How could she possibly know what was wrong?

But…

When the old man suggested that there was something strange on her, it reminded her of the primal chaos blue lotus in her dantian. However, that primal chaos blue lotus hadn’t given her any problems in a long time, surely this wouldn’t be related to it right now?

“The Immortal Grass is very spiritual and although it has no medicinal spirit, it is able to escape and move about because of its natural spirituality.” The old man muttered as he watched Feng Jiu: “Why though? Could it be because of the pure spiritual aura in you?”

“Huh?”

Feng Jiu was taken aback and asked: “The spiritual aura in my body? Surely, surely not?”

She possessed the mystical spirit body and the spiritual energy in this body was extremely high. However, the extremely high degree of purity couldn’t have caused the spirit herb to pull itself out of the ground and hide in her arms, right?

“Forget it, it doesn’t matter. Let’s discuss what to do next!”

The old man said with a look of excitement and beckoned Zhuo Junyue to sit closer while he himself leaned over towards Feng Jiu. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a lot of people staring at them. He turned his head and glared at them, then with a wave of his hand, he placed a soundproof barrier over them.

When the other people saw this, they were even more curious than ever at what those three people were talking about. However, the skills of those three people were just too weird. If it wasn’t necessary, they wouldn’t provoke them at all. Upon seeing the old man had set up a soundproof barrier, they looked away.

Sage Hun Yuan leaned in front of Feng Jiu at this time and smiled at her: “Girl, in that case, we don’t have to waste our efforts to look for the Immortal Grass. Tell you what! We will go round the back and find a place where there’s no one around and the two of us will guard you while you release some of the pure spiritual aura from your body. Maybe the Immortal Grass plants will come to us instead.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Jiu’s mouth twitched slightly: “How can this method work? If my spiritual breath can be used in this way, wouldn’t I have found loads of precious spirit herbs by now?

She knew that it was definitely because of the pure spiritual aura in her body. If anything, the most possible explanation would be the primal chaos blue lotus.

Chapter 2075: The Front And Back of the Mountain

The primal chaos blue lotus could be the reason as to why the Immortal Grass had plucked itself out of the ground and came to her. On the other hand, the Immortal Grass was very spiritual in nature, so it probably was able to sense the breath of the primal chaos blue lotus.

However, she didn’t dare to release any more aura from the blue lotus at this point. If others were aware of the primal chaos blue lotus in her body, she was afraid that it would attract more trouble.

“Girl, just try it! There’s nothing wrong with trying.” The old man persuaded, He hadn’t found an Immortal Grass yet so he was hoping that this method would work.

Upon seeing his insistence, Feng Jiu said: “Tell you what, I will give you one of the two Immortal Grass plants. Since we have found it, we can leave!”

“How can we do that?” The old man said hurriedly: “We’ve endured a long journey to travel here. Now that we are here, of course we have to dig up a few more plants before we go back!”

“Dig a few more? Do you think the Immortal Grass is a chinese cabbage? It’ll be there for you to dig if you want it? Even chinese cabbages are not available to be dug up at this time.” She said. She flicked her robes, then she removed the soundproof barrier and walked out.

When he saw Feng Jiu had started heading downwards, the old man followed hurriedly: “Just once, just once alright? I’ve never seen that happen before, I’m really curious!”

Upon being pestered incessantly, Feng Jiu knew that if she didn’t resolve the matter, she would never have any peace. Therefore, she glanced at him and said: “We’ll talk when we get down.”

“Alright, alright.” The old man responded hurriedly. The three of them came down from halfway down the volcano, and although they were covered in ashes, they didn’t have any scratches or bruises on their bodies.

Everyone was surprised when they saw the three of them coming down the volcano. However, this was a good thing for them. If the three of them were to leave, no one would fight with them over any Immortal Grass or Volcanic Flare Stone that might appear. No matter what, this was a good thing.

When the people at the foot of the volcano saw the three of them coming down, they involuntarily stepped back. However, the three of them didn’t pay any attention to them and walked past them.

“Just go around here and it will take you to the back. The magma doesn’t flow down in that direction so it will be cooler there. There will also be some trees to provide shade from the sun.” The old man said as he walked and brought Feng Jiu and Zhuo Junyue around to the other side.

Shortly after they had left, a group of mercenaries arrived. It was the team of mercenaries that Guan Xilin was in.

When the dozen or so teams saw the group of mercenaries, their eyes flashed slightly. The murderous aura of the mercenary team was strong. They appeared to have just come from killing people and the bloody smell made everyone take a few steps backwards instinctively.

One look and they knew that these were not people to be trifled with. In general, they wouldn’t provoke these kinds of people anyway.

“This is it.” The leader of the mercenary group said looking at the volcano: “It depends on whether you can find it or not.”

“Head, if we can’t find it, we can still bring some Volcanic Flare Stones back with us. People on the outside are always rushing to buy them.” A mercenary said with a grin.

The leader of the Fierce Tigers Mercenary Group smiled: “Alright, let’s assign the teams! We will split into two teams, one of the teams will stay down here and stand guard while the other team will come up with me. Let me tell you this first! I have already told you along the way that the level of danger in this place is not low. You can’t fall down from above because if you do, it will be difficult for you to survive.”

Chapter 2076: Give one to you

“Don’t worry, Leader! We know that.” Everyone answered with a smile.

“Leader, you’re injured. I think you’d better not climb up.” Guan Xilin spoke up with his eyes fixed on the leader’s shoulder. Although the wound had been bandaged for several days, it was still not healed. It would be too dangerous to try climbing the volcano.

Hearing this, the others also reacted. “Yes, Leader. I think Little Guan has a point. Your injury is still not fully healed, you shouldn’t climb.”

“Indeed, Leader. I suggest that those who aren’t injured go up and the rest stay down here so that it will be relatively safer.” Another mercenary also spoke.

“That’s fine. Let Little Guan take you there!” The leader said and looked at Guan Xilin. “Whether you can find it or not, come down after searching halfway up the mountain.”

“Alright, I see.” Guan Xilin nodded and headed up the hill with a dozen mercenaries while others stood guard below in case of a sneak attack.

Meanwhile, Feng Jiu and others, who made a detour by the back of the mountain, found a place to sit down after seeing that there was no one else around except the three of them.

“Hurry up, hurry up. Try it one more time.” The old man squatted beside her excitedly, while Zhuo Junyue retreated and stood guard.

Feng Jiu had no choice but to sit down and circulate the spirit energy breath in her body. However, she blocked the blue lotus’ aura in her body from leaking out. Whether it was the blue lotus or not, this matter shouldn’t be made known to others.

So, in the end, it was all quiet and not a single Immortal Grass was seen.

“Well? Didn’t I tell you? It must have been accidental.” As she spoke, she spread out her hands, then turned to gather her breath. She took out the roasted meat from her space and ate it. As she looked at the disappointed old man, she asked, “I’ll give you one! I have two, anyway.”

“The old man will exchange it with Volcanic Flare Stones, so as not taking advantage of you.” After saying this, the old man shoved the Volcanic Flare Stones he had acquired along the way to her.

Feng Jiu didn’t refuse and collected those few items. At the same time, she handed a small immortal grass with a glance at him. “This kind of thing can’t be used directly. You can’t refine it into a medicinal pill and its effect won’t be substantial.”

“You don’t have to worry about this. I’ll just keep it.” After taking the immortal grass, he did not forget to take a look around before putting it away.

“Junyue, come and have something to eat.” Feng Jiu shouted at Zhou Junyue who was keeping guard.

Zhuo Junyue turned around and walked over to them. After arriving at their side, he also sat down. The three sat around and took in the roasted meat and wine.

“Don’t drink too much wine. It’s troublesome to get drunk in this place.” Feng Jiu said, seeing the old man pouring the wine gourd’s content into his mouth. She shook her head and handed him a piece of meat.

“With such drinking capacity, how can the old man get drunk? It’s all right. This place is a little far from the front. No one will come. It just so happens that the old man wants to take a nap after drinking. Anyway, I’m at ease that you two are watching.” He smiled with meat in one hand and wine in the other.

Seeing this, Feng Jiu let him have his way. With the two of them on guard, he could indeed sleep at ease.

In front of the mountain, there was another scene. It was unknown what the climbers found, they started fighting halfway up the mountain…

Chapter 2077: A bunch of lunatics

During the fight, some people rolled down from the top. For a time, screams and shouts echoed continuously.

Seeing this situation from beneath, Guan Xilin told the men he led. “Descend first, it’s not a good time to go up now.” Although they were climbing from the slope of the mountain, it’s not advisable for them to go up there. However, just as he was about to descend, he looked up and vaguely saw a gleam of sunlight on the top of the mountain.

Was it the Volcanic Flare Stone? What’s more, it’s a huge piece of Volcanic Flare Stone!

With this thought, he looked down and saw that other mercenaries had gone down the mountain safely. So, he summoned his flying sword and flew up the mountain.

“How odd, why did that man directly go up on his flying sword? What’s his purpose?”

“Whoa! He went straight halfway up the peak.”

“Ah! Take a look, there’s a brilliant light reflected from the top of the crater. Isn’t that a Volcanic Flare Stone?”

“My goodness! How big is that Volcanic Flare Stone? Why didn’t we see it earlier?”

“Go and grab it! A Volcanic Flare Stone of that size is priceless!”

The people below rushed up. At this, one after another swept to the top on their flying swords. Guan Xilin, who reached the top of the crater first, saw the Volcanic Flare Stone.

However, there seemed to be something different about this piece of Volcanic Flare Stone. The ordinary ones were black and suffused with light in the middle. But, this piece was fiery red, as if it was burned red by the flame. The whole piece was a beautiful red, making him look at it appreciatively.

“What a pretty stone! I’ll take it back and give it to Sister. She’ll love it.”

Guan Xilin whispered. His calm and resolute face was beaming with childlike joy. It was an expression solely when he thought of his family.

He came over and picked up the beautiful red stone that was difficult to hold with both hands, then put it away in the interspatial ring. He thought of giving it to Feng Jiu as a gift when he went back. However, just then, a killing intent coming from behind made his smile disappear. As he frowned and turned around, a long sword’s attack came his way accompanied by loud yells.

“Hey, kid! Hand over the treasure!”

“Kid! If you keep it all to yourself, you’ll get choked to death!”

“Kid! you’ve got a lot of nerve! How dare you pocket the treasure alone in front of all these people? Hand it over and we’ll leave your corpse intact!”

As the cultivators shouted one after another, encircling Guan Xilin with their swords in hand, there came again a loud cry from below with a powerful spirit energy breath.

“Don’t you dare act against the member of our Fierce Tigers Mercenary Group! Kill!”

Each one of the Fierce Tigers Mercenary Groups came up with a sword in his hand. As soon as the mercenary group members besieged those people who encircled Guan Xilin, the clanging of swords rang out and a melee broke out.

Some of those who watched on the side and were not involved in the battle were speechless. “Are these people crazy? Although the Volcanic Flare Stone is a bit bigger, there’s no point in trying so hard, is there?”

Hearing this, a man who rushed to the front could only stop and glance at the speaker. “What do you know? In this world, can we succeed without trying hard? Brothers, kill them for me! If you can’t grab it away from that kid, rob someone else! I’ve been here for more than half a month and keep waiting for this kind of chance!” As soon he said this, he rushed up with more than a dozen people behind him.

The onlookers were surprised and could not help but step back and wipe their cold sweats. “A bunch of lunatics…”

Chapter 2078: It’s a gift for my sister

“Kill!”

“Kill that kid!”

“Grab that treasure!”

“Whoosh!”

“Aah…”

“Clang!”

The shouts came along with the sounds of the battle. The chaos reigned from mid-air to the ground. Due to the melee, people around them were inevitably wounded. Some cultivators who had dealt with Guan Xilin got angry when they were wounded by the swords.

“How dare you to slash at me? You’re tired of living! Look at the blade!”

“Hiss! Damn it! I’ll kill you!”

As the battle got more and more chaotic, the blade and sword intents flew uncontrollably, and the cold glints of swords were refracted out. When some people saw that the situation would come to no good end, they retreated quietly, while those who kept moving forward were wounded or killed. Several of the people who besieged Guan Xilin were more and more frightened as the battle wore on, especially when they saw him waving his long sword and slash away with the fierce sword intent. Everyone let out a low shout and quickly dodged.

“Ah!”

Some people didn’t have time to avoid it. They were cut in two by the sword intent’s attacks. Seeing this gory scene, everyone was gripped with shock!

“Hiss! This, this kid, where on earth did this Killing God come from?”

The crowd who had retreated much earlier and the cultivators who had been watching from a distance were frightened. Although the mercenary was only a mystical cultivator, his combat strength was amazing. Everyone who went up to him died by his long sword. Corpses fell one after another at his feet and the number made people shudder uncontrollably.

After slashing and killing the people around him, Guan Xilin rotated his sword and pointed it towards the ground. He shouted, “Who dares to try robbing me again?”

All the survivors around retreated in unison and dared not approach him. What a joke, even though the treasure was good, it’s no use having it if they lost their lives!

What’s more, this kid was too weird. Even though he’s just a Mystical Cultivator, his combat strength was astonishing. He’s just insanely powerful! They had to be suicidal to go up and grab that thing again.

All members of the Fierce Tigers Mercenary Group came over to Guan Xilin. The leader looked at him. “Little Guan, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Guan Xilin answered. With a shake of his head and a cold glance at the people around him, he told his leader, “Leader, I’m going to give the stone I just found to my sister.”

The Fierce Tigers Mercenary Group’s leader nodded. “Don’t worry, our mercenary regiment also has rules. Apart from tasks, everything found in the forest can be distributed at our own discretion. There is no need to hand it over to the mercenary group.”

“Thank you so much, Leader.” He said in a calm voice.

“Hahaha, there’s nothing to thank. This is the freedom of our mercenary group.” With this, the leader asked him. “Did you not find any Volcanic Flare Stones halfway up the mountain?”

“Mm, I haven’t seen them.” Guan Xilin answered.

“Alright, then! Let’s find a place to rest first. Since we are here, our brothers can’t make this trip in vain. We can go up again sometime later. Even if we can’t find the Dazzling Fire Grass, we can still bring back some Volcanic Flare Stones.

“Yes.” He nodded and followed the team to a shade behind the mountain.

At this time, Feng Jiu, who was resting in the shade behind the mountain, leaned against the stone and took a nap. The old man was drunk after imbibing an unknown amount of wine and had already fallen asleep there, but Zhuo Junyue had been continuously keeping an eye on their surroundings.

When he heard footsteps coming their way, Zhuo Junyue stared more and more vigilantly until…

Chapter 2079: It will be different

He was a bit surprised to see that the team marching towards them was the mercenary team he saw in the forest before. It’s really a small world after all. He didn’t expect to meet this group of mercenaries again.

The mercenaries also saw Zhuo Junyue. The leader of the team was slightly surprised and then laughed. “Young Master, so, Immortal Lord Hun Yuan should have a rest there, too? What a surprise to meet you again.”

As he spoke, he spoke to the people behind him, “Brothers, find a place to sit down and rest first. I’ll go ahead and greet them.”

So, everyone casually found a place to rest. Then, they all sat down and gathered around Guan Xilin. “Little Guan, what does the stone you found look like? Take it out for everybody to see!”

“Yes! It looks like a big piece to me.”

Seeing that everyone was curious, Guan Xilin burst into laughter. “Not a problem.” He took out the large stone from his space ring and put it in front of him. “This is the stone,” he told the crowd. “Take a closer look, the shape is quite nice.”

“Whoa! It’s huge. You can’t even hold it with both hands, right?”

“Hiss! It’s the fiery red Volcanic Flare Stone!”

“Oh! Right, I heard that this is the best Volcanic Flare Stone. The stones took shape after being forged again and again inside the magma. I have only heard of this but I have never seen it before. I didn’t expect to see such a big fiery red Volcanic Flare Stone today.”

“Tsk, tsk. Look at its colour. It’s really the colour of fire! How beautiful!”

“Oh, yes! It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a fiery red Volcanic Flare Stone.”

Guan Xilin’s face was wreathed with smiles as he listened to everyone’s words. “I think it is beautiful, too. My sister will like it when she sees it.” He touched the big stone while thinking, should he ask someone to carve this fiery red Volcanic Flare Stone and give it to Feng Jiu as a gift?

“Little Guan, you’re so kind to your little sister.”

“Indeed. You’re very willing to give such a precious Volcanic Flare Stone to your sister.” If this thing were to be sold, it would be a sky-high price!

“I, as a big brother, have always been outside and I was rarely there for her. She has been worried about me. So, whatever good or interesting things I come across out here I save to give to her when I go back to make her happy.” Guan Xilin said with a smile and took the big stone away.

“Hehe, you don’t have a wife, do you? If you have one, it will be different.” A mercenary next to him quipped with a wink.

Guan Xilin grinned. “I don’t have a wife. But, even if I have one in the future, I believe my wife will treat my little sister as well as I am. At that time, it’s better to have more people to love her.”

“Hahaha, that’s because you’re not married yet. After having a wife, a lot of men put their wives first. It’s even worse if a man married a shrew and be under the wife’s control.”

“Are you talking about your next-door neighbour? That woman is really ferocious! Once I saw her twist your neighbour Li Er’s ear and her scoldings could be heard two streets away. ”

“Hahaha, indeed. You guys don’t know, Li Er often comes to me for a drink after being scolded. The big man has lost his masculinity.”

As they spoke, they began to talk about their families’ anecdotes, while Guan Xilin, who sat next to them, smiled, took out the wine and had a sip.

Chapter 2080: His Good Fortune

It was impossible for outsiders to comprehend his relationship with Little Jiu.

From the moment he opened his eyes and saw the thin figure in front of him, facing the wolves all by herself and protecting him, he secretly vowed in his heart that he would protect her in this life even at the expense of his own life. No matter what she did in the future, whether she was affirmed by the secular world or not, he would always stand by her side.

Even though Feng Jiu was not his blood relative, she was more like his relatives than those relatives by blood.

As he recalled the things she stuffed him in the space that could protect and save his life, his face couldn’t help showing a touch of gentleness. Others said that his sister was really lucky to have him as a brother, but he always thought that he had the good fortune to have Little Jiu as his sister.

Meanwhile, at that side, the Fierce Tigers Mercenary Group’s leader came to Zhuo Junyue and saluted him with cupped fists. “Young Master, we meet again.”

His gaze moved behind the man and saw the figure of an old man and a young man resting at the foot of the mountain not far away. Seeing this, he smiled.

“Mm.” Zhuo Junyue nodded his head slightly without talking to him much.

“Our team is resting at the front. There are only the three of you. Young Master, Immortal Lord and that little Young Master. Do you want to sit down together? When we came here, we caught some game. We can share some with the Immortal Lord and Young Masters.” The leader offered with a smile. He thought that they might not have much to eat here. It just happened that they caught some game and could share it with them.

“No, thank you.” Zhuo Junyue answered, his voice was indifferent and his face expressionless.

Seeing this, the mercenary leader smiled. “Well, if you need anything, you can come to us. We will rest here these days.” With that, he saluted and glanced at the two people who were still asleep, then smiled and left.

Feng Jiu, half asleep, vaguely heard their conversation. But, thinking that Zhuo Junyue was watching, she took a rest without a worry and soon fell asleep.

As soon as Zhuo Junyue came back, he saw that the old man was so drunk and snored loudly. Few could fall asleep amidst the thunderous snore.

He shook his head and sat cross-legged near them. His eyes were closed, but still conscious of what was happening around him.

About 500 meters away from them, the mercenary team was roasting the game. They were discussing when to go up the mountain again to look for the Volcanic Flare Stones.

As the sky was getting dark and the smell of roasted meat gradually spread, not only the sleeping Feng Jiu smelled the meat but also the teams in front of the mountain.

Several of those men came after smelling the meat. But, when they saw that it was the mercenary team, they did not come any closer but took a detour. After seeing the trio possessing unfathomable strengths, they had to quietly withdraw from the area.

The people here were not easy to mess with. They didn’t dare stay in the same place with them. If they were inattentive, they would be killed any time without even noticing.

As a result, the two siblings Guan Xilin and Feng Jiu were both in the same Volcano Forest and at the foot of the mountain behind the volcano, but only because they were 500 meters apart, they did not know that the other was here.

When Feng Jiu woke up, it was because of the aroma of the roasted meat that permeated through that piece of the forest…

                                     *.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*