Bai Qianqian casually flipped through the cultivation manual in her hands, as she always did.
With just a casual perusal, its contents were already deeply imprinted in her mind.
She tossed the manual aside, and as she stood up, a Danxin (Heart Core) had already begun to condense in her chest.
“Easier than I imagined…”
Bai Qianqian’s words were calm, but usually, the most difficult first step was condensing the Danxin.
The purity of spiritual power required stumped many people.
However, Bai Qianqian possessed the Supreme Bone and the Dao Seeds of the Three Thousand Great Paths; her starting line had long been far above ordinary people.
“Probably won’t be long now before I can reach the same level as Master…”
A gentle smile appeared at the corner of Bai Qianqian’s mouth, as if she were already anticipating the day she could interact with her master as an equal.
She slowly lay down on the bed.
She tightly hugged the pillow Lin Xinyi had once lain on, her fingers slowly tracing every crease on its surface.
Burying her cheek in it, she fell into a state of intoxication.
Yet, after the tide of bliss receded, all that was left was a feeling of emptiness and loss.
“Why isn’t Master back yet…”
When Bai Qianqian had watched her leave the Grotto-heaven, a restlessness had stirred within her heart.
She didn’t want to let her master out of her sight; she wanted to keep her by her side, confined.
Even if she herself were the one bound, she wouldn’t care, as long as her master didn’t leave her alone here.
“I want to caress Master’s fingertips, I want to kiss Master’s cheeks, I want to…”
The more Bai Qianqian spoke, the more feverish her heart became.
That strange, inexplicable feeling just wouldn’t subside.
Just then, the sound of people talking came from outside the door.
The voices weren’t loud, but there were many of them, creating a noisy clamor.
Bai Qianqian frowned slightly and slowly sat up in bed.
“Master isn’t around here…?”
Outside, several cultivators who had come to investigate the situation were staring at the colossal tree that had shot up into the sky.
Its verdant green leaves and trunk, which would take dozens of people holding hands to encircle, made it stand out starkly from the neighboring trees.
“Was this kind of miraculous wonder also created by that Nascent Soul cultivator?”
“Stop praising it and hurry up with the inspection. Let’s finish quickly and get back. I don’t want any more trouble here…”
A somewhat tall and lanky cultivator walked under the tree and inspected its perimeter.
He found that besides the unusually lush flower bushes, there was also a small hill formed by piled-up flowers.
Aside from that, there were no other issues.
“Looks like there’s nothing wrong. That Nascent Soul senior was probably just resting here temporarily. Our master should understand that, he just sent us as a precaution…”
“No, what’s that?!”
Just as the group was about to finish their inspection and head back, one of them looked up and saw the mini Grotto-heaven, only about a meter in size, hanging from the tree.
Everyone’s attention was drawn by that exclamation, and looking up, they all saw the treasure.
However, just one glance was enough; they couldn’t look away.
Its exquisite structure and petite form radiated a red spiritual light.
One insightful female cultivator was so shocked that the sword in her hand clattered to the ground.
“It’s a spatial-type magical treasure, a Portable Grotto-heaven!! A storage treasure that can hold living things!!”
The female cultivator’s cry instantly snapped everyone to attention.
A cave-heaven-type magical treasure that could store living things—something like this would cause a bloodbath out in the world, yet here it was, just hanging here.
“No way, did that senior leave it behind…!”
“Was it left here intentionally, or did they forget to take it?”
“I’m going to be rich! When I give this to our master, he’ll be so happy~”
The cultivator who had first spotted the treasure stepped forward, greed undisguisable in his eyes.
The one acting as their leader also saw the spiritual light emanating from the Portable Grotto-heaven; though greed flickered in his eyes, he ultimately hadn’t lost his reason.
“Master said don’t touch anything, don’t take anything…”
“But…”
“No buts. We’re leaving!”
The young man acting as the senior brother knew very well that his junior siblings couldn’t resist this kind of temptation.
Those whose cultivation paths weren’t even stable, when faced with a magical treasure that could upend their entire lives—who wouldn’t be tempted?
Decisively, the senior brother turned to lead the group away, but there are always one or two who find it hard to give up such immediate gains.
“Hey, you two, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Sorry, Senior Brother, but that—that’s a legendary treasure! You saw it too, why won’t you take it?!”
“You idiot, didn’t you hear what Master said? Get over here right now!”
A flash of genuine anger appeared in the senior brother’s eyes.
Seeing the fanatical look in his junior brother’s eyes, he knew the other was about to do something stupid.
He had just taken a step forward when a blast of sword energy swept him back.
“You’re the lofty senior brother, never wanting for cultivation resources. But if I get this treasure, I won’t even give it to our master—I’ll give it to Elder Bai! What do I have to worry about then?!”
As he spoke, the young man leveled his sword at the senior brother.
Faced with a junior brother who would turn his blade on him, the senior brother was clearly shocked that a single magical artifact could reveal a person’s true nature so completely.
Though exasperated by his junior brother’s foolishness, he still wanted to pull him back from the brink.
“Your cultivation is only at the Foundation Establishment stage. What are you thinking? Something so unrealistic…”
“Stay back!!”
A flash of irritation crossed the other’s eyes.
Clearly, faced with such an extremely tempting treasure, he had already lost his mind.
Even as the senior brother tried to step forward and reason with him, he was driven back by sweeping sword energy.
“You! You’re hopeless. We’re leaving!”
Seeing the man was impervious to reason, the senior brother could only sigh helplessly and turn to leave with the others.
But after walking a few steps, he realized no one behind him was following.
“You… what are you all doing?! Master said…!”
“But… we think what that junior brother said just now makes sense…”
“You’re Master’s most beloved disciple. We’re just servants with a title!”
“Senior Brother, I also…”
The young man acting as senior brother looked at his junior brothers and sisters, now all standing on the other side, and clenched his fists tightly.
But his words carried little weight, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to do.
“Have it your way!”
Seeing his sincere advice had failed, the senior cultivator turned away in frustration, hoping to find their master.
The others, watching the senior brother leave, all turned their attention back to the top-grade treasure hanging from the tree.
“That thing is probably that legendary spatial-type treasure. If we give it to Elder Bai…”
“Right, we’ll split the reward equally then…”
“Very soon, we’ll be moving up in the world!”
……
While everyone else was dreaming of a bright future, the cultivator who had first proposed taking the magical treasure for themselves was filled with displeasure.
Why should he have to split the reward equally with the others when he was the one who suggested it?
“Who wants to split this with you? This treasure is mine!”
Whenever potential profits outweigh the risks, there are always those willing to gamble everything for even a ten percent chance.
The cultivator who had initially advocated for claiming the treasure for themselves instantly shot into the air, heading straight for the Portable Grotto-heaven.
“No good, that bastard’s trying to take it all for himself!”
“Bastard, how can you be so selfish?!”
“Kill him!”
………
By the time the others reacted, he was already just a step away from the Grotto-heaven.
Just as it seemed he would stash it away in his spatial ring and escape using a techniques of escape (escape technique), something none of them had anticipated happened.
As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his neck was sliced through by a blade.
“Huh?”
The magical treasure that had seemed so close suddenly appeared to be getting farther and farther away.
The confusion in his eyes grew more pronounced, until he saw his own body and the rapidly spinning scenery around him.
“I… I’m dead?”
That was the last thing the man saw in his life.
Immediately after, his headless corpse fell from the sky, plummeting straight to the ground.
The moment it landed, the flowers below instantly swarmed over the body.
“What’s going on? Wang Er was killed!”
“Who’s there?!”
Bai Qianqian had already noticed the group the moment they appeared outside the Grotto-heaven.
She had just been relieved when it seemed their leader was taking everyone away, but she hadn’t expected that a few clueless ones would remain.
“Four more left…”
Bai Qianqian’s expression was calm.
The ice-blue short blade (short blade) in her hand was a weapon condensed using the Heartless Sword Heart Technique she had just learned, which was just enough to break through a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s defense.
She had only managed to kill one just now by catching him off guard.
But now, seeing the four who hadn’t yet reacted, Bai Qianqian seized the initiative and charged straight at them.
“A mortal? No, she has spiritual energy…!”
The situation happened so suddenly.
One of the female cultivators only saw the figure rushing toward her; before she could even draw her sword, Bai Qianqian was already in front of her.
The blade in her hand moved incredibly fast.
In the blink of an eye, it had passed through the towering flowers and plunged into the woman’s chest.
“Three more left…”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the instant the blade entered the chest, Bai Qianqian kicked the female cultivator away from her while simultaneously withdrawing the blade.
The woman, stabbed in the chest, didn’t die immediately.
Instead, she clenched her teeth, clutched her bleeding wound, and flew into a rage, trying to hack the other to pieces with her sword.
“Bastard, you mere mortal! Die!”
But just as her swinging sword energy was about to reach Bai Qianqian, the flowers beneath their feet, following the trail of her spilled blood,spreading wildly upward (wildly surged upward).
The female cultivator didn’t even have a chance to beg for mercy before she was instantly engulfed by the suddenly erupting sea of flowers, quickly transformed into something resembling a desiccated corpse.
“There’s something wrong with this place! Forget that little thing, let’s go!”
“But…”
“If you’re not going, I am!”
Bai Qianqian watched as two of the remaining three turned to flee, while one still hesitated.
Not giving them a chance to think, she leaped forward and hurled the dagger in her hand.
One of them reacted first; casually drawing his longsword, he shattered the flying dagger.
“Kill her, kill her now! Otherwise, news of us being here will reach that Nascent Soul cultivator!”
The one who had been standing his ground just a moment ago immediately snapped to attention.
The other two who had wanted to flee also halted in their tracks, all of them drawing their swords.
Bai Qianqian, now unarmed, watched the three slowly advancing toward her and took a single step back.
“My body feels so light… So this is what it feels like to have spiritual energy…”
Facing the three pressing closer, Bai Qianqian’s eyes held no panic.
Just moments ago, she had been a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, but now she too was a beast capable of tearing flesh from its prey.
“This one’s at most in the Qi Condensation stage, we can crush her with a flick of our fingers!”
“Right, let’s attack together! Kill her first, then we’ll talk!”
“But… weren’t there this many flowers on the ground just now…”
Bai Qianqian coldly regarded the three in front of her, then glanced at the two corpses now completely covered in blossoms.
Using her faint spiritual energy, she once again condensed a dagger in her hand.
“Three more left…”