"This place may be remote, but it's safe. Just a bit longer. Once the Sacred Flower absorbs enough flesh and blood, the transformation will be complete. Then we can officially join Xuedao Men and learn the Supreme Secret Technique."
"We still need to speed things up. These past few days, I can barely suppress the spiritual power inside me. If we don't join Blood Dao Sect and obtain that secret method soon, something bad is going to happen."
"It's almost time. If we must, we can go hunting again. Best-case scenario, someone in the Unity stage walks into our trap like last time. The Sacred Flower was quite satisfied then."
"Those opportunities are rare. That time only worked because someone tipped us off. Otherwise, we wouldn't have coordinated so well."
"True. But that person did provide several batches of Unity-stage flesh over the years. This latest offering barely met the Sacred Flower's appetite."
"If only we could get a few more Unity cultivators. One Unity cultivator is worth a hundred Nascent Soul ones."
The three of them were still sighing over their situation—
Suddenly—
The dark-faced man's expression shifted. "Someone just entered Luohua Mountain's territory. And it's not just a few people!"
"Oh?"
The other two perked up immediately. "What level are they?"
The dark-faced man concentrated for a moment, then said with delight, "Divine Transformation. Lots of Divine Transformation cultivators! No Unity among them, but even so, it's more than enough for the Sacred Flower to feast. Maybe it'll trigger its final maturation!"
The other two quickly stood up. "Heaven must be helping the three of us succeed. Come on, let's lure them into the core formation and finish them in one move."
On Luohua Mountain.
At Yun Jin's request, the reinforcements from Yuehua Sect had all hidden their cultivation levels.
Only the Holy Land disciples had been instructed by Yun Jin to release their cultivation without restraint.
With Yuehua Sect's experts concealing their strength, the three brothers had no way of detecting them. To the trio, the newcomers seemed like nothing more than fat sheep walking right into their den. But as soon as the group entered Luohua Mountain, they noticed something was off.
Jin Yu arched a brow and said coldly, "The stench of blood is heavy. This mountain is definitely not right."
He said it was off, but showed no sign of concern.
With their current lineup, a place like Luohua Mountain could be crushed with ease. They walked in a bit further, and then the scenery around them began to shift. The peach trees moved on their own, petals falling in a thick cascade, blinding the group's vision.
Duan Yiwei flicked his sleeve. The blossoms vanished instantly, but the trees had already shifted into the shape of a formation.
Duan Yiwei sneered. "Cowards, hiding in shadows."
He had no patience to waste time. With a sharp shout, he commanded, "Disciples of Qingxiao Pavilion, break the formation with me!"
The third eye on Duan Yiwei's forehead opened again, a beam of golden light shooting from it, piercing a tree straight through.
The Qingxiao Pavilion disciples all unleashed their own techniques, and before long, the entire peach grove was in ruins.
Inside a hidden cave, watching everything through a watery curtain, the three brothers' expressions changed.
One of them trembled as he asked, "Big Brother… what did he just say?"
Another looked panicked. "He said they're disciples of Qingxiao Pavilion."
Qingxiao Pavilion!
That was one of the legendary Holy Lands.
The dark-faced man's expression turned grim. "So what? Even if they're from a Holy Land, they're just Divine Transformation cultivators. We've reached Unity. Why should we be afraid?"
But the other two still looked pale, far from reassured.
The dark-faced man clenched his teeth. "From the moment we took the Sacred Flower, we were already on a path of no return. These Holy Land cultivators are our enemies now. Think about it. If the Sacred Flower were to absorb their blood and flesh, how beautiful it would bloom. When we present it to the Holy Master, our rise will be meteoric."
"But…"
"No buts," the dark-faced man barked. "They're already here. The Sacred Flower is rooted in this place. We can't move it. If they find it and destroy it, we're as good as dead. Better to fight now than wait for the executioner."
With that, the other two slowly calmed down.
He was right.
Their lives were tied to the Sacred Flower. If it couldn't be moved, neither could they. Escape was not an option.
Since that was the case—
Even if the intruders were disciples of the Holy Lands, they had to fight.
"Second Brother, release the venomous beasts," the dark-faced man ordered. "If we capture them, the Holy Master will surely reward us. Ascending to Tribulation isn't out of reach."
The man addressed as Second Brother stood up at once and left to carry out the command.
After breaking the formation and advancing further, the group reached the mountainside. Suddenly, the sky darkened. Thick mist rolled through the mountain paths, and deep growls echoed faintly from within.
An ordinary person would've been scared witless by now.
But this group didn't so much as blink.
Only Yun Jin looked properly frightened, hiding behind Ye Liuqin and Cheng Su.
Ye Liuqin and Cheng Su shared a helpless glance.
This was the future Sect Master of Wushuang Sect?
Forget it. When the current sect leader gave orders in the future, they'd just make sure to take care of her.
The two women gently set up protective barriers around Yun Jin to keep her from being affected.
"Don't be scared, Junior Sister Yun. It's just a minor trick," Cheng Su said, her foxlike eyes narrowing. Then she gave a soft command. "Wuyanshou, come out."
A silver-gray beast appeared.
It opened its jaws wide. The mist in the air surged toward its mouth like a tide. The beast grew larger as the mist shrank. By the time it reached half the height of a person, the mist had completely vanished.
The venomous insects and snakes that had been hidden within were now exposed.
"What a joke," Cheng Su scoffed.
The Wuyanshou gleefully charged forward, devouring the poisonous creatures. It didn't take long for the pests to be completely wiped out.
When it returned, it let out a satisfied burp.
Cheng Su smiled and stroked its head before returning it to her Beastmaster space.
Second Brother stumbled back into the cave in panic. "Big Brother, Third Brother, something's wrong! That little beast was a high-grade spirit beast, a Wuyanshou, perfectly designed to counter poison! Normal people can't possibly have something like that!"
All three men now looked grim.
Before they encountered the Sacred Flower, they'd all been unaffiliated rogue cultivators. Had they come from a sect, they might've recognized the symbols on the robes these people wore.
As it stood, they could only guess.
The man who acted first called himself a disciple of Qingxiao Pavilion.
Holy Land disciples were famously arrogant. And now there was someone with a rare beast… Did that mean they also had a disciple from the Beastmaster Sect?
All three of them felt their hearts sink.
This world was full of people dabbling in dark cultivation.
Compared to others, what they were doing didn't even seem that extreme.
Was it really necessary to send multiple disciples from the Holy Lands just to eliminate them?
Wasn't this overkill?