"Mine now."
Gu Han raised his hand and collected the pile of snake slough before him into the Black Tortoise Mystic Realm.
It was only because the snake slough merely possessed medicinal properties and lacked particularly dense energy before use that this location remained concealed, otherwise it would have been discovered by the Amethyst Winged Lion King.
"Time is about right."
After scanning the surroundings, Gu Han moved to the left side of the cave and threw a punch at a wall.
The seemingly solid wall instantly shattered, revealing intense purple light shining through.
Accompanying it was an unpleasant odor.
"Even at the level of a sixth-tier Magical Beast comparable to a Dou Emperor Expert, it still doesn't care about hygiene."
Gu Han waved his hand disdainfully in front of his nose.
His gaze swept around and soon settled on the central area inside the cave.
There stood a half-zhang high platform entirely constructed from amethyst stones. At the very center of the platform was a purple spherical energy mass the size of a human head, radiating waves of heat.
Gu Han knew this was the Symbiotic Amethyst Source, which had an extremely small chance of forming when the Amethyst Winged Lion King gave birth to its young.
This natural treasure, having remained inside the Amethyst Winged Lion King's body for an extended period, contained pure energy. When the Amethyst Winged Lion King reached the fourth tier, consuming this would allow it to directly advance to a fifth-tier Magical Beast, making it a rare sixth-tier natural treasure.
Gu Han remembered Yao Chen telling Xiao Yan that he had raided eight Amethyst Winged Lion King dens in search of the Symbiotic Amethyst Source, but came back empty-handed each time.
Ling Ying, who had followed him: "..."
Could Gu Han truly be the continent's chosen one, finding opportunities wherever he goes!?
"Fire and ice indeed counteract each other, this is quite uncomfortable."
The Amethyst Winged Lion King was a fire-attribute Magical Beast skilled in sealing techniques. The fire-attribute Heaven and Earth Energy in this cave was extremely dense, while ice-attribute Heaven and Earth Energy was almost nonexistent.
Gu Han decided to act quickly. He immediately turned toward the second passage and, upon reaching its depths, discovered a pile of Amethyst Spirit Crystals.
After taking about one-third of them, his gaze shifted to the sleeping young Amethyst Winged Lion nearby.
Judging by its aura, it was only at the peak of the second tier, equivalent to a peak Dou Master, not yet at the third tier level when Xiao Yan would encounter it.
"What if I take this young beast with me?" A flicker of consideration passed through Gu Han's eyes.
Ling Ying, hidden in the shadows, noticed the unusual look in Gu Han's eyes and immediately tensed up.
If the young Amethyst Winged Lion were taken away, the Amethyst Winged Lion King would certainly go berserk, launching beast tides to madly assault nearby human cities until death.
Wu Tan City would definitely be within the range of such beast tides, and he would inevitably have to intervene when that happened.
"Forget it!"
Gu Han refrained from unnecessary actions.
The opportunity revealed by the Black Tortoise shell was about obtaining the Symbiotic Amethyst Source, with no mention of taking the young Amethyst Winged Lion. Taking it would likely cause unexpected complications.
Having decided not to take unnecessary risks, Gu Han didn't delay further. He returned to the Symbiotic Amethyst Source and used the Amethyst Spirit Crystals to excavate the entire platform edge, storing it all in the Black Tortoise Mystic Realm.
"How does Young Friend Gu Han seem so familiar with all these natural treasures, knowing exactly how to collect them?" Ling Ying wondered inwardly.
However, as a shadow guard death soldier of the Ancient Clan, aside from loyalty, his greatest virtue was tight-lippedness. He wouldn't speak of these matters to outsiders.
Besides, even if Gu Han had some opportunistic methods, they were nothing particularly remarkable before the colossal entity that was the Ancient Clan.
"Done!"
Having completely secured the Symbiotic Amethyst Source, Gu Han retreated along his original path without hesitation.
He returned much faster than when he had come, reaching the other side of the lake in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
"Roar!"
Just as Gu Han activated his Sky Goose Six-Line Wings to take off, he heard an enraged roar coming from several miles away.
"We've been discovered. Retreat quickly."
After determining the direction, Gu Han swiftly flew toward the direction of South Mountain Ridge.
Meanwhile, near South Mountain Ridge, the mercenaries who had been gathering herbs and hunting low-level Magical Beasts quickly gathered together.
The distant roar from the deep mountains actually caused the Magical Beasts they were fighting to prostrate on the ground, trembling with fear.
"What's happening!?" someone asked warily.
"Probably a high-level Magical Beast has gone berserk. The bloodline suppression from Magical Beasts is very strong."
"As if you wouldn't be scared if a Dou King expert released their pressure either."
"You're still arguing at a time like this?"
"If a high-level Magical Beast is enraged, it might trigger a beast tide and Magical Beast rampage. Should we continue staying here?"
"Ask the group leader."
"Where is the group leader?"
"I'm here." Yan Cheng appeared holding a greatsword, his expression serious: "The team must assemble immediately. I'll go ask Miss Little Fairy Doctor whether we should return at once."
Upon hearing this, several vice leaders and captains of the mercenary group immediately passed down the instructions level by level, and members of the Blood Battle Mercenary Group began gathering in an orderly manner.
The scattered mercenaries who had followed them also began gathering spontaneously upon seeing this.
At that moment, a blue-white streak of light descended upon South Mountain Ridge.
"Little Fairy Doctor."
The voice from behind made Little Fairy Doctor stop her daydreaming.
"Gu Han!" Little Fairy Doctor turned around, her beautiful eyes immediately lighting up.
But she still had some doubts in her heart—hadn't he said he would wait for her to return to Qingshan Town before coming for her answer?
"I got some good things in the Magical Beast Mountain Range and offended a sixth-tier Magical Beast." Gu Han kept it brief: "Just to be safe, you should tell the mercenary group leader to return to Qingshan Town immediately."
After speaking, Gu Han glanced toward the nearby area, flapped his ethereal wings, and soared into the sky once more.
Little Fairy Doctor: "..."
Again speaking his mind without waiting for her response before leaving.
"Is he concerned about my safety?" Little Fairy Doctor rubbed her cheeks as she heard Yan Cheng's voice coming from the nearby forest: "Miss Little Fairy Doctor, Miss Little Fairy Doctor..."
Little Fairy Doctor immediately understood—Gu Han didn't want to be seen by others.
"I'm here." Little Fairy Doctor responded.
Upon hearing Yan Cheng's purpose for coming, she immediately nodded: "Everyone's safety is important. Let's return to Qingshan Town first."
Thus, the group ended their herb-gathering trip early and returned to Qingshan Town.
Gu Han watched from the shadows for a while, and after confirming that Little Fairy Doctor wouldn't be in danger, he returned to the Miteer Trading Company post station first.
Back in his room, he immediately entered the Black Tortoise Mystic Realm and placed the Ice Toad Snow Pearl, Essence Crystal Jade Marrow, and Century Cold Jade together.
Then he took out the Ice Heart Pill and One-pattern Azure Spirit Pill that Yun Yun had given him.
The Ice Heart Pill could guarantee a breakthrough for an ice attribute cultivator like him, but since he had chosen to use the Ice Flame Spirit Grass, this pill was useless to him.
Now that he had reached the Dou Master level, taking it could increase his cultivation by one or two stars with little resistance to the medicine, meaning he could still take one more.
The One-pattern Azure Spirit Pill could help a peak Dou Master increase their breakthrough chance by fifty percent. A Dou Master taking it could increase their cultivation by one to three stars, but with the risk of cultivation regression.
"What risks? With the help of rare objects, soul power observation, and the Ice Soul Mystic Classic, they can all be suppressed."
Gu Han picked up the Amethyst Spirit Crystal, chipped a small opening at the top where the Symbiotic Amethyst Source was stored, and extracted two drops.
After completing this, he swallowed both pills along with the Symbiotic Amethyst Source and began circulating the Ice Soul Mystic Classic.
"Break through for me!"
Meanwhile, seeing that Gu Han had resumed cultivation, Ling Ying smoothly returned to Wu Tan City.
"Why are you back again?" Ling Xiao looked at her cheap elder brother with undisguised disdain.
"I have important matters to report to the young mistress," Ling Ying inquired, "Is the young mistress available?"
"Elder Ling, come down and speak," Xun Er's ethereal voice drifted up from below, accompanied by the sound of a window opening.
"Has Gu Han done something astonishing again?"