Chapter 42

Suddenly, the earth trembled, and outside the spirit plant garden, countless rays of light shot into the sky, with lightning flashing amidst the brilliance.

Immediately, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth began to fluctuate violently.

The thick fog surrounding the spirit plant garden quickly dissipated under this extraordinary phenomenon.

"What's going on?" Su Shier felt something was amiss and hurriedly asked Shen Miaoyin.

"Bad! The spirit plant garden's array is about to be broken! Fu Boran has a lot of nerve, daring to entrust the Purple Lightning Sword to a disciple to bring into the trial."

Shen Miaoyin's expression changed, and upon seeing the lightning outside, she immediately understood.

"Purple Lightning Sword? A low-grade spirit weapon? Then we should hurry and leave!" Su Shier also recalled and, speaking, quickly picked up the Fire Cloud Python's corpse, storing it in his storage ring. He then quickly walked to Shen Miaoyin.

Fu Boran had displayed the Purple Lightning Sword in public, and he had been present. The power of the lightning sword had left a deep impression on him.

"It's too late. To break the array and leave, I need at least three days to recover my cultivation."

"For now, we can only find a place to hide temporarily."

Shen Miaoyin shook her head, her face showing distress.

She was still recovering from her severe injuries and was in no condition to fight. If they encountered someone from Tianhua Peak at this moment, it would be extremely dangerous.

Especially if that person had a low-grade spirit weapon.

Glancing around, she quickly walked to the pile of boulders where the Dendrobium flowers were. She gathered all the Dendrobium flowers and then hid in the crevice where Su Shier had previously hidden, quickly concealing her aura.

"Hide?" Su Shier's lips twitched, feeling somewhat depressed.

But he also knew they had no choice.

"Your hiding spot isn't safe. I advise you not to hide there!"

He quickly warned Shen Miaoyin and walked to the boulders. Using the White Mist Sword, he quickly dug a simple hole in the ground and crawled inside.

Over the past five years, he had gained considerable experience from daily battles with various beasts.

"Unsafe?" Shen Miaoyin's eyebrows arched, and she immediately understood.

Without the Zhu Fruit Tree, this area filled with boulders would undoubtedly become the most noticeable place.

Seeing Su Shier skillfully hide in the hole, she was about to do the same.

Suddenly, there was a violent energy fluctuation outside the spirit plant garden.

"Oh no, the array is broken!"

She gasped, gritted her teeth, and without hesitation, followed Su Shier into the narrow hiding spot.

"What are you doing here?" Su Shier was about to block the entrance when he felt a weight on his body, and a delicate figure pressed against him.

He hadn't considered Shen Miaoyin; the hole was meant for him to hide.

Hiding alone was manageable, but with Shen Miaoyin inside, their bodies were face-to-face, noses almost touching, tightly pressed together.

Through their clothes, Su Shier could feel the cold yet warm body heat emanating from Shen Miaoyin.

This made Su Shier feel a strange sensation.

"Shh, don't speak. Quickly conceal your aura; someone is coming!" Shen Miaoyin quickly warned, her face not looking good in the darkness.

She, the peak master of Tianyin Peak and a powerful cultivator about to reach the Golden Core stage, was now squeezed into such a place with a mere Fourth Stage Qi Cultivation junior.

Su Shier didn't think much about it and immediately sealed the entrance of the hole as soon as Shen Miaoyin spoke.

At the same time, with the array completely broken, hundreds of figures surged into the spirit plant garden from the entrance.

Leading them was a young man in his thirties, wearing a fiery red robe.

The man, dressed in red, with intricate cloud patterns on his sleeves, exuded a faintly cold aura. His eyes, like those of an eagle, were sharp and fierce, with long, narrow phoenix eyes and a proud, thin mouth under a high nose.

His appearance and demeanor were like a sharp, unsheathed sword.

In his hand, he held a purple lightning sword, which was none other than Fu Boran's low-grade spirit weapon, the Purple Lightning Sword.

If Shen Miaoyin were here, she would immediately recognize him. He was not just any miscellaneous disciple or newcomer but the top inner disciple of Tianhua Peak, Ye Liangchuan!

The other disciples surrounded Ye Liangchuan, all showing respectful attitudes.

Ye Liangchuan's true cultivation was at the Great Perfection stage of Qi Cultivation. With his talent and cultivation, he was the most promising candidate for the Foundation Establishment stage in the sect in recent years.

Led by Ye Liangchuan, the group enthusiastically entered the spirit plant garden and quickly began searching.

However, when they saw the empty spirit plant garden, everyone was stunned and dumbfounded.

"Senior Brother Ye, this... this spirit plant garden is just a wasteland?" A disciple turned to look at Ye Liangchuan, his voice trembling.

As soon as this disciple spoke, many others in the crowd turned pale.

Many of them were at the Sixth Stage of Qi Cultivation.

They had risked everything to come to the spirit plant garden for the abundant spirit plants.

With the spirit herbs, each person would receive a share, ensuring their promotion to formal disciples.

But now, the spirit plant garden had no spirit plants at all?

This was a devastating blow. After all, the trial was already halfway through!

"How could this be? This is really the spirit plant garden? There isn't a single spirit plant?"

"That's not right. Look over there; it seems there are signs of a battle with beasts!"

"But... wasn't there a Zhu Fruit Tree here, guarded by a Second Stage beast? Who among the trial disciples has the ability to silently infiltrate the spirit plant garden and kill that Second Stage beast before we arrived?"

"You can't say that. Each of the seven peaks of Yun Ge has its own trump cards. For example, Tianyin Peak, which specializes in array formations, might have an expert in arrays mixed in with the trial. And Tianshu Peak, where a group of Qi Cultivation disciples can ride swords, is certainly unusual..."

...

As they spoke, the Tianhua Peak group continued to advance, and upon seeing the cracked earth and bloodstains in the spirit plant garden, they shouted in shock.

In the center, Ye Liangchuan's brows furrowed, and the next moment, his eyes turned cold as he said sternly:

"It seems someone has beaten us to it!"

"However, the blood on the ground is still fresh, and the soil is newly turned. As for this large pit, it's definitely where the Zhu Fruit Tree was. The person must not have gone far!"

"From now on, everyone must act. Any disciples from other peaks within a twenty-mile radius of the spirit plant garden must not be overlooked! Dig up the earth if necessary to find that person!"

Holding his sword, Ye Liangchuan spoke coldly, his tone particularly chilling.

As he spoke, he approached the area where the Zhu Fruit Tree had been.

This place was also the closest to where Su Shier and the others were hiding.