They had entered the valley at the hour of Chen yesterday, and now it was the end of the hour of Zi. Mo Tiange calculated. Three more hours remained before they could exit the valley. Many things could happen in three hours, and many people could die. She needed to be even more careful.
The exit formation would open at the very center, and the closer to the center, the more dangerous it obviously was. After thinking for a long time, Mo Tiange decided to wander the periphery, idling away these three hours. Once the formation opened, she would head to the center. Moreover, she had to keep her Divine Sense fully extended at all times, avoiding not only people but also Demon Beasts.
This was somewhat difficult, but it was safer than staying by the Poison Spring. Who knew if that Zixia Sect elder would call for fellow disciples? After all, the corpse of a Second-Rank Demon Beast was still very attractive to Qi Refining cultivators like them.
In this mountain forest, there was a hundred-zhang-high waterfall to the east, high mountains blocking the southwest, the cliff they descended from to the north, and the Poison Spring to the northwest near the cliff. The only way to leave this mountain forest was through the northwest where the Poison Spring was located. Yet the Poison Spring was an extremely dangerous place, with not only gregarious Demon Beasts and pervasive poisonous mist but also unknown dangers in the deep water. No one would think of leaving from there. Therefore, nearly a thousand Qi Refining cultivators were all in this mountain forest. Even though this forest was vast, encountering friends was not easy, but running into someone randomly was not difficult either.
Just half an hour after leaving the Poison Spring, Mo Tiange had already encountered several groups of people. What Murong Zi said was indeed true; the three sects had already formed groups, both to guard against danger and to eliminate enemies.
To avoid these people, she expended much effort. Her Breath-Concealing Technique was only passed down from the Ye family's texts and was not considered advanced. It was only because that Spirit-Sensing Jade Pendant, besides concealing her constitution, also had the effects of gathering and purifying spiritual energy, which enhanced the effectiveness of her spells. Because she knew her own limitations, she was even more cautious and careful. From afar, upon detecting someone, she would avoid them first.
Along the way, the brutality of the battle was clearly visible. Mo Tiange saw traces of Dharma Combat more than once—charred trees, cracked earth, and coagulated bloodstains. Each patch of dark red on the ground perhaps represented the end of a life.
Sometimes, she would also encounter corpses that had not been disposed of, some wearing purple robes, some yellow, and others cyan. The expressions frozen on their faces were uniformly filled with resentment and terror. Occasionally, she would see familiar faces—fellow disciples, Senior Brothers or Senior Sisters she had seen in the sect. Fortunately, none of those who could be considered friends were among them. Later, she gradually grew numb; no matter what kind of traces she encountered, she could regard them as if they were nothing.
Yet, despite being so careful, she was still discovered by two Zixia Sect disciples.
With the Azure Wood Sword guarding her side and several talismans clasped in her other hand, Mo Tiange subtly observed her surroundings.
The two people surrounding her were a burly man whose physique was no less impressive than Liu Yidao's and a beautiful young married woman. The woman was at Qi Refining Level 10, the man at Qi Refining Level 9, and both seemed to have rich Dharma Combat experience. They blocked her path from front and back. The surrounding trees grew very densely, and the two directions these two blocked happened to be the easiest points to break through.
Mo Tiange unconsciously frowned. It seemed escaping was impossible; she could only fight her way through. But these two had silently surrounded her. They probably wouldn't be easy to deal with either; she needed to think of a way.
After sizing her up, the burly man exclaimed, "Wife, this kid seems to be the one Old Man Chen mentioned!"
Old Man Chen? Mo Tiange thought. Could it be that Zixia Sect elder who escaped from the Poison Spring? However, she hadn't expected the two before her to be husband and wife. This young woman had both high cultivation and beautiful looks, yet she chose such a man with unremarkable cultivation and crude appearance as her Dao Companion? She couldn't help but glance at the young woman.
Seeing her face, the young woman smiled. "Old Man Chen has always been timid; husband, don't you know that? However, this young master is quite handsome. What a pity."
Hearing his wife praise another man's looks, the burly man snorted discontentedly. "Wife!"
Her husband's jealousy seemed to please the young woman greatly. Covering her mouth, she laughed for a while before composing herself. "What are you afraid of, husband? No matter how handsome, won't he still die by our hands?"
These words struck the burly man as quite reasonable. He chuckled, "Wife is right." Then he turned to Mo Tiange, glaring fiercely. "Kid, hand over your life!"
As soon as his words fell, Mo Tiange had already struck first. The Azure Wood Sword shot out, but it was a feint. The Blazing Flame Talismans concealed within the sword's radiance were released from her hand.
The burly man was about to attack but was preempted, instantly enraged. He swung out the spirit artifact in his hand, smashing toward the Azure Wood Sword. His spirit artifact was a massive Iron Wheel, seemingly perfectly suited to his physique, relying on brute force. He confidently met the spirit artifact head-on.
Unfortunately, Mo Tiange's true killing move was not on the spirit artifact. The Azure Wood Sword retreated after one strike. After repelling the Azure Wood Sword, the Iron Wheel still charged fiercely toward Mo Tiange. Simultaneously, the young woman behind her opened an umbrella and threw it at her.
Mo Tiange was not flustered. The Blazing Flame Talismans had already struck. With a boom, the burly man let out a scream. At that moment, just as the Iron Wheel and that umbrella were about to hit, her figure vanished into thin air.
The next moment, Mo Tiange appeared before the burly man. With a thrust of the Azure Wood Sword in her hand, she viciously stabbed it into his chest. The burly man let out an even more wretched scream, immediately collapsing to the ground, lifeless.
"Husband—" the young woman shrieked, rushing over.
Mo Tiange leaped with the Lightness Art, avoiding her umbrella. This successful sneak attack was thanks to her cultivation originally being one level higher than this burly man's, and he had also underestimated her. Playing the pig to eat the tiger was truly the most useful tactic in the cultivation world.
This young woman, however, seemed to have deep feelings for her husband. Discovering her husband had no breath, she advanced toward Mo Tiange furiously, wishing to tear her to pieces.
Mo Tiange had no intention of confronting her head-on. The enemy had clearly lost her rationality; she didn't want to perish together with her. Talismans and spirit artifacts were hurled at her incessantly, but she merely relied on the Lightness Art to dodge everywhere. Only when the other party was obviously so enraged she could no longer control herself did Mo Tiange clasp her hand. The Azure Wood Sword, talismans, and the last handful of seeds mixed with something were thrown over.
Seeing her use the same method against her, the young woman was furious. She slapped a defensive talisman on herself, blocked the attack with her umbrella, and clasped a handful of talismans in her other hand, about to recklessly throw them at her.
But she never got the chance. Before the talismans were thrown, she felt a pain in her body. The hand holding the umbrella weakly slipped, and she fell headlong to the ground.
Confirming the person was dead, Mo Tiange collected their belongings, disposed of the corpses, and without a moment's delay, fled the scene.
This Dharma Combat seemed very smooth, resolving the two in mere moments, but in reality, her losses were not small. To inflict damage on that burly man immediately, she had used five or six Blazing Flame Talismans—that was dozens of spirit stones already. Moreover, she had used a priceless Invisibility Talisman, which Second Uncle had purchased at great cost. As for killing the young woman, she took advantage of her panic and confusion. It seemed like the same method used against the burly man, but in fact, what she mixed among the talismans were those crystal-clear flying needles left by Murong Zi. That was why she could silently breach the young woman's umbrella and defensive shield.
Although she now had considerable Dharma Combat experience, this time was the best execution of a predetermined plan. Making a judgment in an instant, acting immediately, with no mistakes in between, she gained the upper hand in a flash.
Mo Tiange carefully replayed this Dharma Combat in her mind. That calm and fully focused state, grasping all the details, making the most correct decision in an instant, striking with certainty. She wanted to remember this feeling; for Dharma Combat, this was the best state.
There were people ahead again. Mo Tiange turned around, but after running not far, she still detected the auras of several people not far away. Helpless, she restrained her aura, found a tree, and jumped up, concealing her form.
The first to pass by was a mixed team of Golden Blade Sect and Yunwu Sect disciples. Mo Tiange had no intention of going out to greet them. With so many people together, it was easy to be discovered and easy to start a fight. Although there was more safety in numbers, more disputes meant more possibility of death.
These people soon passed. After thinking, Mo Tiange didn't come down but continued sitting atop the tree, restraining her breath, and took out the several Qiankun Bags she had just obtained.
The seeds in her hand were already exhausted, but within these Zixia Sect disciples' Qiankun Bags, there were still quite a few talismans and pills, along with several decent spirit artifacts. However, for Qi Refining disciples, spirit artifacts not refined by oneself were not convenient to use and could only serve as backups.
Additionally, the flying needles left by Murong Zi were quite useful. Controlling these needles used Divine Sense rather than spiritual Qi. Therefore, the limitation that Qi Refining disciples could not use two spirit artifacts simultaneously did not apply to these flying needles. If used well, few Qi Refining disciples could defend against these needles.
After putting away the useful items for combat, Mo Tiange jumped down from the tree and continued forward.
Not far after walking, she froze.
There were many corpses on the ground, disciples from all three sects. Seeing the faces of the deceased Yunwu Sect disciples, she realized they were the ones who had just passed by. So they had encountered another group of Zixia Sect people and perished together.
She shook her head, collected these people's Qiankun Bags, then set a fire, burning all the corpses.
Along this journey, the dead numbered at least fifty or sixty, with many places she hadn't been to... Probably two hours later, less than half of those who entered would leave with their lives.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sneer. This was probably something the Zixia Sect hadn't anticipated, right? Merging with the Yunwu Sect and Golden Blade Sect, yet countless high-level Qi Refining disciples from their sect perished. Among these people were the batch of Qi Refining disciples most hopeful of reaching Foundation Establishment. Thus, in the next hundred years, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators would greatly decrease. They would not become the eighth great sect; instead, their strength would weaken considerably.
Therefore, she was not at all afraid of being punished for killing people upon exiting, because by then, they would discover they could no longer afford to lose Qi Refining disciples.