“Report!”
A shout caught their attention. A man was rushing over sweaty and in ragged garments.
He fell to one knee before them, “Y-young masters, we have found the second Brimming Sacred Pill’s location.”
“Eh?” They all perked up. Zhuo Fan’s advice did the trick but even so, they were still yearning to go out there and get the pill themselves.
Was it that easy to just let this chance pass by? It held the promise of getting a new Radiant Stage expert in their house and increase their power significantly.
Then came their united reply, “Where?”
“Fifty miles out, Killing Blood Marsh!” The man cupped his hands. He truly rendered a service worthy of a reward, “Five days ago, we were tasked with finding young master Zhuo. By happenstance, we stumbled into a vial of Brimming Sacred Pill in that place. Whether a coincidence or not, the pill is now deep in the nest of a 3rd level spiritual beast, Blood Croc. We opted to report rather than risk our lives.”
Blood Croc?
That put a damp on their joyous moods.
The Blood Croc was a pack spiritual beast, and very territorial. Despite a mere 3rd level spiritual beast, their numbers deterred even a Radiant Stage expert from approaching.
The easiest way to establish their strength was to look at how big this nest was.
Long Xingyun spoke, “How many?”
“Oh, forgive my forgetfulness. It is around thirty thousand heads!” The man stammered.
Sss~
The shock was easily seen on everyone’s faces.
Thirty thousand Blood Crocs. Not even ten Radiant Stage experts or a hundred Profound Heaven experts could come out unharmed out of such a scuffle. Least of all their rabble of two-three thousand men.
The instant they charged, the Blood Crocs would tear them to pieces.
Thus they all turned their heads to Zhuo Fan to see his take on this.
The man in question was eerily calm, dissing the trouble with a wave, “Lead the way.”
“Brother Zhuo, you can do it?” They looked on in hope.
With a vague smile, Zhuo Fan was playing coy, “Ha-ha-ha, we’ll know when we get there.”
And proceeded to walk southwest. Being all mysterious worked, making the rest follow him in shock.
No wonder a puny and forgotten Luo clan reached such a height. This guy was overpowered. He always came through despite adversities.
Luo Yunhai, Xue Ningxiang and the hundred people Zhuo Fan brought followed him the instant he made a move. For the first two it was an obvious choice, as for the hundred people, vassals to different houses, they went after Zhuo Fan like sheep after a shepherd.
Besides, what difference would it make if they were behind Luo clan when the houses they were vassals to were all allies? [You should at least go with your master even if so!]
They couldn’t help it though, not when Zhuo Fan was a beacon of safety, willing to follow him everywhere with unflinching determination.
Too bad the lucky Luo clan had yet to become a house, or these guys would’ve switched camps on the spot.
“The kid is taking everyone from us. I can already see how the Esoteric Debate ends. With half of our vassals willing to follow Luo clan.” Long Xingyun sighed.
Xie Tianshang shrugged, “That’s how charisma works. Be it a mighty emperor or just a clan head, they all have to have some amount of personal magnetism. We all do! But in Zhuo Fan’s case, while ours is but a mere glint, his shines like a radiant star!”
Xie Tianshang followed closely as well. Long Xingyun chuckled right behind him. Chu Qingcheng thoughtfully watched the prideful and solitary figure in front before coming too.
The wood exit was soon barren of people, all going for the Killing Blood Marsh.
The audience beyond the wood National Elemental Stone found the entertainment waning and returned to the seats Dugu Zhantian provided.
All while speculating how Zhuo Fan managed to relieve Huangpu Qingtian of the pill.
It was clear by his appearance that no blows were traded, so how…
The man in question was now taking a stroll. Perhaps the exhaustion of the past few days never left him and only made him grow weary, culminating in this slow pace.
Yet it only worked to put Long Xingyun’s group on edge. They were itching to get to the Killing Blood Swamp first. It was funny how the Esoteric Debate of this century had been reduced to an 8th grade pill hunt.
Zhuo Fan was not in the least bit hurried, taking his sweet time. While he was at it, he had the others scout the surroundings as they made their way forward.
The way he saw it, Brimming Sacred Pill was merely a reward to the winner of this final battle. It made little sense to look for it when the exits and keys held a far greater importance.
With them on his hands, he had to find a way out, especially for a certain useless bunch. It just so happened to be working fabulously in easing his burden too.
So he toned down on his speed, using this time to have the rest search for the keys. Long Xingyun’s group found it incomprehensible. They wished nothing more than to charge in and get that 8th grade pill.
“Big brother Zhuo, I found a key!” Xue Ningxiang skipped over in glee, presenting a red crystal.
Zhuo Fan saw the fist sized red crystal. It was cold to the touch, telling him this was the yin key of the fire exit.
All he had to do now was find the yang fire key and Xue Ningxiang would be home free!
Leaving him room to go all out to his heart’s content.
Zhuo Fan brightened and patted her cute head, “Well done, Ning’er!”
Xue Ningxiang giggled, at which Long Xingyun sighed, “Miss Xue, finding a Brimming Sacred Pill would be so much better. You won’t just be doing a great service to us houses, but even hold youself in favor!”
Zhuo Fan merely shook his head. Xue Ningxiang would have none of that, “Humph, I won’t even go for some mystical pill. That’s your delusion. I only care about what big brother Zhuo wants!”
Shuddering, Zhuo Fan looked queerly at her.
He never said what was on his mind even after being in contact for the past few days, yet Ning’er easily found out what he wanted. While not even his allies could, this genial and harmless lass…
Long Xingyun shook his head, “Miss Ning’er, you’re wrong. With how strong Brother Zhuo is, why would he want a bunch of keys? Only cowards would look for a way out. While a man of virtue like Brother Zhuo must be far more interested in the Brimming Sacred Pill. Am I right?”
Long Xingyun turned to Zhuo Fan, talking as if it was the norm.
[Damn you, of course I want the keys to dump your sorry asses. Stop mooching off of me! Only Ning’er truly knows what I want.]
Zhuo Fan cursed inside, but couldn’t refute Long Xingyun’s bright smile.
[Maybe for my reputation’s sake, or they’d go calling me coward instead. If I explain it, they’ll think I’d be a hindrance and affect our alliance.]
Zhuo Fan could only nod, “Yes, brother Long makes perfect sense. Brimming Sacred Pill is far more important than some keys. “
Long Xingyun looked smug and taunted Xue Ningxiang with his eyebrow. She was saddened on the spot, looking at Zhuo like a kicked puppy, “I still think I’m right. Big brother Zhuo wants…”
“Uh, Ning’er, don’t feel sad. The thing is this key…” Zhuo Fan was frantic in his explanation, but then stopped. A yellow light aimed for his face tended to do that.
Zhuo Fan easily caught it and found it to have the same feel as the red crystal, albeit yellow. Zhuo Fan was overjoyed, “The yin metal key!”
Zhuo Fan turned to look from where the crystal came. [Who did me such great service? Explain!]
But Zhuo Fan twisted his head away awkwardly soon after.
Chu Qingcheng bore her cold haze into him, coming over to Xue Ningxiang and taking her somewhere, “Come, let’s go after the other keys!”
“But big brother Zhuo said he doesn’t want them!”
“Stop paying attention to his hypocrisies!” Chu Qingcheng snorted.
Zhuo Fan felt a cold shiver, [There’s two of them now who can understand me!] Long Xingyun was watching the two women perplexed, “That’s odd. It’s normal for a naive girl like Ning’er to mistake Brother Zhuo’s intentions. But Edifice Lord Chu is a refined and ambitious woman, so why is she wasting time looking as well?”
“Ha-ha-ha, you’re asking me?” Zhuo Fan let out a dry laugh, masking the sigh in his heart.
He was your typical lone wolf, with hardly anyone catching on to his thinking. But now two women showed up at the same time defying all logic.
[Is this the legendary bosom buddy?]
A chuckle escaped his lips. He, a cold-stone demonic cultivator, was oblivious to matters of the fairer sex as a close friend and yet, [This feeling ain’t bad. Ain’t bad at all.]
Zhuo Fan resumed walking for the Killing Blood Marsh, leaving a puzzled Long Xingyun behind.
What should have taken five days, thanks to Zhuo Fan taking it easy, they arrived after ten. But not for nothing, considering the riches he fetched along the way. Of the ten total keys, they found four, with the metal key the only complete one. All that was left was to look for the metal exit.
Be that as it may, the slow march had its downside. Someone beat them to it…