Lady Di and Bei Ze left Mao Wu's old cave dwelling and moved to another cliffside, where they'd carved out a place of their own.
The rest of the squad was already there, whispering among themselves about what had happened today. The moment they saw Lady Di and Bei Ze return, they shut their mouths.
Bei Ze sat at the main seat, while the others sat on the ground, all of them looking at him and Lady Di.
"This group isn't simple. We'd better not provoke them and just move with them for now."
The two female cultivators, who'd managed to protect their reputation, nodded in agreement. The older one spoke first.
"That woman in green only used a single punch to turn Mao Wu into minced meat. I've never seen such a powerful body cultivator."
The younger female cultivator nodded with lingering shock in her eyes.
Bei Ze's heart jolted and he quickly asked, "You both saw it with your own eyes?"
The two nodded firmly.
Lady Di's eyes lit up. Earlier, they'd only gotten a rushed explanation, not such a vivid detail. Now that she heard this, how could she not be surprised?
"Tell me, Lady Di, can a body cultivator really kill someone with a single punch? What kind of cultivation does that require?"
Since Bei Ze wasn't a body cultivator, he turned to her to gauge their opponent's strength.
She thought it over and replied, "A Mahayana body cultivator can do it. I can't pull that off yet. Mao Wu was also a body cultivator, which means his body wasn't weaker than mine. If he was caught off guard, sure, he could've been injured. But blown apart into meat paste? That's harder."
"That means this person's even stronger than a Mahayana body cultivator." Bei Ze summed it up.
She didn't want to admit it, but Lady Di still nodded, then frowned in thought. "But that Fairy Lu, she's slim and graceful. She doesn't look like a body cultivator at all!"
"Maybe she's using a different cultivation art." Bei Ze chuckled, not everyone was like Lady Di after all.
Lady Di pushed aside her doubts and dragged the topic back. "So we're just following their lead now?"
"For the moment, that's the only choice. You saw that Howling Moon Wolf earlier, didn't you?"
Everyone's eyes lit up with excitement at the mention.
"Ze Zhēnzūn, you're thinking of riding along with them to leave this place?"
"It's just an idea. Whether it'll work or not, we'll have to wait and see."
"But I tried bringing it up earlier, and they directly sidestepped the topic. They didn't answer me head-on," Lady Di frowned.
"They didn't answer directly, but they didn't reject it either. That means there's still a chance. We're outsiders if we go to their continent. With our team's cultivation, it's only natural they'd be wary of us."
Bei Ze had this plan in mind, though he wasn't certain if it'd succeed.
Lady Di wasn't optimistic. Because of Mao Wu, she trusted others far less now.
"This isn't urgent. We've got time, so let's keep watching first."
Jian Dan and the others had no idea that Lady Di and Bei Ze were planning to hitch a ride. If they knew the Lingyun Continent couldn't ascend anymore and was in the middle of a war, they might've changed their minds about going.
The sky stayed gloomy, and the light dimmed even further. Jian Dan stepped outside, gathered Xiao Yue and the others, then released Cotton Candy.
"Cotton Candy, hide this area. We don't have enough people, so I'll trouble you to handle defense and watch duty."
"Yes, Master!"
Cotton Candy drifted away lazily, and soon white mist began to rise over the cliffside and the green lake, slowly spreading into the ancient forest.
"Hou San, go tell Lady Di I've activated the formation disk. They should rest inside their cave for three days."
"Yes, Fairy Lu!" Hou San ran off to deliver the message. Yu Linhai, watching the mist spread, fell into thought before silently heading to the guard post.
The moment Xiaoyue saw Jian Dan, he shrank down and leapt into her arms, following her into the cave.
Hou San returned after delivering the message, only to realize the Howling Moon Wolf was gone. Spotting Yu Linhai at the guard post, he thought it over and went there too. After all, they used to be teammates.
Seven people gathered together again. With a barrier set up, they could finally talk freely. Jian Dan explained everything from start to finish, adding the clues she'd gotten from Lady Di.
Jian Jing said, "From what I know of Jian Jun, she's probably already succeeded."
Jian Chun nodded. "Hall Master Jian Jun never acts without certainty. If she killed that immortal, then she must've taken the item too."
Wu Siyuan frowned. "Then why haven't they returned? It's been three years already."
Kuang Dao shrugged. "Maybe the timing's not right."
Jian Dan immediately agreed. "Exactly, the timing's not right. Remember what Hou San said? The Immortal Realm cultivators who stayed here contact the Immortal Realm at fixed times."
"So you're saying Jian Jun's waiting for that moment?"
"It's possible."
"We just don't know when that exact time is."
"Then we'll have to probe deeper inside."
The discussion circled back to the same conclusion. No matter what, they had to get into the inner region as soon as possible.
But what they didn't know was that Jian Jun herself was waiting anxiously. She was indeed waiting for the stationed immortals to contact the Immortal Realm. Beside her stood a cold beauty in full white armor. The woman said lightly, "Why go so far? I can take you out myself."
"I wouldn't dare trouble you, Immortal. I can't leave my fellow disciples behind."
"There's no record of your continent on the star map. Why cling to it? Even if you can't return, you can still cultivate in the Immortal Realm."
Jian Jun's refined face showed no impatience. She smiled gently and explained, "I know cultivation's the same wherever it happens, but I still need to send word back to my sect. Otherwise, they'll send people after me."
"Qingfeng, think it over carefully. You've got a year. I'll wait for your answer."
The immortal woman turned and left the room.
Jian Jun closed the door again, sighing helplessly. Then she clutched her dantian, a sharp tearing pain shooting through it, and cold sweat instantly drenched her forehead.
Of all the Dao Gate cultivators who'd entered Lingyun Continent with her, fewer than ten were left. Only because they stuck together had they survived this long. She'd risked everything, even a grave injury, to retrieve the star map, only to find that Lingyun Continent wasn't on it at all. She knew something was wrong. She just couldn't figure out what, so she pored over the map day after day, hoping to uncover a clue.
She didn't know that two groups had already arrived on Lingyun Continent, both searching for her.
For the next three days, the Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators stayed in the cliffside cave, reorganizing their storage talismans, trading supplies, and shoring up anything they lacked. They also armed themselves from head to toe. The death rate here was too high, and none of them believed they'd keep dodging death forever.
Jian Dan wasn't worried. Since she could access her storage ring, she generously handed out formation disks, spirit tools, and treasures to strengthen everyone's defenses. The rest of her time, she pulled out a jade slip and recorded everything they'd seen and experienced since entering the spatial rift, along with the conclusions they'd drawn.
Then she called Hou San over and asked him directly, "That Mao Wu acted so unrestrained out here. It wasn't just because he was a body cultivator or had a lot of underlings. It's because he had connections deeper inside. Do you know who he usually dealt with?"