The deeper she went, the denser and purer the beastly qi became. The beasts she ran into were stronger too, with third-rank monsters appearing more and more often. These creatures had extremely strong territorial instincts, and most of them wielded innate beast arts. None of them could be taken lightly.
But for Xie Zhaolin, while the fights weren't easy, they were always within her control.
With the wealth of combat experience from her past life, her precise grasp of beast weaknesses, and her seamless blend of spiritual power and baleful qi, she could take them down. It always cost her something, but the outcome was the same: her prey fell.
These battles honed her combat skills to a razor edge, and the vortex of spiritual power in her dantian was becoming denser and more restless. She was only a single step away from breaking that bottleneck.
After clearing out a den of three mid-stage third-rank Wind Howl Wolves, she paused to rest. Her eyes shifted to a mark on her map: the Silent Valley.
From the scraps of information she'd gathered, it was rumored a cultivator's cave abode lay there. Inside were said to be that cultivator's inheritance, treasures, and a stockpile of rare resources, enough to tempt even a Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivator.
But with opportunity came danger.
Most who entered were never seen again. A few managed to return alive, and fewer still gained anything at all.
"A cultivator's cave abode… a great opportunity…" A flicker of interest passed through her eyes.
Risk and reward went hand in hand. That was exactly what she needed now. Simply hunting beasts could only take her so far. To break into Golden Core, she might just need something extraordinary. She adjusted her path and sped toward Silent Valley.
Several days later, as she neared a river gorge at the valley's outskirts, a surge of spiritual power and arrogant shouts broke out ahead.
"Stop! Hand over your storage pouch!"
"Hah, another fool thinking they can try their Luck in Silent Valley! Be smart about it, or we'll beat it out of you!"
From behind the rocks, five loose cultivators with vicious faces stepped out. Their cultivation ranged from mid to late Foundation Establishment. Greed burned in their eyes.
Clearly, this gang made their living preying on cultivators heading toward Silent Valley. Her gaze chilled instantly. She had no interest in trading words. Her hand pressed onto the Liuyun Ribbon. For her, there was only one way to deal with bandits like these—kill.
But just as she was about to strike, her eyes flicked past them, and her movements stalled. Behind the five stood a slender figure tied up with rough rope, curled against a boulder. Her face was dirty, her eyes full of fear and helplessness.
It was that girl again. The one she'd already "run into" twice.
She was still alive? And now she'd fallen into these bandits' hands?
A faint, almost imperceptible irritation rose in Xie Zhaolin's heart, one she didn't even notice herself.
This girl… why did she stick like glue? No matter where she went, there she was.
Even if it looked like she'd been captured, three encounters in a row erased the last shadow of coincidence in her mind.
Still, that didn't change her decision. Whether the girl was truly a prisoner or faking it didn't matter. Whether she had a scheme or not didn't matter. She'd blocked her path, so she'd die with the rest.
Her eyes turned colder, killing intent surging.
The bandit leader mistook her silence for fear and sneered, swaggering closer. "What're you waiting for? Hurry and—"
He never finished.
Swish!
The Liuyun Ribbon ripped through the air and snapped tight around his neck before he could even blink.
Crack!
His head twisted at a grotesque angle. The greed and disbelief were still frozen in his eyes as his life ended in an instant.
"Big brother!"
"You bitch, you're dead!"
The other four roared, drawing their artifacts and rushing her. But in the span of a few breaths, they too lay lifeless on the ground, faces frozen with fear and disbelief.
Only the trembling, bound girl remained.
Expressionless, Xie Zhaolin walked forward, the blood-soaked Liuyun Ribbon slithering like a serpent, aiming straight for the girl's throat. She'd run out of patience. Better to kill a mistake than let danger slip by. But just as the ribbon was about to touch skin—
Buzz!
A soft, golden light burst from the girl's body, forming a shell-like barrier around her.
The Liuyun Ribbon, which could easily kill even late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, struck it and bounced away without leaving the faintest ripple.
Xie Zhaolin paused, pulling back the ribbon, her cold eyes fixed on the girl. There was no surprise in them, only a calm "as expected."
"Heh," her lips curved in a smile without warmth, her voice flat, "finally dropped the act?"
The terror on the girl's face melted away like a receding tide. Her eyes cleared, glinting with slyness, even though her lashes still trembled with the remnants of tears. The ropes slipped off her body without a sound.
She looked at Xie Zhaolin and blinked, her voice soft and carrying a trace of feigned grievance. "Such a cruel heart, benefactor. Three meetings, and every time you've tried to kill me."
Xie Zhaolin's gaze sharpened. "Once is chance. Twice is coincidence. Thrice… is plotting. You've schemed to get close to me. What's your purpose?"
The girl pouted, eyes misty like she'd cry at any second. "What purpose could I have? This place is so dangerous. I was just scared. I only wanted to stay by you, benefactor, for protection."
"Protection?" Xie Zhaolin let out a short laugh, her eyes flicking to the golden shield that had shrugged off her attack. "That protective seal on you, at least at Nascent Soul level, maybe higher. And you want me to believe you can't survive the Endless Beast Plain?"
The girl's origins were definitely anything but simple.
Caught in the lie, she didn't look the least bit ashamed. Instead, she giggled, letting the golden light fade. Her eyes gleamed as she stared at Xie Zhaolin, excitement flashing as if she'd discovered a priceless treasure.
"See, I knew I wasn't wrong!" she clapped her hands, her voice playful and lively, a far cry from her earlier helpless sobs. "You're more interesting than everything I could buy with ten thousand top-grade spirit stones put together!"
She tilted her head, studying her like a rare work of art, and kept talking to herself.
"Mhm, let's see… ruthless and decisive in killing, sharp enough to see through everything, saving me but throwing me away without a second thought, and just now you almost strangled me to death without even blinking…"
She ticked the points off on her fingers, her excitement building.
"This is better than any auction, more thrilling than touring an cultivation city! Every moment with you's worth it. No, it's priceless!"
Xie Zhaolin listened without the faintest change in her expression, but deep inside, that irritation of being treated like a specimen to be admired had peaked. She didn't care how others judged her, but she loathed being treated like some plaything.
"Are you finished?" The Liuyun Ribbon hummed louder in her grip. "If you are, then for the fun you think I'm worth, pay the price."
She didn't care who the girl was or what power backed her. Someone who treated human lives as toys, yet carried such powerful life-saving talismans, was the kind of uncontrollable danger she couldn't allow to exist.
The girl saw the killing intent rising instead of fading. She waved her hands quickly, retreating a step, dropping the appraisal look.
"Wait wait wait! I was wrong! I didn't mean it like that! I just think you're amazing, and I really want to follow you and see more!"
Her tone shifted suddenly, pointing toward Silent Valley with an almost serious look.
"You're heading to that cave abode, right? That place is weird, way too weird. You can't just brute-force your way in. But I know the tricks, the real dangers inside."
===
Wait, is this girl the young master from the auction house? I mean the catch phrase 'Ten Thousand Spirit Stones' is uttered by that young master before.