BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1037: Mounting Tensions
"Rest assured, everyone. This place is a former cave abode of a Great Encompassment cultivator, so there must be other ways out. The space here is rather frail, but it should last at least a month, which will be enough time for us to find an exit," Lei Yuce said, and everyone was slightly reassured to hear this, but it was clear that many people were still feeling very uneasy.
Right at this moment, Wen Zhong took a step forward beside Lei Yuce as he declared, "Please listen to me, everyone."
His voice wasn\'t very loud, but it rang out very clearly within everyone\'s ears, and everyone immediately turned to him for guidance.
"Time is of the essence right now, and we don\'t know what dangers could be present in this secret area. If all of us were to split up and explore this place on our own, then there\'s a very good chance that widespread casualties could be suffered. Hence, I propose that we all form an alliance to travel together. Even if we encounter any dangers ahead, I\'m sure we\'ll be able to overcome them with our collective powers. What do you all say?" Wen Zhong proposed with a smile.
"I think that\'s a good idea. There\'s no need for us to throw our lives away for potential rewards that may not even exist," Jin Liu chimed in, but no one else said anything, and everyone was looking rather hesitant.
For most of the people present, their initial reaction was to turn down this proposal. After all, everyone had come to this secret area in search of opportunities, and traveling as part of a massive alliance would undoubtedly be cumbersome and counterproductive to that goal.
However, it was also true that this was a completely unknown place to everyone, so there were benefits to joining forces as well.
On top of that, the alliance had been proposed by the Almighty Sword Sect, and it had been agreed upon by the Heavenly Water Sect.The Almighty Sword Sect, the Heavenly Water Sect, and the Golden Origin Immortal Palace were the three leading powers of the Golden Origin Immortal Region. Now that the Golden Origin Immortal Palace had faded into obscurity, the statuses of the Almighty Sword Sect and the Heavenly Water Sect had been even further elevated, and no one dared to directly oppose them.
"Rest assured, everyone, this is only going to be a temporary alliance, and there aren\'t going to be many rules. All of the treasures that you obtain will go to you, but while you\'re a part of this alliance, you must travel with everyone, and you\'re forbidden from wandering off on your own," Wen Zhong added, and everyone instantly became much more receptive to the idea.
Hence, all of the other cultivators present began to express their approval of the proposal one after another.
"In that case, the alliance is hereby officially formed," Lei Yuce declared.
"An alliance cannot be without a leader, so let\'s make a decision on that as well. Fellow Daoist Lei is the most powerful cultivator out of all of us, so I think he should serve as the alliance leader. Celestial Maiden Su\'s powers are second only to his, so I propose that she serves as the deputy alliance leader. What do we all think?" Wen Zhong proposed.
The Heavenly Water Sect cultivators raised no objections to this proposal.
The formation of the alliance had been proposed by the Almighty Sword Sect, and it had received support from the Heavenly Water Sect, so everyone had already guessed that this would be the proposed arrangement.
"In that case, I am honored to accept the role of alliance leader. As the alliance leader, the first rule that I\'m going to establish is that everyone is forbidden from attacking fellow alliance members. Can you all do that?" Lei Yuce asked.
This rule was basically already a given, so no one raised any objections to it.
"Alright, let\'s set off then," Lei Yuce declared as he led the way forward, and everyone immediately followed along.
Before long, they arrived at the palace where Han Li had been cultivating in seclusion earlier.
At this point, the pillar of golden light rising up from the palace had already vanished.
Elated looks appeared on everyone\'s faces at the sight of the palace, and some of them immediately swooped down to search the palace, only for Wen Zhong to step forward as he declared in an authoritative voice, "Stay back! Follow the alliance leader\'s instructions!"
Only then did those people recall that they had to follow the orders of the alliance, and they sheepishly stopped in their tracks.
"Wen Zhong, Jin Liu, Azure Lock Valley Master, Ink Fragrance Pavilion Master, each of you take some people with you to explore the palace," Lei Yuce instructed, and the four people that were named immediately gave affirmative responses before doing as instructed, while everyone else could only look on with forlorn expressions.
A short while later, the four of them returned with glum looks on their faces.
"Alliance Leader, everything in the palace below has already been taken, and there are also some very recent signs of battle, so someone must\'ve come here before us," Wen Zhong reported with a dark expression.
"Are you sure?" Lei Yuce asked as his brows furrowed slightly.
"I\'m certain," Wen Zhong confirmed.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Lei Yuce declared, "In that case, let\'s continue onward for now."
The alliance advanced onward at his behest, and they quickly emerged from the canyon, arriving in a much more open area that instilled renewed hope within them.
Lei Yuce was also feeling slightly more reassured upon seeing this. Given how vast this area was, even if someone had arrived here before them, there was no way that they would be able to explore the entire place in a short time.
Furthermore, it was clear that they hadn\'t left yet, so if he could catch the culprits, then he certainly wouldn\'t mind making them hand over what they had found by force.
"Wen Zhong, Fellow Daosit Jin Liu, split everyone here up into twenty groups so that we can all cover more ground and explore more places at once. Don\'t go too far, gather back here in half a day," Lei Yuce instructed.
Wen Zhong did as he was told, and everyone quickly split up to explore different parts of the secret area.
The cultivators of the Azure Lock Valley, the Ink Fragrance Sect, and other powers were all assigned to more secluded areas, while the cultivators of the Almighty Sword Sect and the Heavenly Water Sect were sent deeper into the secret area.
The cultivators of the other sects were naturally not happy with this arrangement, but they didn\'t dare to raise any objections.
Deep inside the secret area was a hill that was enshrouded under a thin layer of mist, and there was a faint medicinal aroma in the air.
The hill was split up into three tiers, each of which was several thousand feet in size. Together, the three tiers formed a diverse spirit medicine garden, and every single spirit medicine planted in the garden was at least tens of thousands of years old.
At this moment, there were over a hundred giant ape puppets were busy at work, harvesting all types of spirit medicines before rushing out of the garden.
There was a giant door of silver light outside the spirit medicine garden, and it led to another spirit medicine garden.
At this moment, Han Li was standing beside the door of silver light, instructing the giant mountain apes to transfer the harvested spirit medicines into the spirit medicine garden in the Flower Branch domain in an orderly fashion.
Right at this moment, Weeping Soul emerged from the Flower Branch domain, then said, "All of the spirit medicines at or above a million years of age have already been planted, and those that aren\'t fit to be replanted have been stored into the spirit medicine pavilion."
"The plots of spirit farmland that in our spirit medicine garden are rather limited area, so I\'m assuming there\'s not much space left at this point, right?" Han Li asked.
"There\'s already no space left," Weeping Soul replied.
"The replanted spirit medicines have already been planted with the smallest possible gaps between them. If we plant them any closer, it\'s going to affect their growth," Han Li mused.
All of a sudden, he took a glance up at the sky.
"What\'s wrong?" Weeping Soul asked.
"Some people have already entered the secret area. It looks like I\'m going to have to take some drastic measures..." Han Li sighed.
"What do you have in mind, Master?" Weeping Soul asked.
"Leave these spirit medicines, just instruct the puppets to harvest all of the Nine-Leaved Ice Herbs, Heavenly Sun Parasol Flowers, and Bell Spirit Herbs. Even if they\'re less than a hundred thousand years old, make sure to take every single one and leave none behind. As for the other spirit medicines that aren\'t yet of age, just leave them behind," Han Li instructed.
"I can understand harvesting all of the Nine-Leaved Ice Herbs and Heavenly Sun Parasol Flowers as they\'re ingredients required in the refinement of many types of dao pills, but why do you want these Bell Spirit Herbs as well?" Weeping Soul asked.
"Bell Spirit Herbs aren\'t particularly precious in themselves, but they can act as a catalyst. If I plant them near the other two types of spirit medicines, then there\'s a chance that the Nine-Leaved Ice Herbs could mutate into Nine-Leaved Ice Flame Herbs, while the Heavenly Sun Parasol Flowers could become Heavenly Sun Fire Parasol Flowers," Han Li explained with a smile.
"I see," Weeping Soul replied with an enlightened expression.
"By the way, where\'s the Essence Fire Raven?" Han Li asked.
"It devoured a Nine Sun Fire Stone not long ago in the Purple Sun Pavilion, and it seems to have been feeling rather unwell since then, so it\'s been hiding in the bamboo pavilion beside the lotus flower pond this entire time," Weeping Soul replied, much to Han Li\'s amusement and exasperation.
The Essence Fire Raven had only recently devoured several beads of Rainbow Fire Pill Sand, and the Nine Sun Fire Stone was even more formidable than Rainbow Fire Pill Sand, so Han Li couldn\'t help but feel a little concerned.
However, given how powerful the Essence Fire Raven had become, his concerns were entirely unnecessary. At the moment, if the Essence Fire Raven were to go all-out, even Han Li would struggle mightily to deal with it.