Suddenly, the ground trembled, and outside the Spirit Plant Garden, countless rays of light shot into the sky, with numerous flashes of thunder darting within the glow.
Immediately, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth began to fluctuate violently.
The dense fog surrounding the Spirit Plant Garden quickly dissipated under this celestial phenomenon.
"What’s happening?" Su Shi'er felt something was amiss and hurriedly asked Shen Miaoyin.
"Not good! The formation of the Spirit Plant Garden is about to be broken! Fu Boren is bold enough to let a disciple bring the Purple Thunder Sword into the trial."
Shen Miaoyin's expression changed as she saw the flickering thunder light outside and quickly realized the situation.
"The Purple Thunder Sword? A low-grade spiritual artifact? Then we should leave quickly!" Su Shi'er immediately recalled, speaking as he swiftly stored the Fire Cloud Python's corpse, skin and all, into his storage ring, and hurried to Shen Miaoyin's side.
He had been present when Fu Boren publicly displayed the Purple Thunder Sword. The power of that thunder sword had left a deep impression on him.
"It's too late. To break the formation and leave, I need at least three days to recover my cultivation."
"For now, we can only find a place to hide temporarily."
Shen Miaoyin shook her head, looking troubled.
She was still severely injured and incapable of fighting. At this moment, if they encountered people from Heavenly Splendor Peak, it would be a dire situation.
Especially since someone among them held a low-grade spiritual artifact.
Scanning her surroundings, she quickly moved towards the pile of rocks where the Dendrobium flowers were located. She swiftly collected all the Dendrobium flowers and then hid in the crevice where Su Shi'er had previously concealed himself, rapidly concealing her presence.
"Hide?" Su Shi'er twitched his mouth, feeling a bit frustrated.
But he knew there was no other choice now.
"Your spot isn't safe; I advise you not to hide there!" he quickly reminded Shen Miaoyin before heading to the rocks. He immediately used the White Mist Sword to carve out a piece of ground, quickly digging a simple burrow and crawling inside.
In the past five years, battling wits and courage with various demonic beasts daily had unknowingly accumulated a lot of experience.
"Not safe?" Shen Miaoyin raised an eyebrow, immediately realizing.
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Without the vermilion fruit tree, this area full of rocks would undoubtedly become the most noticeable place.
Seeing Su Shi'er skillfully burrowing into the ground to hide, she intended to follow suit.
Suddenly, there was a violent energy fluctuation outside the Spirit Plant Garden.
"Damn, the formation is broken!"
With a low exclamation, she gritted her teeth, not having time to think, and followed Su Shi'er, squeezing into the narrow hiding spot.
"What the—why are you coming in?" Su Shi'er was about to block the entrance when he felt a weight on him, a delicate body pressing against him.
He hadn't considered Shen Miaoyin; this burrow was prepared for his own hiding.
Hiding alone was fine, but with Shen Miaoyin coming in, their bodies were face-to-face, nose to nose, tightly pressed together.
Even through their clothes, Su Shi'er could feel the cold yet warm body temperature emanating from Shen Miaoyin.
This stirred a strange feeling in Su Shi'er's heart.
"Don't speak, quickly conceal your presence, someone is coming in!" Shen Miaoyin quickly reminded, her face not looking too good even in the darkness.
She, the Peak Lord of Heavenly Melody Peak, and a soon-to-be Golden Elixir stage powerhouse, was now squeezed into such a place with a junior at the fourth level of Qi Refining stage.
Su Shi'er didn't think much; as Shen Miaoyin spoke, he immediately sealed the entrance of the burrow.
At the same time, with the formation completely broken, hundreds of figures surged in from outside the Spirit Plant Garden.
Leading them was a young man in his thirties, dressed in a fiery red robe.
The man, clad in red with cloud-patterned sleeves, exuded a faintly cold aura. His eyes, sharp and proud like an eagle's, were paired with slender phoenix eyes and a high nose bridge, beneath which were thin lips full of arrogance.
His appearance and demeanor were like a sharp, unsheathed treasured sword.
In his hand, he held a purple thunder-colored sword, precisely Fu Boren's low-grade spiritual artifact, the Purple Thunder Sword.
If Shen Miaoyin were here, she would immediately recognize this young man. He was not some servant disciple or newcomer but the top inner disciple of Heavenly Splendor Peak, Ye Liangchuan!
The other disciples surrounded Ye Liangchuan, each showing respectful attitudes.
Ye Liangchuan's true cultivation was at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage, and with his talent and cultivation, he was considered one of the most promising candidates for Foundation Establishment in the sect in recent years.
Under Ye Liangchuan's leadership, the group enthusiastically stormed into the Spirit Plant Garden. Once inside, they quickly began to investigate.
But upon seeing the empty Spirit Plant Garden, everyone was stunned, dumbfounded.
"Senior Brother Ye, why... why is the Spirit Plant Garden a desolate place?" a disciple turned to Ye Liangchuan, trembling as he spoke.
As this disciple spoke, many others in the crowd turned pale.
Among them, many were at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage.
They had come to the Spirit Plant Garden at all costs for the abundance of Spirit Plants inside.
Obtaining lingzhi would ensure each of them a spot as a formal disciple.
But now, the Spirit Plant Garden had no Spirit Plants?!
This was a devastating blow to them. They knew that the trial was already halfway over!
"How could this be? Is this really the Spirit Plant Garden? Not a single Spirit Plant?"
"No, look over there, it seems like there are traces of a battle with a demonic beast!"
"But... wasn't it said that this Spirit Plant Garden had a vermilion fruit tree guarded by a second-tier demonic beast? Which trial disciple has such skill to silently infiltrate the Spirit Plant Garden and slay that second-tier demonic beast before we arrived?"
"Well, you can't say that. Among the Seven Peaks of Yun Song, each peak must have some hidden cards. For instance, Heavenly Melody Peak, which uses formations as its path, might have experts proficient in formations mixed into the trial. Moreover, Heavenly Unique Peak, where a group of Qi Refining stage disciples can fly with swords, is quite unusual..."
As they spoke, the group from Heavenly Splendor Peak continued to delve deeper, each exclaiming in shock as they observed the cracked ground and blood-stained scenes in the Spirit Plant Garden.
In the center, Ye Liangchuan furrowed his brows into a frown, and the next moment, his gaze turned cold as he shouted:
"It seems someone indeed beat us to it!"
"However, the blood on the ground is still fresh, and the soil is newly turned. As for this large pit, it must have been left by the vermilion fruit tree. That person must not have gone far!"
"From now on, everyone, take action. Do not let any disciple from other peaks within a twenty-mile radius of the Spirit Plant Garden escape! Dig three feet into the ground if you must, but find that person!"
Ye Liangchuan held the sword in his hand, speaking coldly, his tone exceptionally chilling.
As he spoke, he approached the area where the vermilion fruit tree once stood.
And here, was the closest point to where Su Shi'er and the others were hiding.
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