A golden cloud gliding with the wind came into sight. Beneath it were two spirit masters—one male, one female.
They were both dressed humbly and carried a mysterious allure.
They walked toward the others slowly and elegantly, their clear-skinned bare feet threading the skies, leaving prints of spirit runes in their wake.
One might have even assumed they were walking on solid ground.
"Ho? It seems Gu Wufeng and Ye Zhu have both come uninvited," Master Tian Wuxi scoffed, visibly annoyed at the arrival of the duo.
"Hahaha, you jest, Comrade Wu," Spirit Master Gu Wufeng gently clarified, his voice enchanting and his tone crisp.
"Miss Ye and I were just going for a walk, but happened to sense the presence of your esteemed self. Hence, we ventured over to say hi."
"Hmph! Indeed, those who cultivate the spirit inadvertently cultivate thick skins. Even I cannot help but feel shameless for you. Yet you spout such nonsense with a straight face… admirable. Such thick skin—very admirable indeed," Master Tian Wuxi mocked.
But the two spirit masters remained unperturbed, smiling amicably as though they had not just been blatantly insulted in front of so many juniors.
Indeed, even a fool wouldn't believe that two spirit masters at the very peak of the Void Travel Realm were simply out for a stroll.
But there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Those who cultivated spirit energy to a high level could spread their perception over a broad area, and those of the Void Travel Realm could directly teleport themselves anywhere within the coverage of their perception.
This was not the first time something like this had happened. Those of the spirit path were notorious for such behavior.
There was once a time when Master Wuxi had found a world-formed treasure after putting in tremendous effort, only for a spirit path master to appear.
He would never forget the words spoken that day—it was so infuriating, he almost spat blood.
"Comrade, we have found this treasure after so much effort. How do we split it?" the spirit master had spoken earnestly.
Tian Wuxi was livid, almost driven mad with anger. First of all—who the heck was we?
He had sacrificed—heaven knew how much—just to obtain the treasure, and now this smiling tramp came from nowhere asking for a share.
Tian Wuxi was mad with rancor.
But even with his ever-increasing temper, he remained rational. Even if he got into a battle with the bastard, the gains wouldn't outweigh the losses.
Because of this, he had to take a step back and suffer the loss of splitting the treasure.
Since that day, Tian Wuxi had remained ever wary of the spirit masters and their uncanny ability to sniff out treasures.
The other fourteen masters wore strange expressions—it was clear that even they had encountered similar events.
The worst part was that, unlike Qi cultivators who were divided into factions and further divided into sects, the spirit cultivators were all united under one sect:
The Great Spirit Sect.
So face one today, and you face a hundred tomorrow.
Remembering this fact, the expressions of the sect masters from both the demonic and righteous paths grew even more strained.
They could only bear it and suffer this loss once more.
As though confirming their thoughts, the lady spirit master Ye Zhu spoke. "Dear comrades, how do we proceed to share these gems? We can't delay, lest outsiders arrive."
'ARE YOU NOT AN OUTSIDER YOURSELF?!' Tian Wuxi screamed internally, his heart filled with helplessness.
Indeed today, he had to take another loss. This was like a repeat of his worst nightmare—yet there was nothing he could do.
"Cough! Yes, as the two masters said, let's be quick and be done with it. We shouldn't let any more people come and reap what they didn't sow," Master Lin Bin affirmed.
His mentality was simple: either way, what has happened has happened. Let's prevent it from recurring. As they say—once bitten, twice shy.
The others quickly nodded in agreement.
Right now, Spark and the others felt like pieces of meat surrounded by a pack of alpha wolves. It was not a pleasant feeling, to say the least.
But they couldn't even voice their opinions. Even if they could, they wouldn't.
After all, it didn't take a genius to know that offending such beings wouldn't end well.
Smiling with satisfaction, Spirit Master Gu waved his sleeve, and a device mysteriously appeared mid-air.
It was a round, fluorescent crystal the size of a human head.
"This will save us the hassle and check their aptitudes to see which is suitable for which sect," he explained quickly.
Indeed, the treasure robbers came prepared.
The fourteen masters had rushed here from their various sects, barely having time to prepare anything.
In truth, they hadn't even known they would be taking disciples today.
Seeing no one disapproving, Spirit Master Gu nodded and began manipulating the device, moving it toward the motionless figures of the distressed heroes and villains.
It started with Adamant. As it reached him, it burst into a resplendent glow, illuminating the air with words:
[Near-immortal physique detected! Unfathomable strength detected! Suitable for Undying Immemorial Body Sect.]
"This…" All the masters on site were stunned. Even the ever-smiling spirit masters had their smiles frozen in shock.
Indeed, they had been informed of the feats carried out by this bunch, but seeing the heavenly talent-peering crystal rate the ability of a mortal human—who had never cultivated a day in his life—so highly shocked them greatly.
The crystal continued, uninterrupted by their shock. It moved on to the next.
It was Starlight, who was still in a daze. She had long regained consciousness and realized the bloody rampage she had embarked on.
Right now, she was feeling so guilty she could die.
And just then, her teary visage was illuminated by the crystal's glow.
"Unbelievable."
"Ridiculous! How can this be!"
"Gu, are you sure this crystal isn't defective?"
The masters burst into a commotion on seeing Starlight's appraisal.