Wei Yunxi recovered quickly after the scare, though her spiritual sense remained fully alert. It didn't take long for her to assess her surroundings. She had fallen into a bird's nest perched near the edge of a cliff. Lucky for her, the fall hadn't killed her. Unlucky for her, the nest wasn't empty.
Two fluffy chicks blinked up at her, their down barely grown in.
Based on what she knew about spirit beasts, this species was a red-beaked falcon, one of the dominant predators of the sky. Their reproduction rate was notoriously low—having two chicks in a brood meant the falcon parents had done their absolute best.
She must've fallen in while the adult falcons were out hunting. But they'd surely be back soon. Wei Yunxi knew she had to get out before that happened.
These thoughts flashed through her mind in a heartbeat. The moment one of the chicks made a move to attack, she shifted her body sideways to dodge. Thankfully, its peck was clumsy and not yet sharp enough to pierce skin.
The chick tilted its head, staring at her with curious beady eyes. Then, after a pause, it lunged again—though this time, its sharp beak was slick with saliva.
Wei Yunxi leapt back again, narrowly avoiding the bite. The nest wasn't spacious, and space to maneuver was limited. She frowned, realizing the chick was drooling.
"...Are you hungry?"
The chick didn't respond, of course. It only chirped twice.
Not wanting to waste time or energy in this nest, Wei Yunxi quickly reached into her storage pouch and pulled out a bottle of fasting pills. These were her favorite—red fruit flavored. With a flick of her fingers, she tossed ten pills into the chick's open beak.
The little falcon stopped its assault, smacked its lips twice, and appeared to be quite pleased. After preening its half-grown feathers, it curled up at the edge of the nest and dozed off.
Wei Yunxi let out a long breath of relief.
Without hesitation, she drew a spirit sword from her pouch and began trying to ride it. She had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, so she was familiar with the sword-riding incantation. The only thing missing had been real-world practice.
Well, survival had a way of forcing your hand.
This low-grade spirit sword had been exchanged with her sect contribution points back when she reached the later stages of Qi Refining. Sword-riding was a basic technique every cultivator needed, especially for emergencies.
Before, she had to hide her cultivation and couldn't reveal such skills. But now, she didn't have a choice.
She formed a hand seal, and the sword began to enlarge and float beside the nest. Without wasting a second, she jumped on.
A startled chirping came from behind—clearly, the little red-beaked falcon was surprised that its food was trying to fly away.
Wei Yunxi didn't turn back. She fed her spiritual energy into the sword, forcing it upward. She had no interest in becoming preserved rations for a spirit beast. Fear had no place here—she focused entirely on survival, steering the wobbling sword toward the cliff edge.
Thankfully, she acted fast. Just under three minutes later, the parent falcons returned with food in their claws.
They immediately sensed something was wrong.
One soared high into the air to scan the cliff. The other stayed behind, nudging the chick for answers. Upon learning what had happened, it gave the chick a stern peck or two, then called back its partner so they could share their catch.
Wei Yunxi had no intention of taming the chick. She was too inexperienced to realize what an opportunity she had passed up.
Had it been another cultivator, they would have captured the red-beaked falcon immediately. This spirit beast could grow to the sixth rank, and raising one from youth would guarantee loyalty. It would've been a powerful future ally.
But if Wei Yunxi had tried, she would have invited the wrath of two rank-three falcons. In the end, her ignorance became her salvation. She didn't try to take the chick—she even fed it—so she avoided a deadly pursuit entirely.
At that moment, Wei Yunxi was crouched behind a man-high shrub, breathing quietly. She had used a Breath Concealing Talisman and waited until the red-beaked falcon took off. Only then did she exhale.
She remained hidden for another half-hour, just to be safe. Once sure the falcon wouldn't return, she carefully slipped out of the thicket.
After confirming her direction, she began running toward the exit of the Baohua Mountains. Her priority was to regroup with her fellow sect members.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Sheng Yuhong had finally slain the rank-two three-headed serpent with the help of the sword formation. Though they had won, everyone had taken damage. The fight had been intense.
Sheng Yuhong wiped his blade clean and stored the serpent's corpse, its vital weak point pierced. He turned to the others and said,
"The serpent is dead. Let's check its nest. There may be something worthwhile. We'll split anything we find evenly. At least we won't have come here for nothing."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Sheng."
Their smiles were genuine. The gratitude was too.
Sheng Yuhong added, "Our battle may have drawn other cultivators and spirit beasts. Let's move fast."
"Yes!"
The seven of them formed hand seals and descended underground again, heading straight for the serpent's lair.
But they were a step too late. The inheritance and spiritual vein had already been claimed by Wei Yunxi, and the serpent's treasures were long gone, taken by Long Daoyu.
Long Daoyu, being the weakest among them, had slipped away when the others set up the sword formation. He scavenged the lair, then activated a directional teleportation talisman. Now, he had regrouped with Qin Tongshuang and Zhang Yan.
They were all from the same sect, so they naturally discussed what had happened. Before long, they realized they all knew one person—Wei Yunxi.
Long Daoyu frowned. "Where is Junior Sister Wei? Why wasn't she with you?"
Qin Tongshuang looked equally concerned.
"She was with us when we were captured, but we got separated during the escape. Only Senior Brother Zhang and I happened to flee in the same direction. We've been trying to find the others since."
"I see. Then I'll go with you. We might run into her."
"Good. She shouldn't be too far from here. Let's search together."
Qin Tongshuang truly was worried. After all, Wei Yunxi had taken this mission to find her.
As for Wei Yunxi, she was currently sprinting through the forest, trying to shake off two Loose Cultivators in the Qi Refining stage who were hot on her trail.
Though she had reached Foundation Establishment and had even grown to about 160 centimeters, she was still only ten years old. Her youthful appearance made her an easy target.
The moment she escaped the red-beaked falcons, these two had locked onto her like wolves.
After running for a while and still unable to lose them, Wei Yunxi frowned. She tossed out a third-grade formation disk and waited on the spot. She wanted to know why they could keep tracking her.
The two Loose Cultivators saw she had stopped and began circling slowly.
One of them sneered and asked, "Huh? Little girl, why'd you stop running?"