"Damn it! Stop right there!" Li Hu watched Qin Changsheng escape, his eyes burning with rage and resentment.
He whirled around, ready to give chase.
His mind was focused on only one thing: reclaim the treasure and kill Qin Changsheng!
But the moment he took a step, Hu Nan instantly blocked his path.
Hu Nan's spiritual energy surged, his attacks relentless and fierce, relentlessly entangled Li Hu, giving him no chance to escape.
"Damn it!" Li Hu roared, wildly swinging his sword, unleashing a burst of spiritual energy in an attempt to repel Hu Nan. But Hu Nan was like glue, clinging to him tightly, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free.
Li Hu's anger intensified, but even more so, he felt confusion and resentment.
He truly couldn't understand the identity of the person who had stolen the secret treasure. Why would Hu Nan respect him so much, willing to risk everything to cover his retreat, even at the cost of his life?
Despite his doubts, Li Hu knew very well that this was no place to linger.
The suppressive power of the Spirit-Suppressing Pearl couldn't last long.
The Azure-Striped Toad was ultimately a Golden Core demon beast; it wouldn't be long before it broke free of the suppression and regained its Golden Core strength.
Once the Azure-Striped Toad recovered, they would all become its prey. At that point, forget about retrieving the secret treasure; even leaving the bottom of Azure Cloud Lake alive would be uncertain.
"Retreat!" Li Hu decisively ordered, feinting an attack and taking advantage of Hu Nan's dodge, quickly retreating, his figure like a ghost, disappearing into the distance beyond the main hall.
Seeing this, the remaining Blood Demon Sect disciples also came to their senses and dared not delay for a moment. They hurriedly followed behind Li Hu, scrambling to escape into the distance, fearing that they would be caught up by the Green-Striped Toad, which had regained its strength.
Hu Nan didn't linger, quickly speeding towards the Misty Forest.
The instant Hu Nan disappeared, the white light gradually faded, the massive body of the Azure-Striped Toad trembled slightly, and its Golden Core spiritual power began to slowly recover, its violent aura intensifying. Clearly, the suppressive force was about to dissipate.
...
Qingyun Lake Camp.
The camp was now a scene of utter devastation.
Most of the tents were torn to shreds, scattered everywhere, some even shredded by the claws of demonic beasts. Canvas and wooden frames were mixed together, a truly wretched sight.
But the most horrifying sight was at the camp entrance.
More than a dozen corpses lay there haphazardly.
Among them were outer sect disciples and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Their faces were contorted, their eyes filled with fear and despair. Their bodies were covered in gruesome wounds; some had their bodies torn apart by claws, others were disfigured beyond recognition by venom. Clearly, they had been caught completely off guard by the azure-striped toad's sudden attack and had perished before they could even fight back.
In the open space in the center of the camp stood Lin Zhentian.
His face was deathly pale, devoid of any color, with a trace of blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth. He had obviously suffered a serious injury in his battle with the azure-striped toad.
At this moment, Lin Zhentian couldn't understand why that Golden Core demon beast had suddenly appeared here.
If the azure-striped toad hadn't suddenly retreated, many more cultivators would likely have died.
Just then, hurried footsteps rushed in from outside the camp: "Elder Lin! Elder Lin! Something terrible has happened!"
Everyone looked up at the sound and saw a Foundation Establishment cultivator rushing towards them in a panic.
Lin Zhentian snapped back to reality and shouted in a deep voice, "What a panic! What kind of behavior is this! What's the matter that's so urgent?"
Even though he was seriously injured, his voice still carried an undeniable authority.
The cultivator staggered to Lin Zhentian's feet: "Reporting...reporting to Elder Lin, the Golden...Golden Core demon beast! That Azure-Striped Toad, it...it has reappeared, just outside Azure Cloud Lake, slowly approaching the camp!"
"What?!" Lin Zhentian's expression changed drastically.
He never expected that the Azure-Striped Toad would return, and so quickly at that!
At this moment, he was severely injured, his spiritual energy chaotic, and the surviving cultivators in the camp were all exhausted. If they were to be attacked by a Golden Core demon beast again, it was likely that none of them would survive!
Lin Zhentian no longer cared about assessing the losses of the camp, nor about collecting the bodies of the dead disciples: "Everyone, listen to my command! Immediately cease all movement, abandon the camp, and retreat to the Heavenly Sword Sect! Be quick, without the slightest hesitation. Those who disobey will be punished according to the sect's laws!"
"We obey Elder Lin's command!" Upon hearing this, the surviving cultivators felt as if they had been granted a pardon. They dared not linger for a moment, struggling to their feet and rushing towards the Heavenly Sword Sect outside the camp.
Lin Zhentian waved his hand, and a flying sword appeared in his hand.
He didn't even glance at the injured disciples, and led the way towards the Heavenly Sword Sect.
At the same time, Qin Changsheng's figure also arrived not far away.
Taking advantage of the chaos in the ranks, he discreetly blended into the ranks of the outer disciples.
Dressed in outer sect attire, his figure inconspicuous, head bowed, feigning fear and dishevelment, he followed the group, indistinguishable from the other outer sect disciples, attracting no attention whatsoever.
Qin Changsheng understood that the Golden Core demon beast had likely come in pursuit of the secret treasure.
Qin Changsheng silently followed in the middle of the group, his gaze subtly sweeping across the ranks, observing the surrounding movements and secretly watching the cultivators within, in case of any unforeseen events.
Just then, a familiar figure came into his view.
Zhang Han stood not far away, but Zhang Han no longer possessed his usual smugness.
His left arm was empty, his sleeve soaked in blood, blood still seeping from the wound. Clearly, his left hand had been severed during the Golden Core demon beast's attack on the camp.
Fortunately, the Golden Core demon beast didn't pursue them. It only caused a ruckus by the edge of Qingyun Lake before retreating back into the lake.
...
Inside the outer courtyard.
Qin Changsheng had returned to the courtyard.
Stepping into the courtyard, Qin Changsheng immediately set up a simple concealment array, isolating the courtyard from the outside world to prevent anyone from rashly intruding and discovering his secrets.
Having done all this, he breathed a sigh of relief, slowly removing his clothes, which were stained with a few drops of blood, and changing into clean outer sect robes.
Qin Changsheng first looked at his storage space.
He discovered that the precious mirror had vanished without a trace.
Then, Qin Changsheng looked at his attribute panel.
At the top of the panel, a new golden notification had appeared, the text dazzling, carrying a faint aura of Heavenly Dao, crystal clear: [Ding, congratulations on obtaining a Fragment of Heavenly Dao! You have gained one opportunity to enhance an attribute!]
The notification sound seemed to resonate directly within his sea of consciousness, crisp and clear. Along with the notification, a stream of information, both strange and familiar, surged into Qin Changsheng's mind like a tidal wave, instantly filling his consciousness. The origin and function of the Fragment of Heavenly Dao became crystal clear.
Qin Changsheng closed his eyes, quietly digesting the information in his mind. His expression gradually shifted from astonishment to calm, then a sharp glint appeared.
It turned out that the peculiar bronze mirror he had seized at the bottom of Qingyun Lake was not a complete magical treasure, but merely a fragment of Heavenly Dao from a shattered divine artifact.
According to the information stream, the divine artifact of yesteryear was one that bore the power of the Heavenly Dao. Due to
war, it shattered into one hundred fragments, scattered throughout the cultivation world. Some were hidden in famous mountains and rivers, some were guarded by demonic beasts, and some were accidentally obtained by various sects or cultivators and kept hidden from the world.
The effects of these Heavenly Dao fragments far exceeded Qin Changsheng's expectations.
Finding even one fragment grants an opportunity for enhancement, upgrading one's existing golden attributes to even more powerful Heavenly Dao attributes.