Night.
The stars faintly gleamed and the silvery moonlight spilled through the dense leaves, casting dapples of light in the forest.
The Spirit Beast Mountain Range was very quiet, with only occasional calls of spirit beasts echoing from afar.
"Li An, how did you come to know Sister Xu?"
Tan Qingxue sat on a crossbeam, seemingly bored, and asked Li An.
Li An was leaning against a dense old tree, resting with his eyes closed, but opened them upon hearing her question and glanced at Tan Qingxue.
Why is she suddenly interested in this?
"To inform you, Senior Sister, I met Sister Xu because of a rice transaction."
He calmly spoke, though his mind was pondering.
"Sister Xu always tells me you're clever and quite alert... you're the first person she's praised like this."
Under the moonlight, Tan Qingxue's pretty face appeared very beautiful, yet her gaze mirrored the moonlight, as if trying to pierce through one's heart:
"You're also the luckiest person I've met, even encountering Primordial Spring Herbs..."
She focused on Li An, thinking that today she would make him reveal his true colors!
To see through his facade in front of her!
Li An felt a sense of wariness, as Tan Qingxue had always been indifferent toward him, yet now seemed to want to test him?
Had he slipped up somewhere? That seemed unlikely.
It seemed Xu Qiuhui must have said something to Tan Qingxue.
He mused briefly and immediately responded: "All thanks to Sister Xu's guidance."
As he spoke, he took out the talisman pen Xu Qiuhui had sold him back then, and sighed softly, "I wonder how Sister Xu is doing in the inner sect now..."
He gently stroked the talisman pen, seemingly cherishing it greatly, and couldn't help but say: "Tan Senior Sister, Sister Xu... did she really mention me to you?"
His words carried a hint of happiness.
Tan Qingxue paused, suddenly realizing... could it be that Li An likes Sister Xu?
That was quite normal; Sister Xu was indeed a talented figure in the sect, with many admirers.
"Tan Senior Sister?"
"Oh... yes, she mentioned you."
"That's wonderful... I remember Sister Xu likes eating the Spirit Rice from Spirit Plant Mountain that's cooked for the second time, and she prefers Qi Refilling Talismans. Could I trouble Tan Senior Sister to help send some to her?"
The topic successfully changed.
Soon after.
"Tan Senior Sister, I'm going to patrol the surroundings."
Li An stood up and left.
Tan Qingxue, on the other hand, felt slightly complex inside; through their conversation earlier, she discovered Li An seemed to understand Sister Xu better than she did...
Mentioning Xu Qiuhui, Li An's words were sincere and detailed, while also revealing the inferiority and helplessness of a low-ranking disciple in this regard.
After all, Sister Xu was an extraordinary person, an inner sect disciple with a promising future.
And what about Li An? His aptitude in talismans was mediocre, still at the third level of Qi Cultivation after so many years...
Foolish dreams indeed.
"Sister Xu also mentioned to me how experienced Li An is in handling things, maybe it was just because Li An was carefully trying to please her..."
She couldn't help but shake her head, suddenly feeling it wasn't that she was mistaken, but Sister Xu had misunderstood, Li An was just a really honest person...
…
Meanwhile in the forest.
Li An was pondering.
He must find an excuse tomorrow to leave Tan Qingxue and the others.
Earlier, he used some conversational tactics and cunning to shift the topic, after all, in his previous life with many wives and concubines, he had plenty of experience with women.
But he still felt uneasy with further interactions.
…
In the morning, the chirping of birds accompanied the rising sun, spreading throughout the mountain forest.
"Today, we head to Cold Mist Forest, where the Black Needle Giant Ape once appeared."
Tan Qingxue spoke, and several people immediately set off.
Cold Mist Forest was filled with Cold Camphor Trees, which themselves carry spirit poison, and over time release toxic gases that form a thin mist throughout the forest. Ordinarily, no one dares to venture inside.
Tan Qingxue took out an Antitoxic Pill and distributed one to each person.
This unexpectedly surprised Li An, as Tan Qingxue invested heavily for this operation. Even though the Antitoxic Pill wasn't graded, each pill cost around ten Spirit Stones.
His Life Seed had a detoxifying function, but he remained calm and took the Antitoxic Pill.
"It shouldn't be here."
Li An observed the surroundings, carefully sniffing the air.
The feces of a Black Needle Giant Ape had an extremely foul smell, and in such a humid and toxic miasma environment, it would spread far, but he didn't smell anything.
So he felt reassured entering with them.
"Hmm, these are footprints of the Black Needle Giant Ape!"
Since he found some footprints under a huge, old tree.
"Parasitic Spirit Vine!"
Li An was delighted as he looked towards a cluster of blue vines rooted within the old tree's body, which had already borne numerous blue fruits.
"First Grade Spirit Fruit, and so many!"
Jiang You was thrilled and immediately climbed the tree to collect all the Spirit Fruits.
They gathered six in total, and because they discovered them together, they were evenly split, with Li An receiving one and Tan Qingxue giving him ten additional Spirit Stones.
"It seems the Black Needle Giant Ape came here to eat this Parasitic Spirit Vine... Indeed, this beast is highly sensitive to Spirit Medicine!"
Cao Zhirou couldn't help but speak.
Though they hadn't found the Black Needle Giant Ape, everyone was motivated.
They turned back, but just as they walked out of Cold Mist Forest, a voice greeted them:
"Oh, so it's the Talisman Hall's Tan Junior Sister!"
Seven or eight young disciples awaited outside the forest, led by a handsome young man whose robe bore a small cauldron emblem on the left chest.
```
Alchemy Hall disciple!
"Senior Brother Qing Yuan,"
Tan Qingxue slightly furrowed her brows, "Why are you here too?"
Qing Yuan smiled: "We are looking for the Black Needle Giant Ape... Tan Junior Sister, perhaps you are doing the same as us?"
Tan Qingxue's heart stirred, "No... We're looking for other Spirit Medicines. Senior Brother Qing Yuan, have you found any clues about the Black Needle Giant Ape?"
Qing Yuan shook his head: "No, the Black Needle Giant Ape is very cautious. It must be the maturity period of Second Grade Spirit Medicines, so it has hidden itself."
"Junior Sister Qingxue, you have just come out from the Cold Mist Forest. I guess you must have used an Antitoxic Pill to subdue the poison, but the Antitoxic Pill's effectiveness is limited, and the toxins will still remain in your body."
"I have some Poison Transformation Pills here that I can give to you all."
He smiled as he stepped forward, took out a small bottle, and handed it to Tan Qingxue.
Tan Qingxue was surprised, "Senior Brother Qing Yuan, Poison Transformation Pills are quite valuable. I should give you Spirit Stones instead..."
Qing Yuan said with a smile, "Junior Sister Tan, don't be so polite. I am giving you these Poison Transformation Pills hoping that when you discover the Black Needle Giant Ape, you will inform us."
Tan Qingxue thought for a moment, then said: "Alright, thank you very much."
She took the Pills and turned to leave with Li An and others.
Not far away.
"Qingxue, it's unusual for Qing Yuan to be so generous..." Cao Zhirou reminded.
"Yes, I think so too."
Tan Qingxue directly took out the Poison Transformation Pills and casually threw them into the grass beside her. Although the Pills are quite precious, caution comes first in the Spirit Beast Mountain Range.
Li An couldn't help but shake his head. The moment Tan Qingxue accepted this bottle, she was already caught.
The problem is not the Poison Transformation Pills but the bottle itself!
It must have been coated with a colorless potion, which has an extremely faint scent. Amidst the smells of rotting foliage, bird droppings, and beast manure in the forest, ordinary cultivators can't detect it.
Although Li An couldn't guess what this potion was, he realized that from now on, Tan Qingxue, the hunter, has become the bait for the Alchemy Hall!
He could not follow Tan Qingxue and the others anymore.
"Eh, there's a cluster of Miscellaneous Spirit Herbs over there!"
Suddenly, Li An pointed ahead, seeing a small stream flowing through the forest, falling down at a cliff, and midway on the cliff was a patch of lush green Miscellaneous Spirit Herbs.
"I'll go get them."
Li An said excitedly and immediately ran over, carefully descending along the rock wall.
"Li An, it's too dangerous, there's no need!"
Tan Qingxue frowned and reminded.
Li An's petty behavior truly delayed matters; she still needed to proceed to the next location!
"I'll be quick..."
Li An swiftly climbed down, suddenly, his foot slipped, letting out a cry of pain, his entire body rolled down the cliff slope, and his figure was swiftly obscured by the forest.
"Li An!"
Standing on the cliff slope, the group was surprised.
Tan Qingxue was even more anxious, hurriedly stepping forward, but the cliff slope was too steep, making it difficult to go down for the moment. She could only stand above, calling out, but no one responded.
"That guy brought this on himself... With his third-layer Qi Cultivation level, falling from here likely leaves him no chance of survival."
Jiang You spoke with some mockery, "Greedy for small advantages, forgetting life; being of humble origin, he walked his own dead end."
"It would take at least an hour to get to the bottom of the cliff, and we might not even find him... Qingxue, it's unnecessary."
Cao Zhirou added, "If he isn't dead, he would surely be heavily injured, only dragging our plan. If he died, what's the use of finding him? We should stick to our plan and head to the Old Vine Slope."
Tan Qingxue felt conflicted, especially since Qing Yuan and others were also searching for the Black Needle Giant Ape; she had to make haste.
"Li An!"
Tan Qingxue stood on the cliff slope, shouted loudly, the sound echoing in the mountains.
Pausing for a moment, she finally made a decision: "Let's go first, and come back to look for him later."
Although she'd had brief exchanges and encounters with Li An, his life or death was not of great concern to her.
"What a pity for the Tree Reishi and Parasitic Spirit Vine Fruit... We'll check again later."
Jiang You also muttered softly.
...
Long after they had left.
At a hundred and fifty meters down the cliff slope, Li An held a Star Glow Dagger in his right hand, deeply thrust into the stone wall, suspending himself closely against the cliff.
He calmly used his left hand to pass over the Star Glow Dagger, causing his palm to bleed instantly. Ignoring the pain, he fiercely grabbed the cliff stone for a mark, then exerted force with his right arm, yanking the cliff stone to roll down the slope. He leveraged this to jump onto a small ledge.
Activating the Life Seed power, his palm wound quickly scabbed.
The stone rolled down the cliff, leaving bloodstains behind, creating the impression of someone wounded rolling down — invisible to ordinary people.
Yet Li An still did not climb up, instead waiting for a long time.
Roughly half an hour later, his sensitive hearing finally caught low voices:
"It seems one of them fell from here?"
"Falling from here, survival is unlikely."
There were discussions.
"We must ensure no one survives. Otherwise, if the sect investigates, it would be revealed... Qin Wei, you go check the cliff bottom. If he's alive, kill him!"
This was Qing Yuan's voice!
Following the orders, the voices quickly disappeared.
After a quarter of an hour, confirming that the visitors had left, Li An swiftly climbed up the slope.
He carefully activated his Life Seed to hide his aura, searching around, and found the bottle of Poison Transformation Pills discarded by Tan Qingxue in the grass.
Without rushing to pick it up, he opened his storage bag, took out a pile of First Grade Middle Grade Spirit Talismans and Star Glow Dagger, stuffing them into his sleeves, then used the storage bag like a glove to pick up the bottle, rubbing it in his palm several times!
"What a pity for my Tree Reishi, Parasitic Spirit Vine Fruit..."
He felt a deep ache, but given the circumstances, there was no other choice.
After doing this, he stood up, relieved himself by a tree, tore off a corner of his robe, wrapped it around some damp soil, then carefully used a branch to bury the Antitoxic Pill bottle in the dirt.
Secured the wrapped robe corner, ensuring it was sealed, and stowed it in his sleeve.
He then cautiously handled the storage bag, avoiding contact with its aura, approached the cliff's edge, and threw the storage bag down the slope.
...