Not long after Boss Gao began helping Qi Ping search for spirit beasts, Qi Ping and Sister Nan quickly purchased the ordinary supplies they needed.
Though the day was still early, they felt it was safer to return sooner rather than later.
Sister Nan only gave Qi Ping a surprised glance when he mentioned buying spirit beasts to Boss Gao, and after leaving the trade association, she didn't bring it up again.
If Qi Ping didn't mention it, she wouldn't ask.
It was clear that Qi Ping had his own secrets or plans regarding the matter, and since he wasn't forthcoming about it, he clearly didn't want to discuss it with others.
This is an important aspect of becoming friends among loose cultivators. While honesty and mutual assistance are valued, one should not over-explore the other's secrets.
In the Immortal Cultivation Realm, probing into the secrets of others is considered taboo.
After all, which cultivator doesn't have their own secrets?
Even loose cultivators, even those who only have a few last-resort tricks up their sleeves.
When secrets are exchanged openly, that's when the relationship has reached a truly good stage.
Like Lin Chaoyang, a carefree young master from a wealthy family, such people are rare in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, considered a rarity.
Qi Ping knew this well; Sister Nan was a very clever woman who was trustworthy, which is why he didn't shy away from discussing the purchase of spirit beasts in her presence with Boss Gao.
Of course, because the need for secrecy wasn't that high, no matter how important a matter was, Qi Ping wouldn't expose it.
...
The entrance of Cyan Stone Marketplace.
Qi Ping and the others looked at the road back, their eyes filled with seriousness and concern.
"Little Qi, we must be extra cautious on the road back; my divine soul feels a bit disturbed, as if there's a bad premonition..."
"Sister Nan, they say women's intuition is the most accurate, but don't scare me; you know I have a small heart..."
Cultivators sometimes have inexplicable premonitions about incoming crises, like feeling uneasy inside, or having a disturbed divine soul...
The more acute the perception, the easier it is to sense such things. Sister Nan was clearly this type of person.
Old Man Zhou said Sister Nan had foreseen impending crises several times, thankfully they had enough preparations to pass through each time.
"Little Qi, I'm not joking with you; we should make some preparations. Did you bring poison?" Sister Nan looked at Qi Ping with a serious expression.
"I have brought it..." Qi Ping nodded solemnly.
Seeing Sister Nan's serious expression, Qi Ping knew this was no joke.
Fortunately, he was cautious enough this time, bringing out most of the Golden Marrow Bees. Besides the hundred bees on him, he also hid five to six hundred bees in the mountains outside Cyan Stone Marketplace.
After consuming honey with higher blood ginseng content, the strength of these Golden Marrow Bees had significantly improved.
Thinking of the presence of these Golden Marrow Bees calmed Qi Ping's uneasy mind somewhat.
"Alright, I also brought quite a few. Let's find a place and figure out the best arrangement..."
A moment later, the two hid in a corner on the outskirts of Cyan Cloud Marketplace, inventorying the poison they carried: poison powder, poison liquid...
After contemplating the poisons for a long time, Sister Nan finally spoke:
"Little Qi, when the time comes, we'll divide these poisons into sixteen portions, each of us taking eight. We'll place them on our hands and feet, and coat them on our weapons..."
"I also have several needle-shaped magical artifacts. We'll coat them with the deadliest poisons, and when the enemy's attention is drawn by the poison powder, we'll seize an opportunity to fully utilize the poison needles..."
"If the enemy is strong, you follow behind me. I'll distract the enemy upfront, and you look for opportunities to use the poisons..."
...
Sister Nan seriously and earnestly explained every detail and technique of using the poisons to Qi Ping multiple times.
Even practicing with Qi Ping several times.
After all the practice, Qi Ping was left dumbfounded.
Poison could be used like this?
According to Sister Nan's method, defeating a cultivator of the same level, even if Qi Ping was in the first layer of Qi Refining, he could injure a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator if he took them by surprise! Although the probability wasn't high and relied on timing, Sister Nan would seize the timing for Qi Ping.
Because even at mid-stage Qi Refining, it's hard to maintain a high-intensity spiritual shield at all times, as it would consume too much.
Once the strength of the spiritual shield decreases, the needle-shaped magical artifacts can easily penetrate the defense.
If against someone of the same level, Qi Ping felt that against same-level Sister Nan, without knowing her methods, the probability of being poisoned was at least 80%!
Various poisoning methods were impossible to defend against!
Old Man Zhou once said Sister Nan's use of poison was formidable, which Qi Ping had no concept of before, but after witnessing it this time, he realized just how impressive it was.
In comparison to Sister Nan, he was just a novice!
It also served as a wake-up call for Qi Ping that the battles in the Immortal Cultivation Realm might be far more treacherous and terrifying than he imagined!
In this regard, he was still very inexperienced, so no matter what he did in the future, he needed to proceed with caution.
The two practiced a few more times to ensure there would be no mistakes before cautiously embarking on their journey back.
To ensure caution, they even chose a different small path.
However, this didn't bring much more sense of security to Qi Ping and Sister Nan.
This crisis premonition was more like an occasional effective warning talent.
Changing routes, changing return timing might avoid danger, or it might lead directly into danger...
Danger could appear on the small road, on the big road, or even when Qi Ping and Sister Nan returned to Cyan Stone Marketplace after staying overnight...or it might not appear at all.
Overall, there was no pattern to it.
The only thing to do was to act cautiously, like Sister Nan, and make every preparation!
...
On the way back, Qi Ping and Sister Nan were extremely vigilant, carefully avoiding places where ambushes might be present to avoid being successfully attacked by enemies.
Along the way, they hardly spoke, afraid that talking might distract them and allow a Tribulation Cultivator to successfully ambush them with concealed weapons or other means.
Qi Ping also controlled the Golden Marrow Bees to spread out and perform extensive searches along the route.
In this manner, they safely traversed more than half of the road.
This allowed them to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
A little further and they'd be entering the range of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
As one of the main production areas of Qingshi County, the Cloud Mist Mountain Range was regularly patrolled by the Cyan Origin Sect and the three great families. There, Tribulation Cultivators usually dared not act, as the commotion from battles would easily attract the patrols over.
Yet, just as they had barely relaxed, when Qi Ping followed Sister Nan onto a forest path, Qi Ping suddenly felt something amiss ahead!
However, Sister Nan didn't notice anything unusual, nor did the Golden Marrow Bees perceive any irregularities ahead.
But Qi Ping knew his perception could be enhanced as a Jungle Druid in such forests.
In the forest, Qi Ping could doubt anything, but he must not doubt a Jungle Druid's keen sense within a forest!
So without any hesitation, Qi Ping immediately began secretly summoning the Golden Marrow Bees, instructing them to prepare for battle.
At the same time, Qi Ping quickly stopped Sister Nan from proceeding further.
"Sister Nan, something's wrong!" Qi Ping gestured with his eyes.
Although Sister Nan didn't sense anything amiss, she chose to believe Qi Ping and halted her footsteps.
Her vigilance immediately heightened to the highest level.
She knew that with Qi Ping's personality, he must have discovered something; otherwise, he wouldn't act in such a manner!
Though she was unsure how Qi Ping achieved such an observation given his ability, some cultivators indeed have unexpected talents, of which she was one.
Now was not the time to delve into these matters.
Just as she intended to ask Qi Ping something, from two places ahead where nothing had seemed unusual moments ago, two figures suddenly charged out!