The three continued to gather at the pavilion beside Moon Lake.
Li An finally understood the causes and consequences.
It turned out that the long-dormant Spirit Beast Mountain Range suddenly erupted two months ago, and many spiritual beasts rushed out like they were crazy, spreading across the Profound Yang Sect's territory.
The Profound Yang Sect issued many tasks, requiring disciples to clear out the surrounding spiritual beasts.
But this beast tide was unusual; even one or two Tier Two spiritual beasts had appeared, causing considerable casualties to the Profound Yang Sect.
Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xian's Story encountered a Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer spirit beast during a mission; out of their ten-member mission team, only four survived!
"I heard a rumor that this beast tide might be related to the Hundred Beasts Sect..."
Zhao Xian's Story had his right hand in a sling and a bandage wrapped around his head, looking quite miserable:
"My family sent word that over in Sui Province, a middle-grade spiritual mine was discovered, and all the major sects are vying for it..."
The Profound Yang Sect is not the only sect in the Great Li Dynasty; in the Southern Domain alone, there are also the Hundred Beasts Sect and the Divine Sword Sect, two major Core Formation Level forces.
The rivalry among them is intense.
Li An was also startled; middle-grade spiritual mines can produce middle-grade Spirit Stones, which are extremely rare. Even a sect like the Profound Yang Sect would be envious!
This information should be credible. The Hundred Beasts Sect intentionally triggered a beast tide to distract the Profound Yang Sect during the struggle for the spiritual mine; it seems quite plausible.
But he felt increasingly uneasy, based on what Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xian's Story said, many peripheral industries and locations were impacted, yet the Spirit Plant Mountain was left unscathed?
That's very abnormal!
"The sect is also very tense; all registered disciples have been assigned areas to guard. If not for our injuries, we would likely still be on the front line..."
Wang Dazhu continued.
"Guard areas? Which ones mainly?"
Li An inquired.
"Well, there's the three major markets belonging to our sect on the outskirts, several iron mining areas..."
Wang Dazhu listed them one by one.
Li An's heart sank at once; the iron mining areas, the three major subordinate markets, etc., were all susceptible to invasion on the outskirts.
But not the Spirit Plant Mountain?!
Could it be that the sect does not consider the Spirit Plant Mountain important and thus did not assign manpower?
Impossible, Xu Qiuhui previously warned Li An, which is enough to prove that the higher-ups of the Profound Yang Sect are aware of the risks associated with the Spirit Plant Mountain.
They are aware, yet there is no action...
Unless it's a strategic trap!
Li An's heart skipped a beat.
It's very likely that the upper echelons of the sect are planning to use the Spirit Plant Mountain as bait, leading enemies into a trap.
During his past life, he experienced enough intrigues, so the more he thought about it, the more he believed this was likely the case.
Moreover, Xu Qiuhui and other elite disciples might already be waiting secretly.
This trip was not in vain.
"Brother An, did you have any business here this time?"
Wang Dazhu asked.
"I'm here to sell some Spirit Talismans."
Li An immediately took out nine Spirit Gathering Talismans.
"Brother An, have you become a Talisman Master?!"
Wang Dazhu was extremely delighted.
"Not yet, but I'm close to succeeding."
Zhao Xian's Story was also incredibly surprised, and couldn't help but show a complex expression in his eyes.
In two years, Li An's Spirit Root was repaired, and he still had hope of becoming a Talisman Master...
But it was the opposite for him; he fell to rock bottom, even losing his status as a formal disciple, now starting from the same level as Wang Dazhu.
A hint of bitterness swept across his heart, but he did not show it, instead saying:
"Congratulations, Brother Li!"
"How about this, I'll buy all these talismans from you?"
Immediately, he took out four Spirit Stones and handed them to Li An.
"The market price only requires three." Li An smiled.
"The extra one is a gift for Brother Li; don't refuse it. The initial stage of being a Talisman Master is very costly."
Having experienced ups and downs, life and death, Zhao Xian's Story's personality and mindset had clearly changed a lot; he no longer underestimated Li An but chose to befriend him!
"You're right, how silly of me, Brother An, I'll give you a gift too!"
Wang Dazhu also chuckled, taking out two Spirit Stones to give to Li An.
Li An initially wanted to refuse, but he was in desperate need of money and agreed:
"Alright, consider it a loan."
…
Before leaving, Li An went to the sect's exchange office, but he changed his mind and did not buy a new talisman brush; instead, he looked at the magical items.
"Eight-sided Umbrella, Tier One Lower Grade, can withstand attacks from a Qi Refining Third Layer, effectively defends against hidden weapons and the like, fifteen Spirit Stones or one hundred and fifty contribution points!"
"Flame Piercing Saber, Tier One Middle Grade, attacks with flames, forty Spirit Stones or four hundred contribution points."
Li An glanced around; basically, anything he liked, he couldn't afford!
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, his gaze landed on a dagger.
"Starlight Dagger, forged from the edges of Starlight Iron, sharp and sturdy, eight Spirit Stones or eighty contribution points."
Starlight Iron contains starlight patterns and is Tier Two artifact refining material.
But the edges are useless; the dagger made from it doesn't carry any mana and is too short, so although the price is relatively low, no one wanted it.
The only advantage is its sharpness and hardness, which far exceed other Tier One magical artifacts.
Li An hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and bought it directly.
"As expected of a servant, lacking in knowledge, buying such a useless thing as the Xingmang Dagger..."
The steward of the exchange pavilion couldn't help but shake his head but still accepted the Spirit Stones and handed the Xingmang Dagger to Li An.
Then, Li An began to pick and choose among the stalls outside the exchange pavilion.
Unlike the neatly arranged, valuable items in the display cabinet of the exchange pavilion, this stall was full of unqualified inferior products.
For instance, some half-spiritual artifacts and low-quality miscellaneous spirit pills, all piled up messily.
Li An picked through a pile of miscellaneous spirit pills, and then selected three black pills.
"These are miscellaneous spirit pills produced during the refining of Water Element Pills, and they're full of pill poison!"
The steward couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but speak up as a reminder.
Li An smiled internally; he wanted the pill poison, and if there wasn't enough, he wouldn't want them!
But outwardly, he said sheepishly, "Thank you for the reminder, Immortal Master. My Cloud Movement and Rain Skill has hit a bottleneck... I can only buy some miscellaneous spirit pills, hoping for a breakthrough."
This reason was very reasonable.
...
He walked out of the exchange pavilion.
"I'm a poor man again."
Li An couldn't help but lament, all the Spirit Stones he had saved over the months, plus those given by Wang Dazhu and Zhao Xian's Story, were all spent, and he didn't even have a single Spirit Sand left!
However, feeling the weight of the Xingmang Dagger in his hand, he did not regret it.
To spend more money in order to survive was worth it.
Tucking the Xingmang Dagger into his bosom, he headed towards Spirit Plant Mountain.
...
At dusk, as the sun set in the west.
Li An returned slightly late today because he had been deducing based on the terrain while coming out from the outer sect.
If the enemy invaded Spirit Plant Mountain, where would the Profound Yang Sect surround them from?
His final conclusion was that the Profound Yang Sect would definitely not kill them as soon as the enemy appeared but would let them cross Spirit Plant Mountain, approaching the sect's core area.
This way, the trap could be sealed, completely annihilating the invaders.
But it also meant that Spirit Plant Mountain would most likely be completely abandoned!
Thinking of this, Li An simply didn't want to return to Spirit Plant Mountain; he thought of simply running away...
But it was just a thought; now, with the sect heavily guarded, where could he go?
...
As soon as he arrived at the foot of Spirit Plant Mountain, he saw Fan Jie, Zhang Susu, and Zhang Zilin gathered around a tiger's corpse.
"This tiger ran out from the mountains over there; we need to send someone to guard the area."
Fan Jie said in a deep voice, his gaze falling on Li An: "Li An, you're the strongest, you go."
Li An's expression changed slightly.
Such a tough task should not have been assigned to Li An by Fan Jie.
After all, there was Zhang Zilin, who could be easily manipulated, and there was no need for Fan Jie to offend Li An, a future Talisman Master.
Unless he knew that Li An would surely die there this time!
After all, Fan Jie certainly wanted to kill Li An, because Li An would become a registered disciple in the future, the only risk of leaking Spirit Plant Mountain's secret.
Unlike Zhang Susu and Zhang Zilin, who could be easily controlled.
Could it be that Fan Jie knew the sect's plan?
So, he wanted to justifiably kill Li An during this event.
This surprised Li An, as Zhao Xian's Story and Wang Dazhu were completely unaware, yet Fan Jie, a frontline cannon fodder, actually knew. Did he have some other source of information?
Li An hesitated slightly and said, "Immortal Master, going alone... I'm a bit scared."
Fan Jie said calmly, "Then let Zhang Zilin accompany you."
Li An showed a helpless expression, saying, "Alright then."
Beside him, Zhang Zilin's face changed, as he was going to guard the night with Li the Skinflayer?
He was extremely unwilling in his heart!
Seeing Li An agree, Fan Jie couldn't help but reveal a meaningful smile.
...
While it was not completely dark yet, under Fan Jie's urging, Li An led Zhang Zilin into the forest.
As night fell, under the joint effort of the two, a shelter made of branches was finally formed.
Zhang Zilin initially suggested making it larger, but Li An strictly limited the size and height of the shelter, making it very inconspicuous. Without careful observation in the dense forest, it wouldn't be noticed.
So the two of them squeezed into one shelter.
The forest was as quiet as death, occasionally with bird calls in the distance, and the shadows of trees in front were like phantoms.
"Li An, should we start a campfire? Otherwise, won't we be attacked by wild animals at night..."
Zhang Zilin was a bit nervous; the tiger that had come to the spirit field earlier had left a significant psychological shadow on him.
After all, he was only at the first layer of Qi Refining and had only cultivated the Cloud Movement and Rain Skill. His leg had been broken by Fan Jie, making him a cripple. If he faced fierce beasts like tigers, he would most likely be doomed.
"We must not start a fire!"
Li An said calmly.
Starting a fire would indeed repel ordinary beasts, but it would become a target for spirit beasts or even lurking enemies!
Hearing this, Zhang Zilin didn't dare say anything more; after experiencing hardships for two years, his initial ambitions upon entering the sect had completely dissipated, leaving him humble and weak.
Meanwhile, Li An was rubbing the three black miscellaneous spirit pills in his hand, his eyes slightly narrowed...
Fan Jie wanted to reveal the dagger, intending to kill me... The previous obstacle, and now this life-and-death hatred.
If it's not avenged... then he won't be called Li An!
...