This night was destined to be restless.
Li An didn't sleep all night, running the Super Sensing Skill to the extreme, pressing his ear against the stone wall of the cave, clearly capturing the sounds on the ground and continuously making judgments in his mind.
"There are the most Tier One early-stage spirit beasts, probably over a hundred, followed by mid-stage, maybe fifty or sixty, and late-stage slightly less, perhaps twenty or thirty?"
Based on the sounds of the spirit beasts' running and their roars, combined with experience from his previous life, he deduced in his heart.
Of course, he couldn't sense those flying spirit beasts in the sky.
However, spirit beasts that fly are generally difficult to control and maneuver, and they are considered treasures once tamed, mostly not used at the forefront, so their numbers should have little impact on the whole.
"The Hundred Beasts Sect has planned for so long, this battle is aimed directly at the core area of the Profound Yang Sect, there should be Tier Two spirit beasts appearing... maybe even Pill Level experts participating!"
He whispered.
The Hundred Beasts Sect would not expect to annihilate or severely damage the Profound Yang Sect with such a beast tide alone.
But it could greatly restrain the Profound Yang Sect's strength.
It seems that the competition for that so-called middle-grade spiritual ore has become very intense.
"This battle won't end quickly, and it will take at least a day for the sect to push here!"
Li An held his temper and continued to hide well.
During the period, one or two spirit beasts also rushed past the rubble pile beside him, the sound of their footsteps making his heart tighten, but fortunately, they were not discovered.
…
Time ticked by.
The faint sunlight at the cave entrance disappeared again.
A day and a night passed!
On the third morning, Li An finally heard footsteps and people talking.
"There's a shack here, but it's trampled to pieces, I didn't see your so-called handyman friend."
A male voice came.
Li An's ears moved, carefully identifying the newcomers.
"Even Fan Jie was killed by someone, with his low cultivation level, he probably got eaten by some spirit beast… Qingwan, should we stop looking?"
The man's voice was somewhat impatient.
Another clear and familiar sigh came: "Keep looking, we knew each other, at least give him a proper burial, it might resolve some karma on the path of cultivation."
"Senior Brother Chen, you take a break, I'll look around myself."
The male voice moved closer to the female voice:
"What's wrong, still angry? Qingwan, I told you, this assassination plan is a sect secret, although you knew it in advance, how can you risk exposure for a mere handyman?"
"Your Spirit Root is excellent, your future entry into the inner sect is almost certain, don't let a small handyman affect your future."
"I'll continue to search with you, and if we still can't find him, then that's it, you've done your part."
The female voice fell silent for a long time, then softly replied with an "um".
Li An listened calmly to the two's conversation, with no waves in his heart, and he did not go out.
Mu Qingwan and the man soon passed this area and headed towards the mountain pass.
"Others should be coming soon…"
Li An murmured, then took out a black pill and swallowed it.
Assorted Spirit Pill!
He bought three pills, giving two to Zhang Susu to poison Fan Jie.
The last one was kept for himself, after all, if he bought the Assorted Spirit Pill and wasn't poisoned, it would clearly be suspicious.
Therefore, he kept this pill for the end, to take before meeting others.
Previously, with the crisis unresolved, taking it too early would affect combat power!
The pill entered his body, and a little spiritual qi was absorbed by Li An, while a wave of pill poison also accumulated in him.
At this moment, from his dantian, the emerald-green Life Seed suddenly emitted a green aura, and the pill poison actually began to dissipate, as if it was about to be dissolved!
Li An was stunned for a moment, then instantly delighted!
The aura of the Life Seed can actually dissolve poison?
This was a discovery he wasn't aware of before!
However, he hurried to suppress the Life Seed, as these pill poisons couldn't be dissolved yet.
...
Not long after.
"Elder Lu, the array that stole spiritual qi, absolutely wasn't something Fan Jie could accomplish. There must have been others behind him..."
A female voice came.
Li An finally felt a surge in his heart.
Xu Qiuhui!
The one he was waiting for had finally arrived!
"Fan Jie is dead, there's no witness to this..."
Another old voice sounded.
"However, Lu Zhoumei from the Pill Hall rushed over immediately, arriving at Spirit Plant Mountain, don't you find this suspicious, Elder Lu?"
Xu Qiuhui continued.
"I understand what you mean, but this involves too many people, we must be cautious… enough, others are coming soon, do not mention this again."
Elder Lu's solemn voice rang out.
...
In the cave, Li An slowly injected a trace of spiritual power into Wang Zilin's body.
Then he slowly fell asleep.
Wang Zilin slowly woke up, discovering himself and Li An in the cave, he couldn't help but be extremely terrified, hurriedly shouting:
"Is anyone there? Help, help..."
...
The voice passed through the seven or eight meters of the underground tunnel, reaching the surface already very faint.
But at this moment, the two people passing by, Elder Lu and Xu Qiuhui, were experts, and both caught it.
Their expressions both changed instantly, landing at the source of the sound.
"Who is below?"
Xu Qiuhui drew her sword and asked.
"Wang Zilin, Li An... save us!"
The voice was intermittent.
Li An?
Xu Qiuhui was surprised immediately, saying, "The errand boy from Spirit Plant Mountain!"
Elder Lu said, "Bring them up!"
...
Not long after.
Wang Zilin reappeared in the dense forest, so excited that he was about to cry, and under the questioning of Elder Lu and Xu Qiuhui, he recounted the events of that day in detail.
Meanwhile, Li An was still in a coma, and Elder Lu fed him a pill.
"Falling into the cave, but turning misfortune into a blessing, avoiding a deadly disaster..."
After listening to the events, Elder Lu couldn't help but sigh, Li An and Wang Zilin were truly lucky.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel puzzled:
"Why would Fan Jie target two small errand boys?"
Xu Qiuhui glanced at the unconscious Li An on the ground and said:
"I know this person; he performed well when he joined the sect but became an errand boy because he damaged his spirit root on the Thunder Spirit Dao. However, later he accidentally consumed Primordial Spring Herbs, and his spirit root was repaired. Moreover, he has some talent in the art of talismans..."
"It seems he intended to kill Li An to prevent him from exposing what he had done at Spirit Plant Mountain after becoming a registered disciple."
Elder Lu nodded.
At this time, Li An finally let out a painful groan and woke up.
"What happened, where am I..."
He asked in confusion, seeing Xu Qiuhui and the others, hurriedly trying to get up and salute.
"Don't move, your leg is broken."
Xu Qiuhui immediately stopped him.
"Greetings, Immortal Xu and Elder Lu!"
Li An had to sit on the ground, slightly bowing, while lightly pressing his calf, taking a sharp breath due to the pain.
— Naturally, he had broken his own calf by hitting the stone wall, and he even deliberately rubbed his back against it to leave numerous abrasions on his skin.
Immediately after, Elder Lu asked Li An many questions, indirectly mentioning the theft of the Spiritual Qi Array and Fan Jie secretly planting Spirit Medicine.
Li An's answers were the same as Wang Zilin's; he had seen pests but noticed nothing unusual, and Fan Jie never allowed them up the mountain.
"I heard from Wang Zilin that you resolved the pest problem?"
"Yes, I read in a medical book that the stink glands of a ferret, camphor root, and crow root all have mild toxicity, so I tried using these to deal with the moths..."
Elder Lu nodded again, praising, "Using poison to eliminate pests is indeed a correct approach; it was the crow root that worked. You were lucky and used the right remedy."
"Elder Lu,"
Suddenly, Xu Qiuhui said, "Weren't you just worried that after Fan Jie's death, there would be no one responsible for Spirit Plant Mountain?"
"Li An's capability and temperament are both good. Why not let him take charge temporarily?"
Hearing this, Elder Lu smiled, "Having an errand boy in charge of a hall is unprecedented... But, in extraordinary times, we can't bother with such details. It's settled; Li An, right? You'll temporarily assume responsibility for Spirit Plant Mountain."
Li An was very excited upon hearing this, "Thank you, Immortal Xu, thank you, Elder Lu!"
Beside Li An, Wang Zilin was filled with admiration but had no jealousy.
Apart from the fact that Li An was already stronger than him, this time surviving was entirely due to Li An, so he also felt grateful to him.
"Elder Lu, we have checked. The spirit beasts have all retreated with no hidden dangers..."
At this moment, Mu Qingwan and her companion, who had delved deep into the mountain pass, also returned.
Upon seeing Li An and Wang Zilin, Mu Qingwan was immediately surprised and delighted:
"Li An... you are still alive?"
And beside Mu Qingwan, the purple-robed man immediately frowned slightly.
"Immortal Mu, you are here too?"
Li An couldn't help but speak, his joy mixed with humility.
Hearing his words, the purple-robed man's frown relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
...
In the following day, the Spirit Plant Mountain area was thoroughly inspected by the Profound Yang Sect.
Besides clearing out the remaining spirit beasts, they were also investigating clues of Fan Jie stealing Spiritual Qi and secretly planting Spirit Medicine.
After Fan Jie's death, these had become cases without a head. Even though Xu Qiuhui and others had suspicions about those behind Fan Jie, without solid evidence, they couldn't proceed further.
Thus, it ended without resolution.
Regarding Fan Jie's death, the sect unanimously believed it was the work of the Hundred Beasts Sect, and that the Fire Spirit Fruit, Fan Jie's storage pouch, and other things were taken by them.
No one suspected Li An, as during this period, Wang Zilin's testimony confirmed he had been unconscious in the cave all along.
Besides, who would think that Li An, at Qi Cultivation Tier Two, could kill Fan Jie, at Qi Cultivation Tier Four?
Li An landed steadily!
...