MTLNOVEL Chapter 24
Tan Qingxue was dead-set on getting the Second Grade Spiritual Herb, but following her would make them cannon fodder.
The Alchemy Hall, to avoid exposure, was intent on killing Li An, unwilling to let him return to the Clear Sun Sect alive.
These thoughts flashed through Li An’s mind. He always avoided danger, preferring steady growth and staying low.
But the cultivation world was like this—Li An couldn’t control every twist and turn.
When danger was unavoidable…
He’d make himself the greatest threat!
His Life Seed’s power cloaked him, Super Sense Technique at its peak. Light Step Technique turned him into a ghostly shadow in the forest.
From his “fall,” he took the nearest path around the cliff. Below, a stream babbled, waterfall sounds echoing.
He spotted Qin Wei, the young man, searching the cliff base thoroughly.
Finding nothing at the bottom, with vines and shrubs covering the cliff wall, Qin Wei climbed up with effort.
Finally, he let out a triumphant sound, finding a bloodied storage bag among the vines.
He returned to the base, grinning.
He hesitated, then didn’t search further for Li An’s body. A cultivator’s storage bag was their lifeline—losing it likely meant Li An was done.
Qin Wei hurried off.
From 100 meters away, hidden in dense woods, Li An tailed him like a specter.
…
Night fell.
Li An hid in thick tree branches, 200 meters from where Qin Wei, Qingyuan, and their group had camped.
As he’d guessed, they were tracking Tan Qingxue’s team.
Qin Wei had turned in Li An’s storage bag, and no issues arose.
Either they hadn’t noticed the scent on the bag, or they didn’t care.
Li An bet on the former. Even Qingyuan wouldn’t easily detect that faint scent if caught unaware.
…
The next day, at noon, Tan Qingxue cautiously entered a valley.
After a day and a half, they’d searched three spots, even battling a Fifth Layer Qi Refining beast with great effort.
Still no Black Needle Giant Ape.
This was their last stop!
“Black Needle Giant Ape dung!” Jiang You exclaimed, stepping into a slimy pile. He scrambled away, rubbing his shoe in the dirt.
“It’s here?” Cao Zhiruo’s eyes lit up.
Had they found it?
“Careful… Black Needle Giant Apes stick close to their herbs!” Tan Qingxue said, tense but excited. “I have a Low Grade Second Rank Talisman to kill it!”
They crept forward, a faint herbal scent in the air.
Roar!
Suddenly, a massive roar came from behind a boulder on the right.
A black shadow lunged from the treetops, aiming for Tan Qingxue with terrifying speed!
“Trouble!” The trio’s faces paled. Tan Qingxue threw a High Grade First Rank Water Shield Talisman!
The shield shattered under the titan-like ape’s fist, the shockwave hurling Tan Qingxue into a tree ten steps away. Pale, she spat blood, her robe torn, revealing a protective soft armor!
Without it, she’d be dead!
Even the armor cracked.
A Peak Qi Refining Black Needle Giant Ape ambushing a Sixth Layer cultivator!
It defied logic.
Caught off guard, she was badly hurt.
“Black Needle Giant Ape!”
“It’s here!” Jiang You and Cao Zhiruo shouted, launching talismans. Mid Grade First Rank Fire Snake and Blade Talismans hit the ape, but its tough hide shrugged them off. It charged Tan Qingxue like a mad beast.
Tan Qingxue’s face fell. Why was it locked on her?!
“Hold it off… I need time!” she said, struggling, swallowing a pill and slapping three Mid Grade First Rank Qi Recovery Talismans on herself.
She gripped a pale blue talisman, its faint water ripples stunning, straining to activate it.
But her damaged qi and mental strain from the High Grade talisman slowed her with the Second Rank one.
Jiang You and Cao Zhiruo tried their hardest, but the Peak Qi Refining ape was too strong. Their Mid Grade First Rank Talismans barely fazed it, and their own strength was no match, unable to stall.
The ape leaped, closing in on Tan Qingxue.
She threw another Water Shield Talisman and a High Grade First Rank Swift Step Talisman, fleeing to gain distance.
The ape chased relentlessly.
Tan Qingxue burned through High Grade talismans, her mental strength buckling. Too exhausted, she pocketed the Second Rank talisman and ran.
“Qingxue!” Jiang You and Cao Zhiruo chased, frantic.
The ape pursued her over two miles!
Tan Qingxue was at her limit, qi drained, mind foggy, on the verge of collapse.
Her armor was nearly shattered.
Suddenly, the ape seemed to smell something, abandoning her to rush back to the valley.
Jiang You and Cao Zhiruo dodged, nearly knocked over.
“Qingxue, you okay?!” They rushed to her.
“Run… now!” Tan Qingxue gasped, fainting.
…
In the valley, Qingyuan laughed. “Tan Qingxue, you’re just my bait!”
A month ago, they’d located the ape and killed its cub.
That fight cost them countless talismans and Pills, plus several Qi Refining elites from the Alchemy Hall.
The ape was too strong to face head-on.
So, they leaked news of a Second Grade Spiritual Herb to lure outer sect disciples.
Few dared challenge the ape, so they waited until Tan Qingxue showed up.
The bottle they gave her was coated with a liquid made from the cub’s brain. The ape’s keen nose would sense it when she neared, drawing it away.
A classic diversion.
Now, the Second Grade herb was theirs…
Qingyuan led his group into the valley, spotting a cave on the cliff wall.
“Two stay outside. The rest, with me!” he ordered, rushing in.
In the dark cave, two nearly transparent lotuses glowed faintly!
“Two Second Grade Ghost Light Lotuses!” Qingyuan was ecstatic.
But screams erupted outside!
His face fell. Turning, a gust hit as the Black Needle Giant Ape charged, roaring deafeningly, numbing their ears.
Qingyuan trembled, reaching for a tool, but the ape was too fast. It grabbed his neck, crushing his throat with five fingers!
Blood sprayed!
“No!” The others screamed in terror.
It was a massacre!
…
Seven or eight miles away, on a hilltop, Li An opened his cloth bundle. The urine-soaked mud had hardened. Breaking it, the bottle sat at the wind’s mouth, the urine’s stench and a faint odor drifting downwind…
He tucked away the cloth, slapped three Mid Grade First Rank Swift Step Talismans on himself—the max for stacking effects—and leaped into the forest, racing toward the valley!
(Chapter End)