In the depths of the clouds at Cuiyun Peak, standing on a platform halfway up the mountain, the Holy Horned White Deer gazed in the direction of Peony Mountain, its face displaying an almost human-like expression.

It was smiling, a smile that was extremely subtle.

Retracting its gaze, the Holy Horned White Deer looked towards the abyss beyond the platform.

The platform was neither anchored above nor below, surrounded by a sea of clouds and distant layers of mountain peaks.

From the abyss below the platform, there came faint sounds akin to a giant breathing, rumbling like thunder, and down the mountain, a purple light flickered on and off, in rhythm with the wind sounds.

"I didn't misjudge the person, a person with such a face is surely someone who would stop at nothing for selfish gain, even if there are mountains of corpses and seas of blood behind him, he wouldn't turn back. As long as he's seen the effects of the Vermilion Fruit tainted with Soul-devouring Divine Blood, he will surely uproot the Celestial Immortal Peony and trade it for the Vermilion Fruit." The Holy Horned White Deer looked down at the abyss where the flames flickered, the smile on its face growing wider: "It will happen soon, just wait a little longer."

But before long, the smile on the Holy Horned White Deer's face suddenly froze, it looked up sharply in the direction of Peony Mountain, its eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets: "Impossible... I couldn't have misjudged that person... someone like that... wouldn't do such a thing... and it's still early... it hasn't spread yet... he shouldn't be able to tell... how could he do such a thing..."

The Holy Horned White Deer couldn't believe what it sensed, for the first time doubting its own judgment.

...

After Chen Guan left Peony Mountain with the Celestial Immortal Peony, he didn't encounter anything particularly noteworthy, but along the way, he observed carefully and noticed that the small Flower Demons, which were usually visible with the Celestial Immortal Peony around, were nowhere to be seen.

As he walked, Chen Guan suddenly turned his horse around and headed back towards Peony Mountain.

Reaching the foot of the mountain, Chen Guan recalled his Night Watch Lion Horse, quickly climbed along the mountain wall, and arrived again at the edge of the cliff with the peculiar large rock.

Without hesitation, Chen Guan replanted the peony in the soil pit where it originally was, right next to that peculiar large rock.

The area around the pit was all rocks, with soil only in this pit. Chen Guan replanted the peony in it and backfilled the soil as it was before, having done all this, he looked up at the distant peony bushes and murmured: "I wonder if it's still in time."

After a while, Chen Guan noticed the small Flower Demons reappeared among the peony bushes, only then did a smile appear on his face, and he let out a long sigh of relief: "Looks like it's not too late."

Chen Guan went to the peony bushes, looking kindly at the small Flower Demons diligently collecting pollen among the peonies.

The next second, black smoke surged from his hand, the smoke condensed into a black Primordial Energy Saber.

Chen Guan just gave a casual wave, the Primordial Energy Saber left his hand, swept through the air over the flower bushes, killing many of the small Flower Demons in the air.

This was his newly acquired Secret Skill, the Evil Asura Saber. Even though it consumed 21 points of Primordial Energy and was only at level 1, the destructive power of the Evil Asura Saber far exceeded that of his current level 7 Profound Nether Yin Fire Palm.

Moreover, the Evil Asura Saber could attack from a distance, directly striking long-range targets. Not many First Awakening Cultivators can possess this ability to attack with Primordial Energy remotely.

The Evil Asura Saber is not a Secret Skill that a First Awakening Cultivator can learn, Chen Guan relied on this one Secret Skill to be able to use such an ability at First Awakening.

However, the Evil Asura Saber indeed consumed too much Inner Power, after slashing about twenty or thirty times, Chen Guan's Primordial Energy was nearly exhausted.

But even if Jiang Qiemo came, with his own Primordial Energy, he could at most use the Saber two or three times.

Finally, after Chen Guan killed one more small Flower Demon, that small Flower Demon completed Petification, transforming into particles and merging into Chen Guan's body.

Small Flower Demon (Common): Level 1 Spirit Pet.

Primordial Energy: 1.

Growth Rate: 1.24.

Lifebound Talent: Flower Spirit (Common).

Secret Technique: Hundred Flowers Technique (Common).

Secret Skill: Flower Fragrance (Common).

Secret Treasure: None.

Special State: Diseased.

Chen Guan studied the various attributes of the small Flower Demon closely and found that this creature was indeed totally useless, not only useless but having negative effects.

Other Secret Spirits with Special States invariably had beneficial states.

Only the small Flower Demon had a Special State that was harmful, keeping it in a constant state of sickness, reducing attributes in all aspects.

The foul-smelling sores on its body were likely due to this inherent disease.

The Flower Spirit Talent is a type of plant spirit, absorbing the essence of hundreds of flowers to increase its cultivation speed, a very ordinary talent.

The Hundred Flowers Technique is also a Dharma Gate that relies on hundreds of flowers for cultivation, similarly very ordinary.

The Flower Fragrance Secret Skill can convey a flower scent when attacking, other than adding a bit of fragrant wind, it does not seem to have any additional power effect.

Chen Guan looked at the small Flower Demon, its petals vibrating behind it, trying hard to maintain its body suspended in mid-air, pondering for a moment, he glanced again at the Celestial Immortal Peony at the cliff's edge.

It seemed as if he understood something, Chen Guan turned and descended Peony Mountain, heading straight to the nearby city.

Due to the expansion of the Celestial Court Army and the development of the Beimang Mountain Blessed Land, more and more of the Celestial Court Army stationed in the Blessed Land, and more military bases have been built.

Though soldiers have a Celestial Duty, after all, soldiers are also human, they have emotions, desires, and need to live like humans, they cannot work like machines indefinitely.

Therefore, a city is generally built near each military base.

The city's inhabitants are mostly families, siblings, children, and friends of the Celestial Court Army, with some outsiders allowed residency after passing review, settling in the Blessed Land.

The Blessed Land of Beimang Mountain is not open to those outside the Celestial Court Army, so those who can enter are somewhat connected to the Celestial Court Army, especially military spouses, gaining residence through marriage to the army personnel.

Just this one factor allows the average person to save a lot of expenses, let alone the benefits and perks the Celestial Court Army offers these people, opening many resource areas to them for free.

For the average person, obtaining permanent residency in a city within the Blessed Land of Beimang Mountain is a matter of pride and great benefit.

However, the Celestial Court Army's review process is very rigorous, acquiring residency without familial connections is not easy.

The city closest to Peony Mountain is called "Tiger Soul City," named because the nearby military base is called Tiger Soul Military Base, garrisoned by the Tiger Soul Corps.

Arriving in Tiger Soul City, Chen Guan went directly to the marketplace.

The market had many stalls, open free of charge for the city's military spouses, Chen Guan, an outsider, needed to pay some money to use them.

Chen Guan rented a stall for one day only, selling some unused pets and Secret Cores, while writing on the stall's small blackboard, "Broke up, selling all gifts from ex-girlfriend at a low price, buying small Flower Demon pets at high prices, regardless of quality and level, all are accepted."

Chen Guan sat behind the stall, dressed in his usual clothes, wearing a hat, taking on the role of a street vendor.

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