The earth heaved into countless surging waves of soil, mud splattering and trees collapsing.

They were the aberrations from the Yellow Springs Path.

Wutu Bone did not possess the pain perception and awareness that living creatures should have.

In those ghastly green snake eyes was only boundless cruelty and slaughter.

It ferociously pursued Qi Xiu and Zhu Mo ahead, with no regard for anything else.

Where it passed, nothing was left but a scene too horrific to endure.

"We can't go on like this. Once we get past the mountain up ahead, let's split up and run. Let fate decide our survival."

Zhu Mo, already drenched in sweat, gasped for air. His True Gang was nearly depleted. To continue resisting was to ensure they would both die. If they split up, there was a chance one could survive.

Yet, Qi Xiu, who was at his side, didn't respond but was instead flipping through a jade seal in his hand.

"Big brother, what are you spacing out for at a time like this?"

Thinking Qi Xiu hadn't heard him because he was distracted, Zhu Mo was about to repeat himself when he saw Qi Xiu suddenly flick his fingers and hurl the jade seal in his hand towards the relentlessly chasing Wutu Bone!

SIZZLE—

Accompanied by a piercing whistle, the jade seal shot straight toward the aberrant serpent Wutu Bone.

"What are you doing..." Zhu Mo started to ask, completely baffled.

But then he saw the jade seal, upon touching Wutu Bone, suddenly light up with a dark purple Lei Mang.

With a crack of thunderous vibration, it made the surrounding void tremble!

"HISS!"

Startled by the sudden thunder, Wutu Bone's body stiffened. It immediately abandoned the chase, frantically burrowed into the ground, leaving behind a deep, bottomless hole in an instant.

"PHEW... Damn, we finally survived."

With the crisis averted, Zhu Mo sat down on the ground with a thud, using his sleeves as a fan, waving non-stop.

"Hey, brother, how did you know the jade seal would scare away Wutu Bone?"

"I just thought that the Shenxiao Sect wouldn't create an assessment that is certain death. These jade seals are scattered throughout this assessment area. Given such a large quantity, they shouldn't just be tokens for passing the first trial. So I thought I'd give it a shot. It looks like I wasn't wrong. Wutu Bone isn't here to kill the assessment takers; it's here to make us use up our jade seals."

Looking down at the jade seal in his hand, Qi Xiu shook his head with a wry smile.

It seemed the Shenxiao Sect's initiation assessment's alarming mortality rate wasn't an exaggeration. The strife between fellow candidates, plus the random hunts by an unbeatable aberration like Wutu Bone... The difficulty of surviving through the first trial was evident. If one didn't come with strength at the Peak of Dao Entry, it was simply seeking death.

"Brother, may I ask your name? You are a decent person, let's make friends?"

Zhu Mo stood up, patted the grass dust off his bottom, and smiled as he clasped his hands towards Qi Xiu.

"The 'Qi' from 'Qixin' (working together), and the 'Xiu' from 'Xiuxing' (cultivation). Just call me Qi Xiu."

Qi Xiu actually found the chubby cultivator in front of him quite likable. This man was strong and knowledgeable in the Secret Technique of Pacing the Dipper and Array Formation. Yet he did not oppress others with his power or resort to violence and looting. When they were under attack by Wutu Bone, he immediately dragged him to escape, showing his decent character.

"Qi, the Shenxiao Sect's assessments are fraught with danger. How about we team up?" Zhu Mo suggested. "This Shenxiao Sect initiation assessment is different from the past. I've heard that a squad of wolf riders came from Northwestern Daliang. They're a fierce bunch, with heavy armor and heavy cavalry, well-versed in military formations. If you encounter them alone, it's even more dangerous than facing Wutu Bone. If the two of us team up, should we actually run into those wolf riders, we would at least have a chance to negotiate and oppose them. Don't you think so?"

Qi Xiu had intended to decline Zhu Mo's proposal to team up. He was used to being on his own. Moreover, he had many secrets. Some things were inconvenient to display in front of others. However, what Zhu Mo said later made him change his mind.

The difficulty of the Shenxiao Sect's current assessment seemed to be greater than before. He had stumbled into this assessment by mistake. Unlike the other candidates, he hadn't prepared in advance. Li Lingzi was just an ordinary human; what he knew about the Shenxiao Sect's assessment was superficial and didn't touch the core. But it was different with a cultivator at the Peak of Dao Entry like Zhu Mo. Moreover, since he knew such a lost Secret Technique like Pacing the Dipper and Array Formation, his background was certainly not ordinary. Joining forces, they might learn more about the content of this assessment.

"Then, let's have a pleasant cooperation."

"Pleasant cooperation!"

After joining forces with Zhu Mo, the two continued to search for the Earthly Seal in the mountains and forests.

「In a blink of an eye, three days passed.」

They searched for hundreds of miles around the mountains and forests, yet the Earthly Seal left no trace at all. By this point, not just Qi Xiu but even Zhu Mo started to doubt whether the Shenxiao Sect had ever placed the Earthly Seal at all. Otherwise, how could there be no sign whatsoever?

「In the dark forest at night, the stars twinkled.」

Above the crackling bonfire, a succulent and juicy roasted deer leg sizzled with fat, whetting the appetite and stirring one's hunger.

"Lao Qi, do you think the Shenxiao Sect is just playing us this time? We've been searching for so long and haven't seen a hair of the Earthly Seal. Continuing like this, I think we might not find it before New Year's."

Clutching a silver-bladed knife, Zhu Mo deftly sliced. Amidst the flurry of his knife work, a bowl of fragrant, savory deer meat, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, was handed to Qi Xiu.

He glanced at the deer meat in his hand and then at Zhu Mo, who had already started feasting on a deer leg. Qi Xiu shook his head with a light chuckle, picked up his chopsticks, and gently put a slice of deer meat into his mouth. "The Shenxiao Sect, being a major Sect, shouldn't be making this kind of joke. I suspect the Earthly Seal must be placed in an extremely special location, unlike the Heaven Seal, which is scattered about. We just haven't figured out the key, so we can't find it."

"I don't get it. A Sect that's so warlike, why does its entrance assessment always involve puzzles and tests of wits?"

Zhu Mo finished off the deer leg in no time, twisted his body to grab another leg, and placed it on the campfire.

After putting down his chopsticks and wiping his mouth, Qi Xiu looked at Zhu Mo, who was once again devotedly roasting a deer leg. "You're not planning on eating all night again, are you?"

"Might as well do something when I'm idle." Zhu Mo retorted, then picked up the condiments and sauces nearby and started to cook.

Helplessly watching Zhu Mo, who was mysteriously obsessed with cooking, Qi Xiu rubbed his brow.

His temporary companion had an enormous appetite and outstanding culinary skills. For a normal cultivator in the Dao-Entering Realm, aside from some ingredients rich in Spiritual Power, there was little need to eat meals. But Zhu Mo was different. He had a great interest in gourmet food. Not only did he carry with him a large variety of cooking utensils, condiments, and sauces, he even had a stock of various vegetables for pairing. He could eat like ten oxen in one day, silently feasting all night long—a true glutton.

Closing his eyes, Qi Xiu listened to the sizzling sound of the barbecue beside him and calmed his mind, sorting through his comprehension of various Dharma Gates.

Practicing cultivation is like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall behind. Even with the Star Absorption Skill, a Divine Marvel that could rapidly increase one's cultivation, he had never neglected his daily practice.

The night wind rose, and tree branches swayed. At the campfire site, Qi Xiu, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly twitched his earlobes, and Zhu Mo, who was cutting meat with a knife, also paused.

The two of them exchanged glances, their eyes meeting.

"Someone's coming."

"And they're no friend."

Around them lay not only the formation Zhu Mo deployed using Pacing the Dipper and Array Formation, but also the Talisman Script barriers Qi Xiu had set up. Yet just now, both of these defensive lines were breached in an instant.

WHOOSH—

Almost the moment they sensed something amiss, a streak of starlight flashed swiftly before Qi Xiu and Zhu Mo's eyes, so fast that it had already escaped far away in an instant.

And just as this starlight flashed by, the deer leg that Zhu Mo had just finished grilling was gone.

"What the heck just flew by?" With a bewildered face, Zhu Mo hadn't even realized his deer leg was missing.

"That was some fast Escape Light." With his eyes slightly squinted, Qi Xiu stared in the direction where the starlight had vanished.

The speed of that Escape Light far exceeded the Earthen and Water Escape Skills he and Zhu Mo possessed. The newcomer was an Escape Skill master!

"Hey, where's my deer leg?"

Zhu Mo, belatedly realizing his deer leg was missing, suddenly stood up furiously, turned, and was about to chase after the thief who stole his leg.

"Don't be rash." Grabbing Zhu Mo, Qi Xiu signaled with his eyes and abruptly activated his Body-Protecting True Gang. "The real deal is coming."

No sooner had Qi Xiu finished speaking, a group of massive wolf riders, exuding a savage pressure, pushed aside branches and slowly emerged from the dense forest.

They were tall and majestic, clad in armor, draped in heavy, solid protective gear with metal embellishments and intricate patterns. Each piece of metal revealed an aura of cold harshness. On their helmets were embedded figures of two imposing wolves, their eyes sharp and irresistible. These wolf riders wielded large, heavy silver spears, which under the starlight, gleamed with a chilling light. The wolves they rode were over two meters tall, their thick black fur shimmering with silver-white gleams, like moonlight in the night, emitting a mysterious and majestic presence.

As these large wolf riders passed by, the ground vibrated, and even the surrounding trees seemed to tremble slightly. There was no expression on their faces, just a profound coldness and chill.

The Daliang Wolf Riders!

Coming to a halt in front of Qi Xiu and Zhu Mo, the leader of the wolf riders' gaze shot out from his helmet. "Excuse me, have you seen a streak of starlight passing by?"

The voice, hoarse and deep, was like a steel blade tempered by sand and wind.

"Yes, it went in that direction." Qi Xiu calmly met the gaze of the wolf rider and casually pointed in the direction where the starlight had disappeared.

"Thank you." The lead wolf rider nodded at Qi Xiu and then gestured with his hand.

In a flash, the group of wolf riders turned into terrifying blurs too fast for the naked eye to track and dashed away in an instant.

In the vast night, the eerie howls of the wolves sounded like a battle horn, making one's soul shudder!

"That's the legendary Daliang Wolf Riders, truly living up to their reputation." Taking an interest in the direction where the wolf riders had gone, Qi Xiu looked at the hairs standing on the back of his hand.

"Indeed. The fierce characters who can survive in the Demon Cave of the Northwest are not to be underestimated. That thief is doomed."

Remembering the thief, Zhu Mo was filled with indignation.

If it weren't for his wariness of those wolf riders, he would have chased after and caught the thief himself and given him a good slapping! To teach him that not just anyone's meat can be stolen.

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