Chapter 2824 — Robbed
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Mo Ba found the place quickly enough; on the very night of the trial's first day, the two of them regrouped.
"Brother Pao, did you get your hands on any of the trial spirit herbs?" Mo Ba asked.
"No. There aren't any around here, and I didn't go looking. Wait—this spot is obvious. Won't be long before other cultivators come sniffing around, and then we'll just take what we want by force," Zhang Naipao said flatly.
"True enough. With Brother Pao's skill and methods, there's no need for you to go hunting for spirit herbs yourself. Only a fool would do that!" Mo Ba flattered.
"Let's rest a while first," Zhang Naipao said mildly. "The heaven-and-earth spiritual energy here is abundant. I'm going to cultivate for a bit."
"Brother Pao, isn't it said that the aura of the Five Baleful is harmful to cultivators? Why would you—" Mo Ba started in alarm.
"Haha, have you forgotten what cultivation method I practice? My Soul-Devouring Divine Art can absorb any true qi at all. So long as it's true qi, who cares whether it's the Five Baleful aura or heaven-and-earth spiritual energy—I can even absorb poison!" Zhang Naipao laughed, utterly unconcerned. "This place suits me perfectly for cultivation. Good chance to consolidate my rank while I'm at it."
So Zhang Naipao cultivated while Mo Ba stood guard. But their luck was poor: they waited all the way until noon the next day and not a single cultivator came to the place. Mo Ba grew anxious. "Brother Liang, something's off. We've waited this long—how come there's not a single cultivator in sight?"
"It hasn't been that long. Just wait. No rush," Zhang Naipao said, perfectly calm.
And wouldn't you know it—no sooner had the words left his mouth than voices came drifting in from outside the safe zone. Someone was coming!
"Young Hero Yang, we really are lucky. This spot looks decent—we can avoid the attacks of spirit beasts here!" one of the men outside said.
"Indeed. We can take shelter here, rest a moment, and then head for the teleportation array," said the one addressed as Young Hero Yang. He was a formidable expert from Fireflame Mountain, at the peak of the mid Heaven Rank.
The man speaking to him was a mid Earth Rank expert from the Dark Night Palace, and the third, who said nothing, was an early Earth Rank expert also of the Dark Night Palace. Beside Young Hero Yang, the two of them were little more than errand boys. Still, trailing behind an expert at the peak of the mid Heaven Rank greatly reduced the danger—just as, earlier, they had run into a Mystic Rank spirit beast, and Young Hero Yang had driven it off. He hadn't gained much of an advantage, true, but had the two Dark Night Palace Earth Rank experts faced it alone, they would have been lucky to escape with their lives.
Moreover, under Young Hero Yang's protection, they had smoothly gathered trial spirit herbs. True, the two of them had only obtained a single stalk between them, but that was still quite good. Had they acted alone, they might well have lost their lives before ever laying hands on a spirit herb.
"After you, Young Hero Yang..." said Dark Night Palace Disciple A, gesturing for him to go first.
Young Hero Yang nodded and strode in at the head of the group. But the moment he entered, he froze—for he saw that Zhang Naipao and his lackey Mo Ba were here as well.
Still, Young Hero Yang was not overly afraid. In his view, he was, after all, an expert at the peak of the mid Heaven Rank. If each side kept to its own business and he did not provoke them, Zhang Naipao would not do anything to him.
The two Dark Night Palace disciples followed Young Hero Yang inside. Seeing Zhang Naipao, they too visibly started, a flicker of fear crossing their faces—but then they recalled that Zhang Naipao was only early Heaven Rank, that his follower Mo Ba was mid Heaven Rank, and that Young Hero Yang was at the peak of the mid Heaven Rank. So they set their minds at ease.