Ling Xiao walked at the back of the team, making it easier to observe the entire group’s situation.
The Exquisite Fairy walked in the middle of the team, with the cold-faced warrior constantly guarding her side.
Moreover, this woman was surrounded by warriors of at least the fourth level of the Mortal Realm, practically protecting her like stars surrounding the moon.
The Exquisite Fairy didn’t seem to find anything wrong with this.
In the Sha Family Fortress, she had always been the lofty queen, and these people’s willingness to protect and follow her seemed, to her, a perfectly ordinary matter.
She possessed beauty; even a slight frown or smile could drive many men wild.
She possessed unique skills, able to easily heal warriors’ injuries, earning their deep admiration.
She also possessed strength, with a cultivation at the peak of the fourth level of the Mortal Realm, which, while not particularly strong, still made her a standout in a place like the Sha Family Fortress.
Additionally, she possessed an extremely powerful martial soul, which, if she chose to use it, could easily defeat fifth-level Mortal Realm warriors.
All these factors made her feel superior, as if others should naturally grovel at her feet.
What was infuriating was that the man surnamed Ling dared to reject her demands in front of so many people.
Without teaching this boy a lesson, she could hardly swallow her anger.
There’s nothing wrong with pride, but believing every man in the world should grovel before her was asking for trouble.
Meeting someone like Ling Xiao was simply her bad luck.
The cold-faced warrior seemed to be discussing something with the Exquisite Fairy, though their voices were low and deliberately shielded by true essence, so unless Ling Xiao exposed his strength, he couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Cold Face, what do you think?”
“That kid is indeed a bit tricky, knowing formations, but it doesn’t matter. His cultivation is too weak, so if we seize the opportunity, subduing him will be easy.”
“As long as you’re confident, there’s no rush to act. The place we discovered this time is highly likely to be an ancient warrior’s cultivation site, filled with treasures, but it’s protected by formations. Since this kid knows formations, let him try breaking them first.”
The Exquisite Fairy had originally planned a forceful approach, bringing so many people to directly excavate the ancient warrior’s cave and bypass the formations.
But this method was not only crude but also not guaranteed to succeed, and the worst part was it might require something like thunderbolt bombs, which would cause too much commotion and attract powerful ferocious beasts, leading to trouble.
Thus, upon learning Ling Xiao knew formations, she changed her mind.
Originally, she planned to find an opportunity to kill Ling Xiao on the way, but now she decided to wait until he broke the cave’s formations before killing him.
“Understood!”
The cold-faced warrior shared the same thought; having someone who understood formations and not using them would be a waste.
“Everyone, stay sharp! The deeper we go, the greater the danger. We’ve taken this route before, but don’t play with fire, or a misstep could lead to total annihilation!”
The cold-faced warrior suddenly raised his voice, reaching every warrior’s ears.
“Understood!”
The other warriors responded in unison.
Although Ling Xiao didn’t know what the cold-faced warrior and the Exquisite Fairy discussed, he could guess something from their changing expressions.
“It seems this woman won’t shed tears until she sees the coffin, nor turn back until she hits the wall! If that’s the case, I won’t hold back either!”
…
Initially, the team didn’t face any attacks, likely because the aura of thirty warriors was strong enough to deter the ferocious beasts hiding in the Fulong Mountain Range from rashly attacking.
However, as they ventured deeper, powerful ferocious beasts began to appear.
Some merely observed, while others boldly launched attacks.
Ling Xiao wasn’t new to encountering ferocious beasts, but every time he saw a scene of combat with them, he couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Ferocious beasts showed no mercy; their killing was purely instinctual, brutal, and decisive, without any hesitation.
Attacking the team was an Ice Sparrow.
Though only a third-level ferocious beast, not particularly strong, the problem was, it could fly!
The Ice Sparrow was tiny, about the size of a regular sparrow, its body a deep blue, exuding an intense chill, capable of releasing highly terrifying cold poison.
Using its high-speed flight, the Ice Sparrow could inject cold poison into a target’s body with just a scratch or peck.
Even targets several or dozens of times larger than it would gradually stiffen if poisoned, eventually dying from frozen blood, becoming its meal.
The Ice Sparrow hid among the leaves.
Being so small, the warriors didn’t notice its presence.
Only when it suddenly struck, instantly injuring four or five warriors, did they realize the danger.
Those four or five injured warriors collapsed moments later, trembling as if lying naked in a snowy wasteland.
After spotting the Ice Sparrow’s attack, the warriors began an organized counterattack, forming a tight defensive net.
Unfortunately, the Ice Sparrow was too cunning; seeing no further opportunity to attack, it vanished into the dense forest, leaving the warriors unable to pursue.
If Ling Xiao used his formation stones or sword-control technique, he might have been able to kill the Ice Sparrow, but he didn’t.
He hadn’t forgotten Master Yuan’s instructions: when deep in the Fulong Mountain Range, fight with formation stones whenever possible.
As for the sword-control technique, it was his trump card, not to be used lightly.
“Hm?”
Ling Xiao suddenly saw the Exquisite Fairy helping the poisoned warriors heal, which wasn’t surprising, but he faintly noticed a dragon shadow flickering behind her.
And that extremely familiar dragon aura.
“Want it?”
Ling Xiao even felt the Primordial Golden Dragon in his body let out a low roar.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this Exquisite Fairy likely possessed a dragon-type martial soul, a very rare kind.
Without using any medicine, the Exquisite Fairy easily dispelled the cold poison, and those warriors naturally showered her with thanks and pledges of loyalty, spouting a bunch of meaningless words that Ling Xiao couldn’t be bothered to listen to.
After the Ice Sparrow’s probing attack, the team became even more cautious.
But in the depths of the Fulong Mountain Range, avoiding all ferocious beast attacks was simply unthinkable, unless you could completely conceal your aura and turn invisible, which might make it possible.
Ling Xiao could naturally achieve this; his Blood Shadow Martial Soul had been fused with the Primordial Golden Dragon, whose abilities it had absorbed, so as long as he could fully control the Primordial Golden Dragon, it would be easy.
Though it was a bit difficult now, it was still achievable.
But doing so would defeat the purpose of entering the mountains for training.
