The battle in the valley came and went quickly.
A figure flashed like lightning, moving at lightning speed through the valley.
Wherever they went, a spirit beast or demon beast would inevitably be cut into several pieces and perish completely.
Before long, all the spirit beasts and demon beasts that had been attracted by the fragrance of the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit were slaughtered by Xiao Li.
It doesn't even need the help of the Five Elements.
The entire valley was littered with severed limbs and blood, and the corpses of spirit beasts and monsters were everywhere.
At this moment, Lu Qing had already arrived in front of the vermilion fruit tree.
Using his magic, he plucked the fully ripe Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit, placed it in a jade box, and then stored it in his Qiankun Yiqi Bag.
He was not surprised by Xiao Li's unilateral massacre.
There were many spirit beasts and demon beasts attracted by the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit, including seven or eight at the Golden Core level.
However, among these spirit beasts and demon beasts, the most powerful one was only at the level of a mid-grade Golden Core cultivator at the third stage.
Xiao Li, on the other hand, has already entered the second stage of the Golden Core realm.
It is a refined and flawless top-grade golden elixir.
In addition, he possesses several innate supernatural abilities and has accumulated years of combat experience through training with him.
Such a powerful foundation is far beyond what these spirit beasts and demon beasts, who have always stayed in the mountains and wilds and whose strongest members have only condensed a mid-grade demon core, can compare to.
His order for the Five Elements to be on alert and ready to support Xiao Li was merely a cautious arrangement.
But I never imagined that Xiao Li would lose.
And that was indeed the case, in the face of Xiao Li's outburst.
Even those seven or eight Golden Core Realm spirit beasts and demon beasts were almost no match for them.
There was simply no way to stop Xiao Li's extreme speed and its indestructible, unparalleled claws.
"Aqing, come quick!"
After Lu Qing put away the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit, he heard Xiao Li shout.
"What's wrong?" Lu Qing landed at the bottom of the valley.
“Look, this valley is absorbing the blood of these guys!” Xiao Li pointed to the ground.
Lu Qing looked down at the ground, and then his gaze sharpened.
The blood of the spirit beasts and demon beasts that Xiao Li had just killed fell into the valley and did not accumulate.
Instead, it slowly sank underground and disappeared.
If it were just mud, that would be one thing, but even the blood that had fallen on the rocks slowly disappeared.
This obviously abnormal scene immediately caught Lu Qing's attention.
He focused his mind and began to sense things intently.
Soon, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"This blood was absorbed by this Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree?"
After sensing this, Lu Qing realized that the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree didn't seem very big.
In fact, its roots have long been spread throughout the underground of the entire valley.
The blood of those spirit beasts and demon beasts seeped into the ground and was quickly absorbed by the massive root system of the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree, gathering in the trunk.
Looking at the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree on the cliff, which seemed to have become more vibrant, Lu Qing's heart stirred slightly.
The previous doubts were immediately resolved.
"So that's how it is. The medicinal fragrance from earlier must have been deliberately emitted by the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree."
The goal is to lure nearby spirit beasts and monsters over and make them fight each other.
Meanwhile, it takes the opportunity to absorb the blood essence of spirit beasts and demon beasts to promote its own growth.
"I'm afraid the medicinal fragrance is also problematic, capable of clouding the will of weak-willed spirit beasts and demon beasts."
When Lu Qing saw those spirit beasts and demon beasts facing Xiao Li, who was much stronger than them, and still acting fearlessly, he felt something was wrong.
Now, considering that the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree is absorbing the essence and blood of spirit beasts and demon beasts, Lu Qing has roughly figured out what's going on.
Indeed, there are few things in this world that can be gained without effort.
These spirit beasts and demons, smelling the medicinal fragrance of the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit, thought there was a great opportunity in this valley.
In reality, they were merely prey of the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree.
The Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree uses its own fruit as bait to lure them into killing each other.
The ultimate goal is to use their essence and flesh as nourishment for myself.
After understanding everything, Lu Qing couldn't help but feel a sense of amazement.
The world is vast and full of wonders.
This Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree has not yet developed sentience; it acts solely on instinct and has already manipulated many powerful spirit beasts and demon beasts at will.
Even Xiao Li, who was so bloodthirsty just now, was probably affected by the medicinal aura.
Only because of his firm Dao heart and profound cultivation, the medicinal energy of the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit could not shake his mind.
Otherwise, it's hard to guarantee that he won't also lose his mind.
"If it were an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, it would be hard to say whether they would be deceived by this Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit."
Without sufficient strength, even a stroke of luck can sometimes turn into disaster.
A sudden realization dawned on Lu Qing.
He then shared his discovery, which surprised both Xiao Li and Wu Xing.
The Five Elements are alright; it is Lu Qing's soul-enslaved spirit beast and will not be affected by mere medicinal energy.
But Xiao Li was a little angry. She had actually been ambushed by a spiritual herb.
"Ah Qing, this Zhu Guo tree is so bad, why don't we destroy it?" Xiao Li said angrily.
The Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree on the cliff seemed to understand Xiao Li's words and couldn't help but tremble slightly.
“There’s no need for that,” Lu Qing laughed. “It’s just acting on instinct.”
Besides, we've already benefited from obtaining this Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit.
This fruit will be of great benefit to you and to the Five Elements.
Since we've already gained an advantage, why bother with the act of crossing the river and then burning the bridge?
After hearing this, Xiao Li also felt that it made some sense.
He nodded and said, "Then let it go this time."
Anyway, they didn't suffer any losses and even gained a spiritual fruit, so in all things considered, they made a profit.
"Although I can spare it this time, the corpses of these guys are my spoils of war, and I can't leave them to it!"
After saying this, Xiao Li transformed into a streak of light, flashing and leaping through the valley.
Soon, the entire valley was filled with the corpses of spirit beasts and demon beasts, except for those that were too low-ranking to be of any interest.
The rest were all stored in the storage ring that Lu Qing had given it.
"Anyway, doesn't that stinky snake like to refine blood food? I'd rather feed it than this broken tree!" Xiao Li said angrily.
"You..."
Lu Qing smiled and shook his head.
However, he didn't say anything more.
These corpses were indeed Xiao Li's spoils of war, and it had the right to dispose of them as it pleased.
Moreover, the corpses of those Golden Core Realm spirit beasts and demon beasts also have considerable use.
"Alright, we've got the spirit fruit now, let's go."
Lu Qing took out the jade talisman that he had previously placed in the valley, and then left with Xiao Li and Wu Xing.
"Ah Qing, since such high-grade spiritual fruits can grow in this mountain range, why don't we take a few more turns and see if there are any other treasures?"
After leaving the valley, Xiao Li turned to Lu Qing and said.
Lu Qing thought for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, we're not in a hurry to get going anyway."
"If we can find a few more top-grade spirit fruits, we'll hit the jackpot!"
"You stinking snake, stay away from me. If you want blood food, you'll have to see how well you've behaved lately..."
As the sounds faded into the distance, the valley returned to silence.
Only scattered corpses of spirit beasts and demon beasts remained, while the Dragon Blood Vermilion Fruit Tree swayed gently in the mountain breeze.
...
boom!
Suddenly, a loud noise came from a deep mountain cave, followed by several figures fleeing out in a panic.
Immediately afterwards, a black sword aura shot out from the depths of the cave.
It grazed their bodies, landed in front, and blasted down one of the cave walls.
A large number of rocks fell, completely blocking the entire cave passage.
"I'll do it!"
The faces of the fleeing men changed. One of the young men, dressed in purple, gritted his teeth, took out a talisman from his storage bag, and unleashed it.
The next moment, a thick bolt of lightning shot out, blasting the falling rocks in front of them apart.
"Run!"
The young man in purple took out a handful of talismans from his storage bag and threw them all behind him, regardless of whether they were high-level or low-level.
Then, he led the others and continued to flee forward.
They had barely escaped a few dozen feet when they heard a series of explosions behind them.
However, the talismans thrown out by the purple-clad youth erupted under his mental control.
Under the rampant and powerful talismanic energy, the entire cave passage behind them began to collapse.
Even the tunnel in front of them began to shake.
"Run!"
Seeing this, the group desperately used their movement techniques and finally managed to escape the cave before it collapsed.
Just as they escaped the cave entrance, they heard another roar behind them, and the entire cave collapsed.
Upon seeing this, the young man in purple robes sharpened his gaze.
He immediately took out several more talismans from his storage bag.
Driven by magical power, the talisman flew out and merged into the rocks around the cave entrance, sealing the entire entrance.
"Senior Brother Mu, is that demon trapped inside and died?"
A young girl stared at the collapsed hole, her face still showing shock.
"It's hard to say. That demon is highly skilled. Even with my array blocking him, this cave probably won't hold him for long."
The young man in purple shook his head.
"I never expected that Li Motian, who looks upright, is actually a demonic cultivator who has sided with the demon race!"
We were so blind to have been on such good terms with someone like that for so long!
Another young man angrily cursed.
"That's right. It was his idea to explore this ancient cave. He must have planned it all along. He was going to kill us all after we opened the cave. Luckily, Senior Sister Ye fought to the death to cover our retreat, otherwise we probably wouldn't have made it out."
"I wonder how Senior Sister Ye is doing."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
When Senior Sister Ye covered their retreat, she had already used a secret technique to burn her golden core.
Even so, the demon still caught up with them in a very short time.
Therefore, the outcome is self-evident: Senior Sister Ye is likely in grave danger.
"In any case, we must return to the sect immediately and report this matter."
Li Motian, a true disciple of the inner sect, secretly defected to the Demon Clan.
This matter is far too important, and likely involves very deep implications; we must ensure the sect makes preparations as soon as possible!
The young man in purple robes said in a deep voice.
But just then, a cold voice suddenly rang out: "Trying to escape? Do you think you can get away? Do you think this bitch can stop me?"
The sound was very close, it had already reached behind the cave entrance.
Immediately afterwards, the group saw that the cave entrance had been completely blocked by falling rocks.
The rock slowly melted, revealing a cavity from which a figure wreathed in black flames floated out.
He was also holding a disheveled woman in his hand.
"Senior Sister Ye!"
The girls screamed in surprise when they saw the woman the man was holding.
However, at this moment, the woman's limbs were twisted, and her life was uncertain, so how could she respond to them?
The young man in purple was also shocked: "Impossible! How could you escape so quickly!"
Not to mention that among the large pile of talismans he threw into the cave, there were talismans with sealing properties.
In addition, the talisman array he set up at the cave entrance should have been impossible for even a late-stage Golden Core cultivator to break through so quickly.
Li Motian was originally only at the third stage of the Golden Core realm.
Even if he had been hiding his cultivation level, he shouldn't have such strength.
Otherwise, they would never have been able to escape from here.
Could it be...?
The purple-clad youth's face was extremely grim as he asked, "You obtained the items from the cave?"
“Not bad,” the figure wreathed in black flames said slowly and deliberately.
"Speaking of which, I should thank you. If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't have been able to break the seal on that cave so easily and get the treasures inside."
"Li Motian, as a true disciple of the inner sect of my Qiankun Sect, nurtured by my Qiankun Sect, you secretly betrayed us and sided with the Demon Clan. Don't you feel any shame? You are unworthy of being a son!"
The young man in purple shouted and cursed.
"Cultivated by the Qiankun Sect?"
However, upon hearing this, Li Motian burst into laughter as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
His laughter was incredibly arrogant, causing the purple-clad youth and his companions to change color.
"why are you laughing!"
"What am I laughing at?" Li Motian stopped laughing and said coldly, "Zixiao, do you know how I joined the Qiankun Sect back then?"
"It was Elder Wang who brought you into the sect."
"That's right, Elder Wang brought me into the sect, but do you know what my background was before I entered the Qiankun Sect, and where I came from?"
The young man in purple was speechless and could not answer for a moment.
The expressions of the others also changed slightly.
They then realized that although they had known Li Motian for many years, they knew nothing about his background before he joined the sect.
This is because Li Motian has never mentioned his past to them.
"You don't know, do you? Then let me tell you, my family members were innocently affected by the infighting among you so-called righteous people."
In the end, not only did my family members die tragically, but the entire village was also razed to the ground.
If I hadn't run away from the village that day to play and escaped this calamity, I probably would have been dead long ago.
As a result, those two beasts who destroyed my hometown went unpunished and remained free and unrestrained.
But I was reduced to an orphan, homeless, and forced to beg for a living.
More than once, I nearly starved to death in the wilderness!
The purple-clad youth and the others were stunned when they saw the hatred in Li Motian's eyes.
They had no idea that this fellow disciple, who had always appeared very cheerful in front of them, was actually a stranger to them.
There was such a tragic past.
However, the young man in purple quickly realized what was happening.
"Since you have such a shameful past, you should be even less likely to betray the sect."
Don't forget, it was the sect's nurturing that brought you to your current cultivation level and status!
"Heh, the cultivation of the sect." However, Li Motian sneered again, "Then do you know who those two people who killed my family and destroyed my hometown were?"
"Who is it?" A bad feeling suddenly arose in the young man's heart.
Then he saw an expression of intense hatred on Li Motian's face.
"That's your senior brother, the one revered by all the disciples of the sect, the head of the true disciples, and the beloved son of the sect leader, Qian Lingxiao!"
"impossible!"
Upon hearing Li Motian's words, the purple-clad youth blurted out.
