Chapter 353: Disaster in the Red Wilderness

Watching the corpses of the Yunhuang people being gradually swallowed by the earth below, Chi Xiao was first startled, then his gaze suddenly hardened.

He had just remembered asking Yi Xiaoyao to give up the Blood-crying Poison Lotus earlier.

If Yi Xiaoyao turned on them now, wouldn’t they suffer the same fate as the people from Yunhuang?

In the end, however, Chi Xiao and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Yi Xiaoyao paid them no mind, instead turning to look at the Blood-crying Poison Lotuses.

Then, Chi Xiao and the others could only watch as Yi Xiaoyao walked over to the Blood-crying Poison Lotuses and, with a wave of his hand, collected all ten Poisonous Lotuses into his Storage Pouch.

“Xiaoyao…” Chi Xiao reached out, but hesitated, the words caught in his throat.

Yi Xiaoyao glanced back at him strangely, a faint smile on his face as he asked, “What is it?”

“This Blood-crying Poison Lotus…”

Chi Xiao gave a troubled smile. The Blood-crying Poison Lotus was too important to them Poison Cultivators, and he was still unwilling to give up on it.

Yi Xiaoyao let out a soft chuckle. “Now that you mention it, I seem to recall Chi Xiao asking me to give up the Blood-crying Poison Lotus, didn’t you?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant.”

Chi Xiao laughed, his attitude completely different from before. He just wanted Yi Xiaoyao to share one with him.

But how could Yi Xiaoyao not know what this man was thinking? He simply gave a cold, faint smirk.

“Chi Xiao, don’t you forget. If it weren’t for Senior Chong Li’s sake, and for the two Refining Spirit Fruits you gave me earlier, I wouldn’t have stepped in to save you. As things stand, not only would you have failed to get the Blood-crying Poison Lotus, you probably would have lost your life here!”

Yi Xiaoyao was throwing the same words Chi Xiao had used to threaten him right back in his face.

Hearing this, Chi Xiao’s body trembled slightly.

“From now on, let’s go our separate ways. I hope you don’t make an enemy of me. Otherwise…”

Before Yi Xiaoyao could finish, he had already vanished from the sight of the Lihuang group.

Chi Xiao stared in the direction Yi Xiaoyao had disappeared, then at the corpses of the Yunhuang people being swallowed by the earth, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“That Yi Xiaoyao… how did he get so strong?”

“When he fought Xing Gang earlier, he was nearly injured. But now he can kill these people from Yunhuang with a single sword strike!”

‘Could it be… he’s been hiding his strength all along? Is his true power actually greater than anyone from the Eight Desolates who came here?’

The Lihuang people discussed amongst themselves, their shock yet to fade. The last speculation, in particular, caused a bead of cold sweat to form on Chi Xiao’s forehead.

…

Meanwhile, Yi Xiaoyao returned to Yun Mengling’s side, pulling her along as they disappeared into the dense forest.

From then on, the two of them chose to travel alone, unafraid even when they encountered other teams.

This was because Yi Xiaoyao still had a considerable amount of Spiritual Power compressed within him by the Refining Spirit Fruit, enough to sustain him through several more battles.

Besides, even if he used up all this compressed Spiritual Power, he still had two other Nascent Souls filled to the brim with it.

As for the direction they traveled, it was toward the Soul Spirit Pool. Yi Xiaoyao had already memorized the location of the green pillar of light from when Ce Mu used the Treasure Light Mirror to detect it.

「Half a day later, a heavy rain began to fall on Sunken Spirit Island.」

Yi Xiaoyao sat inside a large tree hollow. He took a snow-white lotus seed from a Blood-crying Poison Lotus and handed it to Yun Mengling.

“Ling’Er, eat this. After this, we won’t have to fear any Poison Cultivator below the Void-Entering realm.”

Yi Xiaoyao smiled and swallowed a lotus seed himself, then carefully stored away the highly poisonous petals.

Just then, the sound of a fierce battle suddenly erupted from outside the tree hollow, not far from them.

“Looks like another team is fighting over some treasure. Let’s go check it out. We might be able to swoop in and pick up the spoils.”

Yi Xiaoyao grinned at Yun Mengling, and the two of them left the tree hollow, heading through the rain toward the sounds of battle.

Before long, the pair stopped. Seeing the two teams fighting in the dense forest ahead, Yi Xiaoyao’s brow furrowed.

“It’s people from the Red Wilderness and Heihuang.”

Yi Xiaoyao then recalled the beautiful leaders of these two teams. They had exchanged harsh words right after arriving on Sunken Spirit Island, so it was only natural they would fight to the death upon meeting again.

“Xiaoyao, the captain from the Red Wilderness helped you before. Aren’t you going to help them?” Yun Mengling asked.

Yi Xiaoyao gave Yun Mengling a surprised glance, seeing her serious expression. She didn’t hold any personal grudge despite Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance’s previous hostility toward her.

“Alright then. You wait for me nearby. Call out if you’re in danger.”

Yi Xiaoyao nodded, then his figure flashed as he headed toward the two fighting teams.

At that moment, among the two clashing teams, the Red Wilderness group seemed to be at a disadvantage, their Attributes apparently being countered. Every one of them wore an anxious expression.

When they spotted Yi Xiaoyao approaching, a glimmer of hope appeared in their eyes.

“Yi Xiaoyao, our captain saved you before! If you have any conscience, go save our captain!”

The Red Wilderness People shouted to Yi Xiaoyao, gesturing toward a large cave not far away where Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance was.

Hearing this, Yi Xiaoyao immediately shot toward the cave.

「Just moments before, inside the cave.」

Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance’s wrists, ankles, and neck were all bound by black, icy shackles. She was trapped against a thick stone pillar, letting out furious shouts.

“Mo Qiansu! You despicable villain! So this whole downpour was a trap you deliberately set to scheme against me!”

Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance struggled desperately. Flames erupted from her wrists, but although the icy shackles SIZZLED continuously under the heat, they were melting at an incredibly slow rate.

“Flame Sacrifice Fire Dance, this is what they call ‘knowing your enemy and knowing yourself.’ I happen to know that you, the Red Wilderness Saintess, have a natural hatred for water. The moment it rains, you’re bound to find a place to take shelter. But you never imagined that this very tendency would lead you right into my hands, did you?”