"Yue, are you alright?"
Chen Yi's gaze fixated on the crimson figure, a flicker of disorientation seizing him. Quickly regaining his senses, he rushed towards Yun Youyue.
Yun Youyue had already gotten to her feet, her face as black as ink. She enunciated each word: "Bai! Sheng! Yi!"
This woman was truly her nemesis!
Although she had known Bai Sheng Yi would enter the small secret realm, she hadn't expected to run into her so soon in such a vast realm.
"Yo! No wonder you were blocking others. There's actually a Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma here!" Bai Sheng Yi leaped towards the Sky Swallowing Beast, her eyes immediately landing on the blood-red spiritual plant being guarded by the beast.
There were exactly three stalks of the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma, each a vibrant green tinged with red, emitting a peculiar fragrance. They were clearly close to maturity.
"And they're all Saint-grade spiritual plants!" Bai Sheng Yi added.
Yun Youyue's face contorted for a moment in anger as Bai Sheng Yi so brazenly revealed her long-held secret.
"Young Master Jing, Chen Yi, why are you standing around so idly? Hurry and stop her!" Yun Youyue commanded with an imposing aura. "This woman is not easy to deal with. If she snatches the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma, won't all our efforts be in vain?"
Without Yun Youyue's prompting, Jing Lan had already attacked Bai Sheng Yi.
With his palm facing upwards, a jade flute appeared in his hand. He held the flute horizontally, and a desolate, echoing melody suddenly filled the air.
Bai Sheng Yi's mind suddenly faltered, and the sword in her hand wavered.
"Martial Uncle! The Fei Yu Flute attacks the divine consciousness!" Lan Xue Rou shouted a warning, holding Yue Miao Miao back as she blocked Chen Yi. "Apologies, Daoist Chen!"
Chen Yi frowned deeply. "Senior Sister Lan, Junior Sister Yue, we have no ill intentions. As long as you stop and leave, I will vouch for this. Youyue will not hold it against you."
"Who do you think you are to vouch for it? Where do you get the audacity?" Yue Miao Miao retorted indignantly, remembering how Yun Youyue had almost severely injured her. "If you wanted to kill me with no ill intentions, wouldn't you have dismembered me with ill intentions?"
Yue Miao Miao was not one to suffer injustice. She unleashed her full power with every move, saying with anger, "You want the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma, do you? Today, we'll do the opposite of what you wish!"
Yue Miao Miao shouted at Bai Sheng Yi, "Martial Uncle! The Mountain Master said that Venerable Yun specifically needs the Saint-grade Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma. Let's snatch it!"
"Alright!"
Bai Sheng Yi agreed with a smile, took a step forward, perfectly dodging the Sky Swallowing Beast's attack, and then thrust her sword towards Jing Lan's vital point at the back.
Jing Lan's expression tensed. He spun around, and in that instant, the flute's melody ceased.
Bai Sheng Yi's next attack was already upon him!
"So strong!" Jing Lan thought with immense gravity. Was Bai Sheng Yi's strength truly this formidable?
Hadn't she only reached the Mahayana stage one or two months before him?
Yet, watching Bai Sheng Yi's movements, she could not only completely suppress his attacks but also evade the Sky Swallowing Beast's advances, clearly handling everything with ease.
"Fellow Daoist Bai, Lan has no intention of being your enemy," Jing Lan said, retreating several steps and ensuring Bai Sheng Yi's attack couldn't reach him instantly. "We discovered this spiritual plant first. However, since Fellow Daoist also needs it, how about we deal with this Sky Swallowing Beast together, and then I'll give you one stalk?"
"No!"
Yun Youyue, rushing forward, heard Jing Lan's words and immediately objected.
Bai Sheng Yi smiled leisurely. "While cooperating when you can't win is a wise move, you can't help but have a pig for a teammate."
"Bai Sheng Yi!" Yun Youyue roared, her brows furrowed. "Who are you calling names?"
Bai Sheng Yi swept her sword out horizontally!
Yun Youyue felt the terrifying power and, both shocked and enraged, quickly retreated. "You!"
"Fellow Daoist Jing, discuss it with your teammate first before coming to me for cooperation!" Bai Sheng Yi curled her lips. "Cooperation is possible, but you get one, and I get two."
"You're dreaming!" Yun Youyue said with a somber expression. "Why should what we discovered benefit you!"
"You only discovered it, you haven't obtained it yet. Where does your sense of superiority come from? Even if you had obtained it, I would still be very happy to snatch it from you," Bai Sheng Yi said, giving Yun Youyue no quarter.
"How dare you!" Yun Youyue's chest heaved, infuriated by Bai Sheng Yi's words.
She had always been proud and could not tolerate such humiliation from Bai Sheng Yi. She immediately attacked Bai Sheng Yi.
Bai Sheng Yi easily blocked her attack with her sword, her expression suddenly turning cold.
"If you're not happy, then get lost. I will handle this Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma and the Sky Swallowing Beast myself!"
As she spoke, a fierce wind surged, and Bai Sheng Yi unleashed her full aura. Gripping her sword, she swung it. One sword transformed into ten thousand, and ten thousand swords bloomed like flying flowers, forcing both Jing Lan and Yun Youyue to retreat!
Simultaneously, the Samsara Brush, imbued with a deep spiritual glow, pierced directly through the Sky Swallowing Beast.
"Roar!"
The Sky Swallowing Beast became even more ferocious, charging towards the group.
Yun Youyue stared intently at Bai Sheng Yi's techniques, her heart filled with apprehension. She suddenly felt a desire to retreat. If Bai Sheng Yi dealt with the Sky Swallowing Beast and then decided to target her, could she escape from Bai Sheng Yi's grasp again?
Even before fighting, she had unconsciously considered the problem of "escape."
No! Why should she escape!
Where did Bai Sheng Yi have the right to compare herself to her!
"Yun Youyue? Yun Youyue!" Jing Lan called out several times. Seeing Yun Youyue still lost in thought, he grew impatient, his face stern. "I'm calling you, didn't you hear me?"
Yun Youyue shifted her gaze from Bai Sheng Yi and the Sky Swallowing Beast. "You were saying."
"Perhaps we should retreat for now, and then later..." His gaze deepened, but his face maintained a gentle smile.
Although he didn't finish his sentence, Yun Youyue understood.
Yun Youyue sneered, "Young Master Jing of Fengguang Yueji is not such a righteous gentleman after all."
Jing Lan's expression remained unchanged, his demeanor as elegant and refined as a slowly blooming fragrant orchid. "Heavenly treasures belong to the capable. Lan is merely upholding his original intention."
"Well said, 'original intention'!" Yun Youyue declared. "If that's the case, then we will wait. I'd like to see who ultimately claims the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma today!"
On the other side, the Samsara Brush was also muttering.
"Sheng Yi, Sheng Yi, you're too impulsive. Couldn't you have waited for Yun Youyue and the others to deal with the Sky Swallowing Beast, and then snatched the treasure? Now it's a thankless task. What will you do when Yun Youyue and the others are the mantis behind you, and you're the cicada?"
The Samsara Brush was genuinely worried that Bai Sheng Yi would end up with nothing. It chattered on endlessly.
Bai Sheng Yi, however, had her own ideas.
She first transmitted a message to Yue Miao Miao and Lan Xue Rou, telling them to find an opportunity to leave quickly, before slowly replying to the Samsara Brush, "Do you really think Yun Youyue and the others can handle this Sky Swallowing Beast?"
Or, in other words, could the three of them, Yun Youyue, truly snatch the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma from the jaws of the Sky Swallowing Beast?
The Samsara Brush asked doubtfully, "Why not? I, Bi Bi, observe that although Yun Youyue's aura is somewhat unstable, she should have also reached the Mahayana stage. As for the other two men, one is also in the Mahayana stage, and the other is in the late Nascent Soul stage. With such strong combat power, can't they handle a juvenile Sky Swallowing Beast?"
The Samsara Brush had discerning eyes. After emerging from the Sky Swallowing Beast's belly, it had indeed realized they were inside the belly of a great demon called a Sky Swallowing Beast.
But fortunately, this great demon was only in its juvenile stage.
The divine powers of a juvenile great demon were far inferior to those of an adult, not to mention that the great demon's intellect was immature, merely knowing to eat when hungry and sleep when full.
This was also why Bai Sheng Yi could still handle it with relative ease.