"Didn't expect this, did we? We meet again."
Dong Linhuang placed her hands on her hips, looking triumphantly at Bai Shengyi.
She had merely gifted a few spiritually awakened spirit plants to the Divine Envoy, and had thus seamlessly replaced the original Saintess and Saint Son of the Central Region Divine Temple, entering the Myriad Wood Forest with a single guard.
Dong Linhuang had expected to see surprise or unease on Bai Shengyi's face. However, Bai Shengyi didn't even glance at her, as if she were no different from the trees in the forest or the grass by the roadside.
Bai Shengyi had recognized Dong Linhuang long ago.
She didn't know how the daughter of the Dong Lin City Lord had become the Saintess of the Central Region Divine Temple, but she didn't care.
Her goal was the Heart of the Divine Wood. As long as no one provoked her, she wouldn't pay them any mind.
With that thought, Bai Shengyi looked up at Li Hongyuan and Qingqing, calmly urging them, "Gentlemen, please lead the way."
The two subconsciously took a step forward, then realized they had actually obeyed Bai Shengyi's words!
Li Hongyuan's face flushed red, and his lips moved as if to say something, but Qingqing quickly tugged at him, reminding him, "Calm down. We were going to lead her to the Wood God Stone anyway."
"You're right," Li Hongyuan suppressed the knot of frustration in his chest.
Li Hongyuan and Qingqing walked at the front, while Yue Jun shot Bai Shengyi an annoyed glare before following.
"A'yue has that kind of temper; she doesn't mean to blame you," Wu Qun explained on Yue Jun's behalf.
Bai Shengyi waved her hand dismissively and followed closely behind.
The group soon disappeared into the dense forest, leaving Dong Linhuang completely ignored.
"Eldest Miss, should we follow them?" The Saint Son beside her, who was also the captain of Dong Linhuang's guard, reminded her worriedly, "The Divine Envoy specifically stated that if you fail to obtain the Wood God Stone, you will become a sacrifice for the Winter Moon Festival, just like the other Saintesses."
He couldn't understand why the Eldest Miss insisted on getting involved in this mess. She had already escaped the Eastern Divine Temple and only needed to remain in Dong Lin City to enjoy wealth and status in the future. Why must she do this thankless task?
Dong Linhuang cast a cold glance at him. "What do you know? That Ming fellow has already prepared sacrifices. Even if I fail to obtain the Wood God Stone, I only need to give him a few spirit plants, and nothing will happen to me."
What's more... her dreams had been getting longer recently, so long that she dreamt of participating in the Winter Moon Battle, obtaining the Wood God Stone, becoming the leading Saintess, soaring high with infinite glory. She dreamt of catching the Great Divine Master's eye and becoming the first Divine Mistress in history!
"What's the point of being the City Lord's daughter? No matter how much my father dotes on me, he won't pass the City Lord position to me. Since that's the case, why shouldn't I be the Temple Lord? The Lord of Green Glory?"
Dong Linhuang let out a proud smile. She, Dong Linhuang, was destined to be a phoenix in the heavens, not a mere flower of worldly wealth!
"We'll go this way."
She pointed towards the southeast. In her dream, there was a small path there that led directly to the place where the Wood God Stone was located.
"The Wood God Stone is actually a spiritual ore unique to the Myriad Wood Forest. It is said to be able to communicate with the Wood God and enhance the spiritual intelligence of spirit plants, but only those with pure hearts can retrieve it."
The lush green leaves rustled as the group emerged from behind the foliage, stepping on dry branches. Wu Qun whispered to Bai Shengyi and the others, explaining what the Wood God Stone was.
Bai Shengyi calmly pointed out, "All the Saintesses and Saint Sons are trying to win. Is that considered a pure heart? If not, then the statement that only those with pure hearts can retrieve the Wood God Stone is just nonsense."
"Divine Maiden Bai misunderstands," Qingqing, who had been silent all along, suddenly turned and explained softly, "What is meant by a pure heart refers to the heart of cultivation."
"We cultivators practice for the continuation and prosperity of Green Glory. The annual Winter Moon Festival is also to pray for the Wood God's blessings upon Green Glory, so one must be filled with reverence."
Li Hongyuan picked up Qingqing's words and tugged at the corner of his lips meaningfully. "If you are not reverent, you might lose your life."
Bai Shengyi looked at him faintly. "If one truly wants to be reverent, wouldn't actively becoming a sacrifice be the most reverent act?"
Li Hongyuan choked.
He flicked his sleeve and said coldly, "I can't explain it clearly to you."
"You just can't argue with people," Yue Jun chimed in.
As they spoke, they were about to start arguing again. Qingqing and Wu Qun quickly each pulled one of them aside.
"Divine Maiden Bai."
Han Bei lagged a few steps behind, walking to Bai Shengyi's side.
Although they came from the same Divine Temple, they had spoken less to each other on the journey than Han Bei had to himself.
So, when he suddenly sought her out, Bai Shengyi was a little curious. "What is it?"
"To retrieve the Wood God Stone, you need to touch the ore and inject your spiritual power into it. You should be careful of Li Hongyuan and the others."
Han Bei wanted to curry favor with Bai Shengyi. He had come to understand that this Divine Maiden Bai posed no threat to his status as Saint Son. On the contrary, following her had brought him considerable convenience.
"They won't tamper with the Wood God Stone," Bai Shengyi stated.
Because they also needed to retrieve the Wood God Stone.
Han Bei replied, "It's good that Divine Maiden Bai has a plan. It was just my overthinking."
"No, you haven't overthought. You've just thought in the wrong direction," Bai Shengyi's expression suddenly turned serious.
Before Han Bei could react to what was happening, a scream came from ahead.
"Help!"
It was the Saintess from the Central Region Divine Temple!
Dong Linhuang never expected that at the end of the path, which was so quiet in her dream, a pack of spirit beasts was lurking!
Her guard captain had fought a path for her to escape, allowing her to flee first, but several spirit beasts were still relentlessly pursuing her.
Those spirit beasts seemed to be fixated on her. No matter how fast she ran or how many paths she changed, they remained right behind her!
"You all, help me quickly!" Dong Linhuang saw Bai Shengyi's group and, disregarding her surprise at how fast they had moved, urgently called out for their help.
Yue Jun was the first to object, "Why should we?"
However, as soon as he spoke, the pack of spirit beasts split into several groups and attacked them as well!
Dong Linhuang instantly felt relieved, shouting ungraciously, "If you don't help me, you won't escape either!"
Yue Jun was furious!
This woman was so despicable!
"Don't argue with her. Let's kill the spirit beasts and leave quickly." Wu Qun took the opportunity to grab Yue Jun's hand. "A'yue, hide behind me—"
His hand grasped empty air. Wu Qun turned to see that the usually delicate A'yue sister, wielding a large saber, had charged into the spirit beast horde. He even found her skirt to be too cumbersome, so he had gathered it up and tied a knot.
Wu Qun was stunned.
"Don't just stand there," Han Bei killed a spirit beast and pulled Wu Qun, pointing in the direction Dong Linhuang had run from. "There are many more high-level spirit beasts behind."
Wu Qun followed Han Bei's gaze and saw a dense mass of spirit beasts ahead, their strength comparable to Nascent Soul stage and Soul Transformation stage cultivators. Many more spirit beasts were also rushing towards them frantically!
"Did you stumble upon a spirit beast nest?" Even though Wu Qun usually paid attention to his image, he couldn't help but get angry at Dong Linhuang.
The strongest among their group was at most at the late Golden Core stage. So many high-level spirit beasts could crush them as easily as pinching an ant.
Han Bei also felt a surge of panic. "Has something happened in the Myriad Wood Forest? Can we contact the Divine Envoy to leave early?"
"No," Wu Qun knew this very clearly. "We can only leave in three days."
"What about Li Hongyuan and Qingqing?" Wu Qun looked around but found he couldn't see those two.
Bai Shengyi, having dealt with the spirit beast in front of her, said lightly, "They ran."
"Ran?" Wu Qun immediately understood. "Are these spirit beasts their doing? Then why didn't you...?"
"Shuua!"
Wu Qun swallowed hard, watching the Soul Transformation stage spirit beast die before him, and silently closed his mouth.
However, Bai Shengyi replied to him, "Isn't it better to let them go retrieve the Wood God Stone for us first? I've left a wisp of my divine sense on them."
"How high is your cultivation, exactly?" Yue Jun, naturally, noticed Bai Shengyi's overly relaxed movements amidst the spirit beast horde and couldn't help but ask.
Bai Shengyi didn't answer, but instead turned to him and asked, "Can you hold back these spirit beasts for two quarters of an hour?"