Baili Yan and his junior sister also produced their respective flying swords.
Their flying swords were likely issued by their sect, bearing the emblem of the Cloud Cliff Sect.
They were disciples of the Cloud Cliff Sect, a small sect that, by its affiliation with Sunrise Mountain, was not easily bullied.
Xia Shixun produced a piece of coarse cloth and enlarged it in mid-air, forming a mat just large enough to accommodate three people.
It seemed that these individuals had come prepared, with no intention of relying on others.
An Yue observed them all taking out their magical artifacts and boarding their spiritual boats, proceeding ahead. Their speed was not excessive, allowing those behind to keep up.
Chu Lingwei followed them at a leisurely pace, communicating telepathically with Yu Qinghong.
"Grandpa Yu, you should be quite familiar with the Shallow Sea Forest, right?"
Yu Qinghong remained silent. He had previously stated he was not at all familiar with the Shallow Sea Forest.
"Grandpa Yu, these people might want to kill us. Didn't you say you would protect me?" Chu Lingwei found it amusing. Did this matter truly require secrecy?
"Do you want me to kill them?" Yu Qinghong asked, his voice uncertain.
"No, I just wanted to ask Grandpa Yu where they intend to take us, so I can be prepared," Chu Lingwei chuckled. She had never considered relying on anyone.
Yu Qinghong's expression softened. The young girl was sensible.
"If I knew where they were taking you, I would tell you immediately."
"Thank you, Grandpa Yu." With Yu Qinghong's assurance, they wouldn't feel entirely passive. An Yue and the others had concealed their cultivation levels, making it difficult for her to guess their true strength.
What also puzzled her was that a single expert at the Heavenly Transformation realm, like An Yue, could easily kill cultivators at the Spiritual Wheel realm. She couldn't understand why they would lure them into the Mist Forest to kill them.
It seemed rather superfluous.
The twilight in the Shallow Sea Forest was beautiful.
A faint mist drifted above the forest, rendering it hazy and indistinct. The orange glow of the sunset, cast upon the mist, imbued the forest with an ethereal aura.
Chu Lingwei had witnessed such scenery many times before, yet she was still captivated by its beauty.
"We will rest here tonight and begin searching for spirit herbs tomorrow." An Yue led them to a halt on a mountainside. His brother, An Chen, was already setting up camp. "The highest-tier spirit beasts within a hundred-mile radius are only at the third tier, posing no significant danger to us."
The others had no objections and began retrieving their resting supplies from their storage bags.
Seeing some produce thin blankets, others small tents, and some food items, Chu Lingwei inwardly cursed her oversight.
Her spatial dimension lacked such mundane items.
Yu Qinghong stood beside Chu Lingwei, looking at her, as if prompting her why she wasn't preparing.
"Weiwei, you can look through the storage bags of those disciples from the Xuanxin Sect," Feng Ming, guessing Chu Lingwei's thoughts, advised her.
During the Everlasting Heaven Secret Realm, Chu Lingwei had confiscated the storage bags of several Xuanxin Sect disciples who had troubled her. She had forgotten about them, tucked away in a corner, and had never examined their contents.
Those individuals were dead, and their storage bags had long lost the imprint of their owners. Chu Lingwei quickly found an exquisite tent in the storage bag of one of the female Xuanxin Sect disciples, which was inscribed with a low-level defensive formation.
"Grandpa Yu, you can stay here tonight," Chu Lingwei said to Yu Qinghong as she pitched the tent.
With only one tent, only one person could rest in it.
Yu Qinghong stood before the tent for a long time before nodding, "Alright."
"Here, have something to eat." Chu Lingwei produced some ordinary spirit food and spirit fruits that she and the phantom cat had bought in Star Harmony City, placing them before Yu Qinghong.
These items had little spiritual energy, but they tasted good and were meant for the phantom cat and Feng Ming to satisfy their cravings.
Yu Qinghong was initially reluctant to eat these items devoid of spiritual energy. After tasting the varied flavors, he enthusiastically began to gorge himself, sitting before his tent and eating continuously.
The others observed Yu Qinghong's behavior with a mixture of emotions. They had never seen a spirit cultivator who ate so voraciously.
"Weiwei, is there more?" Yu Qinghong, unconcerned by their gazes, finished the spirit food in his hand and asked.
"Grandpa Yu, we don't have a lot of provisions. If you eat it all now, we'll be hungry tomorrow," Chu Lingwei said, withholding more food to avoid arousing suspicion.
Yu Qinghong's face stiffened slightly. He nodded with disappointment and retreated into the tent, lying down and falling asleep.
Chu Lingwei was speechless. Was he angry?
"I have some spirit jerky I made myself. Would you like to give some to Grandpa Yu?" Nan Xiang and the others were tending a campfire. Seeing Yu Qinghong retreat to his tent in displeasure, they took spirit jerky from their storage bags and offered it to Chu Lingwei.
This spirit beast meat was the accumulation of their daily earnings from spirit stones. They had brought all the spirit beast meat back with them, so they had a considerable amount.
"Thank you, no need..."
"I'll eat it."
Before Chu Lingwei could finish, Yu Qinghong had emerged from the tent, his eyes fixed unerringly on the spirit beast meat in Nan Xiang's hand.
A glutton.
Chu Lingwei helplessly accepted the spirit beast meat from Nan Xiang and thanked her sincerely.
"You're welcome. I have plenty more. Would you like to join us for a bite?" Nan Xiang smiled and invited her.
Chu Lingwei's team looked over. Nan Jin offered her a friendly smile.
"Then I won't be polite." Chu Lingwei also wanted to glean some information about the Shallow Sea Forest from them.
After all, Grandpa Yu refused to reveal anything to her.
"I'll go too." Yu Qinghong was a step ahead of Chu Lingwei. His intentions were too obvious; he was solely after their spirit beast jerky.
Chu Lingwei's lips twitched slightly. Grandpa Yu was truly...
"Don't worry, we brought a lot of spirit beast meat, enough for several months," Nan Xiang said, seeing Chu Lingwei's stiff expression. She smiled and, taking Chu Lingwei's arm, led her towards their campsite.
On the other side, Song Qing let out a soft scoff and began to cultivate.
"These are spirit fruits and spirit wine we bought in our town. Please try some." Yu Qinghong had already started devouring the meat. Chu Lingwei took out spirit fruits and spirit wine from her storage bag.
"There's wine," Xia Shixun's eyes lit up upon seeing the spirit wine.
"You can try some." Chu Lingwei took out a small jar for each of them and placed it before them. She was somewhat worried that Yu Qinghong might consume all their spirit jerky and get beaten to death.
"Thanks, I won't be polite." Xia Shixun picked up a wine jar, removed the lid, and a scent of wine infused with spiritual energy wafted towards him. "Good wine."