“The damn bird was right!” Shang Xia heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. A trace of excitement started to form when he discovered his fellow disciples.

Even though the valley was hidden, it was pretty small.

Aside from the disciples, there were six complete Embroidered Cloud Carriages sitting in the valley. On one of them sat a cultivator from the Azure Spiritual World. From what he was doing, he looked to be cultivating. 

Turning to look at a nearby boulder, Shang Xia saw another cultivator staring at the captives.

“Are there only two of them?” Shang Xia muttered to himself. Even though there were only two of them, he didn’t make any rash movements.

“Looks like I was right… A group of cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World discovered the patrolling disciples of the Tongyou Peak. They baited them over and pretended to flee for their lives. Once they left, the disciples of the Tongyou Peak wouldn’t return!”

“The other group of cultivators from the Azure Spiritual World went over to rob the convoy while they were at it! Hiding under their enemy’s nose was dangerous, but no one would think to look there!” 

“Since they erased the traces of battle and struggle, the experts of the Tongyou Peak wouldn’t look twice… If not for the Lightning Bird, I wouldn’t enter the valley either!” Shang Xia chuckled to himself. “Shady b*stards…”

When Shang Xia was thinking of how to save them, a voice distracted him.

“Is there no news?” The person sitting on the carriage spoke. It seemed as though his status in the Azure Spiritual World was higher than the others as the cultivator on the boulder responded respectfully, “Senior Brother Ling Que, we haven’t heard from the young lady…”

The disciple on the carriage frowned in response. “Qing Que, there’s no need to cover for her. She has always been so stubborn. If not for her, we would have left the area a long time ago! Caretaker Hua Que and the others wouldn’t have to draw the patrol squad away while risking their lives!” 

The disciple on the boulder chuckled, “The young lady was thinking about our race’s bloodline… If she manages to capture the Mutated Rain Swallow…” 

“As a disciple with a pure bloodline, she should just look for a few more guys to continue the bloodline… What’s so good about hunting a Mutated Rain Swallow?!”  Ling Que sneered.

An awkward expression appeared on Qing Que’s face. “My legs are numb from squatting in this place. Huang Que has been standing guard outside for some time now. I’ll call him back.” 

He leaped off the boulder and left for the entrance to the hidden valley as soon as he spoke.

Glancing at Qing Que from the corner of his eye, Ling Que snorted, “Wuss…” 

…

Shang Xia was slightly surprised by what Qing Que said. “There actually is someone else hiding out there. Luckily I didn’t enter from the entrance. Instead of saving them, I’ll probably run straight into their traps…” 

Retreating sneakily, Shang Xia waved his hand to call the two birds circling in the air back to him. He explained his plan to them using awkward hand gestures for half a day before returning to the edge of the cliff face overlooking the valley.

A trace of anxiety filled his heart when they flew away. He didn’t know if the two birds actually understood what he said…

Not too long after, he saw a young man clad in yellow robes walking into the hidden valley.

He wasn’t far, but his deep voice rang through the air. “Brother Ling, did you say something bad about the young lady again? I’m not one to butt into your business, but she’s our junior. Why are you picking on her?” 

Ling Que muttered in response, “I’m not picking on her. We’re hiding in a valley in a region controlled by the Tongyou Peak right now! We might be surrounded any time! The cultivators of the Azure Origin World might not be too strong, but there’s too many of them! They’ll discover us sooner or later! Why should we let the young lady gamble with our lives?” 

Huang Que took out a small pouch from his sleeves and popped the cork. As soon as he did, the aroma of wine filled the valley.

Taking a good swig, a smile formed on his face. Stuffing the cork back into the pouch, he raised it towards Ling Que. “Do you want some?” 

Watching Ling Que shake his head, he kept the pouch before saying, “Relax… Don’t you know that most of the experts on the Tongyou Peak are distracted right now? Those people chasing Caretaker Hua Que and the others won’t be able to do much.”

Ling Que frowned in response, “Can we really trust what the Rose Party says? It’s true that the Slaughtering Hall brought a group of experts away from the Tongyou Peak, but do you really believe that Kou Chongxue is seriously injured? That bastard is extremely treacherous. The four great races of the Azure Spiritual World suffered countless times in the past twenty years because of his schemes… How should we know if this entire thing is a plot or not?” 

As soon as the name left his lips, Huang Que’s expression turned a little unnatural. Taking out his pouch again, Huang Que took a huge gulp of his wine. His newfound courage eclipsed the fear in his heart. “Who cares about that! We have a lot of bargaining chips now that we captured them!”

Pointing at the cultivators they captured, he continued, “Even if Kou Chongxue kills his way over here, he’ll have to listen to us!” 

The alcohol started to take effect as blood rushed into Huang Que’s face. “They won’t expect us to be here anyway! They won’t think we’re stupid enough to hide in their own territory! When the time comes, we’ll extort the Tongyou Peak before returning to the Four Spiritual Peak. When we return, we’ll tell them that the people they’re looking for have always been in their territory!” 

Roaring with laughter, Huang Que continued, “The looks on their faces will be a sight to behold! The more I think about it, the more I can’t wait to see their reaction!” 

An odd expression appeared on Shang Xia’s face after hearing what Huang Que said. He knew who Kou Chongxue was. In fact, everyone from the Tongyou Institution was familiar with his name. He was the creator of the institution, and he was their patriarch! He was also the strongest expert in the You Continent!

Despite his terrifying reputation, he was an extremely mysterious individual. He would rarely appear in the institution, and many disciples wouldn’t be able to see him throughout their journey to the upper division!

There were even several upper disciples who joked that they wouldn’t recognize the patriarch even if he walked by them!

Mysterious, low-key, elusive… Those were the words they would use to describe their patriarch!

Amidst Huang Que’s laughter, Qing Que’s voice tore through the hidden valley. 

“Hey! Come here! Hurry up!” By the time his cries reached their ears, they discovered that he had already arrived at the entrance. 

Huang Que’s laughter stopped abruptly as he turned to look at the entrance.

Getting to his feet, Ling Que frowned, “What’s wrong?!”

His question was met with silence. Qing Que seemed to have left the valley already.

“I’ll go take a look.” Huang Que muttered. However, he was stopped by Ling Que. 

“You stay here. I’ll go.” 

…

After Qing Que took over Huang Que’s post, he had been hiding near the entrance of the valley to observe the surroundings.

Even though his fellow cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World led the patrol team away, they were stuck in the depths of the territory controlled by the Tongyou Peak! There might be wandering cultivators who might discover their presence.

As such, the three of them didn’t dare to let their guards down at all. Keeping themselves on high alert, fatigue soon started to set in. 

When Ling Que was scolding him earlier, he didn’t feel the onset of lethargy. Now that he arrived at the quiet spot in the outpost, he nearly fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes.

Yawning softly, he struggled to keep his eyes open. However, he caught sight of a creature and he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. 

That… That was a Mutated Rain Swallow!

Pinching his thighs ruthlessly, the pain woke him up.

When he caught sight of the little bird flying away from the hidden valley, his thoughts fell into disarray. That was definitely a Mutated Rain Swallow!

Moreover, it was a Mutated Rain Swallow that was traveling alone!

“Hurry up” He didn’t forget to yell after leaving the hidden valley.

However, he soon realized that it wasn’t a wise move to alarm the Mutated Rain Swallow. Seeing how it went to perch over on a branch on a nearby tree, a trace of excitement formed in his heart. Wasn’t their goal to capture a living Mutated Rain Swallow to improve the bloodline of the members of their race? 

Now that they saw a lone Mutated Rain Swallow outside the hidden valley, it was a sign from the heavens! No… It was a gift! It was a gift from the heavens!