There was still one more chapter to go, currently being written, which would likely be released a bit later.

The nine members of the squad moved rapidly downstream along the bottom of the Great Canyon, traversing the streamside, the dense rock formations, and the sparse woodlands, searching for spiritual creatures and demonic beasts. Any spiritual item of even moderate value was swiftly collected. If they encountered minor demonic beasts or strange insects, they were killed outright, their parts—useful for medicine or refining artifacts—taken to be sold for a decent price back in Xian Yuan City.

Ye Qin followed the group at a measured pace. Any spiritual herbs he found in the canyon, though ostensibly placed in his satchel, were secretly channeled into his Zifu when no one was looking.

Aside from spiritual herbs, he cared for nothing else. He had no desire to compete with others over low-level demonic beasts. To him, the materials from a dead beast were a one-time use, far less valuable than living spiritual herbs that could be cultivated.

The Great Canyon spanned over ten li. They deliberately chose paths unmarked by footprints to avoid retracing the areas already searched by the preceding squads.

Ye Qin found it strange that the spiritual resources in the Spirit Mist Great Canyon were quite abundant. Even the Wild Wood Bramble, a first-tier spiritual shrub, could be frequently seen along the streams and at the edges of sparse woods.

“These Wood Brambles grow everywhere; why hasn’t anyone harvested them? Are they useless?”

Ye Qin walked alongside Zhang Zhe and asked.

Seeing his confusion, Zhang Zhe chuckled, “The Wood Bramble is quite useful. As far as I know, its stems, after washing and drawing into threads, can be used to refine the spiritual artifact, the ‘Demon-Binding Rope,’ or even the magical artifact, the ‘Immortal-Tethering Chain’—both top-tier items. However, that requires the refining techniques mastered by Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivators. We Qi Refining cultivators simply don't possess the means to forge them, so naturally, no one bothers harvesting them. Cultivators above Foundation Establishment are active in the Spirit Mist Mountain Range and don’t come down to this Great Canyon.”

“For us, only the seeds of the Wood Bramble are useful, as they can be used to cast the ‘Entangling Spell.’ But this bramble only flowers once every ten years, and fruits once every ten years. The resulting berries are always picked clean long before we ever get a chance. Brother Ye, if you ever get the chance to join a sect, perhaps you can forge a ‘Demon-Binding Rope’ spiritual artifact someday.”

Zhang Zhe shook his head and walked away.

Ye Qin, however, muttered to himself, “A spiritual artifact, the ‘Demon-Binding Rope,’ can be forged even at the Foundation Establishment stage. That’s not bad.”

The Wood Bramble held little practical use for others, but for Ye Qin, it was a promising asset. He lagged behind and dug up a wild Wood Bramble that was currently flowering, intending to put it into his Zifu to see if the wild specimen could bear fruit.

“Ow!”

There was a golden little bee perched on the wild Wood Bramble, busy sucking nectar. Ye Qin hadn't noticed it and was stung sharply. He let out a small cry; the tip of his finger immediately swelled and turned red, forming a large welt. Annoyed, he swept his sleeve, sending both the Wood Bramble and the small bee into his Zifu, then quickly flew to catch up with the group ahead.

Zhang Zhe turned back, puzzled. “What happened? Did you just cry out?”

“Nothing, just stung by a small bee.”

Ye Qin held up his swollen finger, waving it slightly. Although red and swollen, it shouldn't be poisonous.

Zhang Zhe froze, startled. “You have the Vajra Shield protecting you—what kind of bee is so powerful that it could penetrate your protective shield?”

Ye Qin was also momentarily stunned. In his haste to dig up the Wood Bramble, he had overlooked that the sting from that small golden bee had pierced his Vajra Shield directly.

“Brother Ye, wait a moment. I’ll go find my cousin; he knows more and should recognize this bee.”

Zhang Zhe hurried to the front and called Xu Qing over.

“Did you just touch a wild Wood Bramble? That must be a first-tier metal-elemental aberrant insect—a Bramble Bee. They particularly love the nectar of the Wood Bramble flowers. Its golden stinger has a ‘Armor-Piercing’ effect.”

“Just like the Golden Light Sword I’m holding—all metal-elemental spiritual artifacts possess the ‘Armor-Piercing’ quality; ordinary defensive shields simply cannot block them. However, the Bramble Bee is not venomous; a single sting is no big deal. Let’s hurry; don’t waste time!”

Xu Qing glanced briefly at Ye Qin’s minor injury, unconcerned, and turned to leave.

Ye Qin’s expression grew strange as he stared at the Golden Light Sword in Xu Qing’s hand. Armor-Piercing! Spiritual artifacts of the metal element possessing this property were monstrously powerful. Among the squad, perhaps none of their protective shields could withstand Xu Qing’s sword.

He fiddled with the thin, palm-sized sword he carried. After purchasing it at the marketplace, he had left in such a hurry that he never managed to fully ascertain this spiritual sword’s capabilities. It appeared to be crafted from a material like dark gold; he wondered if this small sword also had an ‘Armor-Piercing’ effect.

Ye Qin was unaware that, at that very moment, violent changes were occurring within the floating island of his Zifu.

In the Wood Bramble patch, two flowering bramble shrubs now stood. A single golden bee flew aimlessly within the Zifu, the sole insect on the entire floating island. It smelled the fragrance of the Wood Bramble flowers and swooped down, flitting from one blossom to another.

The golden bee vibrated its wings joyfully, busying itself on these flowers. In the midst of its work, it began secreting beeswax, building a hive on the floating island to store honey and pollen.

Before long, the Wood Bramble flower buds quickly withered, giving rise to small berries. Once these berries ripened, they fell onto the patch, numbering over twenty in total. Only when all the bramble flowers had withered and the golden bee had no flowers left to forage did it cease its work, crawling into the hive to enjoy its honey.

“Roar!”

A demonic beast’s low growl echoed from one or two li away.

“It’s a Demonic Bear’s roar!” Xu Qing instantly became extremely excited. Discovering a Demonic Bear so soon after entering the Great Canyon was excellent news for him. “Let’s go check it out!”

The nine figures shot forward like arrows, sprinting toward the source of the roar. Soon, they arrived at the edge of a dense forest of towering, ancient trees, about a li away. This thicket was twisted with dry vines, cold and deep, a favorite hiding place for many mountain and forest beasts.

A massive, yellow bear, nearly ten feet tall, lumbered at the edge of the thicket, foraging.

“It’s a second-tier Yellow Demonic Bear, an earth-elemental beast, specializing in earth-elemental attacks. Its strength is at least at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and it very likely possesses a demonic core. We must kill it, just to try our luck.”

A look of pleasant surprise flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes.

“How do we hunt it?”

Ye Qin’s gaze was locked onto the Yellow Demonic Bear as he asked.

“This brute has an incredibly keen nose; it can smell living human scent within a li. It’s also cunning; if it realizes it can’t defeat us, it will immediately burrow into the dense woods to escape. Once it gets into the thicket, it becomes incredibly hard to catch. A strong wind is picking up in the canyon now; we should get downwind and set up an ambush.”

Xu Qing quickly assigned tasks to the group.

Feng Man was to lure the Demonic Bear into the ambush zone.

Bi Laoguo, Xia Laohei, and Zhang Qiao—three individuals—were responsible for releasing spells like Slowing, Entangling, and Decelerating to firmly pin it down within the ambush.

Xu Qing, Ye Qin, Wu Qinyi, Zhang Zhe, and Fan Jiasheng—five people—would launch the first wave of intense attacks.

This arrangement was excellent; no one raised an objection.

After assigning tasks, the group avoided the upwind direction of the Great Canyon, taking a slight detour to stealthily reach the stream bank two li behind the Yellow Demonic Bear.

This was their first battle since entering the Great Canyon, and a degree of excitement was unavoidable.

“Remember, when we attack, it must be fast, ruthless, and precise. Strive to kill it within one or two exchanges! If we can’t kill it outright, once it’s severely wounded and goes berserk, it will be difficult to handle. There are already quite a few cultivator teams entering the valley now; if we delay even a moment, we’ll quickly alert other nearby squads, inviting unwelcome competition, which is troublesome.”

Xu Qing was highly experienced. His biggest worry wasn't the Yellow Demonic Bear, but competition from other cultivator teams.

Everyone nodded in agreement, setting up a semicircular, fan-shaped ambush zone in the open, stony area.

Feng Man went alone to perform the lure.

The Yellow Demonic Bear was walking along the edge of the forest when it suddenly stopped, sniffing the air with its black snout, detecting a faint, unfamiliar scent. It raised its head and looked behind it. In its blood-red eyes, the graceful figure of a woman in blue appeared.

Although the Yellow Demonic Bear couldn't categorize the strength levels of living beings, it could sense that the spiritual energy emanating from this blue-clad woman was clearly weaker than its own.

Roar!

A thick layer of earth-yellow light instantly enveloped its body—the Yellow Demonic Bear’s innate Earth Armor, which was exceptionally formidable. Then, the Demonic Bear twisted its clumsy body and charged toward Feng Man behind it with astonishing speed, intending to capture this ‘first’ piece of prey.

Feng Man had attracted its attention and hastily dodged, retreating at maximum speed. She dared not confront the second-tier Yellow Demonic Bear head-on; she feared a single slap from the beast could smash her into pulp.

Wind-elemental cultivators possessed considerable speed, at least a fraction faster than this earth-elemental bear, so fleeing was certainly not an issue. With several swift movements, she entered the encirclement.

Tasked with containment and encirclement were Bi Laoguo, Xia Laohei, and Zhang Qiao.

Bi Laoguo cultivated wood-elemental magic. He clutched handfuls of small black seeds, presumably from some type of grass, which he intended to use for the Entangling Spell.

Zhang Qiao wielded a mundane artifact sword. This sword couldn't harm the Demonic Bear; it could at best serve as a distraction and boost her own morale. What she could truly use were her water-elemental spells, which had a slowing effect upon hitting a target.

Xia Laohei cultivated earth-elemental magic. He was somewhat nervous, swallowing hard, clutching his weapon—a Hundred-Refined Iron Hammer, also a mundane artifact. His position was in the center of the three.

“Earth Wall Spell!”

Xia Laohei saw that Feng Man had already flown over his head and the pursuing bear was about to reach him. Not daring to delay, he immediately formed hand seals and struck the ground before him.

The rocky terrain shook violently, and a thick, earthen wall erupted from the ground, one foot thick and nearly ten feet high, blocking the Yellow Demonic Bear. (To be continued. For the rest of the story, please log on to www.ncom. More chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)