Seeing this, Nangong Cheng reached out, took the Jade Box, and put it away. He said, "In that case, I’ll hold onto it for now. We can distribute it after we leave. With the Alliance backing us, you don’t have to worry about me making off with it."
Everyone nodded. Seeing that everything was settled, Zhang Deming said, "I see your Spiritual Power hasn’t recovered yet. Let’s leave this place first, find a spot to recover, and decide what to do next after that."
After stowing the items, Nangong Cheng looked up at Zhang Deming upon hearing his words.
He and Zhang Deming had expended the most energy in that battle, since the two of them had served as the main force.
But while his own Spiritual Power was nearly half-depleted, he couldn’t see any sign of exhaustion from Zhang Deming. This supposed disciple of the Zhang Family was becoming more and more mysterious.
He wondered if all the disciples from the Zhang Family were this mysterious and powerful.
As Nangong Cheng’s thoughts raced, he followed the others out of the cave. With Zhang Deming leading the way, they proceeded cautiously for a long time.
After a long while, Zhang Deming finally stopped. He scanned their surroundings and said, "Let’s recover here. I haven’t detected anything out of the ordinary. We’re far enough from the battle site now, so even if we attracted something, it shouldn’t be able to track us."
Hearing his words, the others quickly stopped and obediently began to meditate and recover.
Zhang Deming watched over them, his Spiritual Eye active, standing guard while they recovered.
...
After a long time, once everyone had fully recovered, the group set off again, with Zhang Deming still taking the lead.
Since entering the dangerous region, the group’s pace had slowed dramatically. However, because Zhang Deming was in charge of reconnaissance, they hadn’t encountered any danger.
After a full day of traveling like this, the group had already ventured deep into the area.
After traveling for two consecutive days, the five of them slowly grew familiar with one another. After all, only two of them had been strangers, and only Nangong Cheng had been a stranger to the entire group.
Therefore, once they all knew the others were Alliance members, they consciously made an effort to get along, and the five quickly became well-acquainted.
After nearly two full days of travel, the group arrived at a region with a massive mountain peak and came to a stop.
Looking at the strange mountain peak and the peculiar jungle surrounding it, Zhang Deming flipped his hand, and a map book appeared. He tapped it, opening a Light Screen to check it.
He then turned to Li Shifan and asked, "Is this the place?"
Li Shifan nodded. "It should be. I’ve never been here myself. This is just the information I bought at the Marketplace."
After speaking, Li Shifan quickly took out a crudely made Array Card, activated a Light Screen, and projected it in front of everyone.
Target: Sword Spirit Ore
Category: Resource Information
Details: Within the Broken Sword Mountain range. Due to its unique environment, it has gestated and yielded several portions of Sword Spirit Ore and Dark Energy Spirit Stones. The last recorded discovery was one hundred and eighty years ago. Based on this frequency, the probability of new Sword Spirit Ore appearing is extremely high.
Appendix: Map Information
Provider: Celestial Secret Message Pavilion
Special Notice: This location is highly dangerous even for Duality Cultivators. Explore with extreme caution.
The group looked at the information on the Light Screen and pondered for a moment. Zhang Deming nodded and said, "Then let’s go take a look. But this place seems to have been a battlefield. Everyone, be careful."
They all looked out. It was still a forest, but the large area in front of them was completely different from its surroundings.
As far as the eye could see, there were numerous craters and shattered rocks. It was obvious that the area had been ravaged by a great battle.
Perhaps because a very long time had passed, trees had grown back.
However, due to the lingering Spirituality from High-Tier Techniques, the plants in this area all appeared very strange. Many of the trees resembled gnarled old demons, with bizarrely twisted branches growing in all directions.
In the very center of the region was a massive mountain peak. Jagged and rocky, the peak looked extremely fragmented.
The top of the peak looked as if it had been lopped off by a single sword strike. Its middle section seemed to have been pierced by some colossal object, or perhaps had a chunk bitten out of it, leaving several enormous gashes. It made the massive mountain look very strange as well.
Looking at the area before them, they exchanged glances after hearing Zhang Deming’s words and nodded.
Everyone then raised their guard. With Zhang Deming still at the front, he led the way into the chaotic woods before them.
There seemed to be a natural barrier of energy separating the regions. As they passed through it, all five of them felt a distinct sensation.
"VREEE..."
The moment they entered the chaotic woods, the group froze. Zhang Deming seemed to hear the ringing of a sword in his ear, and the Long Sword in Li Shifan’s hand began to vibrate slightly.
The Long Sword clearly hadn’t reached the level of awakening its own Spirituality, yet at this moment, it was unusually active, resonating with the entire environment.
’This is...?’
’A Sword Domain, formed from the remnants of a technique?’
’A domain left behind, ravaged by countless High-Tier Swordsmanship techniques of at least the Law Level?’
Zhang Deming’s expression flickered as he instantly perceived these strange changes in his surroundings.
As the soft ringing echoed in their ears, the very space around them filled with a piercing aura, making the tense group feel extremely uncomfortable.
Their Spiritual Sense, stimulated by this aura, screamed a warning of extreme danger.
Among the five, four of them frowned slightly; only Li Shifan seemed to be enjoying this environment.
In an environment like this, one’s range of Perception would be severely limited. If they tried to extend it too far, their Perception could easily be damaged and their Spiritual Sense injured.
This included Zhang Deming; the Spiritual Light in his eyes quickly dimmed. He had no desire to take one walk through this place only to end up blinded by the sword light.