Chapter 198: Conflict

With a loud "crack," the two top-grade magic treasures barely left small notches on the tentacles before snapping apart, leaving Han Li stunned.

"So hard! Almost as tough as a mid-grade magic treasure!" Han Li silently breathed a sigh of relief—if he hadn't used a few minor tricks, dealing with this giant centipede would have been a real ordeal.

Seeing that the flying knives and golden bowl were ineffective, Han Li casually retrieved them.

Although the insect had suffered fatal wounds, its vitality was too robust—it continued writhing violently, clearly not dying anytime soon. Frowning, Han Li swiftly shifted his body, flashing past the beast's head without another glance, abandoning all concern for its fate, and returned directly along the cave passage to the stone chamber.

Inside the stone chamber, the several clusters of purple "Monkey Flower" remained untouched, filling Han Li with delight.

He took out several identical jade boxes from his storage bag and laid them on the ground, then activated his flying knives to carefully excavate the "Monkey Flower" along with the small patch of purple stone beneath its roots, levitating them back to his hands with the blades, and placed them inside the jade boxes, sealing them meticulously.

After harvesting and securely storing all the spiritual herbs, Han Li finally exhaled a long breath, his spirit settling with relief.

He stretched lazily, casually scanned the stone chamber once more, confirmed nothing had been missed, then calmly walked out.

As Han Li passed the site where the giant centipede had been severely wounded, the beast lay motionless on the ground, dead. A large pool of black venomous blood had seeped from its body, filling this section of the cave with a nauseating stench that made Han Li feel dizzy and nauseated.

Han Li was startled—he realized this was due to the venom's toxicity spreading into the air, so he quickly swallowed some "Clear Spirit Powder," and the discomfort faded.

He stopped seven or eight zhang away from the corpse, then released his flying knives to stab the body eight or nine times. Seeing it remain utterly still, he finally relaxed and continued forward.

But after taking only a few steps, Han Li suddenly halted, bent down, and pulled a black, grimy short blade from the ground. He lightly wiped the blade's edge with two fingers—the blade instantly gleamed golden, revealing itself to be the child blade of the "Golden Moth Parent-Child Blades."

Originally, Han Li had been able to effortlessly slit the centipede's belly because, during his disappearance, he had plunged all eight child blades of the "Golden Moth Parent-Child Blades" into the ground along the tunnel, arranging them in a straight line with their razor-sharp tips exposed above the surface.

Fearing the golden blades' brightness might alert the beast prematurely, Han Li had coated their edges with black mud, blending them seamlessly into the pitch-black cave walls, making them impossible for the beast to detect.

Thus, when the giant centipede, hugging the ground in pursuit of Han Li, reached this stretch of tunnel, the buried blades silently slit its belly open, sealing its fate here. Pitifully, as a high-grade venomous beast, it never got to unleash its deadly poison—it had been cunningly ambushed and killed by Han Li, dying a grievously unjust death.

Although Han Li did not yet know he had slain a high-grade beast, he knew this venomous insect was at least a top-tier mid-grade beast. He was deeply satisfied to have disposed of it so easily.

Now, after walking seven or eight steps, each time bending down to wipe one blade clean, he finally retrieved all the golden blades. He raised his foot to leave—but upon glancing casually at the giant centipede's corpse, he hesitated briefly, then walked over to it.

Upon reaching the corpse, Han Li unhesitatingly stabbed its head, back, and tail with his golden blade. He found the creature's carapace on its back was hardest—his blade sank only half an inch before resistance, requiring sustained force to slowly cut deeper.

Seeing this, Han Li wasted no time—he immediately unleashed all eight child blades of the "Golden Moth Parent-Child Blades" and began laboriously slicing through the centipede's back carapace.

Soon, several large pieces of hard shell, each several chi across, were forcibly cut free and carefully stored in his storage bag. These pieces, capable of withstanding a full-force strike from a top-grade magic treasure, were rare treasures—if fashioned into a simple inner armor, they would greatly benefit him.

In truth, Han Li wished he could cut off and take every scrap of the centipede's shell. But doing so would waste too much time—and time was the one thing he lacked most right now.

Thus, Han Li left the cave with a tinge of regret and immediately headed toward his next pre-planned herb-gathering site, where, he believed, some unripe "Celestial Spirit Fruit" should still be growing.

While Han Li hurriedly followed his plan to collect various unripe spiritual herbs, fierce conflicts erupted among elite disciples at other well-known locations where herbs were ripening. After all, only a few places could accurately predict herb maturation—and clashes among the sects' top experts were inevitable.

In a quiet valley southeast of Han Li, three individuals were locked in a standoff over two of the "Monkey Flowers" Han Li had just harvested.

But these two "Monkey Flowers" were no longer pale green—they glowed with dazzling violet hues, exuding a thick, exotic fragrance. Before them lay a strange deer with a single fiery red horn, its body severed in two, lying dead in a pool of blood for some time.

Not far from the beast's corpse, three figures in differing attire stood in a triangular formation, yet none moved—each clearly wary of the other two.

"What exactly are your intentions? I alone killed this Fiery-Horned Deer—the herbs belong to me!" One of them finally spoke, his face flushed with anger.

The speaker was a young man in blue robes, about twenty, tall and strikingly handsome. In one hand he held a green flying fork, in the other a yellow pearl—both glowed with intense spiritual light, unmistakably top-grade magic treasures. No wonder he had slain the seemingly formidable high-grade beast single-handedly.

"Brother Daoist, I didn't expect to meet you again this year—we truly have great fortune!" This time, the speaker was an elderly man in plain green robes, leaning on a cane, his face gentle and benevolent—but he ignored the young man's accusation entirely, instead addressing the middle-aged Daoist.

"Indeed, I didn't expect to cross paths with Brother Li again this year!" The Daoist, carrying a simple, scabbarded long sword, spoke calmly, also ignoring the young man.

The young man from Heaven's Gate Fortress was furious. Since childhood, he had been exceptionally gifted, from a prestigious family, handsome and charismatic—everywhere he went, he was the center of attention. Now, being so openly disrespected by these two, how could he not burn with rage?

But before he could speak further, the next words from the elder and the Daoist instantly turned his face pale with shock.

"No need to dwell on the past. Here are two spiritual herbs—let us split them evenly, one each?" The elder spoke without preamble, extending a proposal to jointly divide the herbs.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged Daoist showed no surprise. After a brief pause, he nodded in agreement:

"Agreed. Our strengths are nearly equal—fighting further would only result in mutual ruin. This is fine with me."

The young man heard every word clearly, his heart filled with shock and fury.

If these two joined forces, even with his mighty magic treasures, he knew he was no match. But to abandon the herbs he was about to claim—his heart refused.

After a frantic mental scramble, the young man suddenly shot backward, dashing straight for the two herbs—he intended to snatch them and flee immediately.

"You seek death!"

The moment the young man moved, the green-robed elder's face darkened. He flicked his wrist—the cane in his hand shot forward, transforming into a streak of green light that raced toward the youth. The green light moved so swiftly it flashed once—and already blocked his path ahead.

The young man was terrified—what kind of magic treasure was this, so fast? But it was too late to think. He raised his green flying fork to meet it, yet his body never slowed, pressing forward relentlessly—he would not leave without the herbs!

"Young friend, it's too late. Best leave now—don't force me to open slaughter today!" Before the young man had taken two more steps, the Daoist's calm voice sounded behind him, as if right at his back—sending chills through his soul.

The young man turned pale and looked back—sure enough, the Daoist stood just one zhang away, smiling serenely at him.

The pale-faced youth said nothing. He immediately turned and fled toward the valley's exit, not daring to look back even once. He knew his strength paled in comparison—he dared not even dream of the herbs anymore; for them to spare his life was already beyond belief.

"Heh! Brother Daoist, your Spirit Fox Step has grown even more formidable—truly masterful!" The elder, surprised the Daoist had let the youth go, made no move to stop him, instead praising the Daoist.

"Nothing much—just a trivial trick," the Daoist replied, glancing casually at the youth's retreating back, speaking slowly.

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