Chapter 8: Chasing the Little Trash

Yuan Yao bowed solemnly to him, "Fellow Daoist Xie, I have truly realized my mistake, so here I apologize to you."

If you can't win, you yield.

If you can win, you act arrogantly.

"Do you think I should accept your apology?" Xie Yan asked with a half-smile.

"Yes."

"You really dare to say that." Xie Yan laughed angrily.

Yuan Yao gave a dry chuckle, then probed, "Fellow Daoist Xie, how about we shake hands and make peace?"

Xie Yan met her bright eyes, and the killing intent in his heart faded. He thought, if she had taken off his mask while he was unconscious earlier and seen his true face, he would surely have killed her.

Because he cannot allow anyone to know his true identity.

Seeing him silent, Yuan Yao thought there was a chance, and she immediately hobbled up to him, extending a hand.

"Fellow Daoist Xie, let me reintroduce myself—I'm Kuang Ni."

Xie Yan lowered his gaze, his eyes landing on her mud‑stained hand, instinctively frowning, a flash of disdain crossing his eyes.

"Get lost."

Upon hearing that, Yuan Yao knew he intended to let her go.

"Yes, yes, yes." She immediately replied with an apologetic smile, then quickly picked up her five‑colored long sword and turned to leave.

【Target: Xie Yan, Awakening Value –98.】

Yuan Yao's smile vanished instantly: "……" How long will this conquest take?

Conquering this Xie Yan is really too hard; she can only give up on him for now and try to conquer others.

Moreover, she doesn't know how to raise the target's Awakening Value, and the 250 system refuses to divulge it.

Yuan Yao left along the cave passage, walking and walking, she sensed someone faintly following her from behind.

She turned around and saw no one, and there was no living creature nearby.

It felt a bit eerie.

Yuan Yao couldn't help but grip her long sword tightly.

Soon she arrived at a fork with three passages.

Just then, Yuan Yao faintly heard a slight sound coming from the middle passage, making her feel uneasy.

Yuan Yao stared at the three diverging passages, caught in indecision.

Which passage should she take?

"Help——" The noisy clamor from the middle passage grew nearer.

It seemed there were many people.

Mixed with other auras.

Yuan Yao's heart jolted; she quickly retreated, then withdrew to the entrance of the rightmost passage, always ready to flee.

She didn't flee right away because she wanted to see if any of her senior fellow disciples were among them.

Chaotic shrieks and wails drew nearer.

"Don't pull me!"

"Help… help……"

Soon, a young cultivator burst out of the middle passage, running heedlessly toward the path Yuan Yao had come from.

Immediately after, several more young cultivators rushed out, likewise panicked as they charged down that road.

Yuan Yao knew that road led to a dead end.

"Go this way! That's a dead end!" Yuan Yao shouted.

The few young cultivators heard the voice, turned their heads, and saw a white‑clad girl with a high ponytail, big bright eyes, skin so pale it seemed to glow, and a beautiful face that made them mistake her for a fairy.

Those young cultivators caught their breath, didn't have time to think much, and headed in the direction she pointed.

"Locust monsters! Lots of mutated locust monsters! Miss, run!" They fled into the right passage, but not forgetting to warn the motionless Yuan Yao standing there.

Locust?!

Yuan Yao's eyes narrowed slightly; she immediately recalled the locust recorded in the book.

The locust monster resembles an earthworm, sucks blood, and is extremely strong in combat.

A locust monster that could make them lose their composure is at least a second‑rank spirit beast.

In the cultivation world, spirit beasts are ranked from first to eighth order.

These correspond respectively to the cultivator realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refinement, Body Integration, Great Perfection.

An eighth‑order spirit beast, after undergoing a heavenly tribulation, becomes a Holy Beast; above that lies the Divine Beast.

Yuan Yao decisively followed them and ran.

After just a few steps, she heard the 250 system's voice: 【Target: Lin Pengtao, Wei Xiaoxia, He Ru, Ling Xiao Yu, Awakening Value reached 20.】

Upon hearing that, Yuan Yao immediately stopped.

She looked at the several figures growing farther ahead, feeling somewhat surprised.

She had merely reminded them, and their Awakening Value had already reached 20.

Could Awakening Value be equivalent to… favorability?

Thinking of her less‑than‑three‑day lifespan, Yuan Yao gritted her teeth and decided to give it her all.

She turned and ran back to the junction, then loudly warned the disheveled cultivators fleeing.

"Quick! This way!"

"No way that direction!"

The panicked cultivators turned to look, some doubtful, some half‑believing.

But most cultivators still chose the path indicated by Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao's sea of consciousness transmitted the broadcast voice of the 250 System.

【Target person XX……Awakening Value reaches XX……】

The highest Awakening Value reached 28.

So far, no one has been able to reach an Awakening Value of 50.

At that moment, giant Locust Monsters writhed out from the middle passage, their mouths still sucking on "human dried."

Those were cultivator corpses drained of blood and moisture.

This scene gave people a tremendous impact.

And these giant Locust Monsters instantly sensed Yuan Yao's presence, lunging toward her at astonishing speed.

"How disgusting!" Yuan Yao's face scrunched up; she gripped the colorful longsword and swung it fiercely.

The result——

The Locust Monster suffered no damage.

Seeing that, Yuan Yao turned and ran.

But the Locust Monster's speed was extreme; in an instant it moved behind her and opened its mouth to suck her in.

This scene fell into the eyes of Xie Yan, who was hiding in the dark.

Actually, Xie Yan had been watching the show for a long time.

He thought that person Kuang Ni was definitely a bit messed up, and overly kind-hearted.

A sneer spread across Xie Yan's lips.

Just as he thought Yuan Yao would be sucked dry by the Locust Monster, he saw her suddenly turn around and produce a High-Level Formation Disk in her hand.

"Heaven and earth as the thread, initiate the barrier!"

She poured her spiritual power into the formation disk; in an instant a barrier was set up, blocking the Locust Monster on the other side.

Boom!

The Locust Monster became agitated and began to strike the barrier.

The barrier swayed, on the verge of collapsing.

Yuan Yao's expression shifted slightly; she decided to keep running.

While running, she muttered: "The outside world is so scary!"

But besides being scary, it's also especially fun!

Xie Yan's smile twitched: "……" He had again been let off the hook by her escape.

Just how many high-level magical artifacts does she have hidden on her person?

At the same time, some Locust Monsters sensed Xie Yan's aura and lunged at him.

But in the next instant, they were crushed into mincemeat by a terrifying pressure.

The Locust Monsters were greatly startled, all retreating and making a path for Xie Yan.

Xie Yan raised a hand and pointed: "Come, go this way; let me chase that little piece of trash."