Everyone agreed with Ye Qingxuan's decision.

In the current situation, even if they were told to split up and search for opportunities, no one would be willing.

If they ran into the Black Robed Men, they'd lose their lives. What good would opportunities be then?

After the group finished resting, they continued forward in a great procession.

At the same time, they left behind the Shenxiao Sword Sect's unique secret signs to summon more people to rendezvous.

The Black Robed Men continued their frenzied slaughter throughout the Jiuyou Secret Realm.

However, as time went on, they began to suffer losses as well.

Strong as these fellows were, their numbers were ultimately too few.

After all, the total number of people from all the powers and unaffiliated cultivators in Lizhou who entered the Jiuyou Secret Realm was in the tens of thousands.

The Black Robed Men numbered less than a thousand. To kill more people, they had no choice but to split up.

This strategy had worked well when they first entered, as everyone had yet to band together. But once people realized the danger and started gathering, they were no longer such easy prey.

Of course, the Black Robed Men had a countermeasure: increasing the size of their own teams.

With the increase in numbers, any battle that broke out was bound to be exceptionally brutal.

But none of this had anything to do with Lin Feng.

He was only concerned with finding traces of the Red Spider Lily.

He avoided people from other factions, but as for the Black Robed Men, he killed them without mercy.

Along the way, the number of Black Robed Men who had died by his hand had already reached double digits.

Lin Feng traveled for another two days before arriving at a sheer cliff with a waterfall.

Standing above the waterfall and looking down, he saw a drop of several dozen meters. Below was a massive, deep pool.

By the edge of the deep pool were two groups of people.

One group was the familiar Black Robed Men. As for the other, Lin Feng took a closer look and saw the character 'Yao' on their clothes. They were from Yaowang Valley.

Yaowang Valley was the most unique power in Lizhou.

Their strength was not to be underestimated, second only to the Four Major Powers, making them one of the large factions. Yet, they never took sides.

Whether it was the Wu Ji Demon Sect, the Seven Kill Sect, the Shenxiao Sword Sect, or the Qingyun Sect, all maintained good relations with Yaowang Valley.

After all, everyone gets injured eventually, and Yaowang Valley was the most proficient in the art of healing.

However, when one came seeking medicine, Yaowang Valley would decide whether to help based on the seeker's talent and background—a form of investment, so to speak.

Su Mubai had once gone to Yaowang Valley to seek medicine. Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe, and his foundation was completely destroyed. Even if he were healed, his future achievements would be limited. The medicines required to restore a foundation were incredibly precious, so in the end, Yaowang Valley refused to intervene.

They left him with a single condition: if he wanted the medicine, the Shenxiao Sword Sect must make the request in its official capacity.

Although Su Mubai had been injured while on a sect mission, the core elders of the Shenxiao Sword Sect had to consider the entire sect. They would not pay such a heavy price for a crippled genius.

Perhaps it was for this reason, coupled with Luo Yuntian later becoming the Sect Master of the Shenxiao Sword Sect, that Su Mubai was allowed to retain his position as one of the Shenxiao Seven Swords and the Peak Lord of Gucun Peak.

Otherwise, the Haoran Sword and Gucun Peak would have long since changed hands.

With his request for medicine denied, Su Mubai had no other options. He understood the cruelty of this world and held no resentment toward the sect. He began to search for a spiritual herb that could heal his foundation on his own, which was how he came to find the infant Lin Feng.

Besides the Black Robed Men and the people from Yaowang Valley, something in the middle of the deep pool completely captured Lin Feng's attention.

It was a monstrous serpent, a colossal beast!

Its massive head was raised five or six meters above the water's surface, its eyes glinting with a chilling light that sent shivers down one's spine. This was only a small part of its body; the rest was hidden in the pool.

Lin Feng estimated that the giant serpent was at least thirty meters long.

What did the presence of such a colossal serpent in the deep pool signify? It meant there had to be a treasure within.

He just didn't know if it was the Red Spider Lily.

Faced with the giant serpent, neither faction left.

The Black Robed Men naturally wanted to hunt the beast to obtain its inner core and whatever it was guarding.

Yaowang Valley's confidence in staying came from their long-standing way of doing things. No matter which power the Black Robed Men belonged to, they had surely received some favor from Yaowang Valley at some point.

Throughout all of Lizhou, the people of Yaowang Valley had the lowest mortality rate when traveling.

Including the Four Major Powers, no one was willing to offend Yaowang Valley.

One never knew when they might need to beg for their help.

"Hiss... Hiss... Hiss..."

The giant serpent hissed a constant warning.

"Attack!" the leading Black Robed Man barked.

Nine figures shot out in an instant.

The giant serpent sensed the danger and opened its mouth, spewing a breath of frigid air.

The cold air spread rapidly, forming countless ice crystals in the air. The moment the Black Robed Men came into contact with the frigid qi, their movements became sluggish.

The serpent roared, its body leaping from the water to reveal its massive thirty-to-forty-meter-long frame. It then whipped its tail, sweeping it toward the Black Robed Men.

Their movements restricted by the cold qi, the Black Robed Men had lost their initial agility. Most of them still managed to dodge the serpent's attack, but two were struck by its tail.

BAM! BAM!

The two Black Robed Men who couldn't dodge in time were sent flying by the serpent's tail, crashing near the pool and smashing two large craters into the ground.

The immense force instantly shattered and displaced their internal organs. Blood poured from their mouths as they lost all ability to fight.

A single strike of such terrifying power.

"Save them!" Zhuge Qingyun, the Young Valley Master of Yaowang Valley, quickly commanded.

They didn't care if the injured were righteous or evil, good or bad. As long as there was value in saving them, they would act.

The Black Robed Men were powerful, slaughtering their way through the Jiuyou Secret Realm and striking fear into countless factions. They were clearly valuable.

A group from Yaowang Valley quickly rushed to the craters where the two Black Robed Men lay and began their treatment.

The leader of the Black Robed Men was furious.

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They had lost two combatants in a single exchange. How could they let this continue?

"Vile beast! You court death!"

"Form the array! End this quickly!"

Hearing this, the remaining six Black Robed Men no longer approached the serpent. Instead, they retreated from the range of the cold qi and moved to the edge of the pool. The seven of them took their positions, surrounding the serpent. At the same time, they brought their right hands to their mouths, bit them open, and began to draw in the air with their bleeding fingers.

One by one, blood-red characters for 'Kill' appeared in the air.

Once all seven 'Kill' characters were formed, a red barrier materialized, trapping the giant serpent.

Perhaps sensing the impending danger, the serpent grew frantic and violent within the barrier, ramming into it relentlessly.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

A series of collisions rang out.

The barrier didn't break, but it wavered precariously, looking as if it wouldn't hold for much longer.

After all, the serpent's power was no joke, as evidenced by how it had taken two Black Robed Men out of the fight with a single sweep of its tail.

The leader of the Black Robed Men helped maintain the formation while preparing to deliver the fatal blow to the serpent.

Seeing that the barrier was about to be broken by the serpent, the other Black Robed Men held nothing back. They all bit the tips of their tongues and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the 'Kill' characters.

The barrier, which had dimmed and was on the verge of shattering, stabilized once more.

"Hiss... Hiss... Hiss..."

The giant serpent shrieked incessantly.

Frigid qi poured endlessly from its mouth, causing the air temperature to plummet. Soon, even the barrier was frozen solid.

BOOM!

Following a tremendous crash, the frozen barrier shattered under the serpent's impact.

But at that very moment, a red light flashed.

Immediately followed by the serpent's agonized scream.

When the smoke cleared, the serpent's corpse was seen floating on the water's surface, a large, bloody hole in its head from which blood continuously flowed, dyeing the pool red. As for the Black Robed Men, they were all weakened and exhausted.