I planted the spiritual roots for my people, and they bestowed upon me a body inscribed with incense

The situation at Shuanglong Pass, where Ouyang Zhengyi was located, was relatively good. At this time, at Qingxia Pass, where Shanyue County was located, countless demonic beasts climbed onto the city walls, and the battlefield had spread into the territory.

If it weren't for the Mosa Kingdom and the two waves of cultivators from the Great Wei Dynasty, the first battle at Qingxia Pass would probably have resulted in its breach.

Although the battle was fierce, the surviving cultivators all had smiles on their faces. At this moment, Li Yuan looked at the demon beast materials in his Qiankun bag with excitement.

In this battle, Li Yuan obtained ten demon cores. As for python tendons, iron bear pelts, and the venom sacs of bloodthirsty centipedes, Li Yuan had them all in his Qiankun bag.

Of course, most importantly, Li Yuan's battle merits on his command flag had reached forty points. Killing a Qi Refining early stage demon beast was one point, killing a Qi Refining mid stage demon beast was two points, killing a Qi Refining late stage demon beast was four points, and killing a Qi Refining peak stage demon beast was ten points.

As for the Foundation Establishment level demonic beasts above that, they are not something Li Yuan can think about for the time being.

Forty battle merits is quite a reward for a Qi Refining cultivator. As long as he can accumulate four thousand battle merits, he can exchange them for a Foundation Establishment spiritual item. Putting aside whether he can reach the peak of Qi Refining during this period, just thinking about the Foundation Establishment spiritual item makes Li Yuan very excited.

Li Yuan wasn't the only one with a happy expression; Luo Tong also looked delighted. Li Yuan wanted to approach Luo Tong to ask how many battle merits he had earned, but Luo Tong remained silent, so Li Yuan didn't press him further.

This battle gave Shuanglong Pass a two-month respite. During the next two months, the cultivators remained in Shuanglong Pass, while a small number of demonic beasts would occasionally patrol outside the pass, seemingly to gather intelligence.

In response, Ouyang Zhengyi discussed with the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Medicine Sect and decided to divide all the cultivators inside the pass into fifty small teams to take turns going outside the pass to investigate the traces of demonic beasts.

Li Yuan was lucky enough to be assigned to the 48th squad, while Zhou Tian was sent out to clear out the traces of the monsters the day after the war.

Fortunately, Li Yuan had the white snake with him, and Zhou Tian was also quite cautious, so they didn't encounter any danger.

Two months later, it was Li Yuan's turn to be in the team. To Li Yuan's surprise, he ran into an acquaintance again. This person was Wang Quan, the manager of Xiuzhen Pavilion.

At this time, Manager Wang's cultivation had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, which was one level higher than Li Yuan's. He was also the squad leader of the forty-eighth squad.

The team consisted of five people. Besides Steward Wang, there was an outer disciple of the Medicine Sect named Zhang Fan, and the others were named Zhou Quan and Hua Yun'er. The Medicine Sect disciple, like Li Yuan, was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, while the other two were at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

After receiving the order, Wang Quan led the group out of Shuanglong Pass and explored the Ten Thousand Beasts Forest.

Their goal was not to eliminate the scattered monsters, but to detect where monsters might gather and to make a preliminary estimate of their size.

They did encounter a few monsters along the way, but they easily dealt with them all. This reassured everyone. As they ventured deeper, they gradually became more familiar with each other and were no longer as awkward as before.

Li Yuan had assumed that the disciples of the Medicine Sect were all arrogant and looked down on mountain cultivators like himself. However, after interacting with Zhang Fan, Li Yuan realized that the Medicine Sect truly lived up to its reputation as a major sect. An outer disciple of the Medicine Sect was indeed superior to the mountain cultivators in terms of courage, cultivation, and speech, and he showed no contempt whatsoever.

Just as the five were getting to know each other, they unknowingly arrived at a canyon. At first, none of them noticed anything unusual, but after entering the canyon, they realized something was wrong.

The refreshing scent wafting through the air compelled Li Yuan and his companions to explore further; the aroma even seemed to stimulate their bottlenecks.

After walking through the canyon for about half an incense stick's time, the beams of light above could no longer penetrate the area where they were located.

"The changes around them gradually brought everyone to their senses."

Captain Wang Quan looked at everyone.

"Gentlemen, this cave should contain extraordinary spiritual treasures, but it has clearly strayed from our intended path. What are your thoughts on this?"

Upon hearing this, no one spoke. After a long while, Zhang Fan looked at the four people.

"I'm sure none of you know what's inside, but judging from the density of the aura, we're probably not far off. How about we walk in for another half an incense stick's time, and then, regardless of whether we find the treasure or not, we'll all return the way we came? What do you say?"

Upon hearing this, everyone recalled the throbbing sensation in their dantian they had just experienced and nodded in agreement.

Of course, Li Yuan was the first to agree with this idea, because the white snake on Li Yuan's sleeve kept urging him to continue walking inside.

Seeing that the others agreed, Wang Quan nodded, then took out the magic artifact and walked inside. Although the light could no longer reach inside, the cave inside the canyon was still bright.

The inner walls on both sides are made of some kind of natural material, which has the property of luminescence.

After walking for another ten minutes or so, a pool of clear spring water appeared before them. Looking at the spring water, everyone was a little confused. Only Manager Wang's face turned red instantly, and at this moment, Manager Wang's subtle expression could not be hidden from Li Yuan.

Zhang Fan, who was standing to the side, also looked excited.

"Hahaha, Moon Dew, or rather, Moon Dew that has already become a spring." The group became excited upon hearing the words "Moon Dew."

Only Li Yuan looked at Zhang Fan with a blank expression. Seeing that Li Yuan didn't understand, Zhang Fan slowly said:

"I had guessed that there was an extraordinary treasure of heaven and earth in this canyon when I was outside it, and I didn't expect it to be true."

Like liquefied spiritual energy, moon dew is another unique form of energy in the nighttime world. However, moon dew is gentler than spiritual energy and is far more beneficial to cultivators.

Then Zhang Fan looked at the glowing stone walls around him and said with even greater certainty:

"No wonder the surrounding stone walls are glowing; it turns out that the moonlight generated after the moonflower dew overflowed has permeated the surrounding stone walls."

After saying that, Zhang Fan rode his magic sword into the air and flew towards the Sky Cloud Sword directly above the Moon Dew. A gap appeared above it, and looking up, the light could shine directly onto the pool of Moon Dew from above.

At this moment, team leader Wang Quan stepped forward.

"Gentlemen, since we were the ones who discovered the Moonflower Dew, we should distribute it evenly. Otherwise, if improper distribution causes us to have disagreements, wouldn't that affect our future cooperation?"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Yes, but Captain Wang, how do you think the flower dew should be distributed this month?" Hua Yun'er asked slowly.

"Since you all discovered it together, shall we divide the spiritual spring into five parts so that everyone can get one?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Yun'er and Zhou Quan nodded in agreement, while Wang Quan and Zhang Fan exchanged a glance and quickly nodded as well. Li Yuan also witnessed this scene.

Seeing that no one had any objections, and with the four people as witnesses, Wang Quan divided the moon dew into five portions, and each person received one portion.

After obtaining the Moon Dew, Wang Quan and Zhang Fan were the first to leave the area, and the other three quickly followed.

After about half an incense stick's time, the sky gradually darkened, and under Wang Quan's leadership, the group found a place nearby to set up camp and rest.

Li Yuan also pretended to meditate until the white snake came to his sleeve from a distance. Taking advantage of his inattention, Li Yuan left the camp.