The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

The Core Formation cultivators from the seven major sects of Yue Kingdom easily opened the passage to the secret realm this time, retrieved their magical treasures, and quietly watched the pitch-black passage.

"I wonder how many disciples will be able to return safely this time?" Fu Yunzi tugged at his beard, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes.

As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged Taoist priest stepped out of the passage on a flying sword, landed on the mountaintop, and bowed to Fuyunzi.

"Very good." Seeing that the first cultivator to come out was a disciple of the Qingxu Sect, Fu Yunzi nodded repeatedly and instructed, "Go wait to the side and hand over your spiritual medicine in a while."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged Taoist priest silently stood behind Fuyunzi.

Immediately afterwards, several more people flew out of the passage, including Chen Qiaotian and Han Li from Huangfeng Valley, and Han Yunzhi and Zhong Wu from Ling Shou Mountain.

An hour later, more than ten disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect flew out of the passage together.

Old Monster Qiong and the female Core Formation cultivator leading the team from the Hidden Moon Sect immediately went to greet them. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Nangong Wan was not injured, but they also noticed the change in Nangong Wan's appearance and couldn't help but feel puzzled.

When Fu Yunzi and Li Huayuan saw that so many disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect had survived, their faces turned grim, and they began to worry about the previous bet.

Han Li, Han Yunzhi, Chen Qiaotian, and the others were all observing the situation of the other sects, and they were quite surprised to see that Yang Qingyuan had not yet appeared.

Nangong Wan also stared at the entrance of the passage, her brows slightly furrowed.

Fortunately, the next moment, a man in yellow robes carrying a sword box stepped on a green leaf magic weapon and flew out of the passage.

Han Yunzhi was overjoyed when she saw the man in yellow clearly, and was completely relieved.

"It's him!"

When the disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect saw Yang Qingyuan, they looked at each other in surprise, and then all looked towards Nangong Wan.

After all, Nangong Wan had personally said that Yang Qingyuan had been dragged into the lake by the black dragon and his fate was unknown.

Nangong Wanze remained calm, found a rocky outcrop, closed her eyes, and sat cross-legged.

Seeing that their patriarch had not made a statement, the disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect also kept silent.

Just as the passage was about to close, an elderly man in a yellow robe rushed out of it, his hair disheveled and looking somewhat disheveled. It was Xiang Zhili.

"How could someone with such a low cultivation level survive?" Chen Qiaotian, Zhong Wu, and the other cultivators were quite surprised to see that Xiang Zhili's cultivation level was only at the tenth level of Qi Refining.

The next moment, the passage slowly closed, and the crimson forbidden land disappeared into the void once more.

Of the Qi Refining stage cultivators who entered the secret realm, only 20% survived. The Giant Sword Sect, in particular, suffered a heavy loss, with only two members emerging alive.

"Place your bets now! Place your bets now!" Old Monster Qiong shouted impatiently, addressing Fuyunzi and Li Huayuan, "It's time to take inventory of the spiritual herbs."

Fu Yunzi and Li Huayuan exchanged a glance, and then instructed their disciples to take out and count the harvest one by one.

The Core Formation elders from the other four major sects also stopped to watch the spectacle after hearing about the bet.

Four cultivators from Qingxu Sect survived, fewer than those from Huangfeng Valley.

But when the first middle-aged Taoist priest to emerge from the forbidden area revealed his spiritual medicine, both Qiong Laoguai and Li Huayuan's expressions changed simultaneously.

"Three 300-year-old Blood Orchids, two 300-year-old Heavenly Spirit Fruits, three 400-year-old Jade Marrow Fungus..."

The middle-aged Taoist priest actually took out twelve spiritual herbs in one go, causing the cultivators present to look on with surprise.

Fu Yunzi beamed with delight, unable to suppress the upward curve of his lips, and praised, "Very good, being able to bring out twelve spiritual herbs is already quite outstanding."

Li Huayuan's face turned grim, and he quickly looked at his disciple.

Xiang Zhili slid forward and took out two three-hundred-year-old blood orchids, causing Li Huayuan's lips to twitch slightly.

If all the disciples of Huangfeng Valley were of this level, they would undoubtedly lose this duel.

Fortunately, Chen Qiaotian stepped forward and took out eleven spiritual herbs from her storage bag in one go, which made Li Huayuan's expression look better.

As for the Hidden Moon Sect, each disciple could produce three or four spiritual herbs, and the number of cultivators who survived was more than that of the Yellow Maple Valley and the Pure Void Sect combined. Therefore, the number of spiritual herbs they possessed always exceeded that of the other two sects.

Next, the second Taoist priest from Qingxu Sect took out six more spiritual herbs, making Grandmaster Li Huayuan's face even more unpleasant.

Fortunately, the third and fourth Taoist priests were of normal quality and each only produced four spiritual herbs, which relieved Li Huayuan.

Two other disciples from Huangfeng Valley survived, but they only handed over four spiritual herbs in total.

The betting game reached a stalemate, which made Li Huayuan's face turn ugly.

Just then, Han Li stepped forward, took out a large number of spiritual herbs from his storage bag, and laid them on the ground, totaling twenty-one plants.

The appearance of so many spiritual herbs caused whispers and quite a stir among the cultivators present.

"Twenty-one plants! There are so many medicinal herbs!"

"The last time a cultivator brought out so many spiritual herbs was twenty years ago!"

When Fu Yunzi saw that Huangfeng Valley had surpassed him in the number of spiritual herbs, his face was so gloomy that it looked like it was about to drip water.

However, the old monster Qiong from the Hidden Moon Sect remained calm and composed.

"Haha." Li Huayuan clapped his hands and laughed, then said to Fuyunzi, "Good, good, good! You old Taoist, it seems our Huangfeng Valley disciples are still slightly better!"

But his smile abruptly stopped.

The last three disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect stepped forward and began to take out spiritual medicines, including Duobao Nu, who was clearly a core disciple.

Each person took out more than ten spiritual herbs, causing the number of spiritual herbs of the Hidden Moon Sect to surpass the thirty-two of those of the Yellow Maple Valley.

The smile on Li Huayuan's face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of astonishment.

"Hehe." Old Monster Qiong chuckled and said to Li Huayuan, "Your Yellow Maple Valley only has one disciple left now."

"Unless he can produce thirty spiritual herbs in one go, the inner core, essence, and three pieces of iron essence of this Bloodline Dragon will all belong to this old man."

Li Huayuan was also feeling uneasy. He vaguely remembered that for hundreds of years, no cultivator had been able to bring out more than thirty spiritual herbs from the Crimson Forbidden Land.

Seeing that Li Huayuan was also going to lose the bet, Fu Yunzi felt a little better.

Seeing this, Yang Qingyuan stepped forward, took out many spiritual herbs from his storage bag, and placed them on the ground.

"Twelve purple monkey flowers, three hundred years old; ten jade marrow fruits, four hundred years old; and five hundred years old cold tobacco grass..."

Soon, forty-one more medicinal herbs appeared on the ground.

The cultivators present gasped in astonishment upon seeing so many spiritual herbs.

Han Li and Chen Qiaotian in the crowd both looked dumbfounded.

As participants in the Crimson Trial, they were well aware that they could not gather so many spiritual herbs by simply collecting them. They had to rely on other means, namely killing other cultivators, to gather so many spiritual herbs within five days.

"Yang Qingyuan's strength is truly unfathomable." Han Li secretly rejoiced that he hadn't attacked Yang Qingyuan when they encountered him in the Crimson Forbidden Land, otherwise, he would have been in grave danger.

Upon seeing so many spiritual herbs, Master Li Huayuan was initially stunned, but then, realizing he had won the bet, he was overjoyed and clapped his hands again, laughing, "Far ahead!"

"Far ahead!"

"This time, our Yellow Maple Valley is far ahead!"

But then he remembered that Yang Qingyuan had already become Lei Wanhe's disciple, and he couldn't keep half of the spiritual medicine, so the smile on his face immediately disappeared.

"What bad luck." Old Monster Qiong frowned slightly when he saw that the spiritual herbs of Huangfeng Valley were superior to those of Yanyue Sect. He took out three colorful talismans from his pocket, threw them at Li Huayuan, and then disappeared.

Li Huayuan reached out and took the three "Invisible Needle" talismans, his face beaming with joy. He then looked at Fuyunzi beside him.

With a stern face, Fu Yunzi took out a box and a medicine bottle from his storage bag, handed them to Li Huayuan, and said, "The green hills remain unchanged, and the green waters flow forever."

"When we meet again, I will have another betting match with Benefactor Li."

After leaving behind a message, Fu Yunzi summoned the silk-like flying magic artifact "Snow Rainbow Silk" and carried the four Taoists from Lingxu Sect away.

Meanwhile, the cultivators of the Hidden Moon Sect departed aboard a giant flying boat.

Yang Qingyuan watched the flying boat depart, exchanging one last glance with Nangong Wan on the deck.

"As expected of Senior Brother Lei's outstanding disciple!" Just then, Li Huayuan patted Yang Qingyuan on the shoulder and praised him, "It has been hundreds of years since I have heard of a cultivator who could bring out so many spiritual herbs from the secret realm."

"This time, you've really made Yellow Maple Valley proud."

"As agreed, you can choose any two items from the Bloodline Dragon's inner core, essence, three talisman treasures, and three pieces of iron essence."

"Have you thought it through?"

Upon hearing this, Han Li, Chen Qiaotian, and other disciples of Huangfeng Valley all cast envious glances at Yang Qingyuan.