One divination a day, a trainee celestial master

"Then...they now..." Xu Lingfei asked in a hoarse voice.

"They're right behind us now."

Zhang Lingqiu raised his head and looked back at the dark and secluded forest of dead trees he had come from.

"..."

"We've left marks along the way as we've been chasing them," Zhang Lingqiu nodded, reassuringly stating, "Li Xunfeng and your Senior Sister Tao are leading the team, along with Senior Brother Wen and the others. Judging by their distance, they shouldn't be far off."

"..."

Xu Lingfei did not speak again.

He just stared blankly at the dark forest.

for a long time.

Xu Lingfei slowly buried his head in his knees and sat motionless.

Only the flickering light of the campfire quietly illuminated his slightly hunched, somewhat thin shoulders.

At this moment, these man-eating mountains revealed their most cruel and bloody fangs to these Taoist prodigies.

……

Xu Lingfei, 24 years old. A direct descendant of the Shangqing Sect of Maoshan.

Twenty-four years old.

In the peaceful, bustling world beyond the mountains, most people of this age have probably just graduated from university and are stepping into the workforce full of hope. Others may still be pursuing graduate studies in spacious, bright classrooms, enjoying carefree campus life. They laugh in the sunshine, chat about the future in cafes, and worry about their careers and love lives.

For these Taoist prodigies from prestigious sects...

In the first half of their lives, weren't they living in a "greenhouse" in another sense?

They grew up under the full protection of their teachers and elders. They meditated and cultivated their Tao in the beautiful mountains and rivers, and sparred and sweated on the fighting platform where the skill was limited to a point.

Before setting off, at the Celestial Master's Hall on Longhu Mountain.

They were all fired up and brimming with confidence. They believed they had thoroughly memorized the demon-slaying and brutal trials described in the Taoist scriptures. They thought they were fully prepared to face all demons, monsters, and even death!

However, what you learn from books is never enough.

until today.

Until they actually stepped into this vast mountain range where even breathing carried an aura of death.

Until they faced the desperate situation of depleted Dao Yuan time and time again, confronting the hordes of cruel and bloodthirsty evil cultivators.

until……

They watched helplessly as their fellow disciples, with whom they had grown up, practiced swordsmanship, and endured insults together, were pierced through the chest by insidious magical weapons right before their eyes. Those vibrant lives who had been joking and laughing with each other just the day before were now being torn to shreds by the evil cultivators, who had surrounded them to protect them!

Faced with this soul-crushing, life-or-death terror.

Twenty-four-year-old Xu Lingfei, and every other young prodigy from the Daoist sect around the campfire, felt their once unbreakable resolve to follow and defend the Dao crumble.

In the vast darkness, what remains is perhaps an overwhelming sense of sadness and helplessness.

As for their grand pronouncements... or their gritted teeth and burning courage for revenge, let tomorrow's dawn grant them some solace...

……

It wasn't until the morning of the second day that the thick, leaden gray morning mist of the Ten Thousand Mountains finally parted slightly before this gentle slope, which had been ravaged by thunder and pure yang fire.

Zhang Lingqiu, Jiang Shou, and others stood in front of the slope, gazing into the distance.

Before long, deep within that gray-white, withered forest, several figures finally appeared indistinctly.

Seeing that all seven of them had walked out of that oppressive dead zone unharmed, the huge weight that had been hanging over everyone's hearts finally lifted.

Leading the way were Tao Qingci and Li Xunfeng, who was on guard at her flank. Behind them were Qin Lang, Wen Daoqing, Zhao Feiyan, and other members of the second squad.

"Senior Sister Tao..."

In the crowd, Xu Lingfei looked at that familiar figure, and his eyes instantly reddened again. His hand holding the long sword trembled slightly, and all the words he wanted to say were uttered in a low, nasal voice.

Tao Qingci raised her head, and her usually cold and aloof eyes flickered slightly when she saw Xu Lingfei and his pitiful fellow disciples behind him. She didn't say much, but quickly stepped forward, patted her junior brother's shoulder, and a thousand words were left unsaid.

There was no weeping and wailing after a great calamity, nor any lengthy discourses on surviving a catastrophe.

We are all spiritual practitioners, and this man-eating forest is far from a place where we can relax and vent our emotions.

……

While the wounded were being settled, Li Xunfeng sat on a rock, gulped down two large mouthfuls of water, and then, panting, brought back an extremely important message.

"Last night, we camped in that grove of dead trees, and in the middle of the night, someone raided our camp."

Li Xunfeng's words sent a chill down the spines of Xu Lingfei, Zhang Lingqiu, and the others.

"I was on night watch and I fired a whistle to warn you when I heard the commotion." Li Xunfeng recalled the harrowing night with lingering fear. "At that time, the three main forces of our team had all gone after you. Of the seven of us left, Senior Brother Wen and the other three were seriously injured, and Fellow Daoist Qin's cultivation was still shallow... All things considered, we actually only had two and a half combatants in our camp."

"When we heard the noise in the woods, everyone's hearts sank. We thought it was the evil cultivators from the Fallen Yin Sect chasing after us. But when that person got closer..."

A bitter smile of relief appeared on Li Xunfeng's cold and stern face:

"I was shocked to discover that they were actually one of our own."

"It's Senior Brother Qi. He came here alone first."

The Senior Brother Qi that Li Xunfeng mentioned is none other than Qi Heng, the direct disciple of Zaoge Mountain and the leader of the fourth squad!

"The fourth team?!" Zhang Lingqiu's eyes lit up. "How did they find you?"

"Just like us. They also got lost in this second barrier, and accidentally discovered the secret mark left by Xu Lingfei and his third team, so they followed them all the way."

Li Xunfeng explained, "In the end, Senior Brother Qi made the same decision as us: to send people ahead with light equipment to investigate the situation."

"Their fourth squad is down to five men now, two of whom are injured. Senior Brother Qi chased after them alone at full speed, following the markings, and just happened to stumble into our camp from last night."

"Where is their main force now?" Xu Lingfei asked urgently.

"According to Senior Brother Qi, the main force of the fourth squad is about 30 li away from where we camped last night. That means it's about 40 li of mountain road from where we are now on this gentle slope."

"..."

"Senior Brother Qi is an impatient person. After confirming our identities and safety, he was thinking of turning back overnight to meet the main force. But Senior Sister Tao and I stopped him."

Li Xunfeng shook his head: "Deep within this second barrier, traveling at night is far too dangerous, tantamount to suicide. We forced him to stay at the camp for the night, and he only set off back early this morning at dawn."

Li Xunfeng drew a rough map on the ground with a twig. "If we take into account the time it takes for Senior Brother Qi to return, as well as the stamina of the two wounded soldiers from Team Four, it will take them at least two to three days to get here and meet up with us."

After listening to Li Xunfeng's report, everyone fell silent.

Including the remnants of the fourth squad who are about to arrive, the thirty-six Daoist prodigies who originally marched into the mountains in a grand procession have now, by some twist of fate, been forced to deviate from their original multi-pronged infiltration routes and, like rivers flowing into the sea, have all converged near this desolate, dead valley.