One divination a day, a trainee celestial master

The fallen leaves in the woods rustled underfoot.

Led by Li Xunfeng and Ye Cheng, several figures, supporting each other, finally broke through the grayish-white miasma and walked out of the oppressive, withered forest.

Leading the way was Qi Heng, a burly man in a black special forces uniform. Three consecutive days of high-intensity marches had left his face covered in fatigue and weathered, and even his stubble had grown quite long.

When everyone saw the person following Qi Heng, everyone in the entire gentle slope camp held their breath for a moment.

Senior Sister Ni of the Kongtong Sect.

This dashing female cultivator, who once caught everyone's eye in the Fighting Valley of Longhu Mountain, not only wielded her Emei daggers with unparalleled skill, but also imaginatively slapped the "Swiftness Talisman" onto her legs, making her movements as elusive as a ghost during sparring. She was most adept at close combat.

At that time, she was full of vigor and confidence, her eyes brimming with the pride and self-assurance of a proud daughter of a prestigious family.

But now.

The right side of her special operations uniform was completely empty.

The right arm was gone, right down to the root.

The cut was extremely clean, clearly severed instantly by some kind of extremely sharp evil cultivation artifact. The hastily applied first-aid bandage at the cut was still seeping traces of blood.

Her face was deathly pale from blood loss, and her lips were cracked. Half of her weight was leaning on her fellow disciple beside her, and with each step she took, her brows furrowed in pain.

"Senior Sister Ni..."

In the crowd, some people choked up and couldn't make a sound.

Everyone felt a pang of sorrow, and for a moment, they didn't know what words to use to comfort this once proud woman.

Tao Qingci and Zhao Feiyan were the first to react. The two women rushed forward and carefully took the swaying Senior Sister Ni from the hands of their fellow disciple.

They helped her to a spot against the stone wall, and Tao Qingci immediately opened the first-aid kit. With the gentlest touch, she cut away the old bandages that had stuck to her flesh and cleaned, applied medicine, and re-bandaged her.

Zhao Feiyan held Ni Shijie's cold left hand, wanting to say something, but tears fell first.

"Why are you crying..."

Senior Sister Ni weakly tugged at the corners of her chapped lips, revealing a pale smile that looked more like a grimace: "I'm still alive... I'm already lucky I didn't die at the hands of those bastards."

Zhao Feiyan bit her lip tightly and nodded repeatedly.

……

This is the end.

Apart from the fact that there is still no news about the fifth squad and their fate is unknown.

All the survivors who went into the mountains have gathered at the foot of this gentle slope and rock face.

In front of the Celestial Master Hall, the thirty-six most outstanding young talents of the Taoist sect once stood in high spirits.

now.

Apart from the first team, which remained intact, the second team lost two members, the third team lost two members, the fourth team lost one member, and the sixth team lost three members.

Eight vibrant lives were forever buried between the first and second layers of the man-eating Ten Thousand Mountains.

This is just the outer perimeter.

Not to mention those who are seriously injured or disabled, or whose fate is unknown.

……

However, after a brief rest on this gentle slope over the past two days, although the spiritual energy within the second barrier was pitifully thin, thanks to the life-saving Wudang [Purple Gold Blood-Activating Pill] and Maoshan pills, Wen Daoqing, Zhao Feiyan, Song Daoming, and other seriously injured individuals finally pulled through and painstakingly gathered a faint trace of Dao Yuan within their bodies.

into the night.

Several bonfires burned brightly on the gentle slope, and the incense burning around them helped to dispel much of the bone-chilling cold of the deep mountains.

Zhang Lingqiu sat by the fire in the center and looked around at the tired faces of the people around him.

In his hand was the hall master's life tablet, engraved with intricate skull patterns.

"Gentlemen."

"This life tablet is currently our only key to safely pass through the 'Corpse Forest Maze' of the Abyss of Ten Thousand Bones."

"But," Zhang Lingqiu paused, a resolute glint in his narrow eyes, "we can't all go; we must divide into teams."

Upon hearing this, everyone around the fire was taken aback.

"Splitting into teams?" Qi Heng frowned. "Junior Brother Zhang, we're all finally united and have the strength to fight. Why split our forces again?"

"Because we have seriously wounded people with us." Zhang Lingqiu's eyes were calm as he pointed to his fellow disciples who could barely stand at the foot of the stone wall. "Senior Sister Ni and Senior Brother Zhang Jingqing, in their current condition, have no chance of surviving the next level of the Spirit-Severing Dead Land, let alone venturing into the Abyss of Ten Thousand Bones."

"Taking them in is a sure way to ensure their survival."

There was a brief silence around the campfire. Indeed, if people like Senior Sister Ni and Senior Brother Song, who were severely injured, disabled, and whose Dao Yuan was completely depleted, insisted on following the group into the third level of the perilous zone, not only would they not survive, but they would also become the most fatal burden to the entire group.

Zhang Lingqiu paused, his tone becoming serious. "Moreover, along the way, we have uncovered a great deal of important intelligence."

"Regarding the cruel methods used by the [Blood Devouring Mother-Child Gu] to keep living people, regarding the cold, black stones mined from the underground Yin veins, and... the underworld 'Yin Si' mentioned by the evil cultivator who colluded with it."

"This intelligence concerns the very survival of the entire land! It absolutely cannot rot away with us in the Hundred Thousand Mountains!"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent. Zhang Lingqiu was right; they were the spearhead, and ascertaining the truth was their primary mission. Now that they had the intelligence, it had to be sent out.

"But..." Li Xunfeng hesitated for a moment before speaking, "The road out of the mountain is equally treacherous. Although the Luoyin Sect may have withdrawn its main force back to its headquarters, there's no guarantee that there won't be any lone evil cultivators or wandering corpses along the way. Moreover, the wounded cannot escape the poisonous miasma and complex routes on their own."

"We need someone to escort us."

"I have drawn up a list."

Zhang Lingqiu pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and calmly looked at everyone:

"The team heading to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Bones to investigate the main altar consists of our first squad of six, plus Xu Lingfei, the squad leader of the third squad, and Qi Heng, the squad leader of the fourth squad."

"A total of eight people."

"The rest of the team will be led by Wen Daoqing and Zhao Feiyan to escort the wounded and intelligence out of the mountains early tomorrow morning."

This roster is reasonable. The first squad, with its most intact combat strength, serves as the spearhead, supplemented by Xu Lingfei and Qi Heng, two highly skilled squad leaders. This ensures the absolute combat power of the assault team while leaving the other injured prodigies in the main force.

"I object."

Just then, a hoarse but unusually firm voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned to look.

Wen Daoqing, who had been leaning against the rock wall with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

The once arrogant face of this proud young man from Laoshan was now as pale as paper, but his eyes burned with a flame that seemed capable of burning everything.

Wen Daoqing stood up, his back ramrod straight, and walked step by step to Zhang Lingqiu.

"I will not leave the mountain."

He stared into Zhang Lingqiu's eyes and said, word by word, "Count me in for the Abyss of Ten Thousand Bones."

"no."

Zhang Lingqiu refused without hesitation, his tone cold and stern: "Senior Brother Wen, you forcibly activated the [Golden Armor Summoning God], causing a great loss of your vital essence! Your current physical condition is not suitable for entering the third level of the forbidden zone."

"I'm not joking."

Wen Daoqing gritted his teeth and stared intently at Zhang Lingqiu.

"After these two days of rest, my Dao energy has recovered to thirty percent." His voice held a resolute tone: "I know you're worried I'll hold you back. But let me tell you, this thirty percent of Dao energy is not only enough for me to cast ordinary talismans and Dao techniques..."

Even if we encounter a dead end.

A chilling ruthlessness flashed in Wen Daoqing's eyes: "Even if I, Wen Daoqing, risk my life, I can still summon that golden-armored general again to hold you off for a full ten breaths!"