() Xiao Xiao is cool in autumn,

Densely covered with wounds.

mottled shadow in the forest,

Life and death are hidden.

The heart is thinking of the pearl,

Stop and go into the wilderness.

The forest is dense and foggy,

Bumpy and bumpy, the road is vast.

It is said that after the "Sanhua Gathering Peak" team survived the crisis of "catastrophe and immortality", they cautiously marched deeper into the Yaoming Forest. And that treacherous rock valley, named "Black Flying Valley", was clearly marked on the map in Xiao Tianhe's hand.

Xiao Tianhe's injuries have not healed, and Ye Linglong also has a foot injury, so the speed of several people is not fast. Coupled with the complexity of the terrain of the Yaoming Forest, it is simply unprecedented. Mountains, hills, valleys, ravines, there is no shortage of everything, springs, streams, lakes, rivers, even more at the same time. Looking in any direction, there is a deep silence. Presumably, before this Lower-Level Cultivator Evaluation Competition, Yaoming Forest had not been so "lively" for a long time.

For the "Sanhua Gathering" team, they don't want to encounter a "lively" situation. Under the condition of "no rules", who knows if the people they meet have ill intentions? First, there is no powerful helper, and second, there are no sinister intentions, so a few people only hope to meet some not very powerful demon clans or demon beasts, collect enough demon spirit orbs to pass the level, and then quickly retreat from the dangerous forest.

It's also amazing to say that these four people in the "Three Flowers Gathering Top" team are not "old acquaintances" at all, not even "old acquaintances", at best, they are just fellow travelers who have made friends by chance in this evaluation competition. But the short-lived friendship between the four of them is no shallower than Fan Zhang's chicken-like friendship. In the case of strict requirements and loose rules for the evaluation competition, the most terrible thing is that the companions around him "have their own ghosts", and it is necessary to know that "open guns are easy to dodge, and hidden arrows are difficult to prevent".

After leaving the Black Flying Valley, the group bypassed the loess mound and traveled along the Reed River, a tributary of the Koizumi River. This river gets its name from the vast reeds on the other side, but the riverside here is a variety of pebbles, the big ones are like heads, the small ones are like jujube pits, smooth and moist, white flowers and blue spots, and they are very good-looking. There are no trees in many stone places, and walking along the Reed River not only saves the trouble of opening up the road, but also has a relatively open vision. In addition, the upper reaches of the Reed River are heading towards the forest, while the Koizumi River winds north behind the loess mounds.

I don't know if it's because of the emptiness on the riverside, I didn't encounter any demons along the way. But beyond the rocky beach on the riverside is an incomparably dense pine and cypress. The branches of the trees are slanted horizontally, even crisscrossed, and the forest is not only covered with dry yellow grass more than one person high, but even the sunlight is blocked by dense pine needle and cypress leaves, and it is dim. Under such circumstances, it is obviously not wise to venture into the jungle.

Walking on the pebble beach for several days, the clear water of the river and the sound of bubbling water always accompanied the four of them. Putting aside the demon clan, the Yaoming Forest, and even the entire Zongpiao Realm, can be regarded as a beautiful scenery. If it weren't for the demon clan and the competition, Xiao Tianhe would have been happy to travel slowly between this good mountain and water.

"Hey, I suddenly remembered that when I was very young, my father used to take me to the countryside. Beside a clear river, my father occasionally felt it and chanted a couplet: 'Turbulent river, clear waves wash away floating sand'. But since then, he has not been able to make the next couplet, and no one can say it to others. Xiao Tianhe recalled.

"Hmm...... Although the words and format of this sentence are simple, the difficulty lies in the fact that the eight characters are all three points of water. It's not easy to get it right. Su Ziyi said.

Xiao Tianhe said with a smile: "That's right, my father just chanted one sentence occasionally, and only after the exit did I realize that the whole sentence happened to be composed of the same side word." It is for this reason that it has become a great pleasure to ask for a link. You try, can you get it right?"

"I'm not good at writing, you two can try it. Fan Lingyun looked at Su Ziyi and Ye Linglong.

Ye Linglong frowned slightly, silent in thought.

Su Ziyi said: "To make the next couplet, you must pick a common radical, otherwise it is difficult to form a sentence." In addition to the three points of water, what other radicals can 'handle this heavy task'?"

Xiao Tianhedao: "There are a lot of radicals, such as next to the anti-dog, single person, next to the word moon, the head of the treasure cover, the bottom of the walk, etc., but it is necessary to form a sentence and adapt to the situation, but it is even more difficult." I remember that my father had a few friends who loved dancing and writing, and they used to discuss it for several days without sleep or food. In order to meet the three points of water, they first picked next to the mountain character, and then tried to lift the soil next to the word fire and next to the fire word, but to no avail. ”

"If you want me to say, water must be to the mountain, earth, and fire? The literati are prone to narrow thinking. The word mountain, the earth, and the fire are not radicals, and it is naturally impossible to choose words from them to form the next sentence. Fan Lingyun said.

Su Ziyi smiled: "Then Miss Fan, tell me, what radical do you think is appropriate?"

"Next to the wooden word. Ye Linglong on the side suddenly spit out three words softly.

Xiao Tianhe asked her: "It is indeed a radical next to the wooden character, and water is more suitable for wood." Miss Ye has a sentence?"

"Just take the dense forest in front of you to meet the scene," Ye Linglong looked into the distance, "My next link is: 'Pine and cypress, Heng Ke Du withered branches'." What do you think?"

The three of them looked at each other and applauded in unison.

"Wonderful, wonderful! The pines and cypresses are evergreen, there are indeed no dead branches, and the pines and cypresses that can be called 'Hengke Covering the Sun' are probably only qualified in this dense forest!" Su Ziyi praised.

Fan Lingyun patted Ye Linglong on the shoulder: "Miss Ye is so literate! Xiao Gongzi, if you have the opportunity, you must inform Ling Zun of this couplet, presumably he will be very happy!"

Xiao Tianhe smiled slightly, nodded, and didn't say much.

After listening to the praise, Ye Linglong said embarrassedly: "Where, I am only a shallow learner, but it was a moment of luck that I came up with such a couplet." After all, none of the pine and cypress trees in the outside world are dense enough to have a 'horizontal branch'. ”

"That's not necessarily, the world is so big, there are no surprises. Who would dare to say that he has traveled to every corner of this vast world? Eighteen unowned realms alone cannot be explored by human beings. Not to mention the vast three worlds of demons, immortals, and demons

of the realm. Fan Lingyun said.

An interesting couplet cleared the atmosphere of pent-up tension for several days, and the four began to continue their journey with laughter and laughter.

After another day, the long pebble beach finally came to an end. A cliff jutted out in the distance. The Reed River winds around the back of the cliff from the left, and the faint sound of water indicates that there should be a waterfall behind the cliff.

The other side of the cliff is connected to a dense forest of pines and cypresses. After consideration, the "Sanhua Gathering Peak" team still decided to wade around the back of the cliff. Because there should be a waterfall, there should be a mountain stream, which is more convenient than opening the road through the forest.

The water of the Reed River is not deep, and the water at the bottom of the river is only waist-high. The cool water of the river swept past several people, gently caressing their bodies. In order to prevent another incident similar to the 'Glowing Blood Spider', several people lowered their blades into the water and swung them around quickly.

The river is getting shallower and the roar of the waterfall is getting louder and louder. In the air behind the rock wall, a faint mist rises, and a rainbow looms in the sunlight.

When the river was barely ankle-high, the waterfall hidden behind the cliff finally revealed to the four of them. The cliff is like a curved screen, "wrapping" the waterfall in it. The waterfall does not cascade down from the top of the mountain, but gushes out of a flat arc-shaped hole halfway up the wall. At the bottom of the waterfall, there is a pool. Judging by the deep blue color at its base, the pool must be extremely deep. The water overflowing from the mouth of the pond flows outward, and this is the formation of the Reed River.

On the opposite side of the waterfall, there is a wide mountain stream. The stream was covered with gravel and gravel, and weeds were emerging from the crevices. In the distance, the mountain stream rises slowly, but the direction is very tortuous, and after a few small wavy bends, it turns to the east.

"This is the first time I've seen a waterfall gushing out of a cliff halfway up a mountain. Su Ziyi said as she walked.

Xiao Tianhe proposed: "Just call it 'Ambergris Waterfall', how about it?"

"Ambergris?" Fan Lingyun snorted, "What dragon's saliva can be so much?

"Okay!" Xiao Tianhe smiled and marked those words on the map with mud.

"Look, what is that?" Ye Linglong pointed into the distance.

It was a pile of rubble in the middle of a mountain stream. Behind a large rock, a blue object loomed and swayed slightly.

As the road ahead was an ascending slope, the uneven ground obstructed the view, and you had to get close to the rubble pile to see clearly. But what is certain is that the blue indigo color is by no means natural. In other words, man-made.

The four of them were alert, weapons in hand, and bows slowly moved forward. As the distance closed, the blue thing gradually became clear, and it seemed to be ...... A piece of rag.

The pile of rocks several feet high blocks the situation behind it tightly, and it is not a good idea to go up together. "You wait here, I'll go over and have a look. Xiao Tianhe whispered.

The three girls stared with bated breath, staring at Xiao Tianhe who was tiptoeing towards the pile of rocks. At this time, there is no abnormal sound in the mountain stream except for the roar of the waterfall that constantly reverberates.

Xiao Tianhe approached the pile of rocks, and finally saw clearly that the blue cloth turned out to be the sword spike on the handle of a fairy sword. He slowly peeked into the pile of stones, stood up straight, and beckoned to the girls, shouting, "Come here!"

Everyone was taken aback by what was happening inside the rubble. In a small clearing surrounded by rocks, three people lay down.

The three men, two men and one woman, were pale, their clothes were torn, they were badly wounded, and the ground beneath them was covered with blackened blood, and they seemed to have been dead for a long time. The two fairy swords and a magic sword were all broken into pieces and scattered on the ground around the corpse, and the blue sword spike was tied to a bare hilt.

But these are not the real reasons for the surprise of several people. Just a few steps away from the woman's corpse, two round beads with a faint light were floating in the air a few inches above the ground, slowly spinning!

"Demon Orb!" exclaimed the three girls in unison.

What happened here? In an instant, all kinds of conjectures came to the minds of several people.

Could it be that these three people had fought fiercely with the demon clan? Then why did they only see the demon spirit orb but not the corpse of the demon clan? How did these three people die? It seems that it doesn't make sense.

But who else would enter this vast Bright Forest to venture into this vast Bright Forest? The question then arises, how powerful must the people who killed these three people have to be to shatter their weapons? Why don't they take the Demon Orb after killing them?

"Maybe it'...... They obtained the Demon Spirit Orb elsewhere, but when they arrived here, they were attacked by an even more powerful demon clan?" Xiao Tianhe kept thinking of a more reasonable explanation in his heart, but for some reason, he always felt that this stone pile was a little weird. He scanned everything in the clearing, the three of them had died from their injuries, and there seemed to be nothing wrong with the bloody holes in the abdomen and chest of the corpses and the dried blood on the ground. The shattered weapons proved that they had encountered a formidable enemy, and judging from the cracked jaws and palms of the three of them, there should be no problem. Could it be that the weirdness comes from the Demon Spirit Orb?" "It stands to reason that after getting the Demon Spirit Orb, it will definitely be stored well, and it shouldn't be scattered on the ground so easily......" Xiao Tianhe thought in his heart, but he shook his head slightly, this is not the reason why he feels weird.

"Three, I'm sorry!" Fan Lingyun bowed slightly to the corpse and walked towards the Demon Spirit Orb happily. This is really a "pie falling from the sky", I am worried that I can't collect the demon spirit orb, so I can get two orbs without much effort, which is a big bargain.

At this moment, Xiao Tianhe's eyes lit up, and he finally discovered the real reason for feeling strange - this small open space surrounded by piles of rocks that was once used as a place of battle did not have the slightest trace of battle! No sword marks could be found on the ground or on the surrounding rocks! This was too weird, the large and small scars on the corpse and the shattered fragments of weapons revealed the fierceness of the battle, but it was so fierce

How could the battle leave no trace? unless...... Thinking of this, Xiao Tianhe shouted eagerly: "Be careful!"

It was this timely reminder that pulled Fan Lingyun back from the Ghost Gate. Before Xiao Tianhe's words fell, several pitch-black iron arrows suddenly shot out from the rock cracks around the Demon Spirit Orb, heading straight for Fan Lingyun. Fan Lingyun, who was alert, immediately plucked onions from dry land, quickly spun around and jumped up, and used the hem of his robe to involve all the hidden arrows in it. She did this for the sake of Su Ziyi and Ye Linglong behind her, if she bent down or dodged away just now, the two of them would probably suffer.

Although the dark arrow was avoided, the situation did not allow a few people to rejoice, a large net large enough to cover the entire clearing fell from the sky, only Xiao Tianhe, who was standing at the edge of the clearing, had time to retreat and dodge, and the three girls were tightly covered by the big net.

"Oops!" Xiao Tianhe hurriedly used the Huangyan knife to chop the big net, but the big net was made of unknown materials, it was quite tough, and it was very difficult to cut a net rope, and the person who cast the net naturally would not give Xiao Tianhe enough time.

"If I destroy my dragon tendon net, I'll chop you to pulp!" a shrill female voice rang out from above the rubble. Xiao Tianhe looked up and saw that on the top of the rock, there were four black-clothed people standing. All four were masked, but judging by the shape and hair decoration, they were two men and two women.

"Dark arrows hurt people, despicable and shameless!" Fan Lingyun under the net shook off the hem of his clothes, and more than a dozen black and shiny arrows rolled out of it, "It's actually quenched poison, it's really indiscriminate!" she scolded.

"If it weren't for the three indiscriminate, how could you tempt others into this clearing with the Demon Spirit Orb?" Ye Linglong was very annoyed. She had already understood that this was a trap at all! The pile of rocks created a relatively small space, and the sudden use of quenched cold arrows from the cracks in the rocks, and then covered with dragon tendon nets, naturally made it difficult for those who entered the open space to fly.

"Shut up! Obediently hand over the Demon Orb, and leave you a corpse. Otherwise, hum!" the woman sneered and threatened.

Sure enough, it's still for the Demon Orb. For the interpretation of "there are no rules", kind-hearted people naturally do not think of other bad deeds. Compared with the practices of these people, Bi Gongzi's behavior of "relying on the power of masters" suddenly seemed much more "noble".

"Let them go, the Demon Orb is not on them. Xiao Tianhe responded calmly.

The woman jumped into the clearing and smiled at Xiao Tianhe, "Do you think you can still run?" Two of the four men had blocked Xiao Tianhe's retreat, and the other woman also moved to the rock behind Xiao Tianhe and stood still, staring at him coldly.

Xiao Tianhe replied: "We are the 'Sanhua Gathering Peak' team, of course I will not leave the team members and run away alone." ”

When several people heard this, they laughed together. "What kind of bullshit 'Three Flowers Gathering Top'? I'm still 'Five Qi Chaoyuan'! Don't talk nonsense, do you obediently hand over the Demon Spirit Orb and die a happy death, or be slowly tortured by us, you can choose for yourself!" shouted the woman at the head.

"The Demon Orb is hidden somewhere else by me, not with us. "Xiao Tian Dao.

A cold immortal sword pressed against Xiao Tianhe's chest. "Dare to lie? The hard-earned demon spirit orb is hidden elsewhere instead of being on my body, do you think I'm a three-year-old child?" The woman exerted a little force, and the sharp blade cut through Xiao Tianhe's clothes, leaving a scar on his chest, and blood droplets dripped down the sword body and fell to the ground.

"I hid it for fear of being snatched away. I can take you to pick it up, but on one condition. ”

"You want us to let you go?"

Xiao Tianhe nodded: "We can't see your appearance, so you don't have to worry about us seeking revenge at all." You get the Demon Orb, and we save our lives, the best of both worlds. If you had to kill us, I would rather die than tell you where the Demon Orb is. ”

"Xiao Tianhe, are you stupid? After they get the Demon Spirit Orb, they will definitely kill us!" Fan Lingyun reminded.

"Therefore, I will only hand over one Demon Orb first, and the rest will not be taken out until I confirm that they are safe. "Xiao Tian Dao.

"Confirm Ann?" the woman wondered.

"After you took away the Demon Orb, we have no hope for this evaluation competition, so we simply quit and wait for the next one. When we walk out of the Bright Forest, we'll give you the rest of the Demon Orbs. ”

A man blocking the road said viciously: "Eldest sister, he is playing tricks! When we get out of the forest, as soon as he runs away or asks others for help, we won't be able to get the Demon Spirit Orb!"

"No, it won't. The demon spirit orbs are all stored in a storage magic weapon, I can hand over the magic weapon to you for safekeeping, and then I will dissolve the relationship of recognizing the owner after leaving the forest. Anyway, the magic weapon is in your hands, and we can't get back the demon orb if we escape, so there is no point in escaping at all. "Xiao Tian Dao.

"Hugh wants to trick me, just with your strength, how many demon spirit orbs can you have?" The woman at the head didn't quite believe Xiao Tianhe's words.

"A few days ago, we killed seven Black Flying Squirrel Kings in a rock valley, so we obtained a few Demon Orbs. If you don't believe me, you can take us back to the rock valley, and we'll see when we get to it. ”

"Oh, that's fine. It seems that you do have several demon orbs. Well, so I will spare you. The woman said.

"Big sister!" the other woman was still not at ease.

"Big sister" raised her hand: "I have my own measure." The second brother and the third brother are here to watch the three girls, and the younger sister follows this guy with me to get the storage magic weapon!"

"Yes!" the three replied in unison. It seems that this "eldest sister" has extremely high prestige among several people.

Fan Lingyun, Su Ziyi, and Ye Linglong looked at each other, of course they knew that Xiao Tianhe was lying, but what was the purpose of his lie?

Seeing Xiao Tianhe's back walking in front of him, the "eldest sister" narrowed her eyes slightly, and secretly sneered in her heart: "This nerd, when you get the storage magic weapon, why do I need to wait until you dissolve the relationship between the master? Won't it be over if you kill you directly? You can also earn a storage magic weapon for nothing!"