[Star Trek]: Little Cloud, long time no see. The seedlings you traded to me last time have taken. Survival rate is above ninety percent, but the medicinal properties of some plants seem to have changed, so we need to reanalyze them.
[Fleeting Cloud]:If the properties changed, my original formulas will not fit. I will watch for substitute spiritual herbs.
But I urgently need energy-recovery potions, and the Hong energy cores. Can you transmit them now?
On the other end, Star Trek had not expected Little Cloud's request to be so urgent and replied at once: "Those Hong energy cores were exchanged with your rare plants. Approval is through. I will transmit them now."
"Good."
Moments later, Yunxi received the transmission prompt. She accepted at once, set three crates of Hong energy cores to the side, then asked again about the energy-recovery potions.
[Star Trek]: I will apply now. How many do you need?
[Fleeting Cloud]:As many as possible.
[Star Trek]: Are you at war?
[Fleeting Cloud]:Yes.
[Star Trek]:Local war or whole-realm war?
Yunxi thought a moment, then replied: local.
[Star Trek]:Understood. I will send you my current stock first, then apply for more.
[Fleeting Cloud]:Thanks. Once approved, please transmit them quickly. I will be going offline shortly.
[Star Trek]:All right.
After Yunxi received the first batch of energy-recovery potions, her consciousness withdrew from the space.
Sweeping her sleeve to open the isolation barrier, she saw Wei Yunqing, Zhang Lingrui, and Lin Keyang returning to the Hong Energy Shield. Only Wei Yunqing looked truly battered. Lin Keyang and Zhang Lingrui were in better shape, though still drained.
Yunxi's eyes shifted. She tossed a vial of energy-recovery potion to Wei Yunqing.
Wei Yunqing caught it on reflex, then looked at Yunxi, unsure what she meant.
"Drink. It will restore you quickly."
Yunxi's explanation was succinct.
Wei Yunqing's dantian was empty, even her Yuányīng was listless, so she drank without hesitation. In less than a quarter of an hour, color returned to Wei Yunqing's cheeks. Strength surged through her limbs, and even the tiny Nascent Soul's face showed a smile.
Wei Yunqing opened her eyes. "What potion is this? It works better than a spiritual power restoration pill, and there are almost no impurities."
Yunxi understood at once. The energy-recovery potion worked for cultivators and worked well. She generously tossed over ten vials. "This is a new spiritual power recovery potion I refined. You are the first test subject, so I am giving you more. Use them sparingly. You will not get such a good deal next time."
She had no psychological burden making Wei Yunqing her guinea pig.
Wei Yunqing almost snorted blood from anger. She glared at Yunxi, ready to spit a harsh retort.
Yunxi's apricot eyes turned. "What? Too many? Then you get four."
Wei Yunqing swallowed her temper immediately and swept all ten vials into her crimson bracelet. Passing up a bargain was not her style, and this was a life-saving item. She would be a fool to refuse.
Yunxi spared Wei Yunqing a glance, then turned to Zhang Lingrui and Lin Keyang, returning their storage pouches. Inside were not only spiritual power recovery potions and healing potions, but also a potion she had refined to forcefully raise combat power in emergencies.
They swept the pouches with divine sense and accepted them without a word. What Yunxi had returned far exceeded the value of the herbs they had provided. They would owe this favor first.
Many of the cultivators who had returned this round were exhausted. Once inside the Hong Energy Shield, they sank into meditation to recover. Yunxi headed to where Huaxian Gate's cultivators gathered and said to Xian Feng:
"Xian Feng Daoyou, you had best rush your breakthrough to Divine Transformation. Once the Nascent Soul-level spirits are eradicated, Divine Transformation spirits will appear."
Xian Feng understood the stakes and nodded at once."Very well. From your aura, Ran Daoyou, your spiritual power is steady and condensed. You should also attempt to break through to Divine Transformation."
"I will."
Yunxi did plan to do so, just not yet. Soon after, Shi Jun called her over. It was their squad's turn to fight the evil spirits.
Yunxi, Shi Jun, Qing Zhu, Huan Die, and Jiu Yue formed a Western Region battle squad. They hailed from Haoran Sect, Ming Jian Sect, Baihua Tower, Hehuan Sect, and Xianmo Sect, all well-known sects in the Western Region.
The moment the five stepped beyond the Hong Energy Shield, the omnipresent miasma of evil boiled against their protective barriers, trying to seep into their bodies.
They flashed into position, backs together, forming a five-pointed star formation. Each took a direction and unleashed their arts as the battle with the evil spirits began.
Though fewer in number this time, every spirit was early Nascent Soul. They showed human shapes now, leering at the fat prey at their fingertips.
Yunxi hefted the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff. She poured thunder spiritual power into it. Her opening strike was Punitive Thunder. The staff's Yaoguang star flared brighter and brighter. She braided in the power of the Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder it had absorbed. Countless violet arcs flashed, then slammed onto the solidified evil spirits.
"Argh!"
"How is this possible?"
"It is the Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder!"
"I will kill you!"
Yunxi's divine sense tracked the entire hall. Any spirit struck by Punitive Thunder could not maintain its form and immediately turned ethereal to reduce the lightning's damage. When they recondensed, their forms were visibly dimmer than before. Proof that her attack was effective.
One spirit that rushed her with a roar met a flick of Yunxi's finger as she snapped Zi Yan into its body. A heartbeat later, a wail echoed through every corner of the hall.
Seeing Yunxi's opening success, Shi Jun unleashed his signature strike, Rending Flame. Scalding fire-aspected sword intent engulfed the Nascent Soul spirit before him. A rain of lethal starfire pelted the spirit.
The spirit tried to turn ethereal to evade, but the sword intent bound it fast. It could only blur again and again while calling for aid.
Qing Zhu's jade flute rang through the hall. The sound waves spread like ripples, layer after layer, pounding the spirits without pause until they could not even maintain human shapes.
Huan Die wielded a round fan, her lithe form turning as she danced it through the air. A cloud of violet butterflies burst from the fan, crawling over the spirits from head to toe. In the next instant they detonated, blowing the spirits apart with them.
Jiu Yue Zhēnjūn of the Western Region's Xianmo Sect was a demon cultivator. His disciple was Lu Wangyou, who had crossed paths with Yunxi in Fei Xia Valley, and by chance had been pulled into the Shanhe Scroll this time as well.
Jiu Yue Zhēnjūn was mid-stage Nascent Soul. His natal weapons were a pair of black-gold short blades. Infused with demonic qi, the alternating slashes cast massive blade shadows that diced the spirit before him into countless pieces. The soul-body turned ethereal to avoid a killing blow.
But when it condensed again, a streak of blade intent was already rampaging inside its soul-body, preventing it from holding a human form.
The five were formidable. Time after time they shattered the spirits, and time after time the spirits re-formed, like cockroaches that would not die, howling as they hurled themselves at the squad.