Iillness of the forest, the rge herb gathering team moved quietly with a soft tread. All the guards sed the shadowy areas betweerees with vigint eyes. Their hands firmly gripped the ons at their waists, ready to deal with any sudden situation.

  The meraries who truly dared to escort the herb gathering team were not just those younglings who had been dazzled by the beauty of the Little Fairy Doost of them were seasoned veterans who had roamed the Magic Beast Mountain Range for many years and possessed an essential uanding and camaraderie. They could read signals of danger or safety in each other's eyes with a simple exge of gnces.

  Xiao Yan trudged along with the Heavy Xuan Ruler on his back. The unimaginable weight of the ruler, bined with its special ability to seal Dou Qi made even he, who had reached the Dou Master realm, boriously move with every step. Although his breathing was remely fast, it was audibly bored.

  Wiping the sweat from his face, he turned around and g Little Fairy Doctor standing in the ter of the team. The team's route was entirely up to her.

  Herb gathering teams did not require many people; what they needed was knowledge and a keen eye.

  Little Fairy Doctor resembled a fragile beauty as she gently wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and her breathing was slightly bored, a sight that could easily evoke a sense of protective fondness from those around her.

  After exging a few words with her, a young man in the guard squad fshed a faint smile and waved his hand as he shouted, "Attention, men of the Wolf Head! We are about to ehe Magic Beast Mountain Range. Let's not screw this up!"

  "Uood, Young Leader!"

  Xiao Yan g the young man known as Young Leader and noticed the wolf head badges hanging from the chests of some guards. This badge recisely the emblem of the Wolf Head Merary pany, one of the three major merary panies in Qingshan Town.

  He knew from the mouths of the other meraries around him that the young leader of the Wolf Head Merary pany, Mu Li, had been pursuing Little Fairy Doctor for a long time. Especially retly, his efforts had begressive; wherever Little Fairy Doctor appeared, he would be sure to follow.

  "Damn it, he's just relying on the fact that his father is the leader of the Wolf Head Merary Group. Does he really think that's enough to win Little Fairy Doctor's heart?"

  "Exactly, Little Fairy Doctor would never fall for such a regur guy."

  Xiao Yan heard the sour remarks from some of the meraries. He merely g them, showing little i iionship between the young man and Little Fairy Doctor.

  The outskirts of the Magic Beast Mountain Range were retively calm, as it redominantly inhabited by Rank 1 magical beasts. Aside from occasional issues with groups of these magical beasts, most situations didn't even require Xiao Yan to act.

  A blind-to-danger magical beast lu Xiao Yan with a roar. In a fluid motion, he sidestepped and then spun around to deliver a powerful kick that sent the Serpent-Tailed Leopard flying.

  Watg as the beast slinked away after its unsuccessful attack, Xiao Yan had no iion of pursuing it. Had he wao, he could have used the Oe Bst to crush the magical beast with that very kick.

  "Little brother, that was impressive. You dodged the attad even kicked the magical beast away!"

  "Tsk tsk, s at such a young age. What will bee of him?"

  "Ha ha, this little guy must be the you 2-star Dou Practitioner ieam, right? His strength is truly as rumored."

  Even Little Fairy Doctor cast a curious look his way. It was impressive for someone so young to dodge an attack from a Rank 1 magical beast and even terattack. Many 2-star Dou Practitioners might have panicked and gotten injured by the magical beast.

  A glimmer of hostility flickered in Mu Li's eyes wheiced Little Fairy Doctor's curious expression.

  Xiao Yan simply nodded with a faint smile in the face of these looks of admiration, jealousy, and curiosity. He had heard such praise too many times before; it was nothio him.

  Without any pretense or smugness, he simply tio follow the team as they quietly made their way to the herb gathering area.

  "Everyone, we are nearing the herb gathering area. Please take a moment to rest." After walking for a while, the soft, crisp voice of Little Fairy Doctor suddenly echoed through the quiet group.

  All the meraries simultaneously halted their steps upon hearing her words and cautiously surveyed their surroundings.

  After taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan sat down cross-legged, focused his mind, and began to cultivate the Spirit Heart Gathering Soul Teique. As he did so, his perception began to ge, and his Spiritual Strength transformed into threads that began to capture the soul light particles floating in the air.

  'The deeper we go, the more soul light particles there seem to be. Perhaps I could cultivate here in the Magic Beast Mountain Rao increase my Spiritual State.'

  Xiao Yan realized that the more magical beasts there were, the more soul light particles appeared. These particles could very well be reted to the birth of the Ten Thousa Fme.

  'Hmm? What is she doing going to such a pce?'

  After cultivating for a while, Xiao Yan frowned slightly and opened his eyes to look toward a cliff. During his cultivation, his Spiritual Strength had uedly detected a figure walking down the cliff.

  Xiao Yan revealed a pyful smile as he thought, 'That girl isn't as i as she looks. There's more to this herb gathering trip than just gathering herbs, isn't there?'

  He chuckled, stood up slowly, and discreetly moved away from everyone's view to slip into the dense forest toward the cliff.

  Soon he reached the cliff and crouched down at its edge, looking with i at the figure below. He smiled and asked, "Little Fairy Doctor, what are you doing in a pce like this?"

  !!!

  Little Fairy Doctor standing uhe cliff was clearly startled as her body visibly trembled for a moment.

  She looked up at Xiao Yan with a bit of reproa her eyes and said, "Are y to scare me to death? What if I had fallen!"

  She then poio a nearby pale flower harb crimson fruits, partially hidden, from which a faint medial fragrance wafted.

  "This is the White Orchid Fruit, a high-grade medial herb worth four thousand gold s."

  Xiao Yan blinked his big eyes in an i manner and said, "Oh, is that so? Do you need any help?"

  Little Fairy Dently plucked the White Orchid Fruit and pced it in her medie bag. Then, raising her hand as delicate as jade, she asked, "Mm... Could you give me a hand?"

  Xiao Yan gave a slight smile and reached out to grasp her delicate hand, feeling a warm softrao the palm of his hand. With a gentle pull, he lifted her up onto the cliff in a smooth motion.

  "Thank you."

  After her feet gently touched the ground, Little Fairy Doctor whispered a thank you and quickly withdrew her hand from his grip. A flush of shy redness spread across her cheeks, seemingly embarrassed by the physical tact between them.

  "It's time to go back; I've been out here for a while," she said.

  Xiao Yan maintained his fident smile and nodded. After Little Fairy Doctor took a step forward, he turned sideways and peered down the cliff, the spot that had just been obscured by her, wanting to see what exactly y below.

  Suddenly, Little Fairy Daze hardened, and she quickly turned around and sprinkled a handful of white powder in his dire with her right hand.

  "Trying a sneak attack, Little Fairy Doctor?" In the face of this sudden attack, Xiao Yan showed her surprise nor panily a cold smile.

  A bck fme suddenly appeared in the air, sug in all the white powder like a miniature bck hole.

  !!!! Xiao Yan swiftly reached out his hand and grabbed her wrist, deftly twisting her right hand behind her back without a trace of gentleness.

  "It hurts!"

  "It's supposed to hurt."

  Xiao Yan didn't fall for the Little Fairy Doctor's attempt to elicit sympathy. He coldly said, "If you don't want to end up as a one-armed fairy, then spill the beans and tell me what's uhis cliff."

  Little Fairy Dred at him and said in a deep voice, "You dare? If I lose a single hair, the Thousand Medie Pavilion and all the meraries will not let you go!"

  Xiao Ya out a loud ugh and very handily pulled out a strand of her hair.

  "I think I really do dare."