Wen Yi

The young man and the eagle were in a stalemate. Although the eagle was fast, the young man was agile and avoid all of its attacks. On the other hand, none of the young man's attacks managed to reach the eagle. The two of them were caught in a stalemate. 

All of the participants had not built a foundation yet. Only after a cultivator built a foundation, they could bond with spiritual weapons and fly. Unlike spiritual tools which could be used by Qi Refining cultivators, spiritual weapons required much more spiritual energy and control. The main advantage of spiritual weapons was their precision. Most spiritual tools were clunky and fragile. They could not be used in battle. 

Although the seal had been lifted, there were still remnants of Seir's power clogging Ruan Yanxi's meridian which limited his strength. At the moment he was at the late stage of Qi Refining, but he knew that he should be stronger than this.

Ruan Yanxi observed the ongoing battle. He did not plan to interfere, content in examining the young man's swordsmanship. The Qian Jian sect prided themselves in their single focus on swordsmanship. Unlike Qing Yang sect which was the biggest sect in the southern continent and could afford to offer diverse cultivation paths. Most sects could only focus on one path. Some focused on alchemy, others focused on array. The Qian Jian sect led the sword cultivation path in the southern continent.

The eagle got too arrogant and failed to pull back. The young man swung his sword, exploiting the momentary weakness. But suddenly something burst out of the ground. Ruan Yanxi immediately moved and pulled the young man away.

"Ack?! Who?" the young man said.

"Focus," Ruan Yanxi said as he unsheathed his sword.

The two of them looked at the intruder. It was a strange-looking plant monster. Its head was a blooming flower. Its roots whipped around it threateningly. The young man had unconsciously stumbled into its territory while he was busy fighting with the eagle.

"You deal with the eagle," Ruan Yanxi said and launched an attack against the monster plant. The monster blocked Ruan Yanxi's attack using its root. The monster shot several projectiles made out of seed which Ruan Yanxi expertly avoid. He slammed his sword to the ground causing a shock wave that staggered the monster. Without any hesitation, Ruan Yanxi moved for the kill and cut the monster into two.

The monster twitched on the ground as green sap bled out of its body. Ruan Yanxi looked toward the young man who finally managed to strike the eagle down. The eagle cried out, not reconciled. The young man stabbed the eagle through its skull and it finally died. He cut open the eagle to pull out its monster core.

The young man turned to Ruan Yanxi and gave a salute, "My name is Wen Yi from the Qian Jian sect. Thank you for your assistance, fellow Daoist."

"Ruan Yanxi." 

Now that the battle was over, Ruan Yanxi could clearly see the young man in front of him. Besides his upright look and smooth hair, Wen Yi was blessed with green eyes. 

Mixed blood? Ruan Yanxi pondered.

Wen Yi said, "A pleasure to meet you. One dare to ask if fellow Daoists is willing to cooperate with me? I found a place where the iron armor crabs may reside. With my skill, I cannot handle them by myself, but if the two of us work together, I trust that we can defeat them."

Iron armor crabs. They were fierce beasts with massive bodies. Their primary strength was their hard-to-break shell and their tendency to gather in groups. They live near lakes and in swamps. Considering its difficulty, the iron armor crabs was at rank 3 in the list of materials.

"Okay," Ruan Yanxi said. 

"Splendid." Wen Yi beamed. "Follow me."

It took them half an hour to reach the swamp where Wen Yi saw the iron armor crabs. They halted at the edge of the swamp and looked at the iron armor crab scuttling from afar.

"The others must be hidden in the swamp," Wen Yi said.

"There are six," Ruan Yanxi said. It was not obvious but he could see five spots where the ground shifted.

"So each of us will handle three."

Ruan Yanxi nodded. 

Wen Yi pulled out a talisman and threw it to the iron armored crabs. The talisman glowed and exploded into a ball of lightning, stunning the iron armor crab. The lightning also exposed the crabs that were hiding underground. 

Ruan Yanxi attacked the staggering crab. The iron armor crab had thick and sturdy shells but even the strongest armor had weak joints. Despite having been stunned by lightning, the crab still fought back. It swung its massive claw down. Ruan Yanxi dodged it and jumped on top of its claw. He slashed the joint and cut off one of its arms. The crab could not scream but it twitched as one of its arms separated from its body. 

Ruan Yanxi did not show mercy and stabbed its eye. As his sword plunged deep, he also sent his spiritual energy through his sword cutting even deeper. The crab shuddered and collapsed. 

The other crabs had climbed out of their hiding spot. Wen Yi sent out another talisman. This time a wave of fire attacked the group of beasts. Although it did not hurt their well-protected body, some of them had their eyes burned.

With their eyesight gone, they did not stand a chance against the two cultivators. They swung their arms wildly, hoping to hit them by chance. But none of their attacks landed and soon all of them fell under the cultivators' swords.

The two of them did not let their guard down. There might still be enemies hiding.

Suddenly, a resounding clap rang through the silent swamp.

Ruan Yanxi turned toward the sound and saw White lying on top of a fallen tree, clapping his hands.

"Great work, team!" White said.