Dark Stone Clearing

After witnessing Chang Liuyun's unexpected success, the inside of the sedan chair fell silent and the atmosphere became rather awkward, at least for Chang Liuyun and Suan Bian.

Suan Bian's pride was much too hurt to initiate conservation and no one else bothered to.

Because, unfortunately for him, Lei Mingxing quite enjoyed the temporary calm.

Even though she knew that putting Suan Bian in a bad mood was dangerous, she couldn't help herself.

With fear and anxiety constantly fueling the frustration boiling beneath her skin, even just something as petty and silly as this was a very welcome outlet for Lei Mingxing. So she secretly savored it inside her heart throughout their journey.

Soon, they reached their destination and the sedan chair stopped, gradually sinking before being placed on the ground. One of Suan Bian's servants opened the curtains to report the situation.

"Young Master, we have arrived."

Suan Bian nodded and off the sedan chair before stretching out his hand to assist Lei Mingxing, shooting her the first 'charming' smile in a while.

Lei Mingxing ignored his hand, acting as if she was too reserved to take it while keeping her head down, exiting the sedan chair as well.

The moment she stepped onto the soft forest floor, Lei Mingxing looked up and saw the huge clearing surrounded by several stone pillars that towered just as high as the century-old trees of the forest around them.

"This is the Dark Stone Clearing," Suan Bian had quickly recovered from Lei Mingxing's 'unintentional' rejection and began to boast once more, "All the plants you see growing here are different kinds of medicinal herbs. Pretty much everyone who is strong and influential enough goes here to pick them."

Suan Bian pretended to be mysterious as he leaned toward Lei Mingxing and whispered the last sentence.

"Of course, such a treasure trove is not without its risk."

Satisfied with his performance after seeing Lei Mingxing slightly shrink her neck, Suan Bian walked to one of the spaces between two pillars and raised his arm before pressing his hands flat against what seemed to be an invisible barrier.

With a bright flash, a familiar green flame lit up, burning away at the barrier until an opening big enough for a person to pass through opened.

Letting out a deep breath, Suan Bian waved for the people behind him to follow and walked into the clearing, still maintaining the green flames on the barrier. Only after everyone including Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun had entered as well, did Suan Bian dissipate the fire.

The moment the barrier closed again, a sudden pressure fell onto all the people inside. Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun quickly counteracted this force by circulating their inner Qi a bit faster.

The servants didn't even bat an eye at the force, probably having experienced it many times before. They simply left to pick the rare herbs their Young Master was looking for.

Suan Bian turned around to face Lei Mingxing but to his disappointment, the other wasn't struggling in the slightest, not giving him any chance to act as a gentleman and share his inner Qi with her or teach her how to negate the effect.

Similar to the faint layer of flickering green surrounding him, Lei Mingxing was also covered with a smoldering crimson hue, which only elevated her demoness status in Suan Bian's mind and made him unconsciously lick his lips.

"Ah, there is still something I forgot to mention, the pressure around you grows stronger the closer to the clearing's center you get. You also have to leave before your inner Qi runs out or something not too pleasant will happen..." Suan Bian said ominously before flashing Lei Mingxing another smile, "But don't worry too much, just let me know when you want to leave and I will help you out."

Lei Mingxing nodded stiffly, lowering her eyes. Suan Bian who interpreted her actions as yet another bout of shyness, turned around with a grin and left to oversee the work of his servants.

If they really found the Cottenhead Dandelion or even the Iced Silver Mint he was looking for and damaged them in some way, hell would be a nicer place to stay.

Breathing a sigh of relief at the annoying Young Master's departure, Lei Mingxing took advantage of the fact that she was supporting Chang Liuyun and dragged him away to put even more distance between them and Suan Bian's group.

Chang Liuyun followed Lei Mingxing's lead as they passed by several mercenaries at a slow pace.

After walking for a while and judging that Suan Bian probably wouldn't be able to hear them anymore, Lei Mingxing finally got to ask the question that had been burning inside her mind from the moment the four pills plopped out of the cauldron.

"Do you want to continue practicing Alchemy?"

Chang Liuyun was surprised at Lei Mingxing's sudden question and unconsciously nodded. He stopped halfway but it was already too late to take back.

"That's great! Alchemist is also a money-earning profession, with both of us as an Artificer and an Alchemist we might get the money needed for leaving much quicker than expected!"

Lei Mingxing's enthusiasm almost infected Chang Liuyun, but he couldn't forget about the worries that had risen in him earlier.

"But I don't have a mentor and alchemy is also a very expensive profession...Especially cauldrons cost a fortune," Chang Liuyun sighed, " Let's just forget about it."

The more Chang Liuyun talked, the more down-cast his voice became until finally the budding conversation died down completely.

Lei Mingxing also didn't say anything else. Alchemy really was pretty pricy during its beginning stages, and this would only change after quite some time of studying.

In this way, the only thing Lei Mingxing could do was softly furrow her brows in thought as they continued to randomly walk around, not even noticing the increasing pressure around them.

Crunch!

Suddenly, while strolling, Lei Mingxing felt something hard beneath her foot, in stark contrast to the soft plant-covered ground that surrounded them for at least a hundred meters. The second thing she noticed was how far away they were from all the other mercenaries and Suan Bian's group. The third, was the seemingly abrupt pressure that pressed down on them, almost flattening her.

Lei Mingxing hastily circulated her inner Qi as fast as she could and glanced at Chang Liuyun to make sure he was okay.

Chang Liuyun had an equally confused light in his eyes, his jaw clenched with a faint film of sweat covering the visible half of his face. But Lei Mingxing's state wasn't better, her entire body was almost drenched in sweat from one second to the next, some droplets even threatening to fall into her eyes.

She quickly brushed them away.

This was bad, her inner Qi wouldn't be able to bear this pressure for long. Actually, she probably had to start considering which hand she would rather sacrifice for a few more seconds of protection.

How come neither of them had noticed how close to the center they got, shouldn't the growing pressure have been a clear indicator?

It didn't matter, getting away from here was much more important at the moment!

Lei Mingxing gripped Chang Liuyun tighter, turning around as quickly as they could.

Crunch!

Lei Mingxing stepped on the hard object once more and hastily glanced down, to see just what lay hidden beneath the plants and interrupted her step twice.

A simple, fist-sized stone slap.

And there was a strange symbol on it.

Her mind became blank, a strange silence vibrating inside her very skull.

Just then Chang Liuyun shook her awake.

Instantly, Lei Mingxing returned to reality. Fortunately, the force around them seemed to have lessened a bit so she wasn't crushed to death by her moment of distraction, but Chang Liuyun continued shaking her, calling her name with frightened eyes.

Lei Mingxng realized that staying here was just a disaster waiting to happen, so they ran as fast as they could, not even sparing the stone slab a second glance.

The faint shield of inner Qi around Lei Mingxing began to flicker on and off. She tried her best to maintain it while running, this caused the amount of sweat flowing down her face to increase significantly. She even breathed in some while desperately gasping for air, leaving her almost choking to death because of a coughing fit, a familiar iron taste in her mouth.

Teary-eyed, Lei Mingxing roughly wiped her lips and nose beneath the face veil.

The fabric of her sleeve was dyed in a crimson red.

Lei Mingxing instantly realized what had happened and clicked her tongue, continuing to press the sleeve against her nose as she ran.

Finally, they reached Suan Bian's group who fortunately were near the row of stone pillars.

Chang Liuyun opened his mouth as he was in a much better condition than the wheezing Lei Mingxing that was barely able to maintain her Qi shield.

But before he could even utter a single word, a sudden roar sounded behind them.