Chapter 207: Luo Xuyuan’s Gratitude, Joining Hands with Dragontiger Sect

Translator: Minotauruz

The moment of danger had finally passed. Just some moments ago, Death still loomed grimly over the heads of the Dragontiger Sect disciples, and none of them thought that they would live to see the next day. Thus, when they finally came to their senses, they were overwhelmed with immense joy, and everyone began to hug each other and cheer from the bottom of their hearts.

They had always been cultivating hard within the safety of their sect’s four walls, and this was the first time they had encountered such a dangerous situation in their lives. It was the closest shave to death they had ever had.

When the elation from snatching their lives back from the jaws of Death subsided, Luo Xuyuan finally remembered their benefactors – the Dawn Sect, Heavenly Peak disciples.

“Brother Chen, thank you for responding to our call for help earlier. Until the day we die, the disciples from the Dragontiger Sect shall never forget your magnanimity and benefaction!” Luo Xuyuan sincerely bowed, and even choked slightly as he thanked the Heavenly Peak disciples from the bottom of his heart.

Their leader had already perished to the Colossal Centipede earlier. How great would it have been if they had managed to encounter the Heavenly Peak disciples that much earlier?

Chen Feiyu nodded his head, before clarifying, “Actually, it’s Little Lang here who made the decision to rescue you. If there’s anyone you should thank, it’s him.”

As he spoke, he patted Wei Gaolang’s shoulder.

“Haa--?!” Wei Gaolang had never expected his martial brother Chen to single him out like that. Faced with the emotional gaze from the Dragontiger Sect disciples, he scratched his head in embarrassment as he addressed them, “That...helping each other is something that we all should do. Furthermore, you people are far better than the team from Crescentfell Sect.”

At least you know what gratitude is. Wei Gaolang added in his heart. With a basis for comparison now, his impression towards the Crescentfell Sect disciples had fallen to an all-time low.

After all, there was no objectivity without comparison.

Jun Xiaomo walked over with a faint smile on her face as she chimed in, “That’s right. If not for the fact that you steeled your resolve in the heat of the moment, and you decided to stem the spread of damage by asking us to leave, we might not have gone all out to save you either.”

Luo Xuyuan’s loud cry to warn Jun Xiaomo and the rest had revealed the purity and honesty in the depths of his heart. Therefore, she hardly hesitated to pull out all her stops to rescue them.

After all, the Heavenly Peak disciples had always appreciated honest and sincere people.

This was the first time Luo Xuyuan had received such praise from a beauty like Jun Xiaomo, and he couldn’t help but scratch his head bashfully and smile from ear to ear. The tips of his ear even turned slightly pink.

“But come to think about it, you lot are truly amazing. I’d never expected that a group of disciples with cultivation lower than the twelfth level of Qi Mastery would ever be able to subdue and overpower the Colossal Centipede.” Another Dragontiger Sect disciple exclaimed with admiration in his voice.

“This would be the fruit of martial sister Xiaomo’s labour. If not for her, we might not have been able to defeat that Colossal Centipede that easily.” The Heavenly Peak disciples smiled as they explained.

“Oh? This has to do with sister Jun? What do you mean?” The Dragontiger Sect disciples’ curiosity had been piqued.

It was a widely known fact that Jun Xiaomo had obtained the title of champion within the Lower Category battles. However, the strength and abilities of the Lower Category contestants were nevertheless far lower than the competitors in the Middle Category and the Open Category battles. Therefore, they had never expected Jun Xiaomo to be the linchpin of the Dawn Sect team in the group battles.

“It’s because martial sister Xiaomo taught us a special method for group battles that allowed us to build on each other’s strengths and bring our abilities to new heights.”

The Heavenly Peak disciples did not reveal the details about the group battle tactics, because they knew that without seeing and experiencing the benefits of such tactics, it would be difficult for another to grasp just how powerful these tactics were.

The Dragontiger Sect nodded their heads in slight confusion. Then, after deliberating for a moment, Luo Xuyuan looked at the Heavenly Peak disciples and asked, “I wonder if our benefactors from the Heavenly Peak are willing to let us travel together with you for the remainder of the group battles?”

“Travel together with us?” Chen Feiyu had never expected Luo Xuyuan to have such considerations.

Luo Xuyuan chuckled bitterly as he responded, “Sigh, truth be told, I’m not the leader of this group. Our leader was eaten by that Colossal Centipede earlier, and our group is currently without leader and without direction. Although my cultivation level is the same as brother Chen at the eleventh level of Qi Mastery, I don’t have any experience with leading a team or engaging in group battles. If we encounter another situation like the one earlier, I’m afraid that the odds of us returning alive would be slim to none.”

Luo Xuyuan had never expected their team to place well at the final standings of the competition. They had only intended to make an appearance and participate in the festivities, before returning with some gifts and tokens of participation.

Yet who could have expected them to encounter such life-threatening situations right from the outset of the group battles? They even almost lost their lives there and then.

“Of course, since we’re the ones following you, all of the points that we’re obtaining can be given to you. Our only hope is that we will be able to return back to our sect safely.”

Luo Xuyuan revealed his bottom line immediately. He would rather give up all his points in exchange for the hope of returning alive with his martial brothers in the Dragontiger Sect.

Jun Xiaomo could see Luo Xuyuan’s sincerity and straightforward attitude from the depths of his eyes, and she could not help but be reminded of Ye Xiuwen who had vanished without a trace.

Her heart was slightly moved. Thus, she smiled as she responded earnestly, “Brother Luo doesn’t need to speak so seriously. We’ll leave the issue with the points aside, and they can be allocated how they should be allocated. I believe that the referees outside would make a fair decision and judgment on this regard. Since you’re willing to follow alongside us, then let’s do it this way instead. We’ll teach you a thing or two about how to increase your overall group battle abilities. This way, whenever we encounter dangers, we can deal with them together, and we can lower the odds of injury or even death.”

“We couldn’t ask for more!” Luo Xuyuan replied with bursting emotions. Then, he did a slight double take and looked hesitantly towards Chen Feiyu – Chen Feiyu should be the leader of this group. Does Jun Xiaomo have the power to call the shots?

Chen Feiyu nodded as he affirmed Jun Xiaomo’s decision, “Martial sister Xiaomo’s decision represents all of our decisions.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Luo Xuyuan once again expressed his unending thanks and gratitude to them.

“No need for thanks. These competition grounds are fraught with many dangers, and it’s only right that we help each other out.” Jun Xiaomo smiled radiantly.

Thus, the Dragontiger Sect joined hands and began to take the lead from the Heavenly Peak disciples. In the following time to come, they would realize the importance of the decision that they had just made.

Rumble... Suddenly, the stomach of one of the Dragontiger Sect’s disciples growled loudly. He rubbed his tummy in embarrassment as he explained, “We were just about to have our lunch when the Colossal Centipede suddenly attacked us earlier, so we haven’t had our lunch yet.”

“Since that’s the case, let’s rest and recuperate for a moment before continuing on our journey.” Chen Feiyu suggested.

Nobody had any objections to this suggestion.

Thus, the Dragontiger Sect disciples washed their hands, sat down on the floor and began to retrieve some dry rations from their Interspatial Ring. They looked earnestly at the dry rations, before they broke the dry rations in half and stored one half into their Interspatial Ring.

Then, they began to gnaw and swallow the dry ration with the aid of some drinking water.

“Is that all you guys are eating?” Wei Gaolang looked at the amount of food in their hands and asked them in astonishment.

Luo Xuyuan chuckled bitterly for a moment, before shaking his head and growing taciturn.

When the Colossal Centipede had burst out of the ground and made its appearance, everyone had been so shocked that their they immediately discarded their dry rations earlier and ran for their lives. Thus, it was important for them to apportion their food accordingly right now.

They might not have their fill this meal, but it was far better than starving later on.

Wei Gaolang guessed as much despite Luo Xuyuan’s silence. He thought about it for a moment, before retrieving a part of his own rations from his Interspatial Ring as he told everyone, “Here, you guys can share this. We might still be involved in a number of battles later.”

“This can’t do!” Luo Xuyuan rejected, “You’ve already been extremely hospitable to us. There’s no need for you to go so far. If we apportion our food properly, the food we have in our Interspatial Ring can still last us for the remainder of the three days.”

Jun Xiaomo overheard the conversation over here. She thought about it for a moment, before she stood up and walked towards the Colossal Centipede’s corpse and began to circle around it.

“Martial sister, why did you run over here?” Having discovered that Jun Xiaomo had disappeared into the distance, Wei Gaolang skipped over to her, “Ugh...it’s smelly!”

He covered his nose disdainfully – I wonder what type of centipede this is? It looks so strange! And even after we cut off its feelers, its wounds would emanate such vile, putrid scent!

“Nothing much. I think I must have come across this type of centipede before. If I’m not mistaken, the meat on its belly can be eaten.” Jun Xiaomo began to think aloud.

“Wha--...what?! Martial sister, you must be joking, right?! It smells absolutely putrid! Even if it’s not poisonous, how could we possibly stomach its meat?!” Wei Gaolang was taken aback by Jun Xiaomo’s “creative solution”, and he attempted to persuade Jun Xiaomo to dispel such a notion.

“Don’t you know that there are many spiritual beasts and demonic beasts that have edible parts to their bodies?” Jun Xiaomo glanced back at Wei Gaolang curiously.

“I know that, but...” Wei Gaolang paused momentarily before he continued, “But, only those that look normal should be eaten, right? But this...”

Truth be told, he would not swallow its flesh if he could help it.

Jun Xiaomo chuckled lightheartedly as she patted Wei Gaolang’s shoulder. Then, she retrieved a Windsail Talisman from her Interspatial Ring, placed it on her hand, before making a sweeping motion towards the Colossal Centipede’s corpse –

A massive gust immediately swept over at the Colossal Centipede and lifted its corpse.

Hong! Just like that, the Colossal Centipede was flipped over.

The commotion on this side attracted the attention of several disciples who were resting, and they walked over to Jun Xiaomo and Wei Gaolang. Then, when Wei Gaolang relayed to them what Jun Xiaomo had said about the edible parts of the Colossal Centipede, the disciples that had walked over immediately reacted with a constipated look on their faces.

I wouldn’t eat these things even if I starved to death. It’s too scary, and too...smelly!

The only silver lining was the fact that the Colossal Centipede’s abdomen looked plain and flat – it was a far cry from what its back looked like with its countless feelers and innumerable eyes. Otherwise, one might very well lose their appetite by just looking at those eyes.

Jun Xiaomo instructed a few martial brothers to hack open the centipede’s abdomen with their swords. Then, with one strong pull, she yanked out the hard carapace protecting its abdomen.

There was no putrid, green fluid or vile smells emanating from under the carapace. Instead, there was a thin layer of pink flesh that stretched from the centipede’s head all the way to its tail.

“This is it.” Jun Xiaomo celebrated the fact that her memory had served her right. Then, with the aid of her few martial brothers, she began to harvest the thin layer of meat from the centipede’s abdomen.

The layer of meat was thin, but the amount that they had harvested was still rather substantial given the massive size of the centipede.

That said, no matter how much meat they harvested, it did not change the fact that this meat had still been harvested from that grotesque-looking centipede that emanated vile, putrid scents.

Thus, nobody wanted to touch it.

“Mar-...martial sister, do we really have to eat this?” Wei Gaolang struggled with himself as he asked hesitantly.

“Of course. After spending so much time and effort harvesting its meat, why wouldn’t we eat it? The Dragontiger Sect doesn’t have sufficient dry rations, right? We’ll naturally need to find other sources of food to sustain the energy in our bodies. Otherwise, how will we be able to last till the third day?” Jun Xiaomo responded nonchalantly as she checked the condition of the meat that they had just harvested.

The Dragontiger Sect disciples knew that Jun Xiaomo had considered harvesting the centipede’s meat because they had insufficient rations, and they felt guilty about forcing the Heavenly Peak disciples to eat this meat in their stead. Thus, they set aside their disdain for the meat and hurried over, “Sister Jun, thank you for being so thoughtful. Let us have this meat instead. You should eat the dry rations you’d brought.”

Jun Xiaomo looked curiously at them as she asked, “Do you know how to eat this?”

Luo Xuyuan was slightly taken aback at her question, before he hesitantly responded, “This...won’t we grill and then eat it?”

Jun Xiaomo chuckled with some exasperation as she shook her head, “If you really grilled the meat just like that, you’ll be poisoned.”

Everyone else: ......

There’s still poison in this?!