Chapter 72 - An Unwanted Presence

Translator: Coca5156

Editor: Drea

Gu Lingzhi used all her concentration to avoid the Snow Bear’s attack.

The Snow Bear grimaced in pain when Tianfeng Jin’s long sword pierced it from behind. However, due to the size of the beast, the sword was not enough to harm it and it only made the beast more agitated. It waved both paws around agitatedly, wanting to attack Gu Lingzhi.

Qin Xinran tried to deal some blows from the side, but it did not have much effect. As a last resort, she flipped herself onto the beast’s head and began to ride it. No matter how much the Bear tried to shake her off, she did not let go of its neck. She pounded her fists repeatedly on the back of its head.

Even then, the beast did not give up its attempt to chase Gu Lingzhi. In fact, it became more ferocious.

“Lingzhi, quick, run! It’s going crazy! It wants to take you down before it dies!” Ye Fei, who was struggling to get up from the ground, shouted. She cast a protective shield around herself and tried to escape the beast.

Given Ye Fei’s condition, she would need to recover for at least half a day before she could be fit enough to fight. Staying here would only become burdenful for the rest.

Gu Lingzhi had heard what Ye Fei said and she could tell what the beast was trying to do as well. However, it was already taking up a lot of energy to avoid the blows that were being thrown at her, what more trying to escape?

Suddenly, Gu Lingzhi stumbled over one of the mudpiles that had been summoned by Ye Fei earlier. She was about to be pummeled by the Snow Bear when Qin Xinran who had been riding the beast jumped down from its neck and punched it straight in the eye.

The Snow Bear bellowed in anger, before swinging his paws towards Qin Xinran.

There was a loud bang when the beast’s paws made contact with Qin Xinran’s body. She flew a few metres away and collapsed on the floor, spitting out a huge mouth of blood.

“Xinran!” Gu Lingzhi exclaimed, but she was too preoccupied to check on Xinran’s injuries, because the Snow Bear was already ready to land the next blow.

Gu Lingzhi managed to shun away in time and at the same time, a wave of realization swept through her.

How did she not see that Qin Xinran had suddenly jumped down from the beast’s neck in order to give her time to avoid its attack? Why did she do that? They were not even that close.

Before she could give it a second thought, the Snow Bear was ready to unleash another barrel of blows. However, this time, it was a bit slower. Fortunately, it was because Tianfeng Jin had very ruthlessly pierced it again.

Looking at the beast head-on, it seemed as if it had only lost an eye. However, its back was drenched with fresh blood. It only attacked Gu Lingzhi relentlessly out of stubbornness.

At long last, it dropped to the ground, exhausted. The four who had been on edge the entire time could finally relax.

“Well, finally, it’s taken care of,” Ye Fei took a long sigh. She tossed a few pills of Spiritual Medicine into her mouth and continued to comment, “Lingzhi, how did you fight the Carmine Python that time? Is it really possible for a Martial Student to take on a first-order peak grade demon beast?”

Gu Lingzhi was silent because she also felt that it was luck that had enabled her to kill the Python.

“I don’t know, maybe the Carmine Python could sense that I was not skilled and decided to go easy on me?”

Ye Fei nodded her head in agreement, “That could indeed have been the case.” It took them four people to take on a Snow Bear, so it was good that this reason made sense, lest they felt inferior.

Ye Fei proceeded to sit down to tend to her wounds, so did Qin Xinran, who took out some Spiritual Medicine that had healing properties and consumed them.

Gu Lingzhi glanced at her, before she could not help but ask, “Why did you take that blow for me?”

Qin Xinran opened her eyes and looked at Gu Lingzhi. She dropped the harmless expression on her face and replaced it with a serious one, “Weren’t you always suspicious of me in the past? Now, do you trust me?”

A moment of silence passed before Gu Lingzhi nodded her head and replied, “Fine, I trust you.”

Personality-wise, Gu Lingzhi was actually rather soft-hearted. As long as someone had not pushed her to her limits, they had a chance of redeeming themselves.

Qin Xinran’s actions in the recent weeks had changed Gu Lingzhi’s mind about her a long time ago. Even if what had happened today turns out to be a game, Gu Lingzhi was willing to trust her once more until there was evidence of her lying again.

Qin Xinran smiled happily, almost forgetting that she was injured. She grabbed Gu Lingzhi by the arm and said excitedly, “Didn’t Tianfeng Jin say that she saw the Yuli Snow Lotus earlier? Let’s go and pick it now. It was you who first felt that something was wrong, you should have it.”

Following the direction where Qin Xinran was staring, Gu Lingzhi could easily make out the shape of a flower that was almost as clear as a crystal near the rock where the Snow Bear was lurking. As big as a palm and as white as snow, it stood elegantly and mixed in seamlessly with the surroundings.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

It was no wonder that the Yuli Snow Lotus was so hard to find, because even its stem camouflaged with the snow. Furthermore, it grew underneath a rock, which made it even more inconspicuous. It was also clear now why so many people would come forth to find such a flower every three years.

Having earned the Palm Lotus, it meant that she would be much stronger than the people around her. This also meant that she had a much higher chance of becoming a high grade Martial Artist soon.

Gu Lingzhi had indeed really desired such a treasure, but...

“No! I only guessed, and furthermore, I barely contributed in killing the Snow Bear, how can I take it for myself?” It was true that the treasure was valuable, but she could only accept it when she knew that she deserved it.

“If it was not for your predictions, we would not even know that the Snow Bear was guarding the flower,” Ye Fei interrupted. After some time of resting, she had also felt better.

“That’s right, according to what we had discussed earlier, we agreed that whoever had discovered the trace of the flower first should take it. Lingzhi, it’s yours,” Tianfeng Jin added after a short moment of silence.

Though the Palm Lotus was important, it was not worth them arguing about. Since they had already agreed beforehand, it was easy to determine who it belonged to.

“But I did not think that we would meet the Snow Bear...” Gu Lingzhi furrowed her brows.

“Since you guys do not want it, I’ll take it!”

Just when the four of them were trying to give in to each other, there came an unwanted presence.