Zanxing watched with her own eyes as the burning heat in Mu Cengxiao’s eyes instantly faded away, his expression gradually becoming clear, though from his face to his neck, he remained frighteningly red—this time not from heat, but from shame. Without a doubt, if there were a crack in the ground here right now, Mu Cengxiao would have crawled into it without hesitation.

Seeing this, Tian Fangfang and Mendong immediately turned around, acting as if nothing had happened while looking elsewhere. Tian Fangfang coughed lightly twice: “This treasure land, calling it a treasure land—aside from a tree that sets traps for people, there’s nothing here. I’d say calling it a corpse burial ground is more accurate. We can’t come here for nothing, though. There are quite a few things left behind by cultivators near this sword tomb. Let’s search around and take any Qiankun Bags we find—who knows if there might be something good inside?”

He had always hated to leave empty-handed. Having said this, he immediately took action. Without minding the terrifying bones in the sword tomb, he began searching through them on his own, saying as he searched: “Fellow cultivators, it’s not that I, Old Tian, am being unethical, but these treasures of yours are just being wasted staying here. Better to let me take them back and put them to good use. Rest assured, we of the Taiyan Sect are not inhuman. Before we leave, we’ll lay your remains to rest.”

Zanxing: “…”

And this wasn’t called being inhuman?

Once he started searching like this, Mendong hesitated for a moment before following suit. Among the Qiankun Bags left behind by these cultivators, there might be rare spiritual herbs and the like. When a group goes out for training, they always need some gains.

Meng Ying didn’t move. Of course, for her, there was no need to do something like rummaging through Qiankun Bags among skeletons. Beside her, Mu Cengxiao sat stiffly. Though he tried hard to appear calm, even from far away, Zanxing could feel his embarrassment. This protagonist, who was originally infinitely glorious and should have been the biggest beneficiary of this journey, was now like a child who had made a mistake, sitting obediently against the wall, too ashamed to even lift his head.

Zanxing was finding Mu Cengxiao’s appearance somewhat amusing when suddenly a neither hot nor cold voice came by her ear: “Is he that good-looking? Should I put you down so you can get a better look?”

Zanxing snapped back to attention.

Due to the severe pain from the flower mark on her palm and having just confronted Mu Cengxiao, her body was truly weak, so she was currently being carried horizontally by Gu Baiying. However, though this was a tender and protective gesture, when done by him, it always carried a certain simple brutality. The young man’s expression wasn’t pleasant—his handsome face was drawn tight, looking exactly like someone owed him spirit stones and hadn’t repaid them.

Mimi woke up in this commotion. The Yinlang Shi rolled over, lazily swished her tail, and the next moment, with eyes gleaming, rushed toward the pile of bones and happily rolled around in it.

Zanxing gasped—this cat was beyond saving.

She struggled to look away, not wanting to see that distressing scene, and turned to ask Gu Baiying: “Master Uncle, aren’t you going to search through there?”

She intended to tactfully hint that Gu Baiying should put her down. There was nothing wrong with him holding her like this, but she imagined Gu Baiying wouldn’t be very happy about it. Who knew that Gu Baiying would glance at her and counter-question: “Then why aren’t you going?”

Zanxing was speechless.

How could she go? Now she had drawn the Wuyou Sword and fallen into the sacred tree’s spiritual domain together with Mu Cengxiao. Not only was she unaffected by the Liuhuan grass, but she had even injured Mu Cengxiao. All these behaviors were, from the “Heavenly Dao’s” perspective, extremely rebellious. Just think—turning a man who could summon wind and rain and stand at the Nine Heaven Summit into a junior brother sitting in a corner, seriously admitting his mistakes—even someone who had read the original work wouldn’t be able to spoil this plot development. One could imagine the “Heavenly Dao’s” fury toward her.

If she discovered some incredible fortune in this pile of bones, Zanxing did not doubt that the flower in her hand would immediately break through the soil.

After thinking it over, it was better not to join in this excitement.

“I already have my greatest gain,” Zanxing looked at him with a sincere expression: “Whether there are spirit treasures or not doesn’t matter at all. What’s important is that we found the sacred tree fruit. Master Uncle, your spiritual meridians can be saved. This is my greatest gain.”

Her gaze was bright and her words earnest, as if she truly regarded Gu Baiying’s spiritual meridian problem as the most important matter in the world.

The young man’s ears turned slightly red as he avoided her gaze. After a while, he suddenly said: “Yang Zanxing.”

“Mm?”

“The Liuhuan grass worked on Senior Brother, worked on Mu Cengxiao, but why didn’t it work on you specifically? Is your ability to subdue the Wuyou Sword really because of the ring the Serpent Witch gave you?”

The young man’s voice was indifferent, as casual as if discussing an ordinary matter, yet it almost immediately made all of Zanxing’s body hair stand on end.

She could casually fool Meng Ying, Tian Fangfang, Mu Cengxiao, and Mendong with these offhand remarks, but Gu Baiying was even more perceptive than she had imagined.

Tian Fangfang and Mendong were still searching through the pile of bones, with no one around paying attention to them.

After a moment, Zanxing hesitantly spoke: “Master Uncle, I have a secret treasure. This secret treasure was something I obtained by chance, and it saved…”

“Enough.” Gu Baiying suddenly interrupted her words.

Zanxing instinctively looked up.

After a moment of silence, the young man said, “During cultivation, each person has their fortunes. Having a secret treasure isn’t a big deal—you don’t need to report it to me. Moreover, your cultivation isn’t sufficient now. Rashly telling others about having a secret treasure will inevitably invite covetousness. Don’t casually mention it to people in the future.”

Zanxing was stunned. She had been hesitating about the Xiaoyuan Pearl matter for a long time, and just now, on impulse, she had wanted to take advantage of Gu Baiying’s questioning to simply be honest, but he had stopped her again.

Once courage is lost, it becomes somewhat difficult to regain.

She asked softly: “Can’t I mention it to you either?”

Gu Baiying’s expression paused as he stared into her eyes: “If you want to say something, you’ll naturally say it. Why be hesitant and appear troubled? Since you have difficulties that make it inconvenient to speak, there’s no need to force it. I don’t have a habit of pressuring juniors.”

He was putting on his master uncle airs again.

Zanxing wanted to say more, but Tian Fangfang’s voice came from over there: “Alright, everything’s cleaned up. Though the quality isn’t great, at least there’s enough quantity. Master Uncle, let’s take these bones up and bury them under the trees outside.”

Tian Fangfang and Mendong moved quickly. In just a moment, they had searched the pile of bones clean. Everything useful was packed into Qiankun Bags, and the remaining bones, having no solution for leaving them here, were all taken away in Meng Ying’s sack. The group planned to return to the surface and erect a tomb mound, which would count as laying them to rest.

The group left the underground cave and returned to the surface. The seal in front of the giant tree had completely disappeared. Whether because the sword spirit had vanished, all the spirit artifacts hanging on the tree had fallen from the branches to the ground, piling up into a small tomb mound.

It had truly become a sword tomb.

Several people buried the bones brought from underground beneath the tree, and found mountain stones to serve as tombstones. Heavy snow fell silently in the long valley, quickly covering the ground in silver white. Perhaps before long, this sword tomb would also be covered by accumulated snow, and in the entire treasure land, no trace of this sacred tree’s remains could be found.

Just like the ancient Yuezhi Kingdom, it completely disappeared from the maps of Duzhou.

The severe pain in Zanxing’s palm gradually subsided. Supported by Gu Baiying as she stood under the tree, she asked: “Where did Mimi go?”

She had been there when they came out—how had she disappeared in the blink of an eye?

Just as she was speaking, a low call came from behind. The white cat emerged from underground, shook the snow particles from her body, and affectionately rubbed against the hem of Zanxing’s robe.

Zanxing bent down to pick her up. Over there, Meng Ying had already opened the teleportation array.

Everyone walked through one by one, with Zanxing walking behind. The spirit beast in her arms had warm fur as she turned back to look toward the distant end of the treasure land.

Ten thousand mountains bearing snow, white everywhere.

When they came, rarely a trace of human presence.

Gu Baiying glanced at her: “Let’s go.”

—End of Divine Sword Arc—