Chapter 84 - Mysterious Giant Flower

"Ye, Xing. Break some of his bones; the poison isn’t enough.” Hei said when he finished his work and turned to look at his two little sisters. His enemy laid on the ground, unconscious. He was still alive, but the wounds on his body wouldn’t heal quickly enough, making him mathematically out of the game.

If their permanence in the Secret Dimension lasted a very long time, he could heal in time with the help of medicines, but it wasn’t a valid reason to antagonize the Tremor Sect and the other sects of the Mountain Kingdom up to that point.

If he had killed the two martial artists even after they had been neutralized, he would have been badly seen, even by the sect of the Lake Kingdom, since he had no mercy for his enemies. And they would have given him the highest priority as a dangerous target, more than Chang Huan. On the contrary, by showing compassion, he wouldn’t generate feelings of hatred except for the victims, not to mention that the demonstration of now must have placed enough fear to make others desist from attacking him and Lian.

After all, this wasn’t a war. It was true that all the younger generation martial artists competed with each other, but there was no need to give the final blow. To recklessly kill a living being, whether it was a human, a demon, or a spirit beast, it would always generate consequences. As a follower of his mother's teachings, he would take their lives only if necessary.

"Take these two away. They are still alive, but I advise you to treat them immediately." Hei told the martial artists from the Mountain Kingdom sects, but not before having removed the space rings from the two men who had fainted on the ground.

To the words of Hei, those people, though they were rivals of the Tremor Sect, still carried out his command. It wasn’t a bad idea to curry favor with the number one sect of the island by saving two of its disciples. Besides, there were still around Chang Huan and Wen Guiying. With them still in the running, there was no way that they wouldn’t help the Tremort Sect, or they could become targets for those two.

With the Tremor Sect outside from the struggle for the quarry’s possession, the sects of the Mountain Kingdom withdrew. They had suffered a colossal defeat and even lost some martial artists. Without Chang Huan and Wn Guiying, there was no way to compete with the other two groups now.

But the victory of Hei and Lian didn’t only impact the Mountain Kingdom faction. Even the Lake Kingdom sects all frowned. With three members of two big sects each, and an equal number of martial artists from other sects, both groups were comparable. Now, however, with the Flower Sect's victory on the Tremor Sect, the needle hung on the Forest Kingdom's side.

"Withdrawn!" A woman with light-blue hair shouted, holding a metal fan.

She was Sun Xiulan, the one in charge of the Bubble Sect group. Until recently, she was confronting Ren, the leader of the Tree Sect group, on equal terms. But looking closely at the situation, she noticed the danger in continuing this fight. There would be other fights like these, and it didn't make sense to consume their battle potential when the odds of victory gave them to be disadvantaged.

As a temporary leader of the Forest Kingdom sects’ faction, Ren ordered a cease-fire. Getting the quarry without further losses was more than welcome.

"Secure the area. Each sect will take turns with the Tree Sect as first and the Flower Sect as the second. When you feel satisfied with the number of spirit stones, you will come out to let the other sects come in.” Ren immediately gave instructions on how to handle the loot of this battle.

The martial artists of the other sects nodded and accepted that order. As long as they had their share, it was okay for them. In any case, had it not been for the presence of the Tree Sect and the Flower Sect, they would have had no way to win against the other two groups.

At that point, Ren and his companions began to explore the quarry full of spirit stones. It took a while before they came out, but from their smiling faces, it was sure they had accumulated a sweet loot.

So it was Hei and Lian's turn. Ye and Xing meanwhile returned to their small size and hid in the clothes of their big brother.

Inside the quarry, although it would typically get dark, the interior was instead lit. All these thanks to the glow of the spirit stones attached to the quarry walls.

"Let's do an exploratory tour first and see what's at the bottom," Hei said to Lian, who nodded and followed Hei down the quarry.

The quarry stretched for tens of meters, and as they approached the bottom, they found pieces of increasingly larger spirit stones. When they reached the bottom, they noticed darkened areas on the walls, a sign that the Tree Sect group had extracted spirit stones from there.

"Let's start collecting then."

He and Lian initially had a total of three rings per person. Their enemies also had three, and after having seized their possessions, the total available to them was six. However, they had donated two rings to the Tree Sect group immediately after the fight.

The reason was simple: not to generate too much envy in others.

Even if they had won with their own strength, it was also true that without the help of the Tree Sect, they could never have entirely focused on their adversaries. But in the same way, without the help of the Flower Sect, the Forest Kingdom faction couldn’t have won so easily. Furthermore, by splitting the rings, he would avoid that the remaining two from Tremo Sect would focus exclusively on them.

So, in the end, only two rings went to the Tree Sect. In any case, he and Lian had five rings each, and the space now available to them was already more than they had planned in the beginning.

Filling three rings, each with larger spirit stones, Hei and Lian left the quarry, giving way to the next sect. Then they sat down on the ground to stand guard. Once everyone got their share, they would go away from there.

It took about an hour to complete that operation. Within the quarry, many spirit stones still remained, but the martial artists there had exhausted the space available to them. However, they couldn’t stay there too long. They didn't know exactly whether or when the two defeated groups would return with reinforcements. So, they all left that place, satisfied with their share of the loot.

After the battle for the quarry, there were no other battles on that scale, but only small skirmishes of little relevance. But on the fifth day of stay there, something unexpected happened.

A sizeable dome-shaped structure emerged from a point in the vast forest. Indeed, looking more carefully was nothing more than a large flower of about 30 meters size, whose petals were closed towards the center. From that flower, one could perceive an incredible amount of spirit power.

The first to find it immediately rushed to the flower. However, they found out they couldn’t enter. The closed petals of the flower formed an impenetrable barrier that blocked anyone who wanted to come inside. And those petals were solid enough not to be destroyed by their attacks.

As time passed, more and more people came. They didn't know what that flower was or why it had appeared, but one thing was sure: there was something extremely precious inside. They were confident about that; they could perceive it.

Of course, among those who had been attracted by the flower, there were Hei and Lian. When the two of them approached on the spot, Ye warned them she could perceive familiar smells, and following her directions, they discovered the Flower Sect group from which they had separated at the beginning.

All five were present: Zan, Li, Mei, Cao Su, and Ying Yue. By combining their abilities and strengths, they had avoided major battles, concentrating on recovering the various treasures they found, and even being lucky on certain occasions. As a result, the Flower Sect had managed to preserve the totality of its forces.

"Hei! Lian!” Ying Yue greeted them cheerfully with her usual carefree doing. The others also greeted them and gathered around them to explain what the situation was like.

"Good. Fortunately, you're here. We have heard rumors that you have beaten two of the Tremor Sect, nice work.” Li sincerely complimented them.

"Thanks. Instead, what's going on here? We felt a big ripple of spirit power, but apparently, we aren’t the only ones."

"The flower. It is a lotus flower, and something extremely precious is hidden inside the petals. At the moment it is closed, but it shouldn’t be long before it opens."

As a personal disciple of the sect leader, the knowledge of Mei about plants and flowers was incredible. Although it was the first time she saw a flower of such dimensions, she was able to understand the species of the flower and recognize the signs of the imminent opening.

"But we aren’t the only ones who have guessed it. Even the other pieces of shit down there are getting ready." Cao Su swore as he nodded toward a point in the distance from where they were hidden.

Looking in the direction he had indicated, Hei could see various groups of people sitting on the ground meditating. With the mysterious treasure inside the giant flower, none of the participants wanted to give up. Despite all the risks, they would do anything to get their hands on what was inside.

Among all the participants, it was precisely the five big sects that were the most favored. But since they had lost some of their power during these days, even the less favored had a chance. After all, if something went wrong, they could be satisfied with a small part of what was inside the flower.

"Out of all the big sects, only the Tree Sect and we were able to preserve our entire battle force. The Tremor Sect has lost two members thanks to you, while the Bubble Sect and the Frozen Sect have lost two members each. To take out those were Chang Huan and Wen Guiying, which are also among those present here. The reason why we are hiding and watching from afar is to avoid repercussions on us before the flower opens. Because we have seven members, we will likely have to face all the other big sects in unison," Zan explained bitterly.

So far, they had managed to do everything correctly, saving their strength. But now came the delicate part.

"Hei, if I leave you and Lian the Tree Sect, you think you can win against them?" Zan asked, staring intently into Hei's eyes.

"Yes, without any doubt. Lian and I can take care of one enemy each, and the same goes for my two spirit beasts. So I can also keep another person busy," Hei said confidently.

At this point, it made no sense to hide the strength of his two little sisters. Of course, he wouldn’t revealed that they knew how to use the Elemental Laws. But fortunately, in the chaos of the battle, there was no way that others could notice that two spirit beasts were able to use the Laws.

"Excellent, all right. Then I entrust you with the second member of the Frozen Sect while Mei will face their leader, Zheng Yawen. Ying Yue will face Sun Xiulan, the only one left of the Bubble Sect. To you, Li, I leave Wen Guiying, the Pyromaniac. Lastly, Cao Su and I will deal with Chang Huan, the Genius. The rest aren’t adversaries to worry about much: they will be busy fighting each other, and they will certainly prefer to do that instead of meddling the clash between us big sects. After all, if the big sects weaken their strength between them, there is more possibility for them, but at the same time, this situation is advantageous for us. Remember, you must incapacitate your enemy. The more of us remain standing, the more likely we are to win the treasure inside."

Zan's words motivated the hearts of all his companions. It wasn’t just for the treasure; if they won every fight against the strongest of the other big sects, they would automatically demonstrate the superiority of the Flower Sect.