The deceased parents had also entrusted Fenglong with the task of finding a wife to help them burn incense at the ancestral altar and to continue their bloodline. Of course Fenglong had scoffed after reading such an outrageous will and decided to never touch the pile of treasures known as the betrothal gifts, only using the rest of the vast empty space to store his own items.

Until he met Baihe.

Fenglong had then breached his own stubborn rule and dug into the betrothal pile to find the life-saving pill and feminine products.

Lost in their own thoughts, a beam of light engulfed the two, returning them back to the mountain range. At once, they activated their qigong and started to run. Just as they had expected, the mountain walls began to shift and rumble, caging in on them like a moving prison maze.

Up ahead, was the forest with towering trees. The instant they stepped foot over the threshold, Baihe and Fenglong immediately noticed they had crossed another boundary barrier. Looking back, the mountains behind them had disappeared.

Both of them stiffened; not because the scenery before them had changed, but because they could not gather an ounce of spiritual energy within their body nor could they sense any spiritual essence in the air.

A forest zone without cultivation.

Instantly wary, Baihe quickly scanned her surroundings for any peculiarities, paying special attention to any abrupt movements in the trees or rustlings in the tall grass.

From a distance, loud familiar chatters were carried over by the wind. Baihe and Fenglong shared a look before the two of them cautiously ventured forward to the source of the noise.

“Brother Ming, what should we do?” An irritating familiar female voice whined.

Baihe glimpsed the figures from afar, but she had not eased up on her vigilance. Fei Fei was the first to spot them. With a flushed angry face, she pointed her finger rudely at Baihe. “Y-you! Why is it you again! How are you not dead?”

Unperturbed, Baihe glanced at the annoying woman. From her complexion, Baihe could tell Fei Fei had recovered her stamina even though she was still only at Early Dao Stage 2, courtesy of the Old Witch.

Next to her, stood Prince Zhao. His face was still pale and his right arm was dangling limply by his side; but his internal injuries were fully cured. Baihe sniggered; how interesting! Just what kind of relationship does the Huang family have with the mermaids to be bestowed so many precious pills?

Standing behind the couple was Ming. Baihe shifted her eyes and met Ming’s hostile gaze. Without a doubt, Ming was carrying a similar porcelain jar stuffed with precious pills. Unfortunately, none of the ones they’d brought could cure Prince Zhao’s crippled arm.

Just as Fei Fei was about to open her mouth again, five bags dropped from the sky and landed next to their feet. All of them picked up their respective bag and opened it. Inside were all the same seemingly random items: a spile, an empty leather canteen, a broken shard of glass, a small knife, a few strips of cloth, and a tiny bottle of salt.

Baihe recognized them as basic survival kit for the wild; although not the best compared to modern day equipment, it was still better than nothing. Unlike Baihe, these high and mighty snobs used to relying on cultivation and spiritual energy to survive in harsh environments did not see the importance of these items.

“What do we need these junks for?” Fei Fei grumbled.

Prince Zhao and Ming nodded their head in agreement. Other than the leather canteen to hold water, all the other items were garbage in their eyes. Only Fenglong had an impassive expression the whole time, paying close attention to the small facial changes in Baihe’s face as she inspected each item.

When Baihe was done, she saw the contemptuous glare in the siblings’ eyes. Baihe sneered in her heart. Throw the bag away if you dare, just don’t come crying later with regret!

This trial was survival of the fittest in the most primitive sense. Personally, Baihe had no issue with that; she was only worried if the no cultivation zone affected only the contestants or did the same restriction extend to the exotic animals as well.

It would be problematic if normal weak humans had to deal with magical beasts. Deciding not to linger any longer, Baihe decisively slung the bag over her shoulder to start her journey. Who knew two annoying pests would block her way!

In a cold voice, Baihe said: “If you got something to say, then say it. If you need to fart, then go fart. Don’t waste my time by blocking my path.”

Ming and Fei Fei’s face flushed with anger and their eyes exposed hatred. The two siblings did not expect Huang Baihe to not leave them any face and to be so coarse with her language, completely unfitting for a noble lady!

“Be careful with that formidable mouth. It can be detrimental for you! With such attitude, don’t cry when no man wants to marry you,” Fei Fei taunted.

Baihe snorted. Don’t tell her this annoying half-sister of hers keeps bothering her because Fei Fei thinks Baihe coveted the Crown Princess position? How laughable! Baihe was uninterested in contending for a man’s favor, especially if that man was Prince Zhao.

With a shallow smile, Baihe lightly laughed, but there was no mirth in her eyes. “Did I say something wrong? If you have gas, then let it out; otherwise, it’s detrimental for your health and no man might want to marry you if you ended up having a sickly body that may not be able to bear a child.”

“You!” Fei Fei gnashed her teeth in anger — infuriated; while Baihe ignored her and started to walk away, but her path was once again blocked by Ming.

“You seem to know what these other items are used for? Speak!” Ming demanded scornfully as if it were beneath him to even speak to her.

Baihe was speechless. How thick-skinned can this sibling duo get? No wonder the Old Witch referred to them as cockroaches — resilient like the insect and one must wipe out the entire colony for a peace of mind.

Ignoring her stupid half-brother, Baihe walked away, completely not giving them any face. Startled, the three stared after her in disbelief; not believing that the woman would be atrocious enough to not even give face to Prince Zhao. With an ugly expression, Ming stepped forward to thwart her path again, but this time, he was directly blocked by Fenglong.

The warning in Fenglong’s eyes was evident, but it was the cold, threatening aura the man was emitting even without an ounce of cultivation in the forest that made Ming backed off with a hint of fear. Immediately, Ming wanted to slap himself. Was he crazy? Why did he get scared of Fenglong? The guy barely practiced any cultivation or trained his body in any way!

However, Baihe and Fenglong were now way ahead of them; she deemed those people unworthy of her time. If Prince Zhao and Fei Fei ascended the throne and became this generation’s new pillar of support, could those two bear the crime of destroying the future of Feng Empire?

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