With Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan's help, the few branches of the Demon Plant were easily destroyed.
The men that were trapped by the Demon Plant were saved and a few girls who were overwhelmed by their near-death experience fell to their knees and cried.
Wu Yang took a glance at the girls crying before he stepped towards the vine of the Demon Plant. A few branches had fallen to the floor and he dug through the branches and beamed with joy when he found a clear crystal.
Observing Wu Yang's actions, Gu Lingzhi frowned in disapproval but did not confront him and walked towards another Demon Plant. However, she was surprised when Wu Yang walked towards the Demon Tree for its Demon Crystal and he s.n.a.t.c.hed the Demon Crystal of the Blood-sucking Vine that Gu Lingzhi had been going for. He outrageously kept the Demon Crystal in his own Storage Ring.
“Take it out.” Rong Yuan coldly demanded.
“Take what out?” Wu Yang frowned. “It is mine if it is in my Storage Ring. Seeing that you guys helped us out, the remaining Demon Crystals in the Demon Plants can be yours.”
Rong Yuan's fingers moved and he wanted to use force to teach Wu Yang a lesson. The Demon Crystals were small but Rong Yuan was irritated by Wu Yang's att.i.tude.
“Forget it. We were just pa.s.sing by. The Demon Crystals here are yours.” Before Rong Yuan could take action, Gu Lingzhi stopped him by shooting him a warning look.
They had finally met others after such a long time and they should not waste the chance. She wanted to get some information from these men as well.
Wu Yang was happy with Gu Lingzhi's reply and he instructed the rest of the disciples to dig out Demon Crystals from the Demon Plants. Guo Xian's face turned red from embarra.s.sment and he opened his mouth but could not talk back to Wu Yang. Instead, he apologised to Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan with embarra.s.sment, “Thank you for saving us. We are from the Tianxin Clan. If you don't mind, you can come with us and we can help each other out.”
Tianxin Clan? It seemed like the Realm of the G.o.ds was separated by clans.
Many thoughts crossed Gu Lingzhi's mind but she laughed lightly as she looked at the greedy Wu Yang, “If that is the case, thank you for the invitation.”
Guo Xian cupped his fists, “It is our blessing for you to join us.”
With two strong companions, their journey would be much safer.
At that point, Wu Yang had been instructing the disciples to retrieve the Demon Crystals. They were lucky as the Demon Plants they fought against had many Demon Crystals in them. Wu Yang tapped his Storage Ring in satisfaction and smiled brightly. With more Demon Crystals, he could boast in front of Qin Tianyun!
Upon hearing that Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan would join the group in their journey, Wu Yang's smile turned brighter. With their help, they could obtain even more Demon Crystals.
Although the cultivation rank of Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan was similar to his, there were three different cla.s.ses of True G.o.ds. From their strength earlier, the two were minimally middle-cla.s.s True G.o.ds. There was no harm in establis.h.i.+ng a good relations.h.i.+p with them.
A plan formed in Wu Yang's mind and he turned towards Gu Lingzhi. In a much more polite tone, he said, “Junior Guo (T/N: referring to Guo Xian) is right. It is our blessing for you to join us.”
Gu Lingzhi was surprised by Wu Yang's change of att.i.tude but she knew that he had ill intentions.
He was a selfish man who could suck up to people so easily.
However, the pair had waited for half a month before they met other men in the Thousands Range Mountain. Who knew when they would meet others again?
Subsequently, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan moved along with the group. They found out that they were in the Thousand Mountains Range from the group, a place that was renowned for being the most dangerous place in the Realm of the G.o.ds. Yet, it was also a place where there were a lot of treasures.
Seeing that Gu Lingzhi was unfamiliar with the Thousand Mountains Range, Wu Yang could not help asking, “Are you two not from here? How can you be clueless about the Thousand Mountains Range.”
Gu Lingzhi lowered her head and admitted, “That is right. My husband and I had been focusing on our cultivation and we are unaware of what happens in the outside world. We entered the Thousand Mountains Range by mistake. Thankfully we encountered your group. Otherwise, we would be lost in this forest for a long time.”
“No wonder.” Wu Yang exclaimed in realization. Yet, Guo Xian and the rest of the group stared at Gu Lingzhi strangely and they controlled their expressions after Wu Yang glared at them.
There were many Demon Plants in the Thousand Mountains Range but they did not flood the place. They could find places to rest after a distance of walking.
When night came, Wu Yang led the group towards an area indicated on the map provided by their Tianxin Clan. There, they prepared to camp for the night.
This was a wide cave that could house the thirty men. Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan found a secluded spot and took a seat there.
Wu Yang glanced at the two who were cultivating and shot Guo Xian a glance, instructing him to meet him outside the cave.
After he created many layers of spiritual energy around his body, ensuring that the two could not hear him, he excitedly whispered, “It can't be wrong. They must be the new Martial Artists who ascended to the Realm of the G.o.ds. How can they be from the Realm of the G.o.ds if they have not even heard of the Thousand Mountains Range?”
The Thousand Mountains Range was the most dangerous place in the Realm of the G.o.ds but it was also a place where one could cultivate the most effectively. Those who recognized the risk of cultivating there would know to avoid it. Without sufficient preparation, more than eighty to ninety percent of the people who entered the forest would fall prey to the Demon Plants here.
Anyone who was from the Realm of the G.o.ds would know about the Thousand Mountains Range.
“But…” Guo Xian gritted his teeth and hesitated, “Lady Gu and her husband saved us. It would not be right of us to rat them out.”
“Save us?” Wu Yang scoffed, “If they didn't appear, I would be able to kill the two Demon Plants by myself. Even if they saved us, so what? They merely lent us a hand. They are people wanted by the Deity King. Do you want to be a traitor to the entire Realm of the G.o.ds?”
“This…” Guo Xian fell into deep thought. His morals told him that it would be wrong of him to betray Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan because they had saved him. However, Wu Yang was right as well. The two were wanted by the Deity King and they were the common enemy of the entire Realm of the G.o.ds. If he protected them, he would be a traitor and looked down upon.
Seeing through Guo Xian's hesitation, Wu Yang's voice softened and he persuaded, “I am not a vicious man either and I know they saved us. I am fine if we do not report them and I will not hand them over either.”
Guo Xian's eyes brightened and he was puzzled but pleased at the sudden change of heart by Wu Yang.
Wu Yang glanced at Guo Xian out of the corner of his eye. As the son of the Clan Leader, he knew how to control people based on their emotions. Inner conflict in the Clan had happened multiple times and the only reason why the group could last till then was because of his thick skin and intelligence. How could he not tell how Guo Xian was feeling?
As he expected, Guo Xian gained confidence and asked in a low voice, “Senior, are you saying that we pretend that we do not know their ident.i.ties?”
“That's right.” Wu Yang knew that he had Guo Xian controlled by his fingertips and snickered, “From the activity from the lower realm and the news we received, there are a number of people who ascended from Tianyuan Continent this time. They both helped us but the others did not. We can let them live with us at Tianxin Clan and in so doing, repay them. They would definitely agree to us because they do not have anywhere to stay right now. By then, we can find a way to make them stay with us and talk to them to get more information. They will definitely try to contact their friends from the Tianyuan Continent once they are comfortable with us. We can report their friends from there. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?”
Guo Xian's eyes widened. That means that they would be selling off Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan's friends.
“Do you agree? If you don't, I will report to my Father now and tell him about them. Do you think they can escape from my father?”
The Clan Leader of the Tianxin Clan was an upper-cla.s.s True G.o.d. Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan had just become True G.o.ds, how would they be a match for their leader?
Guo Xian was in a tight spot. If he agreed, he would be going against his morals, but if he did not, he would be betraying the both of them straight away. It seemed like no matter what, he would not be able to live up to his conscience.
“Do you not want the high-grade G.o.d stones?” Wu Yang asked. “As long as we hand one person over, we can obtain a hundred high-grade G.o.d stones. That is more than half of my family's wealth. Handing a few more people over can allow us to buy a good G.o.dly Weapon already. Are you not tempted?”
Wu Yang's words made Guo Xian waver and as soon as the Sacred Weapon was mentioned, his resolve fell.
Wu Yang continued to rattle on about the pros of the plan. He was careful in not harming Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan personally but he would hand the rest of their comrades over. If Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan had not met them, they would be handed over to the authorities by others straightaway. Wasn't that a worse situation?
Guo Xian finally gave in and he finally agreed to trick Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan. Wu Yang praised his subordinate and he agreed to put in good words for Guo Xian to the Clan Leader. Finally, both of them returned to the cave. However, they failed to notice the small squirrel hiding in a corner when they talked to each other.
In the pitch black cave, Zi Zi scampered across the floor and returned to Gu Lingzhi. Without alerting anyone, it informed Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan about what it heard.
Gu Lingzhi sighed and placed Zi Zi in the Inheritance s.p.a.ce.
It seemed like they would have to stay in Thousand Mountains Range for a while more.