âJiang Chen,â Li Xueâer called him. What she meant was obvious: she wanted him to help.
âFine.â
It didnât make sense that he wouldnât save them just because they had insulted him. Jiang Chen was only teasing them, teaching them a lesson, but when he looked over to Yi Ning, he said resolutely, âThese two, Iâm not going to help.â
âTwo?â
Li Xueâer didnât understand why he didnât want to save Meng Qian either.
âYi Ning was so obedient to her. Would she have had the nerve to claw my eyes out without her permission? She didnât come forward until you helped me, apprentice sister. Heh,â Jiang Chen laughed grimly instead of continuing his accusation.
Yi Ning and Meng Qian couldnât speak, as they were still struggling by themselves.
Jiang Chen saved the others and let each of them leave with a sunlit stone in their hands.
Some were already too weak to walk, skinny and pale.
Just then, Meng Qian suddenly said, âThe disciple of the Natural Law School doesnât offer any help when others are dying. Arenât you afraid to get criticised?â
âYou didnât speak until I saved the others. Youâre sure theyâll talk about this accident so the whole world will know about it. Youâre threatening me, arenât you?â Jiang Chen said.
âThe Intelligence Pavilion wonât let you go!â Yi Ning stared at him. She couldnât put up with his arrogance.
âThe Intelligence Pavilion?â Jiang Chen was dumbstruck. It wasnât because he was afraid of that group, but because that was where he had received the information regarding the spiritual herbs.
Of course, he had paid good money for it. He wouldnât save them simply for that.
âYou saw my naked body. Why do you have a problem with me?â Meng Qian sounded like she was wronged, but looked as if she was just pretending to be tough. Her puzzled eyes were full of reluctance.
Jiang Chen didnât know how to answer her.
âJiang Chen,â Li Xueâer called him again.
This time, Jiang Chen wasnât going to listen to her. He said, âApprentice sister, I hope you wonât push me. I wonât save those who almost clawed my eyes out.â
âSave one of them then,â Li Xueâer said calmly.
âI wonât go if Yi Ning doesnât go!â Meng Qian shouted.
âGood.â
Jiang Chen found it amusing. This woman thought he would buy this. How dare she speak like this!
He took a look at the vines on these two womenâs bodies and said, âApprentice sister, letâs get out of here as soon as possible. The vines are turning scarlet.â
He hadnât mentioned what was going to happen when the vines turned scarlet, but Yi Ning and Meng Qing knew it wouldnât be favorable to them.
âWait,â Meng Qian shouted and said quickly, âLetâs forget about right and wrong and the problems between us for the moment. Letâs make a deal. If you get me out of here, Iâll pay you back!â
At this moment, she had taken off her disguise of a gentle girl and turned into a terribly calm woman.
Li Xueâer was shocked. She hadnât expected that Jiang Chen had such a great instinct for people.
She had been in the same group as Meng Qian for a long time and had always regarded her as a spoiled young lady, with Yi Ning as her sister protecting her.
But at that moment, she tumbled to the realization that they were actually more like lord and maid.
âHow will you pay me back?â Jiang Chen took a look at the magical vines and asked.
âThe seed.â
Meng Qianâs right hand had been clenched. At this moment, she opened her palm and a seed flew out of it.
The group had missed the best timing to escape precisely because they had been trying to catch the seeds.
To Jiang Chenâs surprise, this seed was golden, while the one he had found earlier was silver.
âThere are three kinds of seeds, bronze seeds, silver, and golden. Each kind contains different training resources. In golden seeds, there are earth-level secret methods and other precious things. BesidesâŚâ
Meng Qian was still introducing the seeds when she saw Jiang Chen had become especially pale, then she found the vines were turning scarlet one by one.
âApprentice sister, go!â
Jiang Chen urged Li Xueâer to leave. Then he looked over to Meng Qian and grabbed the golden seed. He said, âSee? I can get your seed even if I donât save you.â
âB*stard!â
Meng Qian panicked immediately, her pupils dilating.
âBut, of course, as a disciple of the Natural Law School, I wouldnât do things like that,â Jiang Chen smiled again and took out his sunlit stone. He allowed her to recover her holy yuan through him.
âThe seed is for your life. What do you want to pay me for her?â Jiang Chen said.
âDonât save her.â
To his surprise, Meng Qian answered him decisively. She walked out of there quickly, holding the sunlit stone.
Jiang Chen was very surprised. He looked over to Yi Ning, whose reaction was complicated.
It seemed she wasnât surprised at Meng Qianâs decision, but she also couldnât believe it. She was bleak.
She lowered her head, ready to die, but when the magical vines started to absorb her blood essence, she couldnât stay calm any more. She was reluctant, angry, and frightened. She kept shaking.
âTake it.â
Suddenly, Jiang Chenâs voice came from before her and she saw a sunlit stone.
âI donât need your pity!â Yi Ning took a look at the sunlit stone.
âIâm leaving then.â
Jiang Chen turned around decisively.
Yi Ning was struck dumb. She knew this guy was unpredictable. She hurried to say, âWaitâŚâ
âRemember, itâs not pity. Iâm just curious to see whatâs going to happen between you and Meng Qian after you leave here.â
Jiang Chen turned around and freed her.
Yi Ning gnashed her teeth and ran out of that place full of magical vines as soon as she was liberated.
By then, ninety percent of the vines had turned scarlet, but Jiang Chen stayed there. He had the patience to bargain with others because he was waiting for this very moment.
He could only get the dragon blood wood guarded by the bloody magical vines when they had totally turned scarlet.
There were special ways to collect spiritual herbs. Any carelessness would destroy them.
He walked to the deepest tangles of the vines. There, a tree trunk was wrapped tightly by some vines.
The trunk wasnât only scarlet; there was blood-like liquid flowing down it.
Jiang Chen hurried to take some tools out of the mustardseed ring and walked up to it.
At the same time, the sunlit stone had lost some power over the scarlet magical vines. The vines were extending towards the light, approaching Jiang Chen, but he didnât care, squatting before the trunk, busy with something.
On his back and over his head, dozens of vines were going to devour him.
âDone!â Jiang Chen shouted joyfully. He put a segment of dragon blood wood into a special wooden box. He had successfully collected one of the five spiritual herbs.
Whoosh!
The magical vines that had been waiting for a long time jumped onto Jiang Chen like waves, as if theyâd heard some order.
âGet off!â
Jiang Chen took out another sunlit stone and clapped his palms.
The crystal was broken by the hit, but the light became stronger and rose into the air. The vines that were touched by it started to burn and turn into ash.
Jiang Chen took the chance to fly into the air and escape.
When he looked down, he saw those vines withering rapidly, deteriorating until they receded into the ground once again, leaving no traces behind, and that trunk looked so normal that it wouldnât draw any attention.
This one isnât a high class.
Jiang Chen frowned. The dragon blood wood required lots of blood to grow. Before this day, the magical vines must have absorbed numerous monstersâ blood.
He looked over to those who he had saved. Human blood was a hundred times stronger than the monstersâ blood. If he hadnât saved them and let the vines absorb their bloodâŚ
Then he would have had super-class dragon blood wood.
It was just a thought. He would never let something like that happen on purpose.