"If you wish to leave here alive today, hand over the token at your waist to me."
After Gu Sheng finished speaking, the Heisha Sect Leader was startled and hurriedly reached to cover his waist.
"This... this is absolutely impossible..."
Seeing that he dared to refuse, Gu Shengās expression immediately darkened.
"Impossible? Is this token more important than your life?"
"Not exactly, but this token signifies my status as Sect Leader. If I hand it over to you, whatās the difference from handing the Black Xia Sect over to you? If it were you, would you hand over Stone Village to someone else in exchange for your life?"
After he finished speaking, Lan Yao stepped forward without hesitation.
"If you donāt want to hand over your Sect Leaderās token, then hand over a symbol to prevent you from regretting it later and targeting Stone Village again."
Seeing the Elf Clan stand up for Gu Sheng once more, the Heisha Sect Leader gritted his teeth. After pondering for a while, he took out a black porcelain bottle.
"This is an elixir pill exclusively made by our Heisha Sect, never circulated outside. Is this acceptable?"
Lan Yao turned to look at Gu Sheng, and Gu Sheng shook his head.
"No, I donāt want the black one. I want the golden one."
After he said this, the Heisha Sect Leader was almost grinding his teeth.
He had deliberately suppressed it just now, fearing they would notice, but unexpectedly, Gu Sheng still saw it with his sharp eyes!
"Gu Sheng, can we negotiate further?"
"Thereās no room for negotiation; if you want to live, then use that bottle for the exchange."
As he spoke, Gu Sheng took out the Fire Spirit Dagger again, looking as though he was ready to take his life.
Seeing his actions, Lan Yao stepped back, showing that he would leave it up to him.
Seeing their movements, the Heisha Sect Leader panicked, and biting his teeth, he took out the red bottle.
"Here you go!"
Gu Sheng took the bottle and gently touched it with his fingers, feeling the abundant spiritual energy on it. He nodded with satisfaction.
"Donāt forget, today you saved your life with a treasure. If you dare target Stone Village again, donāt blame me for using this as a token to announce the matter, making you lose face before taking the lives of your Heisha Sect members!"
Hearing Gu Shengās threat, the Heisha Sect Leader didnāt dare make a sound and could only nod.
Gu Sheng ignored him and turned to leave.
Lan Yao followed him closely, and the two of them reached the foot of South Mountain together.
Seeing many teams preparing in the distance, Gu Sheng stopped in a place with few people.
Taking out the red bottle, he poured out half of the pills inside and handed them to Lan Yao.
"Thank you for your help. This is your due reward."
Looking at the pills in his hand, Lan Yao couldnāt help but sigh.
"Gu Sheng, I consider you a friend, which is why Iām willing to put myself out there. Why be so clear-cut about it? Our Elf Clan doesnāt lack this kind of thing."
"The Elf Clan is well-supplied, but such elixirs are still rare. If you hadnāt helped me, I might have caused a huge disaster, so this should be yours. Just take it."
Lan Yao originally didnāt want it, but Gu Sheng insisted on giving it.
The two of them pushed back and forth for quite a while, and in the end, Lan Yao accepted it.
"Gu Sheng, Iāve accepted the items, but like I said, Iām helping you not for anything else, just because I consider you a friend."
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Gu Sheng nodded.
"Alright, this is the first time."
Realizing what he meant, Lan Yaoās eyes sparkled a bit.
However, Gu Sheng didnāt give him another chance to speak, and directly left with the people of Stone Village.
At the foot of South Mountain, Gu Sheng and the others passed through numerous teams and finally arrived at the purple spirit stone.
Gathering divine power, Gu Sheng glanced at a few individuals, who tacitly raised their hands and pressed them together on the purple spirit stone.
A gleam flashed across the spirit stone, and Gu Sheng and his people had essentially obtained the ticket to enter the mountain.
After handling everything, they found a corner to rest and rejuvenate.
As they regained their strength, Gu Sheng kept observing the surroundings.
He looked again and again, but didnāt see anyone from the Qingxia Sect or Purple Mist Peak, and couldnāt help but frown.
According to the letter, the Peak Master of Purple Mist Peak had already arrived at the foot of South Mountain two days earlier than them. Logically, they should be here, but they hadnāt appeared, could they be hiding in the dark?
Thinking of this, Gu Sheng had a bit of a headache.
They had made too many enemies recently, besides Purple Mist Peak and Qingxia Sect, they also encountered the Heisha Sect on the road, facing three opposing factions. Once they enter South Mountain, itās bound to be perilous.
At this moment, Huang Shan suddenly spoke: "Brother Sheng, we seem to have a lot of enemies. Should we find a team to ally with? This could help eliminate future troubles."
After thinking it over, Gu Sheng shook his head.
"Everyone is here for the Spiritual Pearl. Even if you form an alliance, itās only a temporary solution. In the face of the Spiritual Pearl, alliances often fall apart. Itās better to fight solo than to nurture a potential threat."
"But with Purple Mist Peak and Heisha Sect..."
"Donāt worry. Once we enter the mountain, they wonāt join forces, as I said, in front of the Spiritual Pearl, there are no alliances, no one wants a potential threat beside them."
Thinking about it carefully, Huang Shan felt he made sense.
"In that case, before entering the mountain, letās hide first to avoid any mistakes."
Gu Sheng nodded: "Once weāre in, letās try to move with large teams to prevent giving them a chance to strike. Only split when itās crucial."
"Brother Sheng, moving with a big team, will they target us first? After all, we Stone Village have no name, no faction..."
"No, in South Mountain, everyone wonāt act rashly. With the Spiritual Pearl there, no one wants to risk losing its spiritual energy. Any injury would mean losing yearsā worth of divine power, unless someone has a personal vendetta, otherwise, there will be no problems."
Knowing Gu Sheng was thoroughly prepared, Huang Shan felt at ease.
At this moment, at the foot of the mountain, the Elf Clan had already infused divine power, but Lan Yao couldnāt find a trace of Gu Sheng despite searching around.
"Did any of you see Gu Sheng?"
"No, but their aura is on the spirit stone, so they should be entering South Mountain."
Hearing his subordinateās words, Lan Yao sighed.
"It seems he deliberately avoids me. Meeting for the second time might be difficult."
"Boss, why are you insistent on befriending Gu Sheng? Heās just someone from Stone Village..."
"Silence! Whom I choose to befriend is not for you to comment on! I have decided to befriend Gu Sheng!"
Adding on, Lan Yao warned: "Donāt look down on others with shallow eyes, and donāt underestimate them, or youāll suffer later."
After saying this, he found a place to settle down, ignoring everyone else.
The Heisha Sect members arrived swiftly and soon saw Lan Yao.
Seeing the Elf Clan, the Heisha Sect Leader deliberately stepped back. He looked around but didnāt see Gu Sheng.
For a moment, he couldnāt help frowning.
"Where did that Gu Sheng go? Heās not with the Elf Clan?"
Upon hearing this, one of his subordinates asked softly, "Sect Leader, since heās not with the Elf Clan, should we..."
As he spoke, he made a slicing motion across his neck, his meaning was obvious.
The Heisha Sect Leader thought for a moment, then smirked and nodded.
"Alright."
After infusing spiritual power, the Heisha Sect members wandered among various teams.
Gu Sheng and others rested in a corner, with no one else nearby. They rested comfortably. Before long, everyone had restored their peak physical condition.
Glancing at the sunlight, Shi Lou asked a bit bored: "Brother Sheng, when can we enter South Mountain?"
"Tomorrow at noon. Get through this night, and youāll be ready to prepare tomorrow."
Upon learning they needed to stay another night, Shi Lou sighed lightly.
"Another night, just afraid of long nights with many dreams."
As he finished speaking, Er Gou gave him a tap.
"Pah, pah, pah, donāt talk nonsense. Say something nice instead."
Realizing his mistake, Shi Lou lightly slapped his own mouth and quickly spat twice.
"I was talking nonsense, Brother Sheng, donāt take it to heart. Weāre sure to be safe and sound all the way."
Gu Sheng chuckled but didnāt say much.