At this moment, the people from the Heisha Sect ran over, panting heavily, and said: "Sect Leader, thereās no one below, not a trace of divine power can be felt."
Hearing his subordinateās words, the eyes of the two brightened even more.
"Not a trace of divine power? Are you sure thereās no survivors?"
"Confirmed. If anyone were there, I wouldnāt be unable to sense them. Weāve sent people down more than a dozen times and all weāve sensed is emptiness. Itās clear thereās truly no one below."
As soon as he finished speaking, Luan Yun and Zhang Ping jumped up in joy.
"We havenāt seen them for half a day, it shows theyāve really been crushed to death by the falling stones. Iāve finally avenged my brothers! The debt of Purple Mist Peak will be paid with Gu Shengās life!"
As Luan Yun laughed heartily, Zhang Ping nodded beside him.
"Indeed, the people of Stone Village are dead. I finally feel at ease, but my grudge over the elixir pills being taken remains. Once weāre out of South Mountain, Iāll visit Stone Village again."
"Iāll go with you. Gu Sheng killed so many from my Purple Mist Peak, I canāt let his Stone Village have peace! Now that heās dead, wonāt those people let us slaughter them at will?"
"Youāre right. By then, weāll wipe out their entire village, kill everyone, break their formation, and seize the dark wood!"
"Alright, itās a deal then!"
They exchanged glances and smiles, leading their two squads to continue rushing toward the mountaintop.
On the other side, Gu Sheng had already reached below the mountaintop ahead of them.
By now, the path had become particularly narrow, and several smaller paths gradually converged.
Gu Sheng looked around; there werenāt too many people yet.
After thinking it over, he pointed to a small cave behind a large stone.
"It seems like this might lead directly to the top. Do you want to try it with me?"
Upon hearing this, everyoneās eyes lit up.
"Letās give it a try. Rather than competing with the major sects, letās forge a new path!"
After Huang Shan spoke, everyone heartily agreed.
While no one was paying attention, Gu Sheng was the first to crawl into the small cave.
Seeing a number of ant beasts inside, he couldnāt help but frown.
Just as he was about to exit, those ant beasts, as if frightened by something, looked at him in terror before quickly retreating in all directions and soon disappearing from his view.
Witnessing this scene, Gu Sheng was somewhat confused.
He clearly hadnāt done anything; why did these ant beasts retreat on their own?
At this time, a small Purple Spiritual Grass fell from his sleeve.
Seeing this small Purple Spiritual Grass, Gu Sheng suddenly realized what was happening.
It turns out the ant beasts were not afraid of him, but of this small Purple Spiritual Grass!
Seeing the direction the ant beasts fled, Gu Shengās eyes lit up.
Their choice to flee in that direction was proof that there was an exit! It seemed he had chosen the right path!
"Everyone hurry in, thereās an exit over there."
After saying this, Gu Sheng made room for those behind him to enter one by one.
Carefully disappearing from everyoneās view, they all gathered at the caveās entrance.
Shortly after moving forward, Huang Shan suddenly tugged at Gu Sheng.
"Brother Sheng, there seems to be some sort of aura here. Could there be wild beasts?"
Hearing this, Gu Sheng chuckled.
"Donāt worry, the cave is so small it canāt even hold two people side by side; there canāt be large beasts. As for the aura youāre sensing, itās probably the ant beasts."
"Ant beasts?"
"Yes, when I came in, I saw a nest of ant beasts, but thereās no need to worry. Before I even acted, they ran away themselves."
Upon hearing this, Huang Shan was puzzled.
"They ran away? Why?"
"Because theyāre afraid of the Purple Spiritual Grass. Coincidentally, thereās one hanging from my sleeve, so they ran away."
Learning this, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
"Brother Sheng, weāre so lucky. I wonder if this luck will last until we find the Spiritual Pearl."
After Shi Lou spoke, Er Gou immediately nodded: "It definitely will! Weāre the only ones who discovered this cave. Weāre bound to find the Spiritual Pearl before anyone else!"
"Exactly, our chances are much better than others. Brother Sheng, letās keep going."
Gu Sheng nodded, leading the group forward.
As they traversed the entire cave, they more or less drove the ant beasts forward as well.
The cave was dark, so they had to use the Luminous Pearl to light the way. With the continuous light, they were unaware of whether it was day or night outside. However, Gu Sheng knew that if they wanted to get the Spiritual Pearl ahead of others, they needed to climb out from here as soon as possible and locate the Spiritual Pearl first.
With this belief reinforced, they pressed on.
After an uncertain period, Gu Sheng finally saw a sliver of light from outside.
After carefully discerning, he realized it was already sunset.
They had already seen the sun set upon their arrival, and now it was this time again, suggesting that at least a day had passed.
Looking around, Gu Sheng was pleasantly surprised to discover they were only a few steps away from the mountaintop.
Calling to the others and pointing to the top, Gu Sheng raised his eyebrows at them.
When they looked up, they all shouted in astonishment.
"No way, just passing through a cave brought us to the top?"
"I didnāt feel like we walked that far, Shi Lou, hit me so I can see if it hurts."
Hearing Er Gouās words, Shi Lou didnāt hold back, giving him a smack on the back of the head.
Er Gou cried out in pain, causing everyone to burst into laughter.
At this moment, Huang Shan walked over and asked, "Brother Sheng, weāre almost at the top, but itās getting dark. Should we wait for daylight to take action?"
After thinking it over, Gu Sheng shook his head.
"No, we worked hard to seize this opportunity, we canāt let others take it away. Dark or not, weāre going for the Spiritual Pearl."
Having made up his mind, the others naturally had no arguments.
Taking advantage of the last bit of light, they all climbed to the top.
Standing on the peak, overlooking everything below, they felt that all the worldās creations, including themselves, were insignificantly small.
Overwhelmed by emotions, Gu Sheng began to inspect the surroundings.
He looked for a long time but still couldnāt find the whereabouts of the Spiritual Pearl. The mountaintop was visible in its entirety, with no sign of the Spiritual Pearl anywhere.
As Gu Sheng worried over this, others also became aware of the issue.
"Brother Sheng, could the news of the Spiritual Pearlās emergence be false? This place doesnāt look like it has a Spiritual Pearl at all."
After Shi Lou spoke, Gu Sheng raised his finger, and the small tripod flew into the air.
After circling for a long time, the small tripod began to buzz.
Seeing the small tripodās reaction, Gu Shengās eyes shone.
"Letās go over there!"
Sprinting, Gu Sheng arrived under a huge tree.
Looking up at the small tripod hovering mid-air, he once again released his divine power, intending to use the small tripod to locate the Spiritual Pearl. However, after receiving the divine power, the small tripod refused to budge.
With a frown, Gu Sheng retracted the small tripod and circled the tree a few times.
Seeing him like this, Huang Shan couldnāt contain his excitement as he asked, "Brother Sheng, is the Spiritual Pearl in this tree?"
"It may not necessarily be on the tree, but the spiritual energy here is the densest, so the Spiritual Pearl is likely here."
Upon learning that the Spiritual Pearl could be here, everyone started searching earnestly.
After circling a few more times, Gu Sheng suddenly discovered there was a large bird perched on the tree!
Because the birdās feathers were entirely pitch black, they hadnāt seen it before. If not for his thorough search, he might not have spotted it this time either.
Taking out the Luminous Pearl, Gu Sheng directly tossed it into the air.
As the light flashed, the large bird immediately spread its wings.
Carefully examining it, Gu Sheng didnāt act rashly.
Just then, with a cry from the bird, Gu Sheng caught sight of the Spiritual Pearl in its beak!
Unleashing his divine power, he leaped upwards and landed steadily on a branch, just two steps away from the large bird.
When their eyes met, the feathers on the large bird stood up, clearly filled with murderous intent.
Recalling the encounter with the black python before, Gu Sheng immediately withdrew his divine power and spoke soothingly, "No need to be nervous; I donāt wish to harm you. Iām here for the Spiritual Pearl."
Sure enough, the large birdās feathers settled down once again, and its sharp eyes continued to watch him, as if scrutinizing his entire being.
Although uncomfortable under its gaze, Gu Sheng stood tall, allowing himself to be observed.