This place had once been full of Spirit Medicine, but now only a wreck remained. Shattered and failing Prohibitions were visible everywhere, along with extensive signs of battle, making it easy to guess what had transpired here.

Chengg Danan walked up to a Prohibition, took out his Compass again, and channeled several Technique Mantras into it.

With a hum, the Compass lit up and shot out a beam of light that sank into the Prohibition and vanished.

Immediately, a translucent ripple spread outward.

Instantly, dense Spiritual Qi billowed out as a medicine field, hidden within the space of the Prohibition, appeared. It materialized right over the barren land, and for a moment, all anyone could see was lush greenery.

Lü Zhong saw this and couldn’t help but marvel at the power of the Medicine King Immortal Sect.

’A Spatial Prohibition... It would likely take a Divinity Transformation Grand Venerable to set up something like this!’

At the same time, the sound of furiously beating wings erupted from the medicine field!

"Fellow Daoist Lü!" Chengg Danan shouted.

"Don’t worry, Fellow Daoist Chengg. They’re just a swarm of Tier One Ice Jade Bees." Lü Zhong had found a scroll detailing various Spiritual Insects in Alou’s Storage Bag, so he had a basic ability to identify common types. He could naturally tell what species these Spirit Bees were at a glance.

Most large Spirit Medicine Gardens raised a swarm of Ice Jade Bees, primarily for pollination. This not only helped the Spirit Medicine grow properly but also sometimes yielded a small amount of Spiritual Honey.

’But what’s strange is, Chenyuan Palace is an Ancient Secret Realm, so why are there domesticated Spirit Bees here?’ he wondered. ’And from their behavior, it looks like they’ve only recently turned wild. The swarm is large, but they’re far too weak. This doesn’t match the power a guardian Spiritual Beast of an Ancient Medicine Garden should possess at all.’

Could it be...

As a possibility surfaced in his mind, Lü Zhong clutched the Golden Palace Jade Talisman Shuini had given him, then released his own swarm of Spiritual Insects, ordering them to slaughter the Ice Jade Bees. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

His motley collection of Spiritual Insects, though vastly outnumbered, was far superior in individual strength compared to the Ice Jade Bees. With Lü Zhong directing them, it wasn’t long before they had separated the Ice Jade Bee Swarm into several clusters. As his insects gradually devoured them, the defeat of the Ice Jade Bee Swarm became only a matter of time.

Suddenly, his heart leaped.

Lü Zhong caught a flash of silver light in the corner of his eye and immediately knew this was bad.

He hurriedly activated the Jade Talisman in his hand.

In an instant, a golden shield materialized around him.

At the same time, an immense force struck.

The shield scraped against the ground, carving out a long trench.

Lifting his head, Lü Zhong was stunned to see that the thing that had just attacked him was a small silver hammer, shimmering with Spiritual Light.

’A Talisman Treasure!’ The thought flashed through his mind.

Having failed in its strike, the small hammer immediately abandoned its target and flew toward a beautiful woman nearby, catching her completely off guard. The color drained from her face in terror, and she scrambled to dodge.

With a WET SPLAT, only a gory splatter of flesh and blood remained where she had stood.

After killing an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator in a single blow, the small hammer shot toward the young boy riding the azure bull. The Spiritual Light flaring from it made it clear that it intended to smash him to death as well.

The boy’s expression changed drastically as he witnessed the woman’s gruesome end and saw the small hammer flying toward him.

He gritted his teeth and slapped the azure bull beneath him.

"MOO!" Even an ordinary bull possesses some intelligence, let alone a Tier Two Spiritual Bull. Tears welled in its large eyes, but it still charged the oncoming hammer, Spiritual Light flaring from its horns as if to fight back.

But how could a mere Spiritual Bull withstand the might of a Talisman Treasure, a power that even a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator would struggle to block?

The hammer instantly caved in the top of its skull, and it died on the spot.

Only after unleashing three consecutive strikes did the silver hammer lose its momentum. It was then recalled by a silver-haired young man wearing a Lotus Treasure Crown and holding a Duster. The unmistakable Spiritual Qi fluctuations of a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator emanated from his body.

"Oh no! It’s Li Wuzhen!" Chengg Danan’s face changed drastically as he recognized the silver-haired youth.

Beside him, all the color drained from Chen Xiaohe’s face as well.

Li Wuzhen was one of the Seven Sons of Huayi, a position equal in status to the head disciples of the Nine Peaks of Lingyue. All of them were considered Core Formation Seeds—future Golden Core Masters—with enough power to effortlessly crush everyone present.

His calm gaze swept over the group before his eyes finally landed on Lü Zhong, a flicker of interest in his expression.

"Interesting. A Golden Palace Jade Talisman, of all things."

"Hand it over, and I’ll spare your life!"