Chapter 172: Feeding Oneself to the Bear

Yang Ling continued scavenging for rare exotic herbs and flowers, and on several occasions he targeted the same ones as Zhao State martial artists.

But he didn’t hold back; instead, he arrived later but snatched them away first.

This was hardly the time for jianghu codes of honor.

Grab the benefits first, talk later.

No matter which sect those Zhao State martial artists came from, all they could do was curse inwardly—they didn’t dare to openly turn hostile.

“As expected, no experience points. That frozen senior must be at least Third-Rank or even Fourth-Rank. The Divine Realm truly does grant experience based on ‘difficulty.’”

Yang Ling waited a while but didn’t receive any experience from that senior, completely confirming the Divine Realm’s experience mechanism.

This made it extremely hard to cheat and farm experience by any means.

Before he knew it, the bag in Yang Ling’s hand had gradually gained some weight.

The rare herbs and flowers in the initial area of Calamity Valley had been nearly stripped clean.

All the martial artists were now pushing deeper inward.

“One shichen equals two hours. About half an hour has passed now, so I still have an hour and a half to harvest.”

Yang Ling pondered for a moment, then also dashed deeper inward.

This time, he deliberately chose the same direction as the Fourth Prince and his group, wanting to see what these big shots were really planning.

Along the way, any rare herbs and flowers he could grab, he took.

The deeper he went, the heavier the chill became.

Calamity Valley’s temperature actually increased from the outer to the inner areas.

Yang Ling mobilized his internal Vital Qi, coating his body with a thin layer to ward off the cold.

Meanwhile, near the entrance of Calamity Valley, the frozen giant creatures were gradually reviving.

Some unlucky passersby were smacked flying by these giant creatures’ paws.

Fortunately, these giants had only just awakened—their blood flow hadn’t fully circulated yet, and their movements were slow.

Zhang Shendao and his three companions caught up from behind.

“Brother Yang, those frozen monsters are about to wake up! We need to move fast!”

Zhang Shendao called out, waving his hand.

Yang Ling immediately turned back to face them. After getting the details, his heart tightened slightly.

Those giant creatures had high stats—some were Sixth-Rank, others even Fifth-Rank. If even one of them came at him, it would be a real problem.

Luckily, they’d just awakened and wouldn’t recover their full strength anytime soon.

“How were your harvests?”

Yang Ling asked.

Zhang Shendao: “I got three rare herbs and flowers.”

Lin Caiyi: “Two.”

Jiang Tian’ai: “I also got two.”

Yang Ling looked at Li Shou. Li Shou’s bag was the biggest. He paused for a moment, then said:

“One.”

Yang Ling stepped forward and opened the bag to check. It was some worthless thing only a few decades old. He shook his head lightly, then said to the four:

“We’re short on time. You’d better stay in safe areas, keep away from those giant creatures and the Rong Tribe spies.

As for me, I’m definitely heading deeper. I won’t be able to look out for you then.”

The four caught Yang Ling’s implication and immediately chose to follow his advice.

They didn’t want to go deeper either—it was far too dangerous.

“Senior Mian, perfect timing. These four are my close friends.

If you don’t plan on going deeper, could you help keep an eye on them?”

Seeing that Mian Zhengdong and his group were searching for herbs nearby, Yang Ling called out to them.

Mian Zhengdong immediately looked up, surprised:

“Chief Constable Yang!?”

Then he glanced at Zhang Shendao and the others, lowering his voice:

“Chief Constable Yang plans to take a look inside?”

He pointed deeper—toward the ice mountain shrouded in mist nearby.

Yang Ling nodded.

Seeing this, Mian Zhengdong immediately thumped his chest and said:

“Chief Constable Yang, rest assured. These four can just stick with us.”

After giving his instructions, Yang Ling immediately dashed deeper.

Li Shou looked moved, then smiled and began building a rapport with Mian Zhengdong and his crew. Upon learning that Mian Zhengdong possessed upper Seventh-Rank strength, the four felt a wave of relief.

……

For Calamity Valley, with hundreds of martial artists entering, they quickly scattered into smaller groups.

The deeper Yang Ling went, the fewer martial artists he saw.

Sometimes, for three to four hundred meters in either direction, he couldn’t spot anyone else.

He’d originally planned to find the Fourth Prince and Tong Yi, but both of them had vanished without a trace.

Huikong of Arhat Temple, Dongfang Haojie of the Divine Sect, Chen Zuo of Extreme Flame Sword Manor, and Chi Qingyao of Nine Immortals Dao Palace were also nowhere to be seen.

On the other hand, he occasionally spotted a few of their junior sect brothers and sisters.

Everyone was busy with their own tasks. When they saw Yang Ling, they didn’t bother to acknowledge him—instead, they were highly wary.

They’d seen how fast Yang Ling was earlier, and they feared he might snatch whatever rare herbs and flowers they’d found.

“Looks like these guys really do have other missions. They didn’t go running into that ice mountain, did they?”

Yang Ling gazed at the distant ice mountain, his expression turning grim.

That place was far too dangerous. He had no intention of going in.

After all, he’d already gotten enough benefits.

Frost Mushroom.

Seventh-Rank Qilin Boots.

Fire Dragon Fish.

Kylin Iron.

Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Dagger.

The first-rate internal technique, Heavenly Will True Scripture!

With all these gains combined, he was more than satisfied.

After getting out, he could also trade the Seven-Inch Sword for 150 Foundation Consolidation Pills.

“No more risks. I’ll just search for herbs and flowers around here. If I get lucky, maybe I’ll stumble upon a Water Bodhi seed—though I don’t even know what that thing looks like.”

Yang Ling had already made up his mind. In fact, he even decided not to stay the full shichen.

He was leaving the Water Qilin Cave early—that was the safest bet.

A few breaths later, Yang Ling’s eyes lit up, and he immediately activated Ethereal Steps, dashing toward a spot a hundred meters away.

“Just ordinary weeds and scrub trees…”

Yang Ling arrived at the spot and shook his head.

Not the exotic herbs he was looking for.

Just as he was about to try his luck elsewhere, he felt the ground tremble.

It was faint, but under his perception, it was still clear and unmistakable.

Yang Ling’s expression shifted. He glanced deeper and saw a horde of Frost Force Bears chasing a figure.

The one he was familiar with was among them, howling and running, its sounds growing closer.

The one being chased was also someone Yang Ling knew—Yun Ruo.

She was currently circulating the Azure Dragon Technique, executing the Azure Dragon Movement Technique, running at top speed.

But this environment clearly wasn’t friendly to martial artists.

Instead, the Frost Force Bears with their massive paws had the advantage—they didn’t slip.

The distance between them was gradually closing.

Behind the Frost Force Bears, the young woman holding the bone flute was watching Yun Ruo’s back with a mocking expression, playing her instrument.

At that moment, Yun Ruo also spotted Yang Ling peering in her direction.

A flicker of joy crossed her face, but she quickly waved her hand:

“Go!”

Yang Ling furrowed his brow. Instead of retreating, he suddenly burst forth at full speed—charging forward.

In almost an instant, he brushed past Yun Ruo.

Yun Ruo was startled. What the hell was this guy doing!?

She quickly halted her momentum, sliding a full hundred meters before turning around to look. By then, Yang Ling had already pounced onto the largest Frost Force Bear.

The sight left Yun Ruo momentarily stunned!

“Even if he wants to save me, there’s no need to… feed himself to the bear, is there?”

She muttered to herself.

At the same time, Yang Ling had already pulled out the silver needle embedded in the Frost Force Bear’s forehead.

“You’re intelligent. Let’s work together to free your brothers!”

Yang Ling threw out a sentence, then used his movement technique to pounce toward the next Frost Force Bear.

The bear whose needle had been removed saw this and immediately howled, turning around to charge at the young woman holding the bone flute.

The young woman was completely dumbfounded. She grabbed her flute and turned to run without hesitation.