"Do not be disrespectful!" The elder could see clearly and immediately spoke again, reprimanding Ling Han and the other man.

Seeing this, Ling Han reluctantly withdrew the heavy sword that was poised in front of Chen Yang.

"Fellow Daoists, I apologize, my disciple is not good with words and has offended you all." The elder quickly cupped his hands towards Chen Yang to express his apologies.

Initially, Ling Han’s actions left Chen Yang feeling a bit uncomfortable, but the elder’s timely intervention eased his annoyance.

"Old fellow, your disciple has quite a temper. If not for your words, I might have beaten him to the point his parents couldn’t recognize him," Ao Min said, somewhat angrily.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand. Ling Han is merely sensitive and meant no harm. Please be considerate," the elder responded courteously, without a hint of arrogance.

After finishing his apologies, the elder smiled and asked, "Fellow Daoists, I heard you mention earlier that the road ahead is dangerous, and that we have been targeted by the Blood Bat Hall. May I boldly ask where you acquired this information?"

"If it turns out to be true, my disciples and I would be immensely grateful."

The elder’s cultivation was quite ordinary, not even as high as Ling Han’s.

However, his wisdom in dealing with people and matters far surpassed Ling Han and the others.

You could tell from the way he spoke.

"Just look over there and you’ll understand," Ao Min slightly moved his palm, and the corpse of a Blood Bat Hall member, freshly buried, was pushed out of the soil.

"Blood Bat Hall..." The elder’s pupils immediately contracted upon seeing the corpse.

Because he could clearly perceive the eerie aura on the corpse.

It belonged solely to the Blood Bat Hall!

"These dozens of beasts intended to ambush you on the way, but we happened upon them and took care of it, extracting quite a bit of information from them. Now do you understand?" Ao Min explained.

The elder was shocked after hearing Ao Min’s story!

So that’s what happened.

"I see, I am truly grateful to you, fellow Daoists." The elder quickly reacted and cupped his hands again towards Chen Yang in gratitude.

Meanwhile, the way he looked at Chen Yang and Ao Min changed.

The fact that four people could resolve an ambush set up by more than forty indicated many things.

"No need for gratitude, just take care of yourselves," Ao Min said, casting a displeased glance at Ling Han.

"Let’s go."

Chen Yang did not say much and simply intended to leave.

Hmph.

Ao Min snorted coldly and also left quickly.

The elder watched Chen Yang and Ao Min leave, frowning slightly.

"Master, can we trust what they said?" At this moment, the elder’s second disciple approached after Chen Yang had gotten some distance.

The elder gave him a cold glance and said, "What do you think? Those corpses are real, why shouldn’t we trust them?"

The second disciple felt awkward upon hearing this.

"Master, can we still follow the originally planned route?"

The elder did not speak but after thinking for a moment, quickly chased in the direction where Chen Yang and the others left.

"Follow Master."

Ling Han sheathed his heavy sword and quickly followed.

"Fellow Daoists, please wait."

Chen Yang and Ao Min were not walking quickly, and it didn’t take long before the elder and his disciples caught up.

Hearing the voice from behind, Chen Yang and Ao Min stopped and looked back.

"Why is it them again? These guys never stop, do they?" Ao Min frowned, clearly irritated.

He did not have a good impression of the elder and his group.

"I think they must have something to say," Chen Yang felt the same.

Initially viewing the elder and his group’s demeanor as kind and since they had a grudge with the Blood Bat Hall, he followed the adage that the enemy of an enemy is a friend, which is why he had warned them.

Who knew they would have so much trouble?

"Fellow Daoists, please hold on." After Chen Yang stopped for not too long, the elder, leading Ling Han and the other two, had already caught up.

"What do you want?" Chen Yang directly asked.

The elder beaming with a smile said, "Fellow Daoist, don’t misunderstand. We didn’t come over for any other reason but to express our gratitude for earlier, that’s all."

Gratitude?

Chen Yang was a bit startled.

They hadn’t said anything about gratitude earlier, so why chase to express it now?

"There’s no need for gratitude, it was just a chance encounter," Chen Yang didn’t want to attract unnecessary trouble nor needed the so-called gratitude.

He had no interest at all. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Fellow Daoist, the Qingfeng Sect has never owed kindness, so please don’t decline." The elder smiled slightly, and regardless of whether Chen Yang agreed or not, said directly, "To be honest, we originally had no intention of attending the Divine Dragon Assembly."

"We only came because we heard that a hidden place near the Divine Dragon Mountain had some rare heaven and earth treasures appearing, so we came specifically for it."

"Earlier, you kindly warned us, and I sensed that we are kindred spirits, so I wanted to invite you to share this opportunity together, how about it?"

The elder’s words were quite unexpected.

Nobody expected him to express gratitude in such a manner.

It seemed too unrealistic.

"Heavenly treasures? Old man, are you serious?" Ao Min was also surprised.

Their unexpected approach was puzzling, leaving people unsure of their intentions.

"Of course, I’m serious." The elder nodded calmly, and then explained, "Honestly, many sects know about the emergence of these treasures, and since we are weak, we’re happy to find fellow Daoists to go together. After the success, we only need a small portion."

"Master, how can this be, that’s..." The elder’s second disciple immediately showed reluctance upon hearing only a small portion would be their share.

The elder frowned and shot a look over.

The second disciple immediately fell silent.

At this point, Ao Min meaningfully looked at Chen Yang.

The implication was clear; he was seeking Chen Yang’s viewpoint on this matter.

"Fellow Daoists, what do you think?" The elder turned his head, again displaying a smile.

"If there really is such an opportunity, we would certainly be interested, but we know nothing about it, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to act hastily on just your words," Chen Yang neither agreed rashly nor declined.

Instead, he wanted to probe the truth of the elder’s words.

The elder, having lived for most of his life, naturally understood the implications of Chen Yang’s words instantly.

"Fellow Daoist makes a good point. Let me first detail the matter for everyone..." The elder nodded slightly and earnestly explained the entire context.

It turns out that the area around Divine Dragon Mountain is a cave of dense spiritual energy.

Heavenly treasures are easily born near here.

The Qingfeng Sect, although small, had once been prosperous.

They knew a lot about the vicinity of Divine Dragon Mountain.

Decades ago, the Qingfeng Sect’s predecessor once discovered a lotus deep within a hidden part of Divine Dragon Mountain, but it was immature at that time and wasn’t harvested.

Recently, decades later, the elder felt the lotus was mature, hence he brought his disciples to seek fortune.

"Decades ago, our Qingfeng Sect wasn’t the only one aware of the lotus; I guess other sects must have sensed it too, and will take the opportunity of attending the Divine Dragon Assembly to come here in search of fortune."

"Our Qingfeng Sect is weak, so we wanted to invite fellow Daoists to search for the fortune together, and if successful, fellow Daoists can take the majority, while our Qingfeng Sect would take a small share."

The elder looked very sincere, not like he was lying.

After hearing this, Ao Min’s expression also changed.