After a while, Feng Yu Die's voice came from the direction of the cave entrance.
"I'm back!!"
The two who were leaning on each other looked toward the entrance and saw a nimble and petite person carrying a snow deer seven or eight times her size into the cave.
Feng Yu Die was covered in snow and mud, her clothes were torn in several places, and her silver hair which was originally tied into a ponytail was now scattered. It looked like she had experienced a fierce battle; nonetheless, she still looked very energetic.
However, when she entered the cave and saw Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo huddled together, she instantly froze.Why were they sticking together like this?
Feng Yu Die frowned, walked to the bonfire, threw the snow deer on her shoulder to the ground, and asked, "Sister Xiao, what did you do to Sister Pei just now?"
"What did I do?" Xiao Yunluo asked in confusion.
"It's just... When I leaned so much on Sister Pei, Sister Pei slapped me away. When you leaned on her, why didn't she slap you away?"
"..."
Speechless, Xiao Yunluo simply ignored her question and looked at the snow deer on the ground.
"This deer...""It took me a long time to find it." Feng Yu Die stretched her back, smiled, and patted the deer's buttocks, saying, "This guy runs really fast, and it took me a lot of effort to catch it."
Pei Lianxue also glanced at the giant deer and said with disdain, "I told you to look for food, couldn't you find something smaller? This deer is enough for dozens of cultivators to eat."
"Well, this was the first time I've seen this thing." Feng Yu Die scratched the back of her head and grinned. "I just wanted to see if it was strong or not, but in the end, I caught it."
"... I'll cut it up."
Pei Lianxue sighed. Then, she left the coat to Xiao Yunluo, stood up, and took out a small skinning knife from her storage bag before walking to the side of the snow deer.
Only the shadow of the knife was seen, but not the knife.
Bloodletting, skinning, and gutting, all in one go.
In no time, the snow deer was dissected by Pei Lianxue until only the skeleton and internal organs remained.
Xiao Yunluo and Feng Yu Die watched her dissecting technique the entire time with a trace of fear in their hearts.
They had never seen a girl who could dissect beasts so neatly and perfectly before. After all, most of the process was so bloody that not even many male cultivators could bear it.
Xiao Yunluo gulped and asked, "Sister Pei, have you often slaughtered such beasts before?"
Pei Lianxue turned her head when she heard this question. "I used to live in the beasts' caves for several months, and I could only eat the meat of those monsters every day, so I have a lot of practice, hehe..."
Thinking of her past with her brother, she couldn't stop a sweet smile.
However, Xiao Yunluo felt a wave of terror while looking at her.
This beautiful girl was holding a knife, with a lot of blood on her hands and face, and she was smiling sweetly at people...
---I dare not congratulate her!
After that, Pei Lianxue skillfully strung together several strands of venison on some branches.
After the three finished eating the meat, they quieted their minds to meditate and condense their qi to pass the time.
A few hours later, the snow outside stopped, so they packed up and continued to hike toward the ***Black Star*** Sect's main peak. After coming down from **High Snow Peak**, they reached a swamp.
According to Xiao Yunluo, because the air here was full of miasma and the visibility was less than ten feet, this swamp was called "*Deep Confusion*". Many cultivators from the ***Black Star*** Sect came here to catch poisonous insects and study them, and there were also beasts like crocodiles and pythons inside.
Therefore, the three of them had to slow down and move forward step by step in a steady manner.
Feng Yu Die led the way, slashing and chopping with the sword, clearing the vines and weeds in front in case there were insects and scorpions hidden inside, all the while thinking about how to impress Sister Pei.
So far, she had tried more than a dozen ways according to the "*How to Please Others*" treatise taught by her master, but none of them worked.
And let's not even talk about pleasing. She felt as if Sister Pei was hating her more and more.
Showing her daring side... she was treated as an idiot by Sister Pei.
Playing like a dog... she was almost stabbed to death by Sister Pei's sword.
Her flattering... was ignored.
Showing her superiority over others... she was beaten by Sister Pei.
Being solicitous... she was suspected of having evil intentions.
...
"Hey, Yu Die, what are you thinking about?" Xiao Tian floated out of her head and sat on her shoulders with his arms crossed. "Every time you sigh, you are definitely thinking about something inappropriate."
Feng Yu Die glanced at him and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Tian, why won't Sister Pei smile at me?"
"Heh..." Xiao Tian snorted coldly and rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me about this. If you fell in love with a certain 'male' cultivator, I could give you advice and help you. But... a woman? No way! Hmph!"
Swearing, Xiao Tian kicked her on the forehead vigorously and then got back within her soul boundaries.
And it was also at this time that Feng Yu Die had a certain feeling and raised her hand in a hurry.
"Stop!!"
"What? Is there a monster?" Xiao Yunluo, who was walking behind her, was startled and hurriedly looked around, but all she could see was fog.
Pei Lianxue, who was behind, seemed to have sensed something as well and immediately drew her sword, alert to the surroundings.
"It's not a monster, it's a human," she replied.
"A human?" Xiao Yunluo was even more confused.
If it was a person, it should be someone else taking part in the selection, and this trial did not allow disciples to fight each other.
If such a meeting were to occur, everyone would basically choose to form a team and face the monsters and other obstacles along the way together.
But...
She looked at their serious faces and asked, "Who is it?"
Feng Yu Die explained, "Someone just used their spiritual sense to check on us, and it was filled with malicious intentions."
"Malicious intentions?"
Right at this moment, Pei Lianxue suddenly twisted around and directly brought the sword she was holding behind Xiao Yunluo.
Ding---
A crisp sound of swords clashing resounded through the swamp.
While the sparks were flying, Xiao Yunluo became alert and quickly looked behind her. The masked black-clothed attacker was very close, just two steps away from her.
The short sword in that man's hand was aimed straight at her neck. If Pei Lianxue hadn't blocked with her sword, he would have stabbed her neck and she might have died in an instant.
She didn't even realize when this guy came up. Her eyes widened in panic as she took out her sword forged from black stones out of her storage bag.
However, she was too nervous.
When the sword flew out of her storage bag, she actually failed to catch it, causing it to fly directly into the sky.
The black-clothed man watched Xiao Yunluo's reaction with a mocking look, and Pei Lianxue took the opportunity to swing the sword toward his neck. However, he was able to use his ability and jump back into the thick fog!
By the time the figure of the black-clothed man was hidden in the surrounding thick fog, another man's laughter suddenly came from a different direction.
"This sword is really good, but the person who uses the sword... not so much... ahahaha---"
Hearing this, Xiao Yunluo remembered her sword, but when she looked up to find it, the sword was nowhere to be seen.
"..."
For a moment, she was outright dumbstruck.
Feng Yu Die also retreated to her side, sandwiched her between her and Pei Lianxue, and said solemnly, "Sister Xiao, stay with me and Sister Pei. There are at least four of them, and that person's cultivation level is at least at the middle stage of *Foundation Building*."
