Dark nights with strong winds.

The waning moon hangs in the world, the Milky Way resembling a scar ripping through the night sky, both menacing and beautiful.

Rustle—

Shadowy trees swaying.

Outside the city, several shadowy figures seemed to be darting back and forth, flickering in and out of sight. They wore indigo-blue cloaks, their builds ordinary, slightly thin and small, with skin that was somewhat dark and had a greasy sheen, looking rather eerie.

With dark blue turban wrapping their heads, all ten fingers of the five individuals wore six rings each. Looking at the patterns on their clothes and the material of their fabric made it clear that these individuals were not ordinary family disciples, and the rings were engraved with strange characters.

As if sensing someone was tracking them, the five gradually stopped running.

"Another one who isn't afraid of death."

Muttering a few words in the local dialect, incomprehensible to others, as the languages of the local forces in the Southern Border varied greatly. It wasn't just different countries; even different provinces, regions, counties, towns, and in more extreme places, each village had entirely different language logic.

Let alone people from the Central Plains, even Cen Yueyue, who grew up in the Southern Border, couldn't claim to fully understand the languages of all ethnic groups. She could only grasp approximate meanings in many languages. After a brief exchange of communication, they surprisingly stopped in place.

Their eyes seemed to carry ridicule, mocking the other party's overestimation of their abilities. The air and the smell of Gu Worms told them that only one person was following, and their cultivation realm wasn't high.

Since entering the borders of Long Country, they had been at ease locally. Wherever they encountered a city, they would stop by, engage with the stationed Central Plains cultivators, and so far, no fewer than ten people had died tragically at their hands, naturally allowing the five to profit greatly.

The five worked together, two at the Core Formation Stage and three at the Foundation Establishment Peak. Such a lineup was devastating regardless of which city it was placed in. They had already swept through six towns, not only eliminating those so-called esteemed disciples from the Central Plains but also emptying the treasures prepared by their sects.

Not everyone was as wealthy and confident as the Purple Cloud Palace, able to provide enough cultivation resources for their disciples.

Most forces still relied on the word "plunder."

The Southern Border was not as resource-abundant as the Central Plains. Whether in terms of agriculture, livestock, or mineral extraction, it lagged far behind the Central Plains.

Moreover, with mountains everywhere in the Southern Border, most of their villages were built atop high mountains. The usable land was limited, and the mountain ranges stretched for thousands of miles without end, adding up to less than ten percent of the Central Plains' arable land.

This was also the root cause of the frequent invasions of the Central Plains by the Northern Huns of the Southern Border.

Resource scarcity meant they could only survive by attempting to seize what others had. The garb of these five in front seemed extraordinary, clearly from a prominent force in the Southern Border, yet they still plundered cultivation resources within Long Country.

There were countless towns along the border of Long Country, at least several hundred. Naturally, not all these towns were under the Purple Cloud Palace's control, but were divided among many sects and forces.

Not only because everyone had designs on the Southern Border, but if everything was handed over to one sect, it meant their sect would have no interactions with the Southern Border, which was naturally unacceptable. They all needed a foothold close enough to the border.

Furthermore, this helped alleviate pressure.

No matter how top-tier a force was, they couldn't place experts at the Core Formation or Nascent Soul Stage in every town. With several hundred towns on one border line, would you place several hundred Core Formation cultivators to watch over them?

That's unrealistic.

Especially since there wasn't just this one border line.

Typically, most border towns are patrolled only by Foundation Establishment cultivators, with only the larger prestigious sects able to station a Core Formation cultivator to guard. Therefore, this combined force of five was particularly troublesome, as even two sects working together could barely stop them.

"Little rascal, come out!"

He turned and threw a flying knife into the jungle under the cover of night!

Swish—

A bent blade with a strange arc flew off to the left.

The tribes of the Southern Border all used different weapons, favoring pointed and smaller arms due to their environment. The spear was about five and a half inches long, with a polygonal grip, a sharp back, and three concave serrations between the edge and the point skillfully arranged.

Judging by the deep red, nearly black color of the concave groove, it was likely a blood channel.

With the swift flight of the dagger, the forest suddenly fell silent.

"Hmm?"

A casual wave of the hand.

The ring emitted an eerie glow, seemingly sensing the changes in the nearby air, as everyone instinctively drew their weapons. Some had hooked machetes, others straight long blades, while another held a circular musical instrument with silver pendants jingling.

But soon, the disturbance in the forest made a sound again.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Footfalls snapping branches, sauntering forward, holding in the left hand something resembling an account book, thick and hefty, containing dozens of pages filled with dense characters, names, and images, while the right hand held a pointed short dagger. Its shape and style were identical to the one thrown earlier.

"Hmm... This pattern, weapon, should be as written in the book, from the Lou Family Village."

Still clutching the book, occasionally comparing the pointed short dagger in hand, this was what every member had to review before venturing out, detailed with the characteristics of various forces and families.

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