"What kind of flower is a stone skeleton flower?" The companion of the passerby asked.
"The stone skeleton flower…"
The passerby excitedly shared about the uses of the stone skeleton flower to his companion, but did not know that everyone around them had heard him as well. Now that they had all heard about the powers of this mythical treasure, none of them were going to leave, and stared beyond the cliff with a fiery gaze, thinking about whether or not they could find the stone skeleton flower.
"Older brother, these snow wolves are strong, should we battle them?" Yun Feng asked Yun Yi, not blinded by the appeal of the stone skeleton flower.
Yun Yi did not reply, but simply looked at Sima You Yue. Sima You Yue found that rather bewildering, but realised later than since Yun Yi is from the Divine Devil Valley, he would have to wait for her commands or suggestions before taking action.
"Don't be bothered by me. Just do what you see fit." She shrugged, saying.
"Does Young Master not wish to battle it out?" Yun Yi asked.
"Don't call me Young Master, just call me You Yue." Sima You Yue waved her hands. She was not used to someone calling her that. "This is an outstanding treasure, and naturally everyone would want to own something like that. But there's no need to be bothered by what I think. Everyone plays a part, so it belongs to whoever gets it first."
Although the Yun family was aware that Sima You Yue was the young master of the Divine Devil Valley, they had actually never believed in her strength or power. Especially since she was from the Yi Lin Continent, and whatever powers that could come out from that Continent could not be far off from the powers that could be seen from their own land.
And even if Yun Yi felt that way deep inside his heart, Sima You Yue was still the young master of the Divine Devil Valley. And if he ran into trouble, he would still have to lend him assistance.
Only the Guo family members believed that Sima You Yue was not boasting about her powers, but that they did indeed have the power to fight.
"Yue Yue, why don't you let me help you dig out that stone skeleton flower?" Ling Long tugged on Sima You Yue's hair, saying.
"Are you confident?" Sima You Yue asked in her head.
"Of course!" Ling Long thumped a fist on its chest, saying. "Just wait for me here. I'll snatch that stone skeleton flower for you."
It has always seen Little Roar and the rest do things for Sima You Yue while in the Spirit Pavilion, and has always wanted to do something to get a feel of its own sense of existence. And since an opportunity has shown itself, it must now do well to make an impression.
"Be careful, then." Sima You Yue said.
Since it was decided that she should just watch, Sima You Yue brought a few of them to find a resting place to sit, while the Guo and Yun families discussed together what to do, thinking about how they might snatch the stone skeleton flower for themselves amongst the horde of others who wanted to do the same.
As half the day passed, the snow wolf at the peak of the mountain suddenly got up and cried out loudly as if crying out into the sky. At the same time, an even stronger wave of the fragrance drifted past their noses.
"The stone skeleton flower has blossomed completely." Sima You Yue said. "You be careful, Ling Long. Don't get hurt. If you can't handle it do call for us."
"I know, Yue Yue! Just leave it to me!" Ling Long said, and took flight, prepared to leave at any time.
"The flower has bloomed!" Everyone around, even those far away, looked towards the cliff and saw the white petals that had suddenly appeared and cried out excitedly.
The stone skeleton flower and the rocks were pretty much of the same colour, just that the centre of the flower was white as well, and stood out compared to the rest of the cliff.
"Let's go!" Yun Yi cried out, and brought the Yun family members with him as they flew into the distance. The Guo family members followed suit, and Guo Pei Pei started to battle with a Fifth Grade Divine Rank Spirit Beast. The others were not far behind in their powers, and also started to rush towards the stone skeleton flower, although they were stopped here and there by snow wolves on their way there.
Sima You Yue was far away from the battlegrounds and watched everyone fighting. She also saw a number of people getting utterly destroyed by the spirit beasts. And not even a trace of them was left.
This messy scene was similar to what it looked like at Pu Luo Mountain when they were looking for the gold serpent fruit, and at that time they were hiding on the sidelines, stealing looks from time to time. But at these sorts of moments, without real powers, even if you had made your way up, you would become target practice for others. But these people were also indignant of their losses. When they thought about the fact that they could also get a part of the treasure, or even if it was just getting the scraps, they would try to get the treasure for themselves when others were not watchful.
As he watched others die around him, Fatty Qu felt extremely grateful that they had not run straight into the slaughter. Given their powers, they may not even be able to keep their lives.
Ling Long flew out not long after the battle began. Because it was very small, and it did not have any distinctive features, it was easy for it to go past without being noticed. Her roads were curvy and crooked, and as she weaved past the battles, she got closer and closer to the stone skeleton flower.
Although Sima You Yue had not gone out, she looked out worriedly for Ling Long. And seeing that the people that were getting close to her getting knocked out by single blows, she could not help but rub the corners of her mouth anxiously.
"Looks like from now on, You Yue, if you don't think that you can defeat your opponents, you should send Ling Long out, and turn those opponents into meat patties." Wei Zi Qi and the rest laughed mockingly.
"Sounds like a good idea." Sima You Yue nodded sincerely, as though she had really heard what they had said.
Yun Yi, who was fighting, saw Ling Long who had knocked out a Divine Ranking Spirit Beast with her hammer. But the astonishment that had flashed by his eyes could not distract him from his fight.
"Awoooo---"
That snow wolf saw that Ling Long was approaching, and because it was behind held back by Yun Yi, started to feel extremely anxious.
"You disgusting humans. Each time you come into my land you will try to steal our treasures. This time, you all will die!" That snow wolf cried out as it beat Yun Yi to the side, and moved back a distance to close its eyes and sense its surroundings.
Wei Zi Qi and the rest felt cold things fall downwards, and as they reached out to touch it, they realised that they were snowflakes.
"It's snowing.."
As everyone stopped to look at the falling snow, they forgot that they were in the midst of a battle, and because of this temporary distraction, they were hurt greatly by the snow wolves. The temperature of the entire mountain range started to fall sharply, and all the greenery near the mountains started to get buried by the snow.
"It's all frozen!" Everyone in the mountain valley started to scream as the weaker people started to freeze into ice blocks. Even Ling Long was affected by the chill, and the moment she had touched the stone skeleton flower, she started to get surrounded by ice, and her entire being was embedded in the rock, next to the stone skeleton flower.
"No!" Sima You Yue saw that the snow wolf had attacked Yun Yi, and had turned to attack Ling Long as well.
Ling Long was an artifact spirit, and if she got hurt, it would cause great damage to this divine artifact. Because divine artifacts cannot simply take a pill and recover, it will require something of a similar grade to save it.
"Halcyon, save Ling Long." Halcyon appeared, and rushed towards the snow wolves. The might of a sacred divine beast made the snow wolves and the spirit paragons unable to budge from their places.
"A sac- sacred divine beast?!" Everyone stared at Halcyon in disbelief and watched him fly across the space and grab onto the snow wolves and throw it aside effortlessly and land at the cliff to chisel off the ice that was surrounding Ling Long. He then held Ling Long with one hand and the stone skeleton flower with the other, grabbing it from its roots.
"Halcyon!" Ling Long looked at Halcyon, and smiled, hugging on to the fur at his chest.
"Let's go back." Halcyon let her rest on his shoulder, and flew back to Sima You Yue's side.