"Alright, let's not talk about that for now."

"Since we're here, let's look around and see if we can find some key clues. It doesn't matter if we don't find any; getting more Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure will make this trip worthwhile."

"Then should we split up again?"

"Let's split up. With the strength of the three of us, forcing ourselves to stay together is a waste!"

Seeing Li Yun say this,

Zhao Ziyue and Ye Tianxie didn't object.

Opportunities are different for everyone.

They are meant to be sought out individually. Without strong enemies, splitting up is the best choice.

So—

After bidding each other farewell, the three of them each chose a direction to proceed.

The forest was too big, and Li Yun didn't have a clear goal. After splitting up, he headed directly towards the direction where there were more people.

Besides wanting to take the fated opportunity to acquire some Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that would be beneficial for his cultivation, he also wanted to find someone to inquire about the situation in this forest.

Based on his previous experiences with the Great Five Elements Inversion Illusion Formation and the Doom Ice Field, Li Yun had realized that the various environments set up inside Cloud Dragon Zen Temple were not random.

As long as you could figure them out and pass through them, you would gain a lot.

Any one of them, taken outside, could be considered a great fated opportunity.

And the reason why those Martial Artists were able to reach this forest before them was mostly due to some opportunities they had experienced, possibly related to Moni Temple.

Li Yun walked and circulated his Innate Divine Power to capture sounds and collect various information.

Soon,

He encountered three people.

These three people were not Eastern Cloud Continent Martial Artists, but from Eastern Xuan Continent.

They were a small team led by a Transcendent Realm Martial Artist, with two True Qi Realm Postnatal Martial Artists following.

When Li Yun encountered them, the two True Qi Realm Martial Artists were nervously digging up a bamboo shoot under the urging of the Transcendent Realm Martial Artist.

The bamboo shoot was naturally not an ordinary bamboo shoot, but a Yellow Grade low-tier Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, Green Spiritual Bamboo Shoot.

It belonged to the wood-element Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

It wasn't precious, but it was said to be edible raw, and its taste was excellent. Eating more could also assist in condensing the physique.

"Li Yun?"

Upon seeing Li Yun appear, the Transcendent Realm Martial Artist was obviously slightly startled, his hand immediately went to the sword hilt, and his expression was very vigilant.

"You want to snatch the Green Spiritual Bamboo Shoot?"

Li Yun smiled faintly: "What do you think?"

"Hmph!"

The Eastern Xuan Continent Martial Artist's expression changed, and he immediately ordered the two True Qi Realm Martial Artists: "Stop digging, leave the Green Spiritual Bamboo Shoot for him, let's go!"

Good heavens!

This decisive act of giving it up completely stunned Li Yun.

As Martial Artists, shouldn't they never retreat when they see treasure and fight for it even if it means death?

Why aren't they playing by the rules?

If you're so cowardly, how can I possibly continue to make a move?

Originally, Li Yun had planned to find a reason to make a move, suppress them, and then ask about the situation properly, but now it was difficult to make a move.

However, letting them leave just like that was also impossible.

"Wait..."

Li Yun casually glanced at the Green Spiritual Bamboo Shoot, and with a flash, he blocked the three people who were already preparing to leave.

The Eastern Xuan Continent Martial Artist's face immediately changed.

With a clang, the long sword at his waist was unsheathed directly, the tip pointing at Li Yun.

"Li Yun, what do you mean?"

"We've already given you the Green Spiritual Bamboo Shoot, what else do you want?"

"I warn you, don't go too far!"

"Although White Wood Twin Swords said your strength has surpassed ordinary Transcendent Realm Martial Artists, I, Jiang Congbai, am not to be trifled with. If you provoke me, you won't be able to get away unscathed either!"

Li Yun was slightly surprised, and then said with realization: "So you, like White Wood Twin Swords, are from the Wind Cloud Sword Cave... I was just saying, how could you, a dignified Transcendent Realm Martial Artist, easily give up the Green Spiritual Bamboo Shoot just by seeing me."

"So you were warned by White Wood Twin Swords!"

"However, you've misunderstood. I didn't plan to fight you. I stopped you just to ask for some information. How about it, can we be friends and have a good chat?"

"Asking for information?"

Jiang Congbai was immediately taken aback, with a look of suspicion on his face, seemingly not believing that Li Yun's purpose was so simple.

"You're not lying to me?"

"Alas, is the trust between people so fragile... Don't worry, I really didn't plan to fight you. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been better to just sneak attack when I appeared just now?"

"This..."

Jiang Congbai thought about it and realized it made sense, so he put away his long sword.

But his expression was still somewhat skeptical, and he didn't dare to be careless.

"What information do you want to ask us about?"

"Just two pieces of information. First, how did you get to this forest, and second, have you discovered any important information since you arrived here first?"

Jiang Congbai was immediately surprised upon hearing this.

From Li Yun's questions, he had already caught a relatively important piece of information: Li Yun seemed to have just arrived at this forest.

This made him somewhat difficult to understand.

It had been almost two days since the Stone Gate of Cloud Dragon Zen Temple opened.

And they had been here for almost a day.

How could Li Yun only arrive now?

Where did Li Yun go in the past two days?

However, he didn't ask the question. He also felt that it wasn't important information anyway, and even if they didn't say anything, Li Yun could ask others, so there was no need to hold a grudge against Li Yun over such a small matter.

After thinking for a moment, he said: "Actually, this is not a secret. After we entered the Stone Gate, we were caught by some strange monks and taken to a place called Moni Temple."

"But later, after a riot, the Martial Artists and the Moni Temple monks fought fiercely and scattered. We entered a Valley to get here."

"Valley?"

Li Yun was immediately enlightened upon hearing this. It was similar to what the Inner Sect Disciple Fan Yunqing had told him when he encountered him in the Doom Ice Field.

So it seemed the mystery lay in the Valley near Moni Temple.

Those Valleys should contain formation gates leading directly to certain special environments. Different Valleys would correspond to different places, and obviously, Fan Yunqing's luck was relatively bad, as the Valley he chose corresponded to the Doom Ice Field.

On the other hand, people like Jiang Congbai and the others were much luckier. They came directly to this forest, where there seemed to be no obvious dangers or crises. Instead, they could search for various Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that were rare in the outside world.

"How many Valleys did you say there were in total?"

"I don't know... The situation was urgent at the time, and in a hurry, I glanced at it and wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps there were five, or maybe six!"

"Damn..."

Li Yun's face immediately darkened. If that were the case, even if he passed through this forest, he might not reach the end, but rather enter the next situation with unknown levels of danger?

"Alright, then regarding this forest, have you made any special discoveries, or have you heard any special news?"

"If you ask that, there really is something!"

"I heard that in the west of this forest, there seems to be a surviving Ancient Temple, but... it's very strange. It is said that everyone who enters mysteriously disappears, their fate unknown!"