I long to return home!

On the spirit boat, Huai Zhen held the imprinted map and compared it with the Hundred Thousand Mountains beneath his feet. The mountains were steep and treacherous, and there must be many magical beasts in them.

The Ten Thousand Mountains lie here like a giant dragon, stretching for thousands of miles. The mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist, and without detailed information, it is impossible to predict the dangers within.

"Wow! This is the Ten Thousand Mountains! Are there really ten thousand mountains? It looks so magnificent! What do the magical beasts inside look like?" Shen Lingjiao jumped onto the eaves of the boat, looking down at the Ten Thousand Mountains below. The mountains were majestic and imposing, and in the distance, she could see celestial birds soaring in the clouds.

Seeing this, Huai Zhen chuckled, made a hand seal with one hand, and his eyes flashed with a strange light. As he recited the incantation, the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams appeared before his eyes, instantly enveloping the Hundred Thousand Mountains. He would calculate all the directions and trigrams.

Before long, having calculated a wonderful location, the group slowly brought their spirit boat to a stop. After disembarking, they looked around and saw that the place was nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with a small stream flowing nearby. Furthermore, their divine sense detected that within a ten-mile radius, apart from some spirit beasts, only some first- or second-tier magical beasts resided there. Their hearts began to believe in Huai Zhen's abilities.

Jiang Xiaodao used magic to conceal the spirit boat and led everyone to the most suitable place to set up camp, which he had just discovered with his divine sense.

She addressed the crowd, saying, "From now on, we will make our adjustments here." Then, her gaze fell on Huai Zhen, and she said with approval, "Fellow Daoist Huai Zhen, I entrust the rest to you. Try your best to find the hiding place of the demonic beast when the first snow of winter begins."

"I will certainly live up to your expectations," Huaizhen said, cupping his hands in greeting.

As soon as she finished speaking, and everyone was about to follow up on the next assignment, Mo Xiaohuan jumped out, looked at everyone with a happy smile, and confidently said, "Then in the coming days, I ask all of you to take good care of yourselves. You can leave all the night watch and investigation to me."

Amidst the skeptical gazes of the crowd, Mo Xiaohuan lightly patted the storage bags on both sides, taking out four or five mechanical dogs and two mechanical eagles from them, all of which appeared to be at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Mo Xiaohuan took out a piece of candy from somewhere and put it in her mouth. She fiddled with something with her fingers. The next moment, the eyes of the mechanical dog and the mechanical eagle glowed strangely. The barking and hissing of the dogs were heard at the same time. The mechanical dog was instructed to go into the forest to protect everyone, while the mechanical eagle soared into the air and then disappeared into the Ten Thousand Mountains to investigate the situation.

After everything was arranged, Mo Xiaohuan turned her gaze back to Jiang Xiaodao and said with a hint of teasing, "See? My Mo family's mechanical arts are incredibly versatile. Now you can focus on raising your knife. I'll watch over it for you."

Jiang Xiaodao glanced at Mo Xiaohuan indifferently, then leaped into a quiet spot beside the stream. "I know without you telling me." He then manipulated his hands, forming a barrier that covered himself.

Immediately afterwards, flames ignited on the pattern on her forehead, and a long sword as tall as herself floated in front of her. Flames flowed all over Jiang Xiaodao's body, like silk, and finally slowly entered the sword.

This peculiar behavior quickly attracted the attention of many people. Shen Lingjiao, who had never seen anything like this before, was the most curious. She went straight to Mo Xiaohuan's side, pointed at Jiang Xiaodao, and asked, "What are you doing? It looks amazing."

Mo Xiaohuan looked down at Shen Lingjiao, who was shorter than her and looked like a little child, and couldn't help but reach out and rub her head. She then explained to everyone, "This is the Jiang family's secret technique - nourishing the sword with thought. Every direct descendant of the Jiang family learns this secret technique. After their coming-of-age ceremony, they will be arranged by the family to find a good sword blank from the Sword Tomb. After their cultivation reaches the Golden Core stage, they will refine the sword blank into their natal magic weapon. When combined with this secret technique, the sword's power will be even greater in battle."

After listening, Huai Zhen felt even more that his mission was extremely important. Without further hesitation, he flew on his sword to the nearest mountain peak, where he sat cross-legged, looking at the vast mountains before him.

With his hands moving unpredictably, he unleashed magical techniques and supernatural powers, combining them with the Heavenly Evolution Technique, as if he himself were venturing into the Hundred Thousand Mountains to search step by step.

The others were not idle either; they all sat cross-legged in meditation, adjusting themselves to their optimal state. Aside from the mechanical eagles they brought back from their daily reconnaissance missions, Mo Xiaohuan spent her days tinkering with mechanical arts.

However, Xu Tao and Mu Xiyao were staying in the same tent, facing each other with their legs crossed, palms touching, as if they were transferring their internal energy.

Behind Xu Tao, the Reverse Cold Sword and behind Mu Xiyao, the Clear Spirit Sword echoed each other, their blades shimmering with spiritual light, their tips seemingly about to unleash a heaven-shattering strike.

In contrast to everyone else, under Wu Nian's protection, Shen Lingjiao spent her days sightseeing and exploring, covering almost the entire surrounding area. She was either admiring flowers and water, catching fish in the lake, or playing with spirit beasts. She even bullied some first-order magical beasts with only the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining cultivation, taking advantage of having someone back her up.

I experienced almost everything that I hadn't had the chance to do in the capital for many years.

...

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

With the help of the mechanical eagle, the time spent locating Huai Zhen in the Ten Thousand Mountains was greatly reduced. In addition to determining the approximate location, a relatively safe route was also found.

On this very day, the stream boiled. Jiang Xiaodao slowly opened his eyes, and the colors and flames of the long swords in front of him changed dramatically.

Flames flowed like magma along the blade. After examining it with spiritual power, I determined that the quality of this blade had reached the peak of the Golden Core stage or even the Great Perfection stage.

The leap caused a brief ripple in the stream, briefly parting the water. The rocks at the bottom of the stream shone brightly, hissing and emitting smoke the instant they came into contact with the water.

Jiang Xiaodao lightly tossed her long hair, standing with a knife in one hand. Her slender figure paired with a large knife as tall as a person gave people a great sense of contrast, while at the same time, it gave people a heroic temperament.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Mo Xiaohuan quickly put away her devices and said, "Sister Dao'er, after my Flying Eagle No. 1 and Flying Eagle No. 2 explored the area, I found the safest route into the Ten Thousand Mountains."

"Hmm." Jiang Xiaodao nodded slightly in agreement. "Let's wait for the Star Watcher to confirm the exact location."

As soon as he said this, Huai Zhen leaped down from the mountaintop. The path he deduced was exactly the same as Mo Xiaohuan's. After several days of deduction, he also found the approximate location of the Purple Winged Thunder Eagle King's place of rest.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiaodao took one more day to rest before preparing to set off.

...

"No way! This princess is going to do something so fun! You have to take me, you sickly boy!" Shen Lingjiao jumped onto Huaizhen's back and said urgently, pulling on his two strands of white hair.

“Absolutely not. This trip is extremely dangerous. The sixth-tier Purple Winged Thunder Eagle King is no joke. Once we engage in battle, none of us will be able to escape unscathed,” Huai Zhen said with displeasure.

"I don't care, I don't care, I'm going anyway, or I'll never talk to you again!" Shen Lingjiao was so anxious she was almost crying.

"No, that's just no." Huaizhen picked up Shen Lingjiao and rejected the idea outright.