Naturally, a treasure like Silk Lotus couldn’t be ignored. Li Kuanglan started running toward the riverside, saying, “Let me harvest it.”

Harvesting treasures of this nature usually involved special methods in order to preserve their effectiveness. Naturally, no one was Li Kuanglan’s superior in this regard.

She weaved a blue net of frosty origin power along the way and duly cast it over a Silk Lotus, sealing it in a block of ice. Apparently, this was the Li family’s method for retrieving the Silk Lotus. Without the Jingtan Li clan and their frost attribute origin power, it would be difficult for anyone to collect the flower.

Li Kuanglan’s hands never stopped—net after net descended upon that single lotus, and the process was concluded only after seven layers.

She fished out the sealed ice-block and tossed it to Qianye. “Keep this for me.”

There was very little s.p.a.ce left in Andruil’s Mysterious Realm, but he had no qualms making s.p.a.ce for a flower worth more than his collection of grade-seven guns.

Li Kuanglan weaved another seven-layered net and sealed the second Silk Lotus. She was already sweating on the forehead by the time the collection was completed. Apparently, the drain on her was quite significant.

She was reaching out to pluck the icy lotus when a loud cry arrived from the distance. “Put it down!”

Qianye’s warning sounded immediately afterward. “Careful!”

Li Kuanglan looked up just in time to see a beam of purple light tearing through the sky and toward her forehead.

This beam of purple light was swift, silent, and malicious. Li Kuanglan could only dodge as she was holding the frozen lotus. Qianye took a step forward and slashed the incoming purple beam into two.

The light’s true form was revealed as it fell to the ground—it was an extremely sharp arrow, measuring at two meters in length and with a hollow head that was giving off a pungent odor. Li Kuanglan felt somewhat dizzy after a small whiff. There was a potent venom in the arrowhead, one of extreme toxicity no less. The Li family might be famous for their divination arts and medicines, but few venoms could match the one on this arrow.

Even Li Kuanglan would’ve been in trouble if struck by it, especially now that she had no antidote or protective equipment on her. With a frosty expression, she glanced toward the source of the attack. She had never feared anyone in the Empire save people like Zhao Jundu and Qianye. Almost being wounded in the Great Maelstrom in such a manner infuriated her. She had suffered restraints everywhere since her arrival and hadn’t really killed a satisfactory number of enemies.

One woman and two men walked out of the distant forest. The former was holding a longbow that was as tall as herself, apparently the weapon from which the arrow was fired. The two men walked along on either side of her.

The three people charged over at full speed and only slowed down at the hundred-meter point.

The woman nocked a long arrow and took aim at Qianye’s group. She glanced at the three remaining Silk Lotuses with eyes full of greed and roared, “Considering we’re all humans, I’ll let you guys off if you put down the items and scram.”

Qianye, Li Kuanglan, and Ji Tianqing exchanged glances. They simply had no idea where these people had gotten their confidence. It was normal that they wouldn’t recognize Ji Tianqing, and it was also a possibility that they wouldn’t know Li Kuanglan. But, it was rather odd that they hadn’t seen Qianye, one who had gained fame in the b.l.o.o.d.y battle and at Indomitable. Those with a bit of strength would know Qianye and the consequences of facing him head-on.

Even Li Fengshui, a general of the Imperial army, had fallen in his hands.

The three of them were clearly humans who were able to enter the Great Maelstrom. How could they not recognize Qianye?

Just as they were puzzled, the two men had set their eyes on Li Kuanglan and Ji Tianqing. “Why don’t we detain the two ladies?”

The man hadn’t even finished speaking when a slap sent him sprawling to the ground. The woman had attacked at lightning speed, her hand resting back on the arrow immediately after the slap. It was as though nothing had ever happened.

“You fancy those foxes, huh?” There was a tinge of killing intent in her voice.

The man clambered up to reveal a half-swollen face. He laughed along with narrowed eyes, saying, “Of course not. How can they compare to you? I was just saying we should capture them and sell them to King Loa. Wouldn’t we get a good stock of secret medicines that way?”

The woman was somewhat moved. She glanced at Li Kuanglan and Ji Tianqing, and then at Qianye. Her gaze could no longer move away as soon as she saw his face.

The men immediately became angry. One of them drew his blade with a sword and pushed forward. “Why aren’t you dropping the items?”

Li Kuanglan waved the ice-block around, saying, “The items? Do you even know what this is? You want something you don’t know about?”

The man’s face turned red. “I want both the item and you!”

Li Kuanglan’s expression sank. “I had originally planned to let you guys go since we’re all from the Empire, but you can’t blame me if you court death yourself.”

The woman directed a sinister gaze at Li Kuanglan. No one knew what she was thinking, but she didn’t attack immediately.

Li Kuanglan tossed the ice block to Qianye. “Put it away.”

Qianye’s hand barely moved before the ice block vanished.

The woman’s eyes went wide. “Spatial gear!”

“Yes, it is. Come on, come and rob us!” Li Kuanglan made a provocative gesture.

The woman’s breathing became coa.r.s.e as she gestured with her eyes, following which the two men began to flank the group from either side. She herself drew her longbow and took aim at Li Kuanglan.

The two men kept Li Kuanglan pinned down while secretly facing Qianye and Ji Tianqing respectively. The woman could take aim at any person with just a slight movement. Actually, she didn’t even need to move because the arrow would fly toward the target she had locked onto.

The woman broke into a sudden cry as the arrow flew toward Li Kuanglan in the form of a purple thunderbolt! The instant she took action, the two men leaped up and slashed at Qianye and Ji Tianqing.

Qianye swung East Peak upward without even looking.

“Leave him alive!” Ji Tianqing cried out.

Startled, Qianye wanted to stop his slash, but it was too late. East Peak had already cut man and sword into two halves.

Ji Tianqing sighed as her figure flickered and appeared above her opponent. She stomped down on the man’s back with both feet, embedding him into the ground.

The young miss then hopped off the man with a light skip. The latter was left twitching at the bottom of the large crater, unable to clamber up. Apparently, the stomp wasn’t light at all.

Compared to Qianye and Ji Tianqing, Li Kuanglan’s situation was more serious. Her fingers moved like shuttles, weaving numerous nets of origin power to envelop the purple arrow. It took three layers of frosty origin power to finally encase the projectile in ice.

As expected, the Great Maelstrom was full of dangers. Be it the natives’ white mist or this woman’s strange venom, none of them were things ordinary experts could handle.

Li Kuanglan stared intently at the woman, a faint blue light lingering at her fingertips. This enemy’s strength was nothing to write home about, but she was exceedingly difficult to dispatch. Those proficient in the bow would also excel in swift retreats. The bow and arrow made for powerful weapons in the Great Maelstrom, but the key issue lay with her strange poison.

Li Kuanglan wasn’t afraid of death, but neither was she willing to just throw away her life. She had to be careful even if she had to exert ten times more power than normally required.

The woman hadn’t expected her arrow to miss, but she was more surprised that her companions couldn’t even last one blow. Qianye’s slash wasn’t that shocking; it was actually Ji Tianqing’s toying att.i.tude that made her afraid.

She hesitated for a while. Then, she drew her dagger halfway out before nocking another arrow.

The dagger was a common Imperial design, but the purple color on its blade was quite eye-catching. In addition to the blade and arrowhead, her nails were also suffused with a faint purple glow. Li Kuanglan became even more cautious as this woman’s entire body was full of poison.

Qianye wasn’t afraid, however, and simply walked forward with his sword raised. Seemingly surprised, the woman slowly edged back toward the forest.

Ji Tianqing was clearly hesitant and unwilling to give chase. Seeing Qianye’s advance, she cried out from behind, “Qianye, will you be okay?”

“This little poison can’t harm me,” Qianye replied.

A look of worry flashed across the woman’s countenance—she stared intently at Qianye for a while, and then fled into the forest with her first step. She was fast, so much so that she was only somewhat inferior to Qianye. The latter broke into a frown as he lost his lock on her. He didn’t continue the chase because the forest gave him a bad feeling.

Qianye returned to the two ladies. “I lost her.”

“It’s fine, we still have a survivor here.” Ji Tianqing dragged the embedded man out of the ground and tossed him to the ground. This toss was deliberate and well-planned, breaking several of the man’s joints in the process.

Crying out wretchedly, the man woke up in pain and barely managed to look up. He appeared quite fearful after seeing the two ladies, but he couldn’t quite suppress his desires, either.

“Who are you?” Ji Tianqing asked.

The man bit his lips and remained silent.

Ji Tianqing snorted. “Tight-lipped, huh? Fine, then don’t speak for the next ten minutes.”

She kicked the man under the ribs, sending countless needle-like strands of origin power into his body. His face went purple all of a sudden as his body started twisting about. However, Ji Tianqing’s kick sealed not only his origin power but also his throat, making it impossible for him to make a sound.