Chapter 3: Qi Wu Zhen (Part 2)

Everyone worked together and cleaned quickly, using virtual talismans to absorb the ice and snow and scrubbing the pots and pans. In just a moment, everything was clean. Guo Shier put all the items into the storage talisman space. Though these utensils weren’t valuable, they were essential.
After finishing, Guo Shier also stored the talisman house. He asked, “Where should we go?”
Eagle Demon said, “Shier, you decide. I don’t know where to go either.”
Luo Zhan and Nan You also shook their heads, unable to offer any advice. Guo Shier turned to Huo Fen Tian and asked, “Senior, what do you think we should do?”
Huo Fen Tian replied, “Don’t call me senior. Call me sister. Well, my old name was… Qi Wu Zhen. You can call me Sister Wu Zhen or Sister Zhen.”
Guo Shier thought to himself, “Sister Zhen? More like fake sister.” He smiled and said, “Sister Zhen, it’s fine.”
Eagle Demon and the other two also stepped forward and called out, “Sister Zhen.” With Qi Wu Zhen’s strength and age, even if they called her grandmother, they wouldn’t think it was strange.
A faint smile appeared on Qi Wu Zhen’s face. She seemed very happy and said, “Good, good, good… Tell me your names.” Even though Guo Shier and the others had mentioned their names before, she couldn’t remember them. Her soul had only awakened after Guo Shier chanted the scriptures—how could she possibly know their names?
Guo Shier said, “I’m Guo Shier. This is Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo Zhan, and this is Nan You. We’re an exploration team.”
Eagle Demon laughed and said, “No, we’re not an exploration team. We’re a lost team.”
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Well, I don’t care what kind of team you are. Starting today, I want to join your team.”
Guo Shier felt bitter. Although Qi Wu Zhen was extremely powerful, she was an unstable factor and a source of trouble. He tentatively said, “Sister Zhen, if you join our team, you’ll have to follow my orders. I’m the captain.” His meaning was: If you don’t obey orders, it’s better not to join.
But Qi Wu Zhen ignored the implication in Guo Shier’s words. She smiled and said, “Of course. You’re the captain… I’ll follow your orders for everything. Just make sure to take me with you when your soul fluctuates! Hehe, is that okay?”
Guo Shier thought to himself, “Can I say it’s a problem?” He replied, “No problem.”

Qi Wu Zhen happily patted Guo Shier’s head. Guo Shier quickly pulled his head back and said, “Let’s discuss where we should go. We need coordinates of other places now, whether it’s the mainland or some secret realm. Otherwise, we’ll be trapped here again. This huge snow mountain seems dangerous; it’s better if we leave.”

Nan You said, “We still need to go into the city or capture a high-level expert from the Guji family.”

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “They come in groups; we can’t defeat them… Well, maybe this could work.” He glanced at Qi Wu Zhen. With such a powerful expert around, they might be able to handle it.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “You all are almost at the level to advance, right? Well, Ying Mo, Luo Zhan, Nan You, you should be able to advance to the tangible altar level soon…”

Guo Shier replied, “We’re still short of materials. Besides, Luo Zhan just advanced not long ago and needs time to strengthen his altar.” He had no choice. Previously, Qi Wu Zhen had forced him to swallow a soul pearl and risk advancing to the third-tier altar, consuming a large amount of material. Some of that material was originally meant for Ying Mo and the others, but it was used up to save their lives.

Most of the remaining materials came from the Gunan family, with some obtained from the Red Gold veins—all gold-related materials. Apart from those, other materials were extremely scarce.

Qi Wu Zhen thought for a moment. Having regained her clarity, she wasn’t as naive as before. She said, “This is easy. If we collect on our own, it will take over a decade to gather everything. The four of you will need a huge amount of material; relying on ourselves won’t work.”

Guo Shier understood well. Since getting lost, he had been constantly collecting materials, barely enough to advance to the third-tier altar. To advance further, he would need to collect more, and the materials required for altars above the third tier were countless. He worried, “I don’t know when we’ll be able to collect enough.”

Qi Wu Zhen smiled. “I have a solution.”

Everyone’s attention immediately turned to her. Qi Wu Zhen said proudly, “It’s simple. Since collecting on our own is difficult… then we just steal. Hehe, there’s an ancient family here with plenty of materials. We can just go and take them.”

Guo Shier had never thought of robbing an ancient family, but considering Qi Wu Zhen’s reputation as Fire Burning Heaven, she indeed had the strength to do so. He said, “Okay!” If it meant stealing, he didn’t care who the target was—as long as it didn’t violate his principles. He wasn’t someone rigid or constrained.

Eagle Demon and the others had no problems at all. The reason they hadn’t thought of robbing before was that they lacked the strength—getting beaten and forced to flee, how could they rob then? That wouldn’t be robbing; it would be seeking death.
Qi Wu Zhen said, “Record the missing materials in the jade talisman.”
Nan You asked in confusion, “If we’re going to rob, why use a jade talisman to record the materials? We can just take them directly.”
Qi Wu Zhen replied, “Idiot, your idea of robbery is utterly incompetent. I have a better way—hurry up.”
Guo Shier immediately communicated with the old man in charge, and soon a list was prepared listing the required materials. Eagle Demon and the others also made their own lists and handed them to Guo Shier, who gathered them all on one jade talisman. Guo Shier then handed the talisman to Qi Wu Zhen.
Qi Wu Zhen promptly made his own list of the materials he needed, smiling as he said, “Most of my sacrificial treasures need upgrading; I’m short of many things. Let’s see how much we can steal this time. By the way, is there any city nearby? Where?”
Guo Shier replied, “We only know of one city, in that direction. It should belong to the Guji family.”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled and said, “One city is enough to threaten them. If they dare to come and kill us, they’ll have to pay a price.”
Guo Shier and the others couldn’t help but feel disdain—after all, it was this guy who had first killed the Guji family’s professionals, yet now he acted like a victim: “We’re the real victims and deserve compensation.”
“I’ll lead the way.”
Guo Shier summoned an altar and had Eagle Demon and the others sit on it; Qi Wu Zhen also flew up. Guo Shier said with a wry smile, “Sister Zhen, it should be you leading us…”
Qi Wu Zhen smiled like a little fox and said, “I’m a team member, not the leader.”
Guo Shier slapped the top of the altar speechlessly, and whoosh! The altar flew away. The leader’s responsibility was to guide everyone in action, so Qi Wu Zhen was right.
Hanfeng Fort was an important supply city for the Guji family. After surrounding and attacking Qi Wu Zhen, all the defense shields there were activated. They realized they had provoked a formidable figure, resulting in many high-ranking members of the family dying or being injured. Even more terrifying was that, combined with the last battle, two top-level ancestors had perished, reducing the Guji family’s strength by at least one-third.
Over the past ten-odd days, the Guji family’s high-ranking members had been arguing incessantly, discussing whether to abandon the entire Frozen Continent.

Just then, someone came to report that the terrifying woman had arrived with several altar-level experts. The upper ranks of the Guji family immediately fell into chaos. Having seen Qi Wuzhen’s tactics, they knew well that this could not be overcome by sheer numbers. The family leader immediately ordered a retreat.

Boom!

The entire Hanfeng Fort trembled, and the protective shield in the sky twisted and shook. This attack wasn’t launched by Qi Wuzhen but by Guo Shier, who had swung his moon blade to test the strength of the shield.

Qi Wuzhen said with a smile, “It’s too weak. This won’t break the shield.”

Guo Shier retorted, “It’s not weak! I managed to shake the shield, okay? How can it compare to you…”

Qi Wuzhen replied, “Indeed, it can’t compare to me. Hehe, if I were to act, I could break such a crude shield in one strike.” She didn’t show any intention of showing off; her tone was very casual. The huge shield before her seemed like a soap bubble that could be shattered with just a touch.

Hundreds of altar-level experts rushed out of Hanfeng Fort, but none dared fly outside the shield. They all gritted their teeth inside, watching Guo Shier and the others, including Ji Yuntian. His elder brother, an expert at the sixth level of the altar, had been killed by Qi Wuzhen, so he hated these people deeply.

Ji Yuntian was not only filled with hatred but also extreme fear. He had witnessed Qi Wuzhen kill his brother in an instant—his brother hadn’t even had a chance to fight back and was killed outright. He understood that he was far inferior to his brother. The difference between the fifth and sixth levels of the altar was enormous—like the gap between a high-level Great Sage and an altar expert; they were simply not on the same level.

Qi Wuzhen knew she wasn’t good at negotiation. She said with a smile, “Little brother, you’re the captain. Go talk to them…”

That term “little brother” made Guo Shier’s face darken. He said, “Call me Shier.”

Qi Wuzhen replied, “Shier… hehe… little brother.” She couldn’t help but laugh again.

Guo Shier was completely speechless. Twelve little brothers? Good heavens.