“We stay further back! My fellow disciples have this under control,” Chen Kan said as he moved to block the way forward to the two guests behind him.

“Do you not see how these treants will burst out of the walls at a moment’s notice? If it’s our safety you’re concerned about, we should stick close to the highlycompetent combatants,” Jun Ziyan argued.

The two butted heads, with neither willing to stand down. They kept their argument discreet, though. It wouldn’t do to distract their allies in the midst of the battle nearby. As for Li Lang, he simply ignored the argument. There were other things that caught his attention, so he didn’t have time to bother with their squabbling.

Besides, he knew both sides had a point. It was just that they had their own biases.

Cultivators were full of contradictions in their conduct. They both wanted to show off and keep their abilities a secret. It made it so that Chen Kan, as a representative from the Rolling Tide sect, wanted to keep his guests a distance away from his fellow disciples. Anything could happen in combat, and some techniques were more effective when less was known about them.

Thankfully, with almost a dozen cultivators in their group, the fight was a short-lived one. Once it ended, so too did the argument.

Li Lang wasted no time and approached the aftermath of the fight, crouching down to examine the wooden fragments left behind. He even shoved some into his pockets, but no one there bothered to pay it any heed. Their journey down into the subterranean world had just begun.

The group barely moved on from the former battlefield when a flash of surprise rang throughout all their faces. They had all detected a large disturbance heading their way, and fast.

Taking up positions against the oncoming threat, a few of the Rolling Tide disciples even started setting up a makeshift formation beneath them, while some started planting talismans around the tunnel.

The way they moved with such speed and clarity, never getting into each other’s way really impressed Li Lang. It reminded him of a well-trained military unit and the shortcomings of his nascent organization. There was a long way to go before Star Gem Academy would catch up to any of the established sects and organizations that had been around for literally thousands of years.

The events that unfolded next happened in the blink of an eye for Li Lang. His peers were able to show off the prowess of late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Several figures rushed toward them as a blur. Then the next thing he was able to make out were Qi beasts clashing against the human cultivators. Li Lang could sense the powerful shockwaves from each simple clash. There weren’t any large explosive moves, but the controlled aggression was much more impressive in a group battle setting.

Before he got to marvel at the show any further, his two minders suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his view. He didn’t get a chance to ask questions as Chen Kan pointed his sword at a figure beside them that hadn’t been there before.

“Identify yourself!”

The large bald man was breathing heavily, but his eyes widened when he laid eyes on the group threatening him.

“Ziyan? Li Lang? Why are you two here?”

“What do you mean, why?” Jun Ziyan quipped with rage upon seeing her fellow sect member, Da Feng. “You know the reason. How did you let a mess like this happen?”

“Now, now,” Li Lang intervened. “Let’s talk about the situation first. We can save anything else for after.”

The large bald man gave an amiable nod to Li Lang before continuing.

“Long Yi and his guide from the local sect should be on their way to the surface right now. I was leading the Qi beasts that had surrounded them away, so they should be safe.”

As much as the people present wanted to ask how Long Yi and Han Zemei could have possibly gotten into such a situation, they simply nodded and accepted the fact for now.

“Are there any threats we should be informed about, then?” Chen Kan chimed in from the side, his tone having mellowed out after seeing that Da Feng was not an enemy. “How many Qi beasts are we talking about here?”

Da Feng took a moment to glance back at the fighting before answering.

“They’ve thinned out quite a bit, so this should only be a quarter of their numbers. The rest properly returned to protect the heavenly earth.”

“What? Heavenly earth?” the Rolling Tide disciple cried. “Down here?”

“Yes, it keeps the peace between the Qi beasts and protects them from the treants. I’m sure your fellow disciple who was with Long Yi can tell you more. It appeared she had tried to subdue a part of it.”

Before Da Feng had finished his words, Chen Kan had already turned to the leader of their expedition.

“Did you hear that, Han Yun? There are more Qi beasts ahead, protecting a heavenly earth. Han Zemei should be safe, so I think we should adjust our priorities!”

“Yes. It’ll take some time, but it’s doable enough,” he shouted back as he bisected some mole-like creature. “You should return to the surface to send a message back. If you can get in contact with Ding Ren’s group, it’ll relieve a lot of the pressure we’ll have to face if we were to confront such great numbers.”

The subterranean world under the Magnolia Forest cut off all long-distance communication methods somehow. It was what got Li Lang so interested in the treants, as it was likely the source of the disruption. If he could harvest this special property somehow, he could create his own Qi jammers. While it wasn’t needed right now, he couldn’t resist the allure of new possibilities.

There may come a time when Starpoint Island would grow to the point where numerous cultivators and mortals alike would visit. Li Lang had never been a fan of the isolationist policies of some of the other forces. To him, it didn’t matter if you were a cultivator or not; wealth was undoubtedly a powerful strength. In order to obtain such wealth, commerce and trade were the key.

When that time came, people of all walks of life would be in their territory. Espionage would then be a cause for concern. Being able to disable long-distance communication in specific areas could prove to be invaluable in containing such threats.

“Li Lang, are you coming or not?” Chen Kan’s voice suddenly awoke him from his musings. “Long Yi should be arriving at the surface by now. There shouldn’t be a need for you to risk being here any longer.”

Shelving his future plans aside, he turned his attention back to the situation at hand. Words about the heavenly earth hadn’t escaped his ears, as it was vital to his own cultivation. This trip was proving to be a fruitful one.

“Hmm, since I’ve already come so far, I wouldn’t mind laying eyes on this so-called heavenly earth. Besides, with my capabilities, it’s safer to stay in a large group. After all, I’m sure the treants noticed the commotion by now and are closing in on our position.”

“That—suit yourself. I must leave immediately to report on the situation. I trust that you’ll be fine, now that you have two disciples of the renowned Sword Saint with you.”

“Yes, rest assured.”

The two bodyguards in question didn’t bother commenting. Li Lang chalked it up to the complicated relationships that Sword Saint Isle had with the rest of Violet Isle. As a neutral faction himself, he knew too well how delicate that would get. He had some leeway now, when he was still weak, but he could see the obstacles in his future.

Just as Chen Kan was about to disappear from view, cries erupted around the fighting. Li Lang’s group quickly turned to the scene, only to find chaos everywhere.

They were able to identify the source immediately, but that didn’t mean they could do anything about it. That was because the source was all the sludge that had suddenly appeared, engulfing a few of the Rolling Tide disciples. Evidently, the heavenly earth they had been talking about had decided to come to them.

“It seems I’ve screwed up,” Da Feng muttered. “I heard Long Yi and his friend talk about how heavenly earth was protecting the nearby Qi beasts as they were its nourishment. I should’ve realized earlier that this widespread massacre of Qi beasts could prompt the heavenly earth into action!”