Just then, a cry of a spirit beast suddenly came from afar.
The cry was delicate, filled with panic and anger. It was such a familiar sound.
"Damn it! It's Little Li!"
The people below also noticed this. Shuang'er, Se Se, and Kong Shishuang immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed in the direction of Little Li's cries.
"A Shui, A Yue, you go and help too."
It wasn't that Zhao Shuning didn't go, but she noticed that in the opposite direction of Little Li, there was an animal almost like a monster, in a much worse state.
"Yes, Leader."
A Shui and A Yue didn't question her and immediately rushed over.
Zhao Shuning jumped down, then looked in the other direction and plunged straight into it.
At this moment, no one noticed that behind Zhao Shuning, there was a pair of malicious eyes staring motionlessly at her departing back, with a strange smile on the face.
After a long search and many difficulties, Zhao Shuning finally arrived at a place according to the sound and smell.
This place was a large lake, which was divided into two by a small hill. On the other side, it was dirty and was a pitch - black swamp.
When Zhao Shuning arrived here, at a glance, she found an animal with a purple body in the middle of the swamp. Judging from its size, it was a bit smaller than Little Li. It should be a bird.
If you observed carefully, this big bird was a top - level spirit beast, a Purple - Gold Roc. In the Dark Swamp, it was a relatively precious spirit beast. At this moment, almost all of its feathers were covered with mud. It was spiritual and didn't dare to move, for fear of sinking deeper.
It just kept making indistinct mournful sounds from its beak.
The roc was far different from the ancient phoenix. But in the end, this Purple - Gold Roc was one of the descendants of the phoenix after thousands of generations.
It was of a lower rank, but still had a thin bloodline of the ancient phoenix.
When Zhao Shuning reached the swamp, she first checked the surroundings and found no footprints. Even the grass showed no signs of damage.
Concentrating her spiritual power, Zhao Shuning began to communicate with the Purple - Gold Roc in the swamp.
"How did you end up here?"
The Purple - Gold Roc was quite capable. If it accidentally stepped into the swamp, it should have left marks around. But just from the marks, it seemed that the roc was thrown into the middle of the swamp by a spiritual pharmacist with extremely high spiritual power. But in this third - level area, except for poisonous snakes, no one else had such ability.
Sensing the spiritual power of the alchemist, hope began to appear in the eyes of the Purple - Gold Roc.
Those people probably never expected that Zhao Shuning was an alchemist who could have a spiritual connection with various animals in the beast world and communicate with them.
After listening to the roc's story, Zhao Shuning's expression changed. She waved her hand downwards, and the spiritual power that emerged out of thin air turned into a rope, directly pulling several figures not far behind her into the air.
That person was Li Can, who had threatened Zhao Shuning before, saying that he would make her family come to a bad end.
Li Can and his subordinates suddenly soared into the air, and then they were floating above the swamp.
Zhao Shuning could see the panic in their eyes.
"Junior Sister, why are you tying us up?"
At this time, Zhao Shuning no longer had a smiling face. Her voice was cold and bone - chilling.
"Don't you already know?"
Previously, because Zhao Shuning was worried about the situation of the spirit beast, she didn't notice that there were spiritual pharmacists following her. Then, as she communicated with the roc in the middle of the swamp on the shore for so long, those people behind must have noticed her identity as an alchemist.
"Junior Sister, we didn't mean to follow you. We didn't mean to offend you. Please be magnanimous and let us go. We swear we will never tell anyone about today's incident."
"Really?"
"Junior Sister, we misunderstood you before. In the future, in the Misty Rain Tower, we will surely follow your orders. Please, Junior Sister, no, please, Leader, spare our lives."
Zhao Shuning sneered.
"Lord Can, didn't I hear before that you looked down on me, Shui Yunsheng?"
The sweat on Li Can's head had gathered into raindrops and was falling.
If he had known that Zhao Shuning was an alchemist, he wouldn't have dared to provoke her even if he had a hundred guts.
"Junior Sister—"
"Li Can, I, Zhao Shuning, am not a soft - hearted person. I still remember every word you said before clearly."
With that, Zhao Shuning loosened her hand, and the spiritual power that had been restraining them disappeared without a trace. All of them fell into the swamp.
The more they struggled, the deeper they sank.
The Purple - Gold Roc was placed here by Zhang Tianyuan to lure her here. But she really couldn't remember when she had offended Zhang Tianyuan for him to be so ruthless.
If she were really just a second - rank beginner spiritual pharmacist, being attacked by Li Can here and forced into the swamp, she would surely lose her life soon.
His scheme was really vicious.
"Junior Sister, are you going to kill us casually?"
"Who can prove that I killed you? Besides, I didn't intend to kill you."
Zhao Shuning gave a strange smile. Kill these people? She didn't want to commit such a sin so early.
"Elders Brothers, be good. Open your mouths."
As soon as Zhao Shuning's voice fell, Li Can and the others felt a sense of suffocation around their necks, which forced them to open their mouths. Then, some strange pills flew into their mouths.
Then the force disappeared immediately, and they swallowed the pills with difficulty.
"What did you give us?"
"Nothing. I won't kill you, but I'm not sure you won't tell others about me. So, I made some tricks on those pills."
As for what the tricks were, let these people imagine for themselves.
Ignoring their pleas, Zhao Shuning used her spiritual power to the extreme. The big roc faintly showed signs of getting out of the swamp.
"What's going on?"
The roc let out a mournful cry. Zhao Shuning was shocked.
Zhang Tianyuan had already taken out the Purple - Gold Roc's inner core. So, it was hopeless for it to fly now. Even if Zhao Shuning managed to rescue the roc with all her strength, it would definitely not live for more than a month.
Zhang Tianyuan not only dug out the roc's inner core but also squeezed out all the remaining spiritual power in its body. His means were so cruel that it didn't seem like something a fourteen - year - old boy could do.