At the most critical juncture, their companions had all chosen to abandon them, hoping they would sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. Yet, the very people who should have forsaken them chose to rescue them at this moment.
"Thank... thank you..."
Human hearts are made of flesh and blood; they are not unfeeling creatures. Since Yan Jiaojiao and the others were so kind, they would not repay kindness with enmity.
Once these individuals could move again, they quickly gathered on Yan Jiaojiao's side.
These people were actually quite strong in combat. They had been caught off guard earlier by the Desert Thousand-Speed Snakes, and the speed of these serpentine creatures was indeed heaven-defying. They were struck down before they could even display their full strength. Now, with their guard up and a deep-seated hatred for these snakes, their attacks were merciless.
Yan Jiaojiao led Xu Changzong and the others to a safe area. Witnessing the disciples of Shengbei Academy engage in a furious battle, the Desert Thousand-Speed Snakes were quickly sent into a panicked retreat, burrowing into the desert one after another and disappearing. Yan Jiaojiao couldn't help but sigh, "Indeed, there's strength in numbers."
Yan Jiaojiao clapped her hands, "Let's go."
Shengbei Academy was likely in for a good show next, but Yan Jiaojiao and her companions were on a tight schedule and couldn't stay to watch.
The people of Shengbei Academy were unreasonable in their accusations. Yan Jiaojiao's actions would certainly have earned her a spot on their list of grudges. Once they had dealt with the immediate threat, they would surely come looking for Yan Jiaojiao to settle scores. She had no desire to waste time with these people here.
The three of them slipped away swiftly. By the time the Shengbei Academy members realized Yan Jiaojiao and her companions had vanished, it was already too late.
"Damn it! Yan Jiaojiao ran away too fast!"
"She's guilty as charged! She deliberately let these snakes attack us just now!"
The people who had been rescued by Yan Jiaojiao voiced their displeasure at this accusation. "What do you mean 'deliberately'? Are you implying Yan Jiaojiao can control beasts? If she truly possessed such an ability, do you think she would have helped us fight the snakes just now? If she had directed the snakes to attack us, do you think we could have dealt with them so quickly?"
"What are you trying to say? Didn't we drive away the snakes ourselves? What does Yan Jiaojiao have to do with it? Don't boost others' morale while diminishing our own!"
The other person sneered, "Since you claim you drove them away yourself, then why do you say Yan Jiaojiao could have deliberately made them attack you? If Yan Jiaojiao could indeed command those snakes, they would have fought us to the death. Do you think you could have escaped?"
"You!"
"Why are you always defending Yan Jiaojiao?"
"Who else am I supposed to defend? Who was it that abandoned us and left us for dead earlier?"
Those whose eyes were filled with unwavering resolve declared, "Our paths diverge; we cannot walk together. Since you no longer consider us part of the same academy, let us part ways here."
"Hey!" Everyone became somewhat flustered.
Frankly speaking, while these individuals were not the majority, their combat prowess was not weak. Furthermore, there were those with wood element affinity among them. Without their healing abilities, Shengbei Academy would surely face trouble in the future.
"We are all from the same academy. Why must you target us for the sake of others? Are there no misunderstandings that can be overcome?"
"You say that so easily. To put it bluntly, it wasn't you who was abandoned and nearly died back then, was it?"
"..."
Seeing that the others were left speechless, a fire element disciple directly said, "Let's go. There's no need to follow these people anymore. If we can't trust our teammates with our backs, who knows how we'll die in the future."
Everyone nodded. Shengbei Academy was thus split into two.
Later, the members of Shengbei Academy encountered many disciples from other academies and nearly suffered hardships at their hands.
Because their numbers were fewer, when facing academies of comparable strength, the disadvantages of Shengbei Academy became glaringly obvious.
They were unwilling to blame their own disciples and thus shifted the blame onto Yan Jiaojiao.
Yan Jiaojiao adopted an attitude of utter indifference. With so many troubles already surrounding her, and countless enemies, she didn't need to concern herself with each one individually.
She, along with Xu Changzong, found more spirit herbs and spirit beasts. With Xu Changzong's discernment, the harvesting of spirit herbs went exceptionally smoothly. Yan Jiaojiao also occasionally exuded her pressure towards beasts, compelling high-level spirit beasts to appear. Xu Changzong and Jiang Yiling were initially so shocked their mouths hung open.
Witnessing Yan Jiaojiao's beast-taming abilities firsthand, they almost doubted their own eyes.
Later, after repeated occurrences, the two became numb to it.
They had a very fruitful journey. By the end of the first day, the accumulated points of all the members of Gonan Academy far surpassed those of other academies, putting them in a commanding lead.
"Let's take a break."
"Contact the others and tell them to rendezvous with us."
Yan Jiaojiao casually found a spot to sit and took a drink from her water flask.
Jiang Yiling was responsible for contacting the others. She had initially expected a prompt response, but to her surprise, after sending the message, there was no reply for a long time.
"What's going on?" Yan Jiaojiao asked, opening her eyes as she saw Jiang Yiling pacing anxiously.
Jiang Yiling said, "Wei Congling and the others have responded, saying they'll be here soon. But we still can't reach Xiao Su and that pair."
Yan Jiaojiao's expression suddenly turned grim. "They might have encountered trouble."
The Wangliang Secret Realm was vast, and they had been separated for a long time. They could only rely on sound transmission talismans for communication. Under normal circumstances, they would definitely respond to them. The current lack of response meant something had likely happened.
Yan Jiaojiao summoned the flying spirit beast she had tamed that day. "Get on."
Xu Changzong and Jiang Yiling climbed onto the spirit beast's back without hesitation.
This was a Spirit Winged Bird Beast, with two pairs of wings, and a rather peculiar appearance. However, one should not underestimate this type of bird beast. Adult Spirit Winged Bird Beasts could cultivate to the Blue Rank, and due to their inherent traits as beasts, they could even contend with human cultivators who had just ascended to the Violet Rank.
Although the Spirit Winged Bird Beast Yan Jiaojiao had captured had not reached the Blue Rank, it was still a Green Rank spirit beast. Such a beast was rarely seen, but against Yan Jiaojiao, it was as good as worthless.
Yan Jiaojiao commanded the Spirit Winged Bird Beast to fly through the Wangliang Secret Realm. Along the way, they encountered many disciples from other academies. Yan Jiaojiao thought about it and decided to land and ask if they had seen Xiao Su.
Some initially refused to provide information due to their antagonistic relationship with Yan Jiaojiao. However, upon seeing that Yan Jiaojiao could command a Yellow Rank Spirit Winged Bird Beast, they immediately relented.
"Haven't seen them."
"I did see them from afar. They were in a hurry, as if they had discovered something. We initially wanted to follow them to pick up scraps, but those people were too powerful, and we didn't dare to follow. We were afraid we'd be plundered before we could find anything, so we left."
Yan Jiaojiao quickly asked, "Which direction did they go?"