"Suit yourself." Wei Zhao could not be bothered to argue further. Had it been the Leng Leng group, he would not have wasted a single word; he would simply have stowed the lot into his jade pendant space and later refined them into pills to divide among them. But this was Fei Yangnian, and a single word of warning was already the limit of benevolence. After all, this fellow was still far from being truly one of his own.

Seeing that look on Wei Zhao's face, Fei Yangnian felt a pang of unease and asked cautiously, "Senior, you won't just leave me behind, will you?"

"What do you think?" Wei Zhao regarded him with a half-smile. By any strict measure of their relationship, saving his life just now had already been exceedingly generous. If this fellow really did become a burden, any normal person would have stopped protecting him, and Wei Zhao was naturally no exception.

"Uh..." Fei Yangnian stared at his great sack of panaceas in deep dismay. He knew perfectly well that even if Wei Zhao would not leave him to perish, he would certainly not expend much effort on his account, much less take risks for him. If some sudden mishap occurred, he had to preserve his own ability to flee and survive—otherwise it was death.

But surely he could not simply throw away so many rare panaceas? Fei Yangnian agonized for a long while, then at last gritted his teeth and poured out the entire sack of rare panaceas.

The fellow had some nerve after all! Wei Zhao's view of him shifted somewhat. For someone of Fei Yangnian's station to pour out such a great sack of rare panaceas was akin to an ordinary mortal of the secular world giving up a grand prize of countless millions; the nerve and resolve such a thing demanded were no small matter at all—it was exceedingly rare.

But before Wei Zhao could offer a word of praise, Fei Yangnian promptly produced a small pouch from his robes and carefully picked out the few rare panaceas he judged most valuable, tucking them inside. As for the greater part that remained, he did not abandon it either, but packed it back into the original large sack.

Wei Zhao was left speechless. He had seen through the fellow's scheme at once. There is a saying—man dies for wealth as the bird dies for food—and it was true beyond a doubt.

"You don't mind, Senior?" Fei Yangnian said with an embarrassed, placating grin. His calculation was simple: if no especially dangerous mishap arose, he would carry the whole lot back; if the situation turned dire, he would abandon the large sack and keep the small one. Either way, he could not enter a mountain of treasure and return empty-handed—he would sooner die.

"I don't mind. Your own affairs are naturally yours to decide—especially when you are so ingenious about them," Wei Zhao said with a touch of amusement.

"You flatter me, Senior..." Fei Yangnian's old face flushed red. But since Wei Zhao had voiced no objection, he would not give it up himself. As he had said, this was all a great heap of spirit jade.

The two pressed on, and before long a river appeared ahead. It was a full seven meters wide, and at first glance placid and calm, its waters flowing slowly and clear to the bottom, exuding an indescribable coolness that lifted the spirits.

"A River of Divine Consciousness?!" Fei Yangnian was overjoyed at the sight. Of all things in the Primordial Trial Ground, none mattered more than a River of Divine Consciousness, and it was for this that he had come to the trial in the first place. Seeing such a river at a glance, faintly tinged with a mysterious air, he took it at once for a River of Divine Consciousness.

Wei Zhao, however, shook his head. This river before them was indeed no ordinary river, but to call it the legendary River of Divine Consciousness was a stretch too far. After all, by both its location and every relevant account, the River of Divine Consciousness was far removed from the river before them.

That such a clear river, its bottom plainly visible, should exist so deep underground, looking no different from any river on the surface—the very thought of it was uncanny, was it not?

Fei Yangnian could not be troubled with such considerations. He hurried forward and carefully set his two sacks of panaceas aside, then reached out to scoop up the river water and drink. The waters of a River of Divine Consciousness could greatly enhance one's divine consciousness; this was a claim common to nearly every legend concerning such rivers, and the most direct way to make use of it was to drink it down.

Had it been the Leng Leng group, Wei Zhao would certainly have spoken up to stop them, insisting on first discovering the river's true nature. But since it was Fei Yangnian, there was no point in saying anything. They were not especially close in any case, and since the fellow was so delighted, there was no need to spoil his pleasure. Besides, a little water ought not to be dangerous in the least...

Yet the moment Fei Yangnian's hand touched the water, before he could even scoop any up, a hand covered in fine, close-set scales suddenly thrust out from the crystal-clear river and seized him first. With a single howl, Fei Yangnian was dragged under on the spot—and he could not even struggle!

This spectacle left Fei Yangnian himself scared out of his wits, and even Wei Zhao was greatly startled, for his divine consciousness was perpetually sensing his surroundings, yet from first to last he had never detected that such a monster lurked within the river!

After all, even a formidable creature like the Brain-Eating Worm had never eluded Wei Zhao's divine consciousness—his was, after all, a Primordial Spirit of the Mystic Ascension stage. Yet this river before him was a mere ten paces away, and such a monster had gone entirely unnoticed right under his nose. The very thought of it broke Wei Zhao into a cold sweat.

It was fortunate that it was Fei Yangnian. Had it been any one of the Leng Leng group instead, Wei Zhao would never have forgiven himself.

In the blink of an eye after Fei Yangnian was dragged under, the river's surface returned to its former calm. To the naked eye there was not the slightest sign of anything amiss; it remained as clear as ever, with neither the monster nor any trace of Fei Yangnian to be found, as though nothing had happened at all.

"So you do have a little cultivation. But playing tricks before me—is that fitting?" Wei Zhao's eyes narrowed to slits as he walked slowly toward the riverbank. This river had struck him as strange from the very beginning, and he now understood where that strangeness had its root: in that monster just now.

Soon Wei Zhao came to a halt at the very spot where Fei Yangnian had met his mishap, gazing quietly at the riverbed. Though he still could see nothing out of the ordinary, his divine consciousness had now sensed a trace of something. The monster might be able to conceal its own presence perfectly, but it had just dragged Fei Yangnian down with it—and to hide Fei Yangnian as flawlessly before Wei Zhao's very eyes was a feat of absurd difficulty.

Yet Wei Zhao made no move. To be continued.