7 Path of the Lilies

They looked at their surroundings and noticed that everything was cracked, including the dusty ground under the Emperor Stone.     

In the next second, everything crumbled.     

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"     

The ground cracked into pieces. They could only try to protect themselves as they stayed together in that small place. Ye Jiao could no longer focus on the runes, so she pulled the entire runes to place it under them.     

BANG! BANG! BANG!     

Gravity pulled them down. Without Eon Energy to protect themselves, they could only hope that the rune below them could withstand the impact. All seven of them fell dozens of meters below.     

CRASH! SPLASH!     

The sound of water surprised them. In the next second, they found themselves in the middle of the water. The rune shield protected them from the impact of falling into the water from above. However, it was shattered right afterwards.     

*cough*     

Ye Jiao spat out blood. Her small hand was trying to find anything that she could possibly hold. A strong hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her above the water surface. At the same time, it made sure that she didn't slip.     

"Careful," Qin Zheng's voice entered her ear.     

"Thank… thank you," Ye Jiao stuttered then coughed again. Her internal organs felt completely messed up. She was not sure how long she would need to completely recover. It was painful.     

Qin Zheng nodded. He looked around them and noticed that all of them have resurfaced. "Is there anyone who can't swim?"     

"I'm… not too... bleb!" Lu Wan was struggling to keep himself floating. He was not a good swimmer, but at the very least, he knew some of the basics.     

"Hold on." Qi Huan extended his arm and helped Lu Wan a bit. It was hard for him to move around without having any Eon Energy in this body. The weakness he felt was hindering him from moving about.     

"What is this place?" Lin Cai asked.     

It was only now they realized that they were inside a large lake. There were a lot of stones floating on the water's surface with the Emperor Stone landed on the other side. It was no longer absorbing Eon Energy, but the color of the stone changed into light reddish.     

There were high walls surrounding the entire area. Probably some tunnels on the side, but they were not entirely sure. What they knew was the fact that part of the ceiling was covered in glittering stones, providing them with the light needed to see.     

"There's a shore over there," Qin Zheng pointed to one side. "Let's go and take a rest."     

"Good idea."     

Everyone struggled to swim to the shore. Qin Zheng placed Ye Jiao on his back, and the young girl struggled.     

"I can swim by myself."     

"After vomiting that much blood? Just stay still."     

Ye Jiao frowned. "You're also tired because of the battle. Are you still saying that you're fine?"     

"I'm still in a better condition than you."     

"…"     

Qin Zheng didn't say anything else as he swam to the shore. Ye Jiao stayed still on his back, still feeling slightly annoyed by his words. He might not say it, but fighting against Eon Energy Master Rank 4 always puts him at a disadvantage. Not to mention, their opponent this time was Eon Energy Master Rank 4 late stage.     

In other words, he was lying.     

Just like Eon Energy Master Rank 3, rank 4 was divided into three stages: early, middle, and late. There was no peak stage because they could directly advance to rank 5 if they have enough Eon Energy in the late stage.     

"Huaah, I'm glad that I'm alive!" Lu Wan laid down on the ground happily. He no longer cared about anything else as he just wanted to stay there and lie down. If possible, he wanted to sleep straight away without any worries.     

"Yeah," Qi Huan agreed.     

When the ground crumbled, just like that, they thought that it would be their end. No one expected that there was a large cave like this with water filling almost the entire area. It was not that safe, but they could rest here.     

"The Eon Energy is rich here, so we should just use this chance to recover then catch some sleep." Qin Zheng walked to the shore and helped Ye Jiao to get down from his back. She immediately laid down and absorbed Eon Energy in that position.     

"I'm sleepy…" Lu Wan yawned and dozed off immediately.     

"Hey, you're going to get sick!" Lin Cai complained, but her words met a wall. The young man had already fallen asleep.     

"Let him be. He's not going to wake anytime soon after he falls asleep." Qi Huan sat down and began to absorb Eon Energy.     

"Fine."     

The rest followed suit and began to absorb Eon Energy. Their entire attention was focused on their body and surroundings. It was only now did they realize that this place was covered in a lot of Eon Energy.     

Lying down, Ye Jiao could see numerous lights around her. She had known that her element was light, which should have made it harder for her to absorb Eon Energy in this place. However, her body still absorbed Eon Energy at an insane rate.     

Before she knew it, she fell asleep.     

Time passed swiftly.     

Ye Jiao woke up drowsily and noticed that Wang Jun had woken up. Qin Zheng was sitting not far from the young man, eating a piece of dried meat.     

"Good morning."     

"Morning," Wang Jun replied perfunctorily. No one knew what time it was, so they just assumed that it must be morning. "Have some food."     

"Thanks," Ye Jiao sat down and started eating. The dried meat was hard to chew, but for the current her, this was the best food she had eaten in the past few days.     

"You're wounded, so I gave you a pill when you're sleeping," Qin Zheng informed. "Also, you need to make sure that you have a proper sleeping place. There's no other girl that would sprawl on the floor and just sleep like you."     

Ye Jiao blushed because she knew that her sleeping habit was a bit bad. "Thank you, but you don't have to. Also, it's not your business how I sleep, Senior Brother Qin."     

Qin Zheng arched his eyebrows. "It's unsightly."     

"Then, don't look."     

"You're right in front of me."     

"…" can punch your mouth?     

Ye Jiao felt that her lifespan would be reduced if she talked to Qin Zheng during this time. He would always find something to nitpick from her unless they were in a dire or serious situation. In addition, his words were usually harsh and direct, making it difficult for her to retort back.     

Wang Jun looked at them. "Uhm, what's the pill that you gave us before?"     

Qin Zheng didn't only give the pill to Ye Jiao, he also gave it to others. After all, they all needed the pills to recover quickly.     

"It's just Basic Recovery Pill," Qin Zheng replied. "If you want some, you can buy 10 pills for one low grade Eon Energy Stones in the market."     

"That cheap?"     

"This is the first pill one would learn upon becoming an alchemist," Qin Zheng explained.     

"No wonder."     

Basically, the pills were everywhere.     

Ye Jiao inspected her body and realized that most of her internal wounds were already healed. She would be able to return back to her previous activities soon enough.     

"I thought you would know something basic like this."     

"I don't know much about pills."     

"Would you like me to suggest to Elder Qian so that you enroll in pill class?"     

"No need!"