At first, all the major factions poured in manpower and resources, turning the outer and middle regions of the Beast Plains upside down. They even clashed several times during the search.
But... nothing came of it.
They didn't find a single solid clue about the person who had transcended tribulation. Not even the faintest trace of residual aura remained.
It was as if that person had truly turned to ash beneath the thunder, or had long fled to some faraway land beyond the Beast Plains.
So, after the initial shock and greed faded, reality sobered most people up. Gradually, countless rumors and wild guesses started spreading.
Some began doubting the news entirely, thinking it might've been a misread heavenly phenomenon. Others claimed the tribulation transcender had been utterly annihilated, or had escaped so far no one could ever find them. And a few believed the whole thing had just been a rumor.
After all, if someone had actually survived that kind of tribulation and formed their Golden Core, their strength would be nothing short of earth-shaking. How could someone like that vanish so completely, without leaving the slightest clue behind?
None of the major powers could justify wasting endless resources chasing after a rumor that had no leads. Even the most persistent eyewitness accounts couldn't change that.
Search teams began pulling out one after another, and the world's attention shifted elsewhere.
Soon enough, a newly emerged secret realm, a treasure dispute here or there—these things took the spotlight again. Only a handful of people with deeper motives still kept an eye on the matter, but by then, it barely mattered.
The endless Beast Plains slowly returned to their old calm.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, four months had gone by.
That day, deep within a secluded valley inside the Beast Plains...
Xie Zhaolin slowly opened her eyes. Her aura flowed smoothly, steady and contained. After months of hunting and cultivation, her mid-stage Golden Core realm had been fully stabilized, and she could faintly feel herself brushing the peak of that stage.
Her strength had leapt far beyond what it was when she first broke through. But she could also tell—continuing to hunt here would still improve her strength, though the pace was already slowing down.
In her hair, the vine ornament formed from Zi Ying still glimmered with lush green vitality. The small lavender flower swayed softly in the wind.
"Master... are we leaving?" Zi Ying's childlike voice echoed, tinged with reluctance.
It had, after all, eaten quite well these past few months.
"Yeah." Xie Zhaolin nodded lightly. "It's time to return to the Sect."
She'd achieved everything she came here for—her cultivation had broken through and stabilized, and she'd gained two unexpected companions, Zi Ying and You You.
However... before returning to the Sect, there was still something she needed to take care of.
Over the past few months, she'd slain countless Golden Core beasts. Zi Ying had purified and absorbed the beast cores, but Xie Zhaolin had carefully collected the valuable materials from their corpses. By now, her storage ring was packed full.
Aside from the materials useful for crafting puppets, most were of little use to her. But sold in the outside world, they'd fetch quite a fortune.
She'd need to visit the nearest city, Tianxing City, to handle that.
And besides...
She swept her divine sense over the five beast souls inside her. Their auras were still weak and unstable.
Though the five had already awakened, their condition was poor. Relying on her alone to nourish them was far too slow. She needed rare heavenly treasures or special pills that could repair and strengthen their Primordial Souls to speed up their recovery.
The Tianxing City auction often saw such rare items. With some luck, she might find what she needed there.
More importantly, the factions that had gone mad searching for the tribulation transcender would never imagine the person they'd been looking for wasn't dead at all. She'd not only survived but had already reached mid-stage Golden Core—and was now calmly walking right under their noses.
Sometimes, the most dangerous place really was the safest.
Having decided, Xie Zhaolin didn't hesitate. Her figure turned into a subtle streak of light as she shot toward Tianxing City.
But on her way out of the Beast Plains, several faint, greedy waves of divine sense swept over her from different directions—probing and malicious.
She instantly understood.
When she'd first entered the Beast Plains, she'd only been at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Her aura was restrained, her appearance plain. To the bandits lurking at the borders—those evil cultivators—it probably looked like she was just another poor loose cultivator gambling her luck, hardly worth the trouble.
But someone who could come back alive from the depths of the Beast Plains, alone, without a team? That person was guaranteed to be carrying a haul of beast materials and treasures worth killing for.
These scavengers liked to target exactly this type of prey—lone cultivators who had fought hard, were possibly wounded, and carried plenty of loot.
Still, Xie Zhaolin had no interest in wasting time on such vermin.
With a single thought, an overwhelming pressure of a mid-stage Golden Core burst out from her body, sweeping across the land.
The probing divine senses instantly recoiled, vanishing in panic.
She let out a cold snort and continued flying toward Tianxing City, her pace unhurried.
A day later, the familiar outline of Tianxing City appeared in her view. The city gates were as busy as ever, carriages and cultivators flooding in and out.
She descended in a small forest a few miles away, checked the disguise mask on her face, and made sure there were no flaws. Only then did she blend into the crowd, pay the entry fee, and slip quietly into the city.
Without wasting a second, she headed straight for the Tianxing Auction House. The moment she stepped inside, a maid greeted her with a polite bow.
"Honored guest, how may we assist you today?"
Xie Zhaolin said nothing. She simply lifted her hand and handed over a card that shimmered faintly with golden light—the Yellow Star Card.
The maid's expression changed immediately, her tone becoming even more respectful. "Please, this way, honored guest."
She led Xie Zhaolin through the bustling hall to a quiet door at the back.
"Elder Ge, an honored guest with a Yellow Star Card has arrived," the maid said softly from outside.
"Come in," a calm, slightly aged voice replied from within.
The maid opened the door, gesturing for Xie Zhaolin to enter before respectfully stepping back out.
Elder Ge looked up at the unfamiliar female cultivator who walked in. His expression didn't change much, just the standard professional smile.
That was, until his gaze fell on the Yellow Star Card she presented again. For an instant, a flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes before he quickly hid it.
But Xie Zhaolin caught it.
He recognized this card—or rather, he recognized the person who owned it: the cloaked woman from a year ago.
Elder Ge's smile deepened slightly. "So it's our honored guest returning. Please, have a seat."
She inclined her head and sat across from him. She could tell there was something behind that brief surprise of his, but it carried no hostility, so she didn't bother to pry.
Instead, she went straight to the point.
With a flick of her sleeve—
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several bulging storage pouches appeared on the tea table, piling up until they almost covered it completely.