Just as Zhang Tongtong went alone to try and collect the five bronze fragments, two more people hurried to the scene. One of them was none other than Mo Yan from the Yunxian Sect.

Mo Yan was able to arrive thanks to the disciple from Wandan Valley who traveled with him. Without this disciple's help, Mo Yan would have been wandering aimlessly until the secret realm closed, still unable to find this place.

After parting ways with Zhang Tongtong and Zhang Yiyi last time, he confidently continued in the direction he believed to be correct. However, only half a day later, he found himself trapped in a swamp and nearly lost his life.

The swamp was far more dangerous than the desert had been. Fortunately, he had a life-saving charm from his master and managed to escape, though not without losing most of his items in his storage bag.

The Wandan Valley's disciple had escaped the swamp right before him, and upon leaving, received a transmission from a senior brother of the same sect. The message said that they had found a clue to the immortal artifact and urged the disciple to meet up immediately.

Since the communication talisman described the general situation in detail, the Wandan disciple didn't bother to hide the news from Mo Yan and shared the information with him.

In truth, this person merely wanted to extend a favor, and after the near-death experience in the swamp, he figured that having an extra person along the way meant an extra layer of security. That's how Mo Yan had the chance to come along.

Otherwise, Mo Yan would have not only suffered great losses, but wouldn't even have a clue where the river was, leaving him even more frustrated.

"Brother Mo, I see my senior brother. I'll head over first."

The Wandan Valley's disciple spotted his fellow sect members and naturally didn't plan to stay with Mo Yan any longer.

"Go ahead!"

Mo Yan nodded and then headed in another direction.

After scanning the area, he noticed several familiar faces. Among them were two junior sisters from his sect, his fiancée from the Lishan Sect, and even someone he had fought alongside in the desert a few days ago.

However, none of these people had informed him of this location!

He could understand if it was people from other sects or even his fiancée, given conflicting interests. But even his own fellow sect members, Zhang Tongtong and Zhang Yiyi hadn't told him anything. It was as if they saw him as completely irrelevant!

Mo Yan was filled with anger and coldly walked over to the group.

Zhang Yiyi and Yuan Ying weren't too surprised to see Mo Yan arrive. However, seeing him glaring at them with a hostile expression but saying nothing, they couldn't quite figure out what he wanted.

Zhang Yiyi found the situation amusing. What was Mo Yan doing?

Did he really think everyone here owed him something and that they should come forward to flatter and placate him?

Among this group, there was one person who had recently fallen out with him, another who was his fiancée but now had a terrible relationship with him, and the rest were essentially strangers.

No one here owed him anything, so who was he putting on this debt-collecting face for?

For a while, the atmosphere became awkward, and no one broke the silence.

Fortunately, Zhang Tongtong returned from the air above the river. Upon landing, she immediately noticed Mo Yan, who had somehow popped up out of nowhere and sensed the unusual tension.

"Senior Brother Mo, you made it too!"

Seeing that no one else intended to speak to Mo Yan, Zhang Tongtong took the initiative to greet him to avoid making things even more awkward.

After all, she didn't have any particular grievances with Mo Yan. They were still fellow disciples, so there was no need to be rude.

Mo Yan was simmering with anger. He hadn't expected that after coming over, Zhang Yiyi and the others would simply stare at him without saying a word. To him, this indifference felt like a provocation, which only fueled his anger.

However, he seemed to have forgotten that he was the one who had shown up looking hostile and saying nothing first.

"I just arrived."

Mo Yan wasn't foolish. Despite his frustration, he knew better than to openly confront them. Zhang Tongtong's greeting gave him a way to ease the tension, so he took it.

However, everyone present, except for Zhang Tongtong, was now firmly in his bad books, and he didn't bother looking at them again.

"Junior Sister Tong, what's the situation now?" Mo Yan asked directly.

He already had a general understanding of the area, knowing that the items hovering above the river likely weren't celestial artifacts, but they were certainly no ordinary objects. Yet, no one had been able to retrieve them, leaving everyone stuck in a standoff.

Since half a day had passed, perhaps some new clues had emerged.

Zhang Tongtong immediately understood that Mo Yan had already grasped the situation, so she didn't elaborate. She simply replied, "Yiyi and I just arrived as well and haven't discovered anything new. We were planning to notify you, Senior Brother, once we had checked the situation, but it seems you arrived just after us."

Her words implied that they hadn't had time to send a communication talisman to him and that they hadn't found anything significant yet.

Zhang Tongtong deliberately mentioned the communication talisman because she knew by now that Mo Yan had a rather narrow mind. There was no need to give him a reason to hold a grudge.

Zhang Yiyi listened on the side, secretly admiring Zhang Tongtong's emotional intelligence. Whether she liked someone or not, she never gave anyone a reason to criticize her openly.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhang Tongtong's explanation, Mo Yan's expression improved noticeably.

He didn't doubt her words. In fact, when he considered that Zhang Yiyi had also only just arrived despite knowing the correct direction, he figured that they hadn't had an easy time either.

With that in mind, Mo Yan's mood balanced out a bit. So what if they had good instincts? They hadn't gotten there any faster than he had.

"I see."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with Zhang Tongtong's answer. "It's good that you're safe. I'll go check out the situation myself."

Without another glance at the others, Mo Yan headed toward the hovering objects above the river.

As soon as Mo Yan left, Zhang Tongtong, still smiling, used sound transmission to speak to Zhang Yiyi.

"I know what those things are, and I know how to retrieve them!"

Without looking at Zhang Yiyi, she continued to fix her gaze on the direction Mo Yan had gone, as if her focus had never wavered from watching the activity over the river.