Chapter 401 Gourd Stone

A black zombie lunged forward, drooling pale yellow saliva, its eyes glowing with intense red light.

It could smell the fragrance of the enemy's flesh and blood, a scent different from that of other cultivators.

Not only does it taste better, but it also offers additional benefits.

The other black zombie unleashed an earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique that allows one to escape from the ground) technique, its body instantly disappearing into the earth, preparing to launch an attack from underground.

They have been raised by the Earthly Fiend Sect for seven or eight hundred years, and now they have become quite intelligent and understand some tactical coordination.

Ji An did not move. The Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner fluttered with golden flowers. The moment the zombie pounced, he activated the Gengjin Spirit-Slaying Sword.

From the very beginning, his goal was clear: to kill the remaining cultivators and tough out the black zombies' attacks with top-grade spiritual artifacts and defensive spells.

Through repeated practical experience, he has found that as long as the enemy's attack does not reach the Golden Core level, he can rest easy.

Sang You was also waiting for an opportunity. He was secretly pleased to see that the enemy was so large that he did not dodge or avoid him.

He knew full well how powerful the black zombie was; in a confrontation, it could suppress a body cultivator at the Chaoyuan stage.

In particular, the black zombie that launched the frontal attack originally belonged to Sangji, and was only one step away from being upgraded to the bronze zombie level. Even a body cultivator at the perfected Chaoyuan stage was no match for it.

'The enemy is arrogant!'

Upon seeing the ground rise up and a pair of black hands emerge, Sang You immediately activated the White Bone Soul-Eating Shuttle, launching a triangular attack on the enemy.

Black zombies attack from the front and on the ground, leaving the enemy with no choice but to dodge to the left, right, and into the sky.

His White Bone Soul-Eating Shuttle completely blocked all of the enemy's escape routes.

A sinister glint flashed in his eyes. He saw the earth-elemental radiance erupting from the enemy's magical weapon, but his own magical weapon was not good at attacking, but it was good at breaking through this kind of spiritual energy shield!

The White Bone Soul-Eating Shuttle was refined using the sect's White Bone Orthodox Method. It contains powerful corpse poison; even a tiny bit of it can cause bones to erode and flesh to rot.

Moreover, it can release a soul-type toxin. If a cultivator is contaminated, he or she will experience dizziness that affects his spellcasting, or even faint. Low-level cultivators will be directly poisoned to death.

Sang You felt a surge of excitement. Whether the enemy hid or not, victory was already beckoning to him.

Unbeknownst to him, a silver light was activated just as the White Bone Soul-Eating Shuttle took off, and its flight path happened to be in his blind spot.

The black zombie in front of him did little to slow him down; the Gengjin Spirit-Slaying Sword pierced through it, now unleashing the sharp, murderous aura of metal-elemental magic.

The next moment, a deadly silver beam shot into Sang You's eye socket, emerged from the back of his head, and still had some force left, shooting out a distance of more than ten feet before slowly dissipating.

Sang You no longer needs to worry about the future; all his troubles have left him. But Ji An still has many issues to consider.

The attacks from the two black zombies came one after another. He activated the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner with all his might, and all the spiritual power stored in the spiritual weapon erupted in an instant.

Above his head, fiery clouds transformed into phoenixes, their fierce cries echoing through the night sky.

The phoenix emitted a blazing light as it pounced on the oncoming black zombie.

Han Yan in the sky unleashed an attack, the Sun-Swallowing Pearl spewing out a pillar of fire, reddish-golden, which also rushed towards the black zombie that was pouncing on its junior brother.

Ji An ignored the frontal attack, as the underground attack had already begun, and the Apricot Yellow Banner's underground defenses were relatively weak.

The black zombie broke through the magic weapon's defenses and had already grabbed one of its target's ankles. With just a little force, it could crush the target's bones, or at least that's what it thought.

Ji An had already held his breath. He saw the massive head of the black zombie, comparable to a watermelon, emerge from the ground, saw disgusting slime flowing from its mouth, and saw a chilling aura exhaled from its mouth and nose.

He manipulated the Gengjin Spirit-Slaying Sword, and a silver light swept out, causing the black zombie's head to fly into the sky.

On the other side, the black zombie that charged at it head-on was hit by two fire-based attacks in succession. Its tough outer skin, which was no longer afraid of being burned by flames, immediately felt the pain.

The powerful explosive force directly blocked its forward momentum and blasted it back several feet.

Freed from Sang You's restraints, the two black zombies beside him immediately went berserk and pounced straight at Ji An.

The fragrance contained within the flesh and blood of the cultivator before them had long been coveted by them.

Han Yan's defensive puppet descended from the sky, its giant body slamming heavily into the path of the charging black zombies.

Ji An's hand seals shifted, and he made a finger movement that turned the earth into steel. Yellow spiritual light rapidly spread outward from beneath his feet.

The previously soft ground immediately hardened like iron, and now it was time to deal with the zombies.

These black zombies, now out of control, are left only with their bloodthirsty instincts.

Their prized defenses were no different from paper when faced with the Gengjin Spirit-Slaying Sword.

The battle ended quickly, leaving limbs scattered everywhere.

Golden Retriever and the other beasts returned to their master's side, while Big Yellow let out a low growl that sounded fierce but was actually cowardly as it looked at the pieces of corpse lying on the ground.

"The zombies of the Earthly Fiend Sect are of no value to us."

Ji An's lips twitched. The zombie's bones were all highly poisonous and could not be used.

The magical artifacts that the enemy used to refine with white bones are probably not even worth buying on the black market in the Southern Continent.

Han Yan's heartbeat gradually calmed down. The attack came suddenly and ended quickly, lasting only half an hour.

She originally thought she would have to reveal her trump card to escape, but she didn't expect her junior brother to be so formidable.

At this moment, she completely forgot about the other party's identity as a lingering farmer.

"Junior brother, do you think these people were already watching us back in Rotten Peach Mountain?"

Ji An nodded slightly and said:

"It is highly likely that a cultivator from a prestigious Nascent Soul sect would actually become a Tribulation Cultivator, which shows the prevailing atmosphere of the Earthly Fiend Sect."

"Senior sister, let's quickly pack up our spoils and leave."

The deaths of four cultivators at the Chaoyuan stage were no small matter. He couldn't predict whether there were other high-level cultivators behind them, but it was not advisable to stay here any longer.

Han Yan smiled bitterly, "Sigh, I've encountered such a disaster as soon as I arrived in Nanzhou. I must completely avoid contact with the cultivators of the Earthly Fiend Sect in the future."

When something like this happens, regardless of who is right or wrong, their situation becomes delicate.

She activated the Sun-Swallowing Pearl, and the magical artifact emitted a dazzling golden light, illuminating the area as if it were daytime.

Using the light, the two quickly gathered up the scattered white bone artifacts and anything else of value, then burned the corpses and flew towards the Burial Yin Mountains on clouds.

They circled high in the sky, dispelled the clouds, summoned their respective golden-feathered eagles, and then sped off to the northwest.

We can't stay here any longer; who knows when the cultivators from the Earthly Fiend Sect will come looking for us.

Three days later, Ji An and his companion arrived at a mountain range. They saw towering peaks reaching into the clouds, with green mountains surrounding clear waters and water flowing through steep gorges.

Vast water vapor billows, mountains resemble pythons, and the setting sun in the distance glows like blood.

"After traveling for several days, he should have already severed ties with the matter of the Burial Yin Mountains."

Han Yan's tone relaxed. They hadn't stopped for the past few days, continuously flying to this area—Qianren Mountain.

This place is near the border of two continents, where the earth's veins are intertwined and conflicting, and fierce winds rage.

Among the thousands of mountains are ten thousand caves. Every night at midnight, a chilling wind blows out from them. It is a dangerous place, but it can completely cleanse their aura.

Ji An exhaled and said:

"We're not traveling; we're more like refugees."

Having been in the Southern Continent for so many days, I haven't absorbed much earth elemental energy, but I did fight a battle and got myself covered in blood.

He paused, then said:

"Senior sister, we were attacked not long after we set up camp that day, so it wasn't just a coincidence."

So the question is, how did they track us down?

This was a problem he had been pondering for days without finding a solution. He carefully checked all his belongings, including everything in his storage bag, but found nothing amiss.

Han Yan gently shook her head and said:

"I'm also pondering this question, but I can't find the answer either. All we can do now is try to avoid the cultivators of the Earthly Fiend Sect."

It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. You fall into a trap without even realizing it, and that's the most terrifying thing.

Ji Anwei sighed almost imperceptibly and said:

"That's the only way. Let's find a place to go down and see what we can find."

They were the victims, yet they had to hide and flee, a stark reminder of the law of the jungle.

The two descended and finally found a cave with a wide entrance, partially obscured by several clumps of vines hanging from the opening.

Upon entering the cave, one sees smooth, unblemished stone walls, free of any dust.

The two took out futons and sat down, taking out and counting all the spoils they had obtained from the Earthly Fiend Sect cultivators.

"Eight Void Stones, it's a pity we can only look at them. These people must have ambushed quite a few cultivators before attacking us."

Han Yan sighed. Without special methods, it was impossible to open someone else's Void Stone.

At this point, there are only two options: the first is to search for some highly corrosive natural treasures to corrode a small hole in the space of the Void Stone.

Secondly, one must wait patiently. Without the nourishment of an owner's presence for a long time, the marks within the cave stone will fade away over time.

However, this method is extremely slow to take effect, taking anywhere from four or five hundred years to over a thousand years.

Ji An pushed the magical artifact aside and said:

"These bone artifacts can be activated, but I dare not use them at all. I can only put them away and sell them when the cultivators from Central Continent come again in the future."

These highly recognizable magical artifacts must never be revealed. There are sects in the Central Continent that specialize in the Dao of White Bones, which is a good avenue for them.

He pointed to the storage bag and said, "The only thing we can get now is what's inside."

The items placed in the storage bag were probably nothing valuable.

There were four storage bags in total, none of which had any mana markings, indicating that they had been searched.

When the contents were emptied out, Han Yan let out a delighted laugh. It turned out that there were a large number of spiritual plants inside, most of which were the same as those they had obtained from Rotten Peach Mountain.

Clearly, these spiritual plants were not valued by the cultivators of the Earthly Fiend Sect.

Ji An was startled, because the stone turtle in his dantian was emitting a longing emotion.

The last time I felt this way was when I obtained the magical artifact that could release spiritual energy at Mingfeng Mountain.

The two sorted out the spilled items, which included spiritual plants, spiritual stones, pills, mineral materials, and various other miscellaneous items.

Ji An found the thing that made the stone turtle express its longing: a gourd-shaped, light gray stone.

The upper half of the gourd features patterns of the sun, moon, and stars, while the lower half features patterns of flowers, birds, insects, and fish.

The background is covered with intricate patterns, including leaves, vines, and rugged rocks, creating an atmosphere full of mystery.

He probed into his consciousness, only to find it completely dark and empty. At this moment, the stone tortoise's longing became even more pronounced.

Ji An calmly placed the items into the pile of miscellaneous items, clapped his hands, and said:

"It wasn't all for nothing after all. Senior sister, let's start distributing the things."

Han Yan nodded and said softly:

"Junior brother, the reason we were able to win the battle is because of your strength."

To be honest, it's uncertain whether I could have survived without you, so I can't take these spoils.

I have only one small request: these spiritual plants from the secret realm have special significance for alchemists, and I would like to take them for research.

If I make any progress in the future, I will record the research results in the jade slip and send you a copy.

If the two people contribute equally, splitting the effort is the best option. However, in the battle that night, she played a minor role, only serving to restrain others.

All the enemies and zombies were killed by the other side.

Ji An breathed a sigh of relief. It made things easier to deal with the French side this way; disputes over the division of spoils often arose. He pondered for a moment and said:

“Senior sister, since we are traveling together, we are one entity. Your proposed distribution is not appropriate.”

He pushed the spiritual plants from the secret realm towards the other party, then pushed out more than thirty mid-grade spirit stones, and finally casually took out a Void Stone magic artifact:

"These things belong to Senior Sister, please don't refuse."

Han Yan declined several times, but accepted the gift with a slight sense of shame, feeling that her role in the battle was not worth the price.

Ji An put the items into his storage bag and said:

"These caves connect to the underground underworld, where eerie winds blow out at midnight; they are not places to linger."

Let's hurry up and restore our magic power, then find another place to hide.

"Senior sister, you should recover first."

The towering peaks of the Thousand-Ren Mountain are clustered together, with countless ravines. As long as one can endure the torment of the fierce winds, it is a good place to absorb the vital energy.

Han Yan nodded slightly, and without saying a word, she grabbed the mid-grade spirit stone and began to circulate her energy to absorb spiritual energy.

Ji An sat down at the cave entrance, his hands tucked into his sleeves, feeling around for the strange stone, wondering what it was that the stone turtle had chosen.

So far, the stone tortoise has not absorbed any spiritual insights.

Suddenly, his body stiffened abruptly, and his eyes became vacant.

Ji An realized that his divine sense had transformed into a shadow and arrived at a small and dangerous space. The space was not large and was perfectly circular, about nine zhang in circumference. Below it was yellow sand and gravel, giving it a barren feeling of lifelessness.

Beyond the space was a hazy gray mist, occasionally flashing with blazing white, tree-like lightning, and black cracks appearing intermittently.

The thunder rumbled, causing his spiritual image to sway incessantly.

The strong wind blows, as if cutting with a sharp blade.

'It's somewhat like the interior of the Void Stone, but definitely not the Void Realm! By the way, how did I get in?'

Ji An was a little confused when he noticed a familiar shadow perched on his shoulder.

On the pale blue tortoise shell, neat and symmetrical eight trigram stripes are deep in ink.

At this moment, the stone tortoise seemed to come alive, its dark, deep eyes gleaming with light.

"Brother, what brings you here?"

(End of this chapter)