Chapter 428 Ruins Exploration 5

As Wu Shaogan stepped out of the cave, Zhong Cai casually plucked a handful of moss from the cave ceiling.

Gao Sheng noticed the movement behind him and immediately turned around warily. Only when he saw Zhong and Wu did his expression relax.

"King Zhongdan, King Wudou, you've returned."

As he spoke, Gao Sheng's expression revealed a hint of anticipation.

Zhong Cai didn't rush to jump off Wu Shaogan's back, but he knew what Gao Sheng was hoping for, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, Senior Gao, we've collected all the materials we could find inside. If nothing unexpected happens, your problem should be solved."

Upon hearing this, Gao Sheng was overjoyed.

"Really?" He asked instinctively because he was too happy. Worried that Zhong Cai would misunderstand, he immediately added, "I believe that with King Zhong's alchemy skills, he can definitely relieve my son's predicament."

Zhong Cai didn't care about that and just nodded.

·

In fact, Zhong Cai was quite confident.

Since the source of the Yin-Yang attribute is the Yin-Yang Pearl, even if his old man Wu can't use that thing for the time being, after studying it, he can better understand the Yin-Yang energy it emits and help Zhong Cai check the surrounding medicinal herbs that have been affected and mutated.

If Zhong Cai's thoughts get stuck, Wu Shaogan can also share his own perceptions to inspire Zhong Cai.

Furthermore, Zhong Cai didn't even need to refine a pill that could definitely expel the two energies from Gao Nan's body—it was already certain that they were mutated from Yin and Yang attributes and were energies controlled by Wu Shaogan.

Therefore, the solutions to the problem are more flexible. We can also consider purifying the mutated energy or refining some drugs that can transform the energy in Wu Shaogan's body to be almost identical to the mutated energy.

The two methods are used in two ways. The former involves purifying first, and then Wu Shaogan uses his own energy to expel the energy from Gao Nan's body. The latter involves Wu Shaogan releasing a portion of the energy first, then mixing the energy with medicine to modify it, and then sending this energy back into Gao Nan's body. Wu Shaogan then urges it to fuse with the mutated energy, and finally Wu Shaogan extracts it all out.

·

We've already obtained the items and found the method, so there's no need to worry too much about Gao Nan.

Gao Sheng accompanied Zhong and his wife as they continued along the mountain gully, picking all the medicinal herbs found in the ruins. If there were any other poisonous miasma or research materials that interested them, they were all allowed to be collected by Zhong.

During this period, many more animals were slaughtered.

Perhaps the ruins haven't been explored by cultivators for too long. The Xuan Yin Sect disciples who came before were not strong enough, and Elder Nirvana was very cautious, so they probably didn't go deep into the ruins.

Therefore, the couple obtained quite a few rare medicines of level seven or eight here.

Level nine... isn't impossible.

However, when they were quite far apart, Wu Shaogan called a halt first.

There seems to be a great terror hidden there, a danger that even several people working together could not overcome—perhaps even a ninth-level being that the Nirvana Elder of the Xuan Yin Sect had not discovered.

It's not certain.

But there's no need to go through the trouble of courting death.

So, the group immediately changed direction.

·

About half an hour after Zhong Wu and his wife and Gao Sheng left the cave, another group of people came over furtively.

Why do we say it's sneaky and furtive?

Because there were three people in total, all of whom were wearing black robes and hoods, and all of them had their heads down.

If someone walks by from the side and observes closely, they can see that the faces of these men in black robes are covered with masks, making it even more difficult to discern their identities.

So, if they're not sneaky, then who is?

These people seemed to have come prepared; as soon as they arrived near the cave, they each took some pills.

[Ha! The Blood Alliance Pill is truly remarkable. Just one pill and the feeling of suffocation vanished instantly.]

[If the mission weren't so crucial, the Ancestor wouldn't have bestowed the Blood Alliance Pill upon us. We must make good use of it.]

[With this precious elixir, coupled with the isolating jade pendants we wear, we can block a large amount of poison from entering, and neutralize some of the poison we inhale. We don't need to worry about the rest; as long as we take the treasures of this place, the Ancestor will surely reward us handsomely. Perhaps we can even obtain a portion of the *Blood Oath Scripture* from the Ancestor, making it easy to refine these poisons within our bodies.]

[Exactly! The Blood Oath Scripture was used by the disciples of the ancient Blood Sacrifice Alliance for cultivation. For them, this ruin was an excellent cultivation ground. Once we have mastered that secret technique, exploring this place will be as easy as taking candy from a baby.]

However, I heard that the Ancestor only recently obtained this scripture and needs to review it further and make some revisions before bestowing it upon the recipient…

[Isn't this only natural? Otherwise, we could have learned first and then come, wouldn't that have made it easier for us to serve our ancestor? The reason we rushed here is precisely to prevent those hypocritical righteous people from getting there first, isn't it?]

It is absolutely true.

That's the point...

Let's go inside quickly!

·

Despite their repeated claims of the Blood Oath Sutra being superior during their telepathic communication, their preparations are actually quite thorough.

With only a few afterimages, the three heretical cultivators had already ventured deep into the cave.

They had weapons gleaming coldly, so they must have a good grasp of the situation inside the cave and be able to solve any problems that might arise.

That is indeed the case.

Several wicked paths went very smoothly.

It seems to be going more smoothly than I expected.

[Wasn't that stretch of road supposed to be inhabited by ancient saw-toothed chelicerae? How come we didn't see a single one?]

Could someone have arrived first?

[That's not necessarily true... Perhaps the information our ancestor obtained was too ancient, and the sawtooth chelicerae had already become extinct for some reason, or perhaps they had long ago moved to other caves and mountain valleys?]

It's not impossible, but we need to act faster!

[Good! I'm about to activate the Blood Shadow Step!]

Then, a streak of blood-red light suddenly shot straight into the depths of the cave.

The other two figures followed without hesitation.

·

Dead silence.

A chilling silence.

The empty blood pool, the empty walls, the empty ground—it all made one feel uneasy.

...I don't know how many layers of skin were scraped off.

The three men in black robes stood motionless, their hearts ashen.

Because they sensed something was wrong the moment they entered. They never expected that the cultivators who came here would not only plunder some mutated creatures growing nearby, but also empty the blood pool completely.

That pool of blood, mixed with medicinal liquid, is something extremely difficult to provoke and even more difficult to obtain.

The group also had the idea of ​​taking the blood pool with them. After all, even if the righteous path consumed a lot of effort to purify it, the utilization rate of this thing was not high. Unlike them, the evil path, if they encountered this thing, it would be like encountering a large resource vault, which was a cultivation treasure that they coveted.

But now, it's completely gone.

Could it be that the righteous people who found this place found it too troublesome, or lacked the skill, so they used special methods to clean up all the blood?

That would be such a waste!

One of the men in black robes said sullenly, "I thought I could get a lot of resources here!" As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a tightness in his heart and quickly added, "I remember that the other group that knew about the secrets of this place was the Xuan Yin Sect. Could it be that they discovered the special features of this place and that's why... Yes, their cultivation methods are also somewhat unorthodox. I'm afraid they've been wanting to take these things away for a long time."

He said angrily, "We're too late!"

The other man in black robes was practically going crazy. He paced back and forth in the room, yelling, "The Blood Pool is one thing! But you're still after it! Think about it, the Yin-Yang Pearl is gone too! The Blood Pool can be replaced with other resources, but the Yin-Yang Pearl is gone too. How are we going to explain this to the Ancestor?"

"Without the Yin-Yang Pearl, how can we assassinate Wu Shaogan? If the Ancestor's plan is ruined, we'll all be dead!"

The third person in black robes had a pale face, but he was hidden behind a mask and not seen by anyone.

He managed to calm himself down and said in a deep voice, "I see a few fresh traces here. The Xuan Yin Sect group probably didn't go far. Let's search carefully. Maybe we can run into them and then we can take it back."

This sentence seemed to remind everyone, giving them a jolt.

"Wait! Don't search blindly! The entrance and exit are in the same place, let's just go and guard it!"

“Those Xuan Yin Sect disciples are not as fast as us. Besides, they are unaware of the changes here, so they may be carrying things with them and trying to gather other resources as much as possible.”

"Right! Let's hurry up and ambush them. Once we get everything, we'll be the envy of our fellow disciples when we get back."

Then, the three of them transformed into a streak of blood-red light and rushed rapidly toward the cave entrance.

Along the way, the evil cultivators passed by several medicinal herbs or other resources that would greatly benefit their evil path, but they didn't have time to pick them.

Anger welled up inside him.

·

In a place quite far away from several heretical practitioners.

There grows a decaying giant tree, and within its hollow lies a highly poisonous and precious medicine.

Zhong took out several other rare medicinal herbs, extracted their juices, processed them, and poured them directly onto the giant tree.

The giant tree was probably level eight in life, so Zhong Cai could only barely melt some usable medicinal juices and was not able to truly refine it. The uses of the mixture all depended on the effects of the medicinal materials themselves... The combined medicinal effect was only about 30-40%.

Therefore, the medicinal juice could only temporarily block the poison that originally covered the giant tree.

For Zhong Cai, this was simply an additional layer of protection to prevent him from accidentally touching the tree hole when he entered it.

At this moment, Zhong Cai was still holding an open bottle in her hand, which also had its uses.

Wu Shaogan took a step forward, preparing to go in first to scout the way.

But Zhong Cai stopped her.

Zhong Cai nudged Wu Shaogan and said, "Once we're inside, I'll adjust the medicine as needed. You don't understand this, so go to the back."

Wu Shaogan did not insist.

This poisonous environment, this tree hole that's only a few feet in diameter—if he insists on going in, he might just be a hindrance to A-Cai… If Gao Sheng weren't here, he could stay in the ancient city and accompany him.

But now, Wu Shaogan could only remind him, "Then let the puppet lead the way." He then whispered a few words intimately into Zhong Cai's ear.

Dragon Armor Soldiers can be deployed at any time.

Zhong Cai naturally wouldn't disappoint Wu Shaogan's kindness, and readily agreed: "Don't worry, Old Wu, I'd rather die."

Wu Shaogan wasn't entirely at ease, and only after watching Zhong Cai check all the defensive items he was wearing did he finally let him in.

Under the puppet's protection, Zhong Cai stepped into the tree hole.

Wu Shaogan's soul was always entwined around Zhong Cai. Whenever anything unusual happened to Zhong Cai, he would flash over to her. With his level seven movement technique, Wu Shaogan could get from outside the cave to Zhong Cai's side in less than the blink of an eye.

·

Inside the tree hollow, poisonous mist billowed out, resembling clouds.

The moment the level eight puppet entered, a wisp of poisonous mist rushed towards it, instantly landing on the puppet and making a hissing sound.

On the surface of the puppet, a patch of pitted corrosion was visibly visible.

However, the eighth-grade refining material is ultimately incredibly sturdy and has strong defensive capabilities, so these pits were initially very shallow, only gradually deepening as the poisonous mist continued to erode them.

Zhong Cai huddled behind the puppet, holding his breath, yet a sweet, metallic scent still lingered around his nose. Even the hairs on his exposed skin stood on end, sensing the danger.

At the same time, as the poisonous fog approached, the protective layer on Zhong Cai's body was corroded, and it made a series of bubbling sounds.

—What a potent poison!

Fortunately, Zhong Cai's defense level was high enough; otherwise, even with the puppets to block it, the pervasive poisonous fog would still have caused Zhong Cai great harm.

And now...

Without hesitation, Zhong Cai poured out a stream of medicinal liquid, and the instant it left the bottle opening, she gently slapped it with her palm.

In an instant, the medicinal liquid turned into a mist, instantly enveloping Zhong Cai and spreading outwards.

Although the bubbling sound emanating from Zhong Cai's body hadn't completely disappeared, it had weakened considerably, indicating that some of the poison had been neutralized. Furthermore, the poisonous mist that had been constantly being drawn towards Zhong Cai's nose had dwindled to an extremely faint wisp.

Finally, there's a chance to catch my breath.

The puppet went first, and during the process, it reached out and smashed several insects and severed the vital points of seven or eight poisonous snakes.

These venomous insects and snakes were all between level seven and eight—fortunately, only one was level eight, and it was relatively weak, otherwise the puppet wouldn't have been able to kill it so quickly.

Zhong Cai's lips twitched slightly.

The next moment, eight dragon-armored soldiers who had reached the peak of Nirvana appeared beside him!

They obediently guarded the eight directions around Zhong Cai, almost forming a circle around him, while the puppets were the first to be put away.

Zhong Caicai continued walking forward—he should have seen everything Old Wu's spirit, which would put his mind at ease.

·

The space inside the hollow of this giant tree is quite large.

As Zhong Cai walked, she continued to spray the medicinal liquid to neutralize the toxins.

Moreover, with every few steps taken, the amount of medicine splashed was several times greater than before!

They encountered more dangers along the way, but with so many dragon-armored soldiers working together, even if three eighth-tier soldiers suddenly appeared at the same time, it wouldn't be a problem.

Before long, Zhong Cai finally arrived at her destination.

Almost entirely rooted in the heartwood of the giant tree was that precious medicinal plant, resembling blood coral.

Actually, its color is more like that of a gemstone.

Very beautiful.

The name is actually quite easy to remember; it's called "Tree Heart Blood Coral".

It is a rare medicinal herb of grade eight!

The reason it didn't become a level nine is that every thousand years or so, an extra branch would appear.

If you want this Blood Coral Tree to advance to the ninth level, then when it branches out next time, cut off the sprout.

Afterwards, all the energy for growth will be channeled to the core of the tree coral, potentially allowing it to advance even further.

·

Zhong Cai carefully splashed the medicinal liquid around the Blood Coral Tree Heart.

The "flame" of the tree heart blood coral has diminished considerably.

Next, Zhong took out a pair of gloves and several tools for collecting the herbs. He carefully worked for at least the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before he finally managed to harvest the highly poisonous herb.

During this time, the dragon-armored soldiers still withstood many dangers.

After placing the precious medicine into a sealed box, Zhong Cai turned around and quickly headed out of the tree hole under heavy guard.

As they approached the cave entrance, all the dragon armor soldiers were put away and replaced with the heavily injured puppets.

As soon as Zhong Cai stepped out of the cave, a figure was already approaching him.

This time, Zhong Cai unusually did not pounce, but instead raised her arm and used her palm to block it.

"Old Wu, wait! I'm poisonous!"

Wu Shaogan paused in his steps.

The next moment, Zhong Caifei quickly took out some more medicine and disinfected herself.

After a short while, Zhong Cai opened her arms and lunged forward, hanging onto Wu Shaogan.

Wu Shaogan put his arm around Zhong Cai's waist and slowly exhaled.

"Ah Cai, why did you take almost a quarter of an hour?"

Zhong Cai rubbed her head against Wu Shaogan's chest twice and said, "Spraying medicine while walking is a bit of a hassle. And those things are hard to pick; it took me quite a bit of time..."

As Zhong Cai recounted the story, Wu Shaogan's arms slowly tightened.

Zhong Cai didn't mind at all. Instead, she climbed back onto Wu Shaogan's back in that position and said excitedly, "Let's go! Let's go to the next place!"

Gao Sheng, who had been standing guard not far away, remained silent.

He had already decided that he would just be a follower for now, providing covert protection and being available whenever needed.

Of course, he will also acquire a lot of resources on his own.

·

After working for a day or two, the group had traveled to every place they could reach and successfully obtained everything they could.

Next, it's time to leave this place.

Wu Shaogan carried Zhong Caifei and flew away.

Gao Sheng was even faster. He would occasionally glance at Wu Shaogan and be shocked. He knew he had overestimated Wu Douwang and was aware of his strength in speed, but he was still amazed when Wu Douwang flew even faster after each stop.

Therefore, Gao Sheng tried his best to maintain the required standard, so as not to be distracted and work slower than Wu Shao due to his glorious Nirvana.

Gradually, they finally approached the cave entrance. After fiddling with the switch at the entrance, they walked out one after the other.

Suddenly, Wu Shaogan stopped and his ears twitched.

Zhong Cai immediately hugged Wu Shaogan's neck tightly and asked cautiously, "Old Wu, what's wrong?"

Gao Sheng also became vigilant—he would not ignore the warning signs that arose in the hearts of top geniuses, which were often instinctive feelings after countless battles and were very accurate.

Therefore, despite Gao Sheng's vigilant search, he still found nothing unusual... but he did not doubt Wu Shaogan's perception.

Seemingly sensing that the group was on guard, the space in front of them suddenly distorted for a moment, and several extremely powerful talismans burst out from it!

The talismans were covered in blood-red light, and each pattern seemed to be formed by mixing various kinds of blood, with strange colors and radiating terrifying energy.

The talisman has reached level eight!

Those evil cultivators who entered this place were all at the peak of the Spirit Transformation stage, just a few opportunities away from advancing further, so the weapons they brought were extremely powerful.

Wu Shaogan's expression turned serious, and he made his move with lightning speed!

A huge millstone suddenly appeared in front of the couple.

Zhong Cai instinctively hugged Wu Shaogan's neck tightly and wrapped her legs around his waist, not wanting to cause him any trouble.

·

After the Yin-Yang Millstone merged with the Yin-Yang Eye, its power increased dramatically. As Wu Shaogan's strength improved, the millstone's ability to combine offense and defense became so powerful that it was beyond description.

So much so that this secret technique, which is only at the seventh level of power, is fearless when facing an eighth-level talisman and manages to withstand it.

The energy from the exploding talisman was terrifying, but the gray light on the Yin-Yang millstone only swished and exhaled a few times before completely extinguishing it.

However, the attackers were not pushovers either.

Just as they discovered that the level eight talisman was no match for the strange millstone, a terrifying sandstorm suddenly arose!

The sand and gravel in the gale not only carried extremely terrifying power, but also mixed with extremely dense resentment and venom. Whenever it swept and howled, the "howling" sound it emitted could permeate the minds of cultivators and shake their primordial souls.

Even more terrifying, the sand and gravel were also covered in blood poison.

·

The so-called blood poison is the resentful blood extracted from the bodies of cultivators who died tragically. It is refined using evil secret methods and is extremely toxic.

Once a cultivator is tainted by the blood poison, their blood will be filled with white, silk-like threads that extend into every meridian, absorbing the abundant energy within.

And it's extremely fast.

If a cultivator fails to protect themselves and is forced to stand frozen in place due to the shock to their primordial spirit, and is then struck by sand and gravel, and suffers a bloody wound due to the power of the gale... then they will be infected with blood poison and their life will not last long.

It is extremely difficult to completely cure blood poisoning.

It's not that no alchemists have ever done it, but the methods are extremely complex. Even if the cure is successful, the alchemist's energy expenditure would be enormous, making it almost impossible to perform it a second time in a short period of time.

The evil of heretical paths can be seen from this.

·

The wind and sand lashed at them relentlessly, but Zhong and Wu were protected by powerful defensive items that prevented them from being broken through.

The couple also discovered that these stones were much tougher than ordinary materials, and their defensive power was depleted very quickly when they hit them.

Amidst the colliding sand and wind, faint sounds of ghostly wails and lamentations could be heard, enough to conjure up hallucinations in one's mind.

The methods of evil are truly insidious!

However, the Yin-Yang millstone remained stable, only its rotation speed increased, emitting a powerful attraction.

With its protective shelter, only a few "fish that slipped through the net" could truly get close to the couple.

Most of the remaining sand was swallowed up by the millstone's power when it was swirling up—and it was because so much was swallowed up that scraps remained.