Shi Xuan stopped and asked, "Who are you, and why are you setting up an array in these mountains?"
...
There was no reply from inside for a long time; only the sound of breathing could be heard, letting people know that he was still there.
Shi Xuan was not far from him at the moment. In fact, the instant he entered, his divine sense had already swept over the man and "seen" his appearance.
The person inside, or rather, it was unclear whether they were human or not, clearly had the appearance of a demonic beast—a black-furred ape!
Monsters can talk, monsters can form formations... This is simply impossible, unless there's one specific situation...
At this moment, all the members of the best team caught up and surrounded the cave entrance.
Shi Xuan took a step back, showing them his back, and then said, "You don't need to come in yet, wait for me outside."
The team members generally carried out the captain's instructions well. Since they had already seen the captain, they weren't worried and waited outside the cave entrance as instructed.
At this moment, only Shi Xuan and the "person" who set up the formation remained in the cave.
Shi Xuan cast a soundproof barrier at the cave entrance, then turned around and suddenly asked, "What was your cultivation level when your soul was swapped?"
The person inside seemed startled by this sentence, staggering and almost tripping over himself.
He exclaimed in alarm, "You! How did you know!"
After saying this, he squatted on the ground in anguish, holding his head in his hands, seemingly unable to face such a tragic situation.
Shi Xuan was also quite curious about him, because usually, cultivators whose souls had been swapped and who entered the bodies of demonic beasts couldn't maintain their own consciousness and would become insane and disordered. It was truly rare to find someone like him who still had a clear consciousness.
The man squatted on the ground for a while before finally calming down and saying in a hoarse voice, "Nascent Soul."
No wonder. Shi Xuan thought to himself, he was probably able to maintain his current state thanks to his cultivation level.
"Are you a formation cultivator?" Shi Xuan asked.
The person nodded. Then, realizing that the other person couldn't see in such a dark place, they said "Mm" again.
"I was originally a cultivator from the Eastern Region of Qian Yuan who came to the outer realms for training," the man said slowly. "Here in the outer realms, I reached the Nascent Soul stage and was ranked thirty-fifth on the Prodigy Ranking. I was the only disciple from both the Eastern and Western Regions of the entire Qian Yuan Continent to enter the top fifty. Later, a friend invited me to come out for training together..."
As he said this, an even more pained and remorseful expression appeared on his face.
Another friend! Every person who falls victim to the "Newcomer" organization has a friend who can bring them in; this method really works every time.
But now that things have come to this, talking about those things won't change him back to the way he was before.
"What's your name?" Shi Xuan asked.
He seemed to have not mentioned his own name in a long time. He paused and said, "Qiu Chang'an."
Shi Xuan looked at him for a while and sighed in his heart. Qiu Chang'an should have been a brilliant and outstanding person in the past. He was a spirited young man who was envied by cultivators all over the continent. But now he has fallen to such a state, isolated from the world, living alone in the mountains as a demon beast. He is neither human nor beast. It is a sad story.
"Do you still want to go out?" Shi Xuan asked.
Qiu Chang'an wanted to nod, but in the end he shook his head and said dejectedly, "I am no longer accepted by the world. Where can I go in this state?"
This person, with a human soul and a beast's body, cannot coexist with demonic beasts, and cannot become a normal person even when returning to human territory.
Shi Xuan thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps we can use an illusion."
"And I have never thought that high-level cultivators could see through it at a glance, and then the entire cultivation world would be calling for a massacre... It's already like this, all ordinary things have become a luxury..."
Indeed, as he said, becoming like this makes him an oddity wherever he goes; it's a pity...
Shi Xuan felt sorry for him and did not want to bother him any further.
"Then, let's go somewhere else first..." Shi Xuan suddenly remembered something and changed the subject, saying, "I have a place where you can draw talisman array diagrams, and there's no shortage of materials. But there are only three people inside, and once you go in, you won't be able to come out. Are you willing to go?"
She thought of Yinshuang. Currently, only Zeng Mo and Li Jun were inside. Since this person couldn't come out, it was suitable for them to stay there.
"Only three people? No one else is in sight?"
Shi Xuan nodded: "There are only three people, and the other two are also focused on their own things, so you are not an oddball."
A world of only three people, with no worries about food and clothing, and even materials for him to study rune arrays... Is there really such a good thing?
Qiu Chang'an seemed somewhat skeptical, and asked doubtfully, "Really?"
Though his tone was hesitant, it carried a hint of hope. He thought again: he was penniless, neither human nor beast, so what could anyone possibly want from him? What did it matter if he lost his wretched life? He'd had enough of this kind of existence anyway.
With this in mind, Qiu Chang'an strengthened his resolve and said to Shi Xuan, "I'll go!"
This was probably his only chance. Shi Xuan and the others came looking for an opportunity, but it became his opportunity instead, and he was willing to take the risk.
"Then don't move yet, I'll tie you up first." Shi Xuan said as he walked towards Qiu Chang'an.
Qiu Chang'an was taken aback and wanted to back away. Why would he need to tie someone up first? Was he about to fall for another trick?
But he only has this life, neither human nor beast, so what is there to deceive?
So he forced himself not to move and let Shi Xuan come forward and loosely tie him up.
When Shi Xuan got closer, he found that he was actually very neat. Although he was in the form of a demon ape, his fur was very clean and tidy, and even his hands were clean without a trace of dirt. It seems that he was a self-disciplined person when he was human.
Bound for only a few breaths, Qiu Chang'an was filled with trepidation when the scene instantly shifted, and he arrived in another world.
Once inside, Shi Xuan immediately untied him.
Qiu Chang'an opened his eyes and looked at the scene before him, feeling as if he had been transported to another world.
The three-courtyard houses, with their blue bricks and red tiles, stood in neat rows. Outside, there was a vast field of medicinal plants, filled with all sorts of rare and precious herbs. In the distance were mountains, and nearby was water—truly a paradise on earth.
At this moment, the people in the courtyard heard the commotion and came out to greet them; it was Li Jun.
He walked up to Shi Xuan and Qiu Chang'an, glanced at Qiu Chang'an, and said, "Are we going to raise demonic beasts?"
Qiu Chang'an shrank back.
Shi Xuan laughed and said, "What are you thinking about? This is a person. Where's Zeng Mo?"
As soon as Shi Xuan finished speaking, there was a loud bang, and a plume of black smoke rose from the courtyard. Then a person ran out of it.
The man ran up and stopped, his entire body blackened by the explosion.
Zeng Mo smiled sheepishly and said, "I was developing a new type of elixir, and accidentally..."
"What do you mean 'accidentally'? This is the fifth time already," Li Jun complained.
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