Yun Xi sprang to her feet, brushing aside the powder in a sharp motion. Her eyes blazed with fury.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The female cultivator responded coldly, her face expressionless.
"You were alone. With such a perfect opportunity handed to us, why would we let it slip away?"
Yun Xi tried to circulate her spiritual power, but found she couldn't. Alarmed, she glared at the woman and snapped,
"What did you use on me?"
Only then did the woman speak.
"Don't bother resisting. That was a Sealing Pill. It's not as effective as ingesting it directly, but as long as it touches you, it'll seal your spiritual energy. You won't be able to fight back."
As she finished speaking, she reached out to yank away the storage pouch at Yun Xi's waist. Unfortunately, she couldn't erase the spiritual imprint on it. Instinctively, she looked up in confusion.
"What? How is that possible?"
Yun Xi had been waiting for this moment. She didn't react when the woman pulled off the storage pouch, but the instant she tried to remove the imprint, Yun Xi gripped the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff and struck. The moment the woman looked up, the staff swung down toward her head.
The other two male cultivators realized something was wrong and rushed in to assist. But Yun Xi had already split her Mystic Frost Needle into two, piercing their dantian before stabbing into the back of their skulls, breaching their sea of consciousness.
Everything happened in the space of three breaths. Both men collapsed, leaving only the female cultivator still standing. She tried to hold her ground, but witnessing her companions fall threw her into shock. Her reaction was delayed by a second, just enough for Yun Xi to knock her unconscious with a clean blow from the staff.
Yun Xi swept her divine sense through the cave. After confirming there were no other threats, she retracted her staff and collected the storage pouches from the two men. Then, using a fireball spell, she reduced their bodies to ashes.
From their pouches, she retrieved a Sealing Pill and stuffed it into the woman's mouth. After that, she summoned a ball of water and splashed it onto her face, waking her.
When the woman came to, she saw only Yun Xi standing in the vast cave. She leapt to her feet and tried to form a hand seal to attack, only to find her spiritual energy sealed. Panic swept over her.
"What did you do to me?"
Yun Xi smiled.
"You said it yourself. The Sealing Pill works better when ingested. So I gave you one. Seems the result is immediate."
The woman's face turned pale. She realized she had picked the wrong target. Instinctively, she tried to flee, but an ice spike slammed into the ground at her feet, stopping her in place.
"If you don't want to die, then be honest. Why were you trying to capture me?"
"We just wanted your storage pouch."
Yun Xi arched an eyebrow. When the woman had answered earlier, her gaze had wavered, though she quickly steadied herself. Even so, Yun Xi's divine sense had caught the hesitation.
She didn't bother wasting time. With a wind-type binding technique, she yanked the woman's storage pouch back and erased the spiritual imprint on it with a flick of her will.
"Ah!"
The woman screamed, clutching her head. The pain of having her spiritual imprint forcibly torn left her sweating cold.
Yun Xi sorted through the pouch, selecting ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones and a few rare ores, which she moved to her own pouch. Only then did she speak.
"Now will you tell me the truth?"
The woman panted, slowly recovering from the throbbing pain in her head. Then she said,
"I… I'll tell you."
"Go on."
Yun Xi's voice was calm, as if she had all the time in the world.
"The four of us entered the inner valley of Xiafei Valley. It took us three days, but we found where the third-rank Flying Mist Butterflies laid their eggs. After we took them, we were ambushed by four people in black robes.
One of them was at Golden Core stage. We couldn't fight back. We had no choice but to give them the eggs. But even then, they didn't let us go. To escape, we left Xia You behind. That was the only way the rest of us survived."
"Why did they take Xia You instead of you?"
The woman lowered her head.
"My cultivation is lower than hers. Xia You was about to break through to late Foundation Establishment."
Yun Xi smiled faintly and changed the subject.
"You escaped with your lives. Why attack me afterward?"
The woman swallowed hard.
"They said… if we wanted the butterfly eggs, we could trade another female cultivator for them."
"Tch. Bargaining with tigers. Did you really think handing me over would get you those eggs?"
"They swore a Heavenly Dao oath. As long as we brought someone, they'd give us the eggs. We didn't want to return empty-handed."
"So the direction you left in, was that their suggestion too?"
"No. This was the route we used when we entered the valley. It's relatively safe. Meeting you was a coincidence."
Yun Xi's figure blurred. In a flash, she appeared behind the woman and knocked her out with a chop to the neck. Then she dragged Dian Dian out from hiding.
"Ask the Flying Mist Butterfly if it recognizes these three. Just now, it didn't mention anything about a Golden Core cultivator occupying its territory."
Dian Dian was clearly displeased too. This Flying Mist Butterfly had clearly set up Yun Xi. Pouting and stomping, Dian Dian began communicating with it.
Meanwhile, Yun Xi sorted through what she had just learned.
First, the so-called "bad people" the Flying Mist Butterfly mentioned were likely evil cultivators. So far, it looked like there were four of them, one of whom had reached the Golden Core stage.
Second, these three cultivators had indeed fought those evil cultivators. That explained the scent Dian Dian had mentioned. Most likely, they had been marked.
Third, in order to save themselves, they had shamelessly handed Xia You over to the evil cultivators. Then, for the sake of getting butterfly eggs, they had tried to trade Yun Xi as well.
And most importantly, the evil cultivators were clearly exploiting the desperation of other cultivators. They had tricked those who came in search of the third-rank Flying Mist Butterfly eggs into helping them capture other female cultivators.
This approach allowed them to gather female cultivators, reward those who cooperated, and keep the supply chain moving. With those people walking away carrying butterfly eggs, more would come to the inner valley. That gave the evil cultivators more candidates to pick from. It was a win on all fronts.
It was a simple trap. But because a Golden Core evil cultivator was overseeing things, it had gone disturbingly smoothly. Any who resisted had likely already been reduced to ashes, never able to carry word of the truth beyond the valley.
As Yun Xi pieced everything together, Dian Dian returned from talking to the Flying Mist Butterfly.
"Master, it says it has seen those three before. It wasn't trying to hide it from you. You just didn't ask, so it didn't say.
But now that you know, it's willing to offer another ten butterfly eggs in exchange for your help. It's already sworn a Heavenly Dao oath, so it can't go back on its word."
Then, in a huff, Dian Dian added,
"Master, it's awful. Let's not help it. Let's just leave."
Yun Xi's voice was calm but meaningful.
"It's resourceful. That much I respect. But spirit stones don't fall from the sky for free."
"What do you plan to do next, Master?"
"I want to meet those people. Confirm their identities as evil cultivators. Then we strike. I've prepared a lot of third-rank talisman seals. This will be the perfect chance to test their strength."
"What about the female cultivator?"
"She wants butterfly eggs, doesn't she? I'll help her get them. If she takes me to them, they'll lower their guard."