Zhou Shu clutched the final golden hairpin, his gaze piercing the fallen cultivator.
The cultivator was tightly wrapped in green vines, like a cocoon. He swayed back and forth, unable to break free, unable to even utter a sound.
Five breaths later, the vines transformed into a faint green light and gradually faded.
The masked cultivator, battered by the blows and the effects of the Soul-Erosion Pill, was still half-conscious. He struggled to support himself with his hands, trying to get up.
Whoosh.
The golden hairpin transformed into a stream of light, piercing his body and directly through his throat.
The masked cultivator groaned, convulsed, and collapsed.
Zhou Shu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately dragged the masked cultivator to him.
He removed the mask, revealing a pale, hideous face, its eyes wide open in a state of horror. His death was so inexplicable that even he couldn't believe it.
Zhou Shu felt a sense of relief. The cultivator before him was at least at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm, yet he still died at his hands.
But ultimately, all cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm are essentially the same.
Cultivators who haven't reached the Foundation Establishment Realm are unable to project their spiritual consciousness, visualize internally, consume wind and dew, or use magical instruments of flight. They need to eat, drink, defecate, urinate, and sleep, making them little different from ordinary people. Only by reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm can one truly transcend the ordinary.
Zhou Shu carefully searched the contents and found a wealth of treasures.
First, there was a storage bag. Then, there were dozens of mid-grade spirit stones, two bottles of elixirs, some talismans, several jade slips, and a spindle-shaped magical instrument.
Without taking a closer look, Zhou Shu gathered them all into his arms. He then removed the masked cultivator's black robe and quickly donned it himself, before donning the strange mask.
Using a cleansing spell to cover the bloodstains on his clothes, he looked up and down, seemingly no different from the masked cultivator.
"Let's go out and try it this way."
Zhou Shu imitated the masked cultivator's movements and stepped out of the cave.
A long, narrow corridor lay before him, seemingly formed naturally, with stalagmites dangling everywhere.
Fortunately, there was no one else there.
Zhou Shu followed the winding corridor until he reached a slightly wider cavern.
A few lamps burned within the cavern, and several cushions lay spread out. In front of the cushions stood a stone statue, two men tall, also wearing a strange mask, its eyes seemingly glowing, a rather eerie presence.
Beside the statue, two masked cultivators in black sat facing each other. They glanced at Zhou Shu briefly, then ignored him, continuing their conversation.
"Zhao Da, Li Si, and the others are out today. Should we go out and find someone? The sooner we gather eighty-one living sacrifices, the more generous the master's reward will be."
"Forget it. It's not our turn today, and we need to keep some people here."
"Why keep them? Those wandering cultivators who took the God-Erosion Pills are like sheep now. We can slaughter them at will, and are we afraid they'll run away?"
"That's right. It's better to be safe than sorry. Besides, if the master returns and finds no one here, we'll be in trouble."
The two chatted, oblivious to Zhou Shu.
This is perfect, I can go out.
Zhou Shu pretended to be calm, glanced around, and suddenly felt a little puzzled. There were five passages on the side of the cave. In addition to the one that led out, there were still four. Which one was the way out?
No matter what, Zhou Shu went straight to the opposite passage.
"Stop, what are you doing?"
A slightly puzzled and very cold voice came from behind.
Zhou Shu was shocked and stopped where he was.
Has he been discovered?
"Wang Ba, what are you doing in the master's room? Do you want to steal something while the master is away?"
"Friday, you overestimate him. How could he have the courage? I'm afraid he fed too many Erosion God Pills and was contaminated by the medicinal smell. He also became a little stupid, haha."
Zhou Shu felt relieved. Fortunately, he just took the wrong road and was not discovered by anyone. But why does this name sound so strange?
The cultivator he was impersonating turned out to be called Wangba...
It seemed these masked cultivators didn't use their real names, just random nicknames. But this "Wangba" was truly pathetic; I wondered how he managed to endure it. He was probably at the bottom of the hierarchy, with little standing here.
Zhou Shu slowly turned around and stammered, "I need to... hold it... I can't hold it anymore..."
Since he was being called stupid, he might as well just get by. He'd heard the masked cultivator's voice before, and with a little imitation, he managed to get close enough.
"Get out of here! Don't let the fumes get to me!"
The two cursed for a moment before quickly turning away.
Zhou Shu glanced at the passages to his left and right, then steeled himself and headed straight to the left. The two cultivators remained silent.
"Looks like I'm on the right,"
Zhou Shu said, feeling relieved, and hurried along the passage.
But after a while, he realized something was wrong. The passageway stretched to the end, with no exit in sight. Instead, it connected to several newly excavated stone chambers, seemingly warehouses.
Now that he was inside, he couldn't just turn around and leave; that would only arouse suspicion.
After a moment's thought, Zhou Shu walked towards a stone chamber.
As he reached the door, he was pushed out by an invisible force. If he hadn't dodged quickly, his body would have hit the stone wall.
It was clear that some kind of formation had been set up in the cave, blocking anyone from entering. It required a corresponding array symbol to open it. He
walked through several stone chambers, only to find the same situation.
Feeling somewhat disappointed, he walked to the last chamber, but unexpectedly, he stepped in without any obstruction.
Entering the chamber, Zhou Shu was stunned. It was extremely spacious, but he couldn't sense any spiritual energy. There was no decoration inside, only a huge altar in the middle.
The altar was square, five meters long and wide, nearly ten meters high, and painted black like ink. The altar was surrounded by countless intricate red runes, like dried blood, eerie and terrifying. Many candlestick-like objects were dotted on the altar, emitting a faint glow from time to time, revealing an indescribable and eerie aura.
"This should be where the fire refining formation is set up. It's indeed evil and definitely not a good thing. No wonder there are no defensive formations here. Most likely, these things cannot be contaminated by spiritual energy, but it doesn't look like they are fully deployed and have no power source."
Zhou Shu's mind moved, and he quickly stepped forward, reached out and grabbed a candlestick, and stuffed it into the storage bag without thinking.
He would destroy it first to prevent the formation from succeeding. This would help the independent cultivators buy time, and most importantly, he could take it back as evidence.
Zhou Shu walked quickly out of the stone chamber and went straight out of the passage.
The two men outside were still chatting, glancing at Zhou Shu with disgust. "What are you shaking about, you bastard? You're such an eyesore."
Zhou Shu remained silent, headed for the passage on the right.
This time, I guess I can't go wrong, right?
After walking a long way and taking many twists and turns, a glimmer of light finally appeared before his eyes.
Pulling aside the vines that concealed the cave entrance, he finally saw the light of day. His tense nerves relaxed, and Zhou Shu joyfully took
a step forward. Unexpectedly, his feet suddenly felt empty, and he plummeted.
The exit was actually on the cliff?