Hua Ruoan looked at the cave entrance, "Manager Yuan is still the same, decisive and hands-on. Don't worry, Brother Shen, nothing will happen."
Shen Bailie nodded slightly, "But that evil cultivator... well, I'm still a little worried."
The two of them looked nervous, staring at the cave entrance, occasionally chatting.
Zhou Shu sat on the flying boat, listening and thinking quietly, without saying a word.
Half an hour later, Yuan Li walked out of the cave, his expression slightly solemn.
Seeing Yuan Li safe and sound, Shen Bailie was overjoyed and hurried to meet him, "Manager Yuan, are you okay? How is it?"
Yuan Li shook his head slightly, "He escaped."
"Ah? Didn't see anyone come out?"
Shen Bailie and Hua Ruoan were a little stunned. Yuan Li was already a cultivator in the late Condensation Vein Realm, and his moves were infallible, but it was incredible that he failed to catch the turtle in the jar this time.
"The cave has another exit,"
Yuan Li said slowly. "That person's escape method was very secretive. Even after being hit by two of my Ye Li Suo, he still managed to escape."
Hearing this, Shen Bailie suddenly showed a look of relief. "Manager, there's no need to worry. The evil cultivator has already been hit by your Ye Li Suo. Even if he escapes, it's useless. He will die sooner or later. Don't worry."
Hua Ruoan nodded in agreement. "Manager Yuan's Ye Li Suo is specially designed to destroy the Qi Sea. After being hit by two, even a god can't save him."
"If the opponent weren't an evil cultivator, I wouldn't resort to such tactics. When dealing with evil cultivators, we must eradicate all evil."
Yuan Li waved his hand. "I've already destroyed the Fire Refining Formation. Shen Bailie, go rescue them and bring all those wandering cultivators back to the flying boat."
He felt a little depressed. The masked cave master was only at the early stages of the Condensing Veins Realm, but during the battle, he unleashed a myriad of strange and mysterious techniques, even using other masked cultivators as suicide bombers. He also possessed magical devices that obscured his spiritual sense, preventing him from detecting them from half a mile away, leaving him helpless even if they escaped.
Having experienced countless battles, this encounter, though brief, left him with a distinct feeling. Compared to other evil cultivators, this cave master was far more peculiar. He feared Ye Lisuo might not be able to truly defeat him. He felt uneasy without being able to see the body in person.
Yuan Li then sat down cross-legged. The intense battle had drained much of his spiritual energy and consciousness, and he needed time to rest.
Zhou Shu stepped forward and said, "I'll go too and do my bit."
Yuan Li glanced at him and said calmly, "Do as you please, but don't waste time."
Following Shen Bailie, Zhou Shu entered the cave.
He certainly didn't go into the cave to save people or to neutralize the effects of the God-Erosion Pill. Only Shen Bailie, who understood elixirs, could do that; he couldn't help at all. He just wanted to explore the stone chamber and find some rewards. Those evil cultivators had been entrenched there for many days and should have quite a bit of savings.
Yuan Li might not care about those things, but they were very useful to him.
Yuan Li naturally understood his intentions, but since he had tacitly allowed Zhou Shu to enter, he didn't care about it.
Hua Ruoan and Shen Bailie also tacitly understood that this was supposed to be a reward for Zhou Shu, but if Zhou Shu hadn't mentioned it, it would have gone unclaimed and he would have missed it. They didn't expect Zhou Shu to have thought of this already.
Hua Ruoan watched Zhou Shu leave, thinking to himself, "This kid is so experienced, it doesn't even seem like his age. I wonder how the people behind him taught him..."
Zhou Shu ran towards the left passage he had visited before.
Since Yuan Li had destroyed the main formation, the formations in the stone chambers must have been gone. He approached the stone chamber and, as expected, there was no formation blocking the way, so he entered directly.
Glancing around, he saw a mess of miscellaneous items scattered throughout the stone chamber, all looted from the group of wandering cultivators.
After a few casual glances, Zhou Shu retrieved his belongings and left without taking anything else.
The second stone chamber was filled with unpolished ores. After examining them for a while, he couldn't tell what they were, and since his storage bag couldn't hold them all,
he had no choice but to leave. The third stone chamber, however, caught his eye.
This must be the evil cultivators' warehouse. Inside, there were more than a dozen wooden shelves filled with elixirs, spirit stones, and even a number of magical weapons.
But a closer look disappointed him. They all looked very low-grade. The spirit stones were mostly low-grade, and the elixirs were even inferior to the Wuwang Sect's daily distribution. The magic weapons were also barely of the highest rank, resembling mortal weapons, primarily relying on sharpness, lacking any spiritual energy or formations. After
a careful inspection, Zhou Shu selected two magic weapons, a few bottles of elixirs, and about sixty mid-grade spirit stones before departing.
On the flying boat outside the cave, Yuan Li nodded gently, "This kid is quite sensible."
His spiritual sense was powerful, capable of projecting outwards of two miles. He could vividly capture most of the cave's scenes, and every move Zhou Shu made was visible.
Allowing Zhou Shu to enter the cave was a test. If Zhou Shu was greedy and took everything, not only would he not reward him, but he would also take back most of what he had already earned.
At this point, Zhou Shu had passed.
He left the stone chamber and looked towards the formation. The originally solid altar had been broken into hundreds of pieces, and the soul-sucking lamps had been crushed into powder and scattered everywhere. It was really shocking to think about what kind of power could cause such a result.
He clicked his tongue and returned to the cave.
He did not go into the secret room of the owner of the cave. There were probably many mechanisms there, which posed a great threat. Even if there were anything, it would have been taken away or destroyed by Yuan Li.
His gaze stayed on the stone statue in the cave.
The eyes of the stone statue had been emitting a faint glow. Could it be a treasure?
After thinking about it, he took off the mask of the stone statue.
His body suddenly shook, and he was stunned. He stared at the stone statue with his eyes, somewhat unbelievable.
"This stone statue is the owner of the cave. Do you know him?"
Yuan Li noticed Zhou Shu's actions and used his spiritual sense to transmit his voice across a mile.
Zhou Shu shook his head and pretended to be calm, saying, "I don't know him. I just didn't expect him to be so upright. He looks righteous, dignified and majestic, not at all like an evil cultivator who has committed many evil deeds. I find it very strange."
"Heh, a face doesn't reflect a person's heart. Cultivators like this must be doubly wary."
Yuan Li finished his voice transmission and continued to rest with his eyes closed.
Zhou Shu nodded thoughtfully, not looking any further. He turned and walked towards the cave where the wandering cultivators were being held.
The cave was now filled with a thick white mist, and the aroma of medicine filled the air.
Shen Bailie was using the Small Cloud and Rain Technique to activate the medicinal power, sending down a rain of antidote to revive the wandering cultivators bewitched by the Eclipse Pills.
Zhou Shu couldn't help but praise, "Deacon Shen, I'm truly impressed by your skill."
Shen Bailie smiled slightly, "Haha, Brother Zhou, you're too kind."
Raindrops of rain fell from the mist, sprinkling over the wandering cultivators. Soon, some gradually awoke.
"Ah, how did I get here?"
"What's going on? I remember I was going up the mountain to gather spiritual herbs."
Many wandering cultivators had consumed so many Eclipse Pills that they were unconscious for so long that they were still confused and couldn't even remember what had happened.
"The bucket is still here. If it's gone, Master will scold me to death."
Bewildered, You Jing climbed up, holding the bucket, and looked around. "Brother Zhou, are you there? Are you okay?"
Zhou Shu walked over. "Yes."
"Where are the cultivators who are arresting us? Where is this place?" You Jing looked very panicked, as if he remembered the horror of being dominated before.
"We'll talk later," Zhou Shu smiled. "Go out first."