Immortal of the Nine Realms

Li Xiuming's expression turned solemn. "This aura... It’s at least at the 12th stage of the Qi Refining Realm!"

Mi Sheng seemed inexperienced as she whipped her head around to Li Xiuming for guidance. "Senior Brother, what should we do?"

"It's simple." Li Xiuming grabbed Mi Sheng's arm. "Run!"

The two instantly ran far away.

Seeing the two flee, Li Daoye cursed under his breath, "So much for loyalty, huh?"

He turned to the right and saw that Ancestor Xia Yu and his companion had also fled.

Li Daoye was stunned.

With a quick snap to the left, he noticed that Fang Chan had also made a run for it and was already hundreds of feet away!

"My father said that the cultivation world is ruthless and everyone is selfish! Looks like it's true!"

Li Daoye cursed inwardly and immediately chased after Fang Chen. "Lord Fang, wait for me!"

After a dozen breaths, the two hid behind a large ancient tree.

Ancestor Xia Yu and the others weren't as lucky. The giant stone demon seemed to have targeted them, rushing toward them with occasional green fire spewing from its mouth.

The fire pillar was hundreds of feet long and extremely fierce. Wherever it passed, only scorched earth remained. Ancestor Xia Yu and the others quickly erected their spiritual energy shields to resist the demonic fire.

The spiritual energy, which was impenetrable by internal energy, melted visibly under the pillar of fire. It clearly could only hold on for a few more short moments!

"Damn. If I get hit by that thing, I'll immediately die for sure!" muttered Li Daoye to himself.

Fang Chen smiled. "Yeah, you’ll probably turn to ashes."

"Things aren’t looking too good, Lord Fang. This place is quite dangerous indeed. We just entered yet we’ve already encountered such a thing! Do you think it’s a demon?" whispered Li Daoye. "Should we go and help?"

Fang Chen calmly analyzed the situation. "With our cultivation levels, what help can we provide? Whether it's a demon or not, Li Xiuming said it's at least at the 12th stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Going over would be like throwing ourselves into the tiger's den."

Even if he used all his cards, it was unlikely for him to win against a 12th stage Qi Refining Realm expert. He might have a slim chance of victory if he took advantage of every opportunity and used the Purple Lightning Talisman and the dragon truncheon.

"Let's go." Fang Chen decisively turned and left.

Li Daoye hurriedly followed while asking, "Are we really not going to help them?"

"If you are so loyal, then go over and help. Let the giant stone demon chase after you and we can see how long you can run," said Fang Chen impatiently.

Li Daoye smiled awkwardly. "I'm not a loyal person. Forget it, forget it. Xia Yu is at the eighth stage of Qi Refining Realm, so he should be able to shake off that demon." After a pause, he continued, "Finding treasures is the priority now. I wonder if we can find some treasures, spirit stones, elixirs, or spiritual herbs in this place."

Fang Chen glanced at him. Their goal is treasure hunting, but I am only here to explore and figure out why Supreme Immortal Pudu sent me here.

Over the next few days, Fang Chen and Li Daoye continuously explored the area. During that period, they encountered some ferocious beasts, but none were as powerful as the giant stone demon.

They subdued some of them, and for those that were too powerful, they used their speed to shake them off. Back when they entered, both of them looked quite presentable, but in just a few short days, Fang Chen's clothes were tattered, and he looked very disheveled.

Li Daoye moaned and complained while tearing off his torn clothes and tying them around his waist. "If I had known, I would've bought a spiritual robe to wear!"

He looked somewhat weary. In the past few days, not only had they not found any exotic flowers, herbs, or anything beneficial for cultivation, but they were also constantly chased around by ferocious beasts.

"Lord Fang, what if we've been deceived?” said Li Dao, exasperated. “We are in such a sorry state. What good things can those martial artists find when they enter, anyway? Or maybe there were really good things, but they've already been taken away by them. Shouldn't we withdraw? We can wait for the time to be up and leave. It's not worth risking our lives here."

Fang Chen couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he walked. "We haven't found the cave-dwelling left yet, and you're already thinking of withdrawing?"

"But I feel like this is all a scam. There's probably no cave dwelling at all. If there were, why haven't we found it after several days?" complained Li Daoye with a furrowed brow.

Suddenly, Fang Chen pointed in front of him with a smile. "What do you see there?"

"It’s a... " Li Daoye rubbed his eyes and, to his surprise, saw a small mountain not too far away. Perched up on the mountain were buildings, scattered around.

"We really found it!? Hahaha, this is great! I bet Xia Yu and the others haven't found it yet. Let's head there quickly and make a profit first," exclaimed Li Daoye, full of energy all of a sudden. He quickly made his way up there.

Fang Chen followed at a leisurely pace.

Suddenly, a dark shadow descended from the sky, grabbing Li Daoye and trying to fly upward.

Seeing that, Fang Chen immediately threw two Purple Lightning Talismans at the dark shadow. Li Daoye screamed and fell to the ground, covered in soot. If it weren't for his timely release of spiritual energy, he might have been blown to bits by the Purple Lightning Talismans.

The Purple Lightning Talismans Fang Chen threw were of medium grade and possessed a power comparable to a full-strength strike of a cultivator at the seventh or eighth stages of Qi Refining Realm. However, the dark shadow suffered no visible injuries and hovered in the air, its gaze fixed chillingly on Fang Chen.

"I almost died under your Purple Lightning Talismans," complained Li Daoye with a huff as he crawled to Fang Chen's side.

"It weren’t for the Purple Lightning Talismans, you would already be dead,” said Fang Chen offhandedly.

Li Daoye looked up at the sky with a pale face. "What is that thing? A bat demon?"

The dark shadow hovering in the sky resembled a human but had a pair of black bat wings. Its body was pitch-black, covered with short black fur, and its face looked like a fierce black dog with a protruding nose. The creature had long limbs and a posture similar to a human.

"I don't know what it is, but it can fly," said Fang Chen with a serious expression.

They had encountered some ferocious beasts over the past few days. Even though some were powerful, none of them could fly. Now that they were facing a beast capable of flight and had considerable strength, it posed a bit of a problem.

The next moment, the dark shadow dove toward them again, moving at an incredible speed.

Fang Chen and Li Daoye simultaneously threw several Purple Lightning Talismans.

Purple lightning flashed, and the dark shadow immediately enveloped its body with its wings, resisting the lightning. When it unfolded its wings again, it found that Fang Chen and Li Daoye were already very close to the mountain with scattered buildings.

"Roar!" The dark shadow let out a furious roar and pursued them. However, Fang Chen and Li Daoye retaliated with more Purple Lightning Talismans.

The two finally rushed up the mountain, but the dark shadow hesitated in mid-air and dared not continue the pursuit.

"Lord Fang, it seems unwilling to come in?" said Li Daoye with astonishment.

Fang Chen pondered aloud, "It should also be one of the creatures raised by the master of this place, so it doesn't dare to enter its master's cultivation area."

"Oh, I see.” Li Daoye breathed a sigh of relief and taunted the dark shadow provocatively, "Come on, come again. Do you know how much a Purple Lightning Talisman is worth? You made me waste several of them. Do you even know the value of one?"

The dark shadow, helpless and furious, roared a few times before giving the two a long glance and turning to leave, disappearing in the sky in the blink of an eye.

"Thanks for your Purple Lightning Talismans, Lord Fang. The strength of this ferocious beast is at least at the seventh or eighth stage of the Qi Refining Realm. If it weren't for the talismans, we might have met our end here,” said Li Daoye with a long sigh. He said that, but he actually felt a bit of heartache at the waste. He had originally planned to make a big profit by selling the twenty or so talismans back in the Flame Empire for one or two dozen low-grade spirit stones each, making a significant profit. However, in the past few days, he had already used more than ten purple lightning talismans. If he couldn't find spiritual treasures worth one or two hundred low-grade spirit stones, he would end up with a loss.

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