Fishing for a Technique

Among these three young cultivators, Ye Wan and Ye Ji were both at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining, while the young cultivator named Ye Jiuyue was at the First Level of Foundation Establishment.

The instant that spiritual pressure which seemed capable of crushing even his divine sense appeared, the young cultivator named Ye Wan immediately understood Mu Yu's true cultivation.

Cold seeped from every pore of his body, yet burning beads of sweat continually rolled down his forehead.

The three young cultivators fell completely silent at once.

Only now did they truly understand why Wang Li had specifically asked that question at the outset, and what the woman had meant when she said that as long as those three people were rescued, it would be worth abandoning this trifling cultivation.

With heavy hearts, they fell utterly silent. Yet He Lingxiu's voice transmission sounded in Wang Li's ears as he led the way at the front.

"Of the six cultivators wearing greenwood masks earlier, only two were living people."

Wang Li's eyes instantly widened.

"The cultivator left behind to control the teleportation array was alive. Of the other five cultivators teleported to the western edge of White Bone Continent, only one was alive. The other four cultivators, who looked no different from them, were all puppets under his control."

He Lingxiu's voice continued. "This matter is probably even more complicated than I initially imagined. If I am not mistaken, these people should be cultivators from the Puppet Master Sect."

Wang Li's brow knotted.

He Lingxiu did not know whether Wang Li had heard of the Puppet Master Sect, so she directly continued transmitting to him. "The Puppet Master Sect is one of the evil cultivator sects within the Chaos Domains. Its cultivators are ghosts that appear and vanish there, and their corpse-refining methods are exceedingly strange. I had only heard of them before; I had never seen them in person."

Though Wang Li also knew a few voice-transmission arts, those he knew were exceedingly rudimentary. He did not dare show them off before the cultivators behind him, so he merely listened in silence.

Though he had not known He Lingxiu for long, and though he always felt that this Fellow Daoist Hehe was shrouded in mystery and clearly not honest, he had to admit that at certain times, he and this Fellow Daoist Hehe shared a remarkable tacit understanding.

From these few short sentences alone, he had already caught He Lingxiu's unspoken meaning.

This business was entangled in complications beyond imagination.

If worse came to worst, they should stop fussing over the remaining spirit sand. Should anything go awry, they would first preserve themselves and slip away.

Everyone silently followed behind Wang Li.

Once they had set off, the three young cultivators had indeed settled down completely. Even Ye Wan, whom Wang Li had treated differently, swiftly lost the indignant look on his face, replaced by one of cautious wariness.

He Lingxiu knew nothing whatsoever about the identities of these three young cultivators. However, judging from their current expressions, even if they had never entered White Bone Continent, they should have visited other Chaos Domains and learned of their peril only after suffering for it.

Her guess was more or less correct.

These three young cultivators did indeed have a rather deep understanding of the Chaos Domains. Yet the more they understood, the more puzzled and wary they became toward her and Wang Li.

The reason was simple.

Whether they came from Red Mountain Continent, Lesser Jade Continent, Fire Sparrow Continent, or Evil Water Continent, even if they had resolved to seek wealth amid danger and lick blood from a blade's edge, who in their right mind would come to White Bone Continent in search of some special opportunity?

Eastward from these four continents at the eastern fringe stretched the boundless Chaos Domains, with so many choices. Even among the several Chaos Domains surrounding White Bone Continent, which one was not better than White Bone Continent?

Which of those domains did not have more spiritual materials for artifact forging and spiritual herbs for pill refining than White Bone Continent?

If they were taking risks either way, why come to a place like White Bone Continent?

It was like teasing female cultivators: why not choose one of heavenly beauty, only to insist on picking someone old and faded?

And this barefoot cultivator looked as though he had come to White Bone Continent more than once or twice.

Could some especially remarkable spiritual flower grow from among White Bone Continent's endless rotten bones?

It was precisely because they found barefoot Wang Li so strange that they could not help but harbor doubts.

They now even suspected that Wang Li and He Lingxiu, these two guides, might originally have been cultivators fleeing through White Bone Continent.

As for Wang Li now, he looked utterly confident. Though he had said from the start that it would be best not to use any arts or True Essence in this region, and that they could only follow him at a slow pace, he himself walked at the very front without seeming the least bit nervous. He did not even glance around.

This dense forest also seemed to hold no danger at all.

Though ancient trees of every kind blotted out the sky and covered the sun, and countless bizarre vines wound through them like monstrous snakes, making the light dim and hazy, the ground was fairly clean. A thick layer of bone fragments insulated it from the dampness below, leaving the earth not at all wet. Moreover, many massive demonic beast skeletons lay across it like blocks of stone. Walking directly atop these bones was like treading along a natural stone path, not difficult in the slightest.

"Can we speak quietly in a region like this?"

Amid their silent advance, He Lingxiu's voice suddenly rang out.

Wang Li immediately found it amusing again.

You're wearing the skin of a guide, at least... And haven't you been transmitting to me all along? Why ask this question without voice transmission instead?

Yet in the next breath, he felt somewhat ashamed. Fellow Daoist Hehe was clearly looking down on him for having no decent voice-transmission art, and was plainly afraid that if she transmitted to him, he would be unable to answer.

"Yes." He nodded, thinking that since He Lingxiu was certain her voice-transmission secret art could not be eavesdropped upon even by Golden Core stage cultivators, this art must be extraordinary. He would have to see whether he could find a chance to get his hands on it.

"Why exactly do we need to proceed slowly through this region?" He Lingxiu asked as her voice continued amid everyone's unhurried footsteps. "I do not know much about this area."

Wang Li chuckled.

Still pretending at a time like this.

"Actually, if one does not proceed slowly through this region, it is easy to invite a fatal disaster. As for the reason... why don't you give me something in return? Otherwise, I do not really want to tell you. If you all learn the trick, who will hire me as a White Bone Continent guide in the future?" he replied with a beaming smile.

Crack.

The moment he said this, even the tall, thin cultivator named Han Yao was startled enough to put too much force into his step and crush a section of dry bone beneath his foot.

Ye Wan, Ye Ji, and Ye Jiuyue stared at Wang Li and He Lingxiu in utter disbelief. Aren't these two together? Why are they still scheming against each other like this?

And from the barefoot cultivator's words, he intended to treat being a White Bone Continent guide as his exclusive business in the future? And he was openly demanding benefits like this—wasn't that a little too shameless?

"Hehe."

He Lingxiu also smiled. "Fellow Daoist Wang, if you haggle over every last detail like this, I fear it will not be easy for you to get business in the future."

"Exactly. If I tell you all the secrets here, it truly will not be easy for me to get business in the future." Wang Li looked utterly sincere. "But if you do not know, then you should still hire me in the future."

"..." Ye Wan and the others were left speechless.

"Since Fellow Daoist Wang puts it that way, let us make another deal. I will use an art in exchange for these so-called secrets of yours," He Lingxiu said. "Namely, this voice-transmission secret art."

Her earlier words had been spoken for everyone to hear, but that final sentence was transmitted solely to Wang Li through her voice-transmission secret art.

Wang Li was instantly stunned. "Why do I feel like you're fishing?"

He Lingxiu gave a smile that did not reach her eyes. "Then tell me, do you want it or not?"

Wang Li felt helpless.

He even felt that He Lingxiu's initial transmission about those Chaos Domains cultivators had been laying the groundwork for this voice-transmission secret art.

For the sake of convenient private communication, he felt that He Lingxiu had wanted to teach him this voice-transmission secret art from the start, but simply did not want to give it to him for nothing.

Thus, he could be certain that after He Lingxiu taught him this voice-transmission secret art, she would definitely want to extract even more benefits from him.

He felt that this Fellow Daoist Hehe's schemes were simply too deep, too sinister.

Yet his reason still made him answer with complete honesty, "Yes!"