Hearing Xuan Yuan Mang's words, Ning Wangshu knew he had misunderstood.
So Ning Wangshu shook his head. "Mr. Xuanyuan, you misunderstand. It's not that I've taken a liking to the so-called 'Five-colored Precious Lotus' that caused this phenomenon. I wanted to warn you not to get any closer to it."
"This so-called phenomenon, including the 'Five-colored Precious Lotus' that your Divine Sense saw causing it, is actually just bait—and a trap!"
"Hmm?"
Xuan Yuan Mang was taken aback. He looked at Ning Wangshu's apparition in surprise, furrowed his brow, and asked in confusion, "Bait? A trap? Ning Xian Zun, may I ask what makes you say that?"
Ning Wangshu explained, "It's true that there's a Five-colored Precious Lotus beneath the phenomenon, but I'm afraid it isn't some treasure nurtured by heaven and earth. It gives me a sense of unreality, as though it were an illusion."
"Of course, that's not important. What matters is that there's an extremely terrifying presence in the Underground Cave beneath the Five-colored Precious Lotus."
"I've already seen several successive groups of cultivators drawn here by the phenomenon, hoping to seize the Five-colored Precious Lotus. But the Soul-snatching Strange Light it emitted clouded their minds and trapped them in an illusion. Then its roots drained their flesh, blood, and souls."
"Among them were several cultivators at the Body Integration Stage, as well as someone in the early stages of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. They all fell victim to it."
"Moreover, an apparition I manifested earlier couldn't withstand the Soul-snatching Strange Light emitted by the Five-colored Precious Lotus. I lost my senses for an instant."
"After that, I tried to cut down the Five-colored Precious Lotus, but doing so alerted a terrifying presence deep within the Underground Cave. It merely fixed its gaze on me, and my