Three months later.
While purchasing supplies at the Market, Lin Chang'an ran into Ge Li again.
"Fellow Daoist Lin, come on, let's have a few drinks together."
Ge Li looked travel-worn, with a trace of irritation still on his face. Lin Chang'an smiled and nodded, secretly curious as well. He wanted to find out where Ge Li had bought his formation.
After all, high-level formations were not something ordinary cultivator lineages possessed. Throughout the Yue Kingdom, they were practically monopolized by the Three Great Sects.
Inside a private room at the restaurant.
After three rounds of wine, the travel-worn Ge Li could no longer hold back and began speaking bitterly of his experiences these past days.
"Those bastards clearly agreed to contribute together. We finally lured a Second-tier Monster Beast into the formation, but every last one of them harbored ulterior motives, weakening the formation's power drastically.
"They were obviously trying to kill with a borrowed knife and swallow everything for themselves. The Demon Beast wasn't even dead yet, and those black-hearted bastards were already growing impatient. If I hadn't run fast enough..."
As Ge Li cursed, lingering fear still showed in his expression.
Lin Chang'an consoled him after hearing this. "Fellow Daoist Ge, you can know a man's face but not his heart. You and I have experienced so much in the Cultivation World already. We should have understood that long ago."
"I'm just unwilling to accept it."
Ge Li wore an aggrieved expression as he described how much he had lost this time.
"Fellow Daoist Lin, you have no idea. I nearly didn't make it back this time, and all the savings I painstakingly accumulated over the past few years are gone."
Lin Chang'an merely offered comfort, yet he could not shake the feeling that something was off.