Luring the Snake Out of Its Hole

Zhong Liang looked at Tang Fu, his eyes full of inquiry.

Perhaps considering that they needed to rely on the Buddhist teachings of Miaofa and others to deal with the zombies, Tang Fu pondered for a moment, then nodded, signaling Zhong Liang that he could explain why they had come.

Zhong Liang swallowed a pill to restore his spiritual power, and as he refined it, he began to explain in detail.

The Rogue Cultivator Alliance is a very loosely organized group whose main function is to help Rogue Cultivator exchange information and share cultivation experiences.

Those who join the Rogue Cultivator Alliance are all low-level Rogue Cultivator with little strength and no background or backing.

There are no cultivators with a cultivation level above Golden Core in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. Zhong Liang is the leader of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance and also the person with the highest cultivation level in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.

About ten years ago, a Qi Refining Early Stage Rogue Cultivator in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance found an ancient Jade Slip in a small river.

The Jade Slip records a faction called Blood Cloud Cave, detailing its former strength and glory, as well as its destruction, and includes a map for entering Blood Cloud Cave.

After finding the Jade Slip, the Rogue Cultivator realized that the Blood Cloud Cave, a High Antiquity secret realm, was not a place a Qi Refining Early Stage Rogue Cultivator like himself could venture into.

So he handed the Jade Slip to the alliance leader Zhong Liang, in exchange for a reward.

Zhong Liang had been stuck at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm for many years, unable to find an opportunity to form his fortuitous opportunity. After obtaining the Jade Slip, greed took hold, and he wanted to find the fortuitous opportunity to form his core in the Blood Cloud Cave.

So he began to painstakingly study the Jade Slip, hoping to find the location of the Blood Cloud Cave.

However, perhaps because the Jade Slip is too ancient, the place names recorded on it are quite different from those in the Cultivation World today.

With only his and the Rogue Cultivator Alliance's strength, it would be difficult to find the Blood Cloud Cave in the vast Cultivation World.

So he sought help from his friend Tang Fu.

The Tang Family is a declining cultivation Lineage. Decades ago, after the passing of the elder of the Golden Core stage, although the Tang Family had many Foundation Establishment cultivators, it had never been able to produce a new Golden Core expert.

Tang Fu, as the eldest elder of the Tang Family, is the most powerful person in the Tang Family, but he has also remained at the Foundation Establishment Peak Stage for many years.

The two hit it off immediately and began to peruse ancient books in search of the location of Blood Cloud Cave.

Although the Tang Family has declined, as a former Golden Core cultivator Lineage, its foundation is profound and far beyond what Rogue Cultivator like Zhong Liang can match.

They found a record of Blood Cloud Cave in an ancient book in the Tang Family's collection.

Blood Cloud Cave was a demonic force that existed tens of thousands of years ago, and it seems to have been a subordinate force of the demonic leader at the time. For some unknown reason, it was later destroyed by the demonic leader.

Although records of Blood Cloud Cave have been found, tens of thousands of years have passed, and the world has changed drastically. Finding the exact location of Blood Cloud Cave is not so easy.

After several more years of searching, Tang Fu and Zhong Liang finally found the location of Blood Cloud Cave.

After listening to Zhong Liang's explanation, Miaofa asked with some surprise and doubt.

"So, according to you, neither of you knows what treasures are hidden here?"

Tang Fu said, "The Blood Cloud Cave has been destroyed for tens of thousands of years. Even if there were any elixirs or medicinal spirit medicine that were left behind, their spiritual Spiritual Qi would probably have been exhausted and they would have turned to dust long ago. Even ordinary Spirit Artifact and Law Treasure cannot withstand the erosion of tens of thousands of years. I'm afraid only some powerful ancient treasures could survive."

"We came here not for powerful Law Treasure, but because the Jade Slip records a powerful Cultivation Method in Blood Cloud Cave that can help people break through cultivation bottlenecks. We hope to use this Cultivation Method fortuitous opportunity form our core."

"Cultivation Method are different from other treasures. The three of us can work together to obtain Cultivation Method and then share them."

The Miaofa leads to the understanding of the Dao.

"Blood Cloud Cave is a demonic sect. How can you be so sure that a demonic Cultivation Method can help us form our core?"

Tang Fu said, "fortuitous opportunity are inherently elusive; there's no such thing as a certainty."

Miaofa remained silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, then so be it."

Tang Fu turned to Zhong Liang, "Alliance Leader Zhong, what do you think?"

"With the help of four eminent monks, dealing with those four Copper Corpse will naturally be much easier."

Zhong Liang readily agreed and allowed the four members of Miaofa to join.

Zhong Liang made no further mention of the incident in the square where Miaofa had killed two of his men, as if it had never happened.

Zhong Liang turned around and looked at the gate of the stone hall, his expression puzzled.

"We've been here for over a quarter of an hour. Why haven't the others and that rogue Rogue Cultivator who got caught up in this situation arrived yet?"

Miaofa said, "I'm afraid they all died at the hands of those thirteen stone statues. The statues' strength was close to that of Golden Core expert. If the statues hadn't just been revived and were moving slowly, and if we hadn't escaped quickly, we might not have survived either."

Tang Fu looked at the high platform and asked with a frown.

"These four Copper Corpse should be at the Foundation Establishment Peak Stage, roughly equal to the three of us, and their physical bodies are exceptionally strong, so they might not be easy to deal with. Why did they stay on the platform and not make a move while we were dealing with the other dried corpses?"

Miaofa said, "There must be some kind of restriction preventing them from leaving the platform."

Tang Fu's eyes lit up.

"If that's the case, then they'll become sitting ducks, and we can slowly grind them down until they're worn down."

Miaofa shook his head. "I'm afraid it won't be that simple."

"You'll know once you try it."

As soon as Tang Fu finished speaking, he flicked out a long whip.

The long whip was made of sections of black metal. As Tang Fu activated his spiritual power, the whip quickly grew longer, reaching a length of 100 meters in the blink of an eye, and wrapped around one of the Copper Corpse.

"The Tang Family's top-grade Spirit Artifact, the Flame Apex Whip!" Zhong Liang exclaimed in amazement.

When the Flame Apex Whip was still three feet away from the Copper Corpse, a large amount of black corpse energy suddenly emanated from the four Copper Corpse.

Black corpse energy condensed in the air, transforming into a black light curtain that enveloped the entire platform.

"When!"

The whip's tail was sharp and diamond-shaped, like the head of a venomous snake, and it slammed into the light screen with a loud bang.

The light curtain remained completely undamaged.

The Flame Apex Whip returned empty-handed.

Miaofa narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "It seems that these four Copper Corpse have formed some kind of battle formation, which is difficult to break through."

Tang Fu asked, "What should we do then? If it comes to close combat, Master Miaofa, are you confident you can kill the enemy?"

Miaofa said, "If it were just one Copper Corpse, the combined strength of the four of us monks would be enough to handle it. But if we were to face four Copper Corpse at the same time, even the four of us would find it difficult to cope."

Zhong Liang said, "If we can devise a way to lure them down from the high platform one by one, the battle formation will break down on its own, and we can then attack them separately."

Tang Fu said worriedly, "If the battle formation breaks, they probably won't continue to guard the high platform. Facing four Copper Corpse at the same time, we might suffer considerable casualties."

A ruthless glint flashed in Zhong Liang's eyes. "Then we have no choice but to take a gamble."

"But how can we lure the Copper Corpse down from the high platform?" Tang Fu asked.

"Leave this to me."

To Tang Fu and Miaofa's surprise, Zhong Liang actually took on this most dangerous task.

Zhong Liang said to Miaofa, "After luring the Copper Corpse off the platform, Copper Corpse will surely relentlessly pursue me. At that time, I would appreciate it if the four eminent monks could help me stop the Copper Corpse."

Miaofa said, "That's natural, Benefactor Zhong, please rest assured."

Tang Fu chimed in, "Alliance Leader Zhong, rest assured, as long as you can lure out the Copper Corpse, my Tang Family, along with the four masters, will cover your retreat."

Zhong Liang clasped his hands in a fist salute, "Then I entrust my safety to you two."

After saying that, he walked alone towards the high platform.