Strange Encounter in the Cave, Avoiding the Edge for Now

Through a passage only wide enough for two or three people, Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian entered a stone chamber.

Moonlight Stones embedded in the chamber walls provided illumination, allowing them to see the situation inside clearly.

At the center of the chamber, a skeleton sat upon a raised platform, looking eerie and terrifying.

In front of the skeleton stood a bluestone table, upon which sat three locked stone boxes.

In another corner of the chamber lay several hundred thousand glittering gold coins, along with other rare valuables.

Xiao Yan did not linger on the gold coins. Instead, he looked toward another corner of the chamber.

There was a small medicinal field there, planted with rows of herbs. With a casual glance, Xiao Yan spotted many rare medicinal ingredients.

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up as he quickly walked over. Xiao Yi Xian moved almost in step with him, clearly understanding the value of these herbs as well.

Standing beside the small medicinal field, the two exchanged a glance. Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Half each. No objections, right?"

Xiao Yi Xian gazed longingly at the herbs, wishing she could claim them all for herself, but she knew that was impossible.

She could only nod and agree.

She took out a medicinal hoe and several jade boxes. Each time she dug up an herb, she carefully placed it into a jade box for storage.

Seeing Xiao Yi Xian begin harvesting the herbs, Xiao Yan walked over to the bluestone table and examined the three locked stone boxes.

He searched for the keys and soon found three black keys in the skeleton's right palm.

Xiao Yan stepped forward and took the keys. As he turned around, his expression froze. His soul perception detected an unusual fluctuation inside the skeleton's right thumb.

He reached out and touched the skeleton's thumb. To his surprise, it snapped open, revealing a small scroll inside.

Xiao Yan's heart stirred. He pulled out the small scroll and, without even looking at it, tossed it into his Storage Ring.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to the bluestone table and casually inserted one key into a stone box.

With a click, the stone box opened.

Xiao Yan took a step back and sent out a gust of wind from his right hand, flipping open the lid. Only after seeing that there were no traps did he step forward with relief.

Inside was a colorful book, bearing four large words: Seven-Colored Poison Scripture.

At that moment, a slender little hand snatched away the colorful book.

"I want this."

Xiao Yi Xian hugged the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture to her chest, her beautiful eyes pleading as she looked at Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan said calmly, "You can have that. Then the contents of the other two stone boxes belong to me."

The Seven-Colored Poison Scripture was a book specifically for concocting poisons, something generally only physicians would need.

Xiao Yan was a noble alchemist. To him, the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture was useless.

Xiao Yi Xian looked at the other two stone boxes, then at the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture in her hands. She bit her rosy lips and looked at the youth with some resentment.

Seeing that the youth remained unmoved, she could only nod in the end.

Damn bastard. If he hadn't discovered the cave's secret, all of this would have been mine.

Xiao Yi Xian cursed inwardly as she tossed a Storage Ring to Xiao Yan.

"This is your share of the herbs."

Xiao Yan caught the Storage Ring and sent Dou Qi into it. He immediately knew how many herbs were inside.

"You did well. You didn't take any extra herbs."

Xiao Yan said with a smile.

Xiao Yi Xian rolled her beautiful eyes at him. "Hurry up and open those two stone boxes. Let's see what's inside."

Although the contents had nothing to do with her, everyone was curious by nature.

Xiao Yan took out a black key, inserted it into the lock, and twisted it, but it did not open.

He then took out the last black key and inserted it into the lock. With a click, it opened.

Xiao Yan let out a soft breath and lifted the lid expectantly.

"Another scroll?"

He took out the scroll. On its side was a line of small words: "High-Level Xuan Tier Flight Dou Technique—Purple Cloud Wings."

"A rare flight Dou Technique!"

Xiao Yan's eyes widened as he spoke in surprise.

"A flight Dou Technique? What is that?"

It was Xiao Yi Xian's first time hearing of a flight Dou Technique, and she was somewhat puzzled. She had heard of offensive Dou Techniques, defensive Dou Techniques, movement Dou Techniques, and so on, but this was the first time she had heard of a flight Dou Technique.

"A flight Dou Technique, as the name suggests, is a Dou Technique that allows people to fly through the air."

Xiao Yan explained. Yao Lao had often taught him knowledge about cultivation, which was how he had learned of flight Dou Techniques.

"A Dou Technique that lets people fly through the air? That's unbelievable."

Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face was filled with shock, her rosy lips slightly parted.

On the Dou Qi Continent, only experts at the Dou Ling level or above could possibly fly over short distances. Dou Wang and Dou Emperor experts, however, could condense energy wings behind their backs with released Dou Qi and fly.

Humans naturally had an intense desire to fly. Being able to fly meant breaking free from the earth's restraints, granting one the carefree freedom to roam between heaven and earth.

Naturally, a Dou Technique that allowed someone to master flight at a low realm was extraordinarily rare.

Xiao Yan contentedly put the scroll into his Storage Ring. Xiao Yi Xian pouted her rosy lips, gazing regretfully at the flight Dou Technique as it disappeared.

"There's still one left. Hurry and open it. We've been gone for a long time; it's time to go back."

Xiao Yi Xian urged him.

Xiao Yan walked toward the final stone box with a broad smile. Just as he was about to open it, his body stiffened and his expression changed slightly.

"Someone's coming!"

"What? Why are you looking at me? I wasn't the one who called them here."

Xiao Yi Xian was startled. Seeing Xiao Yan looking at her suspiciously, she hurriedly explained herself and distanced herself from any suspicion.

Xiao Yan frowned tightly and lowered his head, urgently trying to insert the key into the lock, but in his nervousness, he could not get it in.

He tried to put the stone box into his Storage Ring, only to discover that it was stuck to the bluestone table and could not be stored.

Hearing the footsteps draw closer and closer, Xiao Yan cursed under his breath. He could only put the black keys into his ring before looking grimly toward the passage entrance.

"Hehe, Xiao Yi Xian, thank you for leading the way. It seems the information I received was indeed correct!"

More than a dozen figures slowly emerged from the passage, and a familiar, smug laugh echoed through the stone chamber.

"Mu Li!"

Hearing that voice, Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face froze. From his words, it seemed he also knew of this cave's existence.

But she had only discovered this cave by chance while gathering herbs. How had he learned about it?

She had only mentioned discovering the cave to her assistant. Thinking of this, she suddenly looked at Mu Li.

The latter shrugged. "You guessed right. I learned about the cave from that woman, so I kept watching your movements and followed you here."

Mu Li waved his hand, and four or five mercenaries blocked the stone chamber's only entrance and exit.

"Hand over everything you obtained, or don't blame me for being rude."

Mu Li swiftly swept his gaze over the stone cave. When he saw the large amount of gold coins in the corner, greed appeared in his eyes.

Then he saw the completely harvested medicinal field and the two empty stone boxes on the bluestone table. Clearly, those items had been even more valuable.

How could they possibly hand over something already in their hands? Xiao Yan's face turned cold as he rapidly weighed his options.

The dozen or so mercenaries were all around four-star or five-star Dou Zhe, while Mu Li himself was a six-star Dou Zhe.

If he were alone, Xiao Yan was confident he could kill his way out. But with Xiao Yi Xian holding him back, he could only avoid the edge for now.

As for abandoning Xiao Yi Xian, Xiao Yan had never considered it.

At that moment, the right hand Xiao Yan held behind his back was grasped by a soft little hand, and something seemed to be slipped into it.

"This is the sleeping powder from earlier."

At some point, Xiao Yi Xian had moved close to Xiao Yan. Her rosy lips breathed lightly beside his ear as she spoke in a faint voice.

Xiao Yan nodded imperceptibly and whispered, "Stay close to me later!"

"Do it. Kill that brat, but be careful not to hurt Xiao Yi Xian."

Seeing the two pressed so closely together, anger flashed in Mu Li's eyes. He waved his hand and shouted coldly.

Xiao Yan's gaze rapidly swept across the stone chamber walls, memorizing the locations of three Moonlight Stones.

He circulated his Dou Qi and used Suction Palm on one of the Moonlight Stones. The stone instantly tore free from the wall and flew into Xiao Yan's palm, after which he stored it in his ring.

With one Moonlight Stone gone, the stone chamber immediately grew dimmer.

At that moment, four or five mercenaries charged toward them.