With a thunderous boom!!!, the enormous nest exploded into pieces, sending stone chips flying. Dong Santong grabbed Li Xiaoya with one hand and shot out of the blast, landing in front of the cavern.
"Kakaka!!! So you really are here!" The strange cultivator with the huge nose and oversized head cackled, watching Dong Santong and Li Xiaoya with a smug expression.
"Who are you?" Dong Santong asked in surprise as he looked at the strange man, inwardly groaning. In his haste, he had barely recovered any magic power. Judging by this cultivator's peculiar appearance, and with Li Xiaoya weighing him down, fighting him now was clearly a terrible idea.
"Hehe! Who I am doesn't matter! What matters is that trading you in will earn me quite a few rewards! Sniff!!!" The big-nosed, big-headed cultivator sneered. As he spoke, he took a long sniff through his enormous nose, then suddenly said, "Looks like you're running low on magic power! Perfect!" Without wasting another word on Dong Santong, he rapidly formed hand seals. Dark green light blazed around both hands, and with a forceful point of his finger, a strangely shaped flying sword shot out. Black-green light flared in the air, and countless streams of dark-green gas suddenly gushed forth, gathering into a vast bank of dark green mist that swept toward Dong Santong.
A nauseating stench struck Dong Santong squarely in the face. This dark-green gas evidently possessed either deadly poison or some unusual corrosive power. He hurriedly enveloped himself in a gleaming white light barrier and shot upward, hastily calling, "Wait, fellow Daoist! Wait! If you let the two of us go, I'll give you more rewards than you can count!" All he could do now was stall for time and try to think of a way out.
"Rewards!" The