Breaking the Formation
A thin red light shot out of the room at high speed. Lü Yang's expression changed slightly, and he quickly raised his hand to release a flame to block it.
"Sizzle~ Sizzle~"
With a sizzling sound of flames, a tiny insect, no bigger than a thumb, fell to the ground, its entire body charred black, but its original appearance was still vaguely discernible.
The insect resembled a praying mantis from the forest, its two cleaver-like forelegs gleaming with a cold light, appearing extremely sharp.
Shen Ge's expression changed slightly, and he said, "Never mind the bug, Brother Lü, go in and check if anything inside has been ruined."
Lü Yang snapped out of his daze and hurriedly entered the room. A glance around revealed a hint of disappointment in his eyes. The room looked like a pill refining room, with a Pill Furnace in the middle, but it was in a mess, with broken bottles and jars everywhere, and some sword and knife marks remaining on the surrounding walls.
He scanned the area with his divine sense and finally found two medicine bottles in a hidden corner. After drawing them out with his spiritual power, he opened the caps, and a medicinal fragrance spread out, filling the entire room in the blink of an eye.
Lü Yang's expression changed slightly, and he quickly put the bottle cap back in, preventing the medicinal fragrance from spreading.
Outside, an elderly man at the Golden Core stage twitched his nostrils, his face showing slight excitement as he exclaimed, "This medicinal fragrance... this medicinal fragrance... it's definitely a rank four or higher pill!"
As he finished speaking, his eyes gleamed with golden light, his greed undisguised.
Upon hearing about the fourth-grade pill, the others, who had initially intended to back down, all became interested, and several couldn't resist stepping forward, ready to make a move.
Shen Ge snorted coldly, unleashing his aura and activating the array. "What, you want to make a move? Then why don't you try!"
But it still didn't scare these people. After all, there were only three Early Golden Core Stage, and the dozen or so of them weren't afraid at all.
Just as Shen Ge thought a fight was about to break out, a white-haired man strolled over leisurely and said calmly, "What, you're attacking people from our Spirit Moon Sect? Aren't you planning to leave?"
The newcomer was Shangguan Ouyang, an elder of Azure Jade Peak. Although Shen Ge wasn't very familiar with him, they had met a few times and Shen Ge had a good impression of him.
"Shangguan Ouyang?" An old man in the Middle Golden Core Stage turned cold, but then put on a smiling face and said, "Not at all, Brother Ouyang, you jest. We certainly wouldn't dare to have any designs on the people of the Spirit Moon Sect. Please don't misunderstand, Brother Ouyang."
Ultimately, it was because there were quite a few people from the Spirit Moon Sect in this secret realm; otherwise, they wouldn't have compromised so easily.
Shen Ge nodded to Shangguan Ouyang as a token of his gratitude. Although he did not want to accept the help from the Spirit Moon Sect, he still had to express his thanks since they had already helped him.
Shangguan Ouyang smiled and pointed to the insect on the ground, saying, "Junior nephew, let me see that insect's corpse. I want to see if it's a spirit insect or something else."
"Martial Uncle Ouyang, you're too kind." Shen Ge waved his hand, and the insect's corpse floated towards Shangguan Ouyang.
Shangguan Ouyang took the insect and examined it carefully. His expression wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.
"Well, Martial Uncle Ouyang, have you figured anything out?"
Shangguan Ouyang shook his head and said, "I have some guesses, but no clues, so I can't be sure."
"In that case, I'll go and discuss with Elder Wang of the Formation Hall whether we can obtain a living creature for research."
After saying that, Shangguan Ouyang left with the insect corpse looking worried, no one knew what he was thinking about.
Shen Ge glanced at Lü Yang Lü Yang, who nodded in response, indicating that the place had been thoroughly searched.
Shen Ge nodded, and the group was about to leave and come back later when the old man who had previously reached the Golden Core stage stepped forward and stopped them.
"What, you still won't give up!" Li Xue snapped.
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding." The old man said with a smile, "Fellow Daoists, I am Qian Qianyuan, a Rogue Cultivator Qianyuan Mountain. The reason I stopped you three is not because I covet the pills you just obtained, but because I want to ask you three for help in breaking a formation."
"Don't worry, we won't let you three fellow cultivators work for nothing. You can choose one item from what you find inside."
As soon as he finished speaking, the people around him took a few steps, intentionally or unintentionally, blocking all of Shen Ge and his companions' escape routes. Clearly, they didn't intend to let Shen Ge and his group leave so easily. Although they couldn't forcibly take them, they could still ask them to help break the formation. After all, many of them had been inside for several days and hadn't gained anything yet.
Shen Ge glanced around at the people around him, his face immediately darkening. However, if they didn't get help in this situation, they definitely wouldn't be able to get out unless they were held out until the elders of the Spirit Moon Sect arrived.
But Shen Ge didn't want to accept any more favors from the Spirit Moon Sect, so he didn't say anything, but just looked at Li Xue beside him.
Li Xue remained expressionless. After a moment of tense silence, she nodded and said, "Fine, I can help you break the formation, but no matter how much is inside, we want 20% of it, otherwise, forget it."
"Alright." Qianyuan's old face beamed like a chrysanthemum. "You're the one who broke the formation, so taking 20% is only right. We absolutely won't compete with you for it."
"Alright, since it's settled, let's keep an eye on each other. If you dare not give it to me, then you can forget about it and wait for the major sects to take over this place."
"Don't worry, I vouch for you. Anyone who dares to steal your share will never leave this secret realm," Qianyuan assured, patting his chest. To be honest, his aged and solemn appearance did seem somewhat credible.
"Since we've agreed, let's disperse."
The group of people moved aside slightly, but didn't completely clear the way.
Li Xue didn't say anything, but walked a few steps to another door and started analyzing.
To be fair, the formations on these doors are all very similar, although their weaknesses are different. But with the experience from last time, Li Xue's analytical speed has improved.
After an incense stick had burned a while, Li Xue stepped forward and drew a dot on the door, saying, "Attack this point; that should break it."
"Alright, fellow Daoist, you rest. We'll take care of it." Qianyuan nodded, and the group stepped forward, each unleashing their own techniques to attack.
However, the array on the door shook for a while but was not broken, remaining weakly and firmly attached to the door.
Qianyuan's face darkened, and he said, "Fellow Daoist, you're not pointing fingers randomly, are you?"
Li Xue remained calm and said, "Isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to misinterpret this kind of formation from tens of thousands of years ago? Wait, let me observe it further."
Shen Ge remained expressionless, but inwardly he wondered whether Li Xue genuinely hadn't noticed or was deliberately pointing randomly. Regardless, they weren't going to put in any effort; let those people exhaust themselves.
Qianyuan's expression changed, but he ultimately stepped back, saying kindly, "Fellow Daoist, no rush. Take your time observing; we're not in a hurry."