Treasure Hunting at White Bone Mountain

Upon arriving at the agreed-upon location, they found five people already gathered there, including Huang Tao.

"Brother Shen, you've arrived sooner than I expected," Huang Tao greeted him as he stepped forward.

"After all, it was Brother Huang who invited me to go treasure hunting, so how could I not hurry?"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Huang Tao introduced them, "These two are Rogue Cultivator Black Dragon Mountain, Wang Ziqi and Li Hua. They are dao companion and have the strength of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. They are the helpers I invited."

"Greetings, fellow Daoists." Shen Ge greeted them politely.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, you are too polite," Wang Ziqi replied with a cupped-hand salute.

Although the brief encounter didn't reveal much, at least the two people didn't leave Shen Ge with a bad impression, and that was enough.

"Those two over there are Yang Chong, my junior brother from the Extreme Shadow Sect, and Han Li, my close friend. They are both in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and they are indispensable to our treasure hunt."

"Of course, we'll still have to rely on you, Brother Shen. After all, we don't have anything particularly useful, so we hope you'll lend a Brother Shen when the time comes."

"That's only right."

After nodding to acknowledge each other, the group traveled together on their flying swords to White Bone Mountain.

At this time, White Bone Mountain was shrouded in thick fog. Although it was noon, the fog had not dissipated much, making it look very strange compared to the surrounding environment.

"This mist is produced by those Corpse Sha. Although it's not very poisonous, it's still best to be careful."

"I have some specially purchased Detoxification Pill here. If you don't mind, you can take them."

Shen Ge glanced at the Detoxification Pill in Huang Tao's hand. Although they looked, smelled, and were similar to Detoxification Pill pills, he didn't actually take many. Only his senior brother Yang Chong and his close friend Han Li took a few, Wang Ziqi and the other two didn't reach for any.

"We can't let Brother Huang spend so much money. My wife and I bought some Detoxification Pill at the market earlier."

Huang Tao smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Brother Ziqi is truly considerate of me."

He then turned to look at Shen Ge, paused for a moment, and put away the Detoxification Pill, saying with a smile, "Brother Shen, you have such a large and powerful family, could you save me the trouble of buying this Detoxification Pill?"

"Brother Huang, that's not very generous of you. A few Detoxification Pill only cost a few Spirit Stone," Shen Ge said with a smile. Then he added, "But since you've already asked, if I let you take them out, wouldn't outsiders think I'm greedy? Perfect, you can save those Spirit Stone."

"Brother Shen, your words make me sound petty," Huang Tao said with a smile.

After each person took the Detoxification Pill, Yang Chong led the group into the mist, where they soon encountered a group of five Corpse Sha.

Their faces were grotesque and their flesh was mangled, making them look almost like wild beasts. However, since everyone present was Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, none of them were afraid of such beings who lacked even basic reason.

Without saying a word, Yang Chong summoned his flying sword and killed all the Corpse Sha. Then he went up to the corpses, raised his hand and sucked on the holes in their foreheads. A white bead immediately floated out.

Shen Ge was slightly taken aback. For some reason, the situation before him gave him the feeling of fighting monsters and gathering materials.

Seeing Shen Ge looking somewhat dazed, Huang Tao assumed he didn't recognize the items and explained, "Brother Shen, these are corpse beads. They can be used to draw talismans, and some special formations also require them. However, these are only the lowest quality white ones; one is probably only worth two or three Spirit Stone."

Shen Ge chuckled lightly, turning his momentary daze into embarrassment at just the right moment, and said, "Brother Huang is truly knowledgeable. I've only learned about these things from books, and I haven't bothered to memorize them in detail. Besides, the Spirit Moon Sect doesn't have any actual examples of these things."

Li Hua pursed his lips slightly and said softly, "Brother Shen comes from a major sect. Strictly speaking, these things are a kind of evil artifact. They're just more popular among Rogue Cultivator. After all, normal materials are very scarce, so some people have thought of using these things to replace certain materials."

"Fellow Daoist Li is indeed very knowledgeable," Huang Tao casually complimented, making it sound neither deliberate nor insincere. He had mastered the art of subtly weaving in pleasantries into conversation.

Yang Chong retrieved the beads, turned around, and asked, "There are only three. Do you want them?"

The group shook their heads, indicating that they didn't need it. After all, Yang Chong had killed all of these people by himself, and they hadn't even had a chance to train their strength, so how could they accept the money?

"Senior brother, please accept these things. Let's not waste any more time."

The group continued on their way, dealing with the occasional Corpse Sha that appeared. Of course, the spoils were collected by the person who killed them.

These things can't even be called returning anything, and there's not even a need to divide them equally.

Shen Ge walked behind, playing with the two corpse beads in his hand, which he had obtained by killing seven Corpse Sha earlier.

Of course, he wasn't interested in the item itself, but rather it would be inappropriate for him to remain inactive while everyone else had already started.

After passing through the outermost area, the monsters inside became much stronger and more numerous, forcing everyone to work together to deal with them.

After summoning a golden sword stream through Hand Seals and annihilating the five Corpse Sha in front of him, Shen Ge breathed a sigh of relief and said, "These Corpse Sha are getting stronger and stronger. I really don't know what kind of monsters are inside, or whether we can handle them."

"The Corpse Sha here are only Qi Refining the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining, and the ones at the very back are probably at the Foundation Establishment Peak. They're nothing to the five of us." Huang Tao turned and replied, "At the Foundation Establishment stage, the difference between everyone isn't that great. Although a higher level means more spiritual power, fighting mainly depends on the various techniques and magical Law Artifact one has mastered. Only after reaching the Golden Core Stage will the gap between these minor realms widen significantly."

"Alright, stop chatting. Another group of ghosts is coming. Be careful, or your souls will be damaged." Yang Chong said coldly, interrupting their conversation.

"A ghost?"

After muttering something to himself, Shen Ge immediately had an idea, but he didn't openly go forward to verify it.

He stepped forward and lured the ghosts to the side, then immediately extended his own divine soul. The ghosts were initially confused, but Shen Ge quickly brought them under control.

Sure enough, his divine soul, which was even stronger than that of Foundation Establishment Peak, made controlling these Yin spirits a piece of cake.

This is all thanks to the Clear Heart Instruction; otherwise, Shen Ge's spiritual power wouldn't be so much higher than my own.

After confirming that it was feasible, Shen Ge killed the several ghosts without revealing his intentions.

Out of caution, Shen Ge didn't want to reveal this ability. Mainly, he believed that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and if he did, he would have to be the one to face the consequences.

It's too dangerous up ahead; it's much better to be able to adapt to changing circumstances from behind.