Seizing Treasure and Blocking the Entrance

Holding a golden wooden staff, Zhou Ning strolled leisurely into the cave.

Suddenly, everything went dark, and a pungent, earthy smell wafted over.

Zhou Ning activated his Spirit Eye Technique. From the outside, Dead Wood Ridge appeared short, but the air inside was quite vast. What came into view was a stone passageway that had collapsed halfway, about a hundred feet high.

Zhou Ning transmitted his voice, "Brother Zhuoran, the cave abode is so big, why not dig a tunnel in from somewhere else? I've heard that some cultivators are skilled in Earth Escape Technique allows one to escape through the ground)."

"Absolutely impossible. Look up there, it's covered in restrictions."

Zhou Ning looked up and, sure enough, the dome was covered with wood grain patterns, containing a kind of indescribable spiritual charm.

The other cultivators who entered the cave abode all flew deeper into it with their spiritual light shining through them, their faces filled with greed.

Zhou Ning could vaguely see that many stone chambers had been carved out on both sides of the passageway, arranged in a staggered and orderly manner.

Just as he was about to set off, a blue compass floated in front of him. "Brother Zhou, this is my family's ancestral Spirit-Seeking Compass. Follow the directions on it, and you will surely find the Calamity-Severing Grass."

"Done!" Zhou Ning's figure darted out.

For him, the treasures themselves were not important; his purpose in this trip was to find the herbs for the Sea-Filling Pill to help him break through to the Late Qi Refining.

As he moved forward, he glanced to both sides and saw that some stone chambers were faintly illuminated by spiritual light and had been occupied by the cultivators who had arrived earlier.

They even got into a fight over it, with precious light scattering everywhere and blood gushing from their mouths.

Even as Zhou Ning passed by, their eyes gleamed with menace. "Does the Buddhist disciple intend to compete with me for this fortuitous opportunity?"

Zhou Ning repeatedly said, "Amitabha."

The passageway branched off into numerous crisscrossing paths. Following the compass, Zhou Ning stepped into a narrow stone path overgrown with glowing moss and black vines, creating a gloomy and damp atmosphere.

With each breath, his golden fire Law Power circulated, annihilating the dampness.

"Brother Zhuoran, is this True Person's cave abode? It looks more like a dark, gloomy cave."

"That's how they all repair Yi Wood," He Zhuoran said, unsurprised.

Zhou Ning rushed along the winding stone path for several miles when the swaying needle on the compass suddenly stopped, pointing straight into the depths.

The Spiritual Qi grew denser, and the sound of water arose.

Zhou Ning emerged from the darkness, only to be suddenly greeted by a bright light.

Before them lay a large white cave, at the very center of which was a three-acre pool of water, its surface shrouded in ethereal white mist that condensed into a faint spiritual fog in mid-air.

Zhou Ning took a deep breath, feeling refreshed and warm in his Dantian.

He Zhuoran's trembling voice rang out. "Earth Spirit Milk! It's Earth Spirit Milk!"

"This is clearly a spiritual creature born from the Jia Wood element, how could it appear in the dark Yi Wood element? Is it yin on the outside and yang on the inside?"

"Brother Zhou, quickly cover the cave entrance! Hurry!" His tone was filled with immense joy.

It broke away from Zhou Ning on its own and moved towards the White Water Pool, its two golden eyes bulging as it gazed at the sky above the pool.

More than twenty stalactites hang from the cave ceiling, some so thick that three people could barely encircle them, others so slender that they are only the waist of a woman.

Zhou Ning was surprised and doubtful; this was the first time he had ever seen He Zhuoran so out of control!

His hands didn't stop moving as he took out the Illusory Light Formation Disk he had bought at Gazing Immortal Port.

The formation gathers Spiritual Qi, creating an illusion that is indistinguishable from the real thing.

It has no defensive function whatsoever.

Feeling uneasy, Zhou Ning conjured a large spiritual hand and dismantled several large rocks to solidify the ten-foot-high opening.

"Brother Zhuoran, the spiritual energy here is too strong; I'm afraid we can't hide for long."

Zhou Ning's expression turned solemn. "What kind of spiritual object is this Earth Spirit Milk?"

He gazed at the inverted, shimmering white stalactites, their semi-transparent tips each holding a drop of milky white liquid, slowly sinking into the white pool.

"Earth Spirit Milk is the main ingredient for refining the Origin-Restoring Pill. One Origin-Restoring Pill can fully restore the Immortal Foundation Law Power of Foundation Establishment cultivator, and it is also of great benefit to a Purple Mansion cultivator!"

"A top-grade spiritual item, second only to the Ten-Thousand-Year Spiritual Milk!"

As he spoke, He Zhuoran extended his body, transforming it into arms, and wrapped them around the spiritual milk in mid-air.

Zhou Ning 'Divine Sense stirred, and he warned, "There's something in the water!"

Suddenly, a small, milky-white dragon swam out of the pool. It had four claws and bright golden eyes.

He tilted his head back and spat out a stream of gray liquid, which shot out like an arrow and struck the golden light that He Zhuoran had transformed into.

With two "sizzling" sounds, the golden light instantly emitted bursts of green smoke, as if it were corroding something, looking very painful.

He Zhuoran let out a miserable groan, abruptly pulled back his body, and gritted his teeth.

"Spirit-Dwelling Flood Dragon, Brother Zhou, be careful!"

The little dragon flicked its tongue, swallowed the drop of spiritual milk, and swam back into the pool.

"Outrageous!" Zhou Ning roared, taking out a Fire Furuncle Fruit, intending to blow up the snake.

He Zhuoran quickly stopped him. "Wait, you won't kill it by blowing it up like that. This spirit creature is formed from the water of the spirit liquid pool, it will only anger it."

He Zhuoran comes from the Aristocratic Clan alchemists, and in terms of understanding various spiritual objects, he is second only to those major sects.

"Brother Zhou, I know a secret technique for refining Earth Spirit Milk. It can be extracted from the Spirit Milk Stone above. Let's refine it together and get rid of it completely!"

"Brother Zhuoran taught me."

Golden light drifted towards the stalactites at the edge, and a clear sound resounded:

"This technique is called the [Earth Marrow Fluid-Drawing Instruction], which draws out Yin and generates Yang, extracting marrow to produce fluids..."

There were still restrictions inside the cave abode. Zhou Ning activated two Body-Cleansing Talisman and mobilized all his Law Power before he could barely float.

No wonder there are very few cultivators flying in the entire Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven. Just floating requires all their strength, and flying into the sky would make them easy targets.

The technique wasn't difficult. Zhou Ning learned and practiced as he went, and in less than half an incense stick's time, he extracted a drop of Earth Spirit Milk from the stalactite.

He kept his Divine Sense fixed on the white pool below, ready to activate his supernatural Divine Ability [Immovable Mountain] at any moment.

Fortunately, the Spirit-Dwelling Flood Dragon showed no reaction even after the drop of spiritual milk fell into the jade bottle, which put his mind at ease.

"Could it be that it only makes a move when it's almost in the pool?"

Zhou Ning remained cautious and diligently refined the product. After half an hour, he became increasingly skilled and produced more than a dozen drops.

He Zhuoran had already taken half a bottle.

To maintain efficiency, he even removed the golden light that had been concealing him, transforming into a wisp of black smoke.

Just then, Zhou Ning noticed the array plate starting to flicker, and he exclaimed urgently:

"Oh no, someone's trying to break in!"

Upon hearing this, He Zhuoran was extremely anxious. Even disciples of the Treasure Sect would probably go crazy for this Earth Spirit Milk!

If I were to offer this to a cultivator in the Purple Mansion, I wonder how many rewards I would receive!

"One, two... a total of four cultivators..." Zhou Ning's expression was solemn. Although he cultivated a fifth-grade Cultivation Method, he was only a Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement cultivator.

There was a considerable gap between him and that Late Qi Refining cultivator.

Moreover, there are four people outside, and even if He Zhuoran were to join forces, they probably wouldn't be able to defeat them.

Judging from the demonic monk from before, one can roughly gauge his strength.

"There's no time! Brother Zhou, you go ahead and refine it. I'll hold them off!"

Black smoke billowed towards the cave entrance, and through some unknown Method Formula, its body gradually solidified before slamming into the cave abode.

It looked like a black cloth that had been forcibly covered up.

Zhou Ning: "Brother Zhuoran is so righteous!"

This guy really knows when to step up!

Zhou Ning didn't delay any longer and quickly activated his secret technique to accelerate the refining of the Earth Spirit Milk.

A loud explosion occurred outside, and the rammed stones were broken apart.

A voice rang out. "Fellow Daoists, this cursed place is protected by an array; it must contain treasures. Let's break it together!"

Then, a series of "crackling" sounds rang out as a bunch of Spirit Treasure Law Technique were all thrown at He Zhuoran.

Brother Zhuoran is a ruthless person. He hid in the Illusory Light Formation, disguised as a light shield of the array, and didn't utter a sound.

Zhou Ning extracted another drop of Earth Spirit Milk and happily put it into the jade bottle.

He continued to use his secret techniques, becoming increasingly adept at them.

"This formation is difficult to break! Our usual methods are ineffective; we need to use some real skills!"

"The stronger the formation, the higher the grade of the treasure."

Wu Daoqi smiled. Sure enough, those who have worshipped the Buddha are different!

He took out a square jade seal, the bottom of which was covered with dense barbs, and said:

"Look at this Splitting-Fang Nail Seal!"

Having said that, Wu Daoqi raised his hand and rammed the nail into the light shield, the tip of which pierced through, then hooked it tightly, scraping and tearing it violently.

Zhou Ning pulled away and saw He Zhuoran had transformed into a black cloth covering, writhing in pain.

His eye twitched, and he thought to himself, "Let's make things a little Zhuoran Brother Zhuoran!"