Chapter 73: Thrilling, Escape
Shang Mengchun led everyone to move forward along the gravel in the forest, sometimes drilling holes, sometimes climbing walls. Several practitioners had no dignity at all here.
Wei Zhong knocked on the rock next to him and found that it was as hard as iron. It was obviously a rock that was soaked in spiritual energy.
Looking at the huge rocks leaning against each other above his head, it was no wonder that Shang Mengchun led everyone to move forward along the gaps in the rocks.
If the balance of the rocks in the forest was broken, several people could get out with their own cultivation, but they would not be able to find the secret place.
"We will be there soon after climbing over this pile of rocks," Shang Mengchun said, pointing to the pile of rocks about nine feet high in front.
Everyone climbed over the pile of rocks step by step to avoid touching the gravel above their heads.
When they arrived at the top of the pile of rocks, Wei Zhong found a valley full of clouds and mist under his feet. Looking back, several people seemed to have come from the cracks of a mountain.
With the light above his head, Tan Bo asked: "Fellow Daoist Shang, can't we fly over from the top of the mountain on a magic weapon?"
At this moment, a scream came from the sky, and a group of fiery red crows flew over everyone's heads.
"If Fellow Daoist Tan has a way to deal with those blazing crows, it's not impossible."
The latter blushed and stopped talking.
According to Wei Zhong's observation, there were seven to eight second-level auras among the group of blazing crows just now. If everyone flew through this place, they would definitely meet them.
It can be said that it is unwise to fight with these crows in the air.
Shang Mengchun then flew into the clouds below with his flying sword, and the four people including Wei Zhong fell down with him.
After passing through the clouds, they found that the valley here was only more than ten feet deep. In front of everyone was a mountain gate composed of two half-broken pillars, followed by a long stone staircase extending into the air.
Shang Mengchun led everyone up the stairs, explaining as he walked:
"The clouds just now evolved for the protective formation of this place, and it was an illusion formation."
Wei Zhong looked forward at the stairs that were getting higher and higher, and nodded.
'No wonder there was no sign of getting out of the clouds after walking for so long. '
"There are not many stairs here, everyone be patient," Shang Mengchun pointed to the top of his head, "In addition, there is a ban on flying here, so you should not try to fly."
"Fellow Daoist Shang, even the ban at the mountain gate is still there. Is the formation really broken where the Xuanming Spirit Grass is located?"
Wei Zhong asked doubtfully.
At the same time, this remark also attracted the attention of several other people.
Lan Fangyi explained: "Fellow Daoist Song will know after crossing this step."
With some doubts, everyone stepped onto the highest point of the stone steps and passed through a gray-white film that blocked the spiritual consciousness.
Being able to see the scenery behind, Wei Zhong couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
Compared with the relatively intact steps of the mountain gate, this place looks extremely dilapidated.
It is not the decay of the years, but the dilapidated state caused by the battle.
The stone bricks on the ground were rolled up by an unknown attack and turned into scattered gravel. The hall in the distance was also cut in the middle, and the roof was blown off...
'What kind of big battle did this happen? '
A crow cried above everyone's head, and a group of blazing crows flew down from above and landed nearby.
"This group of blazing crows lives in the southeast corner of this ruins. Everyone, try not to alarm this monster."
"The Xuanming Spirit Grass is here, everyone, follow me."
Stepping on the gravel under their feet, everyone walked along a narrow path.
On both sides of the road, there were trees that Wei Zhong did not recognize. The drooping thin branches touched everyone's heads, and the green leaves exuded a unique fragrance.
There were also plants at the feet that squeezed out of the gravel and grew tenaciously upwards...
"The corner ahead is here," Lan Fangyi said after walking for a while.
After passing a tall dead tree, Wei Zhong finally saw the scene behind it.
The formation in the air was like a broken bowl, with only the pale green Xuanming spiritual grass exposed in the gap.
‘One, two... eleven, it really has more than ten nodes, and it is a well-deserved thousand-year spiritual grass. ’
Everyone also discovered this spiritual grass at the same time, and they couldn't help but get excited.
“Fellow Daoist Tan and I will start to break the formation now,” Shang Mengchun said to Tan Bo, and then turned to look at the others.
“I still need the help of two fellow Daoists to break the formation. In addition, the movement on the way may be a bit loud, so please help Fellow Daoist Xugu to guard the surroundings.”
“No problem,” Lan Fangyi took out a second-level breath-suppressing talisman after saying this, slapped it on himself, turned into a light smoke, and fled to the distance.
Although the other party was well hidden, it was still exposed under Wei Zhong’s consciousness.
‘However, it is still possible to hide from the spiritual beast with low intelligence. ’
Shang Mengchun took out three yellow formation flags, two of which were handed to Mou Yuanfeng and Wei Zhong respectively, and the other one was held in his own hand.
Then he looked at Tan Bo beside him: "Please show your true ability, fellow Daoist Tan. There are monsters invading nearby, and we don't have much time left."
Tan Bo nodded and took out a palm-sized tortoise shell from his sleeve. The tortoise shell was dark green with black runes painted on it. Obviously, this was his formation-breaking tool.
"Please help me, fellow Daoists."
"It should be so."
Just as Wei Zhong and others were discussing how to break the formation, the spirit monkeys in the autumn maple forest became lively.
Summoned by some unknown voice, they kept gathering in one place.
Four spirit monkeys with yellow eyebrows led the team, followed by countless white-browed red monkeys, jumping on the branches and approaching the stone forest behind the forest.
After a while, the monkey with golden eyebrows led the way, and hundreds of monkeys followed the route taken by Wei Zhong and others.
The leading monkey with golden eyebrows shrank his nose and mouth slightly, and followed the animal-repelling incense left on Wei Zhong and others to find the direction.
The group would never have thought that the animal-repelling incense specially made for this kind of monkey would become the guide incense for this special monkey.
The monkeys behind were slightly displeased with the smell left in the air, but they were quickly suppressed under the intimidation of the monkey with golden eyebrows.
In the end, hundreds of monkeys walked out of the stone forest and came to the valley.
Looking at the clouds below, the monkey with golden eyebrows roared and jumped down first, and the monkeys with yellow eyebrows and white eyebrows behind also fell into the clouds like dumplings.
Following the mountain gate steps that went straight into the sky in front, a group of monkeys, led by the monkey with golden eyebrows, marched along the stone steps.
······
Wei Zhong injected spiritual power into the formation chess in his hand. As Shang Mengchun inserted the main formation chess in his hand, a formation node made a "bang" sound and was instantly broken.
According to Wei Zhong's observation, Shang Mengchun's method of breaking the formation was to break the formation with the formation. He used the counting sticks in his hand to calculate the weaker nodes of the formation, and then used the three formation flags to destroy them by brute force.
On the other side, Tan Bo's method of breaking the formation seemed much more advanced.
The spiritual light on the tortoise shell magic weapon in his hand flickered. Every once in a while, he could accurately find the weakness of the formation, and then insert a few formation flags, inject a little spiritual power, and he could break a corner of the formation without the help of others.
'No wonder Lan Fangyi would find this person to cooperate. Although the other party has a bad temper, he is really good. '
After breaking a few nodes, Shang Mengchun in front of him began to scratch his head. It was obvious that relying on his knowledge of the formation was not enough to deal with it, or it would take time.
Lan Fangyi's voice came to everyone's ears: "Fellow Daoists, please take some time. There are already Fiery Crows approaching this side."
Shang Mengchun sighed and took out a small cone that was as long as a palm and as thick as a finger. It was the second-level forbidden cone he prepared.
He threw it into the formation in front of him, and the small cone immediately connected with the spiritual light of the formation, making a series of roaring sounds. A large number of formation nodes were broken.
Originally, the second-level forbidden cone could not have any effect on the fourth-level formation, but the formation in front of him was already broken for unknown reasons, revealing a large number of loopholes, so he made a breakthrough in one fell swoop.
As they got closer and closer to the spiritual herb, Wei Zhong suddenly felt that the breathing of several people was a little faster.
Thousand-year spiritual herbs are rarely seen even at auctions.
Not to mention the Xuanming spiritual herb used to refine the Dust-Reducing Pill.
Seeing this, Tan Bo was also anxious. He accidentally slipped his hand, and the spiritual light on the tortoise shell collided, and green smoke came out. Obviously, the divination failed this time.
Shang Mengchun, who had made a contribution with a forbidden cone, was in trouble again. The formation in front of him seemed to be more complicated.
Wei Zhong said helplessly: "Fellow Daoist Tan, why don't you cooperate with us to break the formation together? With your divination ability and your treasure for breaking the formation, the formation here should not be difficult for us."
Mou Yuanfeng also persuaded: "Fellow Daoist Song is right. If we continue like this, I am afraid that we will not be able to succeed until we are discovered by the group of blazing crows.
Why not work together and take this spiritual herb out and divide it together."
Tan Bo and Shang Mengchun also knew the pros and cons. They looked at each other for a moment and nodded.
After that, the two cooperated and the progress of breaking the formation was obviously faster. Occasionally, when two people were unable to handle the situation, Shang Mengchun would take out the Breaking Ban Cone to push forward...
"Three Taoist friends, something bad has happened. I don't know how that group of monkeys got here..."
The four people's faces changed drastically when they heard Lan Fangyi's voice transmission.
"How did that group of monkeys get here?"
The four people looked at each other, and even the movement of breaking the formation in their hands stopped for a while.
'Could it be that they followed the trajectory of the five of us? Impossible, how could ordinary monkeys have such ability? '
While hesitating, Lan Fangyi had already rushed over.
"Damn it, that group of monkeys alarmed the nearby Blazing Crows. How did you break the formation?"
The five people looked at the Xuanming Spirit Grass in the formation at the same time. At this moment, the spirit grass was only a short palm away from everyone, and there was a layer of colorful restrictions in between.
No matter how Ren Tanbo and Shang Mengchun studied, they could not find a way to break the formation. Even using the second-level Breaking Ban Cone had no effect at all.
"Roar!"
A beast roar instantly changed the faces of the five people.
Wei Zhong flew up to the sky and landed on a dead branch nearby. Looking from a distance, he saw densely packed spirit monkeys and blazing crows fighting.
A particularly strong spirit monkey grabbed the neck of the spirit crow beside him and broke it casually, and the latter's eyes suddenly lost their spirit.
Looking at the strong body of the spirit monkey and its unique golden eyebrows, Wei Zhong's face changed.
Then he said: "Oh no, it seems that there is a third-level spirit monkey."
As soon as these words came out, the four people changed their faces. After flying over to check, they knew that what Wei Zhong said was true.
Looking at the last layer of the five-color restriction, the unwillingness in the eyes of several people became more and more obvious.
"Roar!"
Hearing the roar of a beast, the ground under the feet of several people shook.
The spiritual sense explored and found that the blazing crow, which only existed at the second level, had fallen into a disadvantage under the attack of the third-level spirit monkey.
The golden-browed monkey had already torn a bloody path through the crows and was rushing towards the five people.
Seeing this, Wei Zhong sighed, raised his hand slightly, and a small golden cone appeared on his right palm.
"Third level forbidden cone!"
A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Shang Mengchun's face.
"Fellow Daoist Song has had a hard time hiding it from me. If we could have taken out this thing earlier, why would we have waited until now to break the formation?"
Wei Zhong shook his head: "This thing is my life-saving thing. It should not be used lightly. I hope all fellow Taoists will forgive me."
Then the golden cone in Wei Zhong's hand floated into the air, and an afterimage appeared, piercing the colorful spiritual light.
A layer of golden light escapes from the small cone and is immersed in the five-color restriction. The two merge with each other and then dissolve layer by layer, revealing a small gap.
Shang Mengchun planted his formation flag around the colorful ban at the right time, and with a bang, the ban was broken.
Then he grabbed the Xuanming Spirit Grass and put away the formation flag casually.
Everyone saw that there were no other spiritual herbs in the restriction, and a trace of disappointment flashed in their eyes. But when they saw the blurry shadow further behind, they were all startled.
There are other treasures in subsequent restrictions.
Seeing Shang Mengchun take the spiritual grass, several people looked overjoyed, but then they heard the roar of the beast getting closer and closer.
Lan Fangyi immediately said: "Everyone, the third-level monkey is coming, hurry up and leave."
After saying that, he pulled Shang Mengchun over and walked away along the way, as did Tan Bo and Mou Yuanfeng.
Wei Zhong listened to the roar that was getting closer and closer, and walked to the broken colorful restriction.
The eyes blessed by the spirit-seeking technique suddenly saw the black spiritual soil in a small pit emitting colorful spiritual light.
This small pit is exactly where the Xuanming Spirit Grass was located just now.
‘This spiritual soil is a treasure. ’
Wei Zhong gathered a large spiritual hand in his hand, grabbed a large handful of the black spiritual soil and stuffed it into the cave.
Then he followed the crowd and left.
"Hurry up!"
Everyone slid down the steps, and before they reached the mountain gate, they heard roars one after another.
"How can these monkeys block the door if they are so smart?" Lan Fangyi said with some annoyance.
"It was probably commanded by the third-level monkey," Wei Zhong turned to look at Shang Mengchun and asked, "Fellow Daoist Shang, will there be any restrictions after leaving this mountain gate?"
"That's not true. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Song?"
Wei Zhong nodded: "There are monkeys blocking the door, and the way we came here is no longer feasible. Why not just fly out of this valley and escape over the mountain peak."
The Blazing Crow was seriously harmed by the monkey, so he probably has no time left to take care of me. "
After hearing this, everyone nodded. After exiting the mountain gate formed by two remaining pillars, Wei Zhong casually killed the monkey that rushed towards him.
Seeing Tan Bo being entangled by a second-level monkey, he slapped the wine gourd on his waist and instantly shot out several golden swords from it, hitting the monkey's vitals.
The yellow-browed monkey sensed the danger and retreated to avoid it, but Tan Bo seized the opportunity and chopped off his head with a sword.
Putting away the monkey's body, Tan Bo followed Wei Zhong into the air on his flying sword.
He cupped his hands towards Wei Zhong and said, "Thank you so much, fellow Taoist Song."
Wei Zhong shook his head to indicate that he didn't need to be polite.
As several people ascended into the air, the monkeys below them could no longer threaten everyone, and even the Blazing Crow, which had been "patrolling" in the air, disappeared.
‘Finally safe’
Just when a few people were relaxing, the golden-browed red monkey had arrived and roared at the people in the sky.
Then he grabbed a rock the size of a human head from his hand. The red hair glowed with fire and clung to the rock. He immediately ignited it and threw it into the air.
The third-level spirit beast's strike was extremely fast. In just a blink of an eye, the stone was already in front of everyone.
Wei Zhong's expression changed drastically, because the blow was aimed at him.
[Time Taoism] is used to enter the later stage of foundation building.
The black water spirit clothes that had been attached to Wei Zhong's body were instantly extended outwards under the infusion of spiritual power in the later stage of foundation building. A shield made purely of spiritual power instantly appeared in front of Wei Zhong.
Time was running out, and when Wei Zhong made this move, the flaming stone hit the shield transformed by Heishui Lingyi.
Wei Zhong only felt a sudden force coming from him, and the water shield defense formed by the black water spirit clothes lasted only two breaths before suddenly breaking down.
One side of the spiritual shield took this opportunity to open in front of Wei Zhong, and the second-level robe on his body also activated at the same time.
The third-level monkey's blow continued unabated, hitting Wei Zhong's spiritual shield and robe, and smashed Wei Zhong's body into the mountain nearby, forming a depression several feet in size on the mountain wall.
"Fellow Daoist Song!"
Several people exclaimed and quickly approached Wei Zhong.
Wei Zhong pushed away the second-level spiritual shield that had been broken into several pieces and spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Song Zhong" appeared in front of everyone with his robes torn and in a state of embarrassment.
With no time to stop and rest, Wei Zhong hurriedly swallowed a spiritual elixir and flew back into the air with his magic sword.
"Walk!"
Seeing that Wei Zhong was safe, several people felt relieved and flew towards the top of the mountain together.
The golden-browed red monkey below saw the people getting further and further away. It hammered its chest angrily and roared. The surrounding monkeys were frightened by its power and lowered their heads.
"Fortunately, those third-level monkeys can't fly, otherwise we would be in danger," Lan Fangyi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the monkeys below did not chase him.
Looking at Wei Zhong aside, he sighed: "I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Song could actually receive a blow from a third-level monster. It's really eye-opening for me."
As soon as these words came out, the three people's attention immediately turned to Wei Zhong.
"Ahem!"
Wei Zhong spit out some blood and said, "I'm just lucky."
Immediately, the aura of cultivation in the middle stage of foundation building was slightly revealed.
Everyone looked surprised, but they knew better and didn't ask any more questions.
All casual cultivators would hide, and there were many who hid a small realm like "Song Zhong".
It was just that it was rare to be able to take the attack of a third-level monster in such a hurry, and not suffer much injury, and escape calmly.
Everyone climbed over the mountain and flew over the autumn maple forest.
Wei Zhong suddenly suggested: "The third-level spirit monkey and its monkeys and grandchildren went out. Can we take this opportunity to dig out its hometown?"
Several people looked at each other, nodded, and then flew to the forest below.
The two second-level spirit monkeys and some first-level spirit monkeys left behind could not resist the invasion of Wei Zhong's five foundation-building masters.
Two by two, they joined forces to kill the second-level spirit monkey, and the remaining first-level white-browed red monkeys fled instantly without their leader.
Several people searched its nest and harvested a lot of spiritual objects and spiritual stones, including several spiritual herbs over 500 years old.
Wei Zhong found a red spirit wine in a pool.
After tasting it, he found a cool feeling coming from his consciousness.
‘Is this a spirit wine for consciousness?’
At this thought, Wei Zhong was instantly excited. His “Warm Tears” spirit wine was at a bottleneck, and he didn’t expect to find a breakthrough opportunity here.
He fished out the residue from the bottom of the pool, which were all spirit objects used to brew this spirit wine.
As long as Wei Zhong went back and identified them one by one, combined with the spirit wine, there was a high probability that he could reverse the wine recipe.
He divided the spirit wine in this pool with several other people, and then thoroughly plundered the place, and then drove the flying sword away quickly.
After a long time, the golden-browed red monkey finally arrived, and when he saw the ruined gathering place, he immediately roared angrily.
When he entered the cave and saw the spirit wine pool with no drop left, he was even more furious and beat the surrounding rocks.
Wei Zhong would not know that this spiritual wine was used by this group of monkeys to open their minds, and it was the most precious thing for their tribe.
The five people flew back to the gathering place of the monks where the teleportation array was located on the flying sword, and then left without stopping.
······
The five people gathered again on the island in the lake.
The faces of the other four people were full of joy, only Wei Zhong's face was slightly pale and he coughed from time to time.
This trip was extremely smooth except for provoking the third-level monster. Not only did they successfully get the thousand-year-old spiritual medicine Xuanming grass, but they also plundered the tribe led by the third-level monster and made a lot of money.
"Fellow Daoist Song made the greatest contribution on this trip. How about letting fellow Daoist Song choose first?" Lan Fangyi said first.
"I have no objection."
······
Seeing that no one objected, Wei Zhong also spoke directly:
"I only want that Xuanming grass and some spiritual wine, and I won't take anything else."
This choice immediately made the four people entangled.
This thousand-year-old spiritual herb can be said to be the inducement for everyone to explore the secret place together, and it is also the most precious thing in this trip.
Even the collection of the third-level spiritual beast has no treasure comparable to it.
"Although Fellow Daoist Song has contributed the most, it is probably not enough to monopolize this thing," Tan Bo said, without any emotion in his words.
Obviously, Wei Zhong helped Fan escape from danger just now, which made him feel a little good.
The remaining Mou Yuanfeng, Shang Mengchun and Lan Fangyi also had this opinion.
"Then how about I add a bottle of top-grade Qi-combining pill for each of you Daoists?"
As a spiritual pill used by foundation-building cultivators, a bottle of top-grade Qi-combining pill requires at least 1,500 spiritual stones per bottle, and four bottles are 6,000.
As a thousand-year-old spiritual medicine, Xuanming grass is only worth about 15,000 spiritual stones at the auction.
The value of the four bottles of pills almost offsets half of it.
Wei Zhong's compensation is also full of sincerity.
Moreover, Xuanming Spiritual Herb is only one of the several thousand-year-old spiritual herbs needed to refine the Dust-Removing Pill, so the group had no intention of jointly refining the pill.
Instead of spending time collecting spiritual herbs, it would be better to improve their cultivation to the late stage of foundation building first.
"Then I will do as you say, fellow Daoist."