Traces of Empty Cicada Wood

"Fellow Daoist Guo, I am about to withdraw the formation."

With those words, Xuan Ye struck several hand seals toward the formation disk. Instantly, the crimson protective barrier looming over the viper den dissolved into nothingness.

Song Wen waved his sleeve, and eight formation flags rose from the ground, flying back to his hand in flashes of light.

He immediately slapped a Swift Movement Talisman onto his body, turned around, and fled.

His divine sense severely depleted and his body weakened, Xuan Ye slapped one of the ghost-raising pouches at his waist. Five small ghosts with snow-white skin and garish, multicolored clothing leaped out.

The five small ghosts hoisted Xuan Ye upon their shoulders, conjuring gusts of freezing Yin wind as they sped closely behind Song Wen.

Their speed was incredible, and they soon overtook Song Wen.

Song Wen glanced back at the growing swarm of Black Vipers, which were closing the distance rapidly.

A mist of blood erupted from his body, causing his speed to surge drastically. In the blink of an eye, he overtook Xuan Ye once more.

An hour later, having finally shaken off the Black Vipers, Song Wen and Xuan Ye found a small cave to rest and recuperate.

"Fellow Daoist Guo, there are three Snake Scale Fruits in total. How do you propose we divide them?"

At some point, Xuan Ye had stopped addressing Song Wen as "Brother Guo Tao" and had switched to the more formal "Fellow Daoist Guo."

The Snake Scale Fruit could aid Qi Condensation cultivators in breaking through realms, making it a highly precious spiritual herb. More importantly, it was virtually non-existent on the open market; few would ever offer it for sale. Even if it did appear, it was usually bartered for rare spiritual materials.

For Song Wen, the Snake Scale Fruit was not an urgent necessity. Ever since he began his cultivation journey, every breakthrough had been seamless, and he had never faced a bottleneck that stalled him for long.

Nevertheless, now that the fruit was in hand, he naturally would not decline his share.

"Just give me one."

The Snake Scale Fruit was only effective upon initial consumption. Furthermore, Xuan Ye had exerted the greater effort during this excursion, so it was only right that he receive more.

Xuan Ye nodded, carefully placed one fruit into a prepared jade box, and handed it to Song Wen.

"This trip succeeded thanks to you, Fellow Daoist. Allow me to express my gratitude once more."

Song Wen replied, "Our arrangement is mutually beneficial; there is no need for thanks. However, do not forget your promise to accompany me to retrieve the Empty Cicada Wood."

"That goes without saying. Once I have recovered, we shall set out tomorrow."

The next day.

Song Wen and Xuan Ye returned to the cavern where they had parted ways with Zi Yi and Lao Chun, continuing deeper along the passageway.

After advancing several dozen li, Song Wen was surprised to discover an abundance of plant life within the depths of the cave.

Most of these plants grew in damp, dark corners, and some even emitted a faint, ethereal fluorescence.

Had it not been for the total absence of Spirit Qi within them, Song Wen might have suspected they were some manner of exotic spiritual medicine.

He marveled once more at the wonders of nature within the cultivation world. Perhaps this was one of the true charms of cultivation-it constantly allowed one to witness marvels far beyond the imagination of ordinary mortals.

As they walked, Song Wen suddenly halted.

"A short distance ahead, past the fork in the path, two people are hiding inside a small cave."

Xuan Ye was no longer astonished by Song Wen's absurdly powerful divine sense. He simply asked, "What sort of people?"

Song Wen's expression turned peculiar. "A man and a woman with very low cultivation. One is at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, and the other is at the third. The man is also injured."

For a pair at the third and fourth layers of Qi Condensation to dare venture into the subterranean caves of the Ancient Battlefield was well beyond Song Wen's expectations.

Xuan Ye, however, seemed entirely unfazed. "They were likely captured to serve as pathfinders."

The divine sense of a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator only extended to about a hundred meters. In these pitch-black, labyrinthine tunnels, such range was often insufficient. Consequently, some cultivators resorted to using living bait to scout ahead.

By leaving a tracking mark on them and seizing control over their lives, those wretched captives were left with absolutely no room for resistance.

Xuan Ye added, "Come, let us take a look."

Encountering weak, living cultivators in these depths gave Xuan Ye the idea to obtain some information.

The two quickly arrived at the small cave where the pair was hiding.

At the sudden appearance of Song Wen and Xuan Ye, the man panicked, immediately shielding the woman behind his back.

The man appeared to be in his forties, dressed in the typical attire of a rogue cultivator. A large chunk of flesh had been torn from his waist, but the wound had been bandaged and the bleeding stopped, suggesting some time had passed since the injury occurred.

The woman was in her early twenties, possessing an ordinary countenance.

"Who are you, and how did you come to be in these underground caves?" Xuan Ye demanded, his tone icy and devoid of any regard for their terror.

Terrified that a delayed response might offend the newcomers, the middle-aged man spoke in a frantic rush.

"We are father and daughter, rogue cultivators from the Tianyuan Market. We were captured by three late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators who held my daughter's life over my head, forcing me to venture deep into the caverns to scout the path for them."

The Tianyuan Market was a minor trading post established by rogue cultivators near the Ancient Battlefield.

"Then how did you escape?" Xuan Ye pressed.

"While I was scouting ahead, I suddenly came across a mountain of white bones dozens of meters high. At the very peak grew two spiritual trees that looked like pure white jade. The taller one was just over three feet high."

"Just as I was about to send word back to the three cultivators, two wraiths erupted from the bone pile. They were terrifyingly strong. The freezing gale they whipped up severely injured me instantly, throwing me against the stone wall, and I blacked out."

"When I finally came to after a short while, the wraiths were gone."

"Distraught over my daughter's safety, I rushed back. Yet, the three cultivators and my daughter-who should have been barely two hundred meters behind me-had vanished. There were only signs of a fierce battle left behind."

"I did not find my daughter's corpse, so holding onto a sliver of hope, I retraced my steps. I finally found her in this small cave. It turns out she seized the chance to flee while the three cultivators were locked in combat with the wraiths, narrowly escaping with her life."

The middle-aged man failed to notice that the moment he mentioned a "mountain of bones" and "jade-like spiritual trees," Song Wen and Xuan Ye quickly exchanged a knowing glance.

Those jade-like spiritual trees were precisely the objective of Song Wen's journey: the Empty Cicada Wood.

Through the man's recount, Song Wen also learned that the father and daughter were surnamed Liu-the father named Liu Qiao and the daughter named Liu Mu.

At the same time, Song Wen deduced that the three late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators had likely been defeated. If they had triumphed over the wraiths, they would have undoubtedly claimed the Empty Cicada Wood before leaving, yet Liu Qiao noted it was still there when he woke.

Song Wen scrutinized the pair but found nothing unusual about them. Their luck was simply bordering on the absurd; to cross paths with powerful wraiths and somehow both survive was a minor miracle.

Right then, one of the Beetle Gu scouting ahead suddenly transmitted a fresh pulse of information.

"Someone else is approaching," Song Wen announced.

He had not encountered a single soul since entering these depths, yet today he had run into two separate groups in rapid succession.

"Who is it?"

"Three people in total. Two of them are Zi Yi and Lao Chun. They are being followed by a male cultivator at the eighth layer of Qi Condensation, and his condition appears to be critical."

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