“Enough, spare me the nonsense. First, help me find that Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng. Once that’s done, we can deal with that brat, and you’ll have a physical body,” Xuan Gu’s voice turned cold as he interrupted.
“No problem! With our Soul-Searching Art, finding a spirit ginseng is as easy as snapping our fingers,” the man said disdainfully.
“Then let’s get to it!” With these words, Xuan Gu’s expression darkened as he flicked his sleeve downward.
Two slender streams of black energy shot out from his sleeves, disappearing into the ground upon contact without a trace. At the same time, an almost imperceptible green light flashed beneath Xuan Gu’s feet and vanished. Xuan Gu himself hovered in the low air, eyes closed and head bowed, his body completely still.
In the clearing, Han Li toyed with a yellow formation flag, his expression calm but his eyes flickering uncertainly, as if pondering something, a hint of hesitation hidden between his brows.
Suddenly, he raised his hand, and a yellow light flew out, the small flag in his hand firmly embedding itself into the ground.
“Although I can’t see anything wrong with this formation flag, did you really think I’d have no precautions?” Han Li murmured to himself, a cold smile playing on his lips.
Then, he reached into his storage bag and pulled out over a dozen nearly identical small yellow flags, each emanating a rich earthy spiritual energy.
Looking at these shimmering flags, a strange glint flashed across Han Li’s face.
…
Xuan Gu’s expression shifted slightly as he abruptly opened his eyes.
Two streams of black energy and one green light simultaneously shot out from the ground, flying back into Xuan Gu’s body.
“Found it. That Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng is quite good at hiding—it placed its main body in a crevice of a giant rock. If we hadn’t looked carefully, it would’ve been hard to spot,” the deep-voiced man said triumphantly in Xuan Gu’s mind.
“Good, as long as it’s found! Now, let me see if that brat has set up the formation flags and fallen into the trap. Be careful—don’t reveal yourself recklessly, or he might detect you,” Xuan Gu cautioned solemnly.
“Don’t worry. The transformation art I’m using is undetectable unless the opponent has the divine sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator. But if you fail to subdue him later, don’t expect me to step in and help! His Golden Lightning Bamboo is the bane of a formless vengeful spirit like me. I have no desire to be utterly annihilated by its evil-purifying divine lightning,” the man said, laying out his conditions bluntly.
“Hmph! Dealing with a mere early Core Formation junior, I won’t need your help. I wouldn’t make a move unless I was absolutely confident. And you needn’t fear the evil-purifying divine lightning. During our fight a few days ago, he had just used his Golden Lightning Bamboo flying swords. Even if there’s some residual divine lightning left in those treasures, it should’ve been exhausted when passing through the ghost mist. His Golden Lightning Bamboo flying swords are nothing to fear now. What worries me more are those gold-and-silver beetles he released during our battle. Despite my experience, I still have no idea what those insects are. That’s rather strange. Though I don’t know what kind of spirit insects they are, I suspect they’re far more formidable than ordinary ones,” Xuan Gu said indifferently.
“Oh! Without the evil-purifying divine lightning, he’s no threat. I’ll decide whether to intervene based on the situation,” the man replied, his tone noticeably relaxed.
Hearing this, Xuan Gu curled his lips slightly but said nothing more. Although he held a trace of the other’s life essence, he knew it wasn’t enough to fully control him. The man had immersed himself in ghostly arts for years and possessed even more advanced soul-manipulation techniques than Xuan Gu. It was possible he could break free, even if it cost him dearly. Xuan Gu had no intention of pushing him too far.
Xuan Gu glanced around, then transformed into a shadowy cloud and flew toward Han Li’s location.
A short while later, he found Han Li and descended.
The area was relatively flat but overgrown with wild grass, with a sparse grove of several dozen large trees standing behind it.
“Is everything set up?” Xuan Gu asked expressionlessly as soon as he materialized in front of Han Li.
“Of course! It’s right over there,” Han Li replied lazily, leaning against a tree and pointing behind him.
Xuan Gu focused his gaze and indeed detected strong fluctuations of earthy spiritual energy emanating from the grove behind Han Li.
Secretly pleased, Xuan Gu took out a jade box from his storage bag and opened it in front of Han Li.
“What is this?” As soon as the box was opened, an extremely foul odor assaulted their senses. Han Li immediately straightened up, held his breath, and took a few cautious steps back, eyeing Xuan Gu with suspicion.
“Don’t overthink it. This is the feces of a Musk Orchid Beast. Despite its unpleasant smell, it’s incredibly enticing to the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng. Once we place this inside the formation, the ginseng’s avatar will surely come searching for it. Once we capture the avatar, we can leisurely dig out the main body without fear of it transforming and escaping,” Xuan Gu explained, glancing sideways at Han Li, his expression unchanged.
“Musk Orchid Beast feces?” Han Li repeated, eyeing the jade box in Xuan Gu’s hand.
He could now see clearly that it was a thumb-sized, pale yellow lump emitting that overpowering stench. Han Li couldn’t help but feel astonished!
He was, of course, familiar with the “Musk Orchid Beast”—a peculiar spirit beast raised by cultivators, known for the strange fragrance emitted by the fiery red horn on its head, which had a calming effect on the mind and soul, making it highly popular among cultivators. But he never expected its feces to smell so repulsive, and that a spiritual entity like the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng would be attracted to it. Han Li was speechless.
However, after studying Xuan Gu’s impassive face, Han Li smiled and said, “Then please, Senior, place this inside the formation. I’ll go check the formation flags to ensure they’re properly set up. After that, I’ll stand guard here to capture the avatar. As for the main body of the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng, I’ll leave it to you to excavate.” With that, Han Li cupped his hands in a slight salute and walked into the grove behind him. Using some unknown method, he disappeared from sight moments later.
Xuan Gu was taken aback. He glanced at the grove brimming with earthy spiritual energy and frowned slightly.
After a moment’s hesitation, he flicked his wrist, and a black energy transformed into a strange serpent that carried the jade box straight into the center of the grove, placed it firmly on the ground, and then flew back.
Even after this, Han Li remained nowhere to be seen, causing a flicker of grim ruthlessness to cross Xuan Gu’s face. But he immediately took to the air without another word.
“What’s wrong? Scared of the trap you set with the formation flags?” the deep-voiced man’s mocking tone suddenly echoed in Xuan Gu’s mind.
“Better safe than sorry! I need to verify whether the formation is truly set up with the flags I gave him. Although the chance of him coincidentally having earth-attribute formation flags is minuscule, I’d rather not take the risk,” Xuan Gu replied nonchalantly.
“If you’d been this cautious back then, you wouldn’t have ended up in your current state. It seems that major setback taught you a valuable lesson, Brother Xuan Gu!” the man remarked with a tone of mock admiration.
Xuan Gu couldn’t tell whether the man was praising or ridiculing him. Annoyed, he snorted inwardly and ignored him.
Hovering in the air, Xuan Gu paused, splayed the fingers of his right hand, and produced another small yellow formation flag. It looked identical to the four he had given Han Li, except it was much shorter, appearing more compact and refined.
Xuan Gu examined the small flag solemnly and gave it a slight shake. Immediately, it emitted a faint yellow glow, spun once in his hand, and pointed directly toward the grove below.
Seeing this, Xuan Gu let out a long breath, a sinister smile curling on his lips. He put away the small flag, glanced in the direction of the formation, and flew straight toward a certain spot on the small stone mountain.
Meanwhile, Han Li finally reappeared in the grove.
Watching Xuan Gu’s retreating figure, a cold light flickered in his eyes. But after a moment’s thought, his figure blurred, and he vanished from the spot as if he had never been there, leaving behind only a breeze and withered grass.
The stench from the jade box grew increasingly potent, forcing Han Li, hidden atop a nearby tree, to furrow his brows and maintain sealed breathing.
As time passed, Han Li’s anxiety grew. They didn’t have much time left. If the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng didn’t take the bait soon, he would have no choice but to abandon the plan and return for now.
Just as Han Li was deep in thought, his expression shifted—his divine sense had detected something small entering the grove. Elated, Han Li suppressed all his aura, not even blinking as he stared fixedly at the jade box.
A yellow light flashed, and a wary-looking rabbit emerged on the grass outside the formation. The rabbit was snow-white all over, its blood-red eyes darting around nervously as it glanced left and right, appearing extremely timid.
Despite its caution, its pink nose twitched incessantly toward the jade box, its face occasionally revealing an utterly human-like expression of intoxicated delight.
What was an unbearable stench to Han Li seemed to be an absolute delight to this little creature.
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