Chapter 1346
Snake Essence Flower, A Carefully Planned Scheme
"Tower of Babel"
Located in the northwest of the sixth level of the secret realm, several rogue cultivators at the Golden Core stage arrived together and landed in the air above a nearby yellow desert.
One of the women, a woman around thirty years old, glanced at the desert below and slowly asked the elderly man beside her:
"Fellow Daoist Wu, is this the place depicted on your map?"
The old man put away the jade slip in his hand and immediately nodded in response, "That's right, judging from the location, it's this desert."
Three hundred years ago, when the Tower of Babel opened for the last time, my friend found a Grade 3 superior snake essence flower in this vicinity.
According to him, there were several immature medicinal plants nearby at the time.
Now that so many years have passed, they should be ready to be harvested in most cases!
However, this desert is guarded by many Illusionary Sand Serpents. These demonic beasts are extremely skilled in illusion and disguise; even Golden Core cultivators can be fooled by them. Everyone must be careful.
"Don't worry, your friend could handle them all by himself back then. With so many of us joining forces today, what are we afraid of with just a few Phantom Sand Serpents?"
I didn't expect to encounter so many cultivators competing in this secret realm. I haven't found many good items yet.
If I can successfully find these few high-level Serpent Essence Flowers, then my trip will have been worthwhile.
"Hehe! Madam Lin is right. If the four of us join forces, we will definitely be fine this time, as long as we don't encounter monsters of level four or above."
However, there was one thing that Yun still had some doubts about.
Fellow Daoist Wu, what is the identity of your friend, and how would he know that such a remote place would have a high-level Serpent Essence Flower?
Why didn't he come with you when the Tower of Babel opened this time?
Upon hearing his fellow cultivator's question, the white-haired old man holding the jade slip suddenly changed his expression and looked at the other party with some vigilance.
"What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Yun? Do you doubt the origin of the jade slip in my possession?"
"Oh, Brother Wu, please don't misunderstand. I didn't mean that at all. I was just asking out of curiosity!"
After all, we have only known each other for a short time. I was worried that something might go wrong during the treasure hunt, so I asked you this question. I didn't mean to target you.
Fellow Daoist Li, you agree, right?
Seeing the white-haired old man's slight displeasure, the cultivator surnamed Yun smiled and shook his head, glancing at the white-robed man who had remained silent beside him as he spoke.
The Tower of Babel has been open for more than ten days, and the tower is filled with carnage. Many cultivators' original teams have been broken up and reorganized in the struggle for treasures.
Apart from the middle-aged woman and the white-haired old man, he and the man in white had joined the group halfway through.
Those who could survive in such a perilous "Tower of Babel" and venture deep into the dangerous sixth level were certainly not to be trifled with.
Even though they temporarily chose to cooperate in the treasure hunt, they all remained wary of their companions.
Seeing that the man surnamed Yun had steered the conversation toward him, the man in white nodded slightly, clearly understanding the other's confusion.
Seeing this, the middle-aged woman among the four immediately tried to smooth things over.
"Fellow Daoists, do not worry."
I actually know who this friend of Fellow Daoist Wu is, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with the jade slip he has.
To be honest, Fellow Daoist Wu did not come from a rogue cultivator background; he was originally from a sect in the Lieshan Kingdom.
This jade slip was left by one of Fellow Daoist Wu's fellow disciples.
As for why that person didn't come along, it's because he's no longer in this world, so naturally he couldn't be here.
"Oh! No wonder I felt that Fellow Daoist Wu's cultivation method was somewhat familiar along the way. It turns out that Fellow Daoist really is from Lieshan Kingdom."
It is said that during the internal strife within the Heavenly Pole Sect, a fellow Daoist defected and disappeared without a trace.
"Fellow Daoist Yun, our purpose in coming here is solely to cooperate in obtaining the treasure."
As for other people's private affairs, shouldn't we be more careful about asking questions?
Seeing that the cultivator surnamed Yun was about to reveal the other party's past, the middle-aged woman immediately interrupted him.
Seeing this, the man in white nodded and said, "Madam Lin is right. We should focus on getting the treasure and not waste time here."
"Alright!"
Seeing that the man in white didn't want to waste any more time, the cultivator surnamed Yun didn't say anything more.
However, his gaze toward the white-haired old man clearly held a hint of wariness, as if he were quite wary of this person.
After the four agreed on their terms, they split into two teams and began searching along the white desert.
About half an hour later, a beam of light suddenly appeared in the sky above the desert, instantly startling the middle-aged woman and the man surnamed Yun who were searching.
"It's Fellow Daoist Wu and his group; they must have found the Serpent Essence Flower!"
Upon realizing it was the pre-arranged signal, the two immediately turned and flew swiftly towards the location of the spiritual light.
As they approached the battlefield, they heard the sounds of fierce fighting coming from the desert ahead.
The old man surnamed Wu and the young man in white were surrounded by hundreds of yellow sand snakes and were desperately manipulating their magical artifacts to launch an attack.
Although the two elderly men surnamed Wu had both reached the late Golden Core stage in their cultivation.
However, the sand snakes surrounding them were equally powerful, with almost every one of them having a cultivation level above Foundation Establishment, and the two or three leading ones had already reached the Golden Core realm.
The hundreds of them huddled together and launched a coordinated attack, which caused them considerable trouble.
"Fellow Daoists, do not panic, we are here to help!"
After the middle-aged woman and the man surnamed Yun arrived at the battlefield, they immediately used their magical artifacts to join the battle and quickly helped them out of their predicament.
After the four joined forces, their strength quickly overwhelmed their opponents, and they forcefully defeated the sand snakes.
"Fellow Daoist Wu, are you alright?"
"No problem! These sand snakes are really formidable; they even knew to secretly set up an array to lure us here."
"If Fellow Daoist Li hadn't sensed the danger beforehand, the two of us might have actually been ambushed by them."
The old man surnamed Wu waved his hand, then immediately pointed in the direction the sand snakes had fled.
"Fellow Daoists, the location of the Serpent Essence Fruit is not far from the Sand Serpent's Nest; it should be just ahead."
"There's no time to lose, let's hurry and find the treasure, lest we attract other cultivators!"
"Okay! Let's all work together."
".
Urged on by the old man surnamed Wu, the four immediately activated their escape lights and followed the retreating sand snakes, continuing their pursuit deeper into the desert.
After chasing for more than ten miles, they soon arrived in front of a huge sand dune.
Before the group could get close, dark holes suddenly appeared in front of the sand dunes, and then countless sand snakes emerged from them.
"Everyone be careful, this should be the sand snake's lair!"
Seeing this, the group took out their magical weapons and killed the many sand snakes that surrounded them, scattering sand and gravel across the nearby sand dunes and revealing deep pits.
"boom!"
As the cultivator surnamed Yun struck the sand dune formation with his giant hammer, the sand dune in front of him caved in, revealing a huge sand pit tens of feet wide.
Several faint red lights flickered in and out of the sandpit, instantly attracting the attention of the four people present.
"It's a snake flower!"
"Haha, I didn't expect there to be so many mature Snake Essence Flowers here!"
".
The nearest cultivator surnamed Yun, upon seeing this scene, immediately activated his magic weapon and rushed towards the location of the sand pit.
Seeing this, the others also cast spells and followed.
Meanwhile, a number of sand snakes immediately surrounded them, trying to prevent them from getting close to the sand pit.
"boom!"
Another loud bang, and the man surnamed Yun was the first to rush to the middle of the sandpit.
After just one glance, he headed straight for the few "Snake Essence Flowers" closest to him, wanting to be the first to claim these high-level spiritual herbs.
Just as he arrived near the "Snake Essence Flower," he saw two beams of blood-red spiritual light suddenly shoot out from above the herb, heading straight for the man surnamed Yun.
"Oh no! It's an illusion."
Upon seeing this, the man surnamed Yun was startled and quickly activated his protective spiritual light to block the bloody light in front of him.
Before he could retreat, the "Snake Essence Flower" in front of him suddenly transformed into two ferocious golden sand snakes, their auras already reaching the Golden Core realm.
They bent their bodies into the shape of a longbow, like arrows aimed at their opponent.
It instantly pierced through the protective aura in front of the other party and bit into the man surnamed Yun.
"what."
The next moment, the seventh-level Golden Core cultivator screamed and fell from mid-air, quickly lying motionless on the ground, lifeless.
"Fellow Daoist Yun!"
Seeing this, the other three were also surprised and stopped to cast spells to protect themselves.
The man surnamed Yun was, after all, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. If he had been careful, he might have been able to see through the disguise of these golden sand snakes.
It was only because of the sudden appearance of many "Snake Yuan Flowers" that his greed swelled, which led him to make a mistake and fall into the other party's trap.
Seeing that there was no danger around, the old man surnamed Wu took the lead in activating his magic weapon and slashed at a "Snake Essence Flower" in front of him.
Before the sword light even arrived, the golden sand snake, which had transformed into a "snake flower," suddenly appeared and hid to the side.
These golden sand snakes are incredibly skilled at disguise, able to fool even Golden Core cultivators.
However, his ability in direct combat is only so-so, and he doesn't have many powerful supernatural abilities.
Despite their fierce resistance, the golden sand snakes were unable to withstand the combined attack of the three elders surnamed Wu and his companions and were strangled on the spot.
After only a few hours, most of the golden sand snakes near the sand pit had been killed by them.
The remaining few sand snakes scattered and disappeared without a trace.
After defeating their opponents, the three returned to the depths of the sandpit and quickly found several mature "Snake Essence Flowers" left inside.
Just as the man in white was about to step forward to pick the medicinal herbs, he suddenly stopped and looked surprised.
He raised his hand and shot out several sword beams, which pierced directly through the spiritual herbs in front of him.
The "Snake Essence Flowers" suddenly vanished before the three of them, leaving only some roots behind. They were actually fake medicinal herbs created by illusion.
"Huh! The Serpent Flower was just here a moment ago, what happened!"
".
During the battle, all three of them saw at least five or six mature spiritual herbs in the pit.
But in just a short while, these "snake flowers" mysteriously disappeared before their eyes.
Seeing this, the middle-aged woman and the elderly man surnamed Wu immediately looked at the white-robed man not far away. "Fellow Daoist Li, could it be that you secretly took the elixir just now?"
"We had already agreed to split the spiritual items equally, so what Fellow Daoist Li is doing is a bit too much!"
Seeing the two men casting wary glances at him, the man in white showed no sign of panic, clearly having already anticipated this outcome.
The four had previously agreed to search for treasure together, and the middle-aged woman and the elderly man surnamed Wu were clearly acquaintances.
Now that the man surnamed Yun has perished, he is left alone to face them, so it's only natural that they would suspect him first.
“Fellow Daoists, I, Li, have not touched these spiritual herbs, nor have I been in the vicinity.”
"You're accusing me without any evidence; what proof do you have?"
"evidence!"
"Hahaha, this is the Tower of Babel, don't you think it's a bit ridiculous to say that, fellow Daoist?"
If you know what's good for you, hand over the elixir quickly, and we might consider letting you go.
Otherwise, it will be too late to regret it later.
"Fellow Daoist Li, Fellow Daoist Wu and I have spent a lot of time planning this matter, and we have only managed to get here today."
If you have these few Snake Essence Flowers, please take them out.
Fellow Daoist Wu and I can pretend this never happened.
Although the middle-aged woman spoke in a softer tone, the magic weapon in her hand was already aimed at the man in white, ready to attack at any moment.
On the other side, an elderly man surnamed Wu was also manipulating two flying swords to surround his opponent.
Despite being attacked by the middle-aged woman and the elderly man surnamed Wu, the man in white showed no fear whatsoever.
He turned his head to look at the other side of the sand dune.
Amidst the somewhat surprised gazes of the middle-aged woman and the elderly man surnamed Wu, the man in white suddenly spoke loudly, facing the empty ground in front of him:
"Fellow Daoist Yun, you deliberately took the Serpent Essence Flower while we were away. You must have known them for a long time!"
"Huh!..."
"I have already mastered this secret technique, and it can usually fool even a Golden Core Peak cultivator. I didn't expect you to be able to detect it."
Fellow Daoist Li's supernatural abilities are truly unfathomable!
A surprised exclamation came from the ground, and a figure with a puzzled expression slowly emerged from the middle of the sand ahead.
This man was the same one surnamed Yun who had "unfortunately" perished at the hands of the Sand Serpent in the previous great battle.
After the other party appeared, he smiled and nodded slightly to the middle-aged woman and the old man surnamed Wu, clearly indicating that he had already colluded with them.
"Fellow Daoist Li, I have concealed myself well enough along the way, and there have been no slip-ups."
"May I ask when you discovered that we know each other?"
"You're right, I didn't notice anything unusual before."
"It was only because you, Fellow Daoist, had been so cautious along the way, yet you were caught completely off guard and so easily attacked by the sand snakes, that I sensed something was amiss."
"I see! I didn't notice you had your eye on me while we were fighting.
Upon hearing the white-robed man's explanation, the cultivator surnamed Yun nodded in sudden understanding.
"With the supernatural abilities of the three of you, even without me, you should have been able to deal with these sand snakes."
Li was still somewhat confused. Why had these three fellow Daoists gone to such lengths to set up this trap for him?
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Li is right. Our initial goal was indeed the Snake Essence Flower, not you."
It was only because I happened to meet a fellow Daoist on the road that I changed my mind and decided to bring you along.
These few Serpent Essence Flowers are indeed precious, but fellow Daoist, you are so young to have cultivated to the late stage of Golden Core, so your background must be quite impressive!
I suspect the contents of your storage bag are far more valuable than these spiritual items.
In response to the white-clad man's question, the middle-aged woman beside him immediately smiled and replied.
"Oh! Since the three of you know that I am someone important, you still dare to attack me!"
Aren't you afraid that someone might come after you later?
"Fellow Daoist Li, please rest assured. Once we've dealt with you and gotten out of the Tower of Babel, the three of us will immediately leave the Floating Cloud Mountains and head to other cultivation worlds."
From now on, no one in the entire Floating Cloud Mountain Range will be able to find our traces again.
No matter how powerful you are, you don't need to worry about these things.
“That’s right. The three of us have all reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm. These few Serpent Essence Flowers are far from enough to exchange for Nascent Soul spiritual items.”
Hopefully, Fellow Daoist Li won't let us down next!
"Haha, it's all for the sake of cultivating the Great Dao."
Fellow Daoist Li, blame yourself for being too careless.
As they spoke, the three of them surrounded the man in white, their eyes filled with greed.
Facing three opponents alone, the man in white looked at the three people who had surrounded him, and a look of seriousness flashed across his face.
Although he had encountered many dangers on his way into the Tower of Babel, this was the first time he had been so outmaneuvered.
Even though I was being careful enough, they still managed to target me and set this trap for me.
However, such a thing happening in the "Tower of Babel" secret realm is not too surprising; in the end, it was because I underestimated the other party's greed.
Seeing that the three men were already surrounding him, a cold glint flashed in the white-robed man's eyes.
"Since the three of you have such high expectations of me, I certainly cannot let you down!"
He raised his hand and summoned a crimson flying sword. The crimson flames above the sword instantly emitted powerful pressure, forcing back the three attackers.
"The Blazing Heart Sword!"
Upon seeing the powerful aura emanating from the magical artifact in the other party's hand, the man surnamed Yun's expression changed slightly.
"Could this be... a level four magic weapon?!"
"I knew this guy was a fat sheep, but I never expected he would actually have a level four magic weapon!"
"This person is no ordinary person; he must be a descendant of some Nascent Soul ancestor."
Now that we've offended him, we have no way out. We must all unite and not let him escape.
Upon hearing the middle-aged woman's reminder, a hint of murderous intent flashed in the eyes of Wu and Yun, who were standing nearby.
"kill!"
".
Half an hour later.
As the crimson flying sword streaked across the sky, a corpse cut in two fell directly from mid-air.
At this moment, only the man in white and the middle-aged woman remained in mid-air.
Presumably, the middle-aged woman and the man in white were already bleeding from multiple places, indicating that they were seriously injured.
Even when faced with the white-clad man in poor condition, the middle-aged woman still showed a hint of apprehension and stood still, not daring to approach him easily.
Seeing the other person's cold gaze fixed on her, the middle-aged woman immediately lost the courage to continue the fight and spoke directly to the distance:
"Fellow Daoist Li, please wait before you set off."
To be honest, I was also coerced into coming here by Old Ghost Wu.
This guy placed a restriction on me, and I was powerless to resist, so I had no choice but to obey him.
Wu Laogui killed my husband back then, and I have suffered countless humiliations by his side all these years. I have long hated him to the core.
"Today, fellow Daoist, you killed this old ghost, which can be considered as avenging my great grudge."
"I am willing to offer my storage bag to you, fellow Daoist, I only ask that you spare my life."
At this moment, the middle-aged woman had a pitiful look in her eyes.
The voice she spoke carried a hint of allure, making one feel a pang of pity in those who heard it.
After pleading for mercy a few times, before the man in white could respond, the middle-aged woman took out a "storage bag" from her waist and stepped forward to offer it to him.
Just as the middle-aged woman approached the man in white, several strange white beams of light suddenly shot out from the "storage bag" in her hand, heading straight for the man's eyes.
At that moment, a fierce glint flashed across her face.
Before the other party could react, the middle-aged woman activated the two flying swords in front of her, attacking the other party's neck from the left and right.
"Hahaha."
Just as the middle-aged woman was excited, thinking she could take the white-clothed man's head...
The next moment, what happened made his laughter stop abruptly.
The throwing knife she controlled had just pierced through the white-robed man's body when the figure who had been covering his eyes disappeared before her eyes, leaving only a golden talisman in its place.
Before she could figure out why, a cold voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Fellow Daoist, are you looking for me?"
".
Upon hearing that familiar voice, the middle-aged woman's expression changed, and she immediately turned around and desperately fled into the distance.
Before she could get very far, a crimson light caught up with her from behind.
Crimson flames shot through the air, instantly engulfing the middle-aged woman in flames. Filled with resentment, she fell from mid-air.
The man in white, who was in the distance, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this scene.
After a fierce battle, the white-robed man also found it extremely difficult to fight against three late-stage Golden Core experts of the same level.
At this moment, he was not only injured in many places, but also had little magic power left in his body.
Fortunately, thanks to the many powerful treasures and high-level talismans he possessed, he managed to defeat his opponents without any serious danger and did not let any of them escape.
Upon opening the captured "storage artifact," several crimson spiritual herbs immediately appeared before the white-robed man's eyes.
As he expected, all of these "Snake Yuan Flowers" were on the man surnamed Yun.
Besides, there were also many magical artifacts, spirit stones and other treasures scattered around, piled up like a mountain, which surprised him.
Among these spiritual objects, some clearly belonged to the three middle-aged women, while others did not seem to be theirs.
It seems that these people have set their sights on far more than just me after entering the secret realm.
Now they've all fallen into the hands of the man in white, which has given him a considerable advantage.
For the man in white, this could be considered a way to make up for the losses in this great battle.
".
After putting away the many spiritual items in his hands, the man in white was about to consume some pills to heal his injuries and restore his magical power.
Suddenly, he saw several streaks of light appear in the distance, rapidly approaching him.
Upon seeing this, Song Xinyuan's face immediately showed a hint of seriousness. (End of this chapter)