Chapter 743 - 283: Farewell for Now, Until We Meet Again

Chapter 743: Chapter 283: Farewell for Now, Until We Meet Again

It had to be said, he was truly exceptional in the Array Dao.

As minuscule runes drifted from his fingertips one after another, they quickly formed a simple array on the spot.

Then came a second, and a third... nesting layer upon layer, he used his True Essence to construct an incredibly intricate and precise Grand Array right then and there.

The sight left Xiao Chen, who was watching from the side, speechless.

’No wonder he isn’t afraid of being watched. Very few people could ever learn this technique of the True Essence Transformation Array.’

’Let alone activating several thousand runes at once. You could watch him a hundred times and still not be able to learn it.’

But it didn’t matter. The stronger Zhang Shouquan’s mastery of arrays, the better their chances of sneaking in.

Everything went smoothly.

So after just a little over half an hour, Zhang Shouquan took the initiative to deactivate the Talisman Array.

He then immediately crafted two small Array Flags on the spot.

"Here, Xiao. With this, we can go right in."

Handing one of the Array Flags over, a trace of pride appeared in Zhang Shouquan’s eyes.

After all, this was his area of expertise.

The two of them carried the Array Flags past the buoy. As expected, their passage was unimpeded, and they didn’t arouse the suspicion of the Arhats above in the slightest.

They then proceeded along the seabed until they arrived beneath a deserted island that wasn’t marked on the map.

The further they went, the stranger Xiao Chen felt. According to his memory, this was the very same deserted island where Zhiyi Cave was located.

What was even more incredible was that after they reached the bottom...

...Zhang Shouquan actually took out another Compass and, fumbling around on the seabed, found a depression.

He then placed the Compass into the depression, which unexpectedly opened an underwater passage leading straight into the island’s interior!

His movements were so fluid, it was as if he were returning home.

They entered the narrow passage, followed its twists and turns, and emerged before a cave.

It was only then that Zhang Shouquan stopped, as if he had suddenly remembered something important.

He turned back to Xiao Chen and said, "Ah, Xiao, we can’t go any further!"

"There’s something very important that I’d completely forgotten about. I only just remembered it now that we’re here."

"To prevent others from taking the Spiritual Object, Emperor Daxuan set a special trap."

He pointed toward the empty cave ahead. "Don’t be fooled because it looks like there’s nothing up there."

"In reality, the entire cave is overflowing with Evil Qi that has accumulated for hundreds of thousands of years."

"Oh, right. Given your background, Xiao, you’re probably no stranger to Evil Qi, are you?"

Zhang Shouquan wasn’t being entirely truthful. He had deliberately waited until they reached this point to mention the Evil Qi.

Right now, he was standing at the very edge of the Evil Qi’s range.

If Xiao Chen decided to turn on him, he could immediately retreat inside and use it as a natural barrier to block his pursuit.

However, to avoid a complete falling out, and to prevent Xiao Chen from being accidentally harmed by the Evil Qi, which would make them enemies, Zhang Shouquan lied, claiming he had forgotten, and offered a kind reminder.

This way, if Xiao Chen didn’t want to get hurt, he would have to stay outside.

More importantly, this course of action left him with an escape route.

If he had immediately turned hostile using the Evil Qi as leverage, and what if—though the possibility was low—Xiao Chen, as a Hidden Sect Inheritor, possessed some Secret Techniques to resist the Evil Qi? Wouldn’t he have backed himself into a corner?

But by proactively warning him now, the situation was completely different.

If Xiao Chen truly wasn’t afraid of the Evil Qi, then Zhang Shouquan could just play it off as having a bad memory, one he had already remedied in time.

They could still search for the treasure together amicably, as if nothing had happened.

Having an appropriate strategy for both advancing and retreating—this was the survival dao of a Loose Cultivator.

"Is that so?"

Xiao Chen forced a surprised expression. "There’s Evil Qi in this cave? That’s... quite unexpected."

"But as for Evil Qi, I do know a little. I have some small understanding of it."

He held up his thumb and index finger, leaving just a sliver of space between them to show he didn’t know much.

’After all, my connection to Evil Qi is one of my more important secrets. It’s best not to be too conspicuous about it.’

’If word gets out, another manhunt like the one in the Jingkong Sea might happen all over again.’

However, when these words reached Zhang Shouquan’s ears, his heart jolted in alarm.

He quickly sought confirmation. "Is that right? Well, then it seems I don’t need to explain further."

"It’s just that the Immortal Dynasty’s Spiritual Object is hidden at the bottom of the cave. We need to go inside to find it, which means we have to pass through the Evil Qi."

"But I only brought one Protective Talisman with me... I don’t suppose you have a way to handle it, Xiao?"

"Or, you could wait here for a moment while I go down and retrieve it. We can split it afterward?"

However, under Zhang Shouquan’s expectant gaze, Xiao Chen just shook his head. "Nah, no need to go to all that trouble."

"What a coincidence. I just so happened to learn a method for warding off Evil Qi, so I can use it to protect myself."

"Let’s just go down and take a look together."

Strictly speaking, he did have a manual on a method to ward off Evil Qi—the very one he had just acquired from the new Relic.

Xiao Chen also noted that Zhang Shouquan had mentioned a Spiritual Object belonging to the ’Immortal Dynasty’.

He immediately recalled that back in the new Relic, the other man had gone off in a different direction.

It seemed very likely that was where he had obtained the clue related to the Spiritual Object.

’I can’t believe the Da Xuan Immortal Dynasty, just like the Moon Witch Race, also liked to use Evil Qi as a natural trap to stop outsiders from entering.’

’Or maybe, this is just a common practice among ancient powers?’