Chapter 398: Everyone Here’s a Smooth Talker

It had been exactly four hours since they entered the secret realm.

Wei Yuan currently had six people’s worth of supplies in his possession, and he was gathering more and more data from the surveillance stones he had scattered throughout the area. Aside from the Bao clansmen, he had already discovered five independent cultivators from the Eastern Sea, three people from the Qiongshan Immortal Island, five guest warriors belonging to the Bao Clan, and five juniors. However, he had only seen that eerie monk and no one else from the Exquisite Blossom Pure Land so far.

Wei Yuan had already explored a considerable portion of the terrain. At the moment, he was in the central region of the secret realm and gradually making his way deeper.

Wei Yuan paused briefly to first set up a feng shui array to further boost his fortune. Only then did he continue his way.

This time, he hadn’t gone far when he suddenly sensed something. He turned his head and saw a silver-gray beast crouching by the entrance, quietly watching him.

It was the Shadowless Flying Ferret!

Wei Yuan did not move immediately. The Shadowless Flying Ferret could slip into the void and traverse through the underground freely, instantly vanishing to a distance of several li. On the other hand, Wei Yuan had to dig his way through bit by bit to achieve the same thing.

Wei Yuan crouched down, took a delicate round orb, and gently placed it on the ground. He then procured a speck of the aura of the Langya Divine Tree and imbued the orb with it before slowly backing away.

The Shadowless Flying Ferret thrived on spirit qi and had a particular fondness for objects of the Metal element. Upon sensing the aura of the Langya Divine Tree, its nose twitched, and it extended a tiny paw, taking a step forward.

Wei Yuan sent a mental signal proposing an exchange, then waited for it to make a decision.

The Shadowless Flying Ferret only hesitated for a breath before waving its tiny paw and signaling Wei Yuan to step back a bit further—it didn’t feel safe with him so close.

Wei Yuan was surprised. He hadn’t expected this little creature to possess this much intelligence. He immediately stepped back a couple more zhang, and just then, the little ferret suddenly appeared above the orb in a flash. It inhaled the aura of the Langya Divine Tree in one gulp, and then exhaled a puff of white vapor.

However, the ferret didn’t leave after consuming the aura. Instead, it exhaled two more puffs f white vapor and then looked at Wei Yuan with pleading eyes.

Wei Yuan chuckled and released two more drops of the Langya Divine Tree’s aura.

The Shadowless Flying Ferret swallowed them in one gulp, satisfied, and vanished from where it stood—Wei Yuan hadn’t caught even a glimpse of how it had left.

Wei Yuan tensed inwardly. The Shadowless Flying Ferret’s escape technique was indeed formidable; had he not happened to have the spirit qi of a Metal-element immortal tree on hand to trade, catching it would have been a completely hopeless endeavor for him.

In any case, he had obtained a critical item, the Shadowless Flying Ferret’s aura. This meant that the crouching dragons and phoenix chicks once again had a chance to prove their worth. That’s right, there was now more than a pair of crouching dragons and phoenix chicks among the mortals, and the daring and ingenuity of their schemes had opened even Wei Yuan’s eyes.

Wei Yuan picked up the round orb from the ground. The sphere was none other than the Beast-Taming Immortal Heart developed by Trueman Chu He, and sure enough, it had a noticeable effect. It had brought Wei Yuan and the Shadowless Flying Ferret closer together.

The Shadowless Flying Ferret was pretty pleased itself. It hadn’t expected a two-legged creature to bring it an offering today, not to mention that the pleading sentiment emanating from the sphere was so sincere that it couldn’t help but feel pleased. Even better, when it casually spat out a few mouthfuls of saliva as a reward, the two-legged creature had been overjoyed.

Wei Yuan passed through the middle section of the secret realm and officially entered the deeper regions. Here, the environment had become noticeably more humid, and the air began to permeate with various foul, fishy odors. They had been left by the ferocious beasts that roamed this underground region to assert their sovereignty and mark their territory.

For now, Wei Yuan had no desire to provoke these beasts, so he suppressed his aura and cautiously skirted around the territories as he ventured deeper into the realm.

The terrain gradually sloped downward, and the moisture in the air grew increasingly dense. Small pools of water appeared frequently on the ground, some of them bottomless.

As Wei Yuan walked on, the view suddenly opened up before him, revealing an incredibly vast underground space. The dome of this space soared over 1,000 zhang above the ground, with numerous isolated mountains and sheer peaks dotting the landscape, separated by bottomless canyons.

This area did not exist on the map, so Wei Yuan scanned the entire space from left to right. In the Great Realm, the panoramic map expanded by over ten zhang just to display the newly added area.

Wei Yuan examined it a couple more times to fill in the topographical details of the region. He was just pondering his next move when a section of the map suddenly lit up, and an analysis indicated that this area likely contained a spirit vein.

The area wasn’t far ahead, so Wei Yuan broke into a run. He dared not fly recklessly within this open space. Most flying beasts possessed terrifyingly keen eyesight, and they were the bane of those like Wei Yuan who relied on concealing their presence to move stealthily.

Soon, Wei Yuan reached a rocky hill. He bent down, picked up a few stones, crushed them in his hand, and examined them closely. When he crushed one of the stones, several small blue particles that resembled stardust suddenly fell out.

Sure enough, there was a spirit ore deposit.

Wei Yuan made a mental note of this location, then continued exploring deeper into the area. Several li further on, he suddenly stopped, crouched down, and examined the marks left on a rock. He ran his finger across the surface and felt a slimy, sticky substance on his fingertip. Wei Yuan brought it to his nose and sniffed. There was a faint, bitter, fishy smell of seawater, but it was very subtle.

According to the materials he had studied before, these were signs of the Hlai’s activity. This slimy substance not only allowed the Hlai to move swiftly underwater, but also resisted mystic energy to a certain degree. Any Dao spell cast upon it would have their potency reduced by 30%.

Wei Yuan ventured another several dozen li deeper but did not discover any Hlai lair. On the other hand, the traces they had left behind had clearly increased. It seemed he wasn’t far away from their area of control.

The necessary elements were all in place. This was the ideal location to carry out his plan. Wei Yuan immediately returned to the spirit ore vein, summoned all dozen or so Dao Foundation warriors, and opened each of the storage artifacts one by one. After pouring out a large amount of materials and supplies, he set to work.

The warriors had already reviewed the blueprints, and each of them had a clearly defined role. They swiftly erected a series of fortifications and traps.

Moments later, a cultivator also entered this space. As this was an uncharted region not detailed on any map, he proceeded with great caution. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks upon spotting a tiny silver-gray figure atop a rugged rocky hill ahead.

It’s the Shadowless Flying Ferret!

Just as he was feeling pleasantly surprised, a large net suddenly sprang up from the ground and ensnared the creature in an instant! Immediately afterward, a cultivator disguised as a rock appeared, grabbed the net, and was about to leave.

There was no time to think. The cultivator raised his hand and pointed, causing a waterbolt[1] to descend from the sky and strike at his opponent. At the same time, he manifested his Avatar—it was a two-headed, two-clawed sea serpent.

The sea serpent continuously spewed waterbolts at the man, preventing him from escaping with the ferret. Meanwhile, the cultivator revealed himself as a member of Qiongshan Immortal Island, brandished his twin axes, and flew straight toward the rocky hill.

The cultivator carrying the ferret fought back with all his might, blocking attacks while retreating toward a cave at the hilltop. However, he immediately emerged out of the cave—clearly, it was a dead end.

The Qiongshan cultivator’s spirits soared. His speed increased by another third as he charged straight at his opponent!

But just then, a sudden stinging pain struck him from his side and behind! Startled, he spun around just in time to catch a flash of fire out of the corner of his eyes before an object hurtled toward him at an unimaginable speed. He twisted his body with all his might while barely managing to raise his giant axes to shield himself.

There was a deafening boom as the giant axes instantly erupted in a burst of light and turbulent energy. Cracks instantly appeared across the blades and flew out of his hands!

The Qiongshan cultivator, unable to withstand the immense force, was sent flying backward. Then came another deafening boom. This time, he could no longer make out the incoming object, and his protective mystic energy was only enough to deflect it slightly. In the next instant, his left shoulder exploded, and the arm was ripped from his body.

Right after that, flying swords shot out simultaneously from three different directions. By this point, the Qiongshan cultivator’s protective mystic energy had completely shattered, so he was riddled with holes in the blink of an eye.

Silence fell over the area. The cultivator who had been planning to flee set down his ferret and cautiously crept toward the cultivator’s corpse. Just then, a streak of light sliced through the air. The cultivator leaped backward suddenly, and three arrows instantly pierced the spot where he had been standing.

A cultivator stepped out of the shadows. He was dressed as an independent cultivator and wielding a longbow. He was wearing a serene and peaceful smile, but considering the setting, it only seemed indescribably eerie.

One after another, cultivators emerged from the darkness. Their attire varied, clearly indicating they belonged to different factions. There were even two wearing the colors of the Bao Clan. These cultivators said nothing, each wearing an eerie smile as they approached the fallen cultivator step by step.

It truly was an eerie scene. Fear flashed across the cultivator’s face as he slowly backed away, moving toward the webbed ferret.

Just then, a soft, melodious voice rang out, “The sea of suffering is boundless, turn back and you will find the shore. Please step away from my ferret, benefactor.”

Look at him talk! Hidden in the shadows, Wei Yuan suddenly felt a pang of irritation. He picked up a specially crafted gun-spear, loaded a projectile into it, inserted three powder sticks, and closed the bolt.

This gun was the mortals’ latest design, inspired partly by Xu Wenwu’s records but mostly by their own ingenuity. It was six chi long and featured a bolt mechanism. Firing required loading a projectile and powder sticks, with its destructive power determined by the number of powder sticks used.

The gun was immensely powerful; a single shot could injure an Avatar. After hearing the monk speak, Wei Yuan silently added another powder stick. Now, a single shot could severely wound an Avatar.

Once the gun was loaded, Wei Yuan silently pulled out a second gun and began loading it as well, followed by a third and a fourth.

As Wei Yuan lay waiting in his secret fort like a tiger, the monk finally came into view. Clad in a cyan monk’s robe, he possessed a dignified, jade-like bearing and looked exceptionally handsome.

Until the crouching dragons and phoenix chicks came up with a better plan, Wei Yuan’s primary solution to inflict sustained casualties was wielding more guns.

Just then another voice rang out—resonant and powerful, like the roar of ocean waves or a raging flood. “If you keep talking like that, then I’m not going to be sleepy anymore, monk.”

The monk turned, his expression growing a little more serious. He bowed respectfully as he greeted the newcomer, “It is you, Benefactor Zhao Fusheng. Could it be that you, too, have come for this poor monk’s ferret?”

Zhao Fusheng, who stood a full head taller than the average person, stepped forward and barked at the several Qiongshan cultivators standing beside the monk. “You bunch of good-for-nothings—get over here already!”

His voice boomed like thunder. A look of inner conflict temporarily flashed across the faces of the Qiongshan cultivators, but in the end, it was ultimately replaced by a serene and peaceful smile, and they remained standing where they were.

The monk said, “What happened yesterday is dead and gone. They share a destiny with the Buddha and have recently chosen to convert. Benefactor Zhao, you should show magnanimity and allow them to fulfill their destiny.”

A murderous glint flashed in Zhao Fusheng’s eyes as he sneered, “It’s not enough that you’ve stolen my ferret, you are setting your sights on my men as well?”

The monk replied, “The ferret is destined with me, and so are your men.”

“Does that mean I, too, are destined with you?”

“Benefactor Zhao, you are naturally dull-witted, and your spirit altar[2] is clouded by dust. You cannot attain enlightenment and are unfit to join my order. You share no destiny with the Buddha, so it would be best if you do not harbor such delusions.”

Zhao Fusheng laughed heartily and said, “You’re certainly a smooth talker, monk. Ordinary people probably really couldn’t do a thing to you. It’s just a pity your luck is bad enough to run into me, Zhao Fusheng! I don’t want the ferret, I only want to beat you down. Once I’ve taken you out, you androgynous demon, I will win whether I get the ferret or not!”

Zhao Fusheng then strode forward and threw a punch at the monk, bellowing, “I may not be able to solve the problem, but I can certainly solve you!”

Wei Yuan, hiding in the shadows, was so moved by Zhao Fusheng’s speech that he really wanted to join in on the pounding.

1. Yeeeeeeeeah it’s a waterbolt. I can’t quite imagine it in my head but it’s definitely not a mistake. ☜

2. It basically means mind, but just in case it’s an actual thing in the future.... ☜