Chapter 370 - 365: This Venerable One Can Let You Leave Alive

Du Youqian naturally wouldn’t get hostile and attack over a single sentence. If he did, what would be the point of hiding his Cultivation for this trip?

If he wasn’t outwardly displaying a mere Core Formation Early Stage Cultivation, this Kun Cultivator might not have dared to provoke him, and those other Cultivators might not have dared to mock him.

When you’re fishing, you have to be patient.

If he blew his cover over a single sentence, wouldn’t that just be foolish?

Seeing that she had scared Du Youqian away with a single sentence, the Kun Cultivator became smug and even threw in a few sarcastic remarks.

Du Youqian wasn’t annoyed. He just silently observed her attire, calculated her net worth, and estimated how much Spiritual Jade he could make from looting her corpse.

In fact, his Puppetry Art was already at Tier Three, allowing him to refine the corpses of Core Formation Cultivators into Puppets.

However, unless it was a Body Refining Cultivator, a corpse’s strength would drop significantly after being refined into a Puppet. The process was also very troublesome, so there was no need to do it.

After sizing up the Kun Cultivator for a moment, Du Youqian shook his head. ’She’s not particularly beautiful, nor is she a Body Refiner.’

’Forget it. I’m still too kind-hearted. I’ll just let her rest in peace. I really can’t be bothered to refine a corpse like this into a Puppet.’

Just then, a violent fluctuation emanated from not far away.

Although it was beyond the detection range of most ordinary Core Formation Early Stage Cultivators’ Divine Sense, Middle and Late Stage Cultivators could still sense it.

A sweep of their Divine Sense revealed that Su Miao Master’s Cave Mansion had appeared.

Everyone immediately flew toward the Cave Mansion. Some wielded Treasures, some rode on large Flying Boat-type Flying Treasures, and others used Secret Techniques to fly, each displaying their own methods.

Du Youqian also headed over at a relatively high speed.

He didn’t want to be in the first group to enter the Cave Mansion, nor did he want to wait until the very end.

The number of Cultivators around was now clearly much greater than the forty-three groups. He guessed that some Cultivators hadn’t bought a key at all and were simply planning to wait by the Cave Mansion to kill people and steal their keys.

In the Human World, especially among the Cultivators of the Endless Desert Sea, everyone loved to fight and kill.

It was different from Momenan.

When Du Youqian was in Momenan, he rarely had a chance to make a move.

Everyone was all peace and harmony—live and let live. If you could settle things with words, you didn’t fight. If you could reconcile, you didn’t even argue.

What was the point of all the fighting? Immortal Cultivating was about mastering social graces and worldly wisdom, not about fighting and killing.

But here in the Human World, Cultivators were more likely to fight and kill over the most trivial profits.

This was something Du Youqian couldn’t understand for the life of him.

The resources in the Human World were clearly far more abundant than in Momenan!

Even the Endless Desert, a resource-poor region, still had plenty of Spiritual Qi.

’Wouldn’t it be better if everyone just focused on their own Cultivation?’

’Why all the fighting and killing?’

He couldn’t figure it out, but he had no choice but to do as the locals do.

Question: When someone is trying to kill you and steal your Treasure, what should you do?

A. Reason with them. Tell them that what they’re doing is wrong and that this kind of zero-sum game is harmful to the Cultivation Realm.

B. Hand over the Treasure to avoid conflict.

C. You don’t want to hand over the Treasure, but you also don’t want to fight, so you run away.

D. None of the above.

In the Human World, the only correct course of action is to kill the other person before they can make a move.

That way, no one will be left to steal your Treasure.

Du Youqian didn’t want to stand out too much today. Even if he were to go on a killing spree, he would wait until after he had obtained the Inheritance that could help Sha You’s Split-Ear Sand Fox evolve its bloodline.

So when he arrived next to the Cave Mansion, he didn’t rush in, planning to enter during the middle wave of people.

Su Miao Master’s Cave Mansion hadn’t fully emerged from the ground.

All that was exposed above the sand was a small Oasis.

However, Du Youqian scanned it with his Divine Sense. Although he couldn’t penetrate the interior of the Cave Mansion, he could roughly determine its size, the location of the exit, and so on.

This underground Cave Mansion occupied an enormous area.

It was about one-tenth the size of the Holy Blood Sect.

One had to remember, the Holy Blood Sect housed the Cave Mansions of dozens of Core Formation Masters and over a thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Furthermore, according to the information provided by the Qingxu Commerce Association and the news Sha You had gathered, this Su Miao Master was no Array expert.

Even if she had spent a fortune hiring someone to build a defensive Grand Array and various intricate trap Arrays, she had been dead for so long that the Arrays had likely lost most of their power.

’So after I enter the Cave Mansion, I shouldn’t hesitate or be too cautious. I’ll just charge directly to the place most likely to hide the Dao Soldiers and Beast Taming Art Inheritances and snatch them.’

’Then, depending on the situation, I’ll either try to obtain other Inheritances or find the people who mocked me and gave me malicious looks earlier and politely send them off to their next lives, one by one.’

Even if he was a bit reckless, Du Youqian figured it wouldn’t be a problem.

After all, Su Miao Master was only a Nascent Soul... and she had been dead for several thousand years.

If this were the Cave Mansion of a Divinity Transformation True Monarch, Du Youqian would naturally be extremely cautious, lying low when necessary.

After a dozen or so streaks of light entered the Cave Mansion, Du Youqian stopped waiting and charged in as well.

As for Kang Yinghe, he didn’t have a key, so he was naturally waiting in place to provide support. In any case, Du Youqian had promised him sufficient benefits.

Upon entering the Cave Mansion, he felt a slight dizziness and a sensation of being teleported.

Du Youqian composed himself and found that he was in a small courtyard. There were no other Cultivators around; everyone had probably been teleported to a different location.

He looked around for a moment. The courtyard contained long-dead trees, low and elegant buildings, a small pond with a rockery, and a pavilion.

This must have once been a place full of charm.

But now, withered leaves covered the ground, and the pond was filled with stagnant water.

Time is always so merciless.

Du Youqian didn’t act rashly. Instead, he first released his Divine Sense to scout the surroundings, ready to activate his Defensive Divine Abilities at a moment’s notice to guard against sneak attacks.

Then he began to carefully sense the layout of the Cave Mansion, as well as its various Arrays and mechanisms.

Speaking of which, ever since he began Immortal Cultivating, he had always looked forward to exploring Secret Realms, the Cave Mansions of predecessors, and the like.

After all, back on Earth, he had read so many web novels where the protagonist always managed to gain sufficient benefits from Secret Realms and Cave Mansions.

Yet, he had already been reincarnated several times, and this was only his second time exploring a predecessor’s Cave Mansion.

The first time, he had gone with the owner of the Cave Mansion, so there was no challenge at all. He hadn’t found anything particularly exciting in there at the time, either.

’Hopefully, my luck will be a bit better on this second Cave Mansion exploration.’

There must be an Array in the Cave Mansion restricting Divine Sense, as the range of Du Youqian’s Divine Sense was reduced by more than half.

After sensing for a while, he discovered signs of life in one direction, along with living animals and Demon Beasts.

’The Inheritances for the Beast Taming Art and the Daoist Soldier Technique are likely over there.’

Without further hesitation, he immediately sprinted in that direction.

Of course, he couldn’t use Sword Control, lest he become a living target in the air.

Running on the ground was slower, of course, but it offered the advantage of flexibility and maneuverability.

Along the way, he encountered several groups of Cultivators. Everyone was on high alert, but no one made the first move.

Before obtaining the Inheritance Sha You needed, Du Youqian didn’t want to cause trouble either.

So, with both sides vigilant and restrained, they brushed past each other, each heading toward their own objectives.

Soon, a quiet, azure lake appeared before Du Youqian, bordered by a dense forest.

The forest and the lake both pulsed with the aura of life.

Among them were the auras of several Tier Two Demon Race members.

Du Youqian scanned the area carefully several times, confirming that he couldn’t sense any Tier Three Demon Race auras. There were, however, a few Human Race Core Formation Masters.

But he couldn’t rule out the possibility of a Tier Three Demon Race member skilled in Concealment.

He also looked out for Arrays, hidden Spaces, and the like, but he didn’t find the location of the Inheritance.

He pondered, ’If there is an Inheritance here, where would it be?’

Du Youqian was self-aware enough to know he wasn’t the type to be full of cunning schemes or exceptionally quick-witted.

After thinking for a moment and coming up with nothing, he simply stepped onto his Flying Sword, flew into the air, and announced, "Fellow Daoists, since we’ve all come here, we must all be after the Inheritances for the Daoist Soldier Technique and the Beast Taming Art. Since the Inheritances don’t seem to be limited to one person, why don’t we join forces, pool our wisdom to find them, and then each make a copy? How about it?"

Perhaps because they saw he only had a Core Formation Early Stage Cultivation and posed no threat, three Core Formation Masters revealed themselves a moment later.

"An excellent proposal."

"I agree as well."

"It’s not worth fighting and killing over such a small Inheritance. Let’s do as you suggest, Fellow Daoist."

Du Youqian waited a moment before shouting down below, "You there, Fellow Daoist, what are you still doing hiding behind that rock in the lake? If you have any thoughts, why not come out and share them so we can all discuss?"

The three Core Formation Masters were shocked, as they hadn’t detected anyone hiding nearby.

The surface of the lake rippled, and a figure leaped into the air, trailing water droplets. Standing on a triangle-shaped Flying Treasure, he laughed from a distance, "How about I offer a different deal? Each of you hand over one Treasure, and I will let you leave with your lives. How about it!"

The three Core Formation Masters were a little shaken, because this person was actually at the Golden Core Middle Stage.

That said, it was difficult for a Golden Core Middle Stage cultivator to completely crush Core Formation Early Stage Cultivators. Taking on four of them would not be easy.

But they weren’t confident they could escape unscathed from a fight with him.

As for handing over their Treasures, that was just a joke.

If they decided to run, a single Golden Core Middle Stage cultivator wouldn’t necessarily be able to stop them.

They exchanged glances, and the thought of retreating bloomed in all their minds.

Du Youqian, however, turned to the dense forest behind them and said, "You there, Fellow Daoist. Are you with him? Planning to launch a sneak attack while we’re fighting? Stop looking around, I’m talking to you. The one hiding inside the tree trunk."

"Hehehehe... Young friend, your Divine Sense is quite impressive!" A tree exploded, and a figure flew out from within, also exuding the aura of the Golden Core Middle Stage.

The three Core Formation Masters beside Du Youqian immediately started breathing heavily.

Du Youqian scanned the area again, then shook his head. "Just the two of you?"

"No. He’s only here for backup. If it comes to fighting, I alone am enough," said the Golden Core Middle Stage Cultivator who had flown up from the lake, approaching at a leisurely pace.

His calm and unhurried demeanor was, in itself, a clever psychological tactic designed to put pressure on Du Youqian and the others.

If Du Youqian and the other three stood united against a common enemy, he would have to pay a price to take them down, even if he succeeded.

But if one of the four fled first or surrendered... then dealing with them would be much easier.

"I’ll say it again: each of you hand over one Treasure, and I will let you leave with your lives."