Chapter 88: Discovery

“What are you doing?!”

“Do you have any idea that you’ve ruined all of our efforts in one move?!”

Foundation Establishment cultivator Zheng Chao was furious at the actions of the Qi Refining cultivator who had lost control.

His body swelled at extreme speed. Like a thunderbolt, he rushed to the center of the cultivators caught in the fight, grabbed the head of the Qi Refining cultivator who had suddenly attacked everyone, and lifted him into the air.

“Mine! They’re all mine! None of you can take them from me!”

The high-level Qi Refining cultivator, bewitched and controlled by the Wind Ghost Lantern, had eyes filled with fanatical frenzy. His face was twisted as he spoke through gritted teeth.

“There’s no saving you. Die.”

Zheng Chao looked at the cultivator struggling in his enormous palm, his gaze utterly indifferent.

Then, with a light squeeze of his massive hand, the cultivator’s head burst apart, splattering the walls and ground.

The many Qi Refining cultivators nearby fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to move.

“Form small teams of three. Search carefully through this white fog. If you discover any trace of that treasure tower, immediately sound the alarm and notify the others.”

After saying this, Zheng Chao, his muscles bulging and his body expanded to one zhang tall, charged ferociously into the peach blossom forest. He smashed peach trees into fragments one after another, flattening everything that stood in his path.

Everyone looked at one another, then at the thick white fog inside the peach blossom forest, and a sense of unease rose in their hearts.

“Let’s do as Uncle-Master says. We’ll carefully explore the nearby area and see if we can find any trace of that strange wooden tower.”

“It’s just that the outside of this secret realm is a bit sinister. To be safe, form teams of three and guard against the worst. If you discover anything abnormal, call for help from the others.”

Soon, a high-level Qi Refining cultivator with deep cultivation and the greatest prestige stepped forward and organized the flustered crowd.

Just as everyone was about to move, they suddenly all heard a soft giggle by their ears.

The laughter carried a cold, sinister feeling, chilling them from head to toe.

Immediately afterward, everyone saw a Paper Figure that covered half the peach blossom forest drift past above them.

There were several huge tears across the Paper Figure’s body, and those tears were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. In its hand, it held a giant. It was precisely the Foundation Establishment cultivator who had gone in to search for the wooden tower not long ago.

At this moment, his massive limbs hung weakly. His body was covered with brittle white-paper-like patches, and pale pieces of flesh peeled away from him like dried meat.

The withered muscle fell downward. With a light gust of wind, it kept cracking apart until it turned into countless white fragments and landed on the ground. Unable to withstand the impact, the fragments became a thick layer of dust.

The Paper Figure dragged the giant’s incomplete body and continued drifting deeper into the secret realm.

“…”

The giant’s features were far too distinctive. Everyone on the ground recognized at a glance that he was Zheng Chao, who had just gone out to chase the wooden tower.

Seeing was believing, yet the many cultivators still found it unbelievable.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator whose strength surpassed everyone present combined had died and vanished in less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, reduced to dust.

Immense terror rose unbidden in everyone’s hearts. They glanced at the people beside them, then scrambled over one another to flee out of the peach blossom forest.

Lu Yuan sensed through his divine sense that the Treasure-Seeking Tower was being hunted, and also discovered the presence of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Knowing full well that the Silver-Thread Mantis and the Illusory Yin Eye avatar alone could not deal with that Foundation Establishment cultivator and the many Qi Refining cultivators, he had the cave abode’s strongest combat force, the Little Paper Man who had always persisted in training its body, go out to rescue it.

After advancing to Strange Grade, the Little Paper Man’s strength was comparable to an ordinary late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Dealing with an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator whose cultivation and ritual implements were both completely ordinary was naturally effortless.

Now that the greatest source of trouble had already been executed, Lu Yuan paid no further attention to the remaining small fry. He ordered the Little Paper Man to bring the Foundation Establishment cultivator’s corpse back to the depths of the cave abode.

Then he let the cave abode’s funeral squad feast again.

Ever since the Treasure-Seeking Tower had begun receiving more and more guests, the meals of the little ones such as the Blood-Devouring Vine had also improved greatly.

The Blood-Devouring Vine had been fed until it gleamed with a glossy sheen, its vines full and plump. The strange human faces on the Ghost-Faced Spider’s back were almost packed too tightly to fit.

He had originally wanted to stay honestly in the core area, but unexpectedly, cultivators kept rushing over to package themselves as takeout and deliver themselves right to the mouths of the little ones.

There were still more good people than bad in the cultivation world.

Lu Yuan could not help sighing with emotion.

…

In Cangxing City.

Ma Mingyuan changed his appearance, restrained his aura, disguised himself as an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator, and came to the market inside the city.

After successfully escaping back from the secret realm last time, he had kept to himself and devoted all his attention to cultivation.

After several months in seclusion, his high-level Qi Refining cultivation had risen steadily.

The supreme treasure he had obtained from the secret realm, the Earthfire Heart Lotus Seed, had been carefully stored away in a special jade box. He planned to take it only after his cultivation improved further.

The market was extraordinarily lively. Countless materials and spiritual herbs exchanged for blood and even lives were laid out on various stalls, waiting for customers to choose from them.

Ma Mingyuan paid a little attention to the spot where he had previously sold the paper slips. After so much time had passed, the cultivators who had been waiting there to trap and find Ma Mingyuan had already disappeared.

Yet Ma Mingyuan still did not dare be the slightest bit careless. For quite a long time to come, he had no intention of appearing in Cangxing City with his true appearance.

After walking a short distance inward, Ma Mingyuan discovered that many cultivators had gathered in one place. They were pointing at a stall and whispering among themselves.

He walked over and saw that a recruitment task was written on the stall.

“Black Jade Tower is recruiting several Qi Refining cultivators. Requirements: cultivation above mid-stage Qi Refining, proficiency in escape techniques, and a certain foundation in the path of arrays. Compensation…”

The hushed discussions of the many cultivators nearby entered Ma Mingyuan’s ears.

“Black Jade Tower is such a large organization. Why does it still need to come to a gathering place for independent cultivators to recruit people?”

“Because independent cultivators are cheap and useful. They’re probably being recruited as cannon fodder.

“But I heard that for this operation, two or three Foundation Establishment seniors from Black Jade Tower will be overseeing things. There probably won’t be any danger. Want to go hunt that Immortal Fate Tower together?

“If they succeed, Black Jade Tower will eat the meat and drink the soup, but maybe we’ll get to gnaw on a few scraps of bone.”

“Two or three Foundation Establishment cultivators? That’s no small lineup. Looks like that strange wooden tower is in danger.

“What a pity. I only recently heard about that Immortal Fate Tower that can grant opportunities, and before I had time to go, the opportunity is about to be cut short.”

Regret filled the cultivator’s voice.

“Not only that. I heard there’s also a secret realm behind that wooden tower. More than one person previously obtained a Sword-Nurturing Gourd from inside.”

“However, I’ve also heard that the secret realm is protected by restrictions. There’s no way to enter it.”

“Secret realm? Sword-Nurturing Gourd?”

Ma Mingyuan caught several key words.

His expression did not change, but his thoughts began turning. He came to the front of the stall.

“Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to tell me a bit about Black Jade Tower’s recruitment task? I’ve been in seclusion for several months and don’t know anything that has happened recently.”

He asked a Qi Refining cultivator who had been discussing the matter enthusiastically.

“There isn’t really anything that can’t be said. It’s just that a strange wooden tower appeared in the wilderness recently. Entering it can grant opportunities such as spiritual herbs and cultivation methods.

“Black Jade Tower is probably trying to monopolize the treasure tower, so they’re recruiting cultivators skilled in escape techniques and arrays to lay an inescapable net and surround the treasure tower.”

That cultivator immediately opened up and began speaking endlessly to Ma Mingyuan.

Ma Mingyuan carefully sounded him out about the wooden tower’s location and finally confirmed that Black Jade Tower’s hunting site was near the secret realm.

“I wonder how much impact Black Jade Tower’s grand operation this time will have on Senior Paper Figure inside the secret realm.

“No, that wooden tower has always been near the secret realm. Could it be connected to Senior Paper Figure?

“Perhaps hunting the treasure tower is just a pretense, and the secret realm is Black Jade Tower’s true objective?”

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