Cultivating To Immortality

"As expected of a Grandmaster of Formations’ disciple, Sister Shan, you’re truly amazing."

Lin Na’s face lit up with surprise, her eyes shining with adoration as she looked at Su Shan.

"That’s right, if Fellow Daoist Su hadn’t been so meticulous and observant, we might have missed these spirit stones," Fang Hong also praised, nodding slightly, a hint of admiration in his eyes.

At this moment, he finally understood why Su Shan had been taken in as a disciple by the Grandmaster of formations.

Su Shan’s talent in formations was indeed remarkable; she could discover the formation seal mechanism just by an unusual pattern on the wall.

"It’s not bad, my master taught me a lot of formation knowledge, so I’m more sensitive to these formation seals," Su Shan said with a humble smile.

Afterward, the three began to divide the one thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. Each of them became much wealthier, and their confidence grew.

The three searched the palace for another half an hour, not missing a single corner, carefully examining every possible hiding place for treasures, but in the end, they confirmed that there was nothing left behind.

"Let’s continue to the next level; perhaps there are still overlooked treasures waiting for us," Fang Hong pointed to the underground staircase in the corner, his anticipation growing.

The two women nodded, their expressions, which had been somewhat relaxed from acquiring the spirit stones, now became serious again.

The underground staircase was unexpectedly long and winding, like a giant, coiling snake.

The three walked cautiously, Fang Hong in the lead, his eyes vigilantly scanning their surroundings. Su Shan followed closely, while Lin Na brought up the rear, occasionally looking back, afraid that something might be following them.

In this manner, the three walked for nearly an hour, finally reaching the end of the staircase.

Passing through the staircase, a spacious grotto appeared before them.

This grotto looked very similar to the previous level, also featuring a circular arena and a dilapidated palace.

The only thing that made the three feel fortunate was that there were no more of those chilling skulls on the arena, which allowed them to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

The three exchanged glances, remaining silent, and tacitly walked towards the palace.

Rumble!

Just as the three walked a short distance from the arena, another change occurred.

Countless black beetles continuously surged from the cracks in the grotto, an enormous number, at least tens of thousands.

These black beetles were not large, each only about the size of a baby’s fist, covered in a hard, black exoskeleton, with pointed heads and a pair of sharp pincers.

At this moment, they surged towards Fang Hong and the two women like a black tide; their dense appearance made one’s scalp tingle.

"Oh my goodness. These are Corpse Beetles, and so many of them." Su Shan’s face suddenly changed, and she couldn’t help but exclaim. Lin Na was also terribly frightened, her body trembling slightly.

Without thinking further, Su Shan quickly took out three Formation Flags from her Storage Pouch and swiftly planted them around, her movements very practiced.

Then, holding a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, she activated the formation, and a giant golden bell appeared out of thin air, securely enveloping the three of them.

Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.

In just a moment, tens of thousands of these Corpse Beetles covered the entire giant bell, densely packed, a terrifying sight.

The Corpse Beetles continuously slammed against the golden bell, producing an eerie sound.

Although these Corpse Beetles only had the cultivation level of Qi Refining first or second layer, their sheer numbers were too vast. Facing so many at once, the Golden Bell formation set up by Su Shan felt immense pressure.

The light on the surface of the golden bell began to flicker, seemingly on the verge of shattering at any moment.

"Tiny insects, how dare you act so presumptuously." A surge of anger rose in Fang Hong’s heart, and his eyes instantly turned cold.

He unhesitatingly threw out ten more Fire Dragon Talismans and shouted, "Go."

The ten Fire Dragon Talismans instantly transformed into ten blazing Fire Dragons, charging towards the swarm of Corpse Beetles.

Lin Na was not to be outdone; she infused her magical power into the ancient mirror, which continuously shot out golden light, killing the insects.

Puff. Puff. Puff.

The ten Fire Dragons rampaged through the Corpse Beetle swarm, constantly stirring it up. For a time, flames soared into the sky, and heat waves rolled.

Su Shan immediately felt much less pressure. She breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued to maintain the operation of the Golden Bell formation.

Fang Hong had thought that ten Fire Dragon Talismans would be enough to completely deal with these small insects, but he never expected these Corpse Beetles to be so strange; even true fire couldn’t kill them.

The Fire Dragon Talismans only made them pause briefly when they burned their bodies, and then they continued to frantically surge towards the golden bell.

"How is this possible? Even true fire can’t kill them." Lin Na’s face grew paler, her voice trembling slightly, clearly somewhat frightened.

"It seems these Corpse Beetles have mutated; only Sharp Weapons can kill them." Su Shan said sternly, gritting her teeth and fully maintaining the formation.

"Not afraid of true fire, huh? Then how about this move."

Fang Hong didn’t panic. His eyes narrowed, and he once again pulled out twenty Ice Spike Talismans from his Storage Pouch.

The twenty Ice Spike Talismans instantly scattered in the air, and thousands of sharp ice spikes rained down from the sky, continuously shooting towards the Corpse Beetles.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

Ice Spike Talismans were also Intermediate talismans, and this time their effect was much better than the Fire Dragon Talismans.

Although the Corpse Beetles were not afraid of fire, they couldn’t withstand sharp ice spikes.

The ice spikes pierced into the bodies of the Corpse Beetles one after another, and each Corpse Beetle was impaled, black fluid splattering everywhere.

Batch after batch of Corpse Beetles were killed, and the ground quickly became covered with their corpses.

In a short time, this swarm of Corpse Beetles was almost entirely wiped out. The remaining few hundred, realizing they were no match, scattered and fled into the rock crevices.

The area around the arena was piled high with the carcasses of Corpse Beetles, densely packed, emitting a pungent odor.

Logically, Fang Hong could have used the demon gourd to absorb them and refine them into spirit pills, but he didn’t do so.

These carcasses were severely damaged, and their numbers were so vast that collecting them one by one would inevitably expose the secret of the demon gourd to the two women.

Su Shan also withdrew the Golden Bell formation. She let out a long breath.

Lin Na likewise breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest, looking as if she had just escaped a great fright, muttering.

"It’s finally over, that really scared me to death."

"Fellow Daoist Fang, you really are a talisman Master." Lin Na exclaimed, her eyes filled with surprise and admiration.

Fang Hong had already taken out forty Intermediate talismans, which further confirmed her inner thoughts.

"Let’s continue forward," Fang Hong said with a faint smile, without much explanation.

Afterward, the three continued towards the palace on the second level. This palace was also dilapidated, its walls covered in cracks, and the roof tiles were incomplete.

The three couldn’t help but suspect that the place might have suffered a major sect-exterminating event; otherwise, it wouldn’t be so ruined.

The palace door was also not closed, and the three slowly walked inside the palace.

Inside, there were some triangular Pill Furnaces and some old wooden cabinets, but these Pill Furnaces were all broken and rusty, the patterns on their bodies already blurred, clearly unusable again.

Fang Hong stepped forward, gently touched a Pill Furnace, and frowned slightly, feeling a bit disappointed in his heart.