Translator: Cinder Translations
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Zhong Liang looked at Tang Fu, his eyes filled with questions.
Considering that they needed to rely on Miao Fa and the others' Buddhist teachings to deal with the zombies, Tang Fu thought for a moment and nodded, indicating to Zhong Liang that he could explain their reason for coming here.
Zhong Liang swallowed a recovery elixir, refining it as he spoke.
The Loose Cultivator Alliance was a very loose organization, primarily aimed at helping scattered cultivators communicate and exchange cultivation experiences.
Those who joined the Loose Cultivator Alliance were mostly weak cultivators without significant backgrounds or supporters.
In the Loose Cultivator Alliance, there were no cultivators above the Golden Core stage. Zhong Liang was the leader of the alliance and also its highest-ranking cultivator.
About a decade ago, a Qi Refining early-stage cultivator from the alliance found an ancient jade slip in a small river.
The jade slip recorded information about a force known as Blood Cloud Cave, detailing its past strength and glory, as well as the process of its destruction, accompanied by a map to enter Blood Cloud Cave.
After finding the jade slip, the loose cultivator believed that entering such an ancient secret realm as Blood Cloud Cave was beyond the reach of a mere Qi Refining early-stage cultivator.
Thus, he handed the jade slip over to the leader, Zhong Liang, in exchange for a reward.
Zhong Liang, who had been stuck at the peak of Foundation Establishment for many years without finding the opportunity to break through, became greedy after obtaining the jade slip. He wanted to find the chance to break through to the next stage from Blood Cloud Cave.
So he began to study the jade slip carefully, trying to determine the location of Blood Cloud Cave.
However, possibly due to the age of the jade slip, the recorded place names were vastly different from those in the current cultivation world.
With just his and the Loose Cultivator Alliance's power, it was difficult to find the Blood Cloud Cave in the vast cultivation world.
Thus, he sought help from his friend Tang Fu.
The Tang family was a declining cultivation family. Decades ago, after the last Golden Core elder of the family passed away, although there were many Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Tang family, they had never produced a new Golden Core powerhouse.
Tang Fu, as the eldest elder of the Tang family, was the most powerful person in the family, also stuck at the peak of Foundation Establishment for many years.
The two quickly teamed up to begin examining ancient texts in search of the Blood Cloud Cave's location.
Although the Tang family had declined, as a once-prominent Golden Core cultivation family, its foundation was deep and far beyond that of a loose cultivator like Zhong Liang.
Among the ancient books collected by the Tang family, they found records about Blood Cloud Cave.
Blood Cloud Cave was a demonic force from tens of thousands of years ago, seemingly a subordinate force of the demonic leader at that time. For unknown reasons, it was later destroyed by the demonic leader.
Even though they found the records of Blood Cloud Cave, tens of thousands of years had passed, and the world had changed drastically; locating the exact position of Blood Cloud Cave was not easy.
After several more days of searching, Tang Fu and Zhong Liang finally found the location of Blood Cloud Cave.
After hearing Zhong Liang's account, Miao Fa asked with some surprise, "So you don't know what treasures are actually here?"
Tang Fu replied, "Blood Cloud Cave has been destroyed for tens of thousands of years. Even if there are some remaining spiritual herbs, they have probably long since lost their spiritual energy and turned to dust. Even ordinary spiritual artifacts can hardly withstand the erosion of tens of thousands of years; I'm afraid only some powerful ancient treasures can remain."
"We are not here for the powerful treasures but because the jade slip records that there is a powerful cultivation method in Blood Cloud Cave that can help people break through cultivation bottlenecks. We want to seek this method to find the opportunity for advancement."
"The cultivation method is not inferior to other treasures; the three of us can fully cooperate, and after obtaining the method, we can share it among ourselves."
Miao Fa asked, "Blood Cloud Cave is a demonic force; how can you be sure that a demonic cultivation method can help us break through?"
Tang Fu replied, "Opportunities are often elusive; there are no certain rules."
Miao Fa fell silent for a moment before saying, "Alright, let's go with your plan."
Tang Fu turned to Zhong Liang, "Alliance Leader Zhong, what do you think?"
"With the assistance of the four esteemed monks, dealing with those four bronze corpses will certainly be much easier," Zhong Liang replied enthusiastically, indicating his agreement for Miao Fa and the others to join.
Zhong Liang had not mentioned a word about Miao Fa killing his two subordinates earlier in the square, as if it had never happened.
Zhong Liang frowned and looked toward the entrance of the stone hall, puzzled. "We've been here for more than a quarter of an hour; why haven't the others and that unexpectedly involved loose cultivator arrived yet?"
Miao Fa replied, "They've probably all died at the hands of those thirteen stone statues. The strength of the statues is already close to that of Golden Core cultivators. If they hadn't just revived and were moving slowly, and if we hadn't escaped quickly, we might not have made it out either."
Tang Fu looked at the platform and frowned, asking, "Those four bronze corpses should be at the peak of Foundation Establishment, comparable to the three of us, and their physical bodies are extraordinarily strong; they might be difficult to deal with. Why have they been staying on the platform, not attacking while we dealt with the other dry corpses?"
Miao Fa responded, "There should be some kind of restriction keeping them from leaving the platform."
Tang Fu's eyes brightened. "If that's the case, then haven't they become live targets for us to wear down? We should be able to kill them eventually."
Miao Fa shook his head. "It probably won't be that simple."
"We'll only know by trying," Tang Fu said, and as soon as he finished speaking, he threw out a long whip.
The whip was made of sections of black metal connected together. As Tang Fu channeled his spiritual power, the whip rapidly elongated, quickly reaching a length of one hundred meters, and began to wrap around one of the bronze corpses.
"Tang family's ultimate spiritual whip, the Flame Extreme Whip!" Zhong Liang exclaimed in surprise.
When the Flame Extreme Whip was just three feet away from the bronze corpse, a large amount of black corpse energy suddenly erupted from the four bronze corpses.
The black corpse energy gathered in the air, forming a black light curtain that enveloped the entire platform.
"Bang!"
The tail of the whip, sharp and diamond-shaped like the head of a venomous snake, slammed against the light curtain with a tremendous noise.
The light curtain remained completely unscathed.
The Flame Extreme Whip was unable to retract.
Miao Fa narrowed his eyes and said solemnly, "It seems these four bronze corpses have formed some kind of battle formation, making it difficult to break through."
Tang Fu asked, "What should we do then? If we engage in close combat, Master Miao Fa, do you have confidence in defeating them?"
Miao Fa replied, "If it were just one bronze corpse, we four monks could gather our strength to handle it, but if we face all four at the same time, it would be difficult for us to withstand."
Zhong Liang said, "If we can find a way to lure them down from the platform one by one, the battle formation will break, and we can then attack."
Tang Fu expressed concern, "If the battle formation breaks, they probably won't continue to guard the platform. Facing four bronze corpses at once, we might suffer significant casualties."
A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Zhong Liang's eyes. "Then we have no choice but to take a gamble."
"But how can we lure the bronze corpses down from the platform?" Tang Fu asked.
"Leave that to me."
To Tang Fu and Miao Fa's surprise, Zhong Liang actively took on this most dangerous task.
Zhong Liang said to Miao Fa, "Once I lure the bronze corpses off the platform, they will definitely pursue me relentlessly. At that time, I'll ask the four esteemed monks to help me intercept them."
Miao Fa replied, "Of course; you can rest assured, Alliance Leader Zhong."
Tang Fu chimed in from the side, "Alliance Leader Zhong, don't worry. As long as you can lure out the bronze corpses, my Tang family will help you hold them back alongside the four masters."
Zhong Liang clasped his fists, "Then I will leave my safety in your hands."
TL: Yeah, right...
With that, he walked alone toward the platform.
(End of the Chapter)
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