Chapter 113: No Need to Chase, They're Already Dead
In the seventeenth stone chamber of the Earth section.
Song Chaofeng was dodging left and right under the attacks of two Flying Frost Sect cultivators, but his body was still accumulating more and more wounds.
Behind him lay a Qingxuan Sect elder, lifeless, his body covered in scars—long dead.
A white-robed cultivator sneered, "Song Chaofeng, hand over the secret manual. We don't want to kill you, but precious spiritual energy shouldn't be wasted here."
Another cultivator in a red robe suddenly laughed, "I'll give you another option. You don't have to hand over the manual."
Song Chaofeng took a deep breath, "Speak."
"Tell us where Shen Mo is. After you were separated, where did he go?" the man demanded in a low voice.
Song Chaofeng spat, "We lost each other during the fall. Even if I knew where Shen Mo went, I wouldn't tell you!"
The two laughed louder, "Don't be ridiculous, Song Chaofeng. Who doesn't know about your past dealings? You used to be in cahoots with a certain elder from the Verdant Vine Sect."
"And now, with no one from Qingxuan Sect around, who are you being loyal to? The air?"
Song Chaofeng remained silent, "I indeed made mistakes before."
"But I've resolved to be loyal to the Qingxuan Sect and to Murong Yue. I will never betray again."
"I, Song Chaofeng, am not someone who is two-faced and treacherous."
The laughter of the two Flying Frost Sect cultivators gradually died down, replaced by cold indifference.
"You refuse the path to life and choose death instead. Fine, we'll send you to see the King of Hell!" The two exchanged glances and sneered, then attacked Song Chaofeng simultaneously.
Song Chaofeng gritted his teeth, mustering the last trace of spiritual energy from his dantian to defend himself with all his might.
At that moment, an incredibly fierce flame suddenly burst out from behind the two Flying Frost Sect cultivators.
Their hearts pounded, feeling a great threat.
They immediately stopped and forcibly turned to defend against the attack from behind.
Boom!
The red flames engulfed the two.
They screamed in agony as their robes burned to ashes, leaving large patches of charred flesh.
They barely managed to escape from the flames, using their movement techniques, but their bodies were now covered in wounds.
"You... you're Shen Mo!"
It was only then that they finally saw the young face of the person before them, shocked beyond measure.
"Why were you looking for me? To seek death?" Shen Mo chuckled.
These two Flying Frost Sect cultivators were both at the peak of the Core Formation.
Although Shen Mo was only at the initial stage of the Core Formation, he could naturally suppress them with his Flame hell destruction manual, Red lotus flame, and Infernal Golden Core.
Moreover, the two had their backs to him earlier, exposing their undefended positions.
This allowed him to severely injure them with just one move.
"Damn it! Split up and run! We're no match for him now!"
The white-robed Flying Frost Sect cultivator roared in anger.
However, when he looked at his companion, he found that the other had already bolted away.
"Damn you…"
The white-robed cultivator cursed and hurriedly used his movement technique to flee as well.
Shen Mo remained standing, unmoving.
Song Chaofeng struggled to stand up, asking in confusion, "Aren't you going to chase them?"
Shen Mo shook his head, "They're already dead."
The next moment, a scream came from the direction the red-robed cultivator had fled.
Song Chaofeng looked over and saw that after running a few dozen zhang, the man had fallen into a killing formation.
Both his legs were suddenly severed by a giant axe that appeared, blood gushing uncontrollably.
Less than ten breaths later, another scream echoed from the direction of the white-robed cultivator.
Song Chaofeng looked again.
The man, in his panic, had stumbled into a poison formation, his skin rotting in large patches, with yellow-green pus oozing from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
In the blink of an eye, he collapsed to the ground, barely clinging to life.
Song Chaofeng widened his eyes, staring at Shen Mo in disbelief.
How... how did Shen Mo seem to know this would happen?
Oh right, Shen Mo had the Formation-Breaking Jade Token. He must have known about the dangerous formations on both sides because of it.
"Thank you, Young Sect Master, for saving my life." Song Chaofeng looked at the young man with a complicated expression.
There was a time when he saw Shen Mo as a thorn in his side. But now, his life had been saved by this very person.
Shen Mo smiled slightly, "Since Elder Song is genuinely working for the Qingxuan Sect, it's only natural that I would save you."
In truth, when Shen Mo entered the sloping passage, he had already reviewed the life panels of everyone in the Qingxuan Sect.
Song Chaofeng was destined to die in this seventeenth stone chamber.
However, Shen Mo knew that this man had completely reformed and was now fully loyal to the Qingxuan Sect, which is why he decided to intervene.
He also wanted to retrieve a treasure from this seventeenth stone chamber.
Ah, no, the main reason he came here was to save people, not for any treasure!
Seeing Shen Mo enter and carefully search the stone chamber, Song Chaofeng quickly said, "Young Sect Master, I've already searched this place. I only found a high-grade Profound-tier martial technique."
But Shen Mo seemed to ignore his words and continued searching.
It didn't take long before he touched an unremarkable stone brick.
With a light press, a hidden compartment popped open.
Song Chaofeng's eyes widened.
Damn, there was something hidden here after all?
Shen Mo retrieved the treasure from the hidden compartment and nodded in satisfaction.
This item was called the Soul-Stabilizing Bell, a low-grade Earth-tier spiritual artifact.
However, it had been used several times, and its surface was covered in cracks. It could probably only be used once more.
It would do as a consumable.
This item was one of the fortuitous opportunities Shen Mo had seen on Xiao Fan's life panel.
"Still need to find the Soul-Calming Incense and the Five Ghosts Life-Snatching Formation. I must hurry," Shen Mo thought to himself.
He then glanced at the corpse on the ground.
Song Chaofeng sighed, "After the ground collapsed, I got separated from the others in the sect. But there were too many killing formations, poison formations, and maze formations here, and the stone chambers were interconnected with many hidden doors and secret passages. It was too complex. It took me a while to find this elder."
"Then we arrived at this stone chamber and discovered the secret manual. Just as we were about to leave, those two Flying Frost Sect cultivators ambushed us. The elder was fatally struck and unfortunately perished."
Shen Mo also sighed, "Let's leave his body here for now. When we're ready to leave, we'll take it out and give him a proper burial."
Song Chaofeng nodded.
"Do you have any healing pills?" Shen Mo asked.
Song Chaofeng shook his head.
Shen Mo tossed him two bottles of healing pills, "I still have plenty that my master gave me. Use these first."
His storage ring contained dozens of bottles of healing pills, most of which had barely been used.
"Thank you, Young Sect Master!" Song Chaofeng's eyes reddened slightly.
"Recover your strength first. Once you've recovered a bit, we'll move on. This Alchemist King's cave is no simple place. I have a feeling there's some sort of plot at work here," Shen Mo said in a low voice.
He deliberately said this to rationalize the information he had seen on the life panels.
Song Chaofeng nodded repeatedly, "I've noticed too… This place isn't some treasure trove; it feels like someone is watching us from the shadows."
After taking the healing pills, Song Chaofeng's wounds quickly began to heal.
The two immediately pressed forward, first taking the storage rings from the dead Flying Frost Sect cultivators, then heading straight for the deeper levels.
The third level was naturally the Heaven level.
The treasures stored there were the most valuable.
Of course, it was also the most dangerous.
Gu Sanqiu was likely hiding in a dark chamber within the Heaven level, watching everything.
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