Chapter 198: Return to Gui Han Mountain

"My lord, are you crazy? Haven’t you seen what’s inside? Do you want to die?" Li Daoye looked anxious.

Zhao Yan and Xu Ge were curious what could scare Li Daoye to this degree, considering that he usually didn’t seem to fear anything. He might at most tremble a little when the Spirit Blood Sect was mentioned, but that was it.

Ji Congyun's eyes flickered slightly. So

there’s something inside that even these immortal masters found to be dangerous.

"Wait a minute, are you really Daoist Fang?" Li Daoye's expression changed slightly. "If you are real, then who was the one who entered with us earlier...?"

The entrance had just been opened, and he didn’t believe that Fang Chen could come out ahead of them.

The distance from here to Grand Xia was not far. If the black robed man freed up his hand, he could search around and might find Grand Xia. Perhaps that will happen in a dozen or even a hundred years, but if such an existence came knocking, the casualties wouldn’t number in the single digits.

Fang Chen patted Li Daoye's shoulder. "We need to pull out the roots in order to eradicate all troubles."

"Stay here. If you sense anything afoot, save yourself," said Fang Chen as he used the seal to open the entrance again and walked straight into the cave.

Fang Chen suddenly turned back and waved to Ji Congyun. "Elder Ji, you come in too and lend a hand."

"Me?" Ji Congyun was slightly surprised, and a wry smile rose on his face. "I'm just an ordinary mortal, a martial artist. I'm afraid I won't be of much help inside."

Fang Chen sighed. "I'm not very reassured with you outside. If you don't come in with me, I'll have to find another way to be at ease."

Ji Congyun's expression changed slightly. "Well... I'll accompany you." He immediately entered the cave.

Xu Ge patted Li Daoye's shoulder. "What's inside? What can make even the ancestor of the Ji Family so cautious?"

Li Daoye proudly said, "Inside? Hehe, the place is littered with demons. If it weren't for my methods, I wouldn't have been able to come back alive. Martial artists like you would die ten times over if you went in."

Xu Ge was slightly surprised. "It’s that formidable?"

Zhao Yan glanced at the Nightmare Knights around. Seeing their approving expressions, he began to believe Li Daoye's words to some extent. "What about me then?" he asked.

"You?" Li Daoye thought carefully for a moment, then said, "Perhaps you could survive, but the chance isn’t too high. If you encounter that bat demon inside, you might be worn down until you’re killed by it."

Longevity Qi Stage martial artists, to some extent, were similar to eighth-level Qi Refining Realm cultivators, with the only difference being that they used internal energy instead of spiritual energy.

He could tell that, even though Zhao Yan wouldn't be able to kill many demons inside, he wouldn't be easily killed by them either. His survival rate would be much higher than Xu Ge.

"In that case, I'll go in and help Fang Chen,” said Zhao Yan.

Li Daoye quickly waved his hand. "Don't go causing trouble. I only said it's not easy for you to die, but I didn't say you can't die. If you encounter any of the demons inside, you won't be able to handle them. There's a gap between internal qi and spiritual energy that can't be bridged."

Zhao Yan hesitated. "But...."

Li Daoye snorted coldly. "No 'buts.' Don't you know your lord? I thought he died inside and almost shed a few manly tears for him. But look what happened?” he said. “Anyway, if he dares to go in, he must have some confidence. We're staying here to prevent these guys from causing trouble and cutting off his path to retreat." He glanced at the Nightmare Knights around.

"Li Daoye’s words make sense. The lord must be confident if he's going in. We can wait here with a peace of mind," said Xu Ge.

Zhao Yan nodded slightly. "Alright."

*

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The giant stone demon and bat demon seemed to have left, as it was very quiet near the entrance.

Ji Congyun hesitated for a moment, then said. "After we enter, it will take at least ten days to get out. Can you tell me why we’re here? I'd like to be prepared.”

The immortal they had revered had only come here once, never to set foot here again. He himself had been here once, and he was well aware of the dangers that lurked in here. So, like Fang Chen, this was his second time inside, and he couldn't help feeling a bit nervous.

It didn’t matter that he was a Longevity Qi martial artist. Faced with the threat of death, he was no different from ordinary people.

"You can't help me with what I need to do," answered Fang Chen with a faint smile.

"Shit!" Even Ji Congyun, who had been well-mannered throughout his childhood, couldn't help but swear in his heart. If he couldn't help, why bring him in? Was he deliberately sending him to his death?

Fang Chen continued, "However... you can still lend a hand in fights. When you encounter demons later, help me distract them. Let's meet here in ten days. There are many exotic flowers and fruits inside. Even though some are useless for cultivators, they are still useful for martial artists like you. If I succeed at what I need to do, we can clean up the entire place before we leave."

Ji Congyun was slightly surprised and looked at Fang Chen in disbelief. "Are you telling the truth?"

Fang Chen said, "Of course it's true. I'll need your help at that time, and as for the share, it's one to nine. I get nine, and you get one."

"One to nine? Isn't that a bit..." Ji Congyun was about to bargain, but Fang Chen interrupted. "Be content with it. When you offered sacrifices to that immortal of yours, I’m sure you did not get much out of it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have stayed in the Longevity Qi Stage for so long.”

The last time he came in, Fang Chen passed through many places on his way to Gui Han Mountain and saw various exotic flowers and fruits. The spiritual energy in those fruits and flowers was insufficient and was unable to compare against the likes of hundred-year Vermillion Fruits and the Blood Ginseng. However, to martial artists, they were superior-grade items that could enhance their power! If all those could be harvested, he estimated that they would be enough to nurture at least a hundred martial artists in the Earth Profound Stage.

"Are there spiritual herbs here that can help me advance to the Heaven Profound Stage?" asked Ji Congyun with uncertainty.

Fang Chen smiled. "Perhaps,” he replied. “Let's get to work."

Suddenly, the wind howled once more.

Fang Chen immediately leaped out and headed toward Gui Han Mountain, leaving Ji Congyun with a bewildered expression.

The bat demon chose Ji Congyun, who was still standing in place, as its target and dived straight toward him.

Ji Congyun regained his senses and his heart pounded uncontrollably. He shouted and struck out with a palm. A vast internal qi surged, condensing into a palm print.

Boom!

The bat demon was pushed back several meters but remained unharmed. Its spiritual energy caused it to remain unharmed in the face of internal qi, but it was nonetheless furious at the audacity of a mere mortal.

Ji Congyun's face turned pale. "Even using eighty percent of my power, I could only push it back a few meters...."

Gritting his teeth, he whipped around and fled in a different direction from Fang Chen. As long as he could endure for ten days, he would survive.

He kept recalling Fang Chen's words. If he could harvest everything here, the Ji Family would be able to completely dominate the royal family!

*

Several days later, a disheveled Fang Chen returned to Gui Han Mountain. The giant stone demon and some little demons at the foot of the mountain were staring at him, but they dared not step onto the mountain!

"Interesting. I thought you would disappear completely after playing around with me. I thought the next time I would see you would be when I caught you personally, but unexpectedly... you've taken the initiative to come to me."

Not far away, Supreme Immortal Pudu stood with hands behind his back. He looked down at Fang Chen climbing up the mountain with a wicked smile on his lips.