Stepping on the white silk handkerchief, they entered the door inside the hall. Mo Tiange looked around; this was still a narrow stone passage, similar to the one they had entered through. However, the walls here were inlaid with Moonlight Stones, so there was no need to hold a torch like when they first came in.
It was strange. Moonlight Stones rarely lasted for thousands of years. A cave abode from thousands of years ago should have been pitch black like the initial passage they entered. How could there still be Moonlight Stones?
Daoist Fangzheng thought the same. The two stood before the wall and each pried off a Moonlight Stone.
“This…” After studying it for a while, Daoist Fangzheng said, “It seems to be a Moonlight Mother Stone!”
Mo Tiange was puzzled.
After looking carefully for a moment, Daoist Fangzheng nodded. “That’s right. There’s a Moonlight Stone Mine here. These are all Moonlight Mother Stones, which is why they’ve lasted so long.”
In terms of experience, Daoist Fangzheng, having wandered the cultivation world and the mortal world for hundreds of years, was naturally extremely knowledgeable. Hearing him say this, Mo Tiange nodded. She tossed that Moonlight Mother Stone into her Qiankun Bag and continued forward.
Although Moonlight Stone Mines were not common, this thing had no other use in the cultivation world besides illumination, so it wasn’t valuable.
The two cautiously continued forward along the stone slabs.
Since stepping into Kunwu, they had encountered countless dangers. Mo Tiange had always been careful and cautious. And this Daoist Fangzheng, in her opinion, acted quite like her Second Uncle. Her way of handling things had been cultivated while following her Second Uncle, so she worked very well with this Daoist Fangzheng.
This time, Daoist Fangzheng kept that First-Rank avian creature scouting ahead. As the two walked, they encountered dangers but avoided them—there were several mechanisms in the passage. They were too old, their Spiritual Qi had dissipated, and with the bird leading the way, they avoided them one by one.
However, they discovered several corpses on the ground.
These corpses were entangled with each other, all turned into skeletons. Their clothes had long since rotted away, leaving only a few damaged Magical Tools and intact Qiankun Bags. Between the corpses, some treasures had fallen—either materials or magic treasures.
Seeing this, Daoist Fangzheng’s face lit up with joy. He squatted down to pick them up.
Seeing this, Mo Tiange called out, “Fellow Daoist Fangzheng, wait.”
Daoist Fangzheng looked up at her, his eyes filled with vigilance. At his age, having experienced many dangers, he had seen plenty of companions fighting fiercely over loot. Hearing Mo Tiange stop him at this moment, he became wary.
Seeing his expression, Mo Tiange could easily guess his thoughts, but she just said calmly, “There are so many skeletons here, and they’re not from the same group, yet they all died here. There might be some trick to it.”
Hearing her words, Daoist Fangzheng relaxed and looked more carefully.
Indeed, this passage was only about ten zhang long, yet there were nearly twenty corpses lying dead, almost densely packed together with no place to step. Looking at their postures, they were all twisted together in twos or threes. It seemed they had all perished together.
Daoist Fangzheng broke out in a cold sweat. Judging from their postures, these people had killed each other. Moreover, the corpses varied in freshness—the newer ones had snow-white bones, while the older ones had bones that had already turned black. A cultivator’s body contained no impurities, so it wouldn’t rot, but it would dissipate into Spiritual Qi. However, the bones left behind could be preserved for a long time. The color of the bones indicated how long they had been dead. The skeletons before them had bones of varying colors; the darkest ones were almost piles of black ash, indicating they had been dead for at least several thousand years. Yet there were also ones with snow-white bones, which should have died within the last thousand years.
They had both witnessed how powerful the Illusion Formation outside was. Out of nine people, only the two of them had walked here intact. And the Spiritual Qi fluctuations outside the valley couldn’t have existed all along, otherwise they wouldn’t have never heard of it. This meant that over the millennia, the number of people who came here definitely wouldn’t be large. And the magic treasures, Magical Tools, and rare materials scattered all over the ground here proved that no one had left safely. Given that, how could the treasures before them be picked up so casually?
Understanding this, Daoist Fangzheng couldn’t help but feel somewhat ashamed. Initially, he hadn’t thought much of Mo Tiange, considering her just a sect disciple new to the outside world. Although her cultivation was high, her abilities were probably quite ordinary, like those two from the Guigu Sect, Lu and Wang. Unexpectedly, in the Illusion Formation, her shout had awakened him. Here, she was much calmer than him. After experiencing these two things, he no longer dared to look down on Mo Tiange at all.
“Fellow Daoist Ye, in your opinion, this is…”
“There’s something wrong with this path,” Mo Tiange said slowly. “It seems to be able to confuse people’s minds.” Even in the Illusion Formation, her Spirit-Hiding Pendant hadn’t reacted abnormally because that formation didn’t erode people’s consciousness; it tested the entrants’ temperament and will. But as soon as she approached this path, her Spirit-Hiding Pendant instantly turned icy cold, as if warning her.
Come to think of it, cultivators who could reach here had passed the Illusion Formation of the Five Elements Platform, so their temperament should be extremely steady. Apart from a breakdown of will, what other reason could make them disregard reason and perish together? These people understood best that only by staying alive could one enjoy heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
“How does Fellow Daoist Ye know?”
Mo Tiange said calmly, “I have a Magical Tool that can sense bewitching things.” After this simple explanation, she said no more. Having a rare treasure on her person, there was no need to explain too clearly.
Daoist Fangzheng was also a smart person and didn’t ask further.
The two each carefully searched for anything unusual around them.
This stone passage was no different from the previous one—a simple passage carved out of the mountain, only the ground was a bit more level, and the mountain walls were embedded with Moonlight Stones.
“Huh!” As soon as she approached the stone wall, the icy cold sensation from the Spirit-Hiding Pendant intensified. Could it be a problem with the stone wall?
Mo Tiange thought for a moment, took out her flying sword, and pried off another Moonlight Stone from the stone passage.
The white, glowing light was no different from the previous Moonlight Stone, but this faint Spiritual Qi gave her a familiar feeling.
“Fellow Daoist Ye!” Daoist Fangzheng suddenly exclaimed. “This isn’t a Moonlight Stone!” Saying this, he immediately took out a Calming Talisman, stuck one on himself, and handed one to Mo Tiange.
Mo Tiange didn’t feel any abnormality. In the Illusion Formation, it was her own emotions that had fluctuated, so the Spirit-Hiding Pendant was useless. But here, it was an external factor. Under the protection of the Spirit-Hiding Pendant, it didn’t affect her.
But after thinking for a moment, she still took the Calming Talisman, stuck it on herself, and holding the Moonlight Stone, asked, “Fellow Daoist says this isn’t a Moonlight Stone? Then what is it?”
“This is a Moonlight Illusion Stone,” Daoist Fangzheng replied, not as relaxed as she was, barely steadying his mind. “In Moonlight Stone Mines, a type of Moonlight Illusion Stone is sometimes found alongside. This thing induces hallucinations and is excellent material for crafting Illusion Formations. However, although Moonlight Stone Mines aren’t rare, Moonlight Illusion Stones are very scarce, and not many people know about them. I only saw a small piece decades ago in a secret shop. That small piece was auctioned for a full thousand spirit stones!” At this point, Daoist Fangzheng’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “I never expected the master of this cave abode to have found so many Moonlight Illusion Stones. If we take them all…”
Quietly sensing the Spiritual Qi emanating from this Moonlight Illusion Stone, a thought flashed through Mo Tiange’s mind. She immediately thought of something. She reached into her Qiankun Bag, rummaged around, and pulled out several Jade Stone Shards. Comparing them with this Moonlight Illusion Stone, sure enough, the material was the same, only these shards had exhausted their Spiritual Qi and had already shattered.
Over a decade ago, when she had just built her Foundation, she and Wei Jiasi had encountered the Wolf and Jackal Demons during the Demon Beast Rebellion. The Jackal Demon was naturally intelligent and had set up an Illusion Formation that nearly made the two of them kill each other. These Jade Stone Shards were what she had obtained in the end. Now it seemed these Jade Stone Shards were Moonlight Illusion Stones.
Discovering this, Mo Tiange looked at the walls full of Moonlight Illusion Stones and couldn’t help but feel shocked.
Back then, just a single stone used to set up a formation had made her and Wei Jiasi, two Foundation Establishment cultivators, fall for it. With so many Moonlight Illusion Stones here, if they were all used to set up a formation, wouldn’t its power be something even Nascent Soul cultivators would struggle to escape?
Thinking of this, Mo Tiange’s eyes also gleamed like Daoist Fangzheng’s.
The two said nothing more for the moment, each taking up their flying swords and carefully prying the Moonlight Illusion Stones from the wall.
However, if this thing could be so easily overcome, so many cultivators wouldn’t have died here. After being near the Moonlight Illusion Stones for a while, Mo Tiange found herself becoming somewhat unclear-headed. Fortunately, she had the Spirit-Hiding Pendant on her and immediately moved away.
Just as she was about to remind Daoist Fangzheng, she looked up and was met with a sword light—it was Daoist Fangzheng, his eyes gleaming with ferocity, thrusting the small flying sword he used to pry the Moonlight Stones toward her.
Mo Tiange raised her hand, a wall of Spiritual Qi blocking Daoist Fangzheng’s thrust. Then she retreated, raised her hand, and released the Flying Shuttle.
Without a word, Daoist Fangzheng put away the small flying sword, took out his horsetail whisk, and swung it. Thousands of whisk hairs shot out like steel needles toward her.
Although the quality of this whisk Magical Tool wasn’t as good as her Flying Shuttle, Mo Tiange didn’t dare underestimate it. Daoist Fangzheng had deep Spiritual Qi; although his Magical Tools weren’t great, their power was strong. Immediately, she flicked her sleeve, threw out the white silk handkerchief, which transformed into a wall, blocking his attack.
Seizing this gap, Mo Tiange shouted, “Fellow Daoist Fangzheng, wake up!”
But Daoist Fangzheng showed no reaction, still charging toward her mindlessly.
Mo Tiange had no choice. While using the Flying Shuttle to entangle him, she retreated.
Although Daoist Fangzheng wasn’t weak, compared to the elite disciples of the Xuanqing Sect, he wasn’t much. But Mo Tiange didn’t want to hurt him. Having come this far, Daoist Fangzheng was her only remaining companion, and the master of this place was very skilled in bewitching techniques. Who knew what they would encounter later? Having company, with constant reminders, was much better than being alone.
But the Daoist Fangzheng before her showed no signs of waking up, still attacking her relentlessly.
Mo Tiange had no choice but to parry while slowly retreating.
After all, this place was too close to the Moonlight Illusion Stones. If they moved farther away, the effect should weaken.
Slowly, after retreating more than ten zhang, Daoist Fangzheng’s gaze suddenly cleared. He stopped attacking, surprised. “Fellow Daoist Ye, this…”
Seeing him regain his senses, Mo Tiange sighed in relief. “It’s good that Fellow Daoist has regained his senses. These Moonlight Illusion Stones are truly formidable.”