Fortunately, Pan Yin from a noble family had her tricks. She’d already covered her head with a veil beforehand, blocking Dou Hong’s mental attack.

She then summoned a brown iron cage in her palm. When she channeled spiritual power into it, the magical tool instantly grew several times larger.

“Go!”

Pan Yin commanded softly. The cage flashed forward and dropped over Dou Hong’s head, trapping him inside.

Though the cage would break after one use, its defenses were unmatched.

Dou Hong’s pupils contracted. He bulged his muscles and rammed the bars repeatedly, but the cage held firm.

By now, the other cultivators had recovered and began hurling techniques at the caged snake monster.

“Hahaha! These weak spells barely scratch me!”

The monster’s scales suddenly doubled in size as he curled into a ball. Every attack bounced harmlessly off his armored body.

Their numbers worked in their favor.

Though the snake monster remained unharmed, the relentless attacks kept it pinned down.

Whoosh—

After a tense stalemate, the exit formation of the hidden treasure reactivated.

“The exit!”

“Move!”

The cultivators immediately abandoned their assault, stampeding toward the glowing formation.

“Sister, we must go!”

“But Friend Zhang…”

Pan Yin glanced toward the forest where Yang Linghu lay—he’d taken a direct hit from the snake monster and was likely gravely wounded.

“Sister, delay any longer and the cage will fail!”

Pan Yin hesitated, then muttered “Forgive me, Friend” through clenched teeth before fleeing with her family’s cultivators.

The instant the Pan family left, the cage shattered.

Slower cultivators found themselves trapped as Dou Hong blocked the formation’s entrance, his clones slaughtering mercilessly.

Only a handful with good luck escaped the carnage. Over eighty perished in bloody heaps.

Crimson mist hung thick as Dou Hong recalled his clones.

He feasted freely, savoring both flesh and the surge in his cultivation level.

By the time he finished devouring every cultivator, his power had climbed to the peak of the sixth level of Gathering Qi.

Rubbing his swollen belly, the snake monster grinned savagely.

“Almost there… One more meal!”

The threshold of late-stage Gathering Qi lay within reach.

Dou Hong turned toward the forest’s edge—where Yang Linghu’s faint spiritual aura still lingered.

After being ambushed, Yang Linghu was now badly hurt.

Dou Hong angrily thought, “You ruined everything! Today I’ll make you feel the pain of being eaten alive!”

The creature jumped through the forest and soon found the unconscious Yang Linghu.

Seeing the long blood trail on the ground, it didn’t hesitate to open its jaws near Yang Linghu’s body.

“I’ll start with your legs like that other one. You’ll watch yourself disappear bite by bite, screaming in terror!”

Body mutations and countless killings had twisted Dou Hong’s mind, making him crave the thrill of torturing victims.

Suddenly, Yang Linghu’s eyes snapped open.

Using the technique of movement, his right arm instantly doubled in size, wrapped in faint gray ripples!

Fifth Level Force Technique! Martial energy flared!

His full-power punch smashed into Dou Hong’s skull, making the monster’s vision blur.

Yang Linghu lunged forward until their faces nearly touched, activating a glowing talisman.

At this range, Dou Hong couldn’t dodge even as he realized the danger.

A slicing force split his skull.

CRACK!

Bone and flesh shattered instantly. His caved-in head and crushed throat left no chance to scream.

Yang Linghu didn’t let up, slapping another mountain-opening talisman on the monster.

This superior-quality talisman hit with Eighth Level cultivator strength!

Dou Hong never expected death to come so fast.

One moment he’d been celebrating his upcoming breakthrough – now his life drained away.

As the cutting energy sliced his throat, visions appeared – his dead friend, all those devoured cultivators…

THUD!

The huge head hit dirt. Yang Linghu’s fist reduced it to pulp.

When first attacked, Yang Linghu had torn open an old back wound after using a superior-quality spiritual shield talisman – the blood trail was fake.

Spell range affected the mountain-opening talisman’s power.

He’d played dead perfectly, knowing Dou Hong would come after seeing the half-eaten Xiaoyao Sect disciple.

As life left Dou Hong, snake scales fell off, revealing human skin beneath.

The “Black Snake Swallows Clouds” cultivation method dropped to the ground.

Yang Linghu flipped through the manual and understood immediately.

This cultivator had twisted the method’s true path when failing to meet its requirements.

“Wanting power makes sense,” Yang Linghu said. “But choosing evil? All this killing? You earned this end.”

He tossed fire talismans, burning Dou Hong’s remains to ash.

He then swallowed the rejuvenating elixir prepared by his family, and his injured arm recovered seventy to eighty percent.

After handling remaining matters and confirming the hidden treasure’s safety, he returned to the cold pool to reunite with Zhao Qi and Liang Yi.

The Black Snake Secret Treasure incident concluded.

Meanwhile, the exit of Mayfly Treasure Land opened that day.

Having obtained the Inheritance from the treasure land, Yang Lingrui didn’t approach the Feng family. Instead, he changed clothes, covered his face, and immediately left the area.

Xie Chuan and Lv Lianshun later exited with the main crowd, meeting Yang Lingrui at the agreed spot.

The two individuals strictly followed Yang Lingrui’s instructions, only gathering spiritual materials within the Safe Area.

Though the spiritual materials there were low-grade and cheap, they faced no competition or danger.

After ten days of work, they’d filled two storage bags with low-level spiritual materials.

These materials would help replenish the Yang Family’s dwindling resources.

“Your efforts are appreciated.”

“Nothing compared to Young Master Lingrui’s endeavors.”

Yang Lingrui nodded. “Let’s move. Brother Hu should be waiting at Yanxia. We’ll regroup there before returning home.”

Shortly after their departure, commotion erupted at Mayfly Treasure Land’s entrance.

The Solitary Moon Mountain protector cultivator arrived aggressively, but upon learning of Wang Weiming’s actions in the treasure land, found himself cornered.

“Your disciple killed two Feng family guards!”

“Such troublemakers in the treasure land deserved their fatal comeuppance.”

“Explain yourself!”

Under public condemnation, the protector cultivator’s face flushed with shame. A distant message suddenly arrived, which he opened like drowning man grasping straw.

“Friends, our sect declares this matter closed. For further discussion, visit Solitary Moon Mountain.”

He vanished into blue smoke before anyone could react.

After days of searching, Feng Lingyue located Feng Linghua near the illusion array’s edge.

She found her sister besieged by cultivators driven mad by the illusion array.

Feng Lingyue invoked a “slay” spirit of words, eliminating the attackers. She then escorted Feng Linghua to safety without exploring further.

The Feng family lost four Sixth Level guards and failed to obtain Mayfly Essence.

But Feng Lingyue considered Feng Linghua’s gained experience more valuable than any material loss.

After exiting the treasure land, Feng Linghua kept glancing around. “Sister, have you seen Young Master Lin?”

Feng Lingyue frowned. When the illusion array activated, she’d focused solely on her sister’s safety, ignoring Yang Lingrui’s fate.

Given Yang Lingrui’s cultivation realm, she assumed he’d perished in the array. To comfort her sister, she answered:

“Don’t worry. Heaven favors the fortunate. He likely exited earlier. You might meet again.”

Speaking kindly of the dead cost nothing. Once Feng Linghua entered the academy next year and met talented cultivators, she’d forget this Lin fellow anyway.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep