Immortal Venerable of the Beast Race
Chapter 342 - 254 Be One Step Ahead _1

Chapter 342: 254 Be One Step Ahead _1

Seven days later, a vast expanse of black dense forest came into view, with a black miasma floating above the treetops.

Shen Long and the Hundred Eyes Cicada were enveloped in a purple light screen, while the Iron Tail Scorpion was entangled in battle with a black giant scorpion.

The Iron Tail Scorpion was currently late third stage, and so was the black giant scorpion, but it was no match for the Iron Tail Scorpion.

The Iron Tail Scorpion let out a piercing and shrill screech, and before the black giant scorpion could react, the Iron Tail Scorpion’s tail spike struck its head.

The black giant scorpion immediately lay on the ground, motionless.

The Iron Tail Scorpion emitted a joyful screech, releasing a yellow radiance that enveloped the corpse of the black giant scorpion. The body of the black giant scorpion rapidly shrank and was drawn into the Iron Tail Scorpion’s mouth by the yellow light.

The Iron Tail Scorpion continued to move forward, with Shen Long and the Hundred Eyes Cicada following behind.

The restriction on Divine Sense was very severe here; Shen Long could only extend his Divine Sense about ten miles, and as he ventured deeper into Myriad Poison Valley, the restriction on his Divine Sense grew stronger, and the range would shrink even further.

With Shen Long’s Divine Sense chasing Core Formation Great Perfection, he was severely affected; a real Core Formation Great Perfection would not fare much better. Fortunately, the Hundred Eyes Cicada could still see the situation within a hundred miles.

Half an hour later, Shen Long emerged from the dense forest to find a narrow valley blocking his path.

He took out a green Beast Hide map with mountains and rivers depicted, as well as text annotations, including the imposing words "Myriad Poison Valley." The map had multiple color markings, but only one red mark.

According to what Lu Xin had disclosed, the Nascent Soul Cultivator’s Zouhua Cave was located at the red mark.

"Well! To think you’d try to play dirty with me; if it weren’t for the Hundred Eyes Cicada, I might have been killed already," Shen Long said with a grim face.

Lu Xin had instructed him to pass through here and head straight to the Nascent Soul Cultivator’s cave.

Through the eyes of the Hundred Eyes Cicada, there were some grey threads inside the valley, but when Shen Long probed with his Divine Sense, he found no anomalies.

He took out the Soul Refining Bowl and cast a spell into it, revealing a green light orb within.

"Taoist Friend Shen, I have told you everything truthfully; what else do you want from me?" the green light orb spoke with dissatisfaction.

"Truthfully? Hmph, you were basically sending me to my death! If I hadn’t been cautious, I would have fallen for your scheme. You’re asking for death," Shen Long said coldly, activating the Soul Refining Bowl to torment Lu Xin’s soul.

"Haha, you’ve already killed me, why should I fear your torture? Hehe, by the time you reach your destination, Taoist Friend Xu and the others will have already obtained the Nascent Soul Cultivator’s relics," Lu Xin laughed wildly.

Shen Long released the Ghost Dove to devour Lu Xin’s soul and then stored it back in the Spirit Beast bag.

Shen Long looked at the map with a contemplative expression on his face.

As shown by the map, he would have to bypass a long stretch to reach the destination and he was unaware of the route Xu Tong and the others might have taken.

After a moment of contemplation, Shen Long retreated back into the dense forest, intending to bypass the area.

After all, it was the Zouhua Cave of a Nascent Soul Cultivator; he didn’t want to miss out on it and hoped to reach it before Xu Tong.

Outside Myriad Poison Valley, a purple Escape Light flew from the distance and stopped with a flicker. Once the Escape Light had withdrawn, a purple flashing Flying Boat was revealed.

Four men and one woman stood upon it, Xu Tong among them.

They had intended to ambush and kill Shen Long, using his head to claim the bounty from Wu Xian; but unexpectedly, Lu Xin had been swiftly killed by Shen Long.

Since Myriad Poison Valley was in Human Clan territory, Wu Mo and the others found it inconvenient to travel openly, opting to avoid other Human Cultivators as much as possible, delaying them substantially.

"Finally, we have reached Myriad Poison Valley," Xu Tong said with a solemn expression.

"Let’s hope the information is accurate," Wu Mo remarked.

"He couldn’t have gotten ahead of us, could he? Taoist Friend Lu had the map on him," Xu Tong expressed his concern.

"He’s not a Nascent Soul Cultivator, so he can’t Soul Search. At most, he just killed Taoist Friend Lu. The map doesn’t specify it’s a Nascent Soul Cultivator’s cave; how could he possibly find his way here with just a map?" Wu Mo said nonchalantly.

"Regardless, it’s still better to be cautious," a slender woman in a green dress said seriously.

Wu Qing, Late Stage Core Formation.

"Enough talk, let’s go in!" Wu Mo urged.

Xu Tong stowed the purple Flying Boat, and the five of them entered Myriad Poison Valley.

······

Deep within Myriad Poison Valley, a vast wasteland lay before them, the sky shrouded in gray.

Shen Long and the Hundred Eyes Cicada, wrapped in a purple light screen, moved swiftly forward amidst thunder and lightning flashing across the high sky, with thick silver bolts striking down.

The Absorbing Thunder Pearl floated above Shen Long’s head, drawing in one bolt after another of the silver lightning.

After a short while, Shen Long and the Hundred Eyes Cicada left the wasteland, and a bamboo forest with its green hues came into their sight.

With a gesture of his hand, Shen Long dimmed the Spiritual Light of the Absorbing Thunder Pearl and it fell into his palm.

With the Absorbing Thunder Pearl in hand, ordinary power of thunder and lightning could not harm him.

Shen Long released the Iron Tail Scorpion to lead the way, with him and the Hundred Eyes Cicada following behind.

After passing through the bamboo forest, they were faced with a narrow small valley where not a single blade of grass grew.

"It seems they have not arrived yet!"

Shen Long’s face revealed a joyful expression.

The Hundred Eyes Cicada indeed discovered that there were restrictions within the valley. He just didn’t know if it was the cave of a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Shen Long summoned a Giant Ape Puppet Beast, pinched a spell, and it began to walk forward with large strides, entering the valley.

As the Giant Ape Puppet Beast walked around the valley without any abnormalities, Shen Long felt relieved and strode into the valley himself.

Within the valley was a roughly ten-foot-tall cave entrance. Shen Long summoned a small dog Puppet Beast — Lu Xin’s Storage Bag had many low-level Puppet Beasts, likely prepared for treasure hunting, which now came as a boon for Shen Long.

The small dog Puppet Beast rushed into the cave and came to a space of about an acre inside; it ran around without any abnormal occurrences.

Only then did Shen Long let down his guard. He released the Tree Person to hide in the bamboo forest and act as a sentry; if anyone approached the valley, they were to alert Shen Long immediately.

He entered the cave and quickly made his way into the cavern.

The Hundred Eyes Cicada flew to a rugged stone wall and began to emit a happy cicada sound.

Shen Long released hundreds of thousands of Gold-Winged Fire Ants that quickly coalesced into a golden spear and struck the stone wall.

A dull thud sounded, but the wall remained undamaged.

A surge of golden flames erupted over the spear, engulfing a large part of the wall.

Shen Long approached, put on the Ice Flood Dragon Gauntlets on his hands, and started pounding the wall with his fists.

After a series of loud blasting sounds, a yellow light appeared on the wall, and a substantial yellow light screen emerged, displaying the image of a yellow turtle.

"The Xuangui Great Array!"

Shen Long recognized it as a fourth-rank formation.

Advanced cultivators would consult formation tomes to understand the characteristics and functions of various arrays, making it easier to cope with them.

"It really is the cave of a Nascent Soul Cultivator; I hope there are good things inside," Shen Long said excitedly.

He exhaled a tricolor flame onto the yellow light screen, which immediately produced a puff of green smoke as he continuously punched it.

After a series of muffled "bang bang" sounds, the cavern shook violently, and the spiritual light from the yellow screen dimmed.

Shen Long’s fists released a blinding white light as he ferociously struck the light screen until it could no longer hold, exploding outward to reveal a cavern dozens of feet in size.

Inside the cavern was a human skeleton, its entire body pitch black. The left hand bone was missing, and its skull had numerous cracks; around its waist hung a yellow Storage Bag.

It looks like the cave owner had sustained severe injuries and had been poisoned before he died.

In front of the skeleton was a circular yellow Array Plate with thirty-six evenly sized notches, each containing a grey-white stone.

Shen Long released the Ghost Dove, and its two heads each emitted a blue halo which enveloped the corpse, resulting in no abnormalities.

Shen Long breathed a sigh of relief, approached the skeleton, and took the yellow Storage Bag. Shaking the bag upside down, a stream of yellow light passed by and a large assortment of items appeared on the ground.

There were three Dharma Treasures, over three hundred thousand Spirit Stones, and some Monster Beast materials.

A golden box and a green jade case caught Shen Long’s eye. He opened the golden box to find half a stick of golden incense that gave off a peculiar aroma.

Upon smelling this scent, Shen Long felt an indescribable sense of euphoria deep within his divine soul.

"Soul-Soothing Incense!" Shen Long exclaimed with surprise and joy.

Soul-Soothing Incense could weaken the power of a Heart Demon. Core Formation cultivators attempting to break through to Nascent Soul had to pass the Heart Demon Pass, where having Soul-Soothing Incense could make it easier.

He opened the green jade case, revealing a golden lotus flower.

"A thousand-year Nine Leaf Golden Lotus!" Shen Long identified the origin of the golden lotus.

The Nine Leaf Golden Lotus flowered once in a thousand years, serving as the main ingredient for refining the fourth-rank Nine Leaf Golden Lotus Pill, and it had an excellent detoxifying effect.

Shen Long picked up a golden Jade Slip and immersed his Divine Sense into it.

In less than half an hour, he had read all the contents of the Jade Slip.

"Seven Core Crabapple! Nine Leaf Golden Lotus Pill!" Shen Long’s face showed a look of sudden realization.

The Seven Core Crabapple was a potent poison capable of killing a Nascent Soul Cultivator. One of the Jade Slips contained the Pill Formula for the Nine Leaf Golden Lotus Pill.

Shen Long carefully inspected the items on the ground, finding the ingredients needed to refine the Nine Leaf Golden Lotus Pill. It seemed like the person entered the Myriad Poison Valley in search of the Nine Leaf Golden Lotus but unfortunately died in the process.

A deafening blast echoed, causing Shen Long to frown. He quickly gathered the items on the ground and stowed the Ghost Dove into his Spirit Beast bag.

The Hundred Eyes Cicada’s eyes released a dazzling golden light, and Shen Long’s brow furrowed deeply.

"Xu Tong! To think you’d arrive so quickly," Shen Long said in surprise.

Outside the valley, green bamboo surrounded Xu Tong and four others. Thick Green Vines emerged from the ground, whipping towards Xu Tong and the others like green lashes.

Wu Qing summoned two green flying daggers, cutting down the incoming green vines into pieces.

"Someone has beaten us to the chase, it really is Shen Long," Wu Mo said, his face filled with a murderous look.

This was supposed to be their opportunity, but Shen Long had snatched it away.

A thundering roar came from the sky, and a silver lightning pillar, about ten feet in diameter, descended from the heavens, striking towards Xu Tong and the others.

Before Xu Tong and the others could evade, a shrill, piercing screech sounded, slowing their reactions. The silver lightning pillar struck them, enveloping their figures in lightning while shockwaves rolled through the air.