Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 396 - 31: Got the Goods! Ignite a Volcano! _2

Chapter 396: Chapter 31: Got the Goods! Ignite a Volcano! _2

Xia Jing didn’t argue, he directly opened the boxes belonging to him and Guan Junyang.

Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie looked inside, and indeed, there were Fourth Rank seeds.

"How could this be, aren’t you retracing your steps?" Zhao Xing asked.

"I want to know why too," Xia Jing said, "I saw an Earth Fire Lotus, but just couldn’t get it."

"I think it might be a Sealing Mountain Technique," Guan Junyang sighed, "The Fifth-Rank Earth Fire Spirit Lake area is inside Flame Mountain and has been subjected to the ’Sealing Mountain Technique.’

"Sealing Mountain Technique?" Zhao Xing recalled the scene when East Lake Mountain was opened.

The Sealing Mountain Technique mentioned ’Paths could be crossed, but the plants and trees remain unscathed. Mountains could be entered, but no beasts are seen.’

The general idea was that if you entered a sealed mountain area, you wouldn’t see any beasts or life and naturally couldn’t hunt them.

Flowers, grass, and trees wouldn’t be harmed either because they were influenced by a high-level Sealing Mountain Technique.

Flame Mountain and East Lake Mountain were different situations.

It wasn’t that an entire mountain was sealed, nor was the ’Eight Directions True Monarch’ invited to protect it; it was purely sealed with a spell.

But in Great Zhou, both sealing and opening techniques relied on the power of the Yin God.

So in the Spirit Mountains of Great Zhou, even a Ninth Grade Minister of Agriculture could perform the opening and sealing operations on lower-ranked Spirit Mountains.

However, both the Mountain Opening Technique and the Sealing Mountain Technique themselves were high-order spells, and in the Southern Barbarians, there was no Yin God system, so they couldn’t borrow Yin God Power.

So, it’s likely that a highly skilled Daoist managed to seal the area where the Fifth Rank Earth Fire Lotus was grown.

"This is troublesome," Zhao Xing frowned, "Old Chen, can you break it?"

"I don’t know," Chen Shijie shook his head, "For high-level sealing spells, everyone’s method differs slightly, we have to see it first. But even if we can break it, it will surely alert the practitioner."

"Brother Xia, can your retreat route accommodate four more people?" Zhao Xing asked.

He originally planned to take what they needed and return the same way without alerting the Fire Dragon Pass guards.

But wanting to take the Fifth Order seeds without alerting the guards was impossible.

Once the guards were alerted, trying to return by the same path would be a life-and-death gamble.

Xia Jing was deep in thought.

If they caused a big commotion, his father’s spies stationed here might be exposed.

Xia Jing also wanted to seize Fire Dragon Pass, and he had already persuaded the commander of the Xuanjia Army to lend him an elite unit.

He hoped to use these spies during the attack on the Fire Dragon Pass.

If he used them now, would it be worth it?

"Mr. Zhao, the four of you can retreat with me, but it’s best not to alert the guards. The Fifth-Rank Earth Fire Spirit Lake isn’t a must-have, but these spies will be useful when we attack Fire Dragon Pass next time."

"The Xuanjia Army can cooperate with the Divine Might Army," Xia Jing said, "Taking Fire Dragon Pass and then continuing the advancement, the credit will be enough for both our families to share."

After Xia Jing finished speaking, Zhao Xing also fell into thought.

He used voice transmission to discuss with Old Chen.

"I think Xia Jing makes sense, what do you think?"

"It’s a mutually beneficial situation, it can be done," Chen Shijie said, "I can convince the general to cooperate."

The general here referred to Jia Pu, who was temporarily acting as the Divine Might General.

Only with his order would Wen Shaoyang and Liao Rulong cooperate.

Otherwise, cooperation between the two armies would be problematic.

"As for whether to take the Fifth Order seeds, that depends on your decision," Chen Shijie said, "You have high-order Elemental Analysis Skill, we need your help to cultivate the Earth Fire Lotus."

"I don’t think it’s worth the risk," Zhao Xing said, "If we open this mountain, we might not be able to leave, those who use high-order Mountain Techniques are formidable."

"Then let’s retreat."

In a few words, the plan was changed.

Zhao Xing told Xia Jing, "Brother Xia, we have canceled the plan to steal the Fifth Order seeds, we are retreating now; for the cooperation, find us later at Zhixiu City."

"You’re not retreating with us?" Xia Jing asked.

"No, with four more people, your spies would be hard to manage. Without alerting the guards, our original path is safer," Zhao Xing said, "Brother Guan, do you know the Escape Skill? If you do, consider retreating with us."

Keeping Xia Jing’s spies would be greatly beneficial for the Fire Dragon Pass attack.

The Divine Might Army didn’t have such a leverage.

"I don’t know it," Guan Junyang admitted awkwardly.

He belonged to the Heavenly Time Institute, and his escape skills were just so-so, while Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing had high-level Escape Skills. How could Guan Junyang know it?

The Escape Skill could accommodate one more person, but it would double the energy consumption.

To be safe, it was better for everyone to retreat separately, not together.

"Brother Xia, take care."

"You too."

Without further conversation, the six swiftly parted ways.

Zhao Xing and the other three started retreating along their original route.

They first exited the lava cave and came out to the ruins outside.

Then they sneaked into the Underground Cave Space.

Thousand Transformations activated, and they turned into Luo Ba, Xu Ba, Huo Wei, and Rah again.

They swaggered back to the cave for shift changes.

Then they used their Escape Skill, retracing their path and exiting Fire Dragon Pass.

At thirty miles away, Zhang Ying and Xu Quan’s two groups of Five Elements Mages were still waiting in the cave.

"Shh~"

The Five Elements Mages immediately became alert.

"Don’t act, it’s us," Chen Shijie said.

"Brother Chen, you are back!" Zhang Ying and Xu Quan smiled, "How did it go?"

"It’s hard to say," Chen Shijie said, "Let’s go back first."

"Zhao Xing and I are both almost out of energy, please lead the way."

"No problem."

Zhang Ying and Xu Quan immediately performed the Escape Skill, the groups took turns casting spells, carefully advancing through the underground.

They only returned to the surface after one hundred miles from Fire Dragon Pass and then took a flying boat back.