Chapter 138

Wang Shan sat cross-legged inside the cave, a few first-order pills in his belly, better than nothing, but at least it let a tiny bit of spiritual power, as fine as a spider's silk, appear in his dried-up meridians.

He opened his eyes, the cave light dim, his two grandsons still in a deep sleep, Wang Zhitao's complexion still grim.

System, tell me about the geomantic vein energy of Ghost Sorrow Cliff, the more detailed the better." Wang Shan thought silently.

【Analyzing Ghost Sorrow Cliff geomantic vein energy field……Report generating……】

【Preliminary report: Ghost Sorrow Cliff geomantic vein energy shows highly irregular fluctuations. Energy characteristics in many areas match remnants of Beast Taming Sect arrays. Some areas detected traces of artificial interference with geomantic flow, suspected ruins of a large Beast Taming Sect experiment site.】

Beast Taming Sect array remnants? Experiment site?" Wang Shan frowned, "No wonder it's so eerie."

【In-depth analysis: Abnormal geomantic vein energy strongly interferes with high-level cultivators' spiritual sense. Interference effects: distortion, shielding, misleading. Foundation Establishment cultivators' spiritual sense detection range will greatly shrink, precision significantly reduced.】

【Supplementary note: This interference has minor effect on low-level demon beasts' (third tier and below) spiritual sense, and no significant effect on mortals.】

Oh? Spiritual sense interference that big?" Wang Shan's eyes lit up, "Foundation Establishment cultivators' spiritual sense will be weakened? Hey, this is getting interesting!"

He rubbed his chin, isn't this just a natural 'spiritual sense maze'? For those high-level cultivators who rely on spiritual sense to crush everything, this place is practically a blind man's trap. But for him, whose spiritual sense is useless and who mainly relies on talismans, pills, and brains to get by as a Body Refining cultivator, the impact isn't that deadly.

This place is practically a stage tailor-made for me!" Wang Shan muttered, his mood slightly improved.

Li Hu, Zhang Mei!" he called out.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei immediately gathered over.

Boss, how's it going?" Li Hu asked quietly.

Recovered a bit, won't die." Wang Shan waved his hand, "Listen, the geomantic vein energy of Ghost Sorrow Cliff is strange, strongly interfering with spiritual sense. That is to say, those Foundation Establishment fellows' spiritual sense is greatly weakened here, hardly better than blind and deaf."

Li Hu widened his eyes: "Really? Then Wan Tianjue and them wouldn't be..."

Exactly," Wang Shan nodded, "They're probably suffering headaches too. This is good news for us."

He looked at Zhang Mei: "Zhang Mei, you and Li Hu stay near the cave entrance and our hiding spots, place more first-order warning talismans, no need for high grade, just enough to give warning. Keep movement small, don't let anyone notice."

Understood," Zhang Mei replied, she always acts steadily.

System, scan the nearby terrain, mark the distribution of geomantic vein energy strength for me, make a simple map." Wang Shan again gave the order to the system in his mind.

【Scanning……Map generating……】

Soon, a rough but key-information-clear map appeared in Wang Shan's mind. The map used different colors to mark strong and weak geomantic vein energy areas, plus some specially marked energy nodes.

Li Hu, Zhang Mei, look." Wang Shan relayed the map info to the two, "In this creepy place, geomantic vein energy is strong in some spots, weak in others, and even the energy attributes have subtle differences in some places. When we act, we can't just rely on feeling; we should make as much use of the weak-energy zones as possible, avoiding areas where the energy is chaotic or unfavorable to us. The effect of talismans here is also affected—some places may cause talismans to fail, others may strengthen them; we must be careful about all this."

Li Hu listened, blinking: "Boss, this is so complicated?"

Complexity brings opportunity," Wang Shan said, "If it were a smooth road, would we get a chance to pick up bargains?"

He pointed at a direction in the map in his mind: "Look, deep in Ghost Sorrow Cliff, the geomantic vein energy's abnormal fluctuation is most intense; the system prompt says that place may hold fragments of the truth about the Beast Taming Sect's downfall."

Zhang Mei's eyes narrowed slightly: "Truth fragments?"

Hmm, and... higher-tier mutant demon beasts." Wang Shan added, his tone growing a bit heavier.

Li Hu smacked his lips: "Higher-tier? Stronger than that fourth-order Red Flame Flying Lizard King?"

Hard to say," Wang Shan shook his head, "The system speculates these mutant demon beasts were likely created by the Beast Taming Sect's experiments back then, or resulted from uncontrolled energy leakage when the sect fell. Their presence makes the depths of Ghost Sorrow Cliff more dangerous, but they might also... hide good stuff, like high-grade refining materials, or some lost inheritances."

Inheritance? Could Wan Tianjue be after that?" Li Hu asked.

Nine times out of ten," Wang Shan said, "But we have to eat bite by bite, walk step by step. The Purple Monkey Flower isn't in hand yet, Zhitao's poison isn't cured, thinking about those is too far off."

He looked at the map, pondered a moment: "Before the Purple Monkey Flower matures, we can't just wait idle. Li Hu, you and Zhang Mei take turns on guard, stay safe. I plan to first use the system to conduct a more detailed scan of the relatively stable energy zones on the outskirts of Ghost Sorrow Cliff."

Boss, what are you going to do?

Look for any lone low-level demon beasts, kill a few to earn some Spirit Plant Points. My meager savings were spent in the last fight with Wan Honghai; now I'm dirt poor, lacking Spirit Plant Points, I feel uneasy." Wang Shan sighed, "By the way, also keep a close watch on Wan Tianjue and those black-clothed people's movements, see what they're up to."

This idea is great!" Li Hu's eyes lit up, "Killing demon beasts, I'm good at that!"

Wang Shan ignored him and continued: "Also, I need to study that black jade slip obtained from the Wan Family cultivators. The system says it's a kind of 'key' that can draw geomantic vein energy. I need to figure it out, see if I can find a way to restrain or utilize these geomantic anomalies and demon beast mutations from the Beast Taming Sect's inheritance runes."

He recalled how that jade slip had resonated with his grandsons' spiritual power and also responded to the geomantic vein here, feeling that its crucial function hasn't been fully unleashed yet.

System, pull out all rune data from the Beast Taming Sect inheritance related to geomantic vein energy, demon beast taming, demon beast mutation, and arrays; I want to study them thoroughly.

【Data extracting……Related rune modules loaded……】

Wang Shan closed his eyes, and a large amount of complex rune patterns and obscure annotations instantly flooded his mind. This workload is not small.

Time waits for no one." He opened his eyes, a flicker of anxiety flashing in his gaze. Every moment of delay, Wan Tianjue and those mysterious black-clothed people could gain deeper control over Ghost Sorrow Cliff. They are now like ants in a crevice; a little carelessness and they'll be crushed.

Grandpa, water..." Wang Zhezhe woke up sometime, voice weak.

Wang Shan hurried over, helped him up, and gave him some water.

Seeing his grandson's pale little face, Wang Shan's heart felt as if something had tugged at it.

Zhezhe, how do you feel?

Dizzy, no strength...

It's fine, Grandpa's here." Wang Shan patted his back, "How's your brother?"

Still sleeping, his breathing seems to have steadied a bit.

Wang Shan checked Wang Zhitao's breath; indeed it was stronger than before, the medicine had taken some effect.

Boss, when will we act?" Li Hu could hardly contain himself.

Not in a hurry," Wang Shan shook his head, "Right now the several outside forces are fighting fiercely; let us first let them muddy the waters. After I fully study this geomantic vein and the runes, I'll look for a chance to strike. Remember, our goal is the Purple Monkey Flower and getting out of here safely."

He gazed at the faint light seeping in from outside the cave; Ghost Sorrow Cliff, this perilous place, is both a desperate situation and possibly a glimmer of hope for the Wang family.

Damn it, I don't believe this evil!" Wang Shan muttered lowly, "Wan Tianjue, the black-clothed people, and that fourth-order beast, all wait for me!"

He sat cross-legged again, began to fully analyze the Beast Taming Sect runes in his mind, trying to find a way out of this deadlock from that ancient wisdom.

Li Hu, you go first to watch the cave entrance; report any movement immediately. Remember, just watch, don't act!

Got it, boss!" Li Hu set off after receiving the order.

Zhang Mei then began quietly regulating her breath, storing energy for the upcoming action.

Inside the cave, for a moment only Wang Shan's occasional soft muttering while flipping through materials and the two children's shallow breathing remained.

The wind and rain are about to come; Ghost Sorrow Cliff is destined not to be calm.