Chapter 145

Wang Shan's figure was like a ghost, silently approaching the entrance of that hidden valley. He could even smell the unique fishy odor on the Iron-backed Gray Ape's body, as well as the hot wind expelled with each of its heavy breaths.

"System, what cultivation level does this beast have?" Wang Shan silently asked in his mind.

【Target: Iron-backed Gray Ape, third-tier late-stage demon beast, formidable strength, thick hide and tough flesh, keen perception. Currently, due to external interference, its mood is extremely unstable.】

"Third-tier late-stage… a bit troublesome." Wang Shan furrowed his brow slightly. A head-on clash? That's something only an idiot would do. He hadn't forgotten that his spiritual power wasn't fully recovered yet; moreover, if the commotion were too great, it might summon Wan Tianjue or those black-clothed people, and then the trouble would be huge.

"Same old rule, win by wit." With a thought, the spirit plant points on the system interface plummeted.

"Exchange! One third-tier illusion form talisman! Three second-tier soul disturbance talismans!"

【Exchange successful, consumed spirit plant points XXX.】

Several faintly glowing talismans appeared out of thin air in his hand. Wang Shan pinched the talismans, his gaze once again turning to the Iron-backed Gray Ape pacing back and forth at the valley entrance. That creature stood over one zhang tall, its muscles knotted like iron, the hair on its back a steely blue that gleamed with a metallic sheen in the dim light. At the moment, it was anxiously scraping the ground with its huge claws, letting out low "uh-uh" growls from its throat, clearly unsettled by the fighting outside.

"Now!"

Wang Shan seized an opening; the third-tier illusion form talisman in his hand ignited without fire, sending out a barely perceptible ripple. Immediately, he unreservedly activated the three second-tier soul disturbance talismans in succession, turning them into three fine dark lights that shot silently toward the Iron-backed Gray Ape.

"Huh?"

The Iron-backed Gray Ape's massive body shuddered violently, its bell-like eyes instantly filling with bewilderment. The scene before it began to twist and sway, as if several Wang Shans appeared, or as if it saw some terrifying illusion, causing it to emit a confused low growl, start to spin in place, and even flail its claws wildly at the air.

"Effective!"

Seeing this, Wang Shan's resolve hardened. His form flashed like a wisp of green smoke, slipping past the Iron-backed Gray Ape in an instant and dashing straight for the purple monkey flower deep in the valley that exuded an alluring halo.

He reached the huge bluish-black rock in just a few breaths. The purple monkey flower was in bud, golden veins slowly flowing across its surface, each pulse exuding rich spiritual energy.

Without hesitation, Wang Shan produced a jade box from his bosom, opened the lid, and inside lay a pigeon-egg-sized, entirely emerald crystal core radiating immense vital energy—the 【Life Essence Core】!

He carefully took out the 【Life Essence Core】 and gently placed it in the rock crevice at the base of the purple monkey flower, right against its stem.

"Hum——"

Almost the instant the 【Life Essence Core】 touched the purple monkey flower, an indescribably rich vital aura burst forth! The budding purple monkey flower, like seedlings after a long drought meeting rain, began to swell and unfurl at a visible speed, its petals opening layer by layer!

The spiritual energy concentration in the valley reached an astonishing level at this moment, almost condensing into substance!

The purple petals fully unfolded, each crystal-clear and translucent, as if carved from the finest amethyst. At the heart of the blossom, a point of golden light blazed dazzlingly; the rich medicinal fragrance mingled with pure spiritual energy, making one intoxicated just by smelling it.

"Success!" A gleam of light burst in Wang Shan's eyes.

He reached out, seized the stem of the purple monkey flower without hesitation, and with a faint outflow of spiritual power pulled it completely from the rock crevice! The stem still carried a small clump of damp soil and several fine rootlets.

"Collect!" With a thought, the purple monkey flower together with the already half-consumed 【Life Essence Core】 vanished instantly, properly stored in his system space.

"Roar——!!!"

At the very instant the purple monkey flower was taken, a deafening roar filled with boundless anger and savagery suddenly erupted from the valley entrance!

The Iron-backed Gray Ape's bewildered eyes instantly cleared, bloodshot veins spreading across its eyeballs! It immediately sensed the disappearance of the purple monkey flower's aura; the overwhelming fury of being tricked and robbed plunged it into utter madness.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Heavy footsteps thundered like war drums as the Iron-backed Gray Ape, gone mad, charged toward the valley depths, easily smashing trees and rocks to pieces along the way!

But it was too late!

Almost at the moment Wang Shan succeeded, the Ghost Sorrow Cliff Core Battlefield.

Locked in combat with the Red Flame Flying Lizard King, the already greatly exhausted and disheveled Wan Tianjue, together with the Black-clad Leader on the other side who was directing the Black-clothed Persons' formation and guiding earth vein energy, almost simultaneously underwent a drastic change in expression!

"The aura of the purple monkey flower… has vanished?!" Wan Tianjue almost spat out a mouthful of old blood; he could clearly sense that unique spiritual pulse cut off abruptly, as if someone had forcibly severed it!

He let out a roar of extreme fury, his eyes blood-red: "Find him! Dig three feet into the earth if you must, and drag that bastard out!"

Meanwhile, the Black-clad Leader's hoarse voice also carried irrepressible anger: "Damn it! Someone got there first! Keep a few people maintaining the formation; the rest, search with me! Find that thief—I will tear his corpse into ten thousand pieces and offer his soul as a sacrifice!"

Two powerful streams of spiritual sense, like two violent hurricanes from different directions, instantly swept horizontally across the valley where the purple monkey flower had originally grown!

Wang Shan had anticipated this.

"System, how are Li Hu and the others doing?" he mentally asked urgently while sprinting full speed toward the prearranged retreat route.

【Li Hu and Zhang Mei, following the preset plan, have successfully shaken off entanglement and are now moving toward the safe zone; they are expected to reach the rendezvous point in three minutes.】

"Good!" Wang Shan's mind eased slightly.

The moment he burst out of the valley, he sensed two streams of spiritual sense carrying icy killing intent rapidly approaching.

"You want to catch me? Dream on!"

Wang Shan snorted coldly, without hesitation pulling two talismans from his storage pouch—one earth-yellow, one water-blue, namely the 【Third-Order Earth Escape Talisman】 and the 【Third-Tier Water Escape Talisman】!

"Earth Escape!"

The earth-yellow talisman instantly turned into a yellow light that enveloped his body; the ground beneath Wang Shan's feet suddenly became as soft as rippling water, and his figure went "puff" straight into the earth, vanishing from sight!

Almost the instant he vanished underground, Wan Tianjue's and the Black-clad Leader's violent spiritual senses swept over this spot.

"Where is the person?!" Wan Tianjue's spiritual sense frantically searched the vicinity, but found nothing.

"There are traces of earth escape! But the Ghost Sorrow Cliff earth vein is chaotic, the aura interference too strong to keep up!", the Black-clad Leader's voice brimming with reluctance.

Deep underground, Wang Shan relied on the power of the earth escape talisman to speed through the strata. The special earth vein energy of Ghost Sorrow Cliff, paradoxically, became his best cover, greatly interfering with the spiritual sense probing of high-level cultivators.

After traveling for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a faint sound of flowing water came from ahead.

"This is the place!"

Wang Shan's eyes lit up; he activated the earth escape talisman's power and shot upward.

"Splash!"

He burst out from the riverbed of an underground dark river, then immediately activated the 【Third-Tier Water Escape Talisman】. The azure light enveloped him, making his body in the water as agile as a fish, and he swiftly fled downstream along the turbulent dark current.

After a while, he finally surfaced from a concealed pool, shaking the water droplets from his head.

"Huu… at last I've temporarily shaken them off."

At this moment, Wang Shan had expended a great deal of spiritual power, soaked through and looking somewhat disheveled. Yet, clutching the freshly obtained purple monkey flower and sensing the pure medicinal potency within his system space, a hard-to-describe warm current flowed through his limbs.

My grandson's poison can be cured! The main ingredient for my own foundation establishment is also in hand!

This foray into Ghost Sorrow Cliff, though extremely perilous and a near-death experience, yielded a harvest far beyond expectations.

"Wan Tianjue, black-clothed people… we'll settle this score slowly!" Wang Shan wiped the water from his face, lifted his gaze toward the depths of Ghost Sorrow Cliff, where faint fighting sounds and roars still drifted.

He knows that now is not the time to relax.

The most urgent matter is to meet up with Li Hu and Zhang Mei, then find an absolutely safe place, first detoxify his grandson, then prepare for his own Foundation Establishment.

Foundation Establishment! As long as he succeeds in Foundation Establishment, his strength will undergo an earth-shaking change! By then, whether it's Wan Tianjue or those mysterious black-clothed people, he will no longer be so passive!