Chapter 274

After setting off, the Wan couple carried Liu Xiaolou through the vast mountain forest, heading roughly southwest. But the Wanshan are very peculiar, and it is unknown whether it is a visual illusion or if the directions themselves are chaotic. Walking within them, one cannot fully rely on the sun, moon, and stars to distinguish directions, making it easy to make mistakes. Therefore, Liu Xiaolou was also silently memorizing the path they were traveling.

Along the way, they crossed five mountain ridges, spanned two deep ravines, took three turns, encountered a rushing torrent, traveled downstream along the river for seventeen or eighteen li, then crossed the river, traveled upstream along a tributary, and continued for half a day.

Along the way, the couple took several small detours. Liu Xiaolou couldn't understand them for a moment, but he kept them firmly in mind, especially remembering those iconic places, such as several strange trees, or a patch of chaotic rocks, or sheer cliffs, etc. He guessed that these places probably all held dangers that even Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn't dare to risk.

After walking for a day and a night like this, having traveled about eighty or a hundred li of mountain road, they suddenly saw a mountain shadow stretching and undulating for nearly a hundred li ahead, standing tall like a high wall.

There was a natural cliff gap in the mountain, only wide enough for a few people to walk side by side. Looking upward, only a thin line of the sky remained.

Two cultivators were sitting at the opening, wearing deer-skin and sheep-wool robes, with messy hair and unkempt beards, not knowing how long it had been since they shaved. They were dressed entirely like mountain people, with dark complexions, lazy expressions, and fierce gazes.

These two cultivators stood up to welcome them, their attitudes respectful: "Greetings, Cave Master Wan, Madam Wan!"

Wan Shangu asked: "Is your Cave Master in?"

One of the cultivators bowed and led the way: "He is, please follow me into the mountain."

Liu Xiaolou had heard of this place, Miaofeng Mountain, many years ago, and it was only today that he truly saw the true face of this mountain.

Following the "Line of Sky" canyon inward, it felt like they were slowly ascending. After ascending for two or three li, the view suddenly opened up, and they arrived at a high mountain terrace. Here, fields were crisscrossed, birds were singing and flowers were fragrant, plots of land were scattered among them, and rows of bamboo houses were lined up along the stream. With chickens crowing and dogs barking, and smoke curling from chimneys, it was truly a scene of vibrant pastoral scenery.

Liu Xiaolou, inside the net bag, stared fixedly at these fields, because he discovered that what was planted in the fields were all kinds of strange flowers and exotic grasses!

He didn't understand alchemy, and the materials for alchemy were different from the spirit materials for refining array plates and magic treasures. But he had robbed the alchemy materials of Mount Tianmu, and among the strange flowers and exotic grasses planted in these fields, he had seen several of them, such as Dog-Blue Fragrant Leaves, Strange Phoenix Flowers, Three-Flower Welcoming Heaven Grass, etc., all of which he had sold at the Chicheng market.

Being able to open up a medicine garden meant that there was a spirit vein on this mountain; this was a blessed land!

Looking curiously at everything before him, he suddenly remembered Yan Sanfei, who sold pills at the Tianmen Mountain market. No wonder the spirit pills that guy sold were effective; this Miaofeng Mountain was indeed an alchemy sect.

Sitting on a blessed land, the future of Miaofeng Mountain was limitless, and sooner or later, it would stand among the famous major sects of the world.

It's just that he didn't know how the Wan couple's plan to sell him here would work. If the Miaofeng Alchemy Sect was a sect established to gather loose cultivators from all over the world, and if the purpose of exchanging spirit stones for cultivators was to strengthen the sect, then it wouldn't hurt to stay here for a few years...

He was at the tenth level of Qi Refinement, already ranked among the top of the loose cultivators. Miaofeng Mountain should be thirsty for talent, right?

While observing, they arrived in front of a mountain cave at the end. An old man with a gray beard came out from inside, accompanied by two middle-aged cultivators, and bowed in greeting: "Your esteemed couple visiting my humble mountain, I have failed to welcome you."

The Wan couple lowered their posture and bowed: "Greetings, Cave Master Zhu." They also bowed to the two middle-aged cultivators: "Eldest Young Master, Second Young Master."

Cave Master Zhu's gaze swept toward Liu Xiaolou in the net bag and asked: "This is..."

Wan Shangu said: "My wife and I captured a loose cultivator in the Three Wanshan, named Li Mu, tenth level of Qi Refinement. Remembering that your esteemed Alchemy Sect acquires cultivators, we sent him over."

The slightly shorter one beside Cave Master Zhu came to Liu Xiaolou's side, grabbed his wrist, and injected true qi, probing for a moment, which made Liu Xiaolou break out in a sweat all over. Then he nodded to Cave Master Zhu, indicating that the tenth level of Qi Refinement was correct.

So Cave Master Zhu reached into his bosom and took out a handful of spirit stones, handing them to the Wan couple. Madam Wan chuckled: "Twelve?"

Cave Master Zhu said: "Since you esteemed couple delivered him personally, you should naturally be rewarded more."

Madam Wan was all smiles: "Then many thanks, Cave Master."

After the business was done,

the couple exchanged a few more polite words and then bid farewell. Cave Master Zhu said: "Eldest, Second, see the guests off for your father."

Cave Master Zhu carried Liu Xiaolou into the mountain cave. Liu Xiaolou swayed gently in his hands, very much wanting to shout: "Cave Master Zhu, this one is willing to join Miaofeng Mountain!" Unfortunately, Cave Master Zhu did not unseal his meridians, and he could only mumble without being able to say a single word.

The mountain cave was very deep. After entering, it was a spacious cave hall. There were recessed holes on the cave walls, with oil lamps lit. In the cave hall, there was a ground-fire furnace, with a half-person-high alchemy furnace placed on top. Around the cave walls, there were several large vats piled up, filled with water and liquid of unknown use, bubbling and popping with air bubbles.

Liu Xiaolou saw several crossed iron chains hanging across the top of the cave, and what was hanging was...

A dozen pitch-black corpses!

Suddenly, ripples appeared in a large water vat nearby, and a splashing sound rang out. A person emerged from under the liquid. Under the dim light, one could see that this person's complexion was like white paper, his eyes wide open, but his pupils had shrunk into a black dot that was almost invisible.

Someone rushed over and used an iron fork to fork this person back down, and the liquid submerged his head again...

Liu Xiaolou felt his scalp about to explode, and his heart sank to the bottom.

Cave Master Zhu threw Liu Xiaolou to the ground and went to check the other large vats, ordering: "Add some soap liquid..."

"Take the venom of the Brocade Snake, add three drops..."

"Warm it with firewood for half an hour, low fire..."

"Tonight, take that one at the fifth level of Qi Refinement to soak in the vat..."

A dozen people in the cave hall were busy, doing things according to Cave Master Zhu's instructions. Cave Master Zhu himself went under the large alchemy furnace in the center, closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, casting true qi incantations into the alchemy furnace.

There were three fork roads in the cave hall. Two people rushed over, carried Liu Xiaolou into the middle fork road, walked for several dozen zhang under the dim wall lamps, and arrived at a small cave chamber. They stuffed him into a large wooden barrel filled with hot water, and with four hands and two bristle brushes, they scrubbed the mud off him from top to bottom, scrubbing until Liu Xiaolou couldn't help but cry out in pain.

Painful as it was, soaking in the hot water for nearly half an hour was truly a kind of enjoyment. Liu Xiaolou, who had only been able to rely on rainwater for simple washing for two years, suddenly didn't want to come out of the barrel.

After changing two barrels of hot water, they finally washed him clean. Two people from the Miaofeng Alchemy Sect changed him into a clean hemp garment and brought him out, continuing to go deeper into the cave.

Ahead, another cave hall appeared, which was the end of this fork in the mountain cave, sealed with an iron fence as a door.

After the iron chain was unlocked, Liu Xiaolou was carried in, placed against the cave wall, and then trapped by an Eight-Prohibition Rope. Only then were his meridians unsealed.

Liu Xiaolou turned over, stumbled under his feet, but under the seal of the Eight-Prohibition Rope, although he could move, his true qi could not circulate, and he had no strength to truss a chicken.

He had no strength in his feet, but he couldn't care about that. He used all four limbs, crawled to catch up, and shouted: "I am at the tenth level of Qi Refinement, I can serve the sect, I came to join, came to join, ah..."

That person ignored him, locked the iron fence, and left quickly.

Liu Xiaolou sat blankly for a long time, turned his head to look around, and saw that there were more than twenty people locked in this cave prison, each leaning against the cave wall, looking at him blankly.

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Free reading.