225: Chapter 225 Is this a layout by some sect?

Su Chengyuan didn't rush to a conclusion; instead, he and Li Shi continued two miles along the valley floor and conducted the same detection at another spot.

The result was the same; Li Shi's Divine Sense touched the same Array Inscriptionss at a depth of forty zhang, and his spiritual power could not penetrate further.

"The ground beneath this area is likely completely sealed off," Su Chengyuan said, standing up.

The two exchanged a glance and did not rashly continue their investigation. They retreated to where they had killed the Fire Snakes to collect the Yao Cores. Although these were only Qi Refinement Stage Yao Beasts, even small gains were worth it, especially for the chamber of commerce.

Ten Thousand Snakes Valley was a place rarely visited by high-level Cultivators. It was filled with poisonous miasma, and its resources were beneath the notice of Golden Core Cultivators. Usually, only Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators came here.

However, the scale and precision of this Formation were definitely not something a Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment Cultivator could set up.

The person who laid the Formation was at least a Foundation Establishment Peak or even a Golden Core Cultivator-level Formation Master.

With their cultivation levels, alerting the enemy would be a foolish move.

Su Chengyuan was about to collect the Yao Cores and then retreat when Li Shi suddenly placed a hand on his arm and pointed ahead toward the left.

Behind the rock wall at the bend of the valley floor, blatant spiritual power fluctuations were approaching.

It wasn't just one person; there were at least three.

Li Shi reacted quickly, grabbing Su Chengyuan with one hand as they both darted toward the right rock wall.

Su Chengyuan quickly reached into his Storage Pouch and pulled out a Grade 2 High Grade Hiding Talisman. With a flick of spiritual power from his fingertip, the Talisman ignited without fire, transforming into a thin film of light that enveloped them both.

The light film tightened against their bodies, merging with the surrounding rock walls and vines in the blink of an eye, completely concealing their forms and auras.

From the outside, there were only dense red vines and brown rocks on that stretch of the wall; no figures could be seen.

Before long, three streaks of spiritual light turned the corner of the valley floor.

Leading them was a middle-aged Cultivator in an earthy yellow Daoist robe, with a Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation.

Two others followed him, a man and a woman, both at the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage. The woman carried a narrow-bladed soft sword, while a bright green spirit bird perched on the man's right shoulder. Spiritual patterns faintly flowed at the tips of its feathers; it was a Grade 2 pathfinding Spirit Beast.

When the three reached the spot where Su Chengyuan and Li Shi had just fought the Fire Snakes, the leading middle-aged Cultivator stopped.

He crouched down to look at the Fire Snake corpses on the ground, touched the earth, and then turned back to whisper something to his two companions.

Su Chengyuan and the other held their breath inside the vines.

The brief clash just now had left behind many traces of spiritual power, and over a dozen Fire Snake corpses still lay on the ground. The middle-aged Cultivator was clearly a veteran and noticed it immediately.

The middle-aged Cultivator's Divine Sense swept across the surroundings.

The Divine Sense passed over the rock walls, the vines, and the spot where Su Chengyuan and Li Shi were hiding.

But when probed from the outside, the vines appeared to be just ordinary spiritual plants, with no abnormalities.

The middle-aged Cultivator's Divine Sense didn't linger on them for even a second before moving away.

Though he knew Cultivators had just been there, since he couldn't detect anything, the middle-aged Cultivator didn't dwell on it. Instead, he took out a bronze-colored talisman command from his sleeve. With a surge of spiritual power, a dark red light pattern appeared on the command.

He pointed the talisman command at the ground and performed a hand seal.

Su Chengyuan and Li Shi saw clearly through the gaps in the Firethorn Vines that under the influence of the middle-aged Cultivator's hand seal, the eleven Fire Snake corpses began to rapidly shrivel.

Flesh, bone, and scales—all organic tissue turned into a thick, dark red liquid within a few breaths.

The liquid didn't flow randomly; instead, it gathered into several small streams along patterns on the ground that were hard to see with the naked eye, seeping into the rock crevices beneath their feet one by one.

Su Chengyuan and Li Shi exchanged a look, neither making a sound.

This was providing energy to the Formation underground.

The middle-aged Cultivator put away the talisman command, his tone relaxing considerably, but his voice suddenly grew louder as he said, "Let's go. Our mission out here should be finished in another month. Then we can finally leave this gods-forsaken place."

The male Cultivator followed, rubbing his hands together. "There are over a dozen fellow disciples on this trip, and we've been in this hellhole for nearly a year. Thankfully, nothing went wrong. Once we're back, I'm definitely going to enjoy myself..."

"Quiet down," the female Cultivator with the soft sword interrupted him in a low voice.

The male Cultivator shut his mouth sheepishly.

The three figures quickly moved away along the valley floor, gradually disappearing into the depths of Ten Thousand Snakes Valley.

Even though the three were out of sight, Su Chengyuan didn't move, and neither did Li Shi.

The Hiding Talisman's effect could last for about another two hours. Su Chengyuan gestured for Li Shi to keep waiting.

Li Shi didn't say a word; he relaxed his body and leaned against the rock wall, closing his eyes.

Half an hour later, Su Chengyuan suddenly opened his eyes. Extremely faint footsteps came from the valley floor, almost drowned out by the sound of the wind.

Three streaks of spiritual light, the same spiritual power fluctuations as before, from the same direction.

The middle-aged Cultivator and his two companions had returned.

The three reappeared at the same spot on the valley floor, even quieter than before.

The middle-aged Cultivator's Divine Sense spread out over a wide area, thoroughly scanning everything within three hundred zhang.

When that Divine Sense passed over Su Chengyuan and his companion again, their heartbeats were suppressed to an extremely low level. Fortunately, the Hiding Talisman was flawless.

After scanning three times, the middle-aged Cultivator withdrew his Divine Sense.

"The people who killed the Fire Snakes should be far away by now. Since they didn't stay, they likely didn't discover the thing underground. Let's head out as well," he said to the two behind him.

The female Cultivator with the soft sword nodded, and the male Cultivator breathed a sigh of relief.

The three didn't linger any longer; they turned and left, their spiritual power fluctuations vanishing once more.

After waiting for another half an incense stick's time, Su Chengyuan finally raised his hand to dispel the remaining spiritual light of the Hiding Talisman and stepped out from behind the rock wall.

Li Shi followed closely behind, stretching his legs which had gone numb from crouching. "Mr. Su, how did you guess they would return?"

Su Chengyuan crouched down and picked up a piece of gravel soaked in Fire Snake blood. "My son once taught me something: if you encounter suspicious people in the wild and they notice a new anomaly but leave without looking into it, there's an eighty percent chance they'll come back to check within fifteen minutes to two hours."

Li Shi smacked his lips.

Su Chengyuan tossed the gravel away and wiped his hands on his robe. "In their line of work, what they fear most isn't someone right in front of them, but someone who has already been there and obtained information without them knowing.

They couldn't be sure if the person who killed the Fire Snakes was just a passing Loose Cultivator or a prepared scout.

Since they weren't sure, the cost of returning once was very low, while not returning could leave a potential threat.

If it were me, I would also come back for a look."

Li Shi pondered for a moment. "According to what they said, they're a team of over a dozen people. Since they've set up a Formation... is this a layout by some Sect?"

Su Chengyuan didn't answer. He just walked quickly toward the valley entrance, his pace much faster than when they arrived.

"Let's go. We can't stay here any longer."