265: restless

This action startled both of them.

“What do we do? Mr. Jiang Lan is gone?”

“Yeah.”

The two looked at each other in panic.

Jiang Lan hadn't actually disappeared; he had merely concealed his presence, wanting to draw the Old Thing out.

After all, the Old Thing's previous behavior was truly irritating.

He clearly wasn't from any renowned Righteous Path sect, yet he deliberately put on a golden glow.

It made it seem as if he was the Righteous Path, but in reality, someone who genuinely cultivated the Righteous Path wouldn't be so sneaky, so Jiang Lan didn't want to miss this opportunity.

At the same time, he also confirmed one thing: this Old Thing was definitely not a real person and must be related to the Illusion; it was just that he temporarily didn't want to admit it.

“You two, stop arguing.”

Wang Wenshan and Xu Lindong were incredibly anxious, constantly wondering why Jiang Lan wasn't there. Jiang Lan found their incessant chattering extremely annoying.

So he simply informed them via telepathic transmission.

The two immediately calmed down upon hearing his voice.

“Oh, we understand. We will definitely not expose your whereabouts, Teacher.”

The two calmed down, but Jiang Lan felt something was still off.

“You can't be too calm. I need to draw that Old Thing out. He should have a way for us to leave this Illusion.”

Now, the two began to act.

“I don't see any treasures here at all, and Jiang Lan has also left us. It must be for some special reason. I don't think this is working, let's leave too.” Wang Wenshan took the lead.

Xu Lindong almost couldn't keep up with his act.

But he quickly reacted and then followed up with a question.

“How do we leave? We can't even get off the water surface.”

“I just wonder if that old man from before is still around. I think he must be a good person.”

“Exactly, we can't cooperate with Jiang Lan anymore.” The two forced themselves to speak ill of Jiang Lan.

Meanwhile, the old man hiding in the shadows revealed a sinister smile.

He did this precisely to lure those from the renowned Righteous Path into degeneracy.

That way, he could absorb their power.

The reason he had become so strong was by doing exactly this.

Although he didn't know where Jiang Lan had gone, based on their recent fight, their strengths were evenly matched.

He didn't want to waste his abilities in such a place.

So, at this moment, he also seemed a bit flustered.

However, upon hearing Wang Wenshan and Xu Lindong speak like that, the old man became much calmer.

If what these two said was true, then he didn't need to be fixated on Jiang Lan's power.

Instead, he could absorb the power of these two first.

“This Ancient Secret Realm is too eerie.”

“The Secret Realm is mixed with an Illusion, and we don't even know if this is reality or fake.”

Just as the two had been rambling for a long time, their mouths almost dry, the old man suddenly appeared from the air.

“You two children, do you really dislike that fellow from earlier?”

The suddenly appearing old man startled the two.

“Yes, we do.”

“We really dislike him.”

While conversing with him, the two frantically called out to Jiang Lan, urging him to come out and deal with this guy quickly.

“Don't be impulsive, keep him here for now. It doesn't matter if you lose something; I'll compensate you for it later.”

“I need to confirm the surrounding directions. If I appear later and he runs, I'll have a way to keep him.”

Jiang Lan's words were like a reassurance to the two.

So, the two began to act with great effort.

“Elder, do you know something? You seem much more familiar with this place than we are. Can you tell us what kind of place this is?”

“Exactly.”

“We two were originally coerced by Jiang Lan to come here, and now he's disappeared.”

“Anyway, he's not that powerful, just relies on some Magical Artifacts, but we still really dislike him, so can you help us figure something out?”

The two spoke at once, and the old man initially had some doubts that it was a trap.

So he only released some Qi to test them.

Unexpectedly, the two spoke as if it were true, and this time he no longer doubted them.

“You mean, you want to follow me to learn things and then find a way to leave here, is that right?”

The two nodded vigorously.

They poured out every good word they could think of.

“So that's how it is. You two indeed have great awareness. Don't worry, if you are sincere, this old man will still be willing to teach you some moves.”

“But before that, this old man needs to see what kind of Dao you cultivate, lest the techniques I teach you conflict with your cultivation path.”

Upon hearing this, alarm bells rang in the hearts of the two.

First, the old man's ability to fool people was mediocre.

Secondly, what he said was truly amusing.

And Xu Lindong didn't follow his words, even though the goal was to keep the person there.

But he couldn't act like a fool.

“Do you mean that you know all kinds of Cultivation Techniques?”

“If that's the case, then do you still need to see? Just pick one, there's bound to be one that suits us.”

After Xu Lindong finished speaking, Wang Wenshan followed up.

“Exactly.”

Meanwhile, Jiang Lan had finally confirmed the direction of his escape and directly set up a barrier there.

Regardless of whether this was an Illusion or not, Jiang Lan used his own abilities as a boundary, and the opponent simply couldn't escape.

“Alright, you two, get out of the way.”

This time, Jiang Lan didn't use telepathic transmission but spoke directly.

The old man was startled by the voice and took a step back.

Wang Wenshan and Xu Lindong, on the other hand, scattered to both sides as if their lives depended on it.

Although they didn't know whose combat power was stronger between Jiang Lan and the old man, they certainly didn't want to seek death.

It wasn't until the two had run to a safe distance that the old man realized he had been tricked.

But it was already too late to retaliate.

Jiang Lan had already arrived beside him.

“Old Thing, how many people's energy have you absorbed here? You even lie so solemnly.”

If it were Wang Wenshan and Xu Lindong, the old man might still be able to spout some deceptive words.

But Jiang Lan's strength was too great for him to ignore, so he now put away his jocular expression.

“What does it have to do with you? I don't think you should meddle in such affairs. Why are you still bringing those two good-for-nothings with you? Why not let this old man absorb them? It'll save you some effort.”

Jiang Lan was infuriated by the Old Thing's logic.

The two hiding nearby stared with wide eyes, fuming.

How could this Old Thing change so quickly?

“So he was lying to us just now! He even said we had high talent. Turns out it was all to trick us into trusting him so he could absorb our energy.”

Hearing Wang Wenshan's complaint, Jiang Lan scoffed.

“Not too stupid, I suppose, but I still don't understand what this Old Thing is made of. Is he human or a demon?”

Listening to Jiang Lan's insult, the Old Thing became furious and directly conjured a ball of Qi, striking it out.

But before the ball of Qi could even get close to Jiang Lan, it was directly blocked by Jiang Lan.

“Is that all you've got?” Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow, looking at the person in front of him.