I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

Three days later, led by Xuan Le and Lü Tianmeng, the team traversed several wastelands and hills, finally arriving at a vast wasteland that looked utterly desolate.

In the heart of the wasteland, a jagged canyon, as if the earth itself had been split open, winds its way deep underground.

The entrance to the canyon is cleverly concealed by an illusion array. Without someone to guide them, even if ordinary cultivators fly over from above, they would find it extremely difficult to detect the hidden world below.

After Xuan Le cast a specific spell, the illusion array temporarily opened an entrance, and everyone filed in.

As soon as they entered the canyon, several cultivators from the seven sects immediately came up to them from below, their faces showing obvious anticipation and relief.

The leader stationed here was an elderly man who looked quite old and had a worried face. He was in the early stages of Foundation Establishment and called himself Yu Xing. He came from Tianque Fortress.

The five or six people following behind him were all only at the Qi Refining stage.

With such a weak defensive force, it would be as fragile as paper against the potential attack of the demonic elites. No wonder the leaders of the seven factions were anxiously sending reinforcements one after another.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, you've worked hard! The reinforcements have arrived. We still need to discuss the subsequent defense matters together." Xuan Le, as the representative of the Hidden Moon Sect, took the initiative to step forward and hand over the reins to Yu Xing.

Yu Xing led everyone into a huge cave carved into the cliff face of the canyon, which was temporarily set up as a place for discussion and rest.

He gave a detailed account of the stone mine's reserves, mining progress, current personnel, and surrounding topography, his tone filled with concern.

Upon hearing this, Xuan Le immediately displayed her capable side.

He swiftly began setting up the defenses: first, based on the existing illusion array, he took out a set of array flags and array plates called the "Four Fiends Array".

This formation is both offensive and defensive, capable of drawing upon the earth's fiendish energy to form a defensive shield and counterattack enemies. Its rank is not low, indicating that he had made preparations in advance.

He directed everyone, including Zhou Yuan, Han Li, and the original guards, to set up array points at key locations in the canyon.

They divided all the monks into groups and established a strict system of rotation, guard duty, and patrols.

Zhou Yuan and Han Li were naturally assigned to different groups, with their shifts staggered.

While Zhou Yuan led his team to patrol inside and outside the canyon, Han Li would meditate and recover in cave dwellings or makeshift cave dwellings.

vice versa.

Time slipped by in the somewhat tedious vigilance and training, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

This spirit stone mine, located deep in the wasteland, was peaceful despite the occasional sounds of miners working and the presence of patrolling cultivators. No demonic cultivators were seen there.

On this day, the canyon illusion array was activated again, and another batch of reinforcements arrived—three Foundation Establishment cultivators led ten Qi Refining disciples, who arrived in a flurry of travel dust.

Their arrival not only strengthened the defenses, but also brought news that greatly boosted the morale of most of the cultivators in the mine:

A resounding victory!

According to the excited recounting of these new cultivators, the Spirit Beast Mountain, one of the Seven Sects, was actually a hidden branch planted thousands of years ago by the Spirit Control Sect, one of the Six Demonic Sects!

This invasion by the demonic forces aims to use the Spirit Beast Mountain as a base to replicate the remarkable success of quickly conquering the Jiang Kingdom and the Cheqi Kingdom.

However, the upper levels of Spirit Beast Mountain, having been passed down for thousands of years, have long since become independent and are no longer willing to be controlled by the Spirit Control Sect.

They secretly communicated with the other six factions, and somehow gained the trust of the demonic path, inducing a team of demonic cultivators to launch a surprise attack on one of the seven factions' strongholds.

As a result, this demonic team fell into an ambush carefully laid by the seven sects halfway there, suffered a crushing defeat, and lost heavy losses.

even.

Two Core Formation stage cultivators were killed on the spot!

The news of this "glorious victory" was like a shot in the arm for the cultivation world of Yue Kingdom, which was shrouded in gloom.

Inside the cave, apart from the newly arrived reinforcements, the original garrisoned cultivators, including Elder Yu Xing, all showed a long-lost look of excitement, and their morale had clearly risen considerably.

Only Zhou Yuan remained calm and detached, observing the jubilation of the crowd.

As a transmigrator, he clearly remembered that this so-called "great victory" and the "unwavering loyalty" of the Spirit Beast Mountain were nothing more than a charade put on by the demonic path and the Spirit Beast Mountain for the seven factions of Yue Kingdom!

The goal was to gain the complete trust of the seven factions and lull everyone into a false sense of security.

So that at the most critical moment in future battles, they could deliver a fatal blow to the seven factions from within.

The current excitement is nothing more than a brief, false prosperity before destruction.

His mind was no longer on winning or losing here.

In the original story, this spirit stone mine is said to contain an ancient teleportation array that leads to the Chaotic Star Sea!

That was his real escape route.

The Chaotic Star Sea is rich in resources, with complex and intertwined factions, and offers a vast world for independent cultivators.

It was far safer than the Yue Kingdom, which was about to become a war-torn hell.

Moreover, once you get there, no one will know your background, and if you progress in your cultivation faster, no one will suspect you.

After all, nobody knows your age!

For the past month, whenever his shift ended and he had a brief period of personal space, Zhou Yuan would quietly release several crude puppet beasts, no bigger than a fist and shaped like pangolins or ground squirrels.

After all, nobody knows your age!

For the past month, whenever his shift ended and he had a brief period of personal space, Zhou Yuan would quietly release several crude puppet beasts, no bigger than a fist and shaped like pangolins or ground squirrels.

These puppets were crafted by him in his spare time using leftover materials. They were simple in structure, but their strength lay in their stealth and ability to burrow underground. He manipulated these puppets to silently infiltrate the depths of the intricate, labyrinthine abandoned mine tunnels.

They were trying to find the ancient cave that concealed the teleportation array.

However, the mine tunnels are too complex, and in order to avoid attracting attention, the exploration progress is slow, and no clear discoveries have been made so far.

About half a month passed peacefully. On this day, Zhou Yuan was on his day off and meditating in a makeshift stone chamber when suddenly a sharp alarm and urgent shouts came from outside!

"Enemy attack! The demonic villains are here! Everyone, move out immediately and prepare to meet them!"

Zhou Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them, showing more joy than surprise.

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and walked out of the stone chamber at a leisurely pace.

At this moment, the pale gray light shield formed by the Four Fiends Formation above the canyon has been fully activated, emitting bursts of malevolent energy.

Xuan Le of the Hidden Moon Sect and Lü Tianmeng of the Spirit Beast Mountain stood side by side, their faces solemn, hovering below the inner side of the Four Fiends Formation, looking up at the top of the canyon, exuding a chilling aura.

Behind them were a dozen or so cultivators on duty that day, most of them looking tense.

Only when they saw Zhou Yuan, Han Li, and other cultivators on rest quickly rushing out from various places to join them did the expressions of these on-duty cultivators calm down slightly.

Following Xuan Le and the others' gaze, Zhou Yuan clearly saw the enemy above the canyon through the slightly fluctuating array light barrier.

There were about twenty or thirty people, all of whom were at the Foundation Establishment stage. Their clothing had a distinct demonic style, some gloomy, some gorgeous, and some eerie.

They did not attack immediately, but instead dispersed and hovered above the canyon, subtly forming an encirclement, seemingly observing the formation below.

On the other hand, even with the latest reinforcements, there are only eleven Foundation Establishment cultivators at most (Xuan Le, Lü Tianmeng, Zhou Yuan, Han Li, Yu Xing, and six other Foundation Establishment cultivators), while the remaining fifty-odd people are all Qi Refining disciples.

In terms of combat strength at the Foundation Establishment level alone, the opponent is almost two to three times stronger than our side, putting us at a disadvantage.

The only thing they could rely on was the Four Fiends Formation, which had been set up in advance to resist Core Formation cultivators.

"It's finally here..."

Zhou Yuan silently recited the words in his heart, a cold glint and expectation flashing deep in his eyes.

The attack by the demonic cultivators may ultimately render this spirit stone mine abandoned.

And this is exactly what Zhou Yuan wanted.

Only by temporarily abandoning this spirit stone mine can he more easily and undisturbed search for the hidden ancient teleportation array!