Seeking immortality begins with daily intelligence reports.

"Fellow Daoist Li, this is Zhou Wei. Fellow Daoist Zhou is an expert in formations and restrictions. He was invited by Brother Feng to break the formation. With him here, the chances of breaking the restrictions on that cave will be much greater."

Seeing that none of the three men spoke up, Chen Qiao quickly stepped forward and introduced them:

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, this is Li Shen, Master Li Fu."

The opponent's cultivation level is at the seventh level of Qi Refining, which will not have a significant impact on the plan.

But his surname is Zhou?

Li Shen recalled a piece of intelligence from a long time ago: both the Zhou family and the Hehuan Sect of the Demonic Path were searching for who had taken the ancient cultivator's treasure.

This person might recognize the Soul Slave, so it's best to avoid revealing the Soul Slave to others on this trip.

Li Shen was secretly on guard, but showed no sign of it on his face, only cupping his hands in greeting:

"Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Zhou Wei nodded slightly, as if to acknowledge him, his expression arrogant.

Li Shen didn't care. This was how disciples of Foundation Establishment families usually treated rogue cultivators; he was already used to it.

"Let's not delay any longer. Now that everyone's here, let's set off."

After getting to know each other, Liu Feng took the lead.

The four left the market and entered the territory of Laoshan. At first, they could still see a few scattered cultivators, but as they went deeper, the surroundings became increasingly quiet, with only the sound of the wind rustling through the trees and the faint roars of beasts and the chirping of birds remaining.

Most of them were early-stage Tier 1 demonic beasts. They didn't seem to have any hostility towards Li Shen and his companions, and secretly lay in wait to observe.

This is the effect of demon hunting: using swift and decisive methods to instill a psychological shadow in these low-level demons.

It can effectively curb the occurrence of animal tides.

Along the way, Liu Feng and Zhou Wei walked ahead and talked in hushed tones. Zhou Wei mostly asked about the details of the cave's restrictions, while Liu Feng answered.

Chen Qiao followed beside him, silent, occasionally glancing up at the front before quickly looking down again, lost in thought.

Li Shen, as always, stayed at the back of the line.

He remained vigilant, his consciousness subtly spreading out to observe the surrounding movements.

Two attack talismans were already discreetly held between his fingers in his sleeve, ready to be unleashed at any moment.

After traveling for about half a day, passing through a forest of dead trees filled with miasma, a secluded mountain hollow appeared ahead.

The rocky cliffs and tangled vines make it difficult to notice the narrow crack hidden in the rock face without careful observation; it is completely concealed by natural vines.

"This is it."

Liu Feng stopped, pointed at the crack, and a look of joy appeared on his face:

"The restriction was inside. If Chen Qiao and I hadn't been forced here by that beast, we would never have discovered it."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wei confidently took a few steps forward.

He took out a bronze compass from his storage bag, upon which several shimmering white jade flags floated. He then made a hand seal, channeling his spiritual energy into it, and the small flags flew up on their own, inserting themselves into the ground around the crack.

Zhou Wei closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then nodded and said:

"There are indeed residual fluctuations from the formation. Although it is cleverly arranged, it is old and its spiritual energy is scattered, with many flaws. Give me two hours, and I can break it."

"Thank you for your trouble, Fellow Daoist Zhou."

After speaking, Liu Feng looked at Li Shen and Chen Qiao, his tone turning cold and commanding:

"Fellow Daoist Zhou needs to concentrate on breaking the formation. You all should stay outside to protect him and take the opportunity to adjust your breathing to deal with any unexpected situations that may arise later."

Li Shen had no objection to this arrangement.

He nodded in agreement, and he and Chen Qiao each chose a slightly distant rock to sit cross-legged.

While remaining vigilant, keep an eye on Zhou Wei's progress in breaking through the formation.

Several black ants silently slipped out from his naturally hanging sleeves and burrowed into the soil and rocks beneath him, disappearing into the ground.

Zhou Wei has begun to break through the formation.

He made a series of hand gestures, and rays of spiritual light shot out from the compass and disappeared into the array wall.

The small flags flickered on and off, seemingly responding to the flow of the formation's power.

Liu Feng stood guard on the other side of the crack, his gaze sometimes sweeping over Zhou Wei, and sometimes over Li Shen and Chen Qiao.

Time passed slowly, and the light in the mountains and forests gradually dimmed.

"It's done!"

Zhou Wei suddenly let out a low shout and abruptly ended the hand seal, causing the small flags and compass to fly back into his hand at the same time.

At this moment, his forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat, and his breathing was slightly rapid, clearly indicating that he had expended considerable energy. He spoke very quickly:

"The entrance will only last for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn! Hurry up! I won't care who falls behind."

After saying that, Zhou Wei took the lead, with Liu Feng following closely behind.

Li Shen and Chen Qiao turned their heads one after the other.

"Fellow Daoist Li, hurry up and catch up."

Chen Qiao called out urgently and quickly followed.

Li Shen did not move, his eyes continued to gleam with a blue light, and his brows were slightly furrowed.

The moment the formation was broken, he clearly felt the significant fluctuation of spiritual energy caused by the destruction of the formation.

But when he tried to get the Soul-Eating Ants to go in first, the ants, which had burrowed into the ground, remained unmoved, or perhaps they were blocked by an invisible barrier.

"wrong……"

Li Shen's mind raced, and in that moment of hesitation, a sudden change occurred!

"Whoosh whoosh-"

Around the crack, the withered vines suddenly sprang up as if they were alive, turning into streaks of bluish-black afterimages that swept towards the four of them!

Zhou Wei was the first to be affected.

He had only taken a few steps when more than a dozen vines shot out from the cracks in the rock wall, wrapped around his limbs and torso with lightning speed, and tightened suddenly!

"What is that?!"

Liu Feng cried out in surprise, but before he could draw his sword, he was also struck.

Li Shen reacted extremely quickly. Almost at the same moment the vines burst forth, a golden shield talisman flew out of his hand, transforming into a faint golden light to protect his body.

At the same time, he retreated like the wind.

Two fireball talismans, already held between his fingers, shot out and struck the several vines that were rushing towards him.

The flames exploded, the tips of the vines were charred and curled up, and the attack slowed down slightly.

His blue eyes darted left and right for a moment, and he clearly sensed the sheer number and extent of the vines.

He was surrounded by them from all directions, and he could feel his spiritual energy slowly draining away.

"I didn't expect it to be a formation within a formation. The outer layer was just a decoy; this is the real formation."

Li Shen's mind raced as he glanced at the bound Zhou and Liu.

He flicked his fingers again, and two more fireball talismans shot out, hitting their targets precisely.

The superior-grade fireball talisman was quite powerful; the vines, in pain, suddenly contracted and swung.

Zhou Wei and Liu Feng were thrown into the air and crashed heavily to the ground.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, do you know what kind of formation this is?"

Li Shen asked loudly, his voice filled with urgency.

The moment the two were tied up, he was filled with murderous intent and wanted to take the opportunity to kill them.

However, they later discovered that the formation also absorbed people's spiritual energy, so they had to give up on it.

Even if you defeat the other party, you might not be able to escape.

"This is... the Azure Wood Spirit Absorption Array!"

Zhou Wei scrambled to his feet, his arrogant expression vanished, replaced by surprise and disbelief, followed by a sudden realization:

"One of the ancient trapping formations... a wooden prison that devours one's spiritual energy... no wonder the outer layer of the formation was so easy to break, it was just bait!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the ground around him shook violently, and vines burst out of the soil, while more vines attacked from the surrounding area.

While fire does have an effect on vines, this number is not something that can be dealt with by just a few fireballs.

Li Shen moved like the wind, weaving and dodging through the gaps in the vines, his blue eyes calmly scanning the entire scene.

The feeling of spiritual energy loss became more and more obvious, and even the low-grade spirit stones held in the palm of the hand to replenish spiritual energy were being consumed several times faster than usual.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, since it's an array, it must have a key point! Is it possible to find it?"

Li Shen retreated while raising his voice to ask.

At the same time, three fireball talismans shot out in a triangular formation, bursting with flames and temporarily clearing a small area to stand in.

Zhou Wei gritted his teeth and summoned the compass. The compass needle spun wildly, and veins bulged on his forehead.

"The formation has been activated, the energy is chaotic, and it's difficult to locate... Give me some time!"

Li Shen remained silent, focusing on fighting the enemy.

I just hope that this guy surnamed Zhou can hurry up. Once he finds the array's core, he can order the Soul-Devouring Ants to destroy the core that provides the energy to the array.

Due to their inherent characteristics, the spirit-devouring ants contain their spiritual power.

With attack methods that primarily target spiritual energy, the Soul-Eating Ants are almost impossible to select.

However, we cannot place all our hopes on that Zhou guy. If we really can't find the array's core, we'll have to summon the soul slaves and be prepared to sacrifice them, using our essence and blood to activate the Yin Soul Escape to forcefully escape.

Of course, before that, you have to drag two people down with you.