I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

Xu Zhou cleaned up the battlefield, and half an incense stick later, Zhao Cheng and the others finally arrived.

They received Xu Zhou's message and immediately rushed back. They thought they were fast enough, but when they arrived, the place was still a mess.

"What happened?"

Xu Zhou emerged from his hiding place, his face still showing a hint of panic.

He briefly recounted what had happened, and soon everyone's faces darkened.

Zhao Cheng said with a distorted expression, "I never expected that Song Wubai would be so skilled in disguise. We've been kept in the dark all this time."

"It's just a pity for Senior Brother Jiang. He died at the hands of this villain before he could even use his skills."

"Thankfully, Senior Brother Kong is still breathing."

Xu Zhou sighed, a hint of shame appearing on his face: "Thanks to Senior Brother Kong for desperately holding this thief back for a moment, I was able to barely find an opportunity to unleash a 'Hundred Leaf Flying Blade' talisman and severely injure him."

Unfortunately, I was too cowardly to give chase, which allowed him to escape.

The group exchanged glances, and suddenly a sense of clarity dawned on them.

The Hundred-Leaf Flying Blade Talisman is a near-second-tier talisman, and its price is too high for these people to afford.

But if Master Xu were to use it, it would be understandable.

The others immediately offered words of comfort: "Master Xu has already done very well. You are not good at fighting, but you were able to force this villain back with talismans and save Senior Brother Kong's life. That is quite remarkable."

"Besides, Song Wubai is a vicious and ruthless man. It is already a great favor that we forced him to retreat. If we were to pursue him, it would be worse."

"It's a miracle that we survived."

After the green-robed cultivator woke up, his gaze toward Xu Zhou was noticeably complicated.

Although he was poisoned by a near-second-tier poison talisman, he still possessed some cultivation. Before losing consciousness, he caught a glimpse of the green spiritual light out of the corner of his eye.

He even heard Song Wubai's angry and shocked shouts.

The green-robed cultivator remained silent for a long time before finally bowing respectfully to Xu Zhou.

"If it weren't for Master Xu, I would probably be dead by now."

The thought that even he himself was helpless against the evil cultivator had actually been defeated by Xu Zhou made him look at him with new respect, and he no longer regarded him as just an alchemist who was not good at fighting.

...

In the following days, the group regrouped and decided to search for Song Wubai's whereabouts again.

Although the other party was skilled in disguise, Xu Zhou said that he had suffered a severe injury to his waist and abdomen and would find it difficult to maintain a normal body shape, so he was not worried.

Knowing the importance of eliminating the root of the problem, the group decided to take the opportunity to hunt him down.

After searching for several days, Zhao Cheng and the others followed the trail and found a pit.

The pit reeked of a foul stench, and half a corpse lay in a pool of blood.

The lower half of the corpse had long since disappeared, leaving only the stark white spine exposed.

Song Wubai's face still bore the distorted expression of pain, as if he were enduring immense suffering before his death.

Judging from the traces at the scene and the swollen belly of the black python, Song Wubai most likely died from the backlash of his spirit pet.

Xu Zhou was somewhat surprised to hear this news.

He had even come up with an excuse to explain why the methods he used were called formations by the other party.

Unexpectedly, Song Wubai was eaten by the snake demon from the waist down, and the excuse he had prepared could not be used.

Xu Zhou then fell silent for a moment.

Who could have imagined that this evil cultivator, who once caused panic among the sect members, would eventually escape with serious injuries and die silently in the mouth of his own pet?

Such an ending is somewhat ironic.

Unfortunately, although he died, he left behind no spoils of war.

After all, Xu Zhou also suffered considerable losses in this incident.

In order to deal with Song Wubai, he overclocked the array, destroying all the spiritual trees he had cultivated over the years, with only the oldest one surviving.

These spirit trees are no ordinary things; they are spirit trees that he has cultivated for many years, specifically for setting up formations.

Each plant represents years of his hard work and has been cultivated to its current state, reaching the first-grade superior level in terms of quality.

It was precisely because the spirit wood was of a high enough grade that he was able to use it to set up an array and unleash the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's casual strike.

Now that the spirit tree is destroyed, it's unknown how many years it will take to cultivate a similar spirit tree again.

Out with the old, in with the new.

"If the spirit tree is gone, we can always raise another one. As long as the person is alright, what's meant to be will come back."

Xu Zhou let out a soft breath, finally suppressing the heartache in his heart.

Now that Song Wubai is dead, the sect should surely offer some form of support.

With the addition of the "Dream Devouring Sutra" he found, he reluctantly accepted it.

Although the spirit tree was destroyed, as long as he is still alive, his years of hard work have not been wasted.

...

As the three-month deadline drew near, the group left their dwelling and waited around the entrance to the secret realm.

Finally, one day, Xu Zhou's divine sense detected a strange fluctuation.

The others also reacted, their eyes all turning towards that spot.

A moment later, a portal in the void slowly opened.

Ouyang Ming and the others came out of the door.

Xu Zhou glanced around and confirmed that everyone was accounted for, which put his mind at ease.

Upon closer inspection, each of the five individuals had changed. Some had bloodstains still on their robes, some looked listless, and others had a livid face.

When people gather together, there is naturally a flurry of pleasantries and inquiries about each other's experiences.

Ouyang Ming and his group of five were surprised to learn that these people outside had actually encountered Song Wubai.

Upon learning that Xu Zhou had ultimately severely injured the man, leading to his death at the hands of his own spirit pet, they were all incredulous and praised Xu Zhou's extraordinary abilities.

After dealing with everyone's compliments, Xu Zhou asked, "Did you all encounter any trouble in the secret realm?"

Ouyang Ming and the others exchanged glances, sighed, and a look of guilt flashed across their faces.

"Trouble is a minor matter."

Ouyang Ming said with a wry smile, "It's just a pity that we couldn't find the Heavenly Spirit Fruit that Alchemist Xu needed, which has disappointed you."

Xu Zhou felt slightly disappointed, but not surprised.

Finding the Heavenly Spirit Fruit is rare; not finding it is the norm.

Afterwards, Ouyang Ming briefly recounted their encounter in the secret realm.

There's not much to say, really. It's just fighting monsters and searching for resources, going back and forth like that. Occasionally encountering a few near-second-tier monsters is enough for everyone to remember for a long time.

However, all five of them were top-level experts in the Qi Refining stage, and with Hu Anming, a high-grade array master, accompanying them, they were all capable of fighting as long as they did not actually encounter a second-tier beast.

Finally, when it came to the harvest, everyone showed a satisfied expression.

"As agreed, Master Xu will take 30% as his share of the secret realm quota."

The group took out the storage bags they had prepared and handed them to Xu Zhou.

Xu Zhou quickly checked the list and confirmed his general gains.

These storage bags were filled with spiritual herbs, ores, and monster materials, all of which were of relatively high quality, including more than a dozen first-grade high-quality spiritual items.

Although it was still less than the spirit stones Xu Zhou spent on organizing the expedition, it still allowed him to recoup a large sum of money.

His pupils contracted slightly as he looked through the storage bag Ouyang Ming had given him.

Inside the storage bag were mountains of Moonlit Vine!

The number of items in the wheel is several times that of the other spiritual items in the storage bags.

Xu Zhou glanced at the other person with some surprise.

Ouyang Ming looked slightly embarrassed: "We encountered a near-second-tier demon bird along the way, and I was accidentally grabbed by it and lifted into the air. Although I managed to escape, I got separated from the others and had to hide in a dense forest for almost half a month."

However, that dense forest was full of Moonlit Vines. I remembered that Alchemist Xu had mentioned needing them, so... I gathered a lot more than I should have.

He felt somewhat ashamed.

After all, everyone knows that although the Moonlit Vine is a rare medicinal herb, its grade is rather ordinary compared to other medicinal herbs in the secret realm.

Even if Ouyang Ming gave enough Muyue Vine, this move still seemed somewhat like a waste of resources.

However, Xu Zhou didn't say anything.

He simply nodded and said, "Senior Brother Ouyang got separated from everyone, but he still remembered to help me pick the Moonlit Vine in the moment of crisis. How could I blame him?"

These Moon-Bathing Vine are of good quality and come in large quantities, making them a considerable asset. I will remember your kindness, Senior Brother.

Seeing his friendly tone, Ouyang Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

Afterwards, the group took out the parts of the medicinal herbs they found that they didn't need, and Xu Zhou selected and purchased them.

Once all the transactions are completed, everyone will be happy.

Xu Zhou took out the spirit stones that had been agreed upon earlier and handed them to everyone, whose faces lit up with excitement.

Even Juan, who was somewhat out of place, added, "If you ever enter the secret realm again, you can come find me."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting Juanming to say such a thing.

Xu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe there will be another chance in a few years, but by then, Junior Brother Hu might have already reached the Foundation Establishment stage and wouldn't care about our little stunts."

Juan remained silent for a long time.

After a moment, he finally spoke, "You don't need to worry, I'm afraid I won't reach the Foundation Establishment stage within the next ten years."

Why is that?

Not only Xu Zhou was puzzled, but everyone else who heard it also looked at him with confusion.

Juanming said calmly, "The cultivation technique I practice is bound to the Dao of Arrays. I cannot establish my foundation until I break through to the second level of the Dao of Arrays."

Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this.

This was the first time they had ever heard of using formations to attain enlightenment.

Xu Zhou looked surprised: "There are actually cultivation techniques that require array formations as their core? If one cannot break through the array formations, wouldn't their cultivation stagnate?"

Juan replied calmly, "That may be true, but apart from the obstacles in the array formation, there are no bottlenecks with this technique. When I use my magic power to cast the array, I am even more adept at it, and its power is also greatly increased."

Although breaking through is somewhat troublesome, it is the most suitable cultivation method for me.

The others said no more.