Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

It seemed that his senior brother hadn't searched thoroughly. He thought the iron box should be fine, since it was a very powerful magic artifact. One Xuanhuo Talisman wouldn't have destroyed it. He wanted to find an opportunity to retrieve the iron box, but Yunling wouldn't allow him to go out and insisted on staying by his bedside so he could rest.

Yunling cared more about his safety than a jade slip and an iron box.

By the fourth day, Zhuang Xing's condition had improved significantly. His Qi had recovered to about half of its full strength, his limbs were no longer sore and weak, and all the wounds on his body had scabbed over and fallen off, with new flesh growing back.

The medicine was really effective, and it also had an analgesic effect. When he first applied it to his body, he immediately felt no pain.

He wondered if he should sneak out tonight and ask the mandrill to take him to the vicinity of the dilapidated temple again to retrieve the iron box and jade slip.

He quietly got out of bed, not daring to make any big movements, because Yunling was sleeping in the room next to his. But as soon as he got up, he noticed a small mound of dirt sticking out of the ground.

He sensed a familiar presence, and suddenly a tiny mouse head emerged from the small mound of earth.

"Squeak." The little white head squeaked twice at him.

It was a white rat. Zhuang Xing never expected to encounter a familiar rat in this unfamiliar place.

How did this little guy find his way here? How did it know I was nearby?

Zhuang Xing was puzzled, but when he saw what the white rat had dragged out, he quickly understood.

The white mouse dug a small hole and dragged out the iron box that Zhuang Xing had lost.

This time, the iron box did not grow vines to attack it. It seemed that it had been entangled with those white-tailed jackals a few days ago and then struck by the Xuanhuo Talisman, which had depleted the iron box's power. The white rat easily dragged the iron box to Zhuang Xing's front.

"You little rascal." Zhuang Xing chuckled, squatting down to pat its head. "Did you come here because you saw this iron box?"

The white rat responded with a squeak. Zhuang Xing put the iron box away, and the white rat jumped onto his palm, crawled over, and nibbled at the small pouch at Zhuang Xing's waist, which contained the demon core of the white-tailed jackal.

"I thought you came here because of our friendship, but I was wrong about you. You're here for the demon core." Zhuang Xing poked the white rat. "Fine, I'll give you one as a travel fee. Don't be greedy."

The white rat nodded, and Zhuang Xing then took out a demon core and handed it to it. It opened its mouth and swallowed the white-tailed jackal's demon core, and like a squirrel, small bumps swelled up on both sides of its cheeks.

"Don't go yet, let me take you to see Yunling. She'll be happy to see you," Zhuang Xing whispered.

The white mouse showed no sign of leaving and climbed onto Zhuang Xing's shoulder.

Zhuang Xing walked quietly to Yunling's door and knocked.

Yunling woke up quickly. She opened the door and smiled when she saw the white mouse on Zhuang Xing's shoulder.

"How did you get here?" She reached out her hand, and the white mouse jumped into her palm.

Zhuang Xing showed the iron box: "It helped me find the iron box."

As it spoke, the white rat jumped onto Zhuang Xing's body again, biting the small pocket at Zhuang Xing's waist, and chirped at Yunling and Zhuang Xing a few more times.

"I risked my life to earn these demon cores. Even though we're friends, you can't be too greedy," Zhuang Xingyi said righteously.

"It doesn't seem to mean that," Yunling said, looking into the white rat's eyes. "Do you want to trade something for these demon cores with us?"

The white mouse jumped down and nodded.

Alright, Zhuang Xing understands now. The white rat has come to him to do business.

Chapter 96 The Painted Wall (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader)

"You want to trade this demon core?" Zhuang Xing squatted down. "What treasure have you found this time? We need to make this clear first. If it's a fruit like the snake fruit, I won't trade it for you."

The white mouse squeaked, as if it understood Zhuang Xing's meaning. It then nibbled at their shoes again. Zhuang Xing understood that it was asking him to go out with it. Although they hadn't seen each other for a year, the white mouse hadn't forgotten the old code.

Zhuang Xing smiled, recalling the carefree days when he hunted wild game and cooked picnics every day, and he missed his parents back home.

"Since we're old friends, I'll go with you."

Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling then took the swords from the table, hung them on their waists, and, wearing only thin clothes, went out with Bai Shu.

It was the dead of night, with a crescent moon hanging in the deep night sky. The stars twinkled, and the sounds of insects filled the air. Clumps of millet stalks stood peacefully in the fields.

The two followed the white mouse across the fields, where it led the way, taking them down to the foot of the mountain.

They waded across the small stream, the babbling water echoing in their ears. Suddenly, a flash of light flew by ahead—it was a swarm of fireflies. Seeing people approaching, the fireflies that had gathered together suddenly scattered and flew away to other places.

This beautiful scenery is a rare sight. Zhuang Xing was overjoyed to have found the jade slip and reunited with the white mouse.

When he left the village last year, he wanted to say goodbye to the white mouse, but he didn't even see a shadow of it. He thought he would never see it again in his life, but unexpectedly, he met it again somewhere in the world. Looking at the small figure leading the way, he walked with much lighter steps.

"Yunling, what treasure do you think it has found this time?" Zhuang Xing asked.

"If it's down the mountain, it should be some kind of spiritual herbs or fruits," Yunling deduced.

Finding rare fruits and herbs growing in the wild is basically a matter of luck.

For example, the Crimson Flame Grass. Although this spiritual herb grows near volcanoes, it doesn't mean that you can find Crimson Flame Grass just by finding a volcano. Many rare spiritual herbs have extremely harsh growing environments and are difficult to cultivate artificially.

If they could find some rare spiritual fruit, Zhuang Xing thought that exchanging it for demon cores and white mice would still be a profitable deal.

He became hopeful. The white rat was indeed an auspicious beast. The two times he had interacted with the white rat, he had obtained a jade slip once and picked snake fruit once, reaping a great harvest. Now that he hadn't seen it for a year, he wondered where the white rat had gone to wander around and what treasure it had found.

Perhaps it built a nest at the foot of this mountain and hid all the treasures it collected throughout the year there.

He thought that it might not necessarily be fruit. Since the White Gold Rat was called the White Gold Rat, it should still prefer gold and jade. For example, the jade slip in Zhuang Xing's hand. Perhaps the White Rat had found someone's lost magic artifact?

His curiosity grew, and the white rat led the two to the foot of a cliff, where they stopped.

The place was barren, just bare black rocks, with no vegetation in sight.

"Why did you bring us here?" Zhuang Xing asked.

The white rat circled around them once, then climbed onto the black rock. It circled several times before crawling towards a spot where the rock met the soil. Zhuang Xing then noticed a small hole there. The white rat crawled into the hole and then crawled out again.

It looked up at Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling, then suddenly jumped onto Zhuang Xing.

"Oh dear, you didn't come here just to tease us, did you?" Zhuang Xing felt ticklish from it.

It didn't respond, ran around Zhuang Xing a few times, and then jumped onto Yun Ling.

If the two of them weren't familiar with it, they really wouldn't be able to stand it crawling around like that.

After running several laps, it finally stopped.

It burrowed into the small hole, and the mud hole suddenly expanded. Zhuang Xing sensed that the white rat was using the technique of earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of technique in Chinese mythology), and the mud on the black cliff moved to both sides, quickly creating an entrance that could accommodate two people.

It turns out it was measuring the height of the two people to dig a suitable hole.

Zhuang Xing looked down and was surprised to find that there were steps-like marks below the cave entrance.

"Could this be someone's tomb?"

Zhuang Xing sensed something was wrong. He remembered that the layman had mentioned in his diary that some people kept platinum rats in order to rob tombs.

"What should I do? Do you want to go in?"

Yunling hesitated. After all, she was still a girl. Although she knew that ghosts were extremely rare and difficult to survive, she was still afraid to enter a place that might be a grave.

If I go down there and see a dried-up skeleton or something, I won't be able to sleep peacefully for the next few days.

"We're already here, why turn back?" Zhuang Xing took Yunling's hand. "If even a white rat can explore this place, what are we afraid of? Let's go down and explore it."

"Mm." Yunling still listened to Zhuang Xing's advice on this matter.

The two then descended the steps, and Yunling activated her magic, igniting a small flame in her palm.

The firelight illuminated the space; the opening looked small, but once inside, it was surprisingly spacious.

As soon as they went down, the two felt a cool breeze blowing in their faces. The flames showed no signs of going out. The air here seemed to be connected to the outside world, and there was no feeling of being confined or having stuffy air.

The white mouse hopped and skipped down the black stone steps in front of it, as if it had been here many times and was very familiar with the place.

Led by it, the two walked up the steps and entered a huge underground space.

Before them was a tall, smooth, flat rock wall, about four meters high, which occupied their entire field of vision and was more than ten meters wide.

On this giant stone wall, there are colorful murals. Zhuang Xing saw green mountains and white clouds, cranes and peach groves, and thousands of magnificent palaces. Gold powder and gemstones were applied and inlaid in the murals. It was an extremely beautiful work of art. Under the firelight, the mural displayed a breathtaking beauty.

Zhuang Xing was speechless with astonishment at the enormous mural. He could hardly believe how the artist had managed to create such a stunning painting on this stone wall. He wondered how much effort and time the artist had spent to complete such a masterpiece.

This mural is a seamless whole, and every stroke is so perfectly executed.

“This… Zhuang Xing… this mural… look… isn’t this the way talismans are drawn?” Yunling pointed to a spot, her shock beyond words.

Upon hearing Yunling's words, Zhuang Xing realized that this was not just a mural, but a masterpiece created with painstaking effort by a senior artist.

The white rat stood in front of the painted wall, then climbed up and nibbled at the bag containing the demon core. Zhuang Xing immediately understood that the white rat wanted to exchange the demon core for this very painted wall.

Chapter 97 Wandering in the Wall

Behind Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling was a rushing underground river, and it was this underground river that brought the cool breeze.

The flame in Yunling's hand flickered slightly. She held the flame above her head, and Zhuang Xing held her other hand as they walked along the stone wall.

The magnificent murals were illuminated, as if a divine scroll was unfolding before them. A bluish-white dragon soared in the clouds, its winding body entwined around the moon, raining down on the earth. In the boundless sea, mermaids with human bodies and fish tails held up pearls in their hands. Huge fish swam through the seawater, and a footless bird with outstretched wings skimmed across the surface of the sea.

The painter used molten gold to paint the celestial palace, which was shrouded in mist. Above the clouds, fairies draped in silk robes picked peaches in a peach orchard. Each fairy was captivating and alluring.

Zhuang Xing didn't know whether this was an artistic creation or a record of what the painter had seen with his own eyes. He stood below, looking up for a long time, speechless.

Both he and Yunling noticed something. This was more than just a mural. The brushstrokes on the mural had a familiar charm to them. They could only understand a little bit of it, but it was the most basic knowledge in drawing talismans, using brushstrokes to fix true qi onto objects.

The mural is breathtakingly beautiful, but the subtle charm it reveals tells Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling that it is not only a painting, but also a profound and mysterious Taoist practice.

This technique contains thousands of mysteries, and even novice cultivators like them can see what kind of masterpiece it is.

Zhuang Xing reached out his hand, but dared not touch it. This stone wall had been buried in this place for who knows how many years. He gathered his Qi in his eyes and could still see some residual true Qi on the stone wall, but it was very weak, like a candle flickering in the wind, which could be extinguished at any time.

Regardless of what kind of Taoist magic was left on the mural, it seems that it can only be used once more at most.

Zhuang Xing couldn't imagine what would happen if he activated the mural. He looked at the white rat at his feet. Undoubtedly, the value of this mural far exceeded that of a few white-tailed jackal demon cores. However... how to put it, this thing might not be as useful to Zhuang Xing as these few demon cores.

He felt as if someone had offered him a space rocket in exchange for the lollipop he was holding.

Rockets are great, that's true, but what does he need one for? He can't sell it for money, and if it gets exposed, who knows what kind of disaster it will cause. His own lollipops are more useful; at least lollipops are sweet in his mouth.

He could pry off a few gems from the mural and scrape off some gold dust, but he couldn't bear to do that. Such a beautiful work of art—what kind of dung-eater would want to destroy it by focusing on such a tiny bit of gold and gems?

Zhuang Xing was at a loss for what to do. He looked at the white mouse at his feet and sighed.

"While this thing is indeed very valuable, it doesn't seem as useful to me as a demon core."

Upon hearing this, the white mouse became somewhat agitated and ran around Zhuang Xing's feet twice.

It seemed to be very envious of the demon core in Zhuang Xing's pocket. It was because it bit into the tiger spirit's demon core that it had this opportunity today.

Zhuang Xing figured that the four white-tailed jackal demon cores that Linghui hadn't taken away were probably stolen and eaten by this little guy. He must have tasted the benefits before coming after him.