Prehistoric: The female saint Shiji, brilliant and talented

Shi Ji snorted coldly, neither dodging nor avoiding.

He drew the domineering sword embryo from his waist—this sword embryo was a treasure he had obtained by chance. Although it had not yet fully awakened, its sharpness far surpassed that of ordinary imperial weapons.

He swung his sword and swept it across the female cultivator's shield.

"Clang—" A piercing metallic clang rang out, and the shield in the female cultivator's hand was instantly cleaved by the sword embryo, leaving a deep crack. The enormous impact made her arm go numb, and the shield flew out of her hand, crashing heavily against the wall and shattering into several pieces.

Before the female cultivator could react, Shi Ji had already arrived in front of her, reached out her right hand, and grabbed her shoulder.

The female cultivator tried to struggle, but found that her body was bound by a powerful force and she could not move at all.

Shi Ji flicked her finger, and a golden spiritual energy flowed into the female cultivator's body, instantly sealing her meridians and rendering her unable to resist.

After dealing with the female cultivator, Shi Ji turned to the male cultivator in brocade robes lying on the ground and asked in an icy tone, "Tell me, what exactly do you and that female immortal want to cooperate on? What is your purpose?"

"You little beast, don't be so arrogant!"

Despite his severe injuries, the man in the brocade robe remained defiant, roaring venomously, his eyes filled with resentment and anger, "My master will not let you go!"

"Not cooperating?"

Shi Ji narrowed her eyes, a cold glint flashing within them.

He hates stubborn people the most. Since persuasion is useless, he has no choice but to use some special methods.

"You won't get any information out of me!"

The man in the brocade robe sneered, staring coldly at Shi Ji with an air of resignation to his fate.

Shi Ji snorted coldly, her tone carrying an undeniable authority: "Not cooperating? No problem, you'll be willing to cooperate in a moment!"

The black spiritual light at his fingertips, like living tentacles, slowly seeped into the brow of the brocade-robed male cultivator.

In an instant, the man in the brocade robe convulsed violently, his eyes widened, and he let out an extremely shrill scream. The sound was sharp and piercing, like fingernails scratching metal, and it echoed throughout the entire courtyard. Even pedestrians on the street in the distance were startled by the scream and stopped to look.

Under the influence of the Soul Devouring Technique, the male cultivator in the brocade robe suffered severe damage to his soul, as if it were being burned by raging fire, and his consciousness quickly descended into chaos.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shi Ji probed his sea of ​​consciousness with her divine sense, carefully searching for fragments of memories related to the valley.

As images flashed through her mind, Shi Ji finally understood the specifics of the valley—it turned out that a terrifyingly powerful troll did indeed live in the core area of ​​the valley.

This troll was not born naturally, but rather emerged from an ancient stone coffin.

It stood eight zhang tall, as imposing as a small mountain, its entire body covered in a thick layer of black scales, which were also covered with dark red patterns, exuding a chilling and eerie aura.

From the fragments of memory, it can be seen that this troll's attack power was absolutely monstrous. It could shatter hard rocks with a single punch and swallow a cultivator whole in one gulp. Ordinary cultivators at the Emperor Realm level couldn't even withstand a single move from it.

Even more terrifying is that this troll is not always awake, but awakens once every thousand years.

Each time it awakens, it goes on a rampage, slaughtering all living beings in the valley, whether they are cultivators or demonic beasts, they all become its food.

When the trolls awoke last time, almost all the cultivators in the valley were killed, and only a few managed to escape.

Upon learning this crucial news, Shi Ji felt a pang of anxiety, and her original plan to leave the valley as soon as possible was instantly thwarted.

He immediately got up, rushed out of the courtyard, and flew towards the outer edge of the valley.

But when he arrived at the edge of the valley, he found that the surrounding void was shrouded by an invisible force—there were many restrictions set up in the valley, and these restrictions were intertwined to form a huge net that firmly sealed the entire valley.

It seems that forcibly breaking through the restrictions and leaving the valley will not be easy.

Shi Ji tried to circulate his spiritual power to attack the restriction, but his attack only caused a faint ripple before being completely bounced back.

He could even sense a backlash within the restriction. If he forced his way through, he might trigger the restriction's killing move, and he would likely perish here.

"It seems we can't just force our way in."

Shi Ji stopped and began to carefully study the surrounding restrictions.

He walked around the edge of the valley and, based on his understanding of rune arrays, quickly discovered a key point—these restrictions were not invincible; they were all dominated by an array plate hidden deep in the valley, which was the hub that controlled the operation of the entire array.

If we can find and destroy that array plate, we should be able to disrupt the operation of the grand array and open a passage out of the valley.

But Shi Ji changed her mind and gave up the idea.

He learned from the memories of the male cultivator in brocade robes that this great formation was closely related to the terrain of the valley. Once the formation plate was destroyed, the great formation would lose control, and the entire valley would likely collapse due to energy imbalance.

At that time, everyone in the valley, whether ordinary cultivators or those hidden forces, will be buried under the rubble, with no one spared.

What secrets are still hidden deep within this valley?

Shi Ji frowned, her heart filled with doubt.

He is not yet aware of the valley's true value. It would be a great pity if his momentary impulse led to the valley's destruction and the deaths of everyone.

Moreover, he thought of the mysterious female cultivator he had met in the valley before, and a sense of anticipation arose in his heart: "I hope that one day I can see that girl again and find out her relationship with the valley."

He muttered to himself, suppressing the distracting thoughts in his mind, turned and left the edge of the valley, heading towards the depths of the valley.

Since we can't leave for the time being, we might as well go deeper into the valley and look for more clues about the trolls and the restrictions. Perhaps we can find a more reliable solution.

Just as Shi Ji was walking through a dense thicket of bushes, a surprised voice suddenly came from behind: "Hey, what are you doing out here? I thought you were already trapped in the barrier ahead."

Shi Ji turned around abruptly and saw a short, stout old man standing under a large tree not far away.

The old man wore a gray robe with a black belt around his waist. He had a goatee on his face and small, darting eyes that made him look shrewd and cunning.

Who are you? Why are you here?

Shi Ji asked warily, while secretly activating the inherited cultivation technique of her descendants, preparing for battle.

In this perilous valley, any stranger could be a potential enemy.

Upon hearing this, the old man stroked his goatee, a hint of arrogance on his face: "Boy, you don't even know my name, yet you dare to trespass into this place. You really are a fearless newborn calf!"
"I am the 'Thousand-Faced Laozi,' and I'm quite well-known around here. You've never heard of me?"

Shi Ji raised an eyebrow slightly. He had never heard of the name "Thousand-Faced Laozi" before. Clearly, the other party was either boasting or hiding his true identity. However, he did not expose him. Instead, he went along with the other party's words and said, "So you are Thousand-Faced Laozi. My apologies for not recognizing you."

However, I advise you to leave here as soon as possible. A terrifying being guards this valley, and that being is extremely dangerous. If we venture in rashly, we'll almost certainly meet with certain death.

He deliberately brought up the trolls to test the old man's reaction, and also as a well-intentioned reminder—after all, if the old man was truly unaware and rashly encountered the trolls, he would only lose his life in vain.

But the old man was not flustered at all when he heard this. Instead, he showed a knowing smile: "You know quite a lot."

That terrifying being was indeed dangerous, but it was currently just slumbering deep in the valley, unlike the other restrictions.

As long as we don't actively trigger the restrictions that awaken it, it won't detect any outside activity. As long as we're careful, we'll be safe.

Shi Ji's heart stirred, and she instantly understood the old man's intention—this old man clearly knew the situation in the valley, but deliberately pretended not to know, his purpose being to have her scout the way for him and act as his "shield".

Thinking of this, Shi Ji frowned and said in a calm tone, "You want me to scout the way for you, right?"

Seeing that Shi Ji had directly seen through his thoughts, the old man no longer hid it and revealed a greedy look on his face: "That's right!"
That's exactly what I think.

"Don't worry, as long as you help me reach my destination safely and accomplish this task, I'll agree to any conditions you set, as long as it's within my power!"

Shi Ji sneered inwardly, but outwardly feigned interest and asked, "Oh? What kind of reward are you going to give me? If the reward isn't generous enough, I have no interest in taking this adventure with you."

The old man thought Shi Ji was interested and immediately said excitedly, "I can give you ten thousand Dragon Balls!"

"How about that? Isn't that a generous reward?"

"Ten thousand Dragon Balls?"

Shi Ji was startled, but deliberately put on a disdainful expression and even rolled her eyes. "I thought you could bring out something good, but it turns out it's just ten thousand dragon balls."

Although he said that, his heart was already in turmoil—Dragon Balls are extremely precious resources in the cultivation world. The spiritual power contained in one Dragon Ball is equivalent to one hundred high-grade spirit stones. Ten thousand Dragon Balls are definitely not a small number, enough to drive ordinary cultivators crazy.

The fact that this old man could produce so many dragon balls at once shows that he is very wealthy and must have many other treasures hidden on him, perhaps even more storage rings.

Shi Ji was determined to obtain this enormous fortune.

But he knew very well that if he revealed it now, it would only make the old man more vigilant, and he might even be silenced and have his treasure stolen.

Therefore, he had to pretend not to care in order to make the old man lower his guard.

Seeing that Shi Ji seemed dissatisfied, the old man became anxious and quickly said, "Young man, don't be ungrateful!"

Ten thousand Dragon Balls isn't something just anyone can produce. If you think it's not enough, I can add another five thousand, making a total of fifteen thousand. This is my limit!

Shi Ji was secretly pleased with herself, but on the surface she pretended to be reluctant and nodded: "Since you are so generous, then I will help you scout the way."

But let me make this clear: if we encounter any danger, I won't help you. We'll each have to save our own lives.

"it is good!

it is good!
no problem!"

The old man readily agreed, rubbing his hands together excitedly, as if he could already see the treasure at his destination.

He then followed Shi Ji and headed deeper into the valley.

The vegetation deep in the valley is more lush than on the outskirts, with tall trees blocking out the sun, allowing sunlight to filter through the gaps in the leaves and cast scattered patches of light.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, which made a "rustling" sound when stepped on.

The air was filled with a damp smell, mixed with a faint odor of decaying leaves.

Soon, they entered an ancient forest.

As soon as Shi Ji stepped into the forest, she keenly sensed that the surrounding space had become viscous, as if countless invisible threads were wrapped around her body.

He looked up and saw many pale golden patterns flowing slowly in the void above the forest. These patterns intertwined to form an extremely complex array, emitting powerful restrictive fluctuations.

"Such a powerful restriction!"

Shi Ji was secretly alarmed. He could sense that even a powerful immortal lord would not be able to easily break through this restriction composed of ancient array patterns.

If one tries to force their way in, their body will be torn apart by the array patterns, and their soul may even be devoured.

However, Shi Ji was not worried—he had obtained a formation-breaking rune when he was exploring the underground palace of the city lord's mansion. This rune was a product of ancient times and was specially used to break various complex formations and restrictions, which could come in handy.

He quietly took out the array-breaking rune from his storage bag and infused it with a wisp of spiritual power.

The rune instantly emitted a faint white light, hovering in his palm.

Guided by the runes, Shi Ji carefully searched the forest and quickly found a weak point in the formation—the array patterns there fluctuated relatively weakly, and there was a slight gap between the patterns.

After identifying the weak point, Shi Ji threw the formation-breaking rune towards that gap.

The rune traced an arc in the air, landing precisely at the crevice, and instantly burst into a dazzling white light.

With a soft "crack," a crack appeared in the surrounding array patterns, like glass. The crack then spread rapidly, and the previously viscous space instantly became clear.

Without hesitation, Shi Ji stepped into the area constructed with array patterns.

He knew that the effect of the array-breaking rune could only last for a moment, and he had to get through the array as soon as possible, otherwise there would be no chance once the array patterns closed again.

"Hey kid, what are you doing? Get out here right now!"

Seeing that Shi Ji had directly stepped into the formation area, the old man following behind was furious. He had originally thought that Shi Ji would first find out the situation of the formation, but he did not expect that she would directly barge in. This made him feel uneasy. He was worried that Shi Ji would take the treasure by herself and leave him outside.

Shi Ji completely ignored the old man's roar and continued walking deeper into the forest.

He knew the old man dared not easily step into the formation, so he could only jump up and down anxiously outside.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Shi Ji finally passed through the array area and arrived at a clearing in the center of the forest. (End of Chapter)