Cultivating immortality relies on spatial abilities; defying fate to become the protagonist.

Chapter 63 The Bone-Rotting Flower (Part Two)
Gu Shihan thought for a moment and asked, "Xingbai, in that case, can we just conceal our spiritual power and disguise ourselves as mortals?!"

"It should be possible. Tell everyone how to do it, and let them stay calm and wait for the cage to open so they can save themselves!"

"Okay!" Gu Shihan locked onto each person with her divine sense and transmitted her method to everyone.

Everyone here is knowledgeable, and when the iron cage couldn't be opened, they were all trying to find a way to save themselves. They readily accepted Gu Shih-han's suggestion, silently circulating their inner energy and trying their best to gather their spiritual power into their bodies.

Just as everyone was working hard, a white-haired old man with an air of otherworldly wisdom stood in mid-air on auspicious clouds, looking down at the cultivators in the black iron cage and saying, "Hahahaha, you are indeed elites, you know what's good for you, not making a fuss. To tell you the truth, making a fuss is not a wise move, it's better to quietly enjoy these last moments, hahahahaha!"

"Old man, can you tell us why you arrested us?"

"Yes! We don't want to die. Let us out, or I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

"Hahahaha, you want a reason? Considering you've kept quiet and haven't caused me any trouble, I'll give you one."

The reason is the Corpse-Rotting Flower! Don't you know that the Corpse-Rotting Flower needs the fresh flesh and blood and spiritual energy of cultivators to bloom? You should be happy because you've made the Corpse-Rotting Flower bloom, and that flower can save countless lives. Don't you think you're great? Hahahahahaha!

"What nonsense about being great? You're treating human life like dirt! What's the point of trading lives for lives? If you have any conscience at all, release us right now!"

"Yes! Yes! Let us go, let us go!"

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, but the white-haired old man just chuckled and looked at everyone with interest.

"Elder, are the food supplies ready? How many meat-eating people are there?" A deep voice came from afar.

"Master, everything is ready. This time we have excellent luck. We have successfully captured 207 people, which will yield 207 Bone-Rotting Flowers." The white-haired old man looked at the people in the iron cage with ill intent and said with a sinister smile.

A quarter of an hour later, a group of people wearing black masks and monks dressed in black robes arrived in the valley.

Each of them carried two iron cages, left the valley, and after walking for about half a cup of tea's time, arrived at a suspension bridge.

Suddenly, a collective gasp was heard. Gu Shihan turned her head and saw that everyone's faces were filled with horror. Following their gaze, she looked down.

Beneath the suspension bridge lay countless skeletons, clearly human bones, piled layer upon layer. How many people had died? This could not have been formed overnight.

Gu Shihan, who had been calm, felt a chill in her heart and her face turned pale. How cruel the cultivation world is! How terrifying the Tianyuan Secret Realm is! How inhumane Tianyuan City is!

"Sister! This is too cruel!" Yu Tong exclaimed angrily.

"Yu Tong, be quiet!" Gu Shihan quickly reminded her.

The men in black robes crossed the suspension bridge and walked a short distance before appearing below. They placed the black iron cages one by one near the gleaming white bulges.

Once the black iron cages were all in their designated spots, the man in black robes quickly retreated and disappeared.

The white-haired old man stood on the suspension bridge, surveyed the area, and then nodded in satisfaction. He stretched out his hands and made several hand gestures towards the air, causing white mist to rise and envelop the valley.

The lock on the iron cage clicked open.

Gu Shihan suppressed her spiritual power, thought for a moment, and then affixed an isolation talisman to her body before carefully stepping out of the iron cage.

Connected by the contract, she reached out and pulled Yu Tong into the space. Gu Shihan looked around; the white mist was so thick she couldn't see anyone else, and she couldn't even use her divine sense. She wondered how the others were.
About fifteen minutes later, Gu Shihan saw a huge bone-rotting flower. The flower was rooted in a corpse, and the white flower was slowly opening, its leaves resembling translucent ice and snow plates.

Gu Shihan thought to herself, it seems a fellow Daoist has met with misfortune. She watched helplessly as the white flowers slowly turned blood red. Was this the beginning of their ripening?
"Elder, should we wait?" A male voice came from behind, startling Gu Shihan so much that she immediately stopped all her movements and dared not move, for fear that her presence would be discovered.

"No need, come back in seven days. It's too late to collect the flowers now," the white-haired old man said calmly.

"Oh! Elder, won't it be a waste to let the bone-rotting flowers bloom early?"

"No, the ancestor has set up an array here. The Bone-Rotting Flower can survive for seven days as long as it has nutrients. Let's go. With the white mist here, there's nothing we can do even if we want to watch it."

Gu Shihan dared not move, afraid that the noise would alert the people outside. Only when there was no more sound did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hanhan, put away the Bone-Rotting Flower! Although its growth process is evil, its effects are excellent." Xingbai interrupted Gu Shihan's silence.

"Okay!" Gu Shihan took out the jade box, picked the bone-rotting flower, and continued searching in the white mist, trying to find the other people, but for some reason, she did not encounter anyone along the way.

"Look! There's another bone-rotting flower over there!"

Gu Shihan walked through the white mist and collected nine Bone-Rotting Flowers.

"Hey, someone's here!" Gu Shihan walked over and saw a cultivator lying on the ground, with a white bulge next to him that seemed to be moving toward the cultivator.

Gu Shihan walked over quickly and stuck an isolation talisman on the cultivator. The white bulge swelled up, but the cultivator didn't feel anything and went quiet again.

"Xingbai, Yutong, what do we do with this person? He's fainted! It seems his essence and blood are damaged!" Gu Shihan was having a headache; not being able to use her spiritual power was really difficult.

"Hanhan, use the Qiankun House, I will use the power of imprisonment to protect you."

"Alright! We have no choice but to take the risk." Gu Shihan channeled her spiritual energy into her hand, grabbed and tossed it, and disappeared.

The white bulge seemed to sense the spiritual energy, shook a few times, and then fell silent.

Gu Shihan stared at the white bulge. "Xingbai, is there any way to destroy it?"

"Yes! Your Red Lotus Karmic Fire will do!"

Gu Shihan nodded, and a wisp of red lotus karmic fire quickly rushed towards the white bulge. The bulge shook a few times and quickly turned into black ash, and the white bones within a radius of one zhang shattered into powder.

Gu Shihan didn't know how long she walked in the white mist, during which she saved dozens of people, collected all the bone-rotting flowers she encountered, and burned all the white bulges.

The number of white bones on the ground was decreasing, and the white mist seemed to have thinned considerably after the bones turned to powder, making it possible to vaguely see everything in the distance.

After rescuing the 183rd person, all the bones on the ground were gone, so it seemed they had to leave immediately.

The owner of the decaying flower will surely feel the pain of its destruction.

(End of this chapter)