Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Master Ziyang examined the three stone statues, and when he saw the three yellowed talismans pasted on them, his eyes widened. He unconsciously tugged at his senior brother, Master Xuanming.

"Senior brother... do you see the cloud patterns on those three talismans... do they look familiar? They're almost identical to the techniques used in our sect's 'Demon Suppression Talisman'!"

Master Xuanming did not respond, but his gaze also fell on the three yellowed talismans, and the more he looked at them, the more alarmed he became.

Such techniques were definitely left behind by their sect's predecessors. But in his judgment, the material of this talisman was definitely not from a recent era; it was at least a thousand years ago... or even earlier.

"How long have these three stone statues been sealed here!?"

His gaze lingered between the three stone statues, but soon, Master Xuanming's expression darkened. He patted Master Ziyang on the shoulder, then pointed to the feet of the central statue resembling a little girl: "Junior brother, look there!"

Several pieces of cloth, not completely burned but faded to grayish-brown, were half-buried in the soil, revealing the faint cloud-patterned markings—the very mark of their sect.

"It seems that one of our seniors must have burned everything to create these three demon-suppressing talismans... barely managing to seal these three people here!" Master Ziyang gasped.

Then, as if a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, Master Ziyang involuntarily shivered: "Senior brother, do you think those three talismans might fall off? I have a feeling they're about to detach."

Upon hearing Master Ziyang's words, Master Xuanming's eye twitched slightly, but he swallowed hard and forced himself to remain calm, saying, "Junior brother, be careful with your words and actions. As long as we don't actively touch these things, we should... we should be fine."

"Then... then Senior Brother, let's go stay over there for now. We're so close to these three stone statues, it's making me feel a bit cold!" Master Ziyang pointed to the open space in the distance and unconsciously took two steps back.

"Good!! That's exactly what I was thinking too!" Master Xuanming didn't hesitate at all and tacitly moved his feet backward slowly.

They retreated to the very edge of the empty stone hall, leaning against the cold rock wall, feeling a sufficient distance from the three stone statues, before both of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Never mind everything else for now, let's heal our injuries quickly. Once we're healed, we'll leave this place as soon as possible!" Xuanming Zhenren changed his previous plan to stay here for a few more days. Now, he only wanted to leave this evil place as soon as his injuries healed.

The two immediately sat down cross-legged and began to circulate their inner energy to repair their bodies after forcibly summoning the dragon vein and being injured by Xia Jin.

As the two circulated their cultivation techniques, wisps of spiritual energy uncontrollably seeped out from their pores, slowly drifting throughout the entire hall.

As they approached the three stone statues in the center of the hall, especially the one on the far right that resembled an old man, almost all the scattered spiritual energy seemed to fall upon him.

As time passed, a wisp of eerie blue flame suddenly rose from the forehead of the rightmost old man statue, where the talisman, which had been dimly lit, instantly devoured the entire talisman.

The instant the talisman disappeared, the grayish-white stone surface of the statue receded rapidly from the top like a tide, revealing the skin underneath, which resembled dry tree bark.

The stone statue, now transformed into an old man, first turned its neck somewhat blankly, its gray eyes slowly sweeping across the space that had confined it for countless years.

Finally, his gaze fell on Ziyang and Xuanming, who were meditating with their eyes closed in the corner, completely unaware of what was happening.

A hint of greed crept into the corner of his eye.

The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot, and when he reappeared, he was already standing silently behind Ziyang and Xuanming Zhenren.

Two withered hands gently pressed down on the tops of their heads.

"Little fellows! Have you come to offer this old man a delicious blood feast? It's been a long time since I've tasted the blood feast of a terrestrial immortal!" A somewhat hoarse voice suddenly appeared.

"not good!!"

The two masters, who were still in meditation, suddenly felt their hair stand on end and were filled with a chill, forcibly breaking out of their meditation and abruptly opening their eyes!

However, what first came into view was an empty stone platform in front of them—where the three stone statues once stood, only two remained! The old man statue on the far right was gone!

Could it be that Master Ziyang and Master Xuanming slowly turned their heads and looked behind them?

"Giggle...giggle..."

Just as the two were about to resist, an extremely terrifying suction force suddenly erupted from above their heads! They felt their life essence and spiritual power, accumulated through a lifetime of hard work, rushing uncontrollably and wildly towards the withered hand above their heads like a river bursting its banks!

"Ugh! No, no!! I can't die!" Master Xuanming was filled with regret.

If I hadn't suggested coming here, my two senior brothers wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

But it was too late; his thoughts had barely formed when the old man destroyed his consciousness.

The two bodies withered away at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, only two sitting, desiccated corpses remained on the spot.

The old man slowly withdrew his hands, closed his eyes contentedly for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed with a satisfied sound.

When he opened his eyes again, the cloudiness in them seemed to have faded a little, and the putrid smell on his body had also noticeably diminished.

"Hahaha, I never expected to encounter such good fortune so soon after breaking free from my seal! Although I'm still far from my prime, I should be content!"

The old man turned around and walked to the other two stone statues.

Without any hesitation, he reached out and decisively tore off the talismans that were stuck to the foreheads of the other two stone statues.

The moment the talisman leaves the body.

The petrified layer on the surface of the stone statue of the middle-aged fat man with a big belly, and the stone statue of the little girl on the left, began to tremble violently, and then peeled off piece by piece like broken pottery shells.

The stone's color faded, revealing the true body beneath.

Almost simultaneously, the two "people" opened their eyes.

Mo Ya looked at his awakened companion, a rare smile appearing on his face.

"Bai Luan, Hei Tu... it's been a long time."

The fat man known as Black Butcher twisted his thick neck, first taking a greedy deep breath before looking at the old man with a hint of surprise in his eyes: "Mo Ya? You old devil... you woke up before us?"

His gaze then fell on the two desiccated corpses in the corner, and he grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. "...You've devoured two cultivators at the Land Immortal Realm. You've certainly gotten the jackpot."

At this moment, the little girl called Bai Luan tilted her head, glanced around, and then a look of disgust appeared on her face.

"Let's catch up later. Let's leave here first."

"We have slumbered for too long, and our vital essence is depleted and urgently needs to be replenished. The most urgent task... is to find enough blood and nourishment to restore our strength."

Her voice was soft, yet it made both Mo Ya and Hei Tu simultaneously stop smiling.