Don't try to cultivate immortality; mortals live longer than immortals.

"call……"

Zhou Ran exhaled a breath of stale air, gazing at the cave before him with a somewhat serious expression.

"Xiao Ran, is this the ancient cultivator's cave you were talking about?"

"Um."

The beautiful young woman from Yunxi Sect named Chen Ran nodded: "Brother Zhou, this is a secret of our sect, recorded in the ancient books. The secret realm we are in is actually the place where this ancient cultivator attained enlightenment."

"And after he passed away, he left behind extremely precious treasures. We'll split them equally once we get them, Brother Zhou. You'd better keep your word."

Zhou Ran patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, a real man keeps his word and will never go back on his word."

"Um."

The young girl smiled radiantly, linking her arm with his, while several cultivators from the Yunxi Sect scouted ahead. The relationship between the two sides appeared harmonious and amicable.

Zhou Ran didn't notice the faint smile that appeared at the corner of the girl's mouth.

The group entered a cave not far away.

As the other party said, this is the place where an ancient cultivator passed away, but for some reason, it is built underground, and a cold wind can be faintly blown out from inside, which makes people feel a little uncomfortable.

Let's go!

However, Zhou Ran didn't care at all. He still had a carefree expression and followed the Yunxi Sect members down an ancient blue stone staircase into the depths of the earth.

The cave was very deep, and it took them a good while to walk to the end of the stone steps.

Rumble!

After pushing open the stone door, a spacious hall came into view.

Although it was called a hall, it was actually a hundred feet in size, more like a small square. At the end of it, there was a tattered futon placed in front of it.

On the futon sat a skeleton, who had been dead for an unknown period of time, yet still maintained a meditative posture. Clearly, this was the ancient cultivator the other party had mentioned.

The skeleton's clothes had long since weathered away, and it had no storage bag. Only a palm-sized inkstone was placed about a foot in front of it.

That's it!

Looking around, there was nothing else.

However, the female cultivator named Chen Ran's eyes lit up, and even her breathing became rapid: "Brother Zhou, this is it. Hurry up and take it out."

Zhou Ran didn't move. Instead, he looked around, surveying his surroundings, before finally fixing his gaze on the skeleton on the futon: "An array? I don't see it."

The girl stamped her foot: "Didn't I tell you? This formation is an ingenious creation, invisible to the naked eye. It is only triggered when you get close, and it refuses entry to ordinary cultivators. Only true geniuses can pass through it without hindrance, and it cannot be broken by brute force."

"None of us are qualified. Only Brother Zhou, you are qualified to go in."

At this point, the woman's expression became extremely sincere: "Brother Zhou, we chose to cooperate with you for two reasons. First, because you saved us and are kind-hearted, we are willing to share half of the treasure with you to repay your life-saving grace. The other reason is that this secret treasure is protected by an extremely strange formation, and only you can take it out."

After speaking, she nodded and gestured to a fellow disciple. The disciple of Yunxi Sect walked forward. When he was still three zhang away from the skeleton, a layer of azure light suddenly appeared in front of him, enveloping the skeleton. As soon as he bumped into the light, he was thrown away like a kite with a broken string.

He fell face-first into the mud with a "thud," and although he wasn't injured, he was still extremely embarrassed.

"See, Brother Zhou, I didn't lie to you."

"Okay." Zhou Ran nodded. "Alright, I'll try to retrieve the treasure."

"Brother Zhou, be careful, but you'll definitely be fine." The girl's face was filled with barely suppressed joy.

The mutation occurred silently.

Zhou Ran, who had already taken a step forward, flashed a sharp glint in his eyes, raised his right hand, and suddenly slashed at the girl's neck. A sharp glint could also be seen rising from his sleeve.

Blood splattered out, and the girl's head flew into the air.

But soon, everything distorted like light and shadow, and Chen Ran appeared seven or eight zhang away, his face grim and filled with anger: "You... what are you doing?"

"Heh, not bad acting, keep it up."

Zhou Ran didn't explain at all. Seeing that his attack had no effect, he flashed and pounced on another Yunxi Sect disciple next to him, shouting, "What are you waiting for? Attack!"

Before he could finish speaking, a rumbling sound reached his ears, the bluestone ground cracked open, flames shot into the sky, and the explosions continued.

At the same time, a clicking sound reached my ears, and a dozen mechanical dogs and mechanical spiders appeared before my eyes. I had no idea where they had been hiding.

Whoosh...

After the mechanical dogs and mechanical spiders appeared, they immediately launched an attack without hesitation. What came into view was a dense barrage of missiles and electromagnetic pulse weapons.

boom!

Flames and shockwaves enveloped the disciples of the Yunxi Sect, and explosions rang out one after another, but this was not the end.

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a shout of "Rise!", a bluish-green sword light soared out from the smoke, following closely behind missiles and lasers, and slashed furiously towards the disciples of the Yunxi Sect.

"Amulet!"

A gasp rippled through the crowd. Because the change was so sudden, these guys had no time to dodge and were killed in an instant.

Incredibly, as more than a dozen Yunxi Sect disciples perished, wisps of black energy actually emerged from their bodies.

The Demon of Resentment!

It turns out these guys had already been possessed.

On the surface of these black wisps emerged distorted and malicious faces, now brimming with boundless resentment and malice.

Confusion, anger!

"hateful!"

The Yunxi Sect girl named Chen Ran was the only survivor. Her once beautiful face had become distorted, and her eyes were filled with boundless rage.

It wasn't because they were ambushed, but because they were angry at being played.

That's right, she is the extraterrestrial demon, the boss behind this conspiracy.

Not long after Zhou Ran arrived at the secret realm, he was targeted by him.

However, the extraterrestrial demon did not choose to possess Zhou Ran.

It's not that I don't want to, but because there is an extremely precious treasure in this secret realm, and only those with a silly spiritual root can freely enter the formation to retrieve it.

If he possesses the other person's body, whether they like it or not, the boy's spiritual root will be contaminated, and they will no longer be able to retrieve the treasure.

Weighing the pros and cons, the extraterrestrial demons chose to remain patient and plan their next move.

With a dozen or so vengeful demon underlings, they collectively possessed the cultivators of the Yunxi Sect, made contact with Zhou Ran, and then brought him here.

Originally, he planned to use sweet words to trick the boy into retrieving the treasure, and once the boy had obtained it and been drained of his usefulness, he would then take advantage of the situation to possess the boy's body.