Fantasy: I'm in a discarded alchemy room, but I can turn trash into treasure!

Qin Mo flexed his right hand, his knuckles cracking softly: "Then let her go into seclusion."

Sikong Ji pursed his lips: "The twelfth gate has the Primordial Sword Platform. That place can be used to break through to the Nascent Soul stage by borrowing the Primordial Sword Qi. If she really goes there, her chances of breaking through are very high."

Qin Mo took out a bone-setting pill from his storage ring and put it in his mouth.

"Her breakthrough is her business. I need to get through the rest first."

He swallowed the pill, turned around, and walked down from the teleportation platform.

Sikong Ji watched his retreating figure and tapped his finger on the bow.

This person didn't even care about the half-step Nascent Soul stage, yet he had the ability to stubbornly endure it.

Once Xiao Qinghuang truly breaks through to the next realm and returns, it's hard to say who will take whose sword.

There were significantly more cultivators in the Ninth Palace than before.

Someone had just come down from the teleportation platform and immediately found a place to hide.

Some people gathered in small groups, holding Broken Gate Talismans and asking for directions.

Temporary stalls were set up near the entrance, selling pills, talismans, and maps all mixed together, with shouts of vendors filling the air.

Qin Mo hadn't walked far from the crowd when a small blue flag emerged from behind a stone pillar in front of him.

The flag fluttered in the still air, carrying a faint fishy smell.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, don't go any further."

A fat man in a gray robe emerged from behind a stone pillar.

He smiled, but took a half-step to the side, blocking Qin Mo's path.

A woman in red was following behind the fat man.

She held three silver needles in her hand, their tips gleaming with a bluish light, and her gaze swept over Qin Mo and Sikong Ji.

"My name is Luo Zhengnan, and this is my younger sister, Luo Hongyao."

The fat man cupped his hands in greeting, "My brother and I have already explored the path to the tenth section and can enter through the Thunder Cave."

Qin Mo stopped and his gaze fell on the green flag.

The flagpole was buried in the ground, and there was no spiritual energy fluctuation around it.

However, several nearby bone fragments had turned black, and wisps of smoke were still rising from the bone crevices.

The poison array was set up very discreetly.

Luo Zhengnan noticed his gaze and quickly put the small flag away.

"There are thunder beasts and poisonous thunder in the Thunder Cave. It's easy to get hurt if you try to force your way in. My brother and I will clear the way and take four people with us. The price is negotiable."

When he mentioned the four people, his tone slowed down noticeably.

Qin Mo did not agree, but only looked up into the distance.

Three beams of light lit up one after another.

Hua Meiniang emerged, draped in a black cloak, the red string on her wrist swaying gently.

Cang Wuyue followed closely behind, having changed back into women's clothing, with a short sword hanging at her waist.

The last one to appear was Luo Xiaoman. As soon as she landed, she dusted off the hem of her clothes and had half a spiritual fruit in her mouth.

The three of them saw Qin Mo and immediately walked over.

Luo Zhengnan's smile froze for a moment.

Qin Mo suddenly spoke up: "Bring seven people."

Luo Zhengnan's hand, which was gripping the flagpole, stopped.

"Seven?"

He glanced at Qin Mo, then at the people behind him, and his brows slowly furrowed.

He was fairly confident that he could lead the four people through the Thunder Cave.

However, with a large number of people, the area of ​​the poison array would have to be expanded, and once the Thunder Beast broke through the array's core, everyone would be swept up in it.

Qin Mo took out a dark gray corpse crystal from his storage ring.

The corpse crystal was only the size of a fist, but its surface had a flowing gray-white light.

As soon as it appeared, the silver needle in Luo Hongyao's hand bent slightly.

Luo Zhengnan's eyes changed.

This is a Golden Core level corpse crystal.

For those who cultivate poisonous arts, the yin energy and remnant souls within corpse crystals are excellent materials.

It can be used for everything from refining poisons and raising insects to creating corpse puppets.

Qin Mo held the corpse crystal in his palm, his tone calm: "This one is for you. You take us through the Thunder Cave."

Luo Zhengnan swallowed hard, but did not reach out immediately.

"Seven people, the risk is much greater."

"You just said that four people could pass."

Qin Mo shook the corpse crystal. "Now there are three more people, but the road is still the same. If you don't have the ability, just say so."

Luo Zhengnan's chubby face twitched.

Luo Hongyao stepped forward and touched the corpse crystal with a silver needle.

The moment the needle tip touched the surface, it was immediately stained with a layer of black.

She looked up at her brother and nodded gently.

The corpse crystal is real, and its grade is not low.

Luo Zhengnan stared at the corpse crystal for a few moments, then reached out and grabbed it.

With the corpse crystal in hand, his arm sank down, and the fat on his face jiggled.

"OK."

He tucked the corpse crystal into his sleeve, his tone becoming serious: "But let's make this clear first, if anything goes wrong in the Thunder Cave, we're only responsible for guiding the way and setting up the formation. Anyone who wanders off on their own and dies can't blame me."

Qin Mo turned to the side, letting Hua Meiniang and the other two walk behind him.

"I'll take care of the lightning. You just need to focus on walking carefully."

Luo Zhengnan looked at him, his eyelids twitching a few times.

Despite his obvious mid-Foundation Establishment aura, he spoke with even more arrogance than a Golden Core cultivator.

But he had also heard about the commotion on the teleportation platform.

Several Golden Core spiritual artifacts were smashed by bare hands; this kind of physical body certainly has the right to say that.

Luo Hongyao put away the silver needles and turned to walk west.

"Keep up."

She only said two words, then didn't turn back.

The seven people crossed a scree slope and circled the edge of the ninth gate.

The Luo siblings checked the ground all the way. Every ten or so steps, Luo Hongyao would squat down and use a silver needle to pry open a piece of gravel.

Beneath the rubble lay tiny purple thunder patterns.

Qin Mo scanned the area with his Qiankun Dharma Eye and discovered that the lightning patterns were interconnected, weaving the entire hillside into a large net.

If you take the wrong step, lightning will surge from the ground.

The Luo siblings had indeed scouted the route in advance.

Instead of leading everyone along the shortest straight line, they bypassed the three lightning spots.

Along the way, they encountered a group of black-armored corpse beasts. Luo Zhengnan threw out the green flag, and poisonous mist spread along the ground.

The corpse beast slowed down as soon as it stepped into the fog.

Qin Mo raised his hand and punched the leading corpse beast into the stone wall.

Hua Meiniang looked at the green flag that had been retrieved and her eyes curved into a smile: "This formation works quite well."

Just as Luo Zhengnan's face lit up with smugness, Qin Mo looked at him and asked, "How long until the tenth stanza?"

"It's just ahead."

He pointed to a sloping, black mountain wall.

A crack appeared in the center of the mountain wall; there was no wind inside, yet thunder rumbled continuously.

Purple and black electric light flickered back and forth deep within the crevice, even scorching the nearby stones.

Luo Zhengnan took out seven blue pills and handed them to everyone.

"Hold it under your tongue, don't swallow it. The poisonous lightning in the Thunder Cave will seep into your meridians along with the spiritual energy; the medicine can only suppress it for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Qin Mo took the pill and put it directly into his storage ring.

Luo Zhengnan's expression changed: "You're not eating?"

"My body can handle it."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Hua Meiniang, Cang Wuyue, and Luo Xiaoman.

"After entering the cave, everyone calls me Chu Wuming in front of outsiders. Anyone who dares to call me that wrong, I'll throw them out to take the lightning strike."

Hua Meiniang covered her mouth and chuckled, wrapping the red string halfway around her wrist.

"Understood, Young Master Chu."

Cang Wuyue pressed down on the short sword at his waist and remained silent.

Luo Xiaoman stuffed the remaining half of the spirit fruit into her mouth and nodded vaguely.

Qin Mo glanced at Sikong Ji again.

She already knew the name and didn't ask any further questions, simply holding the Purple Lightning Longbow horizontally in front of her.

Luo Zhengnan looked at the seven people and raised his hand to form a hand seal.

The green flag fell to the ground, and the poisonous fog spread along the mountain crevice, forcibly squeezing out a passage.

"Walk!"

The seven people stepped into the purplish-black lightning cave at the same time.

The stone surface beneath their feet had just closed up when the cave entrance was sealed off by lightning.

The thunder from deep within paused for a moment, and then a thick, purplish-black lightning bolt crashed down from the cave ceiling, directly towards the location of the seven people.