At the exit.
*Snap!*
Guo Duan snapped his fingers.
In the next moment, a red barrier appeared, enveloping the entire exit of the cave.
Only behind Guo Duan was there a small opening, just big enough for one person to pass through.
To demonstrate the power of the barrier, Guo Duan picked up a blade from the ground, one that had been dropped by someone earlier, and tossed it toward the barrier.
The moment the blade touched the barrier, it was instantly sliced into dozens of pieces.
The onlookers couldn’t help but gulp nervously.
“Heh heh heh, if you want to leave, line up one by one!”
“Hand over ninety percent of the rare treasures you’ve gathered in the cave, and I’ll spare your lives!”
Guo Duan spoke as he blocked the remaining opening.
The crowd looked around, but no one dared to step forward.
After all, these rare treasures were the fruits of their hard work.
Why would they willingly hand over ninety percent of their spoils?
Rather than paying for their safety, they hoped for a chosen one to come along and punch Guo Duan into oblivion!
After a moment of silence, Guo Duan frowned slightly and continued,
“Young ones, don’t be greedy. Even ten percent of the treasures is enough to make you rich for a while!”
“There are at least a hundred thousand people still alive in the cave right now!”
“If you don’t hand them over now, you’ll be stuck waiting in line later, and you might not even get a chance!”
“And don’t think anyone can defeat me. My cultivation is at the fourth level, and as a demonic cultivator, I have the ability to restore my body by killing others. Even a hundred third-level cultivators attacking me at once couldn’t kill me!”
As soon as Guo Duan finished speaking, a timid man stepped forward, putting down his weapon and holding out a bundle.
“B-big brother, I’m only at the early second level. I came in hoping to gather some things to sell. My wife and child are waiting for me at home…”
“Hmm? Let me see!”
Guo Duan roughly snatched the bundle, opened it, and patted the man down.
After confirming that the man hadn’t hidden anything and had truly handed over all his treasures, Guo Duan stepped aside, tossing back ten percent of the treasures.
“Go on, get out of here,” he said impatiently.
“Thank you, big brother!”
The man’s face lit up with relief as he hurried out.
Seeing that the demonic cultivator kept his word, the crowd began to line up, handing over their treasures.
It was better to cut their losses and live to fight another day!
Guo Duan collected the treasures while letting people pass.
Anyone who tried to deceive him was mercilessly killed.
Soon, Guo Duan had filled several sacks with rare treasures, piling them up nearby.
But Guo Duan wasn’t too concerned.
If he encountered anyone wearing spatial bracelets, necklaces, or even rings, he’d simply take them for himself to store his loot!
Guo Duan was inwardly ecstatic.
He had just staged a little act with a planted stooge, and now these fools were willingly handing over ninety percent of their treasures.
Who else had such business acumen?
……
……
A while later, Ye Wangchuan arrived with Li Luo and his puppet.
Seeing the long line of people, Ye Wangchuan was puzzled.
After asking around, he learned about the fourth-level demonic cultivator blocking the exit.
Li Luo, after hearing the story, looked up in confusion.
“Ye Wangchuan, should we give him some treasures to get out?”
Truthfully, Li Luo didn’t care much about the treasures.
She had gathered them mainly for the villainous emotion points awarded by her system.
Even after clearing a few forests with Ye Wangchuan, the total value of the treasures they’d collected…
Probably didn’t even match the cost of the spears Ye Wangchuan had thrown around.
“No,” Ye Wangchuan said decisively.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Li Luo nodded, unsurprised.
Of course, Ye Wangchuan, a proud young master from a wealthy family and a staunch individualist, would never hand over ninety percent of his treasures to a demonic cultivator just to ensure his safety.
Li Luo thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Ye Wangchuan’s reasoning was simpler.
This idiot demonic cultivator blocking the exit was bound to be beaten up by a chosen one sooner or later.
Why waste money?
Besides, his spatial ring was filled with treasures like the Day Bow, Night Arrows, Ice Bone Sword, Puppet Core, and even a top-tier dual cultivation manual.
If the demonic cultivator saw those, he’d never let Ye Wangchuan go.
“Alright, let’s rest here for a bit,” Ye Wangchuan said, finding a spot to set up a wooden house using his spatial ring.
“Li Luo, I’m going to break through to the third level. Call me if anything happens.”
Once inside, Ye Wangchuan prepared for his breakthrough.
Just as breaking through to the second level required body forging, and breaking through to the fourth level required core condensation,
Breaking through to the third level required mental purification!
Mental purification meant spending a full 180 days doing nothing but letting the mind wander freely.
Fortunately, at this moment, Ye Wangchuan only needed to think about when the chosen one would arrive.
Of course, Ye Wangchuan had no intention of spending 180 days in mental purification.
With a thought, he took out a pill.
This pill, called the Mental Purification Pill, could shorten the purification process from 180 days to just 48 hours!
It was a gift from the Fourth Elder during Ye Wangchuan’s 18th birthday celebration.
Ye Wangchuan swallowed the pill and began his purification.
……
A day later,
The second chosen one arrived!
As soon as Su Fugui reached the exit, he saw someone blocking the way!
Could his fiery temper tolerate this?
Of course, it could!
Damn it!
A fourth-level demonic cultivator!
No way he could take him on!
Su Fugui immediately found a spot to hide, hoping someone else would deal with the demonic cultivator.
……
Three more days passed.
The third chosen one, Liu Han, arrived!
Would such a righteous person like Liu Han ignore someone blocking the exit?
Of course, he would!
Liu Han was righteous and kind.
But he wasn’t stupid!
As a first-level early-stage cultivator, how could he possibly defeat Guo Duan?
With the pile of money in his spatial ring?
Old Qin hadn’t fully recovered yet, and Liu Han wasn’t sure if the demonic cultivator would get greedy upon seeing so much wealth.
He immediately blended into the crowd, deciding to wait and see if someone else would take care of the demonic cultivator.
If the opportunity arose, he might even lend a hand!
……
Actually, there should have been a fourth chosen one.
And that chosen one would have been at the third level!
Moreover, that chosen one would have wielded the Day Bow, while his lady companion would have used the Night Arrows, blasting the fourth-level demonic cultivator to pieces!
Unfortunately,
That chosen one’s ashes had already been mixed with glutinous rice.
He wasn’t coming.
g Yu was preparing for retirement when her organization decided to eliminate her. She transmigrated to a zombie apocalypse world. However, a tiny unexpected situation occurred: She somehow transformed into an adorable little girl?!
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
