Wait a minute, where is my master?

Zhao Dabao had finished all the preparations he could make, unaware of the conversation between the two others.

Now it was his turn to enter the formation.

Although Fatty Zhao lacked a Spirit Root and couldn't cultivate.

he was skilled in martial arts, among the strongest of ordinary people.

But without a Spirit Root, he could practice his whole life and still never reach the Innate level, or what cultivators call Qi Refinement.

This time, the strong men he brought were all practitioners among ordinary people, and Zhao Dabao was the highest martial artist of this group. Whether this mission could succeed.

ultimately depended on him alone.

On the way here, he had shared some details with the young Taoist, Jin Xu.

Why he was so confident, daring to break this age-old formation of the Cultivation World with a group of ordinary people.

It was not because he was particularly wise.

Nor was he a genius in formation strategies.

Nor had he suddenly received an old man's guidance.

It was purely because of good luck, yes, just good luck.

The formation at Lezi Mountain had existed for many years, and no cultivator or strong individual had figured it out, making it one of the top ten forbidden places in the Nine Provinces Realm.

Until recently, a local village woman had a huge fight with her husband over their child's issues.

The woman, in a moment of despair, thought of ending her life.

But she was afraid of suffocating in the river, afraid of the pain from a knife, and had heard that hanging made one look displeasing in death.

Somehow, she remembered a legend she heard in her childhood that said the valley of Lezi Mountain had an immortal's method that would let you die amidst a mix of happiness and pain.

Driven by some unknown force, she went there, not just went, but she entered it.

And then.

She got slapped a whole thirty times within the formation.

A whole thirty times!

She fainted at the mouth of the valley upon exiting.

When she woke up and staggered back to her village, she gave her husband quite a scare, wondering how she had changed so much after just leaving for a bit.

The woman explained that she was in a hurry on her way back and accidentally fell off a cliff.

She then told her husband that she had found a place glittering with what seemed like valuable things, but she couldn't carry them all herself, so she came back to get him.

Her husband, blinded by greed, immediately followed her.

Later.

Her husband also ended up getting a firm thirty slaps.

When this villager recovered from his unconscious state, he went straight to the local authorities with a swollen face, accusing his wife of trying to murder him with slaps!

As the matter escalated, Zhao Dabao came to know of it through a detailed interrogation.

He discovered that the valley held the Enlightenment Pill he had long sought! Further research revealed that this location was one of the infamous top ten forbidden lands of the Nine Provinces Realm.

A place no cultivator had ever left alive!

Zhao Dabao, always cautious, took great effort to understand that indeed no cultivator had any record of exiting the formation, but if ordinary people entered the formation, the price was just thirty slaps; you could even walk within the formation as long as you could take the beating.

After thirty slaps, the formation would kick you out.

It was unclear whether this was a small backdoor the formation's creator left for ordinary people.

...

Zhao Dabao stretched his limbs, took off his golden silk robe, revealing a short fighting suit underneath, and turned back to Jin Xu to say.

"I'm going in."

Then he stepped toward the formation.

His broad figure unexpectedly conveyed a sense of heroism.

The moment Fatty Zhao entered the formation, Zhao Yan stepped forward.

It seemed he planned to capture Zhao Dabao the moment he exited the formation.

At that moment, a gentle and polite voice came from behind him.

"Hello, are you going in too?"

Was that the noticeably conspicuous young Taoist, not only better looking than me but also with a more pleasant voice?

Thinking this, Zhao Yan turned around and disdainfully glanced at Jin Xu.

"Little Taoist, if you know what's good for you, when Zhao Dabao comes out, urge him to enlighten my master and me with the secrets of the Formation's free entry and exit. If my master is pleased, he might even leave a few of the many cultivators' relics that have fallen within the formation for you."

"If you don't know what's good for you, hmm."

Zhao Yan snickered coldly.

At the same time, he thought to himself, What's so great about looking better than me!

He's still a waste with no fluctuations of spiritual power whatsoever surrounding him.

"The relics of many cultivators?"

The little Taoist, Jin Xu, sharply caught the key phrase.

"So, you want the relics of the many cultivators inside?"

Zhao Yan, not understanding, said, "Naturally."

Hearing this, Jin Xu politely nodded, "Alright, I'll send you in."

With that, he shot out a kick, sending the cold-snorting, unpleasant-sounding youth into the formation.

"Damn!"

"Yan'er!"

Yao Chen, the Third Elder, was comfortably watching the drama unfold. With his own disciple at the Golden Core Perfect, capturing a little Taoist with no signs of spiritual power was supposed to be easy.

Yet, he just watched the two exchange a few words before the little Taoist kicked his disciple into the fog.

In a rush of panic, he didn't stop to think whether his disciple was caught off guard and hadn't dodged.

He conjured up three silver needles and shot them at Jin Xu's back.

"Ding ding ding!"

Huh? What just pinged me? Jin Xu pulled at his robe and found three small holes in it.

Yao Chen, staring at the three bent silver needles, was also stunned. Although Medicine King Valley was renowned in the Nine Provinces Realm for saving lives, their methods were not without lethality.

The "Spirit Coffin Twelve Needles" was one of Medicine King Valley's signature spells, capable both of curing ailments and taking lives.

Did I hold back? Not at all.

Not believing it, Yao Chen took out another three silver needles, ready for another attempt.

This little Taoist clearly had no spiritual power fluctuating around him! But just as he had taken out the three needles, before he could even launch them,

he saw the little Taoist, who had all along shown no signs of spiritual power, suddenly emit a terrifying aura! A golden thunderbolt appeared in his right hand, and his dark blue Taoist robe fluttered noisily without any wind.

In Yao Chen's eyes, Jin Xu seemed like a True Immortal descending to earth.

"You're attacking me?"

Jin Xu looked very calm with the Hand Palm Thunder gathering in his right hand, but his heart was fiercely stirred.

He had just been attacked!

Although the damage was only three holes in his robe, the problem was still very serious.

Three holes in the robe this time could mean three holes in his body next time!

From now on, he must be cautious, more cautious, yet more cautious—this world is indeed too perilous.

"No, um, I, senior! Listen to my explanation!"

Yao Chen knelt down decisively.

He indeed was a veteran Great Cultivator of the Void Refinement Realm, usually prestigious as the Medicine King Valley's Third Elder.

But the longer a person lives, the less they wish to die.

Yao Chen was certain that if that golden thunderbolt was unleashed, his centuries of cultivation journey would end with an imperfect, but surely explosive, finale.

So he knelt without hesitation.

"Senior, you misunderstood, I, I, I, I... I was swatting a mosquito for you! Yes, swatting a mosquito!"

Jin Xu thought to himself that he was not fooling anyone; he was young but not dumb.

The golden thunderbolt intensified, and the little Taoist slowly raised his right hand. He still couldn't forgive the one who attacked him, unless…

Just as he was about to release the Hand Palm Thunder, the screams of Fatty Zhao within the formation stopped, and a plump figure staggered out.

He even held a jade bottle in his hand.

"Hmm?"

Zhao Dabao felt as if he had been slapped by thirty large hands, hallucinating.

He saw the Third Elder, Yao Chen, kneeling on the ground.

With a mix of snot and tears, he was crying?