After choosing option three, Jiang Beiran burst into laughter.
"Junior Sister Qiuyao, with courage like yours, you still want to uphold justice? Hahaha!"
Fang Qiuyao puffed up her cheeks in anger after hearing this, wiped her tears forcefully, and said nothing as she continued searching for a way out. But with every blade of grass she pulled, she imagined it was Jiang Beiran's hair in her mind. Laugh at me, will you?
Laugh at me again! Once Fang Qiuyao walked away, Jiang Beiran crouched down and shook the bronze toad upside down with force.
Clink! Clink!
Five copper coins tumbled out one after another from the toad's belly. Not far away, Fang Qiuyao shuddered at the sound but bit back a scream, silently reciting some incantations she had learned from who-knows-where. Meanwhile, Jiang Beiran set the bronze toad aside and examined the five coins, murmuring to himself, "Xu, Geng, Gui, Du, Si...
Hmph, not much skill, but quite greedy." Chuckling inwardly, he took out a compass from his Universe Ring and began calculating. On the other side, Yu Guishui, who was desperately trying to find a way out, chose to keep moving forward—only to suddenly find her younger sister Yu Guimiao appearing ahead of her.
"Huh? Miaomiao? How did you get here?"
Yu Guishui asked in confusion. Yu Guimiao was equally startled.
"I was just carefully walking forward, and then—" "Elder Sister? Miaomiao?!"
Before Yu Guimiao could finish, Yu Guizui also appeared beside them, her face full of shock.
"I deliberately chose a different direction to search earlier, so how could—" Yu Guishui tensed up.
"What kind of formation is this? I—" Mid-sentence, she suddenly felt dizzy and rubbed her temples.
"I... I feel so lightheaded all of a sudden."
Yu Guizui also swayed unsteadily, her vision doubling.
"E-Elder Sister... I think I'm dizzy too... Help... me..."
As her eyelids grew heavier, Yu Guizui wanted to scream in fear but found she couldn't make a sound. She could only watch helplessly as endless darkness surged toward her, swallowing her whole...
Thud.
Hearing the sound of someone collapsing, Jiang Beiran glanced over while still adjusting his compass. Even though this formation is a mess, it seems its power is still too much for these junior sisters whose cultivation isn't high enough yet.
"Virtue's golden light faintly opens, the dark and fragrant pool flows through the world, the boundless radiance of the spiritual treasure illuminates all!"
As Jiang Beiran softly chanted, the compass in his hand trembled slightly, glowing with three esoteric symbols. The Eight Trigrams' Heavenly Assault Star... In Jiang Beiran's eyes, the surrounding forest had vanished, replaced by a Minor Sixfold Soul-Snatching Formation emitting a violet glow.
After observing for a moment, he took three steps toward the Jing position and stomped down firmly, then stepped into the Jing position and struck forward with his palm... With each of Jiang Beiran's movements, the violet light of the formation dimmed further until it finally dissipated entirely.
Having dismantled the formation, Jiang Beiran took six steps backward, crouched, and plunged his hand into the soil.
Oh?
This thief is quite wealthy. With a smirk, he pulled out a yellow Gold Spirit Stone from the dirt. Tsk, even if it's just a low-grade Gold Spirit Stone, it's not something an ordinary person could afford.
Even selling a child wouldn't fetch this much money... The one who set up this formation is quite interesting. If gold, silver, and copper coins were the main currency in the mortal world, then for cultivators, the primary currency was Spirit Stones.
The reason Spirit Stones served as currency was simple—they held intrinsic value. Spirit Stones were crystallized essence gathered from the heavens and earth, containing concentrated spiritual energy. Mysterious cultivators needed them for cultivation, formations required them to function, and even certain high-grade magical treasures depended on Spirit Stones to operate.
In short, Spirit Stones were intertwined with every aspect of the cultivation world, making them the hardest of hard currencies. Tossing the low-grade Gold Spirit Stone into his Universe Ring, Jiang Beiran slowly expanded his spiritual sense outward.
Detecting no one approaching, he also noticed that four of the junior sisters had collapsed, with only Liu Zijin still struggling to hold on.
Oh?
Liu Zijin hasn't learned any techniques to counter formations, yet she's enduring this long through sheer willpower. Could she have an innate Three Yang Body? The Heart Returning Sect really struck gold this time.
Putting away the compass and bronze toad, Jiang Beiran approached Liu Zijin, who was drenched in sweat, and handed her a "Soothing Fragrance Pill."
"Take this."
To Liu Zijin, who was on the verge of collapse, Jiang Beiran's voice struck like thunder, pulling her nearly scattered Three Souls and Seven Spirits back into place.
"Senior Brother?!"
She whipped her head around, her face filled with terror.
"It's alright now. Take it."
Without questioning why the formation had suddenly vanished, Liu Zijin swallowed the pill in one gulp. Instantly, her nearly dissipated spiritual energy condensed again, and her gaze regained clarity.
"Rest for a while. I'll go wake the others," Jiang Beiran said before walking toward the three Yu sisters.
Watching his retreating figure, Liu Zijin opened her mouth as if to speak but ultimately said nothing, sitting cross-legged to circulate the Heart Returning Technique. When Jiang Beiran reached the spot where the Yu sisters had collapsed, he froze.
Seriously?
Even the way they fell is identical? Looking at the three sisters lying in the exact same position, Jiang Beiran chuckled softly before taking out a jade bottle from his Universe Ring and holding it under the nose of the sister on the far left.
"Mmm..."
As the floral scent entered her nose, Yu Guishui slowly woke up, then abruptly sat upright, looking around frantically.
"Se-Senior Brother?"
"Mn, it's me. Here, take this medicine."
Jiang Beiran handed her a Soothing Fragrance Pill.
"Senior Brother... what just happened?"
"We'll talk later. Take the pill first."
"Yes..."
Yu Guishui nodded and swallowed the pill. Jiang Beiran then repeated the process to wake the other sisters and gathered them together. The Soothing Fragrance Pill's effect was to refresh the mind, and in less time than it took to drink a cup of tea, all five junior sisters had fully recovered.
"Report."
Seeing one of the Yu sisters raise her hand, Jiang Beiran felt a flicker of satisfaction. Even in this situation, she remembered to ask for permission to speak—his training had clearly paid off.
"Speak."
"Did Senior Brother break the formation?"
Jiang Beiran shook his head.
"I told you I don't know formations. My guess is that the formation couldn't sustain trapping so many people and collapsed on its own."
All five junior sisters gave him a look that clearly said, Do you think we're idiots? But none of them pressed further, knowing it would only annoy their senior brother. PS: There will be another chapter at midnight.
(Mwah!)
(End of Chapter)