inspire-indiana Chapter 173 The Treasure Was Stolen
Chapter 173 The Treasure Was Stolen
"Wait! I want all the treasure boxes here!" A gaunt old man, leaning on a cane, stepped out of the crowd and shouted.
"You old geezer, what are you saying?" Wu Haotian shouted as soon as he heard someone trying to steal his treasure.
Like everyone else, Ye Xiaobai was also greatly surprised to hear that this withered old man had come out and disrupted the harmonious scene of distributing treasures.
However, after seeing the old man's cultivation level, everyone became nervous. He was at the late stage of the Core Formation realm, just as powerful as Mu Jiuling. Previously, no one had noticed the old man's existence while he was hiding among the rogue cultivators.
"Young man, it seems I, an old man, need to teach you what it means to respect the elderly and care for the young!" The withered old man's eyes suddenly flashed with coldness. After just one glance, Wu Haotian immediately broke out in a cold sweat and almost lost his footing. Fortunately, a cultivator from the Seven Lakes Sect next to him helped him stand up steadily.
"This old guy is not simple!" Everyone then realized that things were developing in a direction they had not expected.
"Senior, even if you are very strong, there are still more than a dozen cultivators on our side. If it comes down to a fight, you may not be our match!" Wu Haotian said, relying on the strength of his numbers. After speaking, he didn't forget to move closer to Mu Jiuling, as it was always safer to be near a master.
Upon hearing this, the old man merely chuckled dismissively, then calmly remarked, "Hahaha, young people just love to use their hands! Don't they know how to use their brains a little more?"
"You..." Wu Haotian was immediately rendered speechless by the retort. Mu Jiuling, who was not far away, chimed in, saying seriously, "It seems that you still want to snatch the treasure from us. In that case, I can only ask you for some pointers!" As Mu Jiuling spoke, he prepared to fight the withered old man.
"Ah, I've long heard of Fellow Daoist Mu's strength. I won't fight you today. Let's see what good things I've prepared for you!" The withered old man said, tossing out a piece of red powder, instantly filling the area around them with a mesmerizing fragrance.
"Be careful, it's poisonous!" Ye Xiaobai warned first. Mu Jiuling also quickly realized something was wrong and hurriedly controlled his breathing, but he was still a step too late. The sleeping potion had already entered his body, and he soon entered an illusion, knowing nothing more.
The others were also in bad shape; they were quickly poisoned and collapsed one after another.
"Not bad, the Dream Pill refined by this blind man Du is really good. I'll have to be careful next time I encounter him!" The withered old man sighed repeatedly as he watched everyone collapse to the side.
"I originally wanted to invite the White-Haired Demon to come along, but I didn't expect that kid to run into trouble. Fortunately, I was well prepared!" The withered old man muttered to himself, then quickly ran to the shelf where the treasure boxes were stored and swiftly collected the remaining two treasure boxes.
Seeing several centuries-old Schisandra chinensis plants nearby, the withered old man didn't let them go either, digging them up by the roots.
Then they searched around again, afraid of missing a treasure.
After a brief inspection, finding nothing of value, they left.
Suddenly remembering something, the gaunt old man hurriedly ran to where Ye Xiaobai was, wanting to take back the treasure that Ye Xiaobai had taken.
Just as the gaunt old man bent down to examine the body, a red sword light suddenly flashed, and the one who drew the sword was none other than Ye Xiaobai, who was pretending to be poisoned.
Thanks to his exceptional sense of smell, Ye Xiaobai managed to control his breathing as soon as the gaunt old man took out the Illusionary Dream Pill, and at the same time took his own specially made antidote pill, thus avoiding poisoning.
Although the antidote pill cannot completely neutralize the toxicity of the Dream Pill, it can still effectively inhibit the spread of the toxicity.
Faced with such a close-range attack, the withered old man dodged the fatal blow with a few quick movements like a ghost, and in the end, the red sword light only grazed the old man's arm.
"Little guy, you're not poisoned? How is that possible?" The withered old man stared at Ye Xiaobai in disbelief.
Ye Xiaobai slowly stood up, dusted off his robe, and calmly said, "Anything is possible!"
Once he confirmed Ye Xiaobai's cultivation level, the withered old man immediately showed joy. He was just a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, while he, a late Core Formation cultivator, could easily subdue him.
"Young man, I don't like indiscriminate killing. Hand over that treasure box, and I might spare your life!" the withered old man threatened directly.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, be careful, this fellow Daoist is in great danger!" Mu Jiuling, who was not far away, had barely suppressed the poison of the Illusion Dream Pill with his powerful cultivation, but he was still unable to fight at the moment, so he could only kindly remind Ye Xiaobai.
"Senior Mu, don't worry, just suppress the poison!" Ye Xiaobai quickly reassured him. Then he turned to the withered old man and said, "Senior, killing me won't be that easy!" As he spoke, Ye Xiaobai released a sixth-tier Purple Flame Thunder Leopard.
Seeing Ye Xiaobai release a spirit beast with strength comparable to a Core Formation stage cultivator, the withered old man immediately became nervous. He had no problem dealing with this sixth-tier spirit beast, but he was afraid that if it dragged on for too long, something unexpected might happen.
"Young man, this sixth-tier Purple Flame Thunder Leopard is not bad, but it's no match for me. I happen to be looking for a mount, and I think this spirit beast is quite good!" The withered old man said with a smile, showing no sign of tension.
"Senior, you're really greedy! How about this puppet?" Ye Xiaobai said, releasing his sixth-tier puppet.
Mu Jiuling, who was standing to the side, was also taken aback when he saw Ye Xiaobai's methods. He didn't expect that Ye Xiaobai, who was not highly skilled, would have so many tricks up his sleeve.
Upon seeing the sixth-tier puppet, the gaunt old man immediately lost his original imposing manner. He might not necessarily lose in a three-on-one fight, but this would easily drag the battle out until the others recovered their spiritual power, making it impossible for him to leave if he wanted to.
Thinking this through, the gaunt old man made a decisive decision, choosing to abandon the treasure box on Ye Xiaobai's body, and uttered a harsh threat: "Young man, don't let me run into you again next time!" After saying that, he disappeared like a ghost in the direction of leaving the secret realm.
After seeing the withered old man leave, Ye Xiaobai breathed a sigh of relief. If he really had to fight a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, he would likely have been in grave danger. Fortunately, the enemy chose to leave.
Ye Xiaobai quickly went to Liu Rumei's side, gave her an antidote pill, and then circulated his spiritual power to help her detoxify.
The poison of the Dream Pill was not fatal. After a short while, Liu Rumei returned to normal, but her spiritual energy still needed to be adjusted and restored.
"Ye Xiaobai, thank you so much this time!" Liu Rumei said gratefully as soon as she woke up.
"It's nothing. The Dream Pill isn't very toxic. You'll be able to detoxify yourself quickly with your own strength!"
"Hey, where's that old geezer?" Liu Rumei asked angrily as soon as she recovered.
"left already!"
"He stole all the treasures? That's infuriating!" Liu Rumei complained helplessly as she watched the treasures around her disappear.
"More or less!" Ye Xiaobai didn't want to explain too much, since most of the treasures had indeed been taken by that withered old man.
"Hmph, don't let me run into him next time, or I'll definitely teach him a lesson!" Liu Rumei snorted.
"There's a chance!" Ye Xiaobai said confidently.