Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

Five days later, they arrived at the edge of the Monchi Grassland. Liaochen suggested a break to restore their mana. Everyone agreed, and they each found a place to meditate. Liu Xing, despite having consumed very little energy along the way, feigned exhaustion and sat down to rest, taking out a spirit stone to meditate. He recalled the book about the Monchi Grassland, which boasted a profusion of ferocious beasts, including lions, leopards, wolves, and apes. He was especially wary of steppe wolves and goshawks. The former swarmed in large groups, requiring only a short distance to avoid them. The latter, a dominant force in the skies, was vulnerable to attack while in flight.

Not long after entering the grassland, Liu Xing sensed a flock of skylarks twenty miles away, heading in his direction. There were about twenty of them, three leading them, Level 2 monsters, and the rest were Level 1 monsters. They posed little threat, so he remained silent. After a few minutes, the distance was only seven or eight kilometers. Taoist Master Liaochen was the first to spot the skylarks.

"Everyone, be careful! There's a group of demonic beasts heading our way," the Taoist priest quickly warned. Then, everyone spotted the skylarks ahead. Just three level-two demonic beasts, and their nervousness immediately eased. The demonic beasts were known for their bloodthirsty nature, pouncing on humans at the sight of them. Lu Chen waved his whisk, transforming it into dozens of wisps of light that shot towards the leading skylark. The other cultivators joined in, and Liu Xing summoned his Jade Wave Sword, dispatching the nearby skylark. Within moments, the demonic beasts were completely annihilated.

Everyone was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert, and the Skylarks' strength didn't pose much of a threat. After a moment, everyone continued on their way. They encountered other demonic beasts along the way, but each one passed safely. The grasslands stretched as far as the eye could see. Due to the rampant demonic beasts, no herders were grazing, but the scenery was truly magnificent. A few days later, everyone arrived at an unremarkable valley. Due to a forbidden formation, no one could see anything from the outside.

"Are we there yet?" someone asked.

"Yes, according to the map, the secret cave is in this valley." Taoist Master Lechen said excitedly.

Liu Xing couldn't tell if it was an illusion, but he sensed a fleeting, eerie flash of blood in Chen's eyes. It seemed a conspiracy indeed. Liu Xing subconsciously raised his guard and warned the two demons in the pet bag to prepare for battle. The others, unaware, breathed a sigh of relief when they reached their destination. They were fortunate not to encounter the hawk or the wolf, two of the most formidable demonic beasts. Taoist Master Liaochen stepped forward, his whisk charged with spiritual energy, and swung it towards the valley ahead. Suddenly, a defensive formation materialized before them.

"Everyone, work together to break this restriction before you can enter." Taoist Master Liaochen ordered. So everyone took out their magic weapons and attacked the formation. Liu Xing also took out the Jade Wave Sword and joined everyone in the attack, but he continued to hide his strength and did not use his full strength. His spiritual sense had already enveloped the formation. Apart from discovering that this formation was artificially arranged and quite powerful, he could not see any problems for the time being. He felt that if he took action to break the formation, it should not be a big problem, and there would be no need for everyone to use brute force to attack. However, he would not be the first to stand out and attract attention. After half a day, everyone finally broke the restriction with great effort, but they were all exhausted and sweating. A stone door of a cave appeared in front of everyone. Liaochen flicked his whisk, and the stone door shattered, revealing a deep cave entrance.

"Let's go in!" Taoist Lechen shouted happily and was about to lead the charge in.

"Slow down!" Someone called out to stop them, and everyone immediately stopped rushing in.

"We just broke the formation and it consumed a lot of energy. We should recover our mana first before going in. This way we will be more confident in dealing with the magic flower mantis inside." The man suggested cautiously, and everyone suddenly felt that it made sense.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Wang, you're right. I'm a little worried. Let's just sit here and meditate to recover our spiritual energy." Liaochen laughed awkwardly, then immediately agreed. So everyone stopped to rest. Although they all wanted to quickly enter the cave to explore and obtain the secret treasures of the Jindan senior, they didn't dare to rush in. It was safer for everyone to go in together.

While meditating, Liu Xing sent his spiritual sense deep into the cave. A faint, eerie smell of blood emanated from the cave, making him extremely uncomfortable. The cave twisted and turned, and deep inside, there were three forks in the road. Each of the three entrances extending further inward was restricted, preventing Liu Xing's spiritual sense from probing further. He felt that if he exerted all his strength, he might be able to break through the restrictions and explore further, but doing so would inevitably alert everyone. So, he abandoned any rash action, deciding instead to conceal his strength and wait and see.

Half a day later, everyone had mostly recovered. Some couldn't wait any longer, so they entered the cave under the guidance of Taoist Master Lechen. They advanced cautiously until they reached a fork in the road. There was a disagreement over whether to explore the three roads together or separately. Going together would be safer, but it would take more time. The noise from breaking the formation would be too loud, potentially attracting the attention of other cultivators or demonic beasts, who would follow in and cause trouble. So, time was running out, and they needed to act quickly. Ultimately, everyone decided it would be best to explore separately in pairs. That way, they could keep an eye on each other. Whichever team spotted the Demon Flower Mantis would immediately alert the others, and the others would rush to their aid. The teams were quickly divided, and Liu Xing and the cautious young man named Min were assigned to one team. After the other teams reached the fork in the road, Liu Xing and the other two prepared to enter via the remaining path on the right.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, this cave is quite strange. You and I should be careful." The young man named Min reminded through voice transmission.

"Friend Min, have you discovered something wrong?" Liu Xing asked in surprise.

"The martial arts I practice are somewhat special. I vaguely feel that the evil spirit here is particularly strong, and I am worried that I will enter a dangerous place." The young man named Min explained.

"What should I do now?" Liu Xing pretended to be at a loss, but he was very surprised in his heart. His spiritual sense was far beyond that of ordinary people and he could not find any clues. He did not expect that the young man named Min's skills could actually sense the evil spirit. It seemed that he really could not underestimate the people in the world. There were so many strange people in the world.

"Don't panic, let's go in and take a look. Just be careful," the young man surnamed Min said, seeing Liu Xing panicking. He then produced a high-grade defensive shield, grasping it in his own hand, and led the way inside. Liu Xing followed closely behind, his Loggerhead Shield in his left hand and the Jade Wave Sword in his right. Seeing Liu Xing produce two top-grade magical weapons, the young man surnamed Min stared at him in amazement, his eyes filled with deep envy.