C533 Entering the Ground

Amidst the forest on an unnamed island, Du Jing sat motionless under an ancient locust tree, resembling a lifeless corpse. After a long stillness, his body suddenly quivered.

Whoosh!

Beams of brilliant light burst forth, illuminating the woodland clearing.

Du Jing's expression turned icy as a ferocious gleam shone in his eyes. In a dark, menacing tone, he demanded, "Who goes there?"

Copper coins, gleaming with radiant golden light, showered down upon him like a torrential downpour.

"Old Cash!"

Du Jing was both stunned and enraged. "We have no quarrel. Why do you seek me out?"

"Wai Feng, it was you who trained her, wasn't it?" Old Cash's laughter seemed to come from everywhere. "That commander wreaked havoc in Absence Relic and nearly cost me my life! You're cut from the same cloth as her. Seeking vengeance from you is only natural, isn't it?"

"How did you find me here?"

Du Jing cried out, darting from spot to spot.

Though he remained seated, his figure flickered from one locust tree to another as if teleporting.

The copper coins, intent on his demise, failed to track him, missing their mark time and again.

"People only remain in the dark about your deeds if you never commit them. You're the only one who believes your actions are unseen!" Old Cash roared with laughter.

Suddenly, a hundred copper coins blazed with blinding golden light all at once.

Ancient script leaped from the coins, each accompanied by the visage of an emperor—some clutching jade seals, others wielding sovereign swords, or holding maps demarcating their realms.

For a brief moment, the deserted locust grove was saturated with the aura of imperial destiny.

No longer could Du Jing conceal himself, even with the locust trees' aid.

Boom!

A massive jade seal struck his arched back, releasing a gush of vibrant liquid.

He grunted, unable to locate Old Cash and powerless to deploy his potent poison.

"Du Jing, you've been marked. There's no escape for you," Old Cash's voice threatened, echoing from all directions as if a dozen Old Cashes were taunting him simultaneously.

Du Jing, already plagued by a guilty conscience, felt a surge of panic at these words.

"Could it be..."

Not long ago, Yuan Lianyao of the Red Devil Sect had exposed his identity in the ocean's depths. And now, another figure, Old Cash, seemed to know him just as intimately.

Du Jing's heart raced with panic, fearing his closely guarded secret had been revealed or that he had caught the attention of the Voodoo Cult and someone from the Medicine God Sect.

Suddenly, his hunchback burst open with a loud pop.

A halo of miasma enveloped his corpse-like body, and as the leaves of the ancient locust trees drifted down, he rapidly diminished in Old Cash's perception.

In an instant, he had shrunk to the size of a walnut, now just a small orb of miasma.

The orb collided with a copper coin, causing the spectral image of an empress clad in a dragon robe to vanish into thin air.

A second later, the orb touched down and vanished without a trace.

The locust grove soon became shrouded in swirling mists, as various acidic and toxic vapors burst forth from the bowels of the earth.

"Crack!"

The spiritually imbued copper coins released by Old Cash, now coated in the fog, sparked with electricity.

Old Cash, concealed in the shadows, quickly maneuvered the Yin God to collect the coins around him.

Bathed in sunlight, the grove's miasma transformed into a mystical haze, creating an eerily beautiful and dreamlike spectacle.

It was as though numerous rainbows had materialized within the forest, their splendor ethereal.

Old Cash's spirit dared not linger and hastily retreated.

"Don't try to discern the happenings within the grove," Yu Yuan's voice timely advised. "Stick to our agreement, and once I return to the Absence Relic, I promise to convince her to facilitate your smooth return."

Old Cash replied confidently, "Rest assured! I will honor our agreement to the letter!"

"That would be wise."

A dark cauldron silently emerged from the sea, swift as a shadowy bolt of lightning, appearing amidst the fog-enshrouded trees.

The cauldron hissed as it withstood the onslaught of deadly toxins, its inscribed arrays and otherworldly nature shielding against Du Jing's contingency plans.

With a whoosh, the cauldron descended upon an inconspicuous, dead locust tree and plunged into a hollow.

Settling firmly, Yu Yuan materialized, clutching the Evil Cauldron and calling forth the key he had acquired from Old Monster Zu.

The moment the key materialized, hundreds of delicate streams of light cascaded down like flowing water.

Yu Yuan grasped the key in his hand, transforming into a cascade of light that poured down toward the earth beneath his feet.

The streams of light, far finer than strands of hair, erupted as they touched the ground, shattering the hollow, ancient locust tree above.

The earth at his feet overflowed with radiance, casting the soil into the air.

The light encased Yu Yuan, shielding him from the toxic miasma that twisted through the forest air.

Once the soil, like dust swept aside, had cleared, a smooth "manhole cover" was revealed.

This "manhole cover," crafted from a mysterious material neither gold nor jade, was intricately etched with a dense network of Spiritual Array Diagrams, its complexity awe-inspiring.

The light streaming from the key settled into these diagrams, illuminating previously dim pathways.

Seconds later, the elaborate diagrams on the manhole cover burst into brilliance.

"We've succeeded!"

A smile broke across Yu Yuan's face as he exclaimed.

The manhole cover swung open on its own, hovering in midair, and Yu Yuan plunged downward.

The moment Yu Yuan vanished, the enigmatic cover closed gently behind him.

As it sealed shut, the light was snuffed out, and the lingering smoke left by Du Jing surged forward like an incoming tide.

Within the depths of the smoke, the old locust trees shifted their stance autonomously.

Another tree took root above the "manhole cover," and the magically displaced soil returned, refilling the peculiar void.

Moments later.

Old Cash, his mind teeming with questions, projected his Yin God silently above the copse of locust trees, his powers probing the surroundings.

Yu Yuan's presence, his spirit, had been erased without a trace.

The Yin God of Old Cash hovered warily, reluctant to descend fully amidst the poisonous vapors, his gaze sweeping the area with caution.

But in the end, he detected nothing.

Whoosh!

Without any forewarning, a figure materialized abruptly in the locust forest.

Arriving in his physical form amidst the enveloping smoke, he donned a robe marked with numerous secret talismans and surveyed his surroundings with a furrowed brow.

As the miasma left by Du Jing approached, it parted beside him, failing to draw near.

He looked up, catching sight of Old Cash's Yin God, and inquired, "Where's Yu Yuan?"

"How did you come to be here?"

Old Cash's true form, submerged beneath the sea, broke the silence, "Your name is Gao Qin, isn't it? You've been secretly following us since we left the island, haven't you?"

"Enough talk!"

Gao Qin didn't bother with pleasantries when dealing with Old Cash. "Yu Yuan is an esteemed guest of the Chamber of Commerce. The island's guardian has made it clear that his safety in the Crack Archipelago is our responsibility. What exactly are you up to, luring Yu Yuan to a place like this?"

"I have no idea what you're referring to," Old Cash retorted with a cold huff.

Gao Qin, still in the Late Period of the Yin God Stage and not yet advanced to the Soul Wandering Stage, didn't command the respect his merchant status might suggest from Old Cash.

"Old Cash, have you failed to grasp the gravity of the situation?" Gao Qin's smile was chilling as he spoke, "You're aware of the merchant house's influence in the Crack Archipelago, aren't you? My presence on this island signifies the watchful eye of the merchant house!"

Suddenly, the crystal jade pendant around his neck gleamed brightly.

Old Cash's confidence wavered. "Who is using you to spy on me?"

"Take a guess," Gao Qin challenged.

"Zhu Peining?" Old Cash ventured a guess.

Gao Qin shook his head. "Think higher."

"The island's guardian!"

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