Foundation Collapse

It seemed that the unmanaged secret realms outside, which allowed people to enter and exit freely, must be ownerless, or rather, their Realm Keys had never been taken!

Yes, he had made up his mind. After entering a secret realm, he absolutely wouldn't dawdle or look at anything else; he would focus solely on finding the Realm Key!

Resources were common, but Realm Keys were rare.

Because he had found the Realm Key, the problem of rescuing people suddenly became much simpler.

The only thing Lin Xiao needed to pay attention to was how to quietly open the exit for everyone without exposing himself, while also ensuring that everyone knew an exit was available.

Since he also planned to rush to other recently opened secret realms to see if he could find a few more Realm Keys, Lin Xiao didn't intend to stay long in this Ice Field Secret Realm. He began to travel at top speed, striving to release the people in the gray dot areas as soon as possible so he could quickly leave for the next secret realm.

When he returned near the entrance of the ice cave where he had previously followed the Soul-Chasing Bird, he found that the owner of the nearby tent had returned.

Fortunately, the person seemed to be meditating and wasn't looking in his direction. Coupled with his own concealment spell, he remained undetected.

Afraid of being discovered by that person, Lin Xiao didn't dare to be careless. He stealthily approached the entrance and then quietly stepped inside.

Practice makes perfect. Entering for the second time, he was obviously much more skilled. As soon as he entered the ice cave, he used the Void-Treading Art to steady his body, avoiding the freefall he experienced during his first visit.

Looking down at the entire ice cave from high above, Lin Xiao could faintly see some moving little black dots, which were clearly the cultivators trapped here searching for a way out.

He pretended to be a cultivator searching for an exit up high, leisurely strolling through the air using the Void-Treading Art, while secretly observing the general distribution of the crowd below.

On his way back, he had thought of several methods to ensure he wouldn't be exposed while guaranteeing the rescue of everyone in the ice cave, but he eventually rejected them all because they were too troublesome to implement.

After much thought, he decided to use the most simple and brutal method.

He would knock all these people out, open the exit, and then just throw them all out.

This way, he wouldn't need to put on an act or deal with the hassle of beating around the bush.

So right now, the first thing he had to do was knock all these cultivators out.

And then...

It wasn't that he didn't want to just open an exit, hide, and wait for everyone to leave.

It was because using the Realm Key to open an exit, while not causing a massive commotion, wasn't exactly quiet either. It would definitely be noticed by this group of cultivators whose nerves were already stretched taut, desperately looking for any anomaly that might be an exit.

Moreover, after the Realm Key opened the entrance and exit, he would still need to retrieve it once everyone was gone. Just in case, to eliminate any variables, drugging them all was the most convenient option.

While pondering, Lin Xiao landed right in the middle of the ice cave.

He ran to an unnoticed corner and took out the knockout drug he had previously bought from the Shop.

According to the Shop's precise recommendation, this knockout drug called Foundation Establishment Fall could perfectly knock out anyone at or below the Foundation Establishment realm. It was a smoke-type drug; burning a handful could knock down a whole crowd. Furthermore, a single breath was enough to take effect, and inhaling more or less made no difference.

Most importantly, the smoke was colorless and odorless, making it the absolute best choice for a knockout drug!

Fortunately, this drug was exclusively produced by the Shop, otherwise, Lin Xiao felt it would be far too dangerous.

However, the amount of smoke it produced wasn't very large. Based on the dosage, one handful could only knock out about a dozen people.

And it was a bit expensive. For just a small handful, the Shop actually charged him two hundred spirit stones!

Since there had to be several dozen people in this ice cave, one handful wouldn't be enough. Gritting his teeth, he bought five handfuls, spending a total of one thousand spirit stones!

Lin Xiao hugged his pile of over fifty thousand spirit stones, his heart aching over the loss of another thousand.

He definitely had to charge those cultivators a fee later.

But regardless, this was still much cheaper than using a teleportation array to send them out four by four.

First, he started a fire on the ground, then wrapped the Foundation Establishment Fall in spiritual energy and placed it into the fire.

This way, he could wait until everyone gathered before letting it burn.

After doing this, he immediately ran to a corner to hide himself. Then, he disguised his voice and yelled at the top of his lungs, even using spiritual energy to amplify the sound to ensure everyone in the ice cave could hear it.

Ah! I think I found something here! Everyone, come quickly!

Instantly, everyone in the entire ice cave heard this shout.

The crowd was a bit suspicious, but mostly, after being trapped for days and gradually consumed by despair, they were overwhelmed by the sudden good news and felt a joy that left no room for hesitation!

Thus, without time to think, everyone rushed toward the source of the voice at their fastest speeds.

Taking advantage of this moment, Lin Xiao also blended into the crowd, pretending he had also rushed over after hearing the shout.

Before long, all the cultivators in the ice cave had gathered there.

In the crowd, Lin Xiao even spotted the only three people he knew: Hu Guanyu, Jiang Cheng, and Yuan Zhiyun.

Seeing nothing here, not even the person who had just shouted, and only a fire burning in the middle, the arriving crowd felt a bit strange and nervous as they gathered around and looked in all directions.

After all, this might be their only hope of getting out.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao, who was mingling in the crowd, swept his divine sense around to confirm there was no one else rushing over within a few hundred meters. He first took the antidote himself, and then immediately withdrew the spiritual energy wrapping the Foundation Establishment Fall in the fire.

The herbs instantly began to burn in the flames.

However, because the fire had been there from the start, everyone just assumed it was a fire started by some fellow Daoist earlier and paid no attention to it whatsoever.

So, in just a short while, the cultivators gathered there were knocked out in droves.

Lin Xiao was just about to pretend to faint along with everyone else when he suddenly noticed a figure standing perfectly straight amidst the pile of fallen people!

Everyone, be careful! There is poison here! Seeing the surrounding fellow Daoists suddenly close their eyes and collapse, Yuan Zhiyun instantly realized there might be poison. She immediately covered her nose and mouth and tried to retreat.

Fortunately, she had a top-tier poison-resisting magical artifact given to her by her father, which spared her.

However, she didn't expect that the direction she was retreating in was exactly where Lin Xiao was standing.

Seeing her rapidly approaching him with her back turned, Lin Xiao didn't even think twice before raising his hand and delivering a heavy blow to the back of her neck.

Yuan Zhiyun, who was in the middle of retreating, rolled her eyes back and fell to the ground unconscious, just like the rest of the drugged crowd.

Looking at the fallen Yuan Zhiyun, Lin Xiao shook his hand, dispersed the spiritual energy concentrated on it, and let out a long breath.