Rescue

When Lin Xiao and the others arrived nearby, they found that illusion arrays and defensive arrays had been set up around the area.

However, they were quite low-level.

Anyway, their quality was probably not even as strong as what Mo Yuanjiao and the others had learned from the Encyclopedia of Basic Array Carving.

They could only defend against Qi Refining cultivators and mortals.

Although the Nascent Soul realm cultivator Li Zhanying didn't know any powerful spells, his high cultivation base meant that dealing with this level of array was a breeze; with a raise of his hand, he completely crushed and destroyed it.

Perhaps not expecting anyone to find this place so quickly without any warning, the cultivators responsible for guarding the area were extremely shocked and at a loss when Lin Xiao and his group invaded.

Thus, it didn't take Lin Xiao and the others much effort to subdue, knock out, and detain all these cultivators.

There were several cave entrances opened up all around.

Li Zhanying stayed outside to guard the cultivators, while Lin Xiao and the others went inside separately to bring out the kidnapped people.

As they ventured deeper into these mine shafts, they all sensed something strange around them.

Inside, the spiritual energy in their bodies was actually vanishing!

Lin Xiao observed the situation inside the mine with some astonishment, realizing that it seemed to be the colorful stones on the walls that were devouring their spiritual energy.

The kidnapped people saw him come in and tell them they could leave. Seeing that the long whips that had previously lashed them were gone, and the urging voices had disappeared, they took a few steps forward half-believingly. They cautiously turned to look at Lin Xiao, and finding that he had no intention of stopping them, they supported each other in wild joy and stumbled out of the cave.

After confirming that no one was left behind in the cave, Lin Xiao casually picked up a few stones that had already been dug out, placed them into his private vault, and hurriedly left the mine shaft.

If he didn't leave soon, nearly half of the spiritual energy in his body would be sucked away by these stones.

As soon as they returned to the surface, the feeling of their spiritual energy being devoured completely vanished, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

The mountain villagers, holding onto their last breath as they saw the light of day again after emerging from the mine shaft, collapsed onto the ground. They could only lift their incredibly disheveled faces toward the setting sun in the distance, weeping tears of joy.

Dashing out had exhausted all their strength.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao rummaged through his private vault and took out a few Rejuvenation Pills.

Then he glanced at Liu Yunan.

Receiving Lin Xiao's signal, Liu Yunan also took out a few Rejuvenation Pills from his storage bag, followed by a stack of recently purchased bowls.

These bowls were prepared for the future newcomers of their sect.

Right now, they were perfect for this emergency.

He took the Rejuvenation Pills from Lin Xiao, placed them in the bowls, and poured in plenty of water to dissolve and dilute them.

Then he handed them to these people, who were covered in injuries inside and out, for them to drink one by one.

Tong Jialiang, upon seeing Han Weishu suddenly appear, had frozen in the mine shaft and didn't move. No matter what Han Weishu said to him, he seemed not to hear, only staring at her in a daze.

Although Han Weishu was only at the first level of Qi Refining, she also felt the strange, rapid loss of spiritual energy in her body since entering the mine. Not daring to delay, she immediately put Tong Jialiang on her back and ran out.

As soon as she exited the mine shaft, she quickly stuffed a pill into Tong Jialiang's mouth, then popped one into her own, and immediately sat down to meditate and recover.

Even though she didn't get along with her father, he had never shortchanged her on these basic auxiliary pills.

After she recovered a bit, she turned to Lin Xiao and the others and said:

"There's something weird in this cave! Not only does spiritual energy gradually disappear inside, but once the spiritual energy is exhausted, it damages the body!"

Because Han Weishu's cultivation was so low, her spiritual energy was completely devoured not long after she entered. Then she felt her body gradually being damaged.

Although she was only at the first level of Qi Refining, she had been cultivating at this level for over ten years, so her perception of her body was quite clear. Thus, she immediately reacted to the changes in her body.

Lin Xiao and Liu Yunan, whose spiritual energy had not been exhausted, and the uncultivated Tong Shuzheng hadn't noticed this. Tong Shuzheng only felt a little uncomfortable, but he couldn't exactly say how.

Hearing her words, Lin Xiao looked at the people slumped on the ground who had already drunk the Rejuvenation Pill water, only to find that they didn't recover as quickly as normal mortals would after taking the pill.

Although their wounds were healing and the bleeding had gradually stopped, the speed was not particularly fast. Moreover, these people's faces were still deathly pale, and their lips were purple.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao thought for a moment and said:

"We can talk about these things later. Let's send these people back first."

After all, if they were discovered here, it would be another hassle.

Hearing this, Liu Yunan held a palm-sized small boat and said:

"This is a spirit boat I just searched from those cultivators. We can use this to send everyone back shortly."

Looking at the spirit boat in his hand, Lin Xiao smiled and looked at Li Zhanying:

"Senior Li, why don't you pilot this spirit boat?"

Not expecting him to say this, Li Zhanying was somewhat surprised.

Because Lin Xiao saying this was essentially handing over the spirit boat as a gift. After all, they came together, and Li had put in a lot of effort to subdue these people. Letting him pilot the spirit boat now meant Lin Xiao probably wouldn't ask for it back later.

But seeing Lin Xiao looking at him with a smile, showing no intention of going back on his word, the not-so-wealthy Li Zhanying naturally wouldn't refuse, nodding in agreement.

So Liu Yunan gave the spirit boat to him.

After getting the spirit boat, Li Zhanying didn't delay. He directly followed his memory of seeing people from the top three sects use spirit boats, pouring spiritual energy into it and tossing it onto the ground to activate it.

It wasn't that their royal family really couldn't afford a spirit boat, but rather that the royal family had too few cultivators. A spirit boat was practically useless to them, so buying one would be a bit of a waste.

Therefore, although Li Zhanying was at the Nascent Soul realm, he still had no experience in steering a spirit boat.

After loading the mountain villagers and the unconscious cultivators onto the spirit boat, Li Zhanying was responsible for escorting them back to the Pu Si Kingdom.

However, Lin Xiao did not go with them.

He planned to stay behind to see if he could destroy this harmful place. If not, it had to be sealed at least.

Otherwise, after they left, there was no guarantee that new victims wouldn't appear here.

Since it was convenient for him to travel back and forth alone, the group didn't say much. They just told him to be careful and left first.

After watching them leave, Lin Xiao opened his private vault and used the appraisal function on the stones inside.

Before destroying or sealing it, he first had to confirm exactly what kind of existence this dangerous thing was.