The demon beast wrapped in the wind vortex contained powerful energy, and even Zhao Letian's Qingxiao Dharma Eye couldn't penetrate it; he could only faintly discern that the demon beast in the wind seemed to have blood-red skin.

"Such a formidable aura, this demon's strength is probably even greater than the Mercenary Captain's. For these mercenaries to capture it will be no easy task; we should not linger here, let's go!"

Zhao Letian thought to himself, and immediately his figure flickered, leaving the crowd far behind as he headed straight for the barren mountain Lu Yuan had mentioned.

"This kid really has a death wish. A half-step King-level demon beast has already appeared in this area, and he still dares to venture deeper into Ten Thousand Demon Mountain. He's truly courting death."

Watching Zhao Letian's departing figure, the person from Sect Martial Realm who was responsible for protecting Zhao Letian, couldn't help but shake his head in private.

However, he soon retracted his gaze and stopped paying attention to Zhao Letian.

Because next, their mercenary group was about to undergo a tough battle. Whether they could successfully capture the Wind Roar Beast was uncertain, but one thing was for sure: after this fight, many of them were likely to fall right here.

...

After leaving the mercenary group, Zhao Letian activated his movement technique Carefree Travel, and his figure became erratic and extremely agile, darting swiftly through the dense forest.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!..."

Along the way, beast roars kept coming from all around.

Although these demon beasts had not reached the terrifying level of half-step King, at least they were all powerful existences above the high-level Sect Martial Realm. Relying solely on Zhao Letian's own strength, he had absolutely no chance of contending with them.

Of course, if he summoned the three fierce ghosts from inside the Ghost King Stele, he could easily deal with most of the demon beasts.

However, every time he used the Ghost King Stele, he had to consume a large amount of Essence Blood, significantly weakening him. Therefore, he didn't want to rely on this trump card easily unless it was a last resort.

In order not to attract the attention of those demon beasts, he had no choice but to use the Concealing Breath Technique, hiding his presence and keeping as far away from the demon beasts as possible.

...

The moon shone faintly with sparse stars, and after half an hour, Zhao Letian finally found that barren mountain unscathed.

It's rather coincidental, or perhaps it's just that Zhao Letian's luck hasn't been too bad: since leaving the mercenaries, he had not encountered a single demon beast on his way here.

However, upon finding the barren mountain mentioned by Lu Yuan, Zhao Letian frowned. Check for the latest updates on My Virtual Library Empire (*).

Because after releasing his Divine Thought Power and meticulously searching the entire mountain, he did not find the black stone.

"Not even a single piece? Could it be that the black stone Lu Yuan found accidentally ended up on this barren mountain? Or was Lu Yuan lying to me? It shouldn't be the case, though he didn't make a Heavenly Dao Oath, his tone didn't seem to be lying."

Standing halfway up the mountain, Zhao Letian surveyed his surroundings, his eyebrows slightly furrowed as he pondered internally.

If this barren mountain only had the black stone that Lu Yuan found, then he might have worked in vain today.

"Qingxiao Dharma Eye, open!"

Unwilling to give up so easily, Zhao Letian activated his Qingxiao Dharma Eye after an unsuccessful search, ready to give the entire barren mountain another look.

Maybe there are mysteries here that he had not yet discovered.

"Eh? What's that?"

A moment later, Zhao Letian's gaze was piercing, and he suddenly locked onto a pile of rocks not far away with a look of surprise. In his eyes, a blue light flickered, as if he could see directly through those stones.

Using only ordinary vision or Divine Thought Power to investigate, those chaotic rocks appear to be just ordinary stones.

However, under the scrutiny of Qingxiao Dharma Eye, Zhao Letian discovered that those chaotic rocks were like false images.

Beneath this false image, there could very well be a secret realm.

"Whoosh!"

The next moment, Zhao Letian's figure flickered, and he immediately rushed over.

As he got closer, he saw more clearly, and his face showed an even richer expression of surprise.

At this moment, he was certain that those chaotic rocks were indeed just an illusion.

Behind this illusion, there was an enormous cave with a diameter of tens of meters.

"Who would have thought there would be a natural Illusion Array here."

Zhao Letian reached out to touch the rocks, thinking to himself.

These rocks felt no different to the touch than ordinary stones, and without Zhao Letian's knowledge of Arrays and mastery of Pupil Skill, even standing here, he would not have discovered this Illusion Array.

After observing for a while, Zhao Letian stepped directly into it.

This natural Illusion Array was mysterious, yet its level was not high; with his Array Formation Proficiency, he naturally could easily pass through.

"Boom!"

As soon as he stepped into the cave after the Illusion Array, Zhao Letian felt a rich life force envelop him.

"Such a strong Life Force, it must be here!"

Zhao Letian was ecstatic in his heart, but his eyes sparkled with a green light, full of vigilance.

Now it seemed that he had found the right place. The Blood Essence Stone he was looking for was very likely inside this cave.

However, based on his experience, wherever there are Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, there are always powerful demon beasts guarding them. He didn't know what kind of terrifying creature was waiting for him at the end of the cave, so naturally, he did not dare to be careless and walked cautiously deeper into the cave.

Yet, Zhao Letian did not know that just as he entered the cave, several Martial Artists suddenly emerged from a hidden corner on the barren mountain.

If Zhao Letian were here, he would recognize at a glance that one of them was Lu Yuan, who had just traded with him not long ago.

Beside Lu Yuan were several Martial Artists of the High-level Sect Martial Realm with astonishing auras.

In particular, the White-robed Elder leading them had an aura as profound as the abyss, even more formidable than the Mercenary Captain.

In front of these people, Lu Yuan, who had only the first level of the Sect Martial Realm, acted very respectfully.

"Sir, how did that kid suddenly disappear? Did he discover us?"

Lu Yuan, staring in the direction where Zhao Letian vanished, asked in surprise.

"Don't worry. With his mere True Martial Eighth Realm, he can't possibly detect us. He just passed through an Illusion Array and found a cave. Inside the cave, there may well be the treasures you spoke of. Discovering this cave shows the boy indeed has some skills. No wonder he could cripple Young Master Yu Ze's cultivation and kill many strong fighters from our Yu Family. However, since I have personally taken action today, he's only got a dead end to look forward to. Speaking of which, we have you, Lu Yuan, to thank for informing us about this boy's whereabouts, enabling this old man to catch him. Once this is over, the Yu Family will definitely not treat you poorly."

The White-robed Elder, with hands clasped behind his back and turbid old eyes flickering with white light, likewise spotted the Illusion Array at the entrance of the cave and spoke unconcernedly.