Chapter 127: That Is Wonderful

Driven by a lingering impulse, Xu Zhe ultimately entered the herb garden zone.

He remained quite rational: since he intended to sabotage the underground restrictions, he should pack up and take the precious herbs in the garden before releasing those alchemical toxins, ensuring he wouldn't need to return later.

Following the memory of the herb distribution in his mind, Xu Zhe swiftly arrived at a plot. Digging into the soil and modifying the formation patterns to harvest the herbs, he completed the task in one fluid motion. Clearing a single plot now took him only half an hour. After stepping out from the restrictive light barrier of that field, he immediately rushed toward the next, working diligently and with great focus.

Several days passed, and everything went surprisingly smoothly. Xu Zhe even felt a bit puzzled; he had planned to leave the moment anyone approached. Yet, for five whole days, he hadn't encountered a single soul in the herb garden besides himself. This made him wonder if the detection formation triggered at the foot of the mountain earlier had been a misunderstanding.

Looking at the nearly empty fields, Xu Zhe decided to stop. The remaining herbs were of high age, but not particularly rare, so it mattered little whether he took them or not. Of course, the most crucial reason was that the dozens of storage rings on his person were already stuffed with various precious medicinal materials. Even if he wanted to plunder more, he truly had nowhere left to put them.

However, because he had spent these past few days frantically sabotaging the herb garden’s barriers, the underground restrictions had become infinitely loose. Throughout the entire garden area, beyond the spaces still covered by the barriers, a thin layer of black mist had begun to rise from the ground—it was pure alchemical toxin capable of corroding both flesh and spiritual energy.

"It seems I cannot stay here much longer," Xu Zhe thought. He decided to leave the Divine Pill Grotto-Heaven.

The past few days had been exceptionally quiet, with not a shadow in sight. Perhaps the earlier triggering of the detection formation had been an accident, and no one had actually passed by. Besides, even if someone had come up the mountain, he hadn't verified if they were coming for him. What if it were just some other cultivator left behind in the secret realm? If he destroyed the restrictions without asking, leading to them being eroded by the toxins, wouldn't he become the kind of villain who harms others without benefiting himself? That would truly be bad.

Yet, his heart felt somewhat unsettled... Glancing at the restrictive patterns he had dug out from the ground, Xu Zhe struggled internally. But in the end, justice prevailed over evil.

Xu Zhe shook his head, forcibly dispelling the unpleasant thought. "I feel that after cultivating the 'Righteousness Sealing Demon Sutra,' my temper and patience have been affected; it seems I can no longer tolerate even the slightest bit of frustration." He sighed, took out the jade key, and prepared to leave immediately.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Suddenly, the sound of air being torn apart erupted from all directions.

"Xu Zhe, you beast! You really were hiding here! Pay with your life!" Accompanied by a sharp, angry shout, the figure of an old man in black robes appeared in the distant sky. A massive pressure, like an invisible mountain, instantly descended from the heavens, crushing down toward Xu Zhe.

"The Mo family? Above the Unity Stage?" Xu Zhe was startled. He recognized the aura; it belonged to one of the powerful experts who had pursued him after he wiped out the Mo family. Not only that, but apart from Mo Shanhai, the other incoming figures also possessed the auras of experts above the Unity Stage, all belonging to the Mo family. However, those other Unity Stage auras felt both strange and yet somewhat familiar...

"The Hall of the Monkey?" Xu Zhe reacted quickly, sensing a ripple of techniques that felt like the same lineage—the distinct spiritual energy of the "Sword Sweeping the Eight Wastelands."

"Great! You have arrived at just the right time." Xu Zhe was overjoyed. Now he didn't have to worry about his conscience, nor did he have to fear harming the wrong people. He quickly raised his fist and, without even needing to modify the formation patterns further, slammed it directly into the restrictive array on the ground at his feet.

*Boom!*

With a thunderous roar, the entire ground shook violently, and the large, exposed, and already fractured restriction patterns shattered into dust in an instant.

The dozen or so figures in black robes, whether they were Mo family elders or experts from the Hall of the Monkey, were all stunned. They had been patrolling the mountains to no avail and had nearly given up. According to their agreement, they were to rendezvous every five days, which is why they had come to the herb garden. But upon arrival, they found the garden completely transformed, with the valuable herbs clearly picked clean. Then, before they could react, they saw Xu Zhe standing in the center of the field.

The Mo family elders were ecstatic, feeling that their deep hatred could finally be avenged, and they couldn't help but shout to vent their feelings. However, the situation defied their expectations. The Xu Zhe they saw as prey did not show a shred of panic upon their arrival; instead, he wore a look of joyful, radiant surprise. It was as if he had just seen a lifeline.

What... was going on?

As everyone stood bewildered, they saw Xu Zhe slam his fist into the ground. Following that, with a sharp hiss, a massive plume of black mist erupted violently from beneath the earth.

"This... is this alchemical toxin?"
"Not good! Retreat! This toxin is no trivial matter!"

The Mo family elders were the first to react, their faces changing drastically as they cried out and retreated at high speed. The black-robed figures from the Hall of the Monkey, hearing this, also turned to flee. But the next moment, they saw Xu Zhe holding a jade plaque high. It was clearly the key to the Divine Pill Grotto-Heaven!

"No..."

Everyone finally realized the danger.

"Everyone, until we meet again!" Xu Zhe felt incomparably refreshed. Smiling broadly, he bid them farewell as the jade plaque in his hand emitted a powerful pulling force and bloomed with brilliant light. *Whoosh!* The light flashed and vanished, taking Xu Zhe with it.

In the vast secret realm, only the few Mo family elders, the people from the Hall of the Monkey, and the ever-thickening cloud of black alchemical toxin remained.

"Retreat!" A Mo family elder roared in frustration, turned, and fled without looking back.

"That scoundrel Xu Zhe..." A woman from the Hall of the Monkey was furious, turning to bolt toward the mountain behind. She had spent days finding the place where the spiritual energy had been dense, only to discover it was a cave covered in concealment formations. After wasting two more days breaking the formation, she had found it empty. Well, not entirely empty. The ground was littered with the remains of dozens of chewed spiritual herbs. Judging by the bite marks, they had clearly been eaten quite recently.

At that moment, she realized the Xu Zhe they had been hunting had been hiding in that cave all along. What angered her most was that while they had been painstakingly ambushing and searching for days, Xu Zhe had been in a cave munching on spiritual herbs—herbs that were over a hundred thousand years old—and the bastard was so picky he didn't even eat the roots! Upholding the virtuous habit of not being picky and not wasting food, and linking that to Xu Zhe's handsome face, the woman had developed a massive appetite and eaten all the herb scraps he left behind, reaping a significant harvest.

She hadn't expected that while heading down the mountain to report this to the others, she would see Xu Zhe standing in the herb garden. But now the guy had run off, and before leaving, he had released the underground toxins—this guy was truly ruthless!

"Xu Zhe, you had better hope I don't catch you, or I will strip you bare and squeeze you into..." The woman gritted her teeth and spat out threats as she ran. But before she could finish, her chest tightened, and a dizzying sensation like the world was spinning violently washed over her, hitting her hard.

The alchemical toxin had entered her body... It was over.

The woman realized the situation instantly. Her eyes rolled back, her limbs went limp, and she fell from the sky, slamming hard into the ground.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

Not far away, muffled sounds followed one after another. The others from the Hall of the Monkey, including a Mo family elder, tumbled from the sky one by one just like the woman. The remaining elders managed to fly a bit further, but in the end, they could not escape the erosion of the toxins, all crashing to the ground and losing consciousness shortly after.

In their stupor, the increasingly thick black alchemical toxin continued to surge into their bodies, corroding everything in its path...