Li Xunmiao felt that something was off with Gu Ze.
Chen Lang had once colluded with Bai Yazhi and was an enemy who had tried to harm Gu Ze. Li Xunmiao wished she could cut Chen Lang down once more.
But now, Gu Ze was trading at a loss with Chen Lang, watching his operations with great interest for a long time, as if he could actually learn them himself.
The moment he obtained the spirit ore, he couldn’t wait to hand it over to her, as though he was expecting something to happen.
This feeling was very different from how Senior Brother Gu usually acted.
Li Xunmiao couldn’t help but pinch Gu Ze’s wrist, her spiritual energy winding around him.
Gu Ze was deep in thought, but suddenly, his mind cleared up a little.
Trying to seize the Divine Fire from the disciples of Songhuo Peak and Danyin Peak would be extremely difficult.
Although she and Li Xunmiao were well-equipped, and Li Xunmiao even had the ability to challenge cultivators above her level, they were still outnumbered. Facing over a hundred opponents stronger than the two of them, a few top-grade artifacts would not hold out for long—they would all fall in the end.
If they couldn’t win by force, they’d have to use their wits.
Chen Lang, right in front of them, was the perfect entry point.
Feeling the warmth of Li Xunmiao’s palm, Gu Ze only felt a tickle in his nose and couldn’t help but sneeze.
“Senior brother, you don’t seem… quite right.” Li Xunmiao looked worried, tightening her grip on his hand just a bit.
Gu Ze nodded and rubbed his nose.
He glanced at Chen Lang, who was still eyeing his storage pouch.
“That’s top-grade Ice Marrow… Ice Marrow that grows inside volcanoes, appearing only once in a hundred years.”
He was still coveting the item that Gu Ze had tossed into his storage pouch.
A flash of suspicion crossed Gu Ze’s eyes, and he drew out the Moonmark Dagger.
The aura of a top-grade artifact instantly drew Chen Lang’s gaze. He hunched forward, eyes blazing with greed.
“This item, what kind of material was used to create such perfect quality? I can’t tell… but it’s definitely a top-grade artifact. Gu Ze! Would you sell it to me? Or we can trade—I’m willing to offer everything I have in exchange.” he blurted out eagerly.
Gu Ze frowned deeply.
Something was definitely wrong.
Chen Lang was acting far too greedy.
Including the way he’d just traded with Gu Ze without a second thought—there hadn’t been the slightest attempt to hide it, which was completely out of character for him.
Previously, when they first encountered Chen Lang at Songhuo Peak, he had been extremely cautious.
Even as an eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator following three cultivators below mid-stage Qi Refining, he had moved so carefully he’d hardly left a trace.
If Bai Yazhi hadn’t interfered and if Li Xunmiao’s extraordinary senses hadn’t caught his flaw, he might have followed them all the way to the Dragon Vein.
But now, Chen Lang’s greedy stare at the Moonmark Dagger made him seem like a completely different person.
Thinking back on his own actions, Gu Ze realized he had spent all the spirit ore he had painstakingly collected to trade for a piece of ore he couldn’t even use, and even tried to learn Chen Lang’s method of mining.
He, too, had been greedy.
Looking again at the lifeless land around them, Gu Ze stared at a crack in the ground not far away, from which yellow smoke was seeping out.
All this time, he and Li Xunmiao had ignored the faint Poisonous Miasma. Other than a foul odor, the miasma didn’t seem to affect their health.
But Li Xunmiao possessed the Baidu Immunity Physique, so she wasn’t affected in the first place.
Gu Ze, however, was already affected—he just hadn’t realized it.
It wasn’t until Li Xunmiao touched his hand and their spiritual energies met that his poisoning symptoms eased quite a bit.
Gu Ze hurriedly swallowed a few Jieduwan and circulated his spiritual energy to refine them, but as soon as he let go of Li Xunmiao’s hand, his head would grow fuzzy again after a short while.
Only after realizing he had been poisoned did Gu Ze notice that slight mental influence.
He wanted to greedily collect everything of value, and then, walk towards the peak of Ashen Mount, where the volcano devoured all things.
With one leap, he would fulfill his mission. Like a worker ant diligently carrying food, his duty was to burn himself up.
Quickly grasping Li Xunmiao’s small hand, Gu Ze exhaled a heavy breath.
Li Xunmiao quickly transmitted her spiritual energy as well. Their fingertips intertwined, finally locking their ten fingers together.
Li Xunmiao was overjoyed, and when Gu Ze met her gaze as if they shared a secret understanding, the young girl smiled sweetly and winked at her.
“Chen Lang, I think I see some golden light under that big rock over there. Do you think it might be spirit ore?” Gu Ze feigned curiosity, raising his hand to point and asking Chen Lang.
The other’s eyes lit up, and he rushed over as if afraid someone would snatch it away the next moment: “I’ll go check!”
Gu Ze whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Your hand works better than Jieduwan, so I’ll shamelessly hold it a little longer.”
“Senior brother can touch me whenever he wants. A-and, if you need emergency detoxification, you can touch other places too.” Her cheeks flushed red.
Gu Ze closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm himself.
Thankfully, the greed had already been purified. If it had been just a minute earlier, he might not have been able to hold back.
If his greed for Li Xunmiao had been amplified, he would have almost certainly lost control.
And what troubled Gu Ze most was, even if Li Xunmiao knew he’d been poisoned, she probably wouldn’t refuse him.
Gu Ze quickly shifted the topic to Chen Lang, refusing to talk about Li Xunmiao’s soft, fragrant body: “Chen Lang has probably been poisoned for a while. This poison amplifies a person’s greed and subconsciously drives them toward the volcano’s crater atop Ashen Mount.”
“Earlier, he was so focused on mining spirit ore that he didn’t even notice us standing beside him. He’s probably already lost the ability to sense danger.”
Li Xunmiao pouted her cherry lips: “Luckily I can help senior brother detoxify. Otherwise, who knows if I could stop you from leaping into the volcano.”
Just thinking about it made her a bit scared.
Gu Ze raised his hand to ruffle her hair, speaking gently: “Actually, I have a special talent that lets me find treasures nearby, but no treasure is as precious as you, Xunmiao.”
He’d have to tell Li Xunmiao about the True Gold Eyes someday.
Li Xunmiao didn’t seem too surprised, as if she’d already guessed something.
Hearing that she was her senior brother’s treasure, she smiled even brighter, thoroughly pleased.
“Before coming to Ashen Mount, I reviewed every record about the Ashen Mount Secret Realm in Biluo Peak, and there was no mention of this dangerous Poisonous Miasma.”
“I suppose its appearance this time is connected to the emergence of the Golden Core Divine Fire.”
“Chen Lang is deeply poisoned. Songhuo Peak is probably just as unprepared for this miasma. The alchemists of Danyin Peak are more sensitive to poison, so maybe they’ll notice something’s wrong.”
“Xunmiao, if you notice anything wrong with me later, remind me in secret. I plan to have Chen Lang lead us to the cultivators of Songhuo Peak. After that, I might not be able to hold your hand the whole time.”
Li Xunmiao agreed obediently.
Taking advantage of his clear mind, Gu Ze stroked his chin in thought.
Right now, almost no one in the secret realm could detoxify the Poisonous Miasma produced by the Golden Core Divine Fire.
Unless someone could carry Golden Core Realm detoxification pills with them.
Such pills were practically impossible to obtain—no Qi Refining disciple could have them.
Of course, there were some who wouldn’t be poisoned: those Golden Core cultivators who deliberately suppressed their cultivation to enter the secret realm.
With a Golden Core Realm body, this kind of miasma would hardly affect them.