Mo Tiange stepped onto the White Silk Handkerchief and entered the door inside the main hall. She looked around and saw that it was still a narrow stone passage, just like when they came in.
However, the walls here were inlaid with moonstones, so they didn't need to light a fire like when they came in.
Moonstones rarely lasted for several thousand years. An Immortal's Cave from several thousand years ago should be as dark as the passage they first came in, so how could there still be moonstones here?
Daoist Fangzheng also thought so. The two of them stood in front of the wall and pried off a moonstone each.
"This …" After studying it for a while, Daoist Fangzheng said, "seems to be Mother Moonstones!"
Mo Tiange was confused.
Daoist Fangzheng looked carefully for a while then nodded. "Yes, there's a Moonstone mine here. These are all Mother Moonstones, so they can last for so long."
In terms of experience, Daoist Fangzheng had mingled in both the cultivation world and the secular world for several hundred years, so he naturally had a lot of experience. Upon hearing what he said, Mo Tiange nodded then threw the Mother of Moonstone into her Qiankun Bag then continued to walk forward.
Although Moonstone mines were rare, they had no other use in the cultivation world except for illumination, so they weren't precious.
The two of them cautiously walked on the stone slabs.
Ever since they entered Kunwu, they'd encountered countless dangerous situations, so Mo Tiange had always been cautious.
In her opinion, Daoist Fangzheng's behavior was very similar to Second Uncle's.
Her way of doing things was developed when she was with Second Uncle, so she and Daoist Fangzheng were very compatible.
This time, Daoist Fangzheng let the first rank bird explore the way in front of them. The two of them walked without any mishaps. There were several traps in the passage, but the spiritual aura had dissipated due to the passage's long history. With the bird leading the way, they managed to avoid them one by one.
However, they found several corpses on the ground.
These corpses were intertwined with each other and had all turned into skeletons.
Their clothes had long been rotten, leaving only a few damaged magic tools and intact Qiankun Bags.
Among the corpses, there were some treasures, materials, or magic weapons.
Daoist Fangzheng immediately looked happy and crouched down to pick them up.
Mo Tiange shouted, "Fellow Daoist Fangzheng, wait!"
Daoist Fangzheng looked up at her with vigilance in his eyes.
At his age, he'd gone through many adventures and seen his companions fighting over things. Now that he heard Mo Tiange shouting at him to stop, he immediately became vigilant.
Based on his expression, how could Mo Tiange not guess what he meant? Nevertheless, she only said faintly, "There are so many skeletons here, and they weren't a group of people. However, all of them died here, so maybe there's some mystery behind it."
Upon hearing what she said, Daoist Fangzheng finally relaxed and once again looked carefully.
Sure enough, there were more than twenty corpses on this passage, which was only about a hundred feet long. They were almost densely packed together, and there was no place for them to step on.
Looking at their postures, they were all twisted together in groups of two or three, as if they were going to perish together.
Daoist Fangzheng was so terrified that he broke out in a cold sweat.
Judging from their postures, these people had fought each other to death. Moreover, their corpses were of different degrees of age. The bones of the newer corpses were snow-white while the bones of the older corpses were black.
A cultivator's body didn't have any impurities, so it wouldn't rot. However, it would turn into spiritual aura and disperse, but the bones left behind could be preserved for a long time. Based on the color of the bones, one could tell how long they'd been dead.
The skeletons in front of them were of different bone types. Among them, the blackest ones had almost turned into a pile of black ash, which meant they'd been dead for at least several thousand years. However, there were also some snow-white ones among them, which meant they'd been dead for no more than a thousand years.
They all knew how powerful the Illusory Formation outside was. Out of nine people, only the two of them made it here in one piece.
Besides, the spiritual aura fluctuation outside the valley couldn't have existed all the time. Otherwise, they wouldn't have never heard of it.
In other words, not many people came here in the past several thousand years. The magic weapons, magic tools, and rare materials scattered all over the ground also proved that no one left safely.
That being the case, how could the treasures in front of them be taken at will?
Daoist Fangzheng couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed when he realized this.
In the beginning, he didn't take Mo Tiange seriously. He only thought she was a disciple who'd just left the cultivation group. Although her cultivation level was high, her ability was probably very ordinary, just like Guigu School's Lu and Wang.
However, he never thought she'd wake him up with a single sentence in the Illusory Formation. Now that she was here, she was much calmer than him. After experiencing these two things, he no longer dared to look down on Mo Tiange.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, in your opinion, this is …"
"There's something wrong with this path," Mo Tiange said slowly, "It seems to be able to confuse people's minds."
Even inside the Illusory Formation, her Spirit-Concealing Pendant didn't feel anything strange because the Illusory Formation didn't erode people's minds. Instead, it tested people's temperament and willpower.
However, as soon as she approached this path, her Spirit-Concealing Pendant instantly turned ice-cold as if it was warning her.
The cultivators who could reach this place must've passed the Illusory Formation on the Five Elements Platforms, so their temperaments should be extremely stable. Aside from willpower problems, what other reason could make them lose their rationality and commit suicide together?
These people understood the principle of being alive to enjoy natural treasures.
"How did Fellow Daoist Ye know?"
Mo Tiange said faintly, "I have a magic tool that can sense things that confuse people." After giving a simple explanation, she didn't say anything else. She had a unique treasure on her, so she didn't need to explain it too clearly.
Daoist Fangzheng was also a smart person, so he didn't ask any more questions.
The two of them carefully searched for any strange objects in their surroundings.
This stone path wasn't different from the previous one. It was a simple stone path carved out of the mountain. The only difference was that the ground was a bit flat, and the mountain wall was inlaid with Moonstones.
"Oh!" As soon as she approached the stone wall, the Spirit-Concealing Pendant's ice-cold feeling became even stronger. Could it be that there was something wrong with the stone wall?
Mo Tiange pondered for a moment then took out her flying sword to pry out another Moonstone from the stone path.
The lustrous white light wasn't any different from the Moonstones from before, but this faint spiritual aura gave her a familiar feeling.
"Fellow Daoist Ye!" Daoist Fangzheng suddenly shouted, "This isn't a Moonstone!" As he said that, he immediately took out Heart-Calming Talismans, stuck one on himself then gave another to Mo Tiange.
Mo Tiange didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. In the Illusory Formation, it was her own emotions that were fluctuating, so the Spirit-Concealing Pendant was useless. However, in this place, it was an external factor that had no effect on her due to the Spirit-Concealing Pendant.
Nevertheless, after some thought, she still took the Heart-Calming Talisman and stuck it on herself. She then held the Moonstone and asked, "Fellow Daoist said this isn't a Moonstone?
Then what is it? "
"This is a Bewitching Moonstone."
Daoist Fangzheng wasn't as relaxed as Mo Tiange. He forced himself to calm down then answered, "A kind of Bewitching Moonstone is often found in Moonstone mines. This kind of thing can cause people to hallucinate, so it's a good material for making Illusory Formations.
However, although Moonlight Stone mines are not rare, Bewitching Moonlight Stones are very rare, and not many people know about them. I only saw a small piece in a secret shop a few decades ago, and that small piece was auctioned for over a thousand Spirit Stones! "
At this point, Daoist Fangzheng's gaze was filled with excitement. "I never expected the master of this Immortal's Cave could actually find so many Bewitching Moonstones. If I can take all of them …"
As she quietly sensed the spiritual aura emitted by this Bewitching Moonstone, a thought flashed through Mo Tiange's mind. She suddenly thought of something.
She reached into her Qiankun Bag and rummaged through it. She took out several jade fragments and compared them with this Bewitching Moonstone. Sure enough, they were made of the same material. It was just that these fragments had exhausted their spiritual aura and were already broken.
More than ten years ago, when she just built her foundation, she and Wei Jiasi once encountered the Bewitching Twin Monsters during the demonic beast riot.
The Bewitching Twin Monster was born with wisdom. It designed an Illusory Formation that almost made the two of them kill each other. In the end, she obtained this jade fragment.
Now, it seemed this jade fragment was indeed a Bewitching Moonstone.
Upon realizing this, Mo Tiange couldn't help but feel apprehensive as she looked at the wall full of Bewitching Moonstones.
Back then, a formation laid with only a piece of stone was able to trap her and Wei Jiasi, two Foundation Building cultivators. There were so many Bewitching Moonstones here. If they were all used to lay a formation, wouldn't its power be so great that even Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to escape?
Just like Daoist Fangzheng, Mo Tiange's eyes also lit up.
The two of them didn't say anything. Each of them picked up their flying swords then cautiously pried the Bewitching Moonstones on the wall.
However, if this thing could be broken so easily, so many cultivators wouldn't have died here.
After approaching the Bewitching Moonstones for a long time, Mo Tiange realized she wasn't very clear-headed. Fortunately, she had the Spirit-Concealing Pendant, so she immediately distanced herself from them.
Just as she was about to warn Daoist Fangzheng, she raised her head and saw a sword flash in front of her. Daoist Fangzheng's eyes shone with an ominous glint as he thrust the small flying sword he used to pry the Bewitching Moonstones at her.
Mo Tiange raised her hand, creating a spiritual aura wall to block Daoist Fangzheng's thrust. Soon after, she retreated and lifted her hand to release the Shuttle of Flying Apsara.
Without saying a word, Daoist Fangzheng put away the small flying sword and took out his horsetail whisk. With a flick of his horsetail whisk, thousands upon thousands of needle-like strands of horsetail whisk shot towards her.
Although the quality of this horsetail whisk magic tool wasn't as good as her Shuttle of Flying Apsara, Mo Tiange didn't dare to look down on it. Daoist Fangzheng's spiritual aura was rich, so although his magic tool wasn't very good, its power was great.
She immediately flung her sleeve and threw the White Silk Handkerchief, which turned into a wall and blocked his attack.
Taking advantage of this gap, Mo Tiange shouted, "Fellow Daoist Fangzheng, wake up!"
Daoist Fangzheng didn't react at all. He was still rushing towards her with his head covered.
Mo Tiange had no choice but to use the Shuttle of Flying Apsara to tie him down while retreating.
Although Daoist Fangzheng wasn't weak, he couldn't be considered much compared to Xuanqing School's elite disciples. It was just that Mo Tiange didn't want to hurt him.
At this point, she only had Daoist Fangzheng as her companion, and the master of this place was very good at hallucinatory techniques. Who knew what she would encounter later?
Having someone to keep her company and remind her from time to time was much better than being alone.
However, Daoist Fangzheng, who was in front of her, showed no signs of waking up. He was still attacking her mercilessly.
Mo Tiange felt helpless. She kept parrying his attacks while slowly retreating.
After all, this place was too close to the Bewitching Moonstone. If she was a bit further away, the effect would probably be a bit weaker.
Daoist Fangzheng's gaze finally became sober after he retreated about a hundred feet. He stopped attacking and said with astonishment, "Fellow Daoist Ye, this …"
Mo Tiange heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that he had regained his consciousness. "It's good that Fellow Daoist has regained his consciousness. This Bewitching Moonstone is really powerful."