An arm cannot twist a leg. In this place, the old man was by far the strongest. Yu Qing might have had his grievances, but he wouldn't dare show them in the old man's presence.
After the four young people who had accompanied the old man touched down, they all studied the Charm Slaves beside the male Carefree Sect disciples with undisguised interest. The Charm Slaves, for their part, had eyes like spring peach blossoms — their lovely gazes drifted and cast flirtatious glances in every direction, seemingly utterly unconcerned about the dangerous situation or whether the men beside them might grow jealous.
"If you don't want these women to drain your cultivation dry, keep your eyes off them," the old man warned flatly.
The four young people flushed crimson and averted their gazes at once.
The Charm Slaves of the Carefree Sect could absorb a portion of a man's cultivation when coupling with him. Later, during their own intimate encounters with the male Carefree Sect disciples, that stolen cultivation was transferred to them, thereby increasing the disciples' power.
As a result, the Charm Slaves were completely without inhibition in matters of intimacy. The male Carefree Sect disciples saw no need to discipline them — on the contrary, they were only too happy to let them seduce other men and pilfer all manner of benefits in the process.
Beyond that, the Charm Slaves served any number of other extraordinary purposes. In the eyes of the male Carefree Sect disciples, a Charm Slave was not a person. She was a tool.
The old man was clearly well acquainted with all of the Carefree Sect's tricks. Fearing that his juniors might suffer for it, he had spoken up to warn them.
Having said his piece, he turned his gaze downward with a deep furrow between his brows. A sharp gleam flickered in his aged eyes — eyes that might have appeared clouded but were anything but — as he stared fixedly at the supposed location of the Evil Spirit Spring Eye, an expression of eager intent settling over his face.
He turned to look at Shen Yi. "Boy from Ghost King Valley — it seems you know a thing or two about the Evil Spirit Spring Eye. Why don't you tell them about it? Otherwise, when the time comes, they probably won't even know how they died."
"Of course!" Shen Yi had originally wanted to explain things to Yang Kai anyway. Now that the old man had said as much, he readily obliged.
"The Evil Spirit Spring Eye is indeed a spring — the two ladies weren't mistaken. What surges from it is Malevolent Spring Water. These substances are harmful to us, but to the evil spirits in this place, they are immensely beneficial. Given enough time, the evil spirits can fully absorb this spring water, becoming stronger and more solid. That's precisely why this substance attracts them so powerfully — and the reason they've gathered here." Shen Yi's expression was grave as he spoke in measured tones.
"Whenever the Evil Spirit Spring Eye appears and the spring water surges forth, the evil spirits inside the Malevolent Spirit Cave become extremely unstable. As you can see, they're slaughtering each other over the water below. For the moment, we're probably not in any direct danger. But after a while… once these evil spirits go berserk, we'll be attacked. We've really had a stroke of terrible luck — the Evil Spirit Spring Eye might not appear even once in several years, and we just happened to run into it."
"Ah, what do we do then?" Zhao Rong of the Treasure Artifact Sect cried out in alarm. "Should we hurry up and escape while we still can?"
"Escape where?" Shen Yi said with a bitter smile. "There's nowhere to run. Standing here, we might live a little longer. The moment we leave, we'll probably die even faster."
"Heh heh. The boy speaks the truth." The old man nodded with a sinister smile. "Even an expert of my caliber has been driven to this very spot. For you little ones to think you could flee — that's nothing but a fool's dream!"
He paused for a beat, then looked at the group with a pleasant smile. "So? How about joining forces with me to see if we can fight our way out?"
Shen Yi glanced at him and frowned. "Do you have some brilliant plan, Senior?"
"No brilliant plan — only slaughter," the old man said with a light chuckle. "Your individual strengths may not amount to much, but fortunately you have numbers on your side. Hold that high platform and refuse to give up, and there may yet be a chance. Besides — since you dared to enter the Malevolent Spirit Cave, you must have brought quite a few Artifacts capable of countering evil spirits, yes?"
"We did." Shen Yi nodded. Unlike Yang Kai, they had naturally come fully prepared before daring to set foot in the Malevolent Spirit Cave. The only reason they hadn't deployed their Artifacts earlier was that there had been no need.
"Good. When the fighting begins, give it everything you've got — heh heh… If I manage to free up my hands, I'll certainly lend you a hand." The old man nodded with a smile, looking for all the world like a kindly elder.
Shen Yi cupped his fists with a wry smile. "In that case, I thank the Senior for his kind offer."
He certainly didn't believe the old man would look after their group so generously, but the Evil Spirits were simply too numerous. If they died quickly, the old man's side would inevitably face greater pressure as well. The two stone platforms were currently in a relationship one might describe as one where the loss of the lips would bring cold to the teeth.
That was precisely why he had shown some concern and offered advice.
"At the critical moment, I can step in and give you lot a hand — but I have one condition!" the old man said with a smile.
"What condition?" Shen Yi asked.
The old man's gaze burned as he stared toward the Evil Spirit Spring, his voice dropping low. "If we make it through this crisis, I want whatever is inside that spring! Whoever dares try to snatch it — I'll kill them without mercy!"
"We juniors only ask to stay alive!" Shen Yi said grimly.
"That's for the best!" The old man let out a cold laugh and said no more.
"What's in the spring?" Yang Kai whispered curiously. Judging from the old man's demeanor, he seemed quite fixated on whatever lay inside. Yang Kai figured it had to be something valuable.
"It's still an Evil Spirit Origin," Shen Yi replied just as quietly, "but it's definitely a very unusual one, and the energy contained within is immensely powerful."
"A very unusual Evil Spirit Origin?" Yang Kai's interest was instantly piqued. Shan Qingluo had once told him that some Evil Spirits Origins contained energy capable of strengthening Divine Sense, while others harbored various martial techniques…
An Evil Spirit Origin that came from the spring itself — how could it possibly be ordinary?