"Did you hear? There's a Spirit Emperor Cave ahead. A golden light is s.h.i.+ning from there, so there's definitely a treasure inside."

"Of course, I heard. Every self-cultivator that heard is heading over there, all because they want to get the treasure."

"The forbidden district of the Kunlun Mountains is indeed a divine place. You can just find Spirit Emperor Caves randomly. What a rich place."

The surrounding self-cultivators all chatted in awe, quickening their speed towards the Spirit Emperor Cave.

Qingfeng Li's face darkened at the sound of their chattering. He shouted, "We need to hurry up. We have to get there faster than the others, or they'll take the treasures."

Qingfeng Li, Flower Fairy, Xianzhi Qin, and the rest all sprinted. Under the guidance of Black Puppy, they arrived in front of the Spirit Emperor Cave in no time.

The cave was very hidden, situated atop a cliff. If it weren't for the guidance of Black Puppy, Qingfeng Li wouldn't have found it.

But when they arrived, Qingfeng Li furrowed his brows in irritation. He was greeted by a sight of at least 300 self-cultivators.

Not only was Black Puppy informed of the cave abode, the other self-cultivators caught wind of its existence as well.

In front of Qingfeng Li stood many great self-cultivators, including masters like the Old Monster of the North Sea, the South Pole Spirit King, Wicked Li of the Wicked-Imperial Sect, the Void Monk, White-Brow Daoist Master, and many more.

Other than these people, Qingfeng Li also saw a familiar face. He saw Linger Yao, the sect master of the Demonic-Imperial sect.

Qingfeng Li knew that they were all masters at the half step of the Spirit Emperor Realm. They all wanted a breakthrough but were all lacking the opportunity to do so.

Now that a Spirit Emperor Cave had been found, everyone wanted the treasure inside. Once they obtained whatever it was inside, they could very likely increase their powers and enter into the Spirit Emperor Realm.

All the self-cultivators gathered outside the Spirit Emperor Cave but none had gone in.

They had been stopped by a defensive array formation, a protective energy veil blocking them from entering.

"Big brother Li, should we go to the front or the back?" asked Flower Fairy.

Qingfeng Li furrowed his brows and said, "We should stay behind. Many of those in front of us are half step Spirit Emperor Realm masters. Even if we try, we can't get in front of them. Let them fight amongst themselves first, and we'll wait for our chance."

Flower Fairy nodded in agreement. Qingfeng was right.

Flower Fairy and the rest of the group were all masters of the Spirit King realm. Black Puppy was the only one who had reached the Half Step Spirit Emperor Realm. As a group, they were not strong enough to fight those ahead of them.

Qingfeng Li's decision to stay behind was to ensure her safety as well.

At the front of the pack stood the Old Monster of the North Sea. At the sight of the entrance of the cave, he said, "Does anyone know what this protection array is? We have to solve it before we can go in."

The Old Monster of the North Sea was a 200-year-old elderly man, and his appearance was quite bizarre.

His hair was green, like the color of seaweed. He came from the North Sea and had been cultivating there.

This time, he came to the Forbidden district specifically for obtaining treasures.

He was the oldest amongst all of the self-cultivators and therefore the most respected elder there. Many self-cultivators regarded him highly and obeyed his words.

"Old man, I know a little when it comes to array formation, but I can only solve king level battle arrays," said the South Pole Spirit King. "I don't know anything about emperor level battle arrays. I'm going to need help."

The South Pole Spirit King was an old woman, also in her 200s. Although her hair was all white and her face was wrinkled, she still looked very dignified.

It was easy to tell that she was a beauty when she was younger.

She was a battle array master but was only familiar with king level battle arrays, and she was helpless when faced with emperor level battle arrays.

She and the Old Monster of North Sea were long familiar with one another, and they could be considered enemies.

When they were younger, the Old Monster of North Sea had even pursued the South Pole Spirit King romantically. For some unknown reason, they didn't end up together.

"South Pole Spirit King, if even you can't crack the array, we have no way in." The Old Monster of North Sea furrowed his brows.

Suddenly, the White-Brow Daoist Master spoke. He said, "I know a little bit about battle array formations, so I can help South Pole Spirit King crack it."

The White-Brow Daoist was also incredibly renowned in the world of self-cultivation, and the people from the Daoist Sect were exceptionally perceptive towards array formations.

The South Pole Spirit King looked delighted. To crack the array, they had to find its array point, also known as its core. She had limited abilities and was in need of any help she could get.

The South Pole Spirit King and the White-Brow Daoist began to decipher this emperor level array.

The two were both very powerful and very knowledgeable when it came to battle arrays.

At the sight of their advances in cracking part of the array, the surrounding self-cultivators were all delighted. They watched the duo with eyes of admiration.

In the world of self-cultivation, combat power was the most highly sought-after skill to possess. Other than the strongest self-cultivators, there were two other skills that were highly regarded. One was the art of making elixirs, and the other was the creation and deciphering of array formations.

Qingfeng Li had some knowledge of array formations as well. He watched the two masters at work and realized that they had made a slight mistake.

In other words, their first two steps were correct, but the third one was not.

Array formations were confusing and complex, requiring the most adept logic reasoning and sparing no mistakes. Once a mistake was made, all of one's efforts would come to naught.

Qingfeng Li knew that they were on the wrong track, as they were using the incorrect method. Not only would their methods be rendered useless, but they would also mess up the array formation.

He walked towards the front to stop the two masters.

Just as he arrived at the forefront, he was sighted by the Black Wind Duo Demons.

"Qingfeng Li, are you tired of living? How dare you appear here?!" Black Evil's expression turned dark, looking utterly murderous.

Qingfeng Li frowned. He never thought that he would run into the Black Wind Duo Demons again.

The duo's bodies emitted a deadly aura, and they stepped forward, wanting to kill Qingfeng Li.

"Black Wind Duo Demons, don't you dare touch Qingfeng Li, or I will hurt the both of you." Linger Yao stepped forward, blocking them from Qingfeng Li.

"Linger Yao, why are you protecting Qingfeng Li? Is he your sugar boy or something?" Black Evil mocked.

She hated Linger Yao. If it weren't for the latter, she would've already killed Qingfeng Li long ago.

Linger Yao's eyes turned cold at the sound of Black Evil's mockery.

Suddenly, she waved out her right hand. The hand turned into a gigantic palm, instantly smas.h.i.+ng towards Black Evil.

Deng Deng!!

Black Evil retreated a couple of steps, her face white as paper, and there was a trace of blood appearing at the corner of her mouth. She was no match for Linger Yao.