He seemed somewhat helpless.
“It seems these guys have come up with a new trick. They want to use a plot like clearing a specter dungeon together to become life-and-death friends and build an unbreakable bond of friendship?”
He let out a long sigh.
“What did I do to deserve this?”
Meanwhile, the other three who had already walked some distance away also began introducing themselves.
Real name or fake name, they needed to give something to make it easier to address each other.
Of course, besides that, they also needed to briefly explain what they were capable of. After all, the three had a tacit understanding that they would cooperate to clear the dungeon.
Sharing a bit of their background would be beneficial for their future cooperation.
Naturally, they also tacitly avoided mentioning their talents.
The middle-aged man was still the first to speak.
“You can just call me Liu Da.”
He raised his arm to flex his muscles. Even in the middle of the night, a faint, metallic sheen could be seen rippling across his skin.
“As you can see, I specialize in external martial arts.”
One of the women had sharp eyes and noticed a detail.
“Big brother, I see faint wisps of golden light flowing across your skin. Have you cultivated the Buddhist Golden Light Body?”
Liu Da lowered his arm and chuckled.
“You have a sharp eye, beautiful!”
He had intentionally hidden those traces of golden light just now, but he hadn't expected her to spot them anyway.
But it didn't matter.
Cultivating the Golden Light Body wasn't some shameful secret.
“In today's world, there are monsters, ghosts, and wicked paths everywhere. If you don't cultivate a technique that can counter these evils, you don't know how long you'll survive.”
This Golden Light Body was something he had obtained from Fuling Temple in the past at a massive cost. Furthermore, he had sworn an oath to only practice it himself and never pass it on.
Of course, he had even agreed to become a lay disciple of the temple, making him one of their own.
Otherwise, no matter how great a price he paid, he would never have obtained the cultivation method for the Golden Light Body.
Hearing this, the woman smiled.
“I'm An Miao, and I've cultivated some Taoist spells.”
“I know basic Fingertip Lightning and have cultivated Palm Lightning for a period of time. I can draw talismans, though for now, I only know the most basic thunder talismans and Peace Talismans.”
“In addition, I've learned a bit of divination.”
Speaking of this, she looked a bit embarrassed.
“But... I haven't been practicing divination for very long, and the inheritance I received is incomplete, so I can only calculate basic fortune and misfortune. The accuracy is about seventy to eighty percent.”
Liu Da smiled.
“It's fine. No matter what, you know lightning techniques, and that's enough.”
With that, he looked at the last person.
This was a young man in his mid-twenties, looking as if he had just graduated from college.
“My turn?”
He snapped back to reality.
“I'm Chang Sheng, and I specialize in puppet mechanics.”
An Miao's eyes suddenly lit up.
“I know! You're from the Huasheng Sect, right?”
Chang Sheng felt a bit embarrassed, but he didn't deny it.
“You could say that.”
Liu Da was also surprised.
“The Huasheng Sect? That is truly rare!”
“But in that case, you must know the Huasheng Sect's exclusive secret technique, right? I recall it's called the Puppet Vitalization Art, which allows puppets you make with your own hands to gain life.”
Chang Sheng's mouth twitched.
The Huasheng Sect he belonged to indeed had such an exclusive secret technique.
But those who could successfully cultivate it in the entire sect amounted to only a pitiful handful, and they were all elder-level figures.
Furthermore, they could only vitalize small, beast-shaped puppets.
Although he had apprenticed under the Third Elder and become a personal disciple, his time practicing this secret technique was still very short, and he could only grant his puppets a tiny amount of spirituality.
Moreover, the more he cultivated, the more he realized there were absolutely no shortcuts to this secret technique. It was all a slow, grinding process that required years of accumulation.
Of course, one could also have a sudden epiphany.
But things like epiphanies were things he had only read about in ancient books.
He waved his hand helplessly.
“How could it be that exaggerated? It's just rumors getting blown out of proportion.”
“However, I can use some wood to quickly construct a batch of crude, small-scale puppets, which should be of decent help for clearing the dungeon.”
Liu Da and An Miao naturally agreed.
Zuo Lin'an, who had been observing them the entire time, suddenly realized that this Chang Sheng was a talent.
The Puppet Vitalization Art.
Granting actual life to a puppet...
Zuo Lin'an felt that once Chang Sheng truly matured, perhaps he could vitalize human-shaped puppets into actual humans.
When that time came, maybe he could build a village inside a dungeon?
Or even a small town.
That would save him a massive amount of Contribution points.
“I must keep this player!”
The three walked out of the withered forest and saw an old, somewhat run-down residence on the distant mountaintop.
Chang Sheng suddenly thought of something.
“That person from earlier, I think I remember who he is.”
Liu Da turned to look at him.
“Who?”
An Miao was also intrigued. After all, the words that man had spoken earlier felt extremely pretentious.
She didn't know if he genuinely suspected them of being kidnappers or if he was just showing off his family background.
“Earlier, I accompanied my master to attend the Ten-City Joint Auction. You guys should know about that, right?”
Liu Da nodded.
“Of course we know. All cultivators across the country—regardless of whether they are righteous, demonic, or unorthodox—and even many foreigners come to join in the fun when the auction opens.”
The auction didn't just refer to the auction itself.
It represented a massive underground black market.
As for the auction, that of course existed too. It was held once a year, and every time, an immense number of rare treasures would appear!
“What about it? Is that guy related to the auction—I mean, to the underground black market?”
Chang Sheng pondered for a moment.
“If I remember correctly, that person just now seemed to be from the Tang family.”
The Tang family?
An Miao suddenly gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.
“Is he the son of the current head of the Tang family?”
Liu Da slapped his forehead.
“I remember now too!”
“There was indeed a hint of the Tang family's demeanor in his brow. And I've heard that the Tang family's current prospective young master, Tang Yuanhuai, is frequently kidnapped.”
“Could he be...”
The three marveled for a moment, but they quickly composed themselves because...
Liu Da asked with some uncertainty.
“I heard this Tang Yuanhuai has rather poor cultivation aptitude, but Master Tang dotes on him immensely and showers him with endless resources. I wonder if that's true?”
An Miao chuckled.
“It should be true.”
“Otherwise, with so many families behind the auction and plenty of young masters or prospective young masters around, why is he the only one who constantly gets kidnapped and rescued, only to get kidnapped again?”
The other two had nothing to say to that.
Liu Da sighed and shook his head.
“Alright, let's not talk about that.”
He pointed at the old residence not far away.
“The dungeon notification mentioned we need to ask for lodging, so this should be the place.”
An Miao looking at this eerie old residence, An Miao's heart was filled with absolute refusal.
However, she knew she had no choice.
“Since we're asking for lodging, there must be NPCs living here. Should we go knock on the door?”
Chang Sheng was somewhat unsure.
“Is it really alright to knock on the door in the middle of the night?”
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