Yang Che was surprised.

This woman named Xiaoqian Guniang was quite bold.

Seeing the expressions of the brother and sister, Yang Che had already guessed that they, like him, had no idea of the stone tablet's value.

Perhaps it was because it was associated with the word ‘Ancient’ that gave Xiaoqian Guniang the courage.

Yang Che’s heart stirred, as if he had thought of something, then he deliberately straightened his face, revealing a look of great displeasure.

The stall owner immediately said nervously, “Senior, please calm your anger, this item is mine to give, and I sincerely offer it to you.”

Xiaoqian Guniang, however, showed dissatisfaction on her face, full of unwillingness, and just as she was about to say something, her brother forcefully stopped her.

At this moment, Yang Che suddenly said:

“Xiaoqian Guniang, how about this? I don’t have many full pattern star stones, so this stone tablet will be priced at five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

I’ll pay you half first, and you can make a rubbing of the characters and patterns on this stone tablet. Take it back and study it carefully. If you can decipher the meaning of the characters, you can inform me at any time, and I will pay the remaining half of the Spirit Stones.”

After Yang Che finished speaking, he quickly and readily took out two thousand five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones and directly piled them on the stall in front of him.

The Foundation Establishment Stage stall owner, upon seeing this, quickly put the Spirit Stones into his Storage Pouch for fear of exposing his wealth, then personally began to make a rubbing of the stone tablet.

After making the rubbing, he respectfully handed the stone tablet to Yang Che and said, “Senior, rest assured, Junior will definitely have my younger sister diligently research these ‘Ancient characters and patterns’ in the future. If there is any progress, I will certainly inform Senior.”

Yang Che nodded and left a voice transmission talisman.

Then he glanced at the pure young woman who still seemed somewhat displeased, said nothing more, and drifted away from Yuan Fang City.

After Yang Che left, the stall owner immediately pulled his sister aside and whispered, “Xiaoqian Guniang, you almost lost your life, do you know that? That Senior just now concealed his true Cultivation.

If he wanted to, just one look could gravely injure you, or even take your life.”

“What? How is that possible!”

Xiaoqian Guniang was instantly startled, covering her rosy little mouth, her face drained of color.

“Why is it not possible? Your brother, I, was almost sent away by just one look from this Senior.”

The stall owner couldn’t help but tremble in his heart every time he thought of the terrifying dark gaze of that mysterious Senior from that day.

Suddenly, his expression turned serious, and he said with a hint of reproach, “You, oh you, originally I wanted to seize this opportunity to exchange this stone tablet, whose purpose is completely unclear, for this Senior’s care for the two of us, but you messed it up, sigh.”

The stall owner sighed helplessly; facing his beloved younger sister, he could only feel helpless.

As for why he finally accepted the Spirit Stones, he naturally understood that this Senior was someone who did not wish to owe anyone a favor.

Listening to her brother’s words, the tall Xiaoqian Guniang couldn’t help but turn her head to look at the place where the mysterious Senior had disappeared, staring blankly for a long time with a look of lingering fear…

Yang Che, without any further delay, returned to the ancient residence.

After a brief rest, he continued to Cultivate the Heavenly Evolution Art.

This Heavenly Evolution Art was indeed miraculous; after only a few days of Cultivation, Yang Che felt a subtle change in his Divine Sense.

Several days later.

Shentu Yun seemed to have made ample preparations. After specially instructing everyone in the ancient residence, she set off for the Dark Demon Valley.

To ensure that Senior Apprentice-Sister Shentu did not discover him, Yang Che quietly left the ancient residence half a day after she departed, stepping onto the Dunjxing Shuo and flying towards the Dark Demon Valley as well.

Leaving Dark Abyss City, Yang Che was enveloped in a faint black light.

This was a layer of defensive black light that formed as an accompanying effect after successfully Cultivating the ‘Dark Domain’ from the Silent Extinction Scripture.

This black light was similar to a Nascent Soul cultivator’s ‘body-protecting spiritual light’; although its power was certainly not as formidable as ‘body-protecting spiritual light’, for Core Formation Cultivators, it was an extremely good defense.

Seven days later.

Before Yang Che, an incredibly dark and massive black mountain range appeared.

The entire mountain range was shrouded in a vast expanse of black mist that seemed to have no end.

According to the map Jade Slip, the Dark Demon Valley was located within this incredibly vast mountain range.

Similar to the desolate ‘Yuan Mountain Range’ where he first entered the Dark Abyss and discovered the underground ruins and Ancient Teleportation Array, this mountain range was the other side of the Dark Abyss’s wild mountain ranges, the Dark Mountain Range.

The incredibly vast Dark Mountain Range and Yuan Mountain Range each formed a half-ring, perfectly encircling Dark Abyss City in the very center.

Flying closer, Yang Che had not yet fully entered the Dark Mountain Range when he suddenly felt a tightening in his heart, and an extremely dangerous sensation instantly surged to his mind.

He almost instinctively swayed his entire body violently, activating the Flash Cloud Boots’ instant movement, and disappeared from his original spot.

There was a loud ‘bang’ sound.

Where he had just been, two strange faint lights converged and shot forth, then exploded like brilliant fireworks.

Someone had actually ambushed him here in advance!

Yang Che’s expression gradually turned cold.

As the sneak attack failed, the people lurking in the shadows also exposed their positions.

They were two Early Golden Core Stage elders.

They were dressed in deep black and gray robes, respectively.

Seeing that Yang Che could actually teleport, both of them were greatly startled, and an expression of disbelief flashed in their eyes.

However, after their initial surprise, they were decisive. Without any hesitation, they conjured their Magic Treasures and roared towards Yang Che from left and right.

One was a Magic Treasure resembling a wooden fish, shimmering with a green light. As it flew, it continuously spat out strange white bubbles from its fish mouth.

The other was a small bronze cauldron, which, amidst a burst of yellow light, grew larger against the wind, becoming bigger and bigger, seemingly about to smash onto Yang Che’s body.

Judging by their stance, they were unleashing powerful killing moves right from the start, intending to kill Yang Che in a very short amount of time.

Yang Che’s eyes deepened, yet he neither dodged nor evaded. A strange gloom suddenly surged around his body, forming a small black world several zhang in size.

After the wooden fish Magic Treasure and the small bronze cauldron entered this small black world, they immediately became extremely sluggish, and at the same time, their light rapidly dimmed, as if subjected to some strange erosion, both showing signs of greatly diminished spirituality.

The two elders sensed this scene and immediately showed horrified expressions, utterly shocked.

They immediately had a bad premonition and decisively abandoned their Magic Treasures, fleeing instantly.

Just then, a small sword, entirely enveloped in black Qi, suddenly flew out from within the small black world. With a flicker of faint light, it directly caught up to and pierced through the elder’s defensive light shield, perforating the back of his head.

Then it changed direction and shot towards the other elder.

This time, the black small sword even accelerated again, suddenly circling and flying around the elder non-stop. Along its trajectory, countless black mists quickly appeared, enveloping the elder within them.

Yang Che instantly moved in front of the elder and asked coldly, “Who are you people? Why are you ambushing me here to kill me?”

The elder was terrified beyond measure in his heart.

While secretly cursing the person who provided the information for ‘misleading’ them, he pondered how to save his life.

However, after only a moment of hesitation, he immediately felt his soul escape his body, utterly terrified.

The black small sword suddenly erupted, like a grim reaper, instantly slashing towards his neck.

Then the elder found his head already thrown high, and subsequently, as blood splattered, the elder gradually lost consciousness, dying with his eyes wide open.

Yang Che collected their Storage Pouches and Magic Treasures, then quickly cast a Fireball Technique, turning both bodies into ashes.

He was concerned about Senior Apprentice-Sister Shentu’s safety entering the Dark Demon Valley, so he had no time to waste words with this elder. Since he hesitated and refused to speak, he could only send him to Yellow Springs.

Without any delay, Yang Che rapidly flew towards the depths of the mountain range where the ‘Dark Demon Valley’ was located.

At the same time, he felt pleasantly surprised by the power displayed by the ‘Dark Domain’ just now.

It seemed that anything within the range of this Dark Domain could be easily suppressed and controlled by him.

Thinking of this, Yang Che’s desire to continue Cultivating the Dark Domain and make its range even larger became increasingly strong.

At the same time, he was also contemplating why these two would ambush him here to kill him.

“Could it really be him?”

A flash of light crossed Yang Che’s mind, and he murmured to himself, somewhat unwilling to believe it.