Xiao Fei set the corpse of the black-robed cultivator ablaze with a fire, then meticulously cleaned up the scene, erasing all traces of the battle.
Xiao Lan had returned to the Soul Nurturing Pearl. This time, her awakening was much stronger than the previous one, and she could maintain a strength equivalent to the late stage of Qi Condensation.
However, her consciousness was still not entirely clear. She had attempted to attack Xiao Fei after consuming the residual soul of the Lin family cultivator, but Xiao Fei controlled her with soul blood and returned her to the Soul Nurturing Pearl to recuperate.
With the ability to devour vital blood, Xiao Lan now possessed the means to deal with living beings.
Otherwise, although her previous form as a fierce ghost was terrifying, she was only powerful in certain specific aspects.
When facing living people, she would still be quite wary. Living beings had vigorous blood and yang energy, and their souls were complete. Forcibly devouring a person's soul was difficult, and their yang energy would scorch her ghostly body.
After gaining the ability to devour vital blood, Xiao Lan could now directly attack living people.
Xiao Fei, having cleaned up the scene, continued to fly forward.
However, after every short distance he traveled, he left behind a tracking marker.
This was something he had interrogated from the black-robed cultivator earlier.
This person was originally responsible only for tracking and leaving markers to guide other Lin family cultivators to pursue and kill him.
However, he had been misled by intelligence, assuming that alchemists were not skilled in combat, and had underestimated Xiao Fei, which led to his demise.
The Lin family had gone to great lengths to ensure there were no mistakes and to prevent Xiao Fei from escaping, truly using a sledgehammer to crack a nut and investing heavily.
To deal with an alchemist like him, who was not skilled in combat, they had dispatched over a dozen Qi Condensation cultivators and a Foundation Establishment elder.
Xiao Fei couldn't help but marvel that the Lin family thought so highly of him, and he wondered what merits he possessed to warrant such a pursuit by so many experts.
Fortunately, the Foundation Establishment elder had gone to the Cui Hua Mountain Range in advance, and it would take some time to catch up.
Now that the black-robed cultivator responsible for tracking had been killed by him, Xiao Fei could temporarily escape their pursuit.
However, it was not a viable long-term solution for the Lin family to keep people stationed in the Cui Hua Mountain Range. Moreover, he was still somewhat unwilling to simply flee.
He couldn't fight them, and escaping was also difficult.
Xiao Fei quickly made a decision. Rather than letting the Lin family cultivators search aimlessly after losing their target, it would be better to lead them himself.
Thus, Xiao Fei flew aimlessly ahead, leading a group of Lin family cultivators in pursuit behind him.
After flying for about half a day, they arrived at a desolate area. In front of them stood a stone mountain, and at its foot was a dark cave.
Xiao Fei walked to the cave entrance and scanned it with his divine sense. Finding no other living beings, he strode inside.
The cave was deep and extended in all directions, with many branching paths.
"This will do!"
Xiao Fei muttered to himself, leaving a tracking marker on the ground at the cave entrance. He then took out several wax pellets from his spatial storage and crushed them.
The environment inside the cave was relatively enclosed, with poor air circulation. Poisoning here would remain potent for a long time without spreading.
Over the years, Xiao Fei had cultivated many Tier Two Black Leaf Datura plants in his spatial storage, which were more than sufficient to deal with Qi Condensation cultivators, and could even incapacitate Foundation Establishment cultivators.
He sprinkled a large amount of colorless and odorless powder along the cave and also around the entrance.
However, the area near the cave entrance was relatively open and prone to diffusion, causing the potency of the medicine to decrease over time.
After completing his preparations, Xiao Fei double-checked everything, found no oversights, and then left the cave, hiding in a patch of bushes on the opposite side of the stone mountain.
He took out a cloak that could conceal his form and put it on, suppressing all his aura.
This cloak had been obtained from Lin Dagou back then. Except for a few uses in the Dragon Fall Abyss, it had remained idle in his spatial storage.
At this moment, his figure had vanished. To the naked eye, only a patch of bushes swaying in the wind could be seen in his place.
About half an hour later, a group of Lin family cultivators followed the tracking markers to the cave entrance.
"Third Elder, according to the marker left by Lin Xing, the person should have entered this cave!"
"Where is Lin Xing?"
The Lin family's Third Elder was a gaunt old man, but his eyes constantly flashed with sharp light, making it daunting to meet his gaze.
"Lin Xing is not here. He must have pursued them inside."
The Third Elder felt a flicker of doubt. Under normal circumstances, when a target entered a cave or a building, the tracker would not need to follow; they only needed to guard the entrance.
Lin Xing, being an experienced tracker, would not be so reckless.
"Perhaps something unusual happened, and he pursued them."
The Third Elder did not voice his doubts and instead gave an order.
"Lin Ju, take four people to investigate. The rest will guard outside."
"Yes!"
Five Lin family disciples walked into the cave as instructed.
The Third Elder had brought a total of ten Lin family disciples this time, with the remaining five staying with him at the cave entrance.
Since he was unsure of the situation inside, the Third Elder only dispatched half his men to mitigate risks.
Even though their opponent was only a Qi Condensation cultivator not skilled in combat.
However, having lived for over a hundred years, he knew that the cultivation world held many bizarre methods that could lead to death. Caution was paramount.
Moreover, Xiao Fei had a Golden Core expert backing him.
They waited at the cave entrance for a long time, but those who went in vanished like stones sinking into the sea, with no further news.
"Lin Feng, go in and take a look."
The Third Elder sensed that something was amiss and instructed a young man beside him, handing him a yellow bowl-shaped artifact.
"Take this artifact with you. If you encounter danger, do not engage in prolonged combat."
"Thank you, Third Elder!"
Lin Feng accepted the yellow bowl-shaped artifact, levitated it into the air, and inverted it, forming a transparent shield that protected him.
Under normal circumstances, cultivators not in a combat state would not activate such defensive measures.
Doing so would continuously consume spiritual power, and if their spiritual power was insufficient during actual combat, it could lead to death.
Lin Feng entered the cave with a protective shield. After only a moment, he fled back out, carrying a large bundle of corpses.
"Bad news, Third Elder! They are all dead! All five of them are dead."
Lin Feng threw the bundle of corpses at the cave entrance, panting heavily.
The others gathered around and discovered that all five corpses were bleeding from their seven orifices.
"They've been poisoned! Everyone, quickly activate your defenses."
Following the Third Elder's loud command, everyone activated their defensive measures to prevent the poison from invading.
However, it was already too late. Although the poison at the cave entrance had weakened considerably, they had been guarding there for so long that the poison had already entered their bodies.
Within moments, a Lin family disciple collapsed to the ground, bleeding from his seven orifices, followed by the others, one after another.
The Third Elder's eyes were filled with stars. He circulated his spiritual power and divine sense to their fullest, trying to locate the poison within his body.
After searching everywhere, he found nothing. At this point, he had a possible explanation.
"The poison of the Black Leaf Datura!"
Only this poison was undetectable in its early stages, and by the time it was discovered, it was already in its late stages.
The antidote for this poison was the leaves of the Black Leaf Datura, which the poisoner usually carried.
His only chance of survival was to find the poisoner and obtain the antidote before the poison took full effect.
The advantage of this poison was that it was undetectable, and its disadvantage was also the same: combat power was not affected before the poison took hold.
The Third Elder unleashed his divine sense, searching every inch of the vicinity. He believed that the poisoner should still be observing nearby.
As his divine sense swept over a patch of bushes for the third time, his brow furrowed, but he remained outwardly calm, showing no reaction.
"Not good, it seems I have also been poisoned!"
The Third Elder exclaimed loudly and flew away.
As he was about to pass by the bushes, he suddenly struck, and a golden sword energy emerged from his fingertip, shooting towards the bushes.
"Boom!"
This sword energy struck Xiao Fei, sending him flying more than a zhang.
Xiao Fei scrambled up from the ground, summoning a high-grade artifact shield to block in front of him.
He glanced at the spot on his abdomen that had been hit by the sword energy. A large patch of skin had been scraped off, and his abdomen ached faintly.
The might of Foundation Establishment was truly terrifying!
He had already prepared himself when the Third Elder flew past from the side, circulating the "Body Tempering Art" for defense. As expected, he had been ambushed by this old schemer.
He hadn't expected that this Foundation Establishment elder of the Lin family would be so cautious and vigilant even when dealing with a mere Qi Condensation cultivator like himself. He wondered if the elder was truly poisoned.
The Third Elder's time was as precious as his life. After the failed sneak attack with the golden sword energy, he did not hesitate. He summoned a flying sword and slashed at Xiao Fei.
The high-grade shield Xiao Fei held in front of him was sliced in half as if it were made of paper.
This golden flying sword was a spiritual artifact used by Foundation Establishment cultivators, a rank higher than artifact weapons. Xiao Fei dared not meet it head-on.
With a movement of his feet, his body became a blur as he dodged to the side.
The "Body Tempering Art," when perfected, could make him resistant to artifacts, but it did not say he was resistant to spiritual artifacts.
As for the golden sword energy just now, it was merely a casual strike made in haste.
Although Xiao Fei dodged the attack, the golden flying sword pursued him relentlessly, like a maggot attached to a bone, leaving him no time to even catch his breath.