The old man, having revealed the truth about the fallen spirit beasts devolving into demonic beasts to Zhang Yang, was already prepared to leave with Zhang Pinglu.

In fact, after the Purple Gold Mountain was designated a natural scenic area by the Changjing government, personnel from the National Security Bureau had approached the Spirit Beast Sect. It was then that the elder learned of exceptionally powerful cultivators, clad in long, hooded robes that obscured most of their faces, who belonged to the State Security Bureau and specialized in handling matters within the cultivation world.

The current situation clearly involved two nations, and the elder even guessed that Zhang Pinglu intended to take him to meet those cultivators from the National Security Bureau, so he was not surprised.

What troubled him was the exposure of this hidden valley paradise to outsiders. The Spirit Beast Sect had always resided on Purple Gold Mountain, moving to this valley haven to build their wooden huts and live alongside the spirit beast, the Azure Eagle, precisely so they could cultivate their nature away from the distractions of the mundane world.

Although the members of the Spirit Beast Sect themselves possessed mediocre strength—merely a second or third-rate minor sect, lacking any powerful guardian—they understood how to coexist with spirit beasts and held many treasures bestowed upon them by these creatures. If news of these treasures circulated, it would inevitably attract the covetous eyes of other sects. Once their dwelling place was exposed, they would have no choice but to relocate the entire sect.

After explaining the reason, the elder let out a long, weary sigh, muttering to himself with a sense of helplessness, "This valley haven actually possesses intricate mechanisms left by predecessors; ordinary people could never find it. If not for the guidance of our Sacred Beast, the Azure Eagle, we would never have discovered this place. I truly do not understand how that foreign cultivator managed to find us here, and even how he knew the method to open the entrance cave mechanism!"

"I know how he discovered you were here and how he knew the method to open the entrance cave mechanism!"

Hearing the elder's self-muttering, Qiao Yihong, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke up, eliciting gasps and drawing everyone's gaze toward him.

Qiao Yihong recalled how, just before entering this valley haven, Pu Chengen had arrogantly boasted to him that he had bribed one of the locals here—

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