Chen Gensheng walked over to a water-filled depression near the cave entrance and looked down.

  His left eye was a mortal one, reflecting his own disheveled state. His right eye, however, was deep and dark, devoid of any light at the bottom, calm like an ancient well capable of devouring all things. This asymmetrical pair of pupils added an indescribable air of wickedness to his already grim countenance.

  He sat cross-legged and fished out several bottles of medicinal pills from the female cultivator's storage bag. Cursing under his breath, he poured several oddly colored pills into his mouth like beans and swallowed them whole. The Sutra of Primordial Stability began to circulate within his body, repairing his damaged meridians and internal organs.

  Aatop Thunder-Echo Ridge.

  Zhang Cuizhan yanked the four damaged formation flags from the ground, his face no longer holding a shred of refined elegance. "Xiao Bai!" He hissed the name through gritted teeth. "I even used my Soul-Slaying Nail just to trap that strange corpse! My banner, which housed thousands of souls of the wrongfully dead, was picked clean by his insects! And you just stood there watching?"

  Zhang rushed in front of Xiao Bai, pointing at his nose and shouting, "Where is that precious baleful soldier of yours? Why didn't you bring it out? Are you hiding it to use at my funeral?"

  Xiao Bai’s eyes were bloodshot. He swatted Zhang’s hand away and pushed himself up from the ground, the movement aggravating his chest injury and causing his face to twitch in pain. "The spectral souls in your pathetic banner were nothing but fodder for those corpse-wasps. You were stupid; who else is there to blame? If I had truly summoned the baleful soldier, believe it or not, that ugly toad would have evolved into a Tier 3 spirit beast on the spot."

  Zhang froze, clearly not expecting such an explanation. He felt Xiao Bai was merely dodging responsibility, which only fueled his rage. "I think you were just holding back, afraid that if we fought to a mutual loss, I’d be the one to benefit in the end."

  Xiao Bai roared in fury, "My baleful soldier is a mass of foul sha-qi! Do you want to personally feed a Late-stage Tier 3 Essence-Marrow Toad and then have us both become its snacks?"

  Zhang was stunned by the outburst. "Is that toad... truly that formidable? I only knew its body was full of treasures and could refine essence-marrow, but I didn't know..."

  "There's a lot you don't know! Once that toad reaches Tier 3, the sha-qi it exhales is something neither you nor I can withstand." Xiao Bai wiped a trace of black blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze gloomy. "That female corpse-puppet was clearly sluggish and unrefined in directing the toad. If Chen Gensheng had been controlling it himself, my chest wouldn't have just been smeared with a bit of sha-light the moment I showed my face."

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  Recalling the battle, Zhang realized Xiao Bai was right. Though the toad's offensive was fierce, it always felt half a beat slow.

  "Then what do we do now?" Zhang’s voice finally lost its edge, but he spoke with lingering resentment. "That fellow took a combined hit from us and forced such a violent escape technique. He must be severely injured right now. It’s the perfect time to strike."

  Xiao Bai glanced at him coldly. "Strike with what? Your banner is gone, and I dare not use my baleful soldier. Going after him now is just offering up whatever is left of our lives."

  He took out the tortoise-shell-shaped Qianji Compass. The needle in the center was spinning wildly, unable to lock onto a direction. "Chen Gensheng likely used that puppet's eye to completely erase the scent I left on him."

  Xiao Bai stowed the compass and looked around the desolate landscape. "Star-Fall Gorge is neither too big nor too small. If he intends to hide, where will we find him?"

  Zhang’s face grew uglier. "Is that it? We've planned for years, and the 'Ethereal Dao-Body' is right before us. Are we going to let all that effort go to waste because of some freak who appeared out of nowhere?"

  Xiao Bai walked to the cliff's edge, gazing down at the bottomless God-Burial Pit shrouded in restrictions. He turned back to Zhang with a look of exhaustion. "That man is a thousand—ten thousand—times greedier than we imagined. This God-Burial Pit is the greatest bait in the world. Now that he’s caught the scent, he won't let go easily."

  Zhang frowned. "You mean we wait here for him?"

  "No." Xiao Bai shook his head. "I'm not waiting. I'm leaving."

  "Leaving just like that?" Zhang’s voice was dry and raspy. Xiao Bai didn't even bother looking at him, reaching into his ring for a Kun-Yuan Bead.

  "You have the sub-bead; you can pat your ass and leave whenever you want! What about me? What do I do!" Zhang roared. "Do you treat me like a damn chamber pot to be tossed away after use?"

  Xiao Bai indifferently polished the bead in his hand, a mocking curl on his lips. "Brother Zhang, what's the point of saying this now? we came here for profit. Now that the deal is blown, we each find our own way out. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being incompetent and not leaving yourself a backway."

  Zhang was so enraged he nearly fainted. "If I hadn't used my Soul-Slaying Nail to help you hold back that corpse-puppet! My banner! My thousands of souls! And you brush me off with 'finding your own way'?"

  Xiao Bai finally stopped and raised his gloomy eyes. "I intended to keep up appearances with you a bit longer. After all, the final restriction of the God-Burial Pit requires a special sacrifice—a Foundation cultivator with an intact soul. Unfortunately, plans change. Chen Gensheng ruined everything. I'm giving up on this pit. You're on your own."

  He turned to activate the bead, ignoring the deathly pale Zhang Cuizhan.

  "STAY!" Zhang snapped his head up, his eyes blood-red, filled only with the madness of a man driven into a corner. "Today, I’m making sure you go nowhere! The two of us will stay right here and wait for our 'friend' Chen to return! Let's see if he twists your head off first or flays my skin!"

  Laughing maniacally, Zhang Cuizhan hurled the four flickering, near-collapsing formation flags into the ground.