Five hundred real years, equivalent to fifteen thousand space years, passed in the blink of an eye.

As expected, Yang Shi and the others’ body cultivation successfully advanced to the early stage of level ten.

Additionally, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan studied in the space and improved all their arts to the peak stage of level nine. Unfortunately, most of their improvement was theoretical because they didn’t have the necessary resources to practice their skills.

At this time, Zhen Yuan, Shen Xu, Yang Shi, Li Wenqiang, Yin Shi, Feng Xue, Xuanyuan Yang, Xuanyuan Yue, Xuanyuan Xing, and Mo Ling sat in a group discussing their next step.

"The best option is to let a puppet take us out." Shen Xu said, but Zhen Yuan shook his head.

"Many people know that we have a puppet, but no one knows about Yin Shi." He said.

Yin Shi came out of seclusion after the Shen siblings separated from their group. Because of this, no one could connect Yin Shi to their group, hence she could safely leave the Cursed Valley without being disturbed.

"Yin Shi, what do you think?" Shen Xu asked, looking at the little bee that had already transformed into a beautiful young woman.

"I don’t mind." Yin Shi said.

[We can let Yang Shi hide as a bracelet around her wrist. She will be safer this way.] Zhen Yuan transmitted to Shen Xu, and the double nodded.

After that, Shen Xu sent Mo Ling, the Xuanyuan triplets, Li Wenqiang, and Feng Xue to the portable mountain in the space.

When that was done, he gave the chaos flame space pendant to Yang Shi and let him hide as a bracelet on Yin Shi’s wrist.

"Be careful." The double said, looking at Yin Shi with solemn eyes.

"I know." Yin Shi said.

Soon after, Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan also entered the space and went to the portable mountain.

"Where are we going?" Li Wenqiang asked.

"We have asked Yin Shi to find a remote island in the Southern Blue Ocean." Shen Xu said, and Mo Ling couldn’t help but frown.

"Isn’t it safer to go to another ocean?" He asked.

After all, the Southern Blue Ocean had the Golden Rock Island, and many cultivators often went there.

"It’s been more than two thousand years since the major factions started mining the Golden Rock Island." Zhen Yuan said and quickly continued.

"It’s estimated that they have already mined everything and shifted their focus from the Southern Blue Ocean." He said, and Shen Xu nodded before speaking.

"We will find different islands for everyone to advance on and then retreat on the Golden Rock Island." He said.

Hearing this, Mo Ling couldn’t help but be shocked.

"Do we really want to retreat at the Golden Rock Island?" He asked.

"Ayuan and I found a hidden cave in the Golden Rock Island. We will hide there and retreat peacefully on this mountain." Shen Xu explained, but Mo Ling was still not convinced.

"Maybe the hidden cave has already been discovered." He argued, but the double chuckled and explained.

"It’s not an ordinary hidden cave." He said with a mysterious expression.

"What’s going on with the cave?" Feng Xue asked.

"It’s hidden within a stone circle." Shen Xu said, and Feng Xue gasped with a shocked expression.

"How could there be a stone circle in the cultivation world?" She asked, but neither Shen Xu nor Zhen Yuan was clear about this matter.

"It’s probably a remnant from ancient times." Zhen Yuan said.

"Mother, what’s a stone circle?" Xuanyuan Yang asked.

Although he was now a phoenix and had awakened his inherited memories, his knowledge wasn’t as deep as Feng Xue’s.

After all, the triplets were ordinary phoenixes while Feng Xue was a yin-yang phoenix.

"It’s a kind of ancient formation. It’s difficult to arrange and almost impossible to detect or break." She said and quickly continued.

"It’s highly unlikely that others have discovered the cave if it’s hidden within a stone circle."

"Mmh." Shen Xu nodded and continued.

"It’s why Ayuan and I thought of going there to retreat." He said.

"Do we have enough resources?" Feng Xue asked, her voice carrying a barely perceptible undertone.

"Don’t worry about resources. We have enough for everyone to advance to the peak stage of the tribulation transcending realm." Shen Xu assured, and Mo Ling couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

"I..." He started, but Shen Xu shook his head.

"No need to say more." He started and continued before Mo Ling could interrupt.

"Call it a favour. You can pay us back in the future."

"I understand." Mo Ling nodded, looking at Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan with grateful eyes.

.....

Outside the space, Yin Shi leisurely exited the Cursed Valley.

"Stop." A voice commanded, and Yin Shi stopped.

Turning around, she saw a group of five cultivators flying towards her.

At a glance, the leader was a mid-stage tribulation transcending realm ancestor, while the others were fusion realm and Mahayana realm cultivators.

"Fellow Daoist, which sect do you belong to?" A Mahayana realm cultivator asked, but Yin Shi didn’t answer right away.

Instead, she carefully looked at the five and noticed that they all had the identification tokens of the Hanging Garden sect.

"I am a disciple of the Snow Mountain sect." She finally said, bowed to the tribulation transcending realm cultivator, and showed a disciple token of the Snow Mountain sect.

During their years in the Cursed Valley, the group not only encountered striped glutton locusts but also other cultivators.

However, not all encounters were peaceful, and because of this, the group had amassed a lot of loot, including sect tokens.

"How long have you been in the Cursed Valley?" Another Mahayana realm cultivator asked.

"I was there for one thousand years." Yin Shi answered in a respectful voice.

"Senior sister, have you seen these people?" One of the fusion realm cultivators asked and handed over a bunch of bounty posters.

Seeing Mo Ling’s face on the topmost poster, Yin Shi didn’t react but instead reached for the bunch and began looking.

Mo Ling, Shen Xu, Zhen Yuan, Feng Xue, Xuanyuan Yang, Xuanyuan Yue, Xuanyuan Xing, ..., no one was missing, but Yin Shi still kept her cool.

"I have seen the bounty posts, but I haven’t seen the people." She said.

After that, the five asked a few more questions but eventually let Yin Shi go.

’As expected.’ She thought, and without looking back, she left the area and headed to the nearest town.