Chapter 164: Control

"Fellow Daoists, the time is almost up. Those who have not arrived on time will be deemed to have given up the mission. I would like to thank you all for coming as promised." Huanshi said some polite words.

"No need to be polite. We are not here to travel. You should tell me the details of this mission." A rough man sitting cross-legged on a boulder shouted impatiently.

"Leave these formal things to the disciples of the sect. We casual cultivators don't have time to play with empty things! We come here for spirit stones. Let's get serious!"

"Yes! The casual alliance activities are so mysterious. We don't know what we are going to do even though we are about to set off!"

Once the rough man said this, others echoed him.

"Okay, okay, I am very pleased to see that all of you Daoists are quick-witted and free-spirited people." Huanshi heard this and swept his eyes gently over everyone, seemingly not angry.

"Everyone, we, the Baiye Sanmeng, have called everyone here this time. The purpose is to pass through the Ghost Crying Gorge behind you, enter the Snake King Valley, and hunt the snake king of the Golden Flower Poison Python."

When Huanshi said this, most people were confused, as if they didn't know what the snake king was?

Yuan Ming knew their purpose a long time ago, and after returning to Biluo Cave, he made a deeper understanding.

The ordinary golden flower poisonous python is just a first-level intermediate beast, equivalent to the fourth to sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage.

However, don't be fooled by its seemingly insignificant strength. This kind of snake usually reproduces very quickly and likes to live in groups. In addition, it has a violent personality. When hunting, it is often attacked by them in groups, and it will not stop until it dies.

So once you encounter it, it is also a very troublesome existence.

This is probably the reason why the Baiye Sanmeng recruited a large number of temporary members.

"May I ask the leader, what is the matter with the snake king of the golden flower poisonous python, and what special means of attack does it have?" He took the initiative to speak and asked.

"The snake king of the Golden Flower Poison Python is a second-level intermediate beast, equivalent to the early to middle stage of foundation building. This beast has a strong physique, great power, and is extremely poisonous." Huanshi glanced at Yuan Ming and then explained to everyone.

Yuan Ming nodded secretly when he heard this, which was basically consistent with what he had seen when he looked up the information.

When the others heard that the snake king of the Golden Flower Poison Python was actually a second-level intermediate beast, their eyes, expressions or movements all changed at the same time.

Some of them even showed a bit of retreat.

"Master Alliance Leader, killing a second-level intermediate beast... It's really too high of our expectations. We can't take this job." A tall and thin middle-aged man spoke first.

"When a cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage hunts a second-level intermediate beast, even if there are many people, it is inevitable that there will be heavy casualties. We are just trying to earn some spirit stones, so there is no need to fight to the death." Another person immediately added.

"What a joke..."

...

For a while, voices of doubt rang frequently.

"Fellow Daoists, please be patient. I haven't finished speaking yet. Your main task is to kill the fierce beasts and poisonous creatures that block the road and search for the traces of the snake king. If anyone can find the traces of the snake king, we will reward an additional 300 spirit stones. For those who participate in killing the Golden Flower Poisonous Python King, we will reward them with no less than 100 spirit stones, and up to 500 spirit stones, depending on the contribution." Huanshi stretched out his hand and pressed twice in front of him to suppress their doubts.

There must be brave men under heavy rewards, and the voices of doubt and opposition suddenly became smaller.

"Why were you vague and unwilling to explain this risk before, and had to wait until we gathered here before you were willing to say it?" But some people still questioned.

In fact, most people have figured out the answer, which is to trick them here first.

"This is a secret operation of our Baiye Sanmeng, and it is not appropriate to disclose it in advance. But don't worry, if you want to withdraw now, it's still in time, and we will compensate you appropriately." Huanshi said.

Hearing that there was compensation, those people's faces eased, and they immediately asked how to compensate.

Huanshi held up two fingers and said, "Those who choose to give up now can receive two spirit stones and leave."

"Two?"

For ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, two spirit stones are not a small amount, but compared with the maximum of 500 spirit stones that can be obtained by participating in the mission, it seems insignificant.

The hearts of the people were a little insatiable by the extreme comparison of the number of spirit stones.

If they didn't know the reward for participating in the mission, or if the reward for participating in the mission was not so much, they might have accepted the compensation of two spirit stones.

After all, they only spent some time to rush here, and got two spirit stones as compensation. They made a lot of money no matter how they calculated it.

But with the 500 spirit stones as a reference, it was very uncomfortable.

Yuan Ming couldn't help but admire in his heart that Bai Ye Sanmeng had done a great job and accurately grasped the mentality of these people. I don't know if it was Bai Ye or Huanshi's idea.

The scene suddenly became cold, and all the temporary members were struggling, thinking whether they should just take this risk and give it a try?

Putting aside the risk of participating in killing the snake king, just finding its trace costs a full three hundred spirit stones!

"I have another question. If the situation in the Snake King Valley is more serious than we imagined, can we quit halfway?" The tall and thin middle-aged man asked again.

"Once you enter the Snake King Valley, life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are in the hands of God. You are all comrades tied to us. Anyone who retreats on the spot may cause the death or injury of others, so in principle, you cannot quit." Huanshi said.

In principle, you cannot, but in reality?

Sure enough, Huanshi added:

"However, considering the complexity of the situation, before finding the Snake King, you all have one chance to quit, and we will give each person a reward of ten spirit stones."

Everyone present heard this and fell into a struggle between heaven and man again.

"It is good to have money, but you have to have a life to spend it." However, the voice of doubt still exists.

"At least there is one more chance to quit, and there are ten spirit stones as compensation, which is not a small amount..." A casual cultivator pondered.

"You can give it a try." Someone made a decision,

"Sorry, I quit this mission." Someone also chose to quit.

After one person quit, seven or eight quit voices were heard one after another, but it was much less than at the beginning.

When the few people who quit walked out of the crowd, the people of the Baiye Sanmeng did not embarrass them.

"Everyone has their own aspirations. Since several Taoists have chosen to withdraw, we will not force them. We will give each of you two spirit stones as compensation for your wasted trip." Huanshi said.

After that, he glanced at the young man in white standing aside and called "Tuo Zhe".

The young man in white understood what he meant and immediately stepped forward to distribute spirit stones to the seven or eight temporary members who withdrew.

Seeing that the Baiye Sanmeng acted uprightly, the temporary members who were originally suspicious and worried about being deceived suddenly lost all their anger and worries.

Two of them felt that the Baiye Sanmeng acted openly and generously, and changed their minds on the spot and decided to continue to participate in this beast hunting mission.

The rest who decided to leave, after receiving the spirit stones, also bowed and said goodbye.

"Everyone, we, the Baiye Sanmeng, have no other requirements for you. We just hope that after you leave, don't spread the news here. At least don't spread it in the next few days, otherwise it will cause unnecessary trouble for us, and you may also be in trouble." After Huanshi gave sweet dates to comfort them, he threatened with a big stick.

The people who had just received the spirit stones also understood that this was a combination of kindness and force, and they all promised not to spread it.

After they all left, Huanshi continued to say to the remaining people:

"You are all strong-willed people, and I believe that this cooperation will be very smooth. Entering the Snake King Valley, there is poisonous miasma everywhere. Ordinary anti-poison pills are useless against it. We have prepared anti-miasma beads in advance to eliminate poisonous miasma."

After that, he asked several official members of the Baiye Sanmeng to come forward and distribute anti-miasma beads to everyone.

What Yuan Ming got was a fist-sized glass bead, which was shining and looked like a gem.

"This is the anti-miasma bead. There is no need to refine it. You only need to transfer some magic power into it, and you can use the clear light emitted by this thing to form a safe area within a hundred feet around you." Huanshi said.

After that, he asked Tuozhe and others to distribute a green jade talisman to everyone.

"This is a sensing jade talisman, everyone, keep it carefully. If you accidentally get lost in the poisonous miasma, you can crush this thing and people nearby will feel it and find your location. And if anyone among you finds the location of the Golden Flower Poisonous Python King, you can also crush this thing to report it." Huanshi continued.

Hearing this, everyone lowered their heads to check the jade talismans in their hands.

Yuan Ming rubbed the jade talisman and felt that there were rune patterns on it. After taking a look, he put it away.

"In order to facilitate everyone's orderly exploration and mutual support, we will divide everyone into seven teams and explore the areas in different directions." Huanshi said.

After that, he commanded the 27 temporary members who stayed behind, four people in a team, and a total of seven teams.

The first person who was picked out to be in the same team with Yuan Ming was a burly iron giant. He was wrapped tightly in a cloth robe, and except for his face, there was almost no skin exposed.

The second person was a rare woman in the team. She was wearing a tight black outfit that outlined her slender figure perfectly. A thin black veil covered half of her face, but the delicate and perfect outline underneath could be vaguely seen.

Especially at the corner of her eye, there was a rose-red teardrop mole, which made her naturally have a pitiful temperament.

The last person was also wearing black clothes, a short and neat outfit, and around his waist, there were seven or eight delicate and small bottles and jars, and dark-colored small gourds.

This made Yuan Ming have to guess that he was most likely a member of the Hundred Poison Cave.