10,000x Cultivation: I Gain Power by Adopting Training Acolytes

"Let's move," Zhang Yun commanded, descending the stone staircase with his disciples in tow. Huang Laodao—now reluctantly dubbed "Old Huang"—trailed behind like a disgruntled shadow.

The subterranean chamber at the base of the stairs housed a raised dais shrouded in black cloth. Zhang Yun yanked the fabric aside, revealing a luminous teleportation array etched with intricate glyphs. Huang Laodao's eyes widened. A functional ancient array? The craftsmanship… His fingers twitched with scholarly envy before he caught himself.

"Old Huang," Zhang Yun jerked his chin toward the platform. "Test it."

The daoist's wrinkled face soured. Testing arrays like a human guinea pig? Yet under Zhang Yun's expectant gaze, he stepped onto the glowing runes.

Hummm!

Azure light engulfed Huang Laodao, dissolving him into particles. Moments later, his grumbling voice echoed through a communication stone: "Safe. Some underwater cave with… achoo!... damp air."

Satisfied, Zhang Yun guided his disciples onto the array. Spatial distortion gripped them—a sensation like being squeezed through a whale's esophagus—before depositing them in a grotto illuminated by luminous pearls. Moonlight filtered through rippling water beyond the entrance's translucent barrier.

"Recheck stability," Zhang Yun ordered, already reciting the return incantation.

Huang Laodao's muffled curses preceded his reappearance. "Must we—"

"Thoroughness preserves lives," Zhang Yun interrupted, carving a spiritual marker into the cave wall. The daoist's nose wrinkled at the pungent brine as they breached the water barrier.

Lakeshore - Southern Wind Forest​

Emerging onto a pebbled beach, the group inhaled air thick with primal energy. Mist coiled around ancient cedars whose canopies blotted the twilight sky. Huang Laodao sniffed like a bloodhound. "Core Formation beasts prowl nearby. We're deep in the forest's heart."

Zhang Yun's gaze swept the shadowed woods. Every rustling leaf seemed to whisper prey. "Head toward thinner灵气 density," he commanded, then paused.

A primal itch crawled between his shoulder blades—the forest's gaze.

"Wait here." Against all logic, Zhang Yun retraced their path into deepening gloom.

Huang Laodao exchanged incredulous looks with the disciples. Is he courting death?

Forest Interior​

Dread thickened with each step. Ancient oaks groaned in nonexistent winds, their bark scarred by talon marks wider than a man's reach. Zhang Yun withdrew three jade bracelets—tracking artifacts looted from the South Mountain elders.

"Perfect decoys," he muttered, hurling them into a thorn-choked gully.

Crunch.

A twig snapped leagues ahead. Zhang Yun froze. The forest's breath stilled.

Something vast shifted in the murk—scales rasping against stone, a low-frequency rumble vibrating ribcages. Twin crimson orbs ignited in the distance, piercing through mist like bloody lanterns.

Adrenaline scorched Zhang Yun's veins. He backpedaled, Qingyuan Steps blurring his retreat. Only when the oppressive weight lifted did he realize his robes clung to sweat-drenched skin.

Regrouped​

"Master!" Xu Ming rushed forward, noting his teacher's pallor. "What happened?"

"Nothing consequential," Zhang Yun lied smoothly, though his knuckles whitened around his sword hilt. "We leave. Now."

As they retreated, unseen talons retrieved the discarded bracelets. A serpentine tail thicker than an ancient pillar withdrew into the gloom, its obsidian scales drinking the moonlight.