Shun Long looked at the clear and cold waters in front of his feet, and after deliberating for a moment, he and Liu Mei both consumed a top-grade rank 4 'anti toxin pill' each, before Shun Long held her hand as he dove inside the lake.
After all, as the den of a powerful peak rank 4 magic beast like the 'Purple tentacled poison turtle', Shun Long knew that despite the waters of the lake appearing crystal clear, there was a very high chance that they had been actually filled with the turtle's poison after such a long time.
As he felt the clear waters around him, Shun Long entered deeper inside the lake with Liu Mei following right next to him.
Of course, since this was still the outskirts of the 'Ten thousand beasts' mountain region', no other magic beast would be allowed to survive in the same lake as the 'Purple tentacled poison turtle', as it would have already turned into food for the giant turtle.
Barely 10 breaths of time had passed, until Shun Long and Liu Mei quickly reached the bottom of the small lake.
A cave more than 20m(66ft) in height and almost 10m(33ft) in width could be seen at the depths of the lake, without any light coming from it.
Standing in front of the cave's entrance, Shun Long thought seriously for a moment, before he used his spirit sense to cover his body.
Although he had guessed that there shouldn't be any dangers inside the cave, he still prepared himself, before he and Liu Mei slowly entered inside.
Shun Long couldn't use his spirit sense to cover the area around his body for a long time since it was extremely taxing to his spiritual strength, but luckily, the cave itself wasn't deep.
Shun Long and Liu Mei didn't encounter any dangers, and half a minute later, they had already arrived at the end of the cave itself.
Surprisingly, the cave wasn't empty, as more than 30 human skeletons were piled inside on top of each other.
The moonlight coming from the sky could barely illuminate the cave itself, but it was bright enough for Shun Long to realize, that most of these skeletons had most likely been buried in this place for a long time.
Although there was nothing else inside the cave, more than 30 spatial rings found their way into Shun Long's hands.
Despite the spatial rings being corroded due to the passage of time, as well as the amount of time that they had stayed underwater, they were still usable, as Shun Long found more than 140.000 middle grade spirit stones inside them, as well as countless bottles of middle-grade rank 4 'Qi replenishing pills' and 'anti toxin pills'.
Since there wasn't anything else inside the cave, Shun Long and Liu Mei didn't continue to stay in here, as they quickly swam back to the surface of the lake.
After taking a look at his surroundings and seeing that there were still a few hours until morning, Shun Long decided to head deeper inside the 'Ten thousand beasts' mountain range' before he found a place to rest.
Although this lake seemed to be relatively peaceful right now, however, once the magic beasts in the surrounding region realized that the peak rank 4 'Purple tentacled poison turtle' was already dead, they wouldn't hesitate to invade this area.
At the same time, Chen Yan's eyes lit up when he saw Shun Long and Liu Mei coming out from the lake so quickly.
Of course, as a mercenary himself, he wouldn't ask if Shun Long had found anything inside the lake.
However, seeing that Shun Long and Liu Mei were about to leave the area of the lake and head deeper inside the forest, Chen Yan took a deep breath before he shouted in a somewhat hesitant voice
''Brother Shun!''
Shun Long who hadn't expected for Chen Yan to call for him, turned his head around to look at the young man who had now stood up and was cupping his hands at him.
Shun Long noticed that there was a serious look in Chen Yan's eyes as he continued
''Brother Shun... I wonder if you are interested in cooperating with me!''
''Cooperate?''
A look of curiosity flashed through Shun Long's eyes as he looked at the black-robed Chen Yan, while different possibilities flashed through his mind.
''He wants to cooperate? Is it because he saw the effectiveness of the 'Soul Poisoning hell grass' poison and wants to deal with a powerful magic beast, or is this actually a trap and he intends to rob me and Mei'er instead?''
As these thoughts flashed through Shun Long's mind, he didn't choose to ask what Chen Yan needed help with, and instead, he stayed silent, as he waited to hear the man's reason before deciding.
''Right!'' Chen Yan nodded his head when he saw that both Shun Long and Liu Mei were both silent after hearing his offer, before he continued
''The truth is... a month ago, our group discovered 2 stalks of a rank 5 'icicle soul grass' as we adventured in a mountain.''
Without waiting for Shun Long to respond, Chen Yan then continued
''Of course, as brother Shun can guess, our group was extremely happy when we found the grass. After all, a single stalk of 'icicle soul grass' is extremely valuable to any peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator, let alone 2 of them.''
Shun Long was extremely shocked inwardly when he heard that there were 2 stalks of rank 5 'icicle soul grass', and he almost failed to keep his expression in check.
After all, the value of the 'icicle soul grass' even exceeded that of the 'Soul Poisoning hell grass' itself.
Shun Long also knew, that Chen Yan was saying the truth when he said that this grass is extremely valuable to any peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator.
It was because, in order for a cultivator to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, they need to condense their soul in their spiritual space. And the 'icicle soul grass' could actually help a peak rank 9 Spirit realm cultivator during that process!
However, at the same time, Shun Long considered the fact whether Chen Yan was actually lying.
If they had really found 2 stalks of 'icicle soul grass', then it was extremely unlikely for Chen Yan to share this information with Shun Long.
After all, a single stalk of 'icicle soul grass' could be sold for more than 650.000 low-grade spirit stones, or 6500 middle grade ones.
However, even if one had the spirit stones, they wouldn't necessarily be able to purchase a stalk of this grass.
Shun Long was also aware, that even the 'Alchemists' Guild' of the Heaven's Dome city, would at most have a single stalk of 'icicle soul grass' as well.
Chen Yan had a wary smile on his face as he looked at Shun Long and Liu Mei, before he continued his explanation
''However, as brother Shun can guess, we were actually unable to obtain the stalks of 'icicle soul grass'.
It was because, at the peak of that mountain, there were a pair of gigantic 'snow apes' who lived there!''