Jian Dan gently tucked Brother Parrot back into her robes and didn't act rashly. She had already noticed that the group caught in the formation were the same ones who had just left to search for an exit.
With a helpless sigh, she formed a hand seal and temporarily withdrew the killing array.
Inside the formation, the cultivators who had just been struggling against omnidirectional spell attacks suddenly found the barrage vanish. Just a few paces away stood a young woman in white robes—calm, composed, and clearly the master of this array.
"Fellow Daoists, may I ask why you were attacking my formation?" Jian Dan blinked her wide, innocent eyes and questioned them before they could speak.
The cultivators exchanged glances. Eventually, Han Pengfei stepped forward and cupped his fists slightly. "Please don't take offense, Fellow Daoist. We've been trapped in this cave for some days now. When we stumbled upon this formation, we assumed it concealed the exit—hence our... probing."
Behind him, two injured cultivators were exchanging sound-transmissions in hushed urgency:
"This woman is suspicious. This place was empty when we left earlier—no formation, no one here. How did she appear out of nowhere?"
"Agreed. But her cultivation is only at early Foundation Establishment. Why is Senior Brother Han being so courteous?"
"See that array disk? She hasn't fully retracted it. She's still guarding against us. And tell me—could you break through that defense? Survive its killing array?"
"...Point taken. Let's observe for now."
Jian Dan, having heard every word of their exchange with perfect clarity, chose not to expose them. She simply returned Han Pengfei's gesture and replied gently, "I see. Then I must apologize for my suspicion. I was randomly teleported here, and during the process, I was ambushed and injured. I set up a formation to meditate and recover—unaware that it would alarm you all."
"No harm done," Han Pengfei replied. "Since you've recovered, why don't you join us in searching for the exit?"
"I would be grateful for the company and protection," Jian Dan said with a modest smile, then swept her hand to fully retract the formation disk. "Please, after you."
And so, with their own thoughts and suspicions swirling beneath the surface, the group resumed their search for a way out.
"Xiao Zhuzi, I know where the exit is."
"Couldn't you have said that earlier? You let me walk in circles with them on purpose?"
"Tch! Ahead, take the left tunnel. There's a fake wall—smash it, and you're out. But be careful when you exit."
"Noted."
Jian Dan cleared her throat. "Fellow Daoists, my spirit beast has found the exit. Would you allow me to lead the way?"
The group halted and turned to look at her. Jian Dan calmly reached into her robes and lifted Brother Parrot out. He flapped his wings once and perched proudly on her shoulder, puffing out his tiny chest with pride.
The others scanned the bird, noting it lacked even the faintest hint of spiritual energy, and silently parted to let her pass.
Jian Dan smiled faintly. "This way. Follow this tunnel, and turn left at the fork. You'll reach it."
When all six had entered the tunnel, they quickly realized there was no path ahead—just a solid rock wall.
Jian Dan pursed her lips into a soft smile. "Why are you all staring at a weak woman like me? Just break the wall—there's the exit."
The group exchanged glances and turned toward Han Pengfei. With a resigned expression, he drew his flying sword and channeled his spiritual power into a cleaving strike.
BOOM!
The shattered debris ricocheted toward the group.
Jian Dan had already activated a defensive talisman at Brother Parrot's warning. But one cultivator—Zhu Yongnian—used the chaos to slip behind her.
"Xiao Zhuzi, he's going to ambush you!"
"Let him try. If he dares, I'll kill him."
The others, including Han Pengfei, noticed Zhu's move—but none intervened.
Zhu Yongnian, confident in his mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, used an illusionary technique in the flying debris to conceal his strike. He appeared behind Jian Dan and thrust his sword toward her dantian.
Clang!
The tip of his sword met another blade—a sword that had blocked him effortlessly.
Jian Dan didn't even turn. With her left hand reaching behind her back, she parried the attack with perfect ease.
"How ungrateful of you," she said mildly. "I just pointed out the way, and this is how you repay me?"
Whoosh!
The sound of sword energy tearing through flesh echoed. With a flick of her right wrist, Jian Dan's sword coiled like a spirit snake, its laced with sword energy shredding Zhu Yongnian's sea of consciousness.
With both swords returned to her side, Jian Dan flicked a tiny flame from her fingertips at his collapsing body, reducing it to ashes. Brother Parrot fluttered down, retrieving the storage pouch and dropping it into her palm.
The remaining four cultivators raised their weapons in unison, their eyes filled with cold killing intent.
But Jian Dan had already taken advantage of their stunned silence. In those three seconds, she popped a pill into her mouth—and another into Brother Parrot's beak. Her spiritual sense swept her storage bag, transferring what she needed into the wrist-bound storage bracelet.
Then, using the force of their approaching spell attacks, she let herself be blown backward—straight through the broken opening in the rock.
The others charged after her with practiced coordination, but the moment they stepped outside, their spiritual power abruptly stagnated—and one by one, they plummeted down from the cliff edge.