The third-order Yun Yihu made so much noise that Ximen Yunfei could hear the terrifying roar even if it was hundreds of feet underground.
Of course, he could also judge that the third-order Cloud Wing Tiger was far away from the cave based on the location of the roar.
A bold idea popped into Ximen Yunfei's mind.
"There should be something good in the third-order Cloud Winged Tiger's cave!"
Ximen Yunfei took out a third-level low-grade defensive talisman and quietly escaped into the cave of the third-level Yun Yihu.
After breaking out of the ground, he headed straight for the cave. He didn't know exactly what was in the cave, but he felt that there would be something good.
"This is? Dragon's blood grass, one is five hundred years old, three are three hundred years old, and there are more than a dozen seedlings that are about one hundred years old."
Ximen Yunfei was overjoyed when he saw the elixir in the cave. The age of the elixir was secondary. The key was that the dragon's blood grass was very rare and expensive.
If all these were taken to the family store, they could be sold for at least hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.
"You're really lucky, take them all."
Ximen Yunfei took out a small tool, dug out all the dragon blood grass in the cave by the roots, and stored it in the jade box he prepared with him.
Before entering the secret realm, they prepared enough jade boxes. After all, the Puppet Emperor's secret realm had only been opened after so many years, so it was impossible not to have high-level elixirs.
After confirming that there were no other treasures in the cave, Ximen Yunfei quickly left the cave and escaped as soon as he left the cave.
He had already heard the roar of the third-level Cloud Wing Tiger. He was less than five miles away from the cave. He had to escape to have a better chance of winning.
"Roar……"
After Ximen Yunfei escaped five miles away, he heard the roar of the Yun Yihu. He didn't know whether he found that the elixir had been stolen, or he encountered another junior human being who was invading the territory.
However, these are no longer important. Ximen Yunfei has already obtained the dragon blood grass. Next, he will continue to explore new places.
…
In a dense forest, Ximen Zangjian was stopped by a third-level low-level sitting bear. He immediately sacrificed a third-level low-level giant ape puppet beast to fight with the third-level sitting bear.
At the same time, he also used a black ax and struck the sitting bear from top to bottom.
"Roar……"
The third-level sitting bear was entangled by the giant ape puppet beast. Unexpectedly, a mere human foundation-building monk could control the magic weapon and cause some damage to it.
"Whoosh..."
Sitting Bear sent out a wind blade, Ximen Zangjian quickly blocked it with a black shield, his face flushed.
Even though he has the foundation-building Dzogchen cultivation level, the pressure of fighting against the third-order monster beast is still huge. Even if he adds the third-order giant ape puppet beast, he won't have much advantage.
After a while of fighting, the Ximen Hidden Sword was drained of its true energy, and he had to drink a drop of earthly spiritual milk to instantly restore all his true energy.
"Human boy, no more fighting, I will let you go."
The third-level sitting bear was troubled by the giant ape puppet beast, but the human foundation-building boy recovered all his true energy in an instant, and had no chance of winning if he continued to fight.
"Then thank you very much, senior. I dare to ask, senior, where is the treasure?"
Ximen Zangjian took a dozen steps back cautiously and saluted respectfully to Sitting Bear.
"That's all, no fight, no acquaintance, fifty miles to the east, there is an abandoned palace, there may be a treasure that the human race needs, go find it yourself!"
Sitting Bear glanced at the third-order giant ape puppet beast, then at the black ax in Ximen Zangjian's hand, and turned around and left with a look of helplessness.
The human race's foundation-building monks are a great complement to it, but the other party has magic weapons and third-level puppet beasts in its hands.
It can't chew this hard nut, and there's no point in continuing to struggle. It's better to give it to its old rival.
Sitting Bear's old rival is a third-level low-grade golden-patterned tiger, and the abandoned palace is within the territory of this golden-patterned tiger.
This old bear wants to trick his old rival. If both the old rival and the human kid are harmed, then it will take advantage.
Ximen Zangjian was also murmuring in his heart. He couldn't figure out whether what the third-level Sitting Bear said was true or false, but his cards were powerful enough, so he wasn't afraid.
He followed what Sitting Bear said and rushed fifty miles due east. Sure enough, he saw an abandoned palace.
What he didn't know was that the Sitting Bear had been following him quietly, keeping a certain distance from him, a distance that could not be detected by the Foundation Establishment Dzogchen monks.
"Roar……"
As soon as he entered the territory of the Golden Pattern Tiger, Ximen Zangjian was discovered, even though he was wearing the Forbidden God gauze.
But the movement of fallen leaves under his feet could not escape the keen perception of the third-order golden-striped tiger.
"Third-level golden-patterned tiger? Another third-level monster. What a bad luck."
Ximen Zangjian sighed and sacrificed the third-order giant ape puppet beast. Suddenly, he thought of something.
"That damn Sitting Bear, couldn't he be trying to trick me on purpose?"
Thinking of this, Ximen Zangjian sneered at the corner of his mouth.
"Roar……"
At this time, the third-level golden-patterned tiger had already rushed in front of him and assumed a fighting posture.
"Senior Golden Pattern Tiger, don't rush to take action. It was Senior Sitting Bear who asked me to come here. It asked the junior to consume the senior's demonic power so that it could help it kill the senior in one fell swoop. The junior is not willing to do this."
Ximen Zangjian cautiously placed the giant ape puppet beast in front of him, and opened his mouth to challenge the third-order golden-patterned tiger.
"Roar... As for you, you deserve to die!"
In the eyes of the third-level golden-patterned tiger, the mere human foundation building is just rubbish, and it doesn't care at all.
Even if it consumes 10% or 20% of its demonic power, it cannot be matched by Sitting Bear. It has always been very conceited.
Since the persuasion was ineffective, the third-order golden-patterned tiger had to suffer a little, and Ximen Zangjian was also angry.
He controlled the third-order giant ape puppet beast to attack the conceited third-order golden-patterned tiger.
At the same time, he used a third-level low-grade thunder spear talisman to hit the third-level golden-patterned tiger.
"Click..."
"Roar……"
With a dazzling bolt of lightning, it hit the third-order golden-striped tiger, causing the proud beast to scream in pain.
"call……"
The third-level golden-patterned tiger was furious, and while fighting with the giant ape puppet beast, it fired a fireball to sneak attack the Ximen Hidden Sword.
Ximen Zangjian was well prepared for the golden-patterned tiger's sneak attack. The black shield, a low-grade magic weapon, blocked the fireball attack of the third-level golden-patterned tiger.
“Since the senior insists on having his own way, it’s no wonder the junior is to blame.”
Ximen Zangjian was furious and once again offered two third-level low-grade thunder spear talismans, preparing to attack the third-level golden-patterned tiger.
The blow just now had already injured the third-order golden-patterned tiger. Although the injury was not serious, if there were two more blows, the third-order golden-patterned tiger would be seriously injured.
Looking at the two third-order low-grade thunder spear talismans that were exactly the same as before, the third-order golden-patterned tiger's eyes were full of horror.
"Human boy, if we don't fight, if we don't fight, where is the old bear?"
The third-order golden-patterned tiger quickly retreated, keeping distance from the giant ape puppet beast.
"It should be right behind."
Ximen Zangjian backed away carefully and spoke.
He couldn't figure out whether the third-level sitting bear was really following him, but immortal cultivators would have an intuition.
When he came over just now, he felt something following him, most likely the bear sitting on the ground.
###
The third-level golden-patterned tiger also understood that he couldn't take it down at all. The giant ape puppet beast in front of the human race foundation building was too difficult to deal with, and its strength was comparable to it.
The human boy's skills were also very good. He was able to withstand its spell attacks, and was even able to take out a third-level talisman that was enough to injure him.
In this case, there is no benefit at all from continuing to tangle with the human kid. It is a noble third-level monster and has intelligence.
It's not like those stupid first- and second-level monsters who insist on fighting even though they know they can't defeat them, and lose their lives in vain.
In addition, if it really wanted to run away, the human boy in front of it would definitely not be able to kill it. The strength of the third-level monster beast was not just for show.
"This human kid is too vigilant. Even if he wants to attack and kill secretly, he still goes to trouble the old bear. How dare he arrange for the human race to deal with me."
The third-level golden-patterned tiger thought to himself, glanced at the Ximen Hidden Sword, and ran towards the Sitting Bear's territory.
"Roar……"
"Roar……"
Soon, the third-order golden-patterned tiger collided with the third-order sitting bear. This was completely confirmed. The third-order golden-patterned tiger had to believe what Ximen Zangjian said.
"Despicable old bear, you let a human boy deal with me. You want to make a profit, you are looking for death."
The third-level golden-patterned tiger was furious, and launched a fierce attack directly without giving Sitting Bear a chance to explain.
Although it was slightly injured, its strength was still not weaker than that of the Sitting Bear, and its attacks were extremely violent.
"Roar……"
Listening to the fierce fighting behind him, Ximen Zangjian smiled and hurried towards the abandoned palace.
He came here to hunt for treasure. There might be valuable treasures useful to the human race in the abandoned palace.
Pushing open the gate of the abandoned palace, the Ximen Hidden Sword was blocked by a restriction. It was a third-level low-grade restriction, but it didn't bother him.
He sacrificed the black axe, and at the same time used the giant ape puppet beast to attack the third-level low-grade restriction together.
"boom……"
The third-level low-grade ban has not been maintained for many years, and its energy has weakened, and it was broken by one blow.
The palace is very clean and spotless, and it doesn't look like an abandoned palace at all. This is the result of the restriction just now.
The ban blocked the dust outside and kept the inside of the hall clean.
The unfamiliar environment forced Ximen Zangjian to be more vigilant. He sacrificed the giant ape puppet beast to explore the way ahead and help to fend off any danger.
However, he was overly worried. There was no danger in the palace and it was very safe. There were very few items, almost none.
"With such a big palace, why don't those monsters come in and take a look? The restriction is not difficult to break."
Ximen Zangjian was confused. Naturally, he didn't know that this palace had restraints on monsters. If the monsters came close to Baizhang, they would be in extreme pain.
All human buildings in the secret realm have a restraining effect on the monsters, and the secret realm monsters cannot approach them.
He wandered around the first floor for a long time, but didn't find anything useful, so he had to follow the stairs to the second floor.
"Winning a prize by answering the question? Each person only has three chances to get three treasures."
In the lobby on the second floor, Ximen Zangjian saw a panel and was a little surprised. The treasure could be held like this. Who designed it?
Ximen Zangjian clicked to answer the question out of curiosity.
"Who are the three emperors of the mortal world?"
This is the question, it is very simple and not difficult at all.
"Thunder Emperor, Puppet Emperor, Flame Emperor."
Ximen Zangjian wrote the answer on the panel, and immediately, a gift was delivered from the secret pavilion next to him.
"The sound-transmitting spiritual weapon is effective for thousands of miles."
Looking at the two golden mirror-like spiritual weapons, Ximen Zangjian frowned.
However, it was not difficult to use the sound transmission weapon. He quickly learned how to use it and was pleasantly surprised.
This is much stronger than the sound transmission note, which is enough to transmit sound for thousands of miles. Moreover, it is permanent and only requires a middle-grade spiritual weapon to be inserted into the groove.
Compared with the sound-transmitting spiritual weapon in his hand, those so-called sound-transmitting symbols are just a pile of waste paper, and the gap is too big.
The difficulty of the second question is still not that big. For Ximen Zangjian, it is child's play, and the reward is to choose one of three.
"Two sound-transmitting spiritual weapons, a top-quality flying sword, and a black black stone, which one is better?"
Ximen Zangjian fell into hesitation. The sound transmission spiritual weapon was very effective. The top-quality spiritual weapon Flying Sword was also a rare item.
The black black stone can even assist the monks who practice earth-based skills to build the foundation. The three prizes are all good things, and he is reluctant to give them up.
"Sound transmission spiritual weapon."
In the end, Ximen Zangjian chose the sound transmission spiritual weapon that the family needed most. The best spiritual weapon was enough for the time being.
The effect of the Black Black Stone is not as good as the Foundation Establishment Pill. The Ximen family has no shortage of Foundation Establishment Pills, so naturally they will not choose the Black Black Stone.
At this point, Ximen Hidden Sword has four sound transmission spiritual weapons, one in Qingyang Mountain, one in Qingniu Island, one in Linhaifang, and one in Canghaifang.
Obviously, four is not enough. The more of this good thing, the better.
The third question is a little more difficult, but for the knowledgeable Ximen Zangjian, it couldn't be simpler.
This time the reward is to choose one from five.
"Two sound-transmitting spiritual weapons, a top-grade spiritual weapon, a heavy hammer, a first-level practice tower, a mysterious fire-based skill, and a top-grade spiritual weapon storage ring."
This time, Ximen Zangjian hesitated for a long time and chose the first-level training tower.
Although the more sound-transmitting spiritual weapons the better, he felt that the practice tower was better.
Looking at the glittering nine-story tower, he knew that this thing was the real treasure.
The first-level practice tower is a space magic weapon that can be enlarged. It is only as big as a palm in your hand. When enlarged, it becomes a large-scale nine-story tower.
The first layer can be transformed into a Qi-training opponent, which can be a monster, human, ghost, demon, or any other race.
The second level is naturally the second-level opponent who has transformed into Qi, and the ninth level is against the ninth-level opponent who has transformed into Qi.
In addition, there is a difficulty choice. Transforming one opponent is easy, two is average, three is difficult, and if you transform five opponents, it is regional difficulty.
The practice tower can absorb the energy generated during fighting to the maximum extent and use it to maintain itself, but there is always loss. When using it, you still need to add low-grade spiritual stones.
Next to the selection button on each floor is a low-grade spiritual stone slot. If you put a low-grade spiritual stone in, you can fight for up to ten hours.
Although the opponents in the training room are all phantoms, being injured by the phantom opponents is also a real injury, no different from real fighting.
The only advantage is that the transformed opponent will not actually kill the practitioner. After knocking the practitioner down, he will take the initiative to stop.
"With this training tower, the younger generations of the family can hone their fighting skills."
General Ximen Zangjian took back his storage ring in the first-level training tower with a smile on his lips.
This harvest is greater than the sound transmission spiritual weapon, and its value is far more than the best spiritual weapon. I don’t know what this reward is.
The five optional prizes were actually not of the same grade, so he naturally had to choose the highest grade treasure.
###
Ximen Zangjian, after completing all three questions, got four sound transmission spiritual weapons and a first-level practice tower, which can be said to be a huge gain.
But he knew that there were more treasures here, but he didn't have the chance, which made him quite regretful.
After searching around in this abandoned palace, Ximen Zangjian found nothing new, so he had to leave temporarily.
His three opportunities to answer questions have been used up, but the four younger members of the family have not used one of their opportunities to answer questions.
As long as he finds any junior, he will bring them to this abandoned palace and let them answer questions and get treasures.
"Whoosh..."
A bright light flew into the hands of Ximen Zangjian from thirty miles away.
"It's Yunfei. You can get another treasure soon."
Ximen Zangjian walked with his sword and quickly flew in the direction of the light, and soon found Ximen Yunfei.
"Ancestor."
"Yunfei, are you okay?"
Ximen Zangjian Yujian hovered and did not find any threats around him.
"Ancestor, I'm fine. I also got a batch of dragon blood grass. There are quite a lot of third-level monsters in the secret realm. I just want to join my ancestor as soon as possible."
Ximen Yunfei had the ability to escape from the earth to save his life and was not in danger, but his cultivation level seemed too low in the Puppet Emperor's Secret Realm.
He got the Dragon Blood Grass in Yun Yihu's lair before because Yun Yihu hunted down the disciples of the Tianwu Sect, so he had this opportunity.
There are not many such opportunities. It is difficult for him to achieve much in the Puppet Emperor's Secret Realm by himself.
Only by joining forces with his ancestors and cooperating with them, can he better utilize his own advantages and let his ancestors attract monsters, so that he can secretly obtain treasures.
"Yunfei, you showed up at the right time. Let's go and get the treasure with our ancestors, haha!"
Ximen Zangjian didn’t explain much, and took Ximen Yunfei to the abandoned palace to start the next round of treasure hunting.
…
In a dense forest, there is a simple tower. Most of the tower is covered by climbing vines and spiritual plants, with only a small part exposed.
If you look at it from a distance, you will mistakenly think that this is a big and strong tree.
Ximen Changkong used his red fire sword, chopped off the spiritual plant blocking the tower door, and knocked open the door.
There was nothing on the first floor of the tower, it was empty. He followed the stairs to the second floor, and there was also nothing.
The third level is the last level. If there is no more harvest, it means there is no treasure here.
"Statue, whose statue is this?"
On the third floor, Ximen Changkong saw a statue, a statue holding a sledgehammer. It looked like a casting hammer used for refining weapons.
Apart from the statue, there are no other items on this level. If there are treasures, they can only be found on the statue.
"Is the casting hammer hollow?"
Ximen Changkong knocked on the casting hammer, and he knew from the sound that it was empty.
He took the casting hammer off the statue and shook it, feeling that there was something inside.
"break."
Ximen Changkong split the casting hammer open and saw the jade slip inside. He picked it up and placed it gently on his forehead.
"A Talisman? A secret book for refining a Talisman? Ancestor and Changqing should be able to use it."
Putting away the jade slips, Ximen Changkong prepared to leave the tower.
This harvest is also very good. The so-called talisman is similar to the talisman. However, the talisman is one-time, while the talisman is permanent.
In addition, talismans are drawn with a talisman pen and can only be made by talisman makers.
As for the talisman, the cultivator's spells are directly sealed in the blank talisman. Anyone can make it, which is very convenient.
To make blank talisman cards, a refiner is needed, but to seal spells into talisman cards, any cultivator can easily learn it.
In this way, the advantages of this talisman card are simply too great.
Ximen Changkong has already begun to imagine that if he has more than a dozen talisman cards on his body to seal his Red Lotus Fire Spell, and he encounters a wave of enemies and fights them out, the Foundation Establishment Dzogchen will also suffer hatred.
"who?"
As soon as I walked out of the ancient tower, looking into the sky at the west gate, I met three Tianwu Sect foundation building elites, one building a five-story foundation, one building a six-story foundation, and one building an eight-story foundation.
"Hey, how could a stranger come in so early?"
The elite disciples of the Tianwu Sect on the eighth level of foundation building looked at Ximen Changkong with confusion.
"Senior brother, kill him first and then talk about it. He must have treasures on him."
The fifth-level disciple of Foundation Establishment had a sinister smile on his face.
"Haha, if you Taoist friend is wise, I'd better hand over all the treasures I have on you. Maybe I can give you a good time."
The disciples at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment smiled even more arrogantly.
"You are the one."
Ximen Changkong didn't waste any time, and directly used the top-grade spiritual weapon Xuanguang Mirror, and directed a restraining blue light at the disciples of the Tianwu Sect on the sixth floor of the foundation establishment.
At the same time, three spiritual weapons and flying swords were sacrificed. The red fire sword killed the disciples on the eighth level of foundation building, and the flaming black bird sword killed the disciples on the fifth level of foundation building.
The last Zhuiyun Zimu sword was used to kill the disciples on the sixth level of foundation building.
As a dazzling blue light shone on the sixth-level disciple of the Tianwu Sect, the disciple was instantly unable to move.
The two disciples next to him did not realize this in time. When they realized it,
The Zhuiyun Zimu Sword had penetrated into the heart of this sixth-level Foundation Establishment disciple, killing him.
"Junior Brother Liu."
"Senior Brother Liu."
The two were furious and attacked Ximen Changkong. They understood that such a confinement treasure could not be used continuously.
After each use, you have to wait for a while before using it again.
And they wanted to use this time to kill Ximen Changkong and avenge their fellow disciples.
After solving an opponent, the pressure on Ximen Changkong was greatly reduced. Although at this time, he was still facing two opponents, the pressure was no longer so great.
"Red Lotus Karma Fire, go."
A blazing red fire lotus rushed towards the foundation of the Tianwu Sect on the eighth floor of the foundation. This guy had a high level of cultivation and he had to take it seriously.
As for the Tianwu Sect elites on the fifth level of foundation building, just use high-grade spiritual weapons to contain them.
"Golden Bell Technique."
The elite disciples of Tianwu Sect on the eighth level of foundation building quickly released defensive spells to resist the blazing red lotus. At the same time, they used a second-level top-grade thunder spear talisman to attack Ximen Changkong.
The fifth-level disciple of Foundation Establishment, while resisting the flaming black bird sword, also threw out the second-level top-quality golden sword talisman.
"Dungeon Talisman."
Ximen Changkong did not dare to be careless and quickly used the second-level top-grade defense talisman to resist the opponent's attack.
"Click..."
"ah……"
The Golden Bell Technique released by the elite disciple of the Tianwu Sect on the eighth level of foundation building did not block the blazing red lotus, and was broken in an instant.
The blazing fire lotus ignited his body, causing him to howl in pain.
Although he was still alive, this eighth-level foundation-building disciple was completely disabled and seriously injured.
He never expected that the fire spells released by the opponent's mere fifth-level monks could have such powerful energy.
Even the earth-level skills and the spells that come with them should not have such a large amount of energy.
But Ximen Changkong refined the strange fire red lotus in Zhuiyun Cave, and the power of the spell was greatly increased, far exceeding the power of the spell released before.
The eighth-level disciple of the Tianwu Sect was seriously injured by the eighth-ranked alien fire, so it was not an injustice.
At this time, Ximen Changkong's earthen prison talisman was also broken, but the opponent's eighth-level foundation-building master was severely damaged. There was only one fifth-level foundation-building disciple left, so the threat to him was no longer great.
"Brother, kill him."
The disciple of the fifth level of Foundation Establishment presented a second-level top-grade fireball talisman and looked at his fellow disciple who was seriously injured.
Hearing this, Ximen Changkong frowned slightly and instinctively took out the third-level low-grade defensive talisman.
"Boy, I didn't expect your spell to be so powerful. You should feel honored to die under a third-level talisman."
The seriously injured eighth-level Tianwu Sect elite used the third-level low-grade heavy sword talisman and slashed into the sky at Ximen.
Suddenly, a dazzling golden light heavy sword fell from the sky, illuminating the entire surrounding sky.
"Golden Shield Talisman."
Ximen Changkong quickly used the third-level low-grade defensive talisman to block the attack of the golden light heavy sword.
"Third-level defensive talisman? He actually has a third-level defensive talisman?"
The two Tianwumen foundation-building elites suddenly felt a little desperate. Their opponents were stronger than they imagined.
This time they entered the secret realm. Each of the elites in the late stage of foundation building only had one third-level low-grade attack talisman. In the middle stage of foundation building, they only had one second-order top-grade talisman.
The unfamiliar foundation building in front of them actually possessed a third-level low-grade defensive talisman, which greatly exceeded their imagination and made them feel unbelievable.
"You guys can go die."
Ximen Changkong's sword eyebrows raised, and another blazing fire lotus attacked the disciples on the fifth level of foundation building.
"Earth Wall Talisman, Golden Shield Talisman, Water Shield Talisman, Golden Bell Talisman..."
The fifth-level Tianwu Sect Foundation Establishment was completely frightened and quickly used a large number of second-level defense talismans to resist the attack of the blazing fire lotus.
He saw clearly what happened to his senior brother just now, and he understood how powerful the fire lotus was, and he must do his best to defend it.
"Bang bang bang..."
However, these defenses are not worth mentioning in front of the blazing fire lotus.
With a series of harsh cracking sounds, the defenses of the disciples on the fifth level of foundation building were all broken, and he was also injured by the fire lotus.
At the same time, the ultimate spiritual weapon Zhuiyun Zimu Sword also came in front of him, forcing him to deal with it with all his strength.
"The flaming black bird, the red fire python, transform into attack."
While attacking the disciples on the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, Ximen Changkong released two other fire-based spiritual weapons, transforming and attacking the seriously injured disciples on the eighth level of Foundation Establishment.
"Junior brother, run away separately."
Both of them were seriously injured, but Ximen Changkong was fine. If he continued to stay, they would all die.
"Still trying to escape, guard with sword and shield."
Ximen Rende suddenly appeared, offering three middle-grade sword and shield guards to stop the seriously injured eighth-level Tianwu Sect elite.
"Grandpa, what a coincidence."
Ximen Changkong was overjoyed to see his grandfather.
"Changkong, one person at a time, deal with them quickly."
Ximen Rende didn't talk nonsense, and attacked the seriously injured eighth-level foundation disciple as soon as he appeared.
Seeing this, Ximen Changkong also attacked with all his strength, building up the fifth-level Tianwu Sect elites to prevent the opponent from running away.
There are too many elite disciples of Tianwu Sect in the secret realm. When they are alone, they can kill every one of them.
After a fierce fight, the two Tianwu Sect foundation-building elites did not escape, and they all fell into the hands of Ximen Rende.
"Grandpa, you are injured."
Seeing blood on the corner of his grandfather's mouth, Ximen Changkong asked with concern.
