Brilliant light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire heavens above Lin Tai Hunting Valley. The cultivators within the valley saw the phenomenon immediately.
A heavenly anomaly meant that some extraordinary treasure had appeared.
In an instant, everyone abandoned what they were doing and rushed toward the place where the radiant light had burst forth.
Before the valley, the middle-aged scholar who had been watching coldly from the sidelines finally showed surprise on his calm, unruffled face. He had not expected that a mystic realm in such a remote and backward place, where primordial spiritual energy was so thin, would actually produce such dazzling brilliance. Although he did not know what had released this light, he could tell that it had to be an extremely precious treasure.
Not only the middle-aged scholar, Xu Jiuxiu was thinking much the same. How could he still care about anything else?
He recalled his dragon lizard, using it to block Qian Shou’s attack, then swiftly retreated to the middle-aged scholar’s side. With a cold laugh, he said, “Your Ninth Master has business today, so I’ll spare you for now. If we meet again, I’ll take your lives and feed you to my dragon lizard!”
With that, he waved his hand, stored the injured dragon lizard in his storage pouch, and rushed off with the middle-aged scholar and the burly man toward the place where the light had appeared. Their speed was so fast that they disappeared into the distance in moments.
Qian Shou also took the opportunity to withdraw his sword and did not pursue them, though his expression turned grave.
He walked to Ning Yuzhou’s side, bowed slightly, and called, “Your Highness.”
Ning Yuzhou looked toward the distant light and asked, “How strong are they?”
“Very strong. If it were only one of them, this subordinate could hold them off. But if all three attacked together, I’m afraid this subordinate would be powerless,” Qian Shou said solemnly.
Ning Yuzhou gave a quiet hum and narrowed his eyes slightly.
From the behaviour of those people just now, Ning Yuzhou had already guessed that quite a few outside cultivators had entered Lin Tai Hunting Valley this time. The people they had found murdered on the plain earlier were also likely killed by these outsiders, though probably not by Xu Jiuxiu’s group. Judging from Xu Jiuxiu’s attitude of wanting to use cultivators as food for his dragon lizard, if he had killed them, he would not have left the corpses behind. He would have fed them straight to the dragon lizard.
Besides, these outside cultivators clearly had abundant wealth. Otherwise, after killing people, they would not have left their storage pouches untouched. They probably simply looked down on them.
Lin Tai Hunting Valley was a mystic realm belonging to Dongling Kingdom. It had existed in Dongling for countless years. Each time it opened, it was managed by the Dongling imperial family and noble clans, and only Dongling cultivators were allowed to enter. If outside cultivators were interested in it, they could have negotiated with the imperial Ning clan first and exchanged benefits for entry quotas. Yet this time, there had been no news of outside cultivators participating.
Therefore, this group must have sneaked in. What he did not know was why they had entered, and what exactly they intended to do.
Thinking of the strength of those three people, Ning Yuzhou’s gaze darkened slightly. “We’ll go take a look as well.”
The Shadow Scaled Guards acknowledged the order. After regrouping, Qian Shou summoned a Swift Wind Beast from his beast pouch. Naturally, this Swift Wind Beast was for Ning Yuzhou and his wife to ride. The others were all cultivators and could fly short distances using spiritual tools.
Cultivators could only fly on spiritual tools after reaching the Yuan Bright Realm.
Wen Qiao was worried that the Swift Wind Beast would run too fast and Ning Yuzhou would not be able to endure it, so she flipped onto its back and sat behind Ning Yuzhou, reaching out to wrap her arms around his waist.
Ning Yuzhou: “…”
Ning Yuzhou turned to look at the little girl behind him. She raised her head, her clear, bright eyes reflecting his figure, as though asking if there was anything else.
Ning Yuzhou calmly turned back around and said, “Nothing.” Inwardly, he thought, fine, male in front and female behind it is. There was nothing wrong with it.
Qian Shou could not help glancing at the oddly positioned pair. Seeing that Ning Yuzhou said nothing, he gave the order to depart.
The Swift Wind Beast was extremely fast. In just half a day, they arrived at their destination.
Fortunately, they had not been very far from it.
Aside from them, almost all the cultivators in Lin Tai Hunting Valley had rushed over. Along the way, they encountered many cultivators coming from all directions. When they met, none of them spoke. They merely quickened their pace in silence, afraid that if they arrived too late, the treasure would be snatched by others.
More than half a day had passed, and the brilliant light had mostly faded, leaving only a faint layer behind.
From afar, they saw something embedded beneath a mountain wall, like a gigantic glowing egg. Only after drawing closer did they realise that it was actually a light gate standing within the mountain wall. The bright radiance was shooting out from that gate, which was why, from a distance, it had looked like a luminous egg.
The Shadow Scaled Guards stopped. Wen Qiao wrapped an arm around Ning Yuzhou and leapt down from the Swift Wind Beast.
Ever since she had tempered herself through battle in the Ice Tear Frogs’ territory and broken through to the Yuan Feather Realm, she finally had some ability to protect herself. She no longer gasped every few steps and finally looked somewhat like a cultivator. Carrying someone down from a Swift Wind Beast was now very easy for her.
Wen Qiao had already regarded Ning Yuzhou as one of her own. Knowing that her husband could not cultivate, she naturally had to pay attention to his needs and safety at all times.
After Ning Yuzhou’s feet touched the ground, he glanced at Wen Qiao. Seeing that although her face was pale, she did not look strained, he could not help smiling.
Wen Qiao did not notice his gaze and looked toward the glowing gate.
The light gate stood in a mountain wall over a hundred zhang tall. It was more than ten zhang high. Because light was spilling out from it, they could not see clearly what lay behind the gate.
When they arrived, other cultivators also continued to arrive one after another. After observing for a while, some entered the light gate. Seeing this, the later arrivals hesitated briefly, but in the end, unable to suppress the desire in their hearts, they also entered without hesitation.
Perhaps because Ning Yuzhou’s group had arrived relatively late, most of the cultivators who had come earlier had already entered. There were not many people still arriving now, and soon only Ning Yuzhou and the Shadow Scaled Guards remained.
The Shadow Scaled Guards stood where they were, awaiting orders. Before their master spoke, they naturally would not act rashly, displaying extremely strong discipline and self-control.
Qian Shou walked forward and stopped one zhang away from the light gate. After studying it for a moment, he returned and reported, “Your Highness, that light gate is somewhat strange. When one gets within one zhang of it, one can faintly sense a pulling force from within, as if it wants to draw people inside. It is impossible to see what is inside the light gate, and divine sense cannot penetrate it either.”
After hearing this, Ning Yuzhou walked toward the light gate.
Wen Qiao held her sword and followed beside him, her expression cold and solemn, just like a guard.
Ning Yuzhou stopped one zhang away from the gate and studied it thoughtfully. “There should be a teleportation array here.”
Wen Qiao looked around but could not see any traces of a teleportation array, so she could not help looking at Ning Yuzhou in surprise.
Qian Shou did not doubt Ning Yuzhou’s judgment and immediately asked, “Are we still going in?”
“We are,” Ning Yuzhou said. “Leave twenty people outside to guard this place. The rest will enter with me.”
Qian Shou immediately left twenty people behind and instructed them to remain on standby and adapt to the situation as needed. Then he looked toward Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao.
Ning Yuzhou took Wen Qiao’s hand and said to her, “I don’t know what kind of teleportation array is behind this light gate. If it is a random teleportation array and separates us, you must be careful. Your safety comes first in all things.”
Wen Qiao nodded, then could not help glancing at him. She decided that when they entered, she must hold onto him tightly.
After that, Ning Yuzhou also reminded the Shadow Scaled Guards to prioritise their own safety. Only then did he lead Wen Qiao toward the light gate, with Qian Shou and the other Shadow Scaled Guards following close behind.
When the radiant light swallowed them, the pulling force of the teleportation array dragged their bodies inside. Then came a dizzying whirl, and the pressure of the teleportation force squeezed against their bodies.
Wen Qiao held tightly onto Ning Yuzhou’s hand. When their bodies finally escaped that crushing force and landed firmly, she saw that Ning Yuzhou was still beside her and finally let out a breath of relief.
But the next moment, she discovered that apart from her and Ning Yuzhou, all the other Shadow Scaled Guards were gone. Clearly, they had been separated =口=!
Could it be because the two of them had been holding hands, while they had not held hands with the other Shadow Scaled Guards?
Ning Yuzhou, however, remained calm and said with a smile, “Looks like it will only be the two of us from here on.”
Wen Qiao gave a soft hum and tightened her grip on his hand. Inwardly, she decided that since the Shadow Scaled Guards were not around, she had to protect him properly and act even more cautiously.
Then they began observing their surroundings.
Ahead was a passage paved with huge square stones. It was one zhang wide and one zhang tall, with smooth-cut surfaces, as if it had been built by human hands.
“Where is this?” Wen Qiao poked her head out to look, instinctively asking her extremely knowledgeable husband.
Ning Yuzhou guessed, “Perhaps it is the cave residence of some powerful cultivator.”
Thinking of the teleportation array inside the light gate earlier, Wen Qiao felt that his guess was very reasonable. Only cultivators would set up something like that at an entrance. The brilliant light earlier was probably the phenomenon caused when this cave residence appeared in the world. It was just a little too grand.
With such a vast phenomenon, who knew what treasures this cave residence contained?
Wen Qiao turned to look at the way they had come, only to find a sealed wall behind them. There was no way back, nor any teleportation array. They could only move forward.
So they set off. Because Ning Yuzhou was not a cultivator, their speed was not fast. The two moved forward at an especially slow pace.
After walking for half an hour, a fork appeared ahead. Ning Yuzhou looked at it, asked Wen Qiao to make a mark nearby, and continued onward. Not long after, they encountered another fork. Again, they made a mark, then chose one path and continued.
They walked like this for several hours. When they saw the mark they had made earlier, Wen Qiao fell silent.
“So it is a maze,” Ning Yuzhou said, still calm and composed. He turned his head to look at the little girl beside him. “Ah Qiao, what should we do now?”
Wen Qiao silently looked at him. “Are you tired? I can carry you.”
Ning Yuzhou: “……I’m not tired.”
She gave an “oh,” then slowly asked, “Are you hungry?”
Inwardly, she felt a little troubled. The food they had brought did not seem to be much. If they wandered around this maze for ten days or half a month, the two of them might end up starving. She was a cultivator and could barely sustain herself by absorbing the surrounding primordial spiritual energy, but Ning Yuzhou was a mortal. If he went too long without food or water, he would suffer.
Although Ning Yuzhou did not know exactly what she was thinking, seeing her troubled expression, he could guess a little. He found it amusing, and also felt that his young wife was truly unbearably adorable.
“I’m not hungry for now,” Ning Yuzhou said with a smile, comforting her. “And if I do get hungry, there are still fasting pills.”
Wen Qiao lowered her head and glanced at the storage pouch at her waist. It was the pouch Ning Yuzhou had hung there before they set off. She had not yet had time to see what was inside, and after hearing his words, she wanted to rummage through it.
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