The disciple with the Metal Spiritual Root named Lu Lei said, “Shall we meet at the mountain gate at the first quarter of the hour after tomorrow?”
Bao Gu hesitated slightly and said, “No rush, we should prepare more in the coming days.
First, we need to establish a way to communicate.
Let’s exchange sound transmission methods for easy contact, and also prepare distress signals and teleportation arrays.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed the senior brothers were silently looking at her and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The dual Wood and Fire Spiritual Root disciple named Xiahou Chun said, “Bao Gu, you’re wealthy, unlike us.
We can’t afford teleportation arrays.
Besides, it’s just a patrol, do we need to act like we’re fleeing for our lives?”
Bao Gu replied, “Better safe than sorry.
It’s always good to be prepared for encountering Nascent Soul stage demon cultivators or evil cultivators during patrols.
It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”
Lu Lei nodded and said, “Indeed, the Two Realms Mountain is full of demon beasts, demon cultivators, and evil cultivators.
Given the current turbulent times, encountering a couple of powerful demon cultivators or evil cultivators during patrols is quite normal.
Better safe than sorry, we can’t risk our lives.”
The disciple with dual Metal and Earth Spiritual Roots named Chang An said, “I’m poor, but I have one life!
If a demon beast attacks, I’ll skin it and sell it for money!”
He said to Bao Gu, “Don’t worry, Bao Gu, I won’t hold you back.
If I can’t escape, just leave me to feed the demon beasts.”
Bao Gu couldn’t help but take another look at Chang An and said, “We’re all fellow disciples, we should face difficulties together.
I’ll handle the teleportation arrays and distress signals.
Everyone should prepare their sound transmission talismans or tokens, and we’ll meet at the mountain gate at the first quarter of the hour after tomorrow.”
The five of them naturally had no objections and parted ways.
Bao Gu went to find Feng Yi, asking him to refine six teleportation arrays and some life-saving talismans for her, and also requested a dozen sect distress signals.
She waited until Feng Yi had finished refining everything she needed, and after receiving them, she left Feng Yi’s place.
By the time she returned to her residence, it was already late.
The Duobao Spirit Monkey had gone to the Angry Demon Market and brought back the items and account books that Sun Zhenglong had acquired.
She checked the items, verified the accounts, kept some demon beast materials she found useful, and then took the materials Sun Zhenglong had acquired to the two senior brothers who sold her pills, asking them to sell the demon beast materials within the sect.
She took the pills they had acquired, kept a few bottles for herself, and handed the rest along with the account books to the Duobao Spirit Monkey to take to Sun Zhenglong.
After this exchange, Bao Gu’s storage bag was filled with several bottles of pills, a pile of demon beast materials for refining Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stage magical artifacts, talismans, some high-quality jade and spiritual herbs, and some ores for refining magical artifacts.
She took some time to refine a few sound transmission jade tokens, then sat in the backyard, eating Foundation Establishment Pills and Marrow Cleansing Pills, drinking monkey wine, and trying to break through her cultivation level.
After opening another acupuncture point, she found it hard to calm down and cultivate, her mind filled with thoughts of Yu Mi, wondering what Yu Mi was doing and when he would return.
She decided to stop cultivating and sat in the courtyard, lost in thought.
It wasn’t until the first quarter of the hour that she got up, left the courtyard, and went to the mountain gate to meet Lu Lei and the others.
Bao Gu distributed the sound transmission jade tokens she had refined and the teleportation arrays Feng Yi had made, giving each person a set, and took a sound transmission talisman from each of them.
The sound transmission jade tokens could be used repeatedly for a long time, while the sound transmission talismans varied in usage based on their material and grade.
The talismans given by the five were just ordinary Foundation Establishment stage magical artifacts, made from common materials, and could only be used three to five times before becoming useless.
As for life-saving magical artifacts, every disciple of the Xuantian Sect now wore Golden Core stage magical artifacts, with protective magical artifacts personally refined by their Grandmaster hanging around their necks, capable of withstanding a full-force attack from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Bao Gu’s protective jade around her neck could even withstand a full-force strike from a Deity Transformation stage expert.
After distributing the items, the group flew out of the mountain gate on their swords.
As soon as they left the mountain gate, their speed was not fast, and they flew together.
Bao Gu was about to ask if there had been any movement during the patrols by Feng Menglong and Hua Sheng in the past two days when she heard Chang An, the dual Metal and Earth Spiritual Root disciple, say, “I hope we can be as lucky as Senior Brother Feng and Senior Sister Hua this time.”
She asked, “How were Senior Brother Feng and Senior Sister Hua lucky?”
Chang An said, “You don’t know?
Senior Brother Feng and Senior Sister Hua encountered a demon beast attacking a village, led by a Golden Core stage demon beast.
They hunted several Golden Core stage demon beasts, got several inner cores, and a lot of top-quality demon beast materials.
They made a fortune.
I hope we can encounter a couple of Golden Core stage demon beasts today and make a big profit.
Bao Gu, you’re so rich, you won’t compete with us, right?”
Bao Gu replied confidently, “So what if I’m rich?
If I make a move, I should get a share too.
I can’t just exert myself for nothing.”
She then asked, “How many demon beast attacks on villages have occurred in the past two days?”
Chang An said, “I inquired, eight!”
“At first, the two incidents Senior Brother Feng encountered were only Foundation Establishment stage, and it wasn’t until the evening that Golden Core stage demon beasts appeared.
Yesterday, Senior Sister Hua encountered five incidents in a row, and the last one involved three Golden Core stage demon beasts.
They almost had to call for reinforcements, but fortunately, our Xuantian Sect is now wealthy, and we have more treasures on us, so we managed to hold on, though two senior brothers were injured.
But compared to the gains, these injuries are nothing.”
Bao Gu’s heart sank.
Lu Lei’s expression also darkened, and he said, “Let’s hope we don’t encounter Nascent Soul stage demon beasts today.”
Xiahou Chun said, “That’s unlikely, right?
We’re just outside the mountain gate.
Even if a Nascent Soul stage demon beast appears, it can’t harm us with one strike.
Martial Uncle Feng and the others would receive our distress signal and arrive in an instant.
It wouldn’t even have time to escape.
Nascent Soul stage demon beasts aren’t that foolish!”
Lu Lei said, “Bao Gu, they say you’re smart.
Tell everyone your thoughts.”
Bao Gu said, “If anything happens, we run.
Run as fast as we can.”
The dual Metal and Water Spiritual Root disciple Wen Zixuan was so shocked he almost dropped his jaw and exclaimed, “What?”
Lu Lei said, “Did I hear that right?
Run at the slightest sign of trouble?”
Bao Gu nodded and said, “I suspect the demon beasts’ actions in the past two days were probing, testing the strength of our Xuantian Sect’s patrol disciples.
According to Chang An, there were three Golden Core stage demon beasts last night, and they were evenly matched with Senior Sister Hua’s group.
If there’s any situation today, the demon beasts we encounter will definitely be stronger than yesterday’s.
If I’m not mistaken, there’s a great demon lurking nearby, but we haven’t discovered it.”
Chang An said, “Don’t scare me!”
Bao Gu said, “I’m just speculating based on logic.
Otherwise, why would they keep coming to die?”
Lu Lei said solemnly, “So we’re the demon beasts’ target, exposed in the open?”
Bao Gu said, “I think so.”
As she spoke, she activated the concealment artifact on her wrist and said, “You all should activate your concealment artifacts too.
This way, we’re all in the dark, and we can better guard against attacks.”
After speaking, she noticed the five of them hadn’t moved and were all looking at her speechlessly.
She asked, “What’s wrong?”
Then she realized, “You don’t even have concealment artifacts, do you?”
She had a concealment artifact even when she was in the Qi Refining stage, and these senior brothers were now at the late Foundation Establishment stage, yet they didn’t have a single concealment artifact?
Seeing their reactions, she realized they truly didn’t have any, so she silently extended the range of her concealment artifact to cover the five of them.
She suddenly realized that even when the Xuantian Sect was at its poorest, her senior sister was wealthier than the senior brothers around her now.
In cultivation, the sect could only teach them techniques, guide them in cultivation, and provide protection.
Cultivation resources had to be earned by themselves, and the resources given by the sect to each person were pitifully small.
Not to mention, even as a direct disciple, the monthly allowance she could receive was so little that she didn’t even bother to collect it.
Bao Gu and her group patrolled on their flying swords for a whole day without encountering any demon beast attacks on villages, not even a single powerful demon beast.
The patrol only revealed some ordinary small demon beasts, which were only worth selling for meat and not even a single spirit stone.
By evening, there was finally another demon beast attack on a village.
Upon receiving the villagers’ distress signal, Bao Gu and her group immediately headed to the village.
Concerned that Bao Gu’s speculation might be true, they proceeded with extreme caution, using the concealment bracelet on Bao Gu’s wrist to hide their presence as they approached quietly.
When they arrived, the reinforced village protection array had not yet been breached.
Two Golden Core stage demon beasts were desperately attacking the protection array.
They quietly scouted the area, confirming no other demon beasts were present.
Bao Gu and Lu Lei teamed up to attack the Golden Core stage tiger, while Chang An, Xiahou Chun, and the others went after the Golden Core stage wolf.
As they charged forward, their presence was immediately exposed.
The two demon beasts suddenly summoned two magical artifacts and vanished without a trace.
Bao Gu, with her sharp eyes, clearly saw that they were standing on teleportation arrays.
She shouted, “Not good, retreat!”
Just as she finished speaking, a mist suddenly rose, and they found themselves trapped in a white fog, unable to see anything.
Bao Gu quickly shouted, “Use the teleportation array to leave,” and without waiting for the others, she threw out a teleportation array to escape, only to be bounced back by an invisible force barrier.
Lu Lei’s voice rang out, “We can’t leave, the space is sealed by the array’s power!”
Chang An’s voice followed, “Xiahou Chun, aren’t you good at breaking arrays?
Hurry up and break this thing!”
Xiahou Chun’s voice replied, “The one who set up this array is way more powerful than me, I can’t break it!”
Wen Zixuan suddenly let out a scream, “Ah—”
Lu Lei quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
The dual Metal and Fire Spiritual Root disciple named Gao Ling shouted, “Everyone be careful, there’s an illusion array.
Nine Palaces…”
Bao Gu thought, “Nine Palaces?
Adding up to fifteen?”
In the cultivation world, the Nine Palaces is definitely not the mundane Nine Palaces game!
She recalled the array related to the Nine Palaces, the simplest Nine Palaces is a three-by-three grid, dividing a square box into twenty-seven small squares.
The person trapped must calculate the correct position to walk out from these twenty-seven squares.
And this is just the most basic and simple ‘Three’ number Nine Palaces, there are also ‘Nine’ and ‘Eighty-One’ number Nine Palaces.
Each small square cut out has different corresponding arrays, some are life, some are illusion, some are death, and various others.
Bao Gu estimated she was standing in an illusion position.
She wanted to calculate the position, but she could only calculate the simplest ‘Three’ number Nine Palaces, and she believed the opponent wouldn’t set up such a simple one…
While thinking, she suddenly realized the surroundings were silent, and the voices of Lu Lei, Chang An, Xiahou Chun, Wen Zixuan, and Gao Ling were all gone.
She called out their names one by one, but there was no response.
Bao Gu broke out in a cold sweat.
If she encountered a strong enemy, even a God Transformation stage one, she wouldn’t be afraid, but trapped in an array with no way to call for help, she could only sit and wait for death!
Bao Gu gritted her teeth, took out a signal arrow, and shot it into the sky to send a distress signal.
The signal arrow shot up, heading into the sky, but suddenly appeared at her feet and exploded into a large firework.
If Bao Gu hadn’t reacted quickly and dodged to the side, she would have been blown to pieces by her own distress signal arrow.
As she leaped to the side, the scene around her changed.
The surroundings turned into a hellish landscape, with scorched earth, broken limbs, and white bones lying on the ground.
Giant vulture-like demon beasts were flapping their wings and charging at her.
She shouted, “Illusion!”
and closed her eyes, but she could still hear the flapping wings approaching, smell the stench of decay, and feel a sense of danger.
The sensation was too real, and she didn’t dare to take the risk, so she drew her Golden Core stage sword and slashed at the giant vulture with all her might.
The sword energy surged, and with one slash, the vulture let out a scream and dissipated into a cloud of smoke.
Was it an illusion?
Or was it the power of the array?
Before Bao Gu could think further, the vulture she had just cut down suddenly reappeared in front of her and charged at her again.
Bao Gu turned and ran!
She summoned her flying sword and flew forward at top speed, but the vulture flapped its wings and pursued her relentlessly, keeping pace with her.
Bao Gu lamented in her heart, “This makes no sense!”
She couldn’t shake off a vulture with her speed!
Suddenly, her vision brightened.
Then a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking her directly.
Her protective jade amulet around her neck immediately activated, barely shielding her.
Before she could recover, another bolt of lightning struck from above!
Bao Gu screamed, “Daddy!”
and turned to flee, only to find herself still in the sea of lightning.
The lightning strikes continued to bombard her, causing cracks to appear in her protective jade amulet.
Bao Gu wished she could move faster.
She flew forward, finally escaping the sea of lightning, only to enter a sea of fire, where the flames further damaged her protective jade amulet.
Bao Gu was on the verge of collapse!
If her protective jade amulet shattered, she would die here!
Bao Gu gritted her teeth and flew forward, hoping to reach a relatively safe place before her protective jade amulet broke, praying that her Grandmaster would sense the amulet’s destruction and come to her rescue.
Bao Gu pushed her speed to the limit, quickly flying out of the sea of fire, only to find herself over a vast ocean, where a massive storm was brewing.
A wave over ten feet high crashed down on her.
Bao Gu didn’t dare get caught in the wave, so she flew upward as fast as she could.
Suddenly, she heard a childish voice say, “Wow, am I seeing things?”
Then a creature with a dragon-like head but with two bumps instead of horns appeared in front of her.
A demon beast!
Bao Gu raised her Golden Core stage sword and slashed at the dragon-like demon beast.
The dragon-like demon beast easily dodged Bao Gu’s full-force attack with a flick of its tail, and the childish voice said, “Bao Gu, who are you slashing at?
Are you tired of living?”
Bao Gu was on the verge of tears.
The one who set up this array was too powerful, the array’s power could even create a demon beast that could call her by name!
She couldn’t stay in this place with a dragon-like demon beast, so she increased her speed and flew upward.
The dragon-like demon beast called out, “Come back.”
Bao Gu thought, “In your dreams!”
She pushed her flying sword to its maximum speed, but suddenly found her flying sword uncontrollably turning back toward the dragon-like demon beast.
In an instant, she was back in front of the dragon-like demon beast.
She was shocked, looking at the demon beast, then at her flying sword.
If she weren’t in the air, with a vast ocean below, and only at the Foundation Establishment stage unable to fly, she would have abandoned her sword and fled!
This array spirit was too powerful!
Bao Gu found her flying sword fixed in place, unable to move, and she couldn’t control it to leave, while the dragon-like demon beast glared at her with watery eyes, its powerful aura and innate dragon-like majesty, along with her fear, made her legs tremble uncontrollably.
She covered her face and shouted, “Senior Sister, see you in the next life—” waiting for death.
She trembled, covering her face, waiting for a long time without any response, sensing the dragon-like demon beast in front of her had disappeared, and the terrifying aura was gone.
She cautiously opened her eyes and looked around, only to find herself in a white mist.
Was she back where she started?
Or was it still an illusion?
Bao Gu didn’t dare move.
She looked down at the protective jade amulet around her neck, finding it close to breaking.
Bao Gu felt like crying!
The childish voice of the dragon-like demon beast suddenly said, “One by one, you’re all so useless!”
Bao Gu was so scared her heart was trembling.
She thought, “Aren’t you a creation of the array?
Weren’t you supposed to stay in that sea area?
How did you end up in this mist?”
She turned toward the voice, only to find no mist, but a forest, seemingly not far from the village they had been at earlier.
The dragon-like demon beast was floating in the air, looking proud.
If it weren’t for its immense power and intimidating presence, Bao Gu would have thought it wasn’t imposing at all.
It floated in the air, its body winding, about three or four feet long.
Bao Gu estimated that even if it stretched out, it would only be six or seven feet long, just a bit taller than her.
It had a dragon head, but its horns were two budding bumps, like a young deer’s antlers.
Its body was slender, and its limbs—though dragon claws—looked soft like the paws of a cat she had as a child.
She fearfully observed the demon beast, which glared at her and then looked past her.
The childish, even babyish voice said, “How dare you cause trouble at the gate of my Xuantian Sect and abduct my Xuantian Sect disciples, have you eaten a bear’s heart and leopard’s gall?”
Bao Gu was so shocked she gaped at the dragon-like demon beast, thinking, “Are you out of your mind?
I didn’t know there was such a demon beast in the Xuantian Sect!”
She suddenly heard Lu Lei’s voice, “Is everyone okay?”
She turned toward the voice and saw Lu Lei, Gao Ling, and the others stumbling toward her.
They were all heavily injured, their clothes torn, and their protective artifacts gone.
They gathered around Bao Gu, holding their swords, standing back to back in a defensive formation.
Bao Gu sensed something was off around them.
She looked around and saw the forest was filled with demon beasts, as far as the eye could see, thousands of them!
She whispered, “Can the teleportation arrays be used?
Did we accidentally escape the array?”
She pointed at the dragon-like demon beast behind her and tearfully exclaimed, “Damn Sun Zhenglong didn’t tell me there was a baby dragon-like demon beast in the Two Realms Mountain!”
She suddenly froze, turned, and shouted in shock, “Hey, baby white dragon-like demon beast, are you the illegitimate daughter of the dragon corpse demon?”
The dragon-like demon beast raised its paw, lightning crackling in its palm, and a bolt of lightning struck Bao Gu on the head, shattering her protective jade amulet into dust.
Bao Gu closed her eyes in fear.
After a few moments, she suddenly heard Lu Lei exclaim joyfully, “Sect Master!”
Then Gao Ling also shouted, “It’s the Sect Master!”
Bao Gu opened her eyes and saw a rainbow streak from the sky, landing in front of her.
Sect Master Zi Tianjun appeared before her.
Then Feng Yi also appeared in front of her.
Bao Gu scrambled toward Zi Tianjun, avoiding the dragon-like demon beast, sensing it particularly disliked her, its gaze filled with anger.
Zi Tianjun’s gaze fell on the dragon-like demon beast, his eyes unblinking.
After a while, he called out, “Shu’er!”
Bao Gu: “…”
