Pavilion Master Lu led Bao Gu, Lu Wenda, and Hong Chen to a gate enveloped in spiritual aura.
The gate to the ancient ruins was shrouded in dense spiritual fog, likely due to the restrictions placed upon it.
From outside, looking in, all one could see was a blanket of white mist.
Flanking the gate were two rows of long jade steps.
Experts from various cultivation sects sat on either side like deities enshrined in a temple, each holding a magical treasure.
Anyone who held an Ancient Token and wished to enter the ruins had to pass under these treasures.
The cultivation levels of the entrants, along with any spiritual items or even demonic beasts they carried, were clearly revealed.
Bao Gu noticed that many cultivators ahead of her were almost stripped bare by the revealing light.
She thought to herself, “This is even more ruthless than a demon-revealing mirror.”
Fortunately, the magical treasures only revealed items carried on the person and did not see through their clothing.
After watching for a while, she didn’t find anyone who was hiding their strength to sneak through.
It made sense; passing through such stringent checks was too difficult and risky.
If anyone was found concealing their strength to infiltrate, they would undoubtedly be killed instantly.
Bao Gu even wondered if her own master would be slapped to death if he were here.
She worried that if her oversized storage bag was discovered, it could spell doom for both her and her senior sister.
Seeing Bao Gu’s nervousness, Pavilion Master Lu said to her, “Bao Gu, it’s not too late to turn back now.”
Bao Gu was conflicted, hesitating whether to take the risk with her senior sister.
Suddenly, she heard the Duobao Spirit Monkey chattering anxiously.
Turning her head, she saw it hopping and nodding vigorously on a nearby rooftop, looking extremely urgent.
Bao Gu pointed towards the gate and asked, “Go in?”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey chattered loudly, as if saying, “Go in!”
It then waved its fists and bared its teeth, as if threatening Bao Gu, “If you don’t go in, watch out, I’ll beat you up.”
Although Bao Gu felt that the Duobao Spirit Monkey’s tendency to flee from trouble was somewhat unkind, she trusted it completely.
She took out the Ancient Token from her storage bag and walked towards the gate of the ancient ruins.
Pavilion Master Lu sighed as he watched Bao Gu.
He couldn’t understand why she insisted on taking such a great risk to enter the ancient ruins.
He said to Lu Wenda and Hong Chen, “You two go in as well. If she’s in danger, help her if you can. If it’s beyond help, remember your own lives are more important.”
Lu Wenda responded, “Father, I understand.”
Hong Chen, with a youthful face devoid of expression, replied, “Master, I understand.”
Lü Wenda and Hong Chen bowed to Pavilion Master Lü and, holding their Ancient Tokens, walked towards the ancient ruins.
Bao Gu, under the watchful eyes of many and the scrutiny of the magical treasures, sweated profusely.
The short distance of just over two yards to the gate felt like a lifetime.
It was as if those eyes could see right through her.
The more nervous she became, the more others suspected her of being up to something.
Yet, no matter how the magical treasures scanned her, they couldn’t detect anything unusual.
Thus, despite their suspicions, they had no evidence and couldn’t stop her.
Pavilion Master Lü’s brows furrowed deeply as he watched Bao Gu’s ordeal.
He glanced around and noticed that various factions were stirring.
The promising young cultivators, previously gathered and chatting, began to follow Bao Gu into the ruins under the orders of their elders.
Pavilion Master Lü was genuinely worried about the safety of Bao Gu and his two younger relatives.
He thought several times about calling Lü Wenda and Hong Chen back but worried that such an action, under the watchful eyes of all, would disgrace Qingfeng Pavilion.
Considering Bao Gu’s usual composure in serious situations, since she dared to persist, she must have something to rely on.
Amid his hesitation, Bao Gu, Lü Wenda, and Hongchen had already stepped through the gate of the ancient ruins.
Finally, Bao Gu safely crossed the long, misty threshold.
She breathed a sigh of relief and thought to herself, “The oversized storage bag really is a treasure!”
Behind her, a voice that sounded like a quacking duck exclaimed, “Bao Gu, don’t be nervous. With me and Hong Chen here, ordinary people can’t hurt you.”
She turned around to see Lü Wenda grinning broadly at her, his expression far from the cautious and humble demeanor he had shown behind Pavilion Master Lü.
Beside him, Hong Chen, though younger than Bao Gu by two or three years, behaved in a dignified and calm manner.
She called out, “Senior Brother, let’s go this way,” and took the lead, flying off in one direction on her sword.
Bao Gu quickly followed Lü Wenda and Hong Chen deeper into the ancient ruins, eager to distance herself from the entrance.
As soon as Bao Gu soared into the sky, she noticed that the crowd that had gathered at the gate also took off, closely following the trio.
Some even launched long-range attacks at her, which Lü Wenda and Hong Chen intercepted one by one.
Bao Gu took a deep breath, increased her flying sword’s speed to its maximum, and shouted, “Let’s fly deeper into the ruins and then wipe them out in one fell swoop!”
A young man, riding a top-grade flying sword and at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, laughed loudly behind Bao Gu, “Wipe us out in one fell swoop? That’s a bold claim! Bao Gu, see if Old Man Lü is here to protect you!”
Hearing the young man refer to his highly respected grandfather as “Old Man Lü,” Lü Wenda became furious, brandished his sword at the youth who was almost level with him, and cursed, “Ning Cong, did I sleep with your mother and not pay her? Why is your mouth so foul?”
The youth, called Ning Cong, cursed back, “I’ll fuck your mother!”
He abandoned his attempt to kill Bao Gu and began fighting with Lü Wenda in the air.
Bao Gu continued to rush forward, desperately dodging the incoming magical treasures and sword energies.
She called out, “Lü Wenda, don’t get entangled with them. Fly deeper to avoid scaring them into bringing their family’s old monsters into the ancient ruins.”
A girl about eighteen or nineteen years old, attacking Bao Gu from the left, saw Bao Gu pulling further away.
She stomped her foot in frustration on her flying sword and shouted to Ning Cong, who was fiercely fighting Lü Wenda, “Ning Cong, stop tangling with him. Be careful, or Bao Gu will escape!”
Ning Cong shouted back, “She won’t escape!”
He then yelled at Lü Wenda, “Lü family brat, I’ll settle the score with you later!”
Turning to a young man about twenty years old next to the girl, he called out, “Zhao Yue, join forces with my sister. We’ll flank her.”
The young man, Zhao Yue, responded, “Young Master, be careful.”
Ning Cong then turned back to call to a group of friends not far away, spreading out in a net-like formation to chase after Bao Gu.
Lü Wenda originally didn’t intend to let Ning Cong go, but as Ning Cong retreated, several cultivators of the same realm pressed down, forcing him to turn around and chase after Bao Gu.
He called out to Hong Chen, “Junior Sister, your Senior Brother was almost beaten up, and you didn’t even help!”
Hong Chen, expressionless, didn’t even glance at Lü Wenda’s direction, focusing instead on blocking the incoming magical treasures and weapons from behind.
Ning Cong had planned to encircle Bao Gu with a detour, but Bao Gu didn’t turn at all.
Relying on her flying sword’s slightly superior speed, she flew straight ahead, increasingly widening the gap.
As they attacked from behind, Lü Wenda and the young girl Hong Chen blocked their attempts.
Even the few attacks that reached Bao Gu were nimbly dodged by her.
Ning Cong snorted coldly, “You can’t run away!”
He threw out a Void Concealment Talisman and disappeared on the spot, reappearing directly in front of Bao Gu.
He gripped his large sword with both hands and chopped down towards Bao Gu’s head, shouting, “Time to die!”
Bao Gu, who was running happily, suddenly felt Ning Cong disappear and sensed danger.
Almost instinctively, she threw out Yu Mi from her oversized storage bag to block the emerging energy fluctuations in front of her, shouting, “Yu Mi, Senior Sister, by the power of the law, I summon you to appear!”
Yu Mi, who was meditating in a small world, was suddenly summoned.
Just as she was about to complain, “You could have at least given me a heads-up before pulling me out,” she felt a powerful qi slashing towards her.
With her strong ability to react on the spot, developed through countless life-and-death situations, she immediately assessed the attacker’s strength and, without thinking, unleashed her full power with her life-bound magical treasure.
She thought to herself, “So what if you have a Nascent Soul-grade sword? My Lihuo Sword, since being reforged with rare materials and a fire seed, can cleave through Nascent Soul cultivators!”
Confident in her ability to handle a mere peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, even if they possessed a Nascent Soul treasure, Yu Mi was undeterred.
Ning Cong, who thought he could kill Bao Gu with one strike, suddenly felt a powerful and scorching energy surge.
Instinctively sensing danger, he wanted to use a “Void Concealment Talisman” to escape, but then reconsidered.
Endowed with treasures from his ancestors and at the peak of Foundation Establishment, he wouldn’t fear even a newly advanced Golden Core early-stage cultivator who had suppressed their realm to enter.
How could he be afraid of this ambusher?
If his brothers saw him flee, wouldn’t he lose face?
In that moment of hesitation, his sword collided with the ambusher’s, and amidst the sounds of clashing metal and breaking, a scorching heat enveloped his head.
He sensed the attacker’s strength—mid-stage Golden Core!
Ning Cong screamed in horror, “No—” It was too late to use the “Void Concealment Talisman”; the scorching heat had already cleaved into his skull!
Lü Wenda, pale with shock, cried out, “Spare him, don’t—” But before he could finish, Ning Cong was split in half from the top of his head, instantly turning into a corpse engulfed in flames.
Before his body even hit the ground, it was reduced to ashes, scattering in the wind.
A shrill scream rang out, “Brother—”
The young man called Zhao Yue also screamed, “Young Master—”
Both stared furiously at Yu Mi, who had suddenly appeared.
Lü Wenda and Hongchen were also stunned, frozen in mid-air.
The group of cultivators who had been chasing Bao Gu were even more shocked, with many exclaiming, “How could there be a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator here!”
“It’s Immortal Yu Mi from Xuantian Sect!”
Someone shouted, “It’s the Fiery Dragon! Run!”
The cultivators from the ancient city of Xuan Yue, who generally looked down on the small rural sect of Xuantian, were nonetheless deeply impressed by Yu Mi.
A Golden Core early-stage daring to face a Nascent Soul elder from Taiyin Sect and surviving several blows without being killed!
The direct heir of the third-ranked cultivating family of Ning from Xuan Yue City was killed just like that, and she might even kill the rest to silence them!
The furious group of about a dozen people immediately scattered in all directions, each hoping not to be the unlucky one chased by the Fiery Dragon.
Ning Cong’s sister screamed, “Give me back my brother’s life!” and activated all her magical treasures to attack Yu Mi.
However, Zhao Yue threw out a teleportation platform and pulled her into it, teleporting her away in an instant.
Yu Mi didn’t chase after anyone.
She turned and grabbed Bao Gu, shouting angrily, “You pull me out without even a warning, and not only that, you pull me right into the line of fire. Are you addicted to using me as your shield?”
Hongchen stared blankly at Yu Mi, examining her from head to toe and back again.
She couldn’t understand how a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator like Yu Mi could have sneaked in.
Lü Wenda wiped away several beads of cold sweat and stammered, “You… you… Yu… Yu Mi…!”
He was so nervous and scared that he couldn’t speak clearly!
Hongchen glanced at Lü Wenda and asked, “How did Immortal Yu Mi get in? You… you killed Ning Cong. The Ning family won’t let you go. You sneaked in at the mid-stage Golden Core level. Once the news gets out, no sect will let you off…”
Yu Mi snorted coldly and said, “There’s only one exit from the ancient ruins…”
After speaking, she let go of Bao Gu, looked in the direction of the entrance, took out a teleportation platform, and teleported away.
Lü Wenda hesitated for a moment, then said, “Bao Gu, Hong Chen, let’s go check the entrance.”
After speaking, he also took out a teleportation platform and led Bao Gu and Hong Chen towards the entrance.
