Chapter 403 Before the Ancient Cave
On the deck of a massive warship.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan stood side by side in front of the railing, quietly gazing ahead.
The surrounding sea of clouds churned and rolled, and the entire large ship sailed through it. The surrounding mist and fog seemed so thick that you could reach out and grab it.
Behind the two were layers of buildings of different styles, blending the styles of the War God Temple and the Spirit Immortal Sect.
Meanwhile, in front of the railings in other parts of the deck, pairs of martial arts cultivators and alchemists were admiring the scenery and chatting quietly, their expressions quite intimate, or perhaps somewhat close but still in an ambiguous state.
Right to the side, Wu Dongxiao and Xuan Bing stood together, with a fist-sized, fiery red phoenix fluttering its little claws and hopping around on their shoulders. Every now and then, a blue shadow would dart past, chasing and playing with the crimson phoenix—this blue fluffy ball was the blue feather that automatically retained its original shape.
·
Qinghui, on the other hand, was now in the ancient city overseeing the appearance and formation of the Dao soldiers.
The newly summoned special soldiers were also a large group, and they were currently staying obediently in a side room of the city tower.
When the time is right, they will go to the Ancient City Sect and become new disciples of that faction, beginning their new lives.
At the same time, more than fifty dragon armor soldiers have been accumulated in the ancient city, but they are of various realms and have not yet been cultivated to their maximum limit. According to Zhong Cai's idea, they will be cultivated and synthesized after accumulating one hundred.
Mutant dragon armor soldiers are really hard to come by.
It's even possible that not a single one of the hundred Dragon Armor Soldiers will mutate, and tens of millions of high-grade Xuan Stones will be wasted...
But Zhong Cai's ideas never changed, and Wu Shaogan naturally wouldn't change either.
Since there's a chance to acquire combat power at the Heavenly Realm level, and Zhong Cai is confident he has enough Xuan Stones, he won't miss the opportunity.
It should be understood that the gap between the Tongtian realm and the peak of Nirvana is extremely terrifying.
While top-ranking Dou Wangs in other realms might be able to challenge opponents by crossing a major realm, even top-tier experts at the Nirvana Peak cannot gain the slightest advantage against an ordinary Tongtian.
·
Right now, Wu Shaogan is on his way to the ancient cave dwelling, leading a large group of disciples from the Temple of War after accepting a mission to lead the team.
Another temple master arrived early at the cave entrance and waited, joining the representatives of several other forces who possessed tokens.
Before leaving, Lou Chuan summoned Wu Shaogan and explained the situation to him.
Although only five tokens are needed to open the cave, before they can all be gathered within a hundred miles to render the other tokens ineffective, the other tokens also come looking for them, following the signs of their presence.
Finally, with a total of ten tokens, nine of them were collected, and they were ready to divide up the cave dwelling.
Seven of them were made by level nine forces—perhaps they weren't originally made by level nine forces, but the final result is this—and two more were made by rogue cultivators.
The rogue cultivators hastily formed an alliance, offering to bring along a great-grandson of a rogue cultivator named Tongtian, and auctioning off many slots, ultimately persuading the other seven level-nine forces to allow them to join.
Therefore, the number of Fusion cultivators entering that cave will now reach ninety, and the number of Suspended Illumination cultivators will be as high as nine hundred!
Once the cave dwelling is opened, the fusion disciples will only be responsible for protecting the Xuanzhao disciples as they enter the cave dwelling, and then they will go their separate ways.
Everyone sought their own opportunities.
Even disciples from different fusions may not appear in the same place. After entering, it is unknown whether there will be any isolating forces in the cave. Even fellow disciples may not be able to find each other.
·
The ancient cave dwelling is located very far from the Temple of the God of War and is not within the territory of the Western River Region.
The Temple of War dispatched level eight warships, which, although not at their fastest speed, were still able to travel a great distance each day... It took them about three days to reach the Nalin River region.
Deep within a very ancient mountain range in the Linhe River Basin lies the location of that ancient cave.
After entering this domain, the level eight warships attracted the attention of many cultivators.
Linhe Region is a central region, and the largest power in it is the eighth-level power, Lanyue Sect.
With so many disciples from level nine forces heading to this region, it's impossible for the Lan Yue Sect not to know about it—all the forces coming here have informed the Lan Yue Sect Master beforehand to avoid causing panic.
The Lan Yue Sect then learned that an ancient cave dwelling would appear in their region.
This clearly shows that the resource-rich secret realm is located within the territory of the Lan Yue Sect, yet the Lan Yue Sect cannot get a share of it, which undoubtedly makes them very frustrated.
However, even a single branch of a top-tier power like the War God Temple would pose a significant problem for the Lan Yue Sect. No matter how unwilling the Lan Yue Sect was, it could only instruct its many disciples to behave themselves and avoid provoking disciples of top-tier powers in the near future.
While the Lan Yue Sect is a righteous sect, its discipline is only average. Moreover, it is the only eighth-level power in the entire Linhe Region, and its disciples are quite domineering throughout the region. That's why the sect gave such a warning, for fear that they might run into a brick wall.
·
After the level 8 warship entered the Linhe River area, its speed slowed down considerably.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, but after traveling tens of thousands of miles, they encountered another treasure ship that flew by.
The warship of the Temple of War has a very special aura, with a wonderful feeling of contradiction and harmony, while the opponent's treasure ship is very luxurious, radiating a dazzling light every time it travels a certain distance.
Zhong Cai turned her head and saw it, and the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
Wu Shaogan noticed the change in Zhong Cai's aura, lowered his eyes slightly, and looked somewhat inquiring.
Zhong Cai subtly pointed to the treasure ship.
Wu Shaogan then turned his attention to the treasure ship and saw its appearance.
Zhong Cai silently transmitted his voice.
Despite his calm smile and air of authority as a Pill King of the Spirit Immortal Sect, his telepathic communication was surprisingly lively.
【Holy crap! Old Wu, look, that light is even gradient!】
[The gradual change is bad enough, but it also flashes a few times every so often, like a light bulb with a faulty connection!]
[Finally, it even turned golden—no, no, no, Old Wu, look! I'm not seeing things, am I? The entire hull of that treasure ship looks like it's made of pure gold! So rich!]
Wu Shaogan certainly didn't think that being made of pure gold was anything to be considered "rich," but after spending so many years with Zhong Cai, he naturally knew that in the minds of people from his previous life, gold was an extremely precious thing.
Therefore, he understood Zhong Cai's thoughts at that moment.
As for the light bulb with a bad connection... Ah Cai mentioned it to him in a joke before.
In general, Wu Shaogan could imagine that it would be a flickering, intermittent light.
Of course, the light emanating from that treasure ship wasn't actually that bright. The other party's setup was actually quite harmonious. If it weren't for his Ah Cai's overly imaginative thinking, he would never have thought of this.
But why would Wu Shaogan refute Zhong Cai's words?
Therefore, he simply transmitted his voice silently.
They certainly look very wealthy.
Today they used a light bulb to dazzle A-Cai; A-Cai will try to extort money from them next time.
When out and about, Zhong Cai tried hard to control herself and not to be overly excited.
Although he wouldn't actually try to extort money from people, he was genuinely pleased that Lao Wu went along with him like that!
·
The couple exchanged a few simple jokes in their minds, but their demeanor remained impeccable. Standing together with smiles, they looked like a divine couple, catching the eye of anyone who came to visit.
The other disciples of the War God Hall and the alchemists of the Spirit Immortal Sect also maintained a calm smile and a proper attitude.
This time, because it was an event between sects, both sides were dressed in disciple robes: the alchemists in their blue and gold brocade robes and the martial arts cultivators in their silver armor and black cloaks. When they stood side by side, they looked exceptionally dignified, harmonious, and quite unique.
On the treasure ship opposite, the cultivators were also very calm and composed, maintaining their composure as well.
As the treasure ship drew closer, a tall, elegant woman standing at the bow, dressed in a rather loose-fitting golden robe, bowed in this direction.
"May I ask if you are a fellow practitioner of the War God Temple and the Spirit Immortal Sect?"
—Actually, this event has nothing to do with the Lingxian Sect, but there are obviously many Lingxian Sect alchemists here, and considering the relationship between the two forces, the other party can't ignore the Lingxian Sect.
Wu Shaogan remained composed and smiled as he said, "It is indeed us. You must be fellow practitioners from the Golden Mountain Divine Palace."
The dashing woman in the golden robe smiled and said, "Indeed, it is we."
The disciples' robes of Jinshan Temple are pronounced the same as "golden robes".
The two sides quickly exchanged greetings, but didn't say anything more.
Then, Wu Shaogan and the woman in golden robes nodded slightly to each other, and the warship and the treasure ship kept a considerable distance between them and headed together towards the direction of the cave.
Because they encountered disciples from other factions, neither side was so casual anymore, and both maintained the demeanor of their respective factions.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan remained silent.
However, the voice transmission would come every now and then, so whispering was essential.
[Old Wu, isn't Jinshan Shrine the one that opened Jinshan Trading Company?]
That's right.
We seemed to have encountered disciples of the Palace of Bliss that time...
[Yes, we did encounter it.]
·
Decades ago, the Zhong-Wu couple had a chance encounter with disciples of the Palace of Bliss. At that time, they had changed their appearances, but not their names.
Although the disciples of the Bliss Palace didn't recognize them at the time because they hadn't seen the Sky Ranking, they eventually made up their identities.
Naturally, the disciples of the Blissful Palace didn't dare to bring up the matter of befriending the two or "borrowing" money from them.
However, they have maintained some contact with each other.
The main reason is that the Palace of Bliss has a variety of attractions, which always gives the couple a sense of novelty.
In particular, the secret aphrodisiacs produced by their family had aroused Zhong Cai's interest, which he studied for a while and even improved his alchemy skills to a certain extent. As a result, Zhong Cai himself became quite proficient in this area.
This skill also provided much enjoyment for the Zhong couple's private life...
·
Along the way, the warships of the Temple of War did not encounter any other forces.
When they arrived at the ancient mountain range at roughly the same speed as the Golden Mountain Divine Palace, two spaceships with different designs and unique styles were already hovering in front of the cave.
One of them came from the Yanhuo Palace, and the other came from an even more distant dynasty—the Great Yan Dynasty.
As can be seen from its name, the Yanhuo Palace is a sect that mainly cultivates fire attributes; the same is true for the Great Yan Dynasty, where the vast majority of the royal family members are fire-attribute and take pride in their pure fire attribute physique.
The two forces are located in the west and the east, respectively, and are very far apart. In the past, there has been no conflict between them.
However, both families are well-suited to this ancient cave dwelling. Once inside, the battle will likely be extremely fierce—and may even result in numerous deaths as they vie for the opportunity.
Perhaps due to compatibility issues, the two companies, which are actually the furthest apart, arrived the earliest.
·
The warships of the Temple of War and the treasure ships of the Golden Mountain Palace were also suspended outside the cave.
The leaders of the Yanhuo Palace and the Great Yan Dynasty took the initiative to greet them first, and Wu Shaogan and the woman in the golden robe also responded.
All parties were very polite to each other.
However, the other three companies all focused more attention on Wu Shaogan.
Although the leaders of each team are all top disciples in their respective fields at the Palace Constructing realm, there is no doubt that the top spot is the most attractive.
Wu Shaogan has held the top spot for a long time, and no one can dethrone him.
The Yanhuo Palace, in particular, was very concerned about missing out on Wu Shaogan in the past. Every time they saw Wu Shaogan appear, they could sense that there was a deeper and more terrifying energy hidden within him.
Wu Shaogan is already high in the sky, yet he can still make progress!
Every time a Fighting King sought out Wu Shaogan for a duel, he would find that he lost faster and faster each time.
Even though the King of Fighters was progressing fast enough, Wu Shaogan was still progressing even faster than them.
That's outrageous.
It's something that makes people pay attention.
The other three team leaders this time were all top-ranked fighters, but none of them made it into the top twenty.
They were all filled with apprehension when facing Wu Shaogan.
However, they knew that they were far inferior to Wu Shaogan in strength, so after being polite to him out of respect for Wu Shaogan, their auras were actually mutually antagonistic.
After all, the ranking difference between them is not that much.
·
None of the Nirvana Realm experts showed up, and the leaders of the various factions simply waited quietly, exchanging few words with each other.
Zhong Cai simply pulled Wu Shaogan to sit cross-legged, and then waved to Wu Dongxiao and Xuan Bing.
The group sat together, with a low table in front of them.
Zhong Cai took out a teapot and brewed tea as usual, one cup for each person.
Wu Dongxiao let out a breath and laughed, "I'm a little nervous."
Zhong Cai chuckled and said, "Why are you so nervous about going in with Senior Brother Xuan?"
Wu Dongxiao sighed, "I don't know what's going on inside. If I'm separated from my senior brother, I don't know how long it will take to find him."
Zhong Cai chuckled, pulled out a belt, handed it to Wu Dongxiao, and said, "I can't control that, but I can give you some pills. Take them and use them well, don't ruin yourself."
Wu Dongxiao took it with both hands, and scanned it with his spiritual sense—
Unsurprisingly, there were many pills inside—clearly made by Zhong Cai—and some talismans containing secret techniques—made by Wu Shaogan.
These two items naturally represent the care and love that the two uncles have for Wu Dongxiao, but more importantly, they represent the belts.
Wu Dongxiao quickly noticed something amiss.
The belt has a slightly recessed grid pattern, with a thin piece of jade inlaid in the square facing forward, while the other squares are embroidered with very delicate dark patterns.
The overall design is very beautiful.
However, aesthetics are not the main point; the most important thing is that each square is a mustard seed space.
Especially the space inside that thin piece of jade is exceptionally large, big enough to fit a large hall inside!
Each of the other embroidered mustard seed spaces is like a large room, and even if you stuff several savage beast corpses several meters tall into it, there would be no problem.
Wu Dongxiao quickly counted them and exclaimed in surprise, "There are thirty-six spaces!"
Zhong Cai smiled brightly: "You've always been a troublemaker and have gotten into a lot of trouble. This cave has been passed down for countless years, and who knows how many treasures it has nurtured. If you go in, you'll probably encounter resources everywhere. I don't know how many mustard seed spaces you have. If I give you this now, even if you go in and loot everything, it should be enough."
Wu Dongxiao's first reaction was—How did Uncle Zhong know that I often scrape the ground?
But he immediately thanked him happily.
"This is really useful! Thank you, Uncle Zhong, thank you, Uncle!" Wu Dongxiao said happily. "I will definitely live up to your expectations and bring you gifts when I come out!"
Zhong Cai raised her eyebrows: "Then I'll be looking forward to it."
Wu Shaogan also looked over.
Wu Dongxiao suddenly felt a pressure—
But the pressure quickly turned into motivation.
He felt incredibly motivated right now!
We must loot everything!
Seeing Wu Dongxiao getting excited and enthusiastic, Zhong Cai, remembering the guy's strange bad luck, patted him and reminded him, "Be careful in everything you do, keeping your life is the most important thing."
Wu Dongxiao readily agreed.
·
As time went by, several hours later, two more level-nine forces arrived.
The independent cultivators arrived quite quickly. Although they possessed two tokens in total, they banded together and traveled on a Nirvana cultivator's flying boat in order to have some confidence in front of a level nine power.
The two tokens were given to two rogue cultivators to activate their Nirvana cultivation. The reason these two were entrusted with this task was naturally because their descendants could occupy several spots.
As for which rogue cultivator originally obtained this token...
Outsiders have no idea, but their strength is probably not very high.
·
Zhong Cai, Wu Shaogan, and a few others drank tea and chatted, having finished giving Wu Dongxiao the resources and instructions they were about to provide. However, one top-tier power had not yet arrived.
That's a bit strange.
Zhong Cai asked in a low voice, "The remaining one is the Qingcang Sect, right? It seems to be in the south, which is quite far away, but the agreed date is almost over, so they should arrive by now."
Wu Shaogan said, "Something must have been causing the delay."
Just as Zhong Cai was about to guess whether someone had stolen the token, several men and women with different appearances suddenly appeared in the sky in front of the cave.
They were the powerful figures from the several forces that had already arrived, responsible for opening the cave dwellings.
Zhong Cai quickly recognized the person from the Temple of War—Luo Song, the master of the seventeenth temple.
Lord Luosong was skilled in staff techniques, and when he looked at the disciples of the Lingxian Sect and the War God Hall, his eyes revealed a hint of affection.
At this moment, these Nirvana Realm experts came to inform the disciples of various families of some news.
It turns out that the reason why the Qingcang Sect didn't come was because they were blocked by an evil force on the way.
It's unclear where those heretical sects got their information, but they managed to corner the Qingcang Sect near a rather desolate area in the Central Continent.
At that time, the leader of the Qingcang Sect was not afraid. He killed those evil cultivators who were weaker, while their protectors were specifically responsible for dealing with the level eight powerhouses among the evil cultivators.
The problem stems from the top experts—among those unorthodox practitioners, there are as many as seven or eight Nirvana Realm cultivators!
Moreover, the evil methods are varied and difficult to deal with, so much so that many of the disciples of the Qingcang Sect have perished at their hands, and even those who did not perish have suffered injuries of varying degrees.
Some of the Dharma protectors even died at the hands of evil forces!
If the Dharma protectors are all dead, how can the disciples they protected possibly escape unscathed?
Many disciples of the Qingcang Sect also died.
Finally, after much difficulty, the evil forces were either killed or driven away, and realizing that the situation was hopeless, they had no choice but to retreat.
However, the Qingcang Sect group suffered heavy losses and had to rush back to the sect to select new disciples. There were also many things to prepare again.
Naturally, they couldn't arrive on time.
·
Upon hearing this news, many disciples fell silent.
They all came from level nine forces and were always very powerful. How could they have imagined that evil forces would suddenly come to their door and block their way?
This led to such a tragic outcome.
The Qingcang Sect suffered a great loss at the hands of the heretical sects, and may have even lost many of their most outstanding and talented disciples. Naturally, they will not let the heretical sects get away with it. It is likely that while they are making preparations again, they have already dispatched people to wipe out the heretical sects.
According to the Nirvana cultivators, the Qingcang Sect will arrive here in three to five days, or at most seven or eight days, so the opening of the cave dwelling will have to be postponed.
Now that things have come to this, the other forces are somewhat sympathetic to the plight of the Qingcang Sect, so they naturally won't say much and will just wait for them to make their move.
After delivering the message, the Nirvanas disappeared once more.
The arrangements for the disciples are now the responsibility of the team leader.
·
Zhong Cai couldn't help but look at Wu Shaogan, smiling as she waited for him to speak.
Wu Shaogan's gaze swept over the numerous disciples of the War God Temple.
The disciples of the Temple of War God quickly quieted down under their gazes, awaiting instructions.
Wu Shaogan said, "If you leave the warship, each of you should prepare for defense and return before dark every night."
And then that was it.
The disciples of the Temple of War all obediently agreed.
They themselves were not prepared to leave the warship for the time being—mainly because this was not familiar territory, and they were worried about any unforeseen dangers.
A few days later, some disciples couldn't stay any longer and decided to go to a nearby big city to make more preparations for themselves. So they left one after another, thinking that they should just be careful. Before leaving, they didn't forget to explain the situation to their leader.
At the same time, Wu Dongxiao pulled Xuan Bing over to ask his two uncles for permission.
"Uncle Zhong, Uncle! My senior brother and I also want to go out for a while!"
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