Around them, the foliage was flourishing. The flora were as vibrant as royal embroideries. The mountain spring gave way to a shallow stream that cascades through the mountain. Within distance, a waterfall torrented downwards, exuding a fine layer of mist. The mountains and lakes gave off an incomparably quiet and peaceful ambience.Even though Shu Jing had grown familiar with Liangshan Continent"s poetic scenery within the past month, this sight still compelled him to pause and observe for awhile.
“Young Master, are you going stupid just from the view?” Song Lu lightly teased.
Shu Jing shrugged.
As they walked along the small path, it wasn"t long until they encountered the sight of a large mountain, underneath of which stood four people deep in discussion.
As they neared the group, Shu Jing gradually began to make out their conversations.
“Motherf.u.c.ker, what a waste of a trip. What kind of doggone Soul Technique can there be at that trash ruin?”
“I already warned you earlier not to buy into these things. This is something that appears only once every few hundred years. How could you be the one to solve it?”
“d.a.m.nit!”
Seeing Shu Jing"s group, the four people shared a look with each other and stopped talking. Shu Jing began evaluating all of them at once. Three men and a woman, with the lowest cultivation at Stardust Middle Stage. Among them, the Daoist monk holding the horsetail whisk seemed to have the greatest cultivation. He had most likely entered the peak of Stardust Late Stage.
The Daoist monk eyes" brightened when he caught the sight of Lin Yingmei. The sentiment behind his gaze was an unpleasant one.
“Are you guys also here to explore?” Song Lu asked in a friendly manner.
Seeing that there was not even a trace of cultivation within Song Lu"s body, the monk only gave her a quick glance before his eyes focused on Lin Yingmei and Shu Jing.
“Friends, did you come here after hearing about the Mountain Lake legacy?”, the Daoist monk smiled and asked.
Friends?
Being called as such caught Shu Jing off guard. He laughed in reply, “We were just pa.s.sing by, and conveniently decided to visit here.”
“To Stardust cultivators like us, these kinds of lesser legacies really are quite important. Unfortunately, I think you will also be disappointed.” The monk seemed regretful.
“Hearing that this Mountain Lake legacy had a 500 years long history, I"m not too hopeful either.” Shu Jing vaguely replied.
“Friend, that is a good att.i.tude to have.” The monk stroked his beard and said.
Shu Jing also didn"t feel like wasting his breath on them. These three people were looking at Lin Yingmei with distasteful gazes; their hearts full of hatred and envy for Shu Jing.
Lin Yingmei"s expression remained ice cold. Even now, she hadn"t even spared them a single glance.
“I"ll go ahead to take a look.”
Shu Jing lightly traded a look with Lin Yingmei before walking forwards.
The three other cultivators briefly glanced at each other before parting ways and allowing him to pa.s.s through.
Shu Jing smiled at them, then took Song Lu and Lin Yingmei to head inside the mountain, seemingly heading for the entrance of the legacy.
Waiting until Shu Jing walked off into the distance, the three male cultivators then brought out their weapons; intending to head back inside the ruins of the legacy.
“Everybody, do not act rashly.” The Daoist monk casually spoke, causing the other three cultivators to pause.
“Xun Tian Daoist, what do you mean by that?” The female cultivator turned around, her expression dissatisfied.
“Isn"t this the best time to kill them?” The man with a shiny bald gripped his hammer and spoke while laughing maliciously.
“Just a Stardust Early Stage cultivator. I alone am enough to take care of them.” The last male nonchalantly added.
Xun Tian Daoist shook his head. He slightly waved the whisk and smiled, “Did you not notice the girl beside him?”
“It"s just a Star Knight, that"s all!” The man sneered, his eyes flashed a look of jealousy.
“I want to kill them precisely because she"s a Star Knight. Who doesn"t know that killing a Star Knight would improve your cultivation progress immensely? It might even allow them to directly enter Liangshan Maiden Mountain.” The only female cultivator said with a shrill tone.
Xun Tian Daoist spoke, “I"m afraid that girl is no ordinary Star Knight.”
“What do we have to fear? Just look at that Star Master. His strength is completely ordinary. That Star Knight couldn"t be anyone that powerful.”
“If it was only an uncontracted Star Knight then perhaps, but just look at that Star Maiden who would even bond with that crippled young man… Ha ha, there is nothing to fear, even if it was Linchong we would be able to handle it!”
“Could it be that Xun Tian Daoist is actually scared? It"s truly a fortune that we encounter such a useless Star Master and Star Knight. I really don"t want to make this trip a complete waste.”
The cultivators firmly decided to pursue the Star Knight to gain her Star Energy.
Xun Tian Daoist slowly spoke, “Why don"t we wait for a little while more. Legends says that all legacies were created for Star Knights, perhaps they are able to solve the mystery of this place.”
The other three thought for awhile and nodded in agreement. No matter what, even if that Star Master with a broken leg wanted to run, he would not be able to escape. Killing a Stardust Early Stage cultivator was truly too easy. Thinking up to here, they headed back inside the ruins of the legacy.
“Yingmei, seems like our ident.i.ties have been discovered.” Shu Jing whispered to Lin Yingmei.
The Majestic Star"s face remained unchanged as she harrumphed in acknowledgement. Seems like she had already antic.i.p.ated such a situation to happen, “Only a few stinky ants, there"s no need to worry.”
Hearing Lin Yingmei, Shu Jing only laughed and said no more; his eyes once again focused on the ruins of the legacy.
Scenes of mountains and lakes decorated the walls of the hallway, but due to the pa.s.sage of time as well as destruction by humans, the mural was damaged. One could still faintly make out the mountain, paG.o.da, waterfall, trees and other greeneries.
Seeing mountains as mountains, lakes as lakes.
Look at mountains not as mountains, lakes not as lakes.
He wondered about the mystery behind this mural and the clue.
Because Shu Jing had previously solved the Relic Blade legacy"s puzzle from observation alone, Lin Yingmei felt a rare sense of antic.i.p.ation within her heart. In her mind, she completely ignored this legacy and solely concentrated on Shu Jing as he searched for clues.
While looking around, Shu Jing suddenly frowned. He stopped in his tracks and calmly spoke, “What do you people need?”
Lin Yingmei and Song Lu turned around to look.
The group they had met outside the ruins of the legacy had all stepped out from the shadows. Apart from the Daoist, they all exuded an aura of contempt towards Shu Jing. The Daoist then stepped forward and laughed, “It seems like you have been injured, friend. I know some healing arts that may be able to help you.”
“No need.” Shu Jing straightforwardly rejected his offer, surprising Xun Tian.
Even though he didn"t actually want to actually help Shu Jing, being rejected suddenly still caught him off guard.
“It"s only a minor wound, there"s no reason to trouble yourself, Daoist.” Shu Jing explained.
“This one is called Xun Tian Daoist, I wonder, what should I call you two friends?”
“I"m Shu Jing, this is Lin Yingmei, and that is Song Lu.” Shu Jing introduced his group in order.
Knowing that there was a Song Clan village nearby, these cultivators once again ignored Song Lu. They fixated their gazes on Lin Yingmei.
Xun Tian used this opportunity and excitedly spoke with Shu Jing. He was pretending to be considerate while attempting to bring up the subject of how Shu Jing had gotten injured.
Shu Jing could tell that he was only trying to figure out his background. In the military, he had already been through the “Interrogation and anti-interrogation" training, and the tricks these people attempted to use in front of him was truly laughable. Shu Jing used this chance to turn their ploy against them. While avoiding to disclose any sensitive information, he began to ask them about themselves.
After speaking for some time, Xun Tian Daoist finally noticed something was off. His face changed as he laughed out loud, “I heard that the expert had left behind a mysterious riddle about this place, and solving it would lead to the solution of this Mountain Lake riddle. We should carefully look around here once more, and perhaps we might find some useful clues.”
“Good idea.” Shu Jing answered casually. In reality, his mind was fixated on the legacy the entire time.
The longer Shu Jing observed the design of this Mountain Lake legacy, the more intrigued he was.