The fork in the gorge they just entered was a very long one. The deeper one went inside, the narrower the path forward. Dou Di kept running deeper inside, and half an hour later, Ning Cheng, who kept following just behind her, suddenly stopped.
Dou Di also stopped and looked back at Ning Cheng with a doubtful expression, “Brother Cheng, why did you stop?”
Ning Cheng pointed to the wall just behind him and spoke, “If there are treasures in this place, then it should be someplace here, not further inside. From what I sense, there should be a concealed defensive array formation around here. However, because of the long period of disuse, the concealed array formation has started to show some fragmentation.”
Ning Cheng already was a Grade 6 Imperial Array Master, and when he came to this place, he felt a stronger trace of water aura flowing through this particular fork. Ning Cheng immediately swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness and used it to examine everything within the range of a hundred miles and found nothing even on reaching the end of the path. Moreover, this fork within the gorge only had a single entry point.
Dou Di, on hearing Ning Cheng’s words, immediately took out a jade strip from her storage ring and swept it with her Spiritual Consciousness. Soon, her expressions turned a little embarra.s.sed.
Knowing this particular location was the main reason why she looked for Ning Cheng to work together. However, she had not found this place till now; rather, it was Ning Cheng who first found it, which made her feel embarra.s.sed.
“I’m sorry, I ended up walking past it.” Dou Di’s expressions once again returned to normal before she looked at Ning Cheng with some doubts, “How do you know about this place? Do you also have a map?”
Ning Cheng just showed a faint smile, “It doesn’t matter how I know about this place. Getting inside this place is what’s important. There are more and more people rushing in. If I can find this place, then it also means that others can also find it.”
“Yes, we should hurry in.” Dou Di understood that the fellow in front of her definitely had a secret. Why would he tell her about his secret?
Trying to cover up her embarra.s.sment, she quickly brought out a weapon, “There should be a concealed defensive array formation around here. However, I can’t break it alone. There is only one way to open it, that is, to attack together. If we work together, we should be able to break it open in at most two hours. As long as no one comes here during those two hours, we would succeed.”
So that’s why she wanted to look for someone to cooperate with; most likely, it would take her at least seven to eight hours to break open this place if she had to work on it alone. Attacking an array formation in this place continuously for seven to eight hours would definitely attract a lot of attention.
Ning Cheng shook his head. Instead of a weapon, he took out an array flag and spoke, “I’m sure that someone would find us here if we kept attacking this place for two hours straight. Let me handle this.”
With that said, Ning Cheng kept dropping one array flag after another. In just half an incense stick of time, a small crack appeared in front of Dou Di.
Dou Di stared at Ning Cheng in shock. For this concealed defensive array formation, she needed someone to cooperate with her to break it down. So how could this fellow open it so quickly?
“Hurry in, someone’s coming over.” Ning Cheng did not wait around for Dou Di to ask questions before immediately stepping inside.
Dou Di, on seeing this, immediately rushed inside. Ning Cheng waved his hand and put away all the array flags, returning the scene to its previous state. This defensive array formation only targeted those trying to come inside. If one wanted to come out from the inside, they wouldn’t need to break through it all over again.
“Brother Cheng, are you a top-grade Array Formation Master?” Dou Di finally couldn’t help but ask. A top-grade Array Formation Master definitely would not be someone simple.
Studying array formations not only required a lot of time but also needed a strong foundation. This foundation was the array formation inheritance. When it came to Alchemy and Artefact-crafting, people could still manage to learn it by themselves through trial and error, as long as one has access to sufficient resources. However, when it came to array formations, if one wanted to study it, then one could only rely on the inheritance from the seniors of the past, and try to comprehend it by themselves. At best, building on the original heritage, one could only make a few breakthroughs on top of it.
Ning Cheng just gave a casual reply, “It’s just a little bit of research. That doesn’t make me a top-grade Array Formation Master. In any case, I’ve already located the Golden Foetal Flame Beads that you mentioned. Looks like they are quite a few in this place.”
Around a few thousand feet in front of them was a small pool formed by a spring. The pool contained a decent quant.i.ty of water, along with a square platform in the middle of the pool. This square platform had five or six Golden Foetal Flame Beads placed over it.
Ning Cheng knew that using the Golden Foetal Flame Bead to induce nirvana within a flame would require the help of a top-grade spiritual pool. This spring pool must have been left behind by Daoist Crow after his flame achieved nirvana. This spring pool had helped Daoist Crow’s flame to experience nirvana, and even after such a long time, it hadn’t dried up. This definitely indicated that this was a good thing.
Dou Di quickly rushed over and grabbed two Golden Foetal Flame Beads before turning to Ning Cheng and speaking, “Brother Cheng, you’re much more powerful compared to me. So I just need two Golden Foetal Flame Beads; as for the other things, you can have it. As for the spring pool, I just need a third of it.”
For her, a third of the spring pool plus two Golden Foetal Flame Beads was more than enough for her flame to experience nirvana.
Ning Cheng raised his hand, put away the four other Golden Foetal Flame Beads, and casually spoke up, “I don’t want the spring pool. You can take it with you.”
Ning Cheng had already scrutinised this spring pool and found that it indeed was a Spiritual Pool. However, this Spiritual Pool was still not enough for his Celestial River Flame to undergo nirvana using the Golden Foetal Flame Bead. Besides, if he needed a Spiritual Pool, he could always find it.
“Many thanks, Brother Cheng.” Dou Di felt overjoyed and quickly sc.r.a.pped all the spring water within the spring pool. She also vaguely understood how Ning Cheng was able to find this place.
The Crow Star was a dried up place throughout, without even a drop of water. Once any trace of water actually appeared, it would truly be akin to a miracle. This fellow must have sensed the water aura coming from this place before finally locating this place. Since this fellow could sense the aura of water, then this cultivator definitely had a water-attributed main spiritual root, which would also make him quite sensitive to the aura of water.
As Dou Di thought about all this, Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness had already scoured every inch of this place. Looks like Daoist Crow only used this place to let his flame experience nirvana. There simply was nothing else in this place.
What Dou Di wanted the most was not the Dao Confirmation Insights, but a way to let her flame experience nirvana. Now that she obtained what she wanted, she truly felt grateful towards Ning Cheng.
Just when she was about to say her thanks, her and Ning Cheng’s communication pearls lit up simultaneously.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Warren and Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wanxue found Daoist Crow’s Dao Confirming Location, we need to quickly head over….” Dou Di, while in mid-conversation, rushed out of the room.
Ning Cheng had also seen the message on the communication pearl; however, he also understood that although Yu Wanxue found the real Dao Confirming Cave of Daoist Crow, several other people had reached it before them. They simply couldn’t cope with so many people by themselves. If one wanted to get a piece of the action, then they would definitely have to call in the others for a.s.sistance.
Seeing Dou Di rush out of the cave, Ning Cheng quickly returned to the middle of the pool, picked up the stone platform that had the Golden Foetal Flame Beads placed on it previously, and threw it into his storage ring.
His Spiritual Consciousness had previously penetrated through the stone platform and found that it was hollow in the middle, with a jade card and the jade strip inside. Ning Cheng didn’t know what these two objects were, or what they contained, but Daoist Crow definitely was not an ordinary fellow. Therefore, if Daoist Crow placed something within the stone platform, then it definitely would not be something ordinary.
If Dou Di had found out about it, he would have thought about sharing it with her as agreed. However, since Dou Di did not know about it, then he naturally would not hesitate to take it for himself.
Although Ning Cheng lagged behind Dou Di by a few breaths, Dou Di didn’t care about it. In fact, even if Ning Cheng took the stone platform in front of her, Dou Di would not care. Even if the stone platform contained a secret, what would it matter to her? She had already obtained what she wanted and had willingly decided not to care about the stone platform.
……
Ning Cheng and Dou Di quickly found Yue Wanxue, and with Ning Cheng arriving, all five of their team had once again gathered. However, their team was only of moderate strength in this place. Within the simple-looking stone hall, there were already thirty other people. The strongest among them was a group of six people, all Heaven’s Mandate Cultivators.
Ning Cheng’s team only had a middle-level standing in this place. Moreover, looking at the many empty shelves within this stone hall, he understood that the people here had already divided whatever the shelves contained among themselves.
Also, further down the stone hall, there were two sealed array entrances. Seeing that the people here haven’t left yet, it most likely had something to do with the two sealed array formations.
“Brother Cheng, Junior Apprentice Sister Dou, you’re finally here. Daoist Crow used this place for confirming his Dao. However, our strength is a little bit weaker compared to others. Even Senior Apprentice Brother Warren had to suffer some minor injuries a few moments to grab Daoist Crow’s stuff.” Seeing Ning Cheng and Dou Di come over, Yu Wanxue explained in a low voice.
Glancing at Ning Cheng, Warren voiced, “It was that group of six men who injured me. All of them have a Heaven’s Mandate Cultivation. They are much stronger compared to us. For now, we must not fight against them recklessly. At this time, we can only rely on luck.”
When Warren’s words reached the part about relying on luck, his tone also turned somewhat helpless. Finding this place was to try their luck. But now, obtaining anything from here would involve a comparison of strength, not chance. The reason he said those words was because their team’s power could not compare to the most formidable team here.
“Friends, we have more than thirty people here now. If anyone dares to call their companions over to this place again, don’t blame me for not being polite.” A burly man with a full face stood up and spoke with Celestial Essence-infused voice. It caused the rest of the people’s eardrums to ache.
When the burly fellow spoke, he glanced at Ning Cheng’s side with a fierce look in his eyes. Obviously, he felt very dissatisfied with Yu Wanxue calling in Ning Cheng and Dou Di. However, Ning Cheng and Dou Di both looked and felt ordinary; therefore, he simply did not take them seriously.
A cultivator with a full-circle Heaven’s Mandate Cultivation, Ning Cheng judged from the celestial wheels behind this fellow. This person definitely was a powerhouse. Moreover, he even had formed a six-man team, all of them in Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Not only was this fellow’s strength a cut above others, but even this fellow’s side was also at the top.
Seeing that no one dared to stand up to retort, the burly fellow with a full face gave a relatively satisfied nod before continuing, “Since everyone came here to search for treasures, then everyone here definitely has a destined connection to this place. Currently, there are two array entrances here, and with 34 people standing within this hall. I suggest we form two groups of seventeen people each and then choose one of the array formations. But I’ll say it now after you choose one of the array entrances, you can only enter that array entrance. Even if the things inside that array entrance do not satisfy you, you cannot enter the other array entrance. Otherwise, the other group will work together to kill you.”
Ning Cheng sneered within his heart. He was an Imperial Array Master, someone who could already arrange Grade 6 Celestial River Array Formations and even use Spiritual Consciousness Attacks. How could he not figure out this burly fellow’s trick? Although there were two array entrances here, one of them definitely was fake.