52. What Does This Have to Do with Me???
While the people inside were busy looting, those outside weren’t idle.
The moment the first barrier was broken, they rushed into the secret realm.
The secret realm resembled a courtyard.
There was a spiritual pond, a stream flowing with spiritual energy, and a field of special herbs.
In the center of the courtyard stood a small wooden hut.
This hut was clearly a decoy. After the crowd almost broke down the door, they discovered a passage leading downwards.
At the end of the passage was a hidden underground palace.
However, the palace wasn’t as peaceful as the courtyard.
The person who set this place up intended to leave the Cloud Rainbow Sect’s legacy to the deserving.
So, the palace was filled with puzzles, requiring knowledge of medicine and healing spiritual arts to solve.
No one present possessed such skills—well, there should have been, the Immortal Master and her disciples, but somehow, after entering the palace, they realized she was missing.
Fortunately, Shangguan Ziyuan had some medical knowledge, preventing them from having to brute-force every obstacle.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, they cleared the final obstacle and arrived at a chamber filled with treasures.
As one of the top three sects of the Hundred Paths Mountain, the Cloud Rainbow Sect possessed immense wealth.
Many present, both righteous and demonic cultivators, immediately began stuffing their spatial rings and bags with gold and silver.
The scene was chaotic.
But some were more discerning.
This gold and silver was just an appetizer, practically worthless.
As they explored, they gradually realized something.
Some of the puzzles were incredibly complex, comparable to the entrance exams of the top sects in the Hundred Paths Mountain.
The combination of medicine and healing spiritual arts led many to suspect that this was a hidden treasury of the Cloud Rainbow Sect.
Realizing this, the Hehuan Sect, the Heartflame Empire, the Dongyang Sect, and several other astute sects began to act.
They competed and schemed against each other, trying to hinder their rivals’ progress.
Finally, the demonic cultivators lost their patience.
They attacked those nearby, even disguising some of their members as Dongyang Sect disciples to attack the Heartflame Empire’s group.
In the narrow passage, someone extinguished the torches, plunging everything into darkness and sparking a chaotic brawl.
“Who kicked me!?”
“Who pulled my ear!?”
“I’m from the demonic sect! You dare attack me!?”
“Who kicked my balls!?”
“…”
“…”
The situation became incredibly chaotic. Even Shangguan Ziyuan and her guards could only focus on self-preservation.
Only a few from the Hehuan Sect took advantage of the chaos and rushed ahead, finally finding a locked door.
“Don’t damage the treasures inside.” Wu Shijie, sensing the fluctuations of spiritual energy from within, stopped his subordinates from breaking down the door.
“Just break the lock.”
“The Sect Master is right!”
After quickly removing the lock, Wu Shijie eagerly opened the door.
At the same moment, Gong Yiling closed the door from the inside.
Wu Shijie: “Ah, so many… huh?”
“What!!??”
All the cultivators who entered first were dumbfounded.
This wasn’t a treasure chamber.
It was filled with dull gray rocks!
“How is this possible?”
Wu Shijie rushed into the room, his subordinates quickly searching around.
But…
Nothing…
There was nothing!
How could this be… how could there be nothing!?
“Sect Master, the room is empty!”
“Sect Master, there’s another room inside, also empty!”
“Sect Master, there are only broken rocks here, no spirit stones.”
With each report, Wu Shijie’s face darkened.
After their fruitless search, the cultivators who had been held back finally broke through the door.
Then, a very awkward scene unfolded.
Several groups stood among the broken rocks, staring at each other.
“Wu Shijie, what is the meaning of this?” Elder Yan roared. “First, you had someone interfere, and now there’s nothing left for us. Do you really think we’re easy to bully!?”
Wu Shijie, already furious, retorted, “There was nothing here to begin with.”
“Do you take us for fools?”
“Are you kidding? Why would I lie to you?”
Few believed him. As the standoff continued, several of Shangguan Ziyuan’s guards discovered some remnants of spirit stones among the rocks.
They were all high-grade, though their quality wasn’t the best, and they were covered in a layer of dust.
Clearly, the rocks were placed there later, probably because someone ran out of time and couldn’t take everything.
“Sect Master Wu,” Shangguan Ziyuan said calmly, “do you have anything to say?”
“…What does this have to do with me!?” Wu Shijie was dumbfounded. “I arrived only ten minutes earlier than you. How could I…”
Then, he suddenly remembered something.
He had received a secret report that the Dongyang Sect was planning to eradicate the Hehuan Sect.
They had even found an unidentified immortal master to help them.
The current situation, seemingly without a clue, actually…
“HAHAHAHAHA!”
He suddenly burst out laughing. “Well played, Sect Master Yan! What a brilliant move!”
Elder Yan, still fuming, was taken aback. “What are you talking about?”
“You could have simply declared war on me based on our personal feud, but you deliberately orchestrated this situation, making my Hehuan Sect offend the Fifth Princess. Isn’t that clever?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Elder Yan frowned in confusion.
“No need to pretend. You had that Immortal Master come here in advance. With the abilities of the Great One Engineering Sect, she could easily solve those puzzles.”
“Then, she replaced all the treasures with these broken rocks, leaving only a few as evidence, and deliberately let me arrive first.”
“In fact, that Immortal Master is here right now, isn’t she!?”
Gong Yiling, hiding behind the wall, frowned—Was this guy crazy? Why was he dragging her into this?
Leave a Reply