Zhong Yue then said in a deep voice, "Senior Sister He, that Gu Tangyin is highly valued by True Man Ye, if we go against her, I’m afraid we can’t justify ourselves to the True Man."

"Valued? Why is she valued by the True Man?"

He Qinyuan smiled faintly,

"It’s nothing but because she is a descendant of the Spirit Treasure Sect, the daughter of the Lord of Hunyuan City, and has a special constitution, an extremely rare... cough cough, extremely rare Spirit Body. It doesn’t matter, the True Man won’t blame us."

Hua Wuyin’s expression flickered, sensing something amiss.

He was secretly pondering Gu Tangyin’s constitution.

Isn’t she just some sort of cultivation constitution? Otherwise, why would she become Huayue Mansion’s hidden dragon at such a young age?

But now, He Qinyuan’s hesitations made him suspicious.

"Junior Brother Hua." He Qinyuan looked at Hua Wuyin, who was playing with his hair beside her.

"What does Senior Sister wish?" Hua Wuyin lazily responded.

"That day you saw the three disciples of Chen Ye in the Food Immortal Residence."

He Qinyuan asked,

"What is their cultivation level? How is their root and bone? Are they really as Senior Sister Gu said, worth our four to join forces to capture?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Wuyin’s heart stirred.

The fingers playing with the folding fan paused slightly.

Though he couldn’t see through those three girls, he could faintly sense the deeply hidden Sword Intent of Lu Zhiwei.

But those master and disciples left a deep impression on him, especially Chen Ye. Since Chen Ye dared to send his three disciples to Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, surely these three must each possess extraordinary skills.

If he spoke truthfully, Senior Sister He would realize the importance of the matter and would certainly be moved to kill, going in person—despite her disdain for Gu Tangyin’s words, the truth is she still feared the hidden dragon. No matter what, in such a large Ruins Country, she was ranked among the top thirty-six geniuses.

If such an interesting person died, wouldn’t the cultivation realm lose some of its color?

Therefore.

Hua Wuyin chuckled lightly, covering half his face with the folding fan, his tone dismissive:

"Senior Sister is overthinking."

"Though I didn’t make a move that day, I could tell at a glance that those three girls were merely in the Early Period of Foundation Establishment. One was still a wet-behind-the-ear child, another was a sickly medicine pot, only the one who practiced sword had a bit of potential, but she was merely in Foundation Establishment Second Layer."

"Three in Early Period of Foundation Establishment?"

He Qinyuan raised an eyebrow, most of her interest gone,

"Such lowly creatures, are they worthy of us abandoning Broken Sword Cliff?"

"Indeed."

Hua Wuyin kept pushing, sighing coquettishly,

"Senior Sister Gu really, such trivial matters, she uses the soul lantern to send messages. If word spreads that our Four Heroes teamed up to bully three little girls, we’ll become a laughingstock."

"Hmm..."

He Qinyuan felt uncomfortable, specially going to kill three little girls indeed seemed unworthy.

Gu Tangyin remained as ruthless as ever, avenging every grudge—no need to say, she could guess, it was likely that these girls’ mentor had offended Gu Tangyin.

Thinking of this,

He Qinyuan made a decision in her heart.

She glanced at the deep cave mansion, a real treasure trove, potentially affecting her future Core Formation quality.

If she gave up just because of Gu Tangyin’s order, then she might as well not cultivate.

"As they say, when a general is in the field, the king’s orders can be disregarded."

He Qinyuan casually hung the bronze soul lantern back on her waist,

"Since they’re just ants, there’s no need for us to take action. Yang Qiu of the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect has some skills, doesn’t he hate the Lingyin Sect? Let’s borrow a knife to kill, let him chase those three girls."

Thanks to the soul lantern.

Whoever is under the light curtain’s projection, she can roughly discern their position.

By chance, Yang Qiu wasn’t far from them, and he didn’t bother hiding his tracks, making him easy to find.

She looked up at Zhong Yue: "Junior Brother Zhong, I entrust you with finding Yang Qiu. At that time, the mansion’s opportunity, will have a share for you."

"Alright."

Zhong Yue replied lightly.

Though Zhong Yue was somewhat foolish, he had sharp eyes and a clear mind, with him watching, He Qinyuan and Hua Wuyin wouldn’t dare deceive him.

...

In the depths of the barren stone forest,

"Achoo!"

Qing Jun sneezed loudly, rubbing her nose, she murmured,

"Strange...Is Master thinking of Qing Jun?"

"Surely Master misses me!"

Qing Jun nodded confidently, without much thought, she just rubbed her nose and continued following Senior Sister.

But,

As they ventured deeper into this so-called barren stone forest, the surroundings grew more desolate.

Let alone Spirit Grass or Spiritual Medicine, even Little Demon Beast were unwilling to come.

All that met their eyes were bizarre rocks, gray stone pillars like dead bones stuck into the ground.

The wind was particularly noisy, howling like ghosts as it passed through the cracks, stinging the face, carrying an old earthy scent.

"Senior Sister, is this the place?"

Suddenly, Qing Jun stopped, scratching her head.

She looked at the bare surroundings, then at the unremarkable giant rock before her, puzzled:

"Why did Master have us come here? This rock doesn’t look like a treasure, does it?"

Saying so, she truly knocked on the rock, "thunk thunk thunk," the sound was dull, obviously a solid stubborn rock.

"Indeed, nothing special."

Zhiwei stopped, taking out the jade scroll inscribed by her Master, divine sense probing into it.

"Master’s jade scroll says... this place is known as the barren stone forest. About a hundred and eighty years ago, True Man Ye from the Refining God Sect encountered a formidable enemy here."

"True Man Ye was remarkably talented, countered several dozen foes. But back then Luoxiao Grotto Heaven had just emerged, not only were there cultivators in Late Period of Foundation Establishment, but also Golden Core True Man. Fearing the enemies’ Storage Bags carried tracking imprints, she dared not take the spoils, instead painfully buried all the Storage Bags here."

"Master said, we’re here... to take advantage."

As soon as the words fell.

"Eek—?!"

In her backpack, the little white fox, who had been feigning sleep, froze, as if struck by lightning.

Its eyes widened, ears stood upright, shocked, it rolled out of Qing Jun’s backpack, "thunk" fell to the ground.

A century ago... countered enemies... painfully buried treasures...

That was its life’s most painful day!

The little white fox was dumbstruck.

The so-called opportunity is its treasure?

But now...

How did Chen Ye know?!

Was he standing by, watching as it buried things?!

"Squeak squeak... impossible..."

The little white fox’s brain couldn’t grasp it.

"Huh? But why after so many years, didn’t True Man Ye take away the treasure here? Why didn’t they have the Refining God Sect’s cultivators take it?"

Jin’er was puzzled, unable to understand at all.

"Hmm. Master wasn’t quite sure either. He speculated True Man Ye’s relation with the Refining God Sect wasn’t necessarily close... Moreover, after that Luoxiao Grotto Heaven event, True Man Ye was heavily injured, and to digest what she’d gained, she secluded for decades. Later, the sects agreed to prevent disputes from escalating, restricting cultivators’ entry. Because of this, True Man Ye couldn’t enter Luoxiao Grotto Heaven again."

Zhiwei explained.

As for restricting cultivators’ entry, there seemed to be inside information.

It’s said several Golden Core True Man perished within Luoxiao Grotto Heaven then.

Luoxiao Grotto Heaven has intelligence, closely watching powerful cultivators, especially Golden Core True Man. If Luoxiao Grotto Heaven’s gaze fixes upon one, it may summon a great demon in the grotto lurking for years!

This Luoxiao Grotto Heaven was once the Songyang Sect’s sect headquarters, now a thousand years later, there were Golden Core period Demon Beast within, even rumored to have a Nascent Soul Demon King slumbering here.

"No... the more I hear about this Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, the stranger it seems. It’s just a grotto heaven, why does it have intelligence? Could someone be skulking within? Moreover, why does it fixate on cultivators? And why attract Demon Beast?"

Zhiwei silently pondered, instinct telling her Luoxiao Grotto Heaven holds a great secret.

Given the status of Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, logically, the Golden Core True Man of the Five Sects of Yan Kingdom should spare no expense seeking opportunities within the grotto.

These True Man wouldn’t willingly forsake opportunities for juniors... Bear in mind, Luoxiao Grotto Heaven’s opportunities might even tempt Nascent Soul True Monarch, let alone Golden Core True Man?

Unless, there exists within the Luoxiao Grotto Heaven an entity the Five Sects of Yan Kingdom feared.

Therefore, Golden Core True Man dare not risk, instead sending sect disciples to test the waters!