Oh. My. Fate?! (Bl, Volume 10, Part 1)

173 A Place with Many Secrets

The disciples naturally didn't need to be told twice. They went to look through the resources they had available, then added up the merits they had accrued over time and went to exchange them for some more things they might need on the mission before they got some rest.

This kind of mission, you couldn't be careful enough with it. If you made a blunder, not only might it cost your life, even if you managed to make it through, the same might not be true for others so you couldn't risk it. Also, this mission was too important for the sect to have a lackadaisical attitude about it. They all understood that.

The next morning, everybody gathered in front of the Sect Master's palace, waiting for her oldest disciple to give the start signal.

Ao Wen didn't rush. She called the disciples up one by one, making sure that everyone was there and looked ready. Only then did she motion in the direction where the Leyuan region was. "Very well, let's go! Don't waste time on the way."

Since these disciples were stronger than the juniors they had taken over to the realm the other time, they didn't bother about using an artifact to fly over there. Instead, everyone just got onto their flying sword, rushing over themselves.

With their strength, it didn't take long. They already arrived in a couple of hours. Walking up the mountain and looking at the familiar array at the top of the cliff, they couldn't help but feel a bit strange.

This was the entrance to the demonic ancestor's poisonous herb garden. It was the place that all of them had gone to for their first mission in the Jian Yi Sect, and also one that they had come back to at a later time, accompanying the younger disciples on their first mission. Now, there was actually a whole second realm hidden in there that they had never even imagined existing. Even though they had gotten the news, they could still hardly believe it.

The group stepped into the array, imbuing their spiritual energy to be taken over.

As soon as they reached the other side, Ao Wen sent a message to her second junior martial brother before she turned to the others. "From the message we got, the entrance to that place shouldn't be far. Still, it will be easiest for my second junior martial brother's group to find us if we stay here so let's take a rest. As soon as they come, we can set off and start to explore the other side. Make sure that you will be in your optimal state at that time."

The disciples nodded and everyone went to sit down, meditating. Anyway, there was nothing else they could do for now.

At this time, She Fen and the group of younger disciples were in the palace in the middle of the realm. They had slowly explored the outside by walking around in big cycles just like how they had started out. Finally, that method had led them to the steps of this place.

The palace was huge, clearly a complex with several buildings, gardens all of its own, and high walls that separated one part from the other. They had spent more than two months exploring this place alone. To be honest, compared with the rest of the realm, this might actually be the most interesting place.

More than once, they had stopped in one of the buildings, trying to figure out just what the things left there meant. There naturally were herbs preserved in jade boxes, entire rooms full of dried ones, and even some ready-made pills and potions that nobody had dared to touch yet even though the realm had been open for so long.

But other than that, there were many other things as well. A lot of them seemed to be tied to cultivation. For example, there were many cultivation manuals or objects that could help one in reaching a higher level faster or refining a specific spirit vein slowly over time.

For alchemists that wanted to reach a high level, cultivation was something that they couldn't get around but still, it was often something that they did because they had to, not because they were interested in it.

Usually, a good alchemist would choose one cultivation technique that would allow them to make good progress, not necessarily speeding through the levels, but at least not being stuck for too long at a certain place. Usually, those techniques would also give them a bit of an advantage in their alchemy. These were often techniques that had a calming effect on the mind and body since this was a quality that a good alchemist would need.

Just looking at the cultivation manuals in this place though ... they were afraid that they didn't match that expectation. And even though some did, there were just too many to be used by just one person, especially not an alchemist.

Having seen this, the disciples couldn't help but have some questions. But this wasn't what they were here for and She Fen and Xiao Li were both unable to explain this, so they could only ponder by themselves what the meaning of this might be. In any case, it was a curious place and one that they had had a lot of fun investigating.

Even the junior martial brother who had been unhappy because they were slowly exploring everything and had instead wanted to encounter an adventure as fast as possible had slowly come around to this style of exploration.

In fact, he had made it his task to try and look for hidden compartments, traps, and the like, always feeling that if there was another hidden side of the realm, then even on this side, there should be more surprises waiting for them. It was only a question of time until he would be able to find one of them! So far, he hadn't had luck, but that didn't mean that he would give up anytime soon.

Unfortunately, before he was able to do so, the message from She Fen's senior martial sister arrived, so it seemed that their exploration of this palace would have to come to an end as sad as he was about that.