An hour later, everyone had stopped their meditation.
With the aid of Spirit Stones and pills, they had recovered their Spiritual Qi, but the piles of Spirit Stone powder around them showed just how many they had used.
The amount of Spiritual Qi a Core Formation Cultivator's meridians and dantian could hold was unimaginable to low-level cultivators. A few low-grade Spirit Stones could keep a Qi Refining cultivator's Spiritual Qi full, but for Core Formation Cultivators like them, the Spiritual Qi from low-grade Spirit Stones was practically negligible. Only mid-grade or higher Spirit Stones would have an immediate effect. But mid-grade Spirit Stones were rare to begin with, generally only used for setting up formations or emergencies—who would use them to replenish Spiritual Qi? So, they could only rely on quantity, piling up low-grade Spirit Stones.
Even so, none among them had their Spiritual Qi completely full. Because under the condition of being unable to absorb external Spiritual Qi, the recovery speed was too slow, and they couldn't afford to linger for long periods right now.
Mo Tiange was in the same situation. But her condition was relatively good because she had an abundance of Spiritual Qi replenishing pills, and her own body could still generate Spiritual Qi. Though not completely full, it wouldn't affect her combat strength.
"The formation is broken!" Qiu Chengruo said joyfully after stopping her meditation.
The power of the wind and snow gradually dissipated, and the ice plain slowly vanished, revealing a cave entrance.
Mo Tiange revealed a smile. Just as she thought—in a Trial ground, the purpose of formations was merely for the trial itself. They didn't actually need to break the formation.
But after looking at the surrounding scene, she grew cautious again.
The place they now found themselves in was a cave—or rather, calling it one cave wasn't accurate. More precisely, it was a cavern, a cavern with many interconnected passages and numerous branches. Just from where they stood, there were three to five branching paths, each leading into deep, unknown darkness.
"Fellow Daoist Qin?" Nie Wushang asked in a low voice.
"Hmm?"
"Is something wrong?"
Mo Tiange shook her head. "No, it's just... do you think this is real or fake?"
Nie Wushang looked around for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm completely ignorant of formations. I can't tell for sure."
"Fellow Daoist Qin," Yong Ruyu interjected from the side, "in my opinion, this seems real."
"Oh?" Mo Tiange showed interest. "What makes you think so, Fellow Daoist Yong?"
Yong Ruyu smiled modestly. "Like Fellow Daoist Tian Can, I'm completely ignorant of formation arts, so this is just speculation." He paused, then continued, "First, the terrain. I remember when we entered the teleportation array, we were within Jialing Mountain. This cavern seems to match that. Second, the surrounding Spiritual Qi is very stable, unlike what you'd expect from an Illusion Formation."
Mo Tiange nodded. "Fellow Daoist Yong makes a good point. I have the same feeling."
"Since Fellow Daoist Qin also doesn't think it's an Illusion Formation, does that mean this scene is indeed real?" Qiu Chengruo asked.
Mo Tiange shook her head again. "Fellow Daoist Qiu overestimates me. Though I have some understanding of formation arts, when it comes to Ancient Divine Abilities, I'm also quite ignorant. How could I possibly detect everything without omission?"
Hearing this, Qiu Chengruo thought it made sense. Ancient Divine Abilities—how could today's cultivators compare? Even a true formation master might not necessarily recognize an ancient Illusion Formation.
"Regardless, since Fellow Daoist Qin can't detect anything, it means it's relatively safer," Qiu Chengruo said, looking at the branching paths ahead. "What should we do next?"
"What else can we do? Of course we continue forward," Yong Ruyu said, turning to look at Mo Tiange and Nie Wushang. "Fellow Daoist Qin, Fellow Daoist Tian Can, don't you agree?"
Both Mo Tiange and Nie Wushang nodded. Given the current situation, there really was no other choice but to follow this cavern and see if they could find any clues.
However, Mo Tiange felt something was strange. That City Lord Mei had said this was a Trial ground, and if they passed the trials, they could obtain many rewards. How did he know this? He said he hadn't passed any trials when he entered, but now that they were inside, hadn't they passed one? They still hadn't seen any prompts about the trial.
Mo Tiange instinctively felt something was wrong. She must have overlooked something.
"Fellow Daoists, shall we proceed?" Seeing her unmoving, Yong Ruyu called out again.
Mo Tiange nodded and followed behind them, slowly entering one of the branching paths.
They took the left-middle path. This route was chosen by Nie Wushang. When Qiu Chengruo asked, she casually punched the ground, creating several cracks. The largest one pointed to the middle, so she chose the middle. With the situation unclear, which path they took didn't matter much, so the other three had no objections.
As they walked, nothing unusual occurred. Though Yong Ruyu's cultivation wasn't particularly outstanding, he was extremely meticulous. After observing him, Mo Tiange felt reassured to let him take the lead while she continued her contemplation.
Since she felt she had overlooked something, she started thinking from the beginning of events.
First, she and Nie Wushang arrived at Xingluo City. When they checked into an inn, Elder Liang of Xingluo City came at City Lord Mei's command to invite them. Then, City Lord Mei informed them about discovering an Ancient Secret Land and requested they enter to obtain the Heavenly God Fruit for him. Finally, he led his Core Formation elders, opened the secret land, and let the fifteen Core Formation Cultivators enter.
Thinking carefully, the general sequence of events didn't seem problematic. So, the issue must lie in the details.
The details... which step's details were problematic...
"Fellow Daoist Mo, what are you thinking about?" Nie Wushang's low voice sounded in her ear—she was using secret voice transmission.
Mo Tiange snapped back to attention and also transmitted, "Hmm... I feel there's something off about this whole matter."
Hearing this, Nie Wushang cast a glance her way, her eyes brightening slightly. "You feel it too?"
"Too?" Mo Tiange frowned. "Don't tell me you..."
"I felt something was off after we set out, I just haven't been able to make sense of it yet. And outside, with City Lord Mei present, I couldn't transmit to you."
"Really? What part seems off to you?"
Nie Wushang thought for a moment. "I'm not as meticulous as you, but you know my master cultivates demonic arts. I know more about demonic path cultivators than you do. First, I felt their method of activating the teleportation array was wrong. Since this is an Ancient Secret Land, even if they used their own techniques to conceal the restriction, it shouldn't be direct concealment. You need to understand—things left from the Ancient Era often have pure Spiritual Qi. Though demonic cultivators can absorb Spiritual Qi, they need special cultivation methods to do so. Directly overlaying demonic path restrictions on pure Spiritual Qi like that would have a neutralizing effect on the restrictions."
"Is that so?" Mo Tiange indeed didn't know much about demonic cultivators. But after thinking, she felt something else was off. "According to what you're saying, that teleportation array should have some problems. But I looked—it was indeed an ancient formation diagram."
Reaching this point in their discussion, both felt their minds full of doubts, momentarily unsure how to proceed.
"Fellow Daoist Qin? Fellow Daoist Tian Can?" Qiu Chengruo suddenly turned around. "What's wrong with you two?"
Each preoccupied with their own thoughts, the two had unconsciously fallen far behind.
"Oh, it's nothing," Mo Tiange said, quickening her steps to catch up. Seeing Yong Ruyu's inquiring gaze, she thought for a moment and finally said, "Fellow Daoists, you're native cultivators of Yunzhong. Presumably, you're very familiar with the situation here. Does it really seem normal to discover an Ancient Secret Land and then invite unrelated people to explore it?"
Both Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo froze, stopping in their tracks to look at her.
Mo Tiange continued, "Shouldn't such a good place be kept for exclusive use? Xingluo City isn't very large. If they had this secret land as backing and properly nurtured cultivators, it would be greatly beneficial to them."
Hearing this, Yong Rushu frowned thoughtfully. "Fellow Daoist Qin makes a reasonable point."
"So Fellow Daoist Yong also feels something is off?"
Yong Ruyu thought for a while, then shook his head again. "I can't say for sure. Fellow Daoist Qin, I don't know what your homeland is like, but in Yunzhong, there have been examples of discovering secret lands and trying to keep them exclusive, only to be discovered by major sects and bringing disaster. So, it's not unreasonable that after discovering this secret land, City Lord Mei didn't think to monopolize it, but rather tried to gain some advantage before other forces could react."
"Oh? Is that so..." Mo Tiange fell silent. So this reasoning of hers might be wrong? But she trusted her intuition in this matter—it wasn't mere suspicion. She was certain something was definitely off here.
"Fellow Daoist Qin," Nie Wushang suddenly said, "let me put it this way: do you think this secret land matches the scale of an Ancient Secret Land?"
Mo Tiange was taken aback, looking at Nie Wushang.
Nie Wushang also looked at her, her hoarse voice continuing, "You're also a cultivator from a major sect, with considerable experience. Look at this place—can it be called an Ancient Secret Land?"
Hearing this, Mo Tiange suddenly understood. That's right. Though this place had traces of the Ancient Era everywhere, calling it an Ancient Secret Land seemed too simplistic. Take their first trial—that ice plain wind and snow indeed contained the mysteries of Ancient Divine Abilities, but its power was too weak. It merely exhausted their Spiritual Qi without causing any substantial harm.
Seeing Mo Tiange's expression, Nie Wushang smiled slightly. "Though I'm not as meticulous as you, I'm a martial cultivator. I have a natural sensitivity to power. I dare say this isn't any Ancient Secret Land at all—it's just a fake secret land constructed by borrowing the skin of some Ancient Divine Abilities!"
As soon as Nie Wushang said this, Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo's expressions changed dramatically. Yong Ruyu stared intently at Nie Wushang for a long moment before asking, "What does Fellow Daoist Tian Can mean by this?"
"What else could I mean?" Nie Wushang's tone was indifferent. "Fellow Daoists, you also come from notable backgrounds, so your perspectives shouldn't be limited. Think carefully—would an Ancient Trial ground really be this easy to pass? Remember, we're Core Formation Cultivators who can use Magical Treasures. How powerful were Magical Treasures in the Ancient Era? Would a Core Formation level trial really be this simple?"
After she said this, Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo remained silent for a long while. After a moment, Qiu Chengruo said in a low voice, "Our Danxia Sect also has a secret land. But my senior brother and I are only at the early Core Formation stage, so our sect suggested we wait until our cultivation is higher before entering. However..." Her gaze rested on Nie Wushang's face for a moment. "Fellow Daoist Tian Can makes a valid point. This trial is indeed too simple. Even if we're stronger than ordinary cultivators, it's impossible we wouldn't have sustained any injuries at all..."
"And it completely drained our Spiritual Qi," Mo Tiange suddenly interjected, looking at the three before her with a grave expression. "Fellow Daoists, I'm afraid we've already walked into a trap."