Chapter 472

Heng Xian followed Bu Fan's pointing finger and looked over; his spiritual sense couldn't scan it, but from the lights he could see its prosperity and scale, asking, "Can that teleportation array still be used?"

Bu Fan shook his head and said: "Just smash it with a hammer! It's been thousands of years; no one understands the teleportation array, and even if they did, the materials needed for that ancient teleportation array can't be gathered; without them it can't be repaired, neglected for years, who knows where it would send you? Anyway, I've never heard it can be used for teleportation!"

Heng Xian nodded: "What does the Nine Palaces mean?"

Bu Fan said with a solemn expression: "The Nine Palaces refer to the Nine Palaces formation; the whole city is arranged in the Nine Palaces' pattern, backed by the great Nine Palaces formation—even a Nascent Soul cultivator coming here would not fare well!"

The Gongsun family, having abandoned the teleportation array, instead derived a miraculous defensive formation from it!

Not only are there formation setups in the city, each Gongsun family member also carries a formation jade talisman; as long as they are in the city, Gongsun family members are invincible!

This isn't the key; the key is that the Gongsun family manages the city extremely strictly: outsiders can freely come and go in the outer three cities, but to enter the middle three cities one must have lived in Nine Palaces Mountain City for over ten years.

As for the inner three cities, only Gongsun family members, relatives, important guest officials, and guests may enter!

Damn it, the disciples of the Twelve Sects have all run into the inner three cities...

"Wait!" Heng Xian interrupted, "Isn't this about the Flower Pavilion and our Twelve Sects? Which side of the Gongsun family? The Flower Pavilion disciples?"

Bu Fan shook his head: "I can't make it clear! I'm not sure whether the Flower Pavilion people have lived here in Nine Palaces Mountain City for a long time or are originally colluding with the Gongsun family; anyway, they can freely enter and exit the inner three cities!"

As a result, all of our people were captured by them, and the Gongsun family even cooperated a bit!

Heng Xian nodded.

Bu Fan pondered a bit, then said: "That's the situation; I've already asked the sect for help! Master Lan Wuyan and the others will surely send people to rescue, but the key is that this place is too remote—it will take the sect members at least ten or more days to get here, and after ten days their corpses will be cold!"

Heng Xian remained silent; this matter is indeed thorny—he is only at the Yuan Dan Initial Realm, not yet arrogant enough to barge in alone.

Simply, he opened the Heavenly Hexagram and asked: "Going in to save people—give me a plan!"

The hexagram showed: 【One, the Heavenly Hexagram advises the host not to undertake this reckless rescue—it's truly unwise; one should focus on cultivation……】

Seeing this, Heng Xian felt a headache; the Heavenly Hexagram seems to want to cultivate him into a lonely loner—even if his cultivation were high, it would be meaningless!

Then he looked at the second clause.

The hexagram showed: 【Two, take the path of He Qi Ye; this person is an external offering of the Gongsun family and can help the host enter the middle three cities……】

After reading it, Heng Xian felt assured, looked at Bu Fan, and asked: "Do you know He Qi Ye?"

Bu Fan furrowed his brows: "He Qi Ye… you mean the guy who fought with Song San Ye a few days ago?"

Heng Xian had some impression; Wu Hao had told him there was a He Qi Ye who dueled with Song San Ye, fighting for several days; in the end He Qi Ye won, yet also lost, and he nodded: "If there's only one He Qi Ye nearby, that's him!"

Bu Fan said: "I don't know this person either; I just heard a few days ago that he fought with someone called Song San Ye! This guy is an old slicker of Nine Palaces Mountain City, has lived there for decades—what do we want with him?"

"Let's start with him! Find out where he lives!" Heng Xian said.

Bu Fan nodded: "No problem!"

……

He Li Market is a big town.

To the left it borders Nine Palaces Mountain City; to the right is the main road within a 300-li radius, leading north to Qi Yu State and northeast to the Bei Cang Sea three thousand li away.

Around noon a light rain fell, the pattering wet the bricks, tiles, and stone street.

On the town's main street, it was especially lively now, a large crowd gathered together, shouting and gambling.

But a large residence nearby had no one daring to approach, for it was He Qi Ye's outer residence where he kept concubines.

Just then, an oil-paper umbrella appeared from the residence; under it a square-faced man with a grim expression glanced at the crowd and barked: "Who's playing chess? Bring the old man!"

The crowd turned their heads, looked over, and respectfully stood up in unison: "He Qi Ye!"

He Qi Ye nodded, held up his umbrella and walked to the edge of the crowd, looking at the chessboard: "Go? Who wants to play with the old man?"

No one dared to speak!

He Qi Ye is at the Qi Hai Realm cultivation, one of the town's tyrants; moreover, he's a stubborn bad chess player—if you beat him, angering him easily gets you killed; if you lose, he can still tell you think you're insulting him, and you'll get killed just the same!

Just as the crowd didn't know what to do, two more oil-paper umbrellas appeared at the street corner, beneath them two faces full of bright smiles.

Bu Fan said: "Luck comes without effort—this guy just ran out to play chess with someone! Wise Sir, you… how's your chess skill?"

Heng Xian thought seriously: "My own play is just average, but with a few tricks I'd be invincible under heaven!"

Saying that, he shouted: "I'll go!"

The crowd all looked over, first startled, then all showed schadenfreude—this youngster is going to be unlucky!

He Qi Ye slightly frowned: "Where are you from? You look very unfamiliar!"

Heng Xian walked over holding his umbrella: "Chess skill knows no region or age—why ask about origins?"

As soon as he said that, his bearing instantly rose a notch.

He Qi Ye laughed loudly: "Interesting, interesting, come, let me test your chess skill!"

Heng Xian walked to the chessboard's edge and sat down: "Please!"

He Qi Ye's hearty laugh: "Please!"

Saying please, he picked up a white stone and moved first, while placing the stone he said: "Young man, don't lose and cry!"

"All right." Heng Xian said.

After half an incense stick's time, the black stones overwhelmed, wildly pressing the white stones, surrounding and devouring them completely!

He Qi Ye lost, and there was no worse losing situation than this!

The originally enthusiastic crowd around instantly scattered, fleeing lest they be late and get splattered with blood.

He Qi Ye stared at the board, his eyes wavering, his face alternating green and red, finally becoming angry from shame, he slapped the table: "You damn dare to cheat? I'll kill you!"

After scolding, he paused, then noticed the young man opposite, "Bald Head" and the monkey, looking at him with calm expressions, not the slightest fear, even… giving him a sense of heavy pressure!

Like two mountains, they slowly pressed down.

He Qi Ye's face changed, with a "pa lie" sound he knelt before the chessboard, his body trembling: "I didn't know two seniors were honoring us with your presence; please forgive me!"

Bu Fan's Qi Hai Realm eighth-layer aura surged forth mightily, and he cursed: "You just say you're a second-layer Qi Hai Realm bad chess player, what are you pretending for?"

"Not dare!" He Qi Ye wore a bitter expression, having encountered two experts at his own doorstep—who could he reason with?

Heng Xian leaned forward: "How about making a deal?"

He Qiye raised his head with a smile: "Senior, please speak!"

Heng Xian said: "I want to go to the three cities in the middle of Nine Palaces Mountain, help me settle my identity, how many spirit crystals do you need? Just speak up!"

He Qiye had intended to name his price, but suddenly furrowed his brows: "This is a small matter, but..."

(End of chapter)