Chapter 209: Exploring Mohe Again

Lu Xingzhou carried a tray of fruit and knocked on Ye Tinglan's door again.

Ye Tinglan opened her eyes from cultivation: "Enter."

She was not only refusing to observe, but also refusing to listen to the conversation between the two, completely returning to the image of a high scholar unconnected to herself.

But in Lu Xingzhou's eyes, having entered the mortal dust, she was no longer high.

"Is Mr. well today?" Lu Xingzhou placed the fruit by the table and asked in the posture of a disciple paying respects.

Ye Tinglan looked at him indifferently, her eyes calm and devoid of emotion: "Still well. What do you want?"

"First, to see if Mr. is accustomed to staying here; second, to ask about Mr.'s schedule."

"Because your stay here is longer than expected?"

"Yes." They had left the capital for a trial; originally unaware of the change of events, they had specifically detoured to Xiazhou just to see Shen Tang. Lu Xingzhou sought to comfort his longing, while Ye Tinglan had an intent to investigate; in any case, the original plan was to stay no more than two days and leave at any time.

But looking at the current situation, it seemed they could not leave in the short term.

Ye Tinglan said indifferently: "Ever since I divined that hexagram in the cave, I knew this journey would be overdue; it is simply that you are unlearned and incompetent."

Lu Xingzhou: "Then if I turn and leave, does this hexagram collapse?"

"Are you willing to turn and leave?"

"..."

Ye Tinglan said: "If anyone is to leave, it is I who will turn and leave; you would not be willing to let me go. Speak, who do you plan to use my power to fight?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled apologetically: "What Mr. says is nonsense; how could I possibly..."

"I heard it."

"... How could I not plan for Mr.? We are all family; there is no need to be polite with Mr. Otherwise, Mr. will say I am being a stranger, won't you?"

Ye Tinglan said indifferently: "So you say on one hand that you hope I am at ease, while on the other you use me and create trouble for me. Do you not think you are hypocritical?"

Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then honestly admitted: "By that logic, a little."

Ye Tinglan's eyes held a smile: "You are also honest. Just a bit thick-skinned."

"Because I treat Mr. as family, so I feel justified in asking for help," Lu Xingzhou said. "Conversely, if Mr. also treats me as family and throws some burdens onto me, wouldn't that make things easier?"

Ye Tinglan looked into Lu Xingzhou's eyes; Lu Xingzhou's expression was calm.

Ye Tinglan recalled that he had indeed said these words while whispering privately with Shen Tang, "I hope to help a bit," and "Once I have ability, I will naturally give back," and her heart was slightly moved.

If he can offer strategies to help Yuan Muyu, why can he not help me?

When the mindset shifts from viewing him as someone needing assessment and guarding to viewing him as family who can be used as an arm, then it truly seems much easier. Not only does a matter requiring effort turn into an aid, but the ability of this aid has been proven many times.

It seems Elder Xu also once said, "Will Yuan Muyu be angry to death..."

Huh... Ye Tinglan also wanted to stroke her chin.

It was simply a change of mindset, and the world became vast and open.

Actually, taking in a disciple and diligently teaching him alchemy was also hoping for some return; it was just that at first there was not enough trust, so these things were not thought of. I do not know from when the degree of trust slowly began to exist.

Did it start from when he constantly expressed his wish for me to be at ease?

But on the surface she still showed nothing, saying only indifferently: "You are my disciple; if I have something and ask for your help, is that not natural? Why do you need to show loyalty here?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "That is true."

"In any case, I am not in a hurry to leave in the short term; speak after you finish your matters. For these days, do not worry about me; I do not need morning and evening greetings, only quiet."

"Uh, we usually do not come to disturb Mr. anyway."

"What I mean is, keep the sound of you two conducting business inside the room down."

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

"Additionally..." Ye Tinglan pondered for a moment, then suddenly said: "There should be a secret realm at the foot of this mountain, right? This pool of water should be one of the passages."

Lu Xingzhou's heart tightened.

This Mr. is truly formidable; she did nothing at all, only looked around here at the pool, yet could judge so clearly.

This is not something spiritual sense alone can achieve; a secret realm is secret precisely because it can block spiritual sense; the spiritual energy of this spirit pool alone can greatly block the spread of spiritual thought. If spiritual sense could find it just by probing, then the Huo family would not have gained nothing here before.

Unless her spiritual sense is stronger than First-Rank Grand Preceptor Huo.

Anyway, since she had already judged it, hiding it was meaningless; Lu Xingzhou still honestly answered: "There is indeed a secret realm; does Mr. wish to take a look?"

Ye Tinglan smiled ambiguously: "You allow me to see?"

"Since Mr. already knows..."

"Knowing your family has a treasure vault and allowing someone to enter and look are two different things." "What a thing to say." Lu Xingzhou laughed: "What needs to be concealed is the existence of the secret realm itself; since Mr. already knows, then let's look. Who knows, it might even reveal some value we have not discovered."

Ye Tinglan looked at Lu Xingzhou, her eyes somewhat complex.

This attitude was truly him treating her as family, while she herself had not yet entered the role.

She sighed lightly: "Then take me to see it."

The two quickly dived into the pool.

Lu Xingzhou felt awkward about taking out a wheelchair to waterproof it in front of her, so he secretly cast a Water-Avoidance Spell. Diving down the whole way was quite far; he almost ran out of spiritual energy, holding his breath until his face turned completely red. Turning his head to look, Lady Ye was calm and composed; she had emerged from the pool water without even a corner of her clothes getting wet.

Wanting to see her wet was indeed just a luxury.

Ye Tinglan stood by the pool with her hands behind her back, frowned and looked for a while: "According to this layout, there might originally have been a Primordial Spirit Water Crystal... on your leg?"

"Mm."

"Wasting a precious resource, used like this?"

"If you had not taught me to connect the bones, even more would have been wasted."

"You are quite proud?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "For me at that time, curing the leg was the greatest pursuit; everything else came later."

Ye Tinglan ignored him and inspected the waterside herself: "If an array were set up here for cultivation, it would be better than above; besides that, there is not much to say. Let's look elsewhere... Eh, wait."

Lu Xingzhou turned his head and saw Ye Tinglan gently stroking the sword marks on the cave wall: "How are there traces of Frost Sky Frozen Moon sword qi here?"

Lu Xingzhou twitched his cheek: "Miss Qingli from the Tianyao Holy Land has been here."

This place wasn't just visited; a wheelchair had even been driven over it... Back then, little Bai Mao was so cute...

Pity she's third grade now, cold again, and only says 'let's be friends' while whimpering...

Ye Tinglan looked at the sword scar with deep meaning, thinking to himself that this little disciple was starting to hide things from her master... This secret realm was obviously important, not only concerning the Tianxing Sword Sect, but even the changes in the earth veins of the entire Xiazhou. Such an important matter, yet Qingli hadn't reported a single word.

Thinking it over carefully, it was understandable. If this had been revealed back then, it would have been a devastating blow to Shen Tang; it absolutely could not be easily spoken of outside.

Is the master an outsider?

Seeing her finally step into the dark corridor, Lu Xingzhou let out a sigh of relief.

Just this trivial sword scar being able to identify it as Frost Sky Frozen Moon is a bit ridiculous... Could it be even more awesome and identify what the water traces once underground were made of?

Exiting the dark corridor into the original cave dwelling, the iron corpse that had originally died in the core of the cave dwelling had already been stored by Shen Tang in a stone house in the corner.

Lu Xingzhou happened to recall this, so he specially opened the stone house for Ye Tinglan to see: "Mr., take a look at this ancient corpse."

Ye Tinglan squatted down to inspect it for a moment, his expression changing slightly: "Huiyang!"

Lu Xingzhou's heart also jumped.

Huiyang... Beyond Grade!

On the surface of Great Qian, there are only two Beyond Grade figures: the Imperial Preceptor Ye Tinglan and the Emperor Gu Zhanting. Perhaps the Imperial Family and the Tianyao Holy Land each have some hidden ones, but the number absolutely cannot be large. Adding the Demon Race, other countries, and a very small number of special demonic beasts, Beyond Grade remains as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, extremely scarce.

Yet one had died here inexplicably.

Plus, the original owner of this place, Mohe, must also be Beyond Grade and must still be alive somewhere, unknown where.

This ancient corpse and Mohe, no matter how one looks at them, do not belong to the power system currently known by Great Qian, not even resembling those of other countries. If a major power's Beyond Grade figure from another country had died silently within Great Qian, it would have long ago triggered a major diplomatic incident; it wouldn't be so silent, unheard of.

So the question arises: what exactly is the origin of this ancient corpse and Mohe?

As Ye Tinglan inspected, his expression grew increasingly ugly: "Ziwei Profound Art... Taiyi True Water."

The first term is the body technique the ancient corpse cultivated; the second term is the source of the poison that rotted his intestines and stomach.

Indeed, bringing Lady Ye here to see this was correct; her vision and experience allow her to know many things that everyone previously could not see.

"Are these all ancient methods and treasures lost to the world for a long time?" Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but ask, "But the formation of this place is at most a hundred years or so."

"The fact that they were found here later does not represent their origin." Ye Tinglan's expression was very severe: "The origins of these people likely represent an ancient realm unknown to people today, with points of verification matching what our Sect knows."

Realm...

Lu Xingzhou's expression also turned ugly.

If it involves the concept of planes, the worldview changes significantly. Today, thinking it is just the Great Qian of the world, it might only be a drop in the ocean.

He still asked cautiously: "How does Mr. judge it is another realm, rather than a hidden sect or the like? Mr. himself originates from a hidden sect, does he not?"

"There are indeed other planes in the world; perhaps they can be called the Heavenly Realm, or perhaps not." Ye Tinglan stood up and responded very seriously: "Everyone in the world knows there are Immortals, yet today, where are the Immortals?"

(End of Chapter)