Chapter 227: Arriving First

After Li Yungong rode his flying sword around the valley and confirmed that the other sects nearby had not yet entered the valley, he returned to the side of the water pool again and shook his head at the crowd.

"The people from the Star Sect and Lingyin Sect haven't come in yet. It shouldn't be them who played tricks."

The old man surnamed Chen looked at the empty water pool, pondered for a while, and slowly said: "According to the records in the sect, this Pure Heart Lotus appears about once every hundred years. I didn't see it when I came here last time. Logically speaking, there should definitely be one this time. This is truly strange."

"Looking at these places around, the spirit items do seem to be fewer than when we came last time. Senior Brother Chen, do you think it could be that when the secret realm opened this time, something went wrong, causing this item not to appear here on time this time."

Just when Li Yungong and the others were still puzzled, on the other side of the valley, more than a dozen Star Sect cultivators in white also arrived at the deepest part of the valley.

After they entered here, they soon discovered the Xiaoyao Sect disciples who had entered the inner valley one step ahead of them. Seeing that the spirit items in the valley had already been collected quite a bit by them, the Star Sect disciples hurriedly rushed forward to pick the spirit herbs near their side. Although they and the Xiaoyao Sect disciples looked at each other, they had some tacit understanding and did not go to compete for the spirit items at the other's location.

Seeing that the Xiaoyao Sect people were still one step ahead of them, Liu Zongping couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

This time, although it was their Star Sect that first passed through the barrier and entered the inner valley, their luck was worse later. They encountered a Demon King that was very restrictive to their cultivation techniques. After a big battle, not only did they lose several fellow disciples, but it also delayed them quite a bit of time. If not for this reason, they couldn't have been one step behind the Xiaoyao Sect.

Fortunately, they still successfully passed the last hurdle and arrived here this time. As long as they could take the item that the sect elder had entrusted to them, this mission could be considered successfully completed. Compared to that item, no matter how many of these low-tier spirit items were in front of them, they couldn't be compared. Thinking of this...

Looking at the various spirit items visible everywhere, Liu Zongping didn't pay too much attention. After exchanging glances with several fellow disciples with higher cultivation beside him, he went directly to an inconspicuous rock cave at the foot of the mountain.

Like the Xiaoyao Sect, the Xiaoyao Sect group that entered the secret realm this time only had a few core disciples like Liu Zongping who knew the most important thing they were going to take after entering the inner valley this time.

After entering the cave and turning a few corners, the group soon walked to the end of the rock cave.

Liu Zongping's magic power moved, revealing a red fireball, instantly illuminating the entire rock cave. On a vine climbing on the rock wall, the group discovered three black fruits the size of a fist.

"Eh! I clearly remember that one fruit was almost mature when I came last time. What is going on?"

Looking at these three fruits, all of which were immature spirit fruits, Liu Zongping's eyes widened instantly. This time, something really big had happened.

"Senior Brother Liu, there is a newly broken opening on this vine. Someone should have taken a fruit not long ago."

Hearing a fellow disciple remind him like this, Liu Zongping hurriedly stepped forward to check carefully again and found that it was indeed as he said. Someone should have come here not long ago.

"The Xiaoyao Sect really has big guts this time, actually daring to come and touch our Star Sect's things."

This Taiyue Lake secret realm was jointly owned by the surrounding sects. Although the Xiaoyao Sect, which managed the secret realm, opened the entire secret realm to all nearby cultivators, only seven or eight sects with a heritage of over a thousand years in the surrounding area knew the location of the inner valley and had the ability to enter.

Below Mutian Gorge, there were many formations to enter the inner valley. When each sect entered the inner valley, they basically didn't take the same path. Who could arrive here first depended on their own ability.

Since the secret realm opened thousands of years ago, those who had the strength to defeat the many demonic beasts outside and enter here first were generally Nascent Soul sects. By the time those Jin Dan sect cultivators arrived here, the spirit items here had basically been divided up by these first arrivals, which inevitably led to some commotion.

In the last thousand years or so, the Nascent Soul sect cultivators of the Xiaoyao Sect, Lingyin Sect, and Star Sect, in order to unite to divide the spirit items here and avoid internal fighting that would consume their strength, allowing other Jin Dan sects to take advantage of the loopholes, had tacitly divided a small piece of their own territory inside.

No matter which family's cultivators arrived here first, they were not allowed to touch the things within the area designated by the other two families. Logically speaking, even if the Xiaoyao Sect people entered here one step ahead, they couldn't just break into this rock cave belonging to the Star Sect's area and take away the spirit items.

Seeing that the thing the sect wanted to take this time had disappeared, Liu Zongping naturally thought of the Xiaoyao Sect first. When he angrily brought the sect disciples to the location of the Xiaoyao Sect disciples, he discovered that not only them, but the Lingyin Sect people had also arrived here.

"Brother Wu Xian, we have already said that we didn't go to your Lingyin Sect's area. The thing our Xiaoyao Sect wanted to take also disappeared suddenly this time. It's a bit strange in the inner valley this time. I don't know if someone else arrived here one step ahead."

"Hmph! You also admitted just now that you were the first to come in. How dare you do it and not admit it? Even if it wasn't you who did it personally, is it possible that it was done by others in your Xiaoyao Sect?"

Facing the desperate explanation of the old man surnamed Chen of the Xiaoyao Sect, the many Lingyin Sect cultivators who were also angry were unwilling to believe his statement. In their hearts, like the people of the Star Sect, they had already defaulted that the Xiaoyao Sect cultivators who arrived first had played tricks before they arrived.

Before everyone came in, the sect elders had carefully exhorted them. It was fine if those low-tier spirit items were a bit more or less, but if these most important spirit items were not brought out, it would be very difficult to explain this matter after returning to the sect.

"Just because we came in first means we took your things? Your Lingyin Sect's things are lost, what does it have to do with us? Why do you keep coming to argue with us? Do you really think our Xiaoyao Sect is easy to bully?" On the Xiaoyao Sect side, Li Yungong, who had a relatively hot temper, saw that the Lingyin Sect people were relentless and gradually became a bit impatient.

"Li Yungong, what do you mean by that? Do you want to ask for advice here?" The leader of the Lingyin Sect finished speaking and walked out first.

Li Yungong laughed loudly, stepped forward, and said very boldly: "No matter who wants to come and give advice, I, Li, will certainly not refuse."

"Two fellow Daoists, slow down, listen to me first."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 228 =====