After coming out of the ground, Wang Lin looked around vigilantly. Although he came out, he still didn't fully trust that voice.
What if it was a spiritual or a soul master who somehow figured out his formation and started talking to him to trick him out of his hole? The possibility of that is low, but what if? Wang Lin couldn't take such risks.
If there were really people up here, he'd bury himself back into the ground before they could do anything to him.
After observing for a while, the only thing Wang Lin noticed was that there were a couple pairs of footsteps, each in their own different sizes, confirming that the sword cultivator wasn't lying when he said back up was coming.
As for why the sword cultivator said this? Wang Lin didn't know, and he didn't think the sword cultivator could make such a simple and stupid mistake. There should be a deeper meaning behind that he hasn't grasped, which caused a slight itching feeling in his heart.
Damn, when one question is solved, another one comes and takes it place. Wang Lin complained, and his face turned grim.
Staying here is a death sentence. Going back will make me run into the Yellow Moon and going back will run into the Leaf Empire. Sigh, no place is safe anymore. I need more Qi to use my Gaia Escape Formation that leads to one of my secret bases, but that would take nearly an hour to do, and I don't have that luxury.
Wang Lin was lost in thought, and the sudden voice sounded in his head.
Head west to the Twin Peaks. The people who attacked you before are doing clean up on your retreat, and the Twin Peaks is currently safe.
Wang Lin's eyes narrowed, his gaze turning toward the distant west. There, two colossal peaks rose into the heavens, their summits lost within swirling clouds. At first glance they seemed majestic, but a closer look revealed something unsettling. Their jagged silhouettes bled with darkness, their ridges steeped in a quiet malice that seemed to seep into the sky itself.
That place was feared across the Leaf and Maple Empire, spoken of only out of fear as the Double Crossing of Death.
Within its shadowed valleys, even the bonds of kinship could not be trusted. Companions, lovers, brothers; none were spared from the strange distortions that twisted truth into lies, trust into betrayal. It was a land where reality warped and the heart itself became a battlefield, a place where one's greatest danger was not the enemy before them, but the hand at their side.
As to why the voice in his head suggested him going there, he didn't know, but it was indeed his only option left. Staying here would only bring unwanted attention, and he couldn't use his Gaia Escape Formation either. Even if he had enough Qi, that tier three sword cultivator might find out where he is because of it.
"Can you guarantee my life?" Wang Lin asked.
… No. I can only steer you from trouble when you're inside, nothing else.
"That's better than nothing." Wang Lin muttered, and he started to head west, kicking up some dirt as he accelerated.
If that voice can get through this mess, I'll do as it says and meditite on the tenth moon, which is roughly in an hour and a half. Wang Lin thought, and he jumped from tree branch to tree branch.
The place he was forced to set up traps for the Maple Empire was in a forest none other than the Crossing Forest, as it led to the three major places; the Maple Empire, Leaf Empire, and the Twin Peaks.
It was normal for empires to set up traps here to stop loose cultivators from crossing each empire and setting up trade. Later it became a place of war, and a cultivator must take their steps carefully, even on trees. Luckily Wang Lin is a formation master who cultivates the earth element, so the formations are quite easy for him to see. He even has some of the plans of the Maple Empire for formations, so he can pre-route his steps in advance.
The voice watched Wang Lin's actions from above.
As for who this voice was? It was Shao Mingzhu's voice. Over the past couple of hours, Shao Mingzhu has experimented with what he could do, and when he looked back at Wang Lin, one of the people he wishes to bring into the Heavenly Palace, was under attack, he decided to step in and give a helping hand.
Shao Mingzhu didn't want Wang Lin to die, as he was the only person like Ning Shushu, and he couldn't easily deceive Ning Shushu as he could with Wang Lin, as he knew her in real life. No matter how much he tries to hide his identity, it would eventually crack, and if he tried to deceive Ning Shushu and accidentally say something that would give away his identity too quickly, he'd probably cry.
That doesn't mean he can't talk to her though, but most of his information about what's going on in the world will be through Wang Lin instead of Ning Shushu. If he needed anything from Ning Shushu, he could form a personal relationship with her in person.
Oh my dear sister, you might get what you want. Shao Mingzhu thought to himself.
The purpose of inviting the two of them to the Heavenly Palace is for mainly one thing right now: The Boon Realm.
The second thing will be for the far future, as it requires him to pass down his "Heavenly Way."
Shao Mingzhu didn't know what and how to do that, and he was still too weak to even begin to establish a way.
Hell, he didn't even know how powerful he was in his Heavenly Palace or what powers it could bring him. He knew he could comprehend runes above people's heads, but that was with the help of the runes given by Heavenly Library, and there were two people who had theses above their heads that he could see.
In fact, Shao Mingzhu had some understanding of the golden runes above peoples heads, and that was an outside inheritance from a secret realm.
He assumes that others might have some, but his strength is too weak to see them.
Shao Mingzhu kept an eye on Wang Lin, and scanned his surroundings for any living being around.
Wang Lin's journey was quite smooth, mainly because he knew where the formations were and how to get around the Cossing Forest. It took him roughly twenty minutes even in the pitch dark of the ninth moon, and the tenth sun was about to rise.
"I made it. Are you sure you can guide me through Twin Peaks?" Wang Lin said, biting his lower lip as he stared off into the blood mist.
He could hear the screams of crying souls, and his body was rejecting his movements, not wanting to step one bit into that mist.
My eyes can pierce through this mist. Do not worry, with my help, you can make it to the other side in fifty minutes.
Wang Lin took in a deep breath, and clenched his fist slightly.
This was his only choice now, and there is no room for regrets. He can only rely on the voice, and one wrong step could lead to death.