Just as Li Yingling's voice fell, that ray of light arrived in the blink of an eye.
Before Sandong could react, she saw four humans. Although their faces seemed kind enough, she still nervously hid behind Li Yingling.
Li Yingling stood up and said proudly, "Master, a major discovery!"
Chu Xingchen nodded with a light smile, not particularly surprised. After all, Li Yingling herself was the main force of this operation.
He reached out and patted Li Yingling's shoulder, praising her, "Well done."
Cui Hao's gaze swept across the sea of flowers, finding it quite refreshing. Then his eyes quickly locked onto Sandong, who was hiding behind the eldest senior sister.
It was simple - Cui Hao had never seen a flower spirit before and was curious.
Facing Cui Hao's direct gaze, Sandong quickly lowered her head, hiding her entire body behind Li Yingling.
"Is this a demon creature?" Cui Hao asked curiously.
Li Yingling glared at Cui Hao, "What demon creature? Do you even know how to speak?"
Cui Hao quickly put on an apologetic smile.
Chen Baiqing could now be said to be well-read. Although this was also her first time seeing a flower spirit with her own eyes, it didn't hinder her ability to identify it.
She spoke up to explain for the book-shy Cui Hao:
"This is a flower spirit, not a demon creature. In the cultivation world, it's classified as a sprite."
Li Yingling nodded with satisfaction, then instructed Cui Hao:
"In the future, learn more from your third senior sister. Read more books when you have nothing to do, instead of causing trouble all day long."
Cui Hao quickly cupped his hands and replied with a smile:
"I will obey the eldest senior sister's command."
Xie Lingyu had also gotten up and come over upon hearing the commotion. She looked at Chu Xingchen, who had a smile on his face, and said:
"The situation over there is unclear. I only recognize it as an ancient ritual array, and it doesn't seem simple."
Chu Xingchen nodded readily, "Then I'll trouble Lady Lingyu to lead the way."
Xie Lingyu glanced at the playful Chu Xingchen. However, with so many people around, it wasn't convenient for her to punch him, so she pretended nothing happened and led everyone toward the ritual stone wall.
Sandong followed closely behind Li Yingling, going with them.
Her gaze swept over the others, but when it finally landed on Chen Baiqing, an intimate feeling rose from her heart.
Sandong was certain she had never seen Chen Baiqing before. She mostly held some fear toward humans.
But... why did she feel a sense of intimacy when looking at Chen Baiqing?
Chen Baiqing noticed Sandong's careful gaze and politely smiled, nodding slightly as a greeting.
Sandong also quickly revealed a fawning smile.
Chu Xingchen's gaze shifted slightly, looking toward Sandong.
[Target: Sandong] [Cultivation: Qi Condensation Level 5] [Blue Tag: Spirit of Grass and Trees] [Blue Tag: Moon Bathing] [White Tag: Kind and Orderly] [Black Tag: Simple-minded] [Does not meet disciple recruitment requirements]
In terms of tags alone, this little flower spirit was fine.
Found by his eldest disciple?
Chu Xingchen didn't think much of it. After confirming Sandong was no problem, he withdrew his gaze and looked toward Li Yingling, who was preparing to claim credit.
So he praised Li Yingling generously. Although there were no substantial rewards, it was clear that Li Yingling was very pleased with Chu Xingchen's praise.
The Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge was large for ordinary people, after all, it was a continuous range of more than ten peaks.
But for cultivators, it was just a distance that could be crossed with simple movement techniques.
Before the mountain cliff ritual array.
Chu Xingchen examined it carefully for a moment and quickly reached a conclusion - he hadn't seen this thing before, and he really didn't know how to deal with it.
However, before setting out, Chu Xingchen had asked the Tianyan Sect's sect master whether this place was dangerous.
Lu Xuan's answer was somewhat thought-provoking - danger depends on the person, but I know you won't be in danger.
Facing someone like Lu Xuan who didn't speak plainly, Chu Xingchen wasn't particularly fond of him.
Although Lu Xuan's eyes were ambiguous, his expression seemed to say - young man, I've already seen through you.
Chu Xingchen directly asked - Riddler! Speak up!
Lu Xuan had no choice but to explain under duress. It wasn't that he didn't want to explain more carefully, but he really only knew this much.
No matter how Chu Xingchen fished for information, Lu Xuan kept repeating the same sentence with a helpless face.
Seeing Lu Xuan determined to be a riddler, Chu Xingchen had no solution.
But since he said he wouldn't be in danger... surely that couldn't be a lie either, right?
Chu Xingchen reached out and gently touched the ritual array before him, then spoke calmly:
"I happen to know something about this ritual array. What's inside is indeed somewhat dangerous. You all retreat to the town; leave this place to me alone."
Chen Baiqing looked at Chu Xingchen with concern in her small expression and suggested quietly:
"Master, it's dangerous to go alone. How about letting Baiqing go with you?"
"If I can't handle it, you coming along would be pointless," Chu Xingchen said with a smile, shaking his head, then threw a look at Li Yingling.
Li Yingling naturally recognized this as her master's signal for her to provide cover. However, she was actually somewhat worried internally.
But... indeed, if her master couldn't handle something, her going as a Golden Core cultivator would be useless.
And she would easily become a burden.
Li Yingling was somewhat conflicted and wanted to suggest bringing Senior Bai, but... looking at her master's expression, he seemed quite confident.
Her master wasn't the adventurous type; he must have had some assurance.
Otherwise, he would have called for help by now without her needing to suggest it.
What's more, Li Yingling trusted her master.
"Trust Master," Li Yingling said, reaching out to pat Chen Baiqing's little head.
With the two most important people in the sect having spoken, Chen Baiqing pursed her lips slightly but finally nodded gently.
Xie Lingyu spoke calmly, "I've already reached Nascent Soul. I'll stand guard. You all can go back."
Chu Xichen also wanted to brush off Xie Lingyu:
"No need for a guard..."
But before he could finish speaking, Xie Lingyu's voice transmission came through:
"You don't even know where to start drawing this ritual array, do you? You can fool your disciples, but you want to fool me too? Who helped you solve ritual array problems before?"
Chu Xingchen was momentarily speechless upon receiving the voice transmission.
His disciples mostly trusted him, making it easy to fool them.
Only Xie Lingyu knew his roots fairly well.
Xie Lingyu, seeing Chu Xingchen's expression, pressed her advantage:
"I have protective treasures. Rather than worrying about me, worry about yourself first. If things go wrong, I can still call for reinforcements for you."
Chu Xingchen looked at Xie Lingyu and found her expression quite determined.
"Fine..." Chu Xingchen compromised, then looked at Li Yingling and said, "You all withdraw first. As the eldest senior sister, watch over your junior brothers and sisters."
Li Yingling nodded solemnly and led everyone to retreat first.
Sandong, in the strange atmosphere, perhaps out of fear, dared not speak, and was muddledly led away by Li Yingling.
Chu Xingchen watched Li Yingling and the others leave, then turned his gaze to the ritual array before him and asked:
"Can you unlock it? If not, I'll just smash it."
Xie Lingyu showed a hint of helplessness. Her spiritual energy surged as she began to activate the ritual array before her.
As the ritual array moved, spiritual energy slightly overflowed.
A set of deep blue ritual patterns was revealed.
Behind the ritual array, it seemed like another world.
Xie Lingyu frowned slightly and said, "It's a secret realm..."
"It turns out to be a tomb..."
Chu Xingchen nodded, stroking his chin.
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