A hint of panic surfaced on Qu Xuan’s face after seeing Ye Zhong’s indifferent gaze. She pondered for a moment, then reached out her hand and moved her hair behind her ears, and said softly, “Do you know, within this Innate Temple there are the Nine Stairs to Heaven and the Innate Gate?”
“Nine Stairs to Heaven, Innate Gate?” Hearing this, Ye Zhong frowned slightly, vaguely guessing what these were.
“Actually, the place where we are right now cannot be considered as the true Innate Temple, at most, it’s just a periphery. But in the depth, only those who can step on the Nine Stairs to Heaven are qualified to enter the Innate Gate and obtain the inheritance!” Qu Xuan had no intention of waiting for Ye Zhong and the others to reply, so she continued to explain on her own, “And the so-called Nine Stairs to Heaven, at the same time, also means that with so many people entering the Innate Temple, only nine of them would be qualified to step onto the legendary Nine Stairs to Heaven and obtain the qualifications to enter the Innate Gate!”
“And if you want to step on the Nine Stairs to Heaven, you need one thing. And that thing is in this place!” Qu Xuan’s gaze landed on the pavilion’s corner in the bamboo forest and softly said.
“Simply put, is it one of the so-called nine spots, stepping on it has the possibility of obtaining the inheritance of the Innate Temple?” Ye Zhong managed to get a rough idea of the situation, “And there’s something inside that could prove it, right?”
“That’s right.” Qu Xuan’s eyes glinted with a profound look, “That thing is called the Innate Command Token. Ye Zhong, if you can help me get it, then we don’t need the other things inside…”
Upon hearing this, the corner of Ye Zhong’s eyes twitched, and he sighed, “Don’t tell me that your previous claim of the so-called high-grade Spirit Vessel was just trying to trick me into being a helper.”
“No! It is true! There should be a high-grade Spiritual Vessel among the items inside. However, the most important ones should be the Innate Command Token, not the high-grade Spirit Vessel. Ye Zhong, let’s go in together,” Qu Xuan said with a serious look, “Ye Zhong, let us go in together, although our abilities are mediocre, we can still buy you some time to restrain the others.”
Ye Zhong saw the serious look on Qu Xuan’s face and looked at Xiang Qiyu and You Siling. In the end, he could only shake his head helplessly. Honestly speaking, not to mention this Qu Xuan that even he couldn’t see through, just the two newly acquired daggers that were in Xiang Qiyu’s hands alone was enough to allow her fighting strength to be far greater than someone of the same level.
“Then let’s go in together. However, if the situation isn’t right, you must stop fighting and retreat as soon as possible. As I might not be able to take care of you all the time.” Ye Zhong did not hesitate, it might be a little dangerous to bring these three girls in, but it would be more troublesome if he kept playing with them here. The faster the decision process the better, so he didn’t waste a single moment.
Seeing Ye Zhong compromise, the three girls exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.
“Since that’s the case, let’s not waste time.”
Since Ye Zhong had made up his mind, he did not say anything further. With a wave of his hand, the four of them headed towards the bamboo forest.
The bamboo forest was quiet and serene. The fog was rising from the forest, and within it there was an additional bone-piercing coldness.
Ye Zhong frowned slightly and looked around, his eyes became more serious.
Inside the bamboo forest, he would occasionally discover some recent traces, but these traces were extremely subtle. If one did not search carefully they would not be recognizable. This meant that the people who entered the bamboo forest were a group of extremely cautious people. And such a character was definitely not easy to deal with.
Behind Ye Zhong, Xiang Qiyu and the other two had a tense expression. Apparently, they had also sensed the heavy atmosphere.
“Be careful.” Ye Zhong instructed dispassionately and turned around. He carefully followed the traces left behind and headed deeper into the bamboo forest.
The traces were crooked, and it was obvious that the person who entered was not walking in a straight line. Even so, their destination was still the same as Ye Zhong and company — Wave Listening Pavilion!
After walking for a while, Ye Zhong suddenly stopped. He narrowed his eyes and looked ahead, less than a hundred meters away from the Wave Listening Pavilion. However, after arriving at this place, he vaguely felt that there seemed to be a lot of gazes landing on them.
Obviously, the party who had entered this place earlier were not naive, they left behind some people for vigilance. At this moment, it was most likely that his party had been discovered.
After scanning his surroundings, Ye Zhong reached out his hand and blocked the other three behind him. He narrowed his eyes and spoke indifferently, his calm voice slowly resounded through the forest, “Friends, since you’ve noticed us, why don’t you come out and greet us?”
“Heh, you are worthy of a disciple of the Xingxiang Sect. Your eyesight is indeed astonishing.”
Not long after Ye Zhong’s voice faded, a few figures slowly emerged from the shadows of the bamboo forest. The one leading them was a young man of about sixteen or seventeen years old in dark red martial robe. He looked at Ye Zhong indifferently, with a hint of wariness in his eyes.
The powerhouses behind him were at most three to four years older than him, and the youngest was around Ye Zhong’s age. However, after their eyes landed on Ye Zhong, they moved their sights on the three girls behind him, their eyes flashed with astonishment.
[1] “ten thousand horses galloping ahead” describing the majestic and spectacular scenery.