Chapter 410 - 224: Where Are You Running?

Chapter 410: Chapter 224: Where Are You Running?

But this was the ancestral land of a prominent family, after all. The interior was densely patrolled and riddled with traps and hidden mechanisms. There was no telling if masters were on guard with powerful artifacts.

Xie Yuan couldn’t get a clear look at anything, and Zhang Junyi seemed even more lost.

However, with Huie Jue leading the way, his fingers occasionally twitched as he murmured under his breath. Whatever technique he was using, he could always discern the safe path, and they moved swiftly through the estate as if it were their own home, heading straight for its depths.

Xie Yuan found the monk increasingly profound and inscrutable. ’He’s truly worthy of his title as an eminent monk of Prajna Temple, successor to a divine predecessor. His methods are so unpredictable.’ In contrast, Zhang Junyi was much more straightforward—it was just that the power of his Cultivation Technique was so immense that even the great monk had some trouble with it.

The trio quickly passed a courtyard. Xie Yuan glanced inside, and his eyes suddenly widened as he came to a halt.

"What is it?"

His two companions immediately stopped as well, clustering around Xie Yuan. They didn’t dare step outside the range of his Celestial Concealment Skill, fearing that a Grandmaster within the estate would surely sense them with the help of some artifact.

"I see someone I know..."

Xie Yuan’s eyes flickered as he watched the young man in the courtyard, still practicing his sword late at night.

The young man in the courtyard wielded his sword in a frenzy. His eyes were deep, his expression one of crazed obsession, as if his heart contained nothing but Swordsmanship.

A middle-aged man stood beside him, looking as though he wanted to speak but was holding back. Only after the young man finished a set of forms did he sigh and say:

"Tian Chuan, you should take a break. You need to balance work and rest."

Yao Tianchuan shook his head.

"If I rest, how can I ever defeat the people from the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect?"

The middle-aged man sighed.

"That must have been some shameless senior from the Sword Sect. Is there anyone in your generation who’s a match for your Swordsmanship? Not to mention, you’ve trained bitterly for months. At the upcoming Small Sub-Dragon Assembly, you’ll surely take first place in the First Transformation division! Why torture yourself like this?"

Yao Tianchuan’s eyes darkened.

"It wasn’t like that..."

He said no more. Instead, he unleashed a flurry of strikes, slicing the training dummies before him to pieces, before saying in a low, stifled voice:

"If I cannot defeat him, what’s the point of my training? I’ll start with this Small Sub-Dragon Assembly. I will claim first place with unstoppable momentum, and then I will find that man and cut him down to mend my Sword Heart!"

A cold light glinted in Yao Tianchuan’s eyes as he spoke, his voice like ice.

"Will people from the Sword Sect be at the Small Sub-Dragon Assembly? I’ll start with them. Someone from the Sword Sect shattered my Sword Heart, so I’ll make sure that after anyone from the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect meets me, they’ll never be able to hold a sword again!"

Xie Yuan, listening quietly from outside the gate, glanced at Yao Tianchuan and said in a low voice:

"Let’s go."

Huie Jue and Zhang Junyi exchanged a look, both finding Xie Yuan’s reaction a little strange.

"Amitabha. Benefactor Xie is definitely plotting something."

Huie Jue whispered.

Zhang Junyi shot him a sideways glance.

"You think everyone’s a scheming scoundrel like you, you thieving baldy?"

’So, Yao Tianchuan finally picked up a sword again, but it looks like he’s already developed a Heart Demon. All he wants is to get revenge on me...’

After hearing those words, a glint appeared in Xie Yuan’s eyes. ’I should find an opportunity to grant him his wish.’

Huie Jue continued to lead them forward, getting closer and closer to the core of the estate. Upon seeing a cluster of palace-like buildings ahead, he was about to step forward when he suddenly froze.

"There’s an Array here..."

Huie Jue’s brow furrowed slightly as he spoke, his gaze fixed on a faint shimmer next to the moon gate.

Xie Yuan moved closer to look, but he wasn’t versed in advanced Arrays and could do nothing to help.

’If Miss Mu were here, this would be no problem at all... Come to think of it, how long has it been since I last saw her?’

While Xie Yuan was lost in thought, Zhang Junyi asked Huie Jue:

"Monk, are you finally stumped?"

"Amitabha. This humble monk isn’t a true Buddha. Did you expect me to grant your every wish?"

Huie Jue retorted sharply.

Zhang Junyi frowned.

"Useless thieving baldy! So what now?"

"Benefactor Zhang, if you’re so capable, be my guest."

Huie Jue snapped.

Zhang Junyi studied it for a moment, then nodded.

"I’ll give it a try, then."

Huie Jue was taken aback and hurriedly said:

"Don’t be reckless! If you mess this up, we’re so deep inside that we won’t be able to escape!"

Xie Yuan also snapped out of his reverie. He looked at Zhang Junyi, thought for a moment, and asked:

"Daoist Zhang, are you confident you can do this?"

"A little."

Zhang Junyi nodded. To Huie Jue’s astonishment, he raised his Peach Wood Sword and drew a crooked-looking talisman in the air.

A clear light flared and pressed against the moon gate, which rippled like the surface of water.

The three of them inexplicably felt the way was now clear. They took a tentative step forward and, sure enough, passed through without any issue.

Huie Jue looked Zhang Junyi up and down.

"Benefactor Zhang, how do you know about the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams?"

"I am a Daoist, after all." ℯℯ𝑙.

Zhang Junyi nonchalantly put away his Peach Wood Sword.

But under their combined gazes, he coughed and added in a low voice:

"I don’t usually like learning this stuff, though, so I’m not good at the rest of it. It’s just that my master said understanding Arrays becomes more and more crucial the further you progress, so he forced me to memorize a formula. As long as an Array doesn’t go beyond the framework of the Eight Trigrams, this can probably break it... Ugh, that stuff is too hard! It’s such a pain to learn!"

Xie Yuan was baffled. ’Did his Grandmaster master think he was too dumb, so he just gave him a master key?’

Huie Jue also glanced sideways at Zhang Junyi, shaking his head repeatedly.

"Amitabha. Fortune favors fools."

The group continued forward and soon arrived at the study in the core area.

This room likely held traces of the entire Yao family’s accounts and secrets.

However, the three didn’t dare to just barge in. The room was also extremely large, and searching it would take an unknown amount of time.

They first circled the area once but saw nothing else out of the ordinary. They returned to the study, preparing to enter and have a look around after all.

Just as they were examining the entrance for traps, footsteps suddenly echoed from a distance.

The three exchanged a glance and quickly hid behind a nearby pillar.

A moment later, the footsteps of two people reached the study’s entrance. Xie Yuan quietly peeked out and saw two male figures entering the room.