Chapter 426

Chapter 426: An Abnormal Change

In front of a large crowd, Zuo Xiaomo and Lu Ling Shan, who had not seen each other for a long time, felt they should not appear too affectionate.

However, their gazes intertwined, exuding a scent of romance that attracted even more attention from those around them.

To be honest, after understanding the situation, Wang Chen did not have high hopes for their future.

Although Zuo Xiaomo and Lu Ling Shan came from similar family backgrounds and were not direct descendants of their clans, Lu Ling Shan’s talent far surpassed Zuo Xiaomo’s, destined to take greater strides on the journey of cultivation.

At that time, when Lu Ling Shan had broken through to open a house, Zuo Xiaomo might still be stuck at the bottleneck of Qi Training, creating a disparity between their statuses.

Even if Zuo Xiaomo managed to advance to the Purple Palace, if Lu Ling Shan formed her Golden Core, how would they maintain their relationship?

Even if they could persist, the pressure from their sects and families would be unbearable.

Of course, even if he didn’t hold high hopes, Wang Chen sincerely wished for all lovers in the world to become partners!

“Junior Sister Ling Shan, let me introduce you.”

After whispering for a while with Lu Ling Shan, Zuo Xiaomo finally remembered Wang Chen: “This is my senior brother Wang, my guardian.”

“Junior Sister Ling Shan greets you, Senior Brother.”

Lu Ling Shan gracefully performed a small bow to Wang Chen: “Thank you for taking care of Zuo Senior Brother.”

Wang Chen smiled and said, “No need for thanks.”

Just as Lu Ling Shan was about to say something else, a sudden rumble echoed in everyone’s ears.

The time had come; the entrance to the Nine Dragons underground palace opened!

Lu Ling Shan immediately stuffed a storage bag into Zuo Xiaomo’s hands, biting her lip as she said, “Take care.”

Zuo Xiaomo nodded vigorously.

At this moment, a thousand disciples participating in the outer sect assessment began entering the underground palace one by one.

Each disciple received a copy of the Nine Dragons underground palace surveying map.

Their assessment task was to explore the unknown areas within the palace and record their findings on this map, which would ultimately determine whether they passed based on their exploration results.

Additionally, everyone was equipped with a memory stone, which recorded images as a standard for evaluating their performance.

Of course, it also served to prevent cheating.

But Wang Chen felt that relying solely on such measures would make it unrealistic to expect guardians not to secretly assist assessment disciples.

The sect likely understood this and had other considerations in mind.

He and Zuo Xiaomo stepped into the Nine Dragons underground palace, passing through a long corridor to reach the Nine Dragons Great Hall.

The Nine Dragons Great Hall was the true entrance to the Nine Dragons underground palace.

The space here was vast, supported by nine colossal coiling dragon stone pillars, each over ten yards in diameter, holding up a high dome, with countless gemstones embedded in the cave walls emitting a soft glow, illuminating the entire hall.

The disciples and their guardians participating in the assessment surged toward the second coiling dragon pillar.

Before they could approach the pillar, beams of light flashed, and each of them vanished without a trace!

Wang Chen had previously learned about the situation in the Nine Dragons underground palace, so he knew they were using the hall’s teleportation array to reach the second level of the underground palace.

The nine coiling dragon stone pillars in the Nine Dragons Great Hall guarded nine large teleportation arrays, each leading to different layers of the underground palace.

But at the moment, only the first and second pillars were activated and usable.

They led to the first layer and the second layer, respectively.

As of now, the West Sea Sect had only explored part of the second layer of the Nine Dragons underground palace.

There were even areas of the first layer that had yet to be fully explored.

The tremendous size of this secret realm was evident.

It was said that a hundred years ago, two Nascent Soul true immortals from the West Sea Sect had covertly entered the Subterranean Palace, attempting to break the restrictions here.

In the end, they failed and nearly got trapped inside.

The West Sea Sect then announced a ban on Nascent Soul true immortals and Golden Core true masters entering the Subterranean Palace.

Currently, one circulating theory stated that the Nine Dragons underground palace was built by a grand sect from ancient times specifically for the trials of its disciples.

However, this theory raised many unresolved questions, and the truth awaited discovery.

What could be confirmed now was that the Nine Dragons underground palace held numerous oddities, along with demons and Evil Spirits.

Although it was dangerous, there were also opportunities to obtain precious materials, spiritual materials, and ancient sealed jade, which was like a mystery box!

Since the opening of the Nine Dragons underground palace, there had been countless examples of West Sea Sect disciples gaining fortuitous encounters and striking it rich inside.

There were even rumors of loose cultivators entering and finding ancient magical treasures!

In summary, this was a place where danger and opportunity coexisted, a paradise for mid to lower-level cultivators!

Wang Chen took out a mid-grade spirit stone from his storage bag and stepped into the teleportation array with Zuo Xiaomo.

In the next moment, a burst of spiritual light erupted from his hand, and he vanished from the spot.

After a dizzying moment, Wang Chen felt his feet touching the ground.

His vision returned to normal, but the scene before him stunned him!

There wasn’t a single person around, including Zuo Xiaomo, whom Wang Chen was responsible for protecting.

Under normal circumstances, all participants should arrive at the same teleportation location and then disperse to explore new areas on the second layer of the Subterranean Palace.

Now, he found himself completely alone!

Wang Chen looked around and discovered he was in a desolate hilly landscape.

Although it lay deep underground, it was not completely dark; the ground was covered with many bioluminescent mushrooms, and several stone pillars protruding from the ground were embedded with white gemstones.

Ordinary people would be able to see just fine, let alone seasoned cultivators.

However, Wang Chen distinctly felt the spatial suppression surrounding him.

The concentration of spiritual energy here was relatively abundant, but it couldn’t compare to that at the inner mountain gate of the West Sea Sect.

He estimated that in such an environment, he could only display about seventy to eighty percent of his cultivation level!

After thinking for a moment, Wang Chen took out a talisman from his storage bag, hoping to contact Zuo Xiaomo.

The most troublesome part was that Wang Chen had no idea whether he was facing an unexpected individual incident or if everyone had encountered the same situation.

When the talisman was activated, it completed a circle and surprisingly flew back to him.

It had failed!

Wang Chen, not willing to give up, drew his Yaoguang Sword.

But things worsened; the Yaoguang Sword flew out wildly like a headless fly, nearly hitting a nearby stone pillar.

With no other choice, he had to call the flying sword back.

Finally, Wang Chen took out the Nine Dragons underground palace surveying map.

This map was not provided by the sect; he had purchased the latest version with spirit stones, and it was not cheap.

The Nine Dragons underground palace surveying map was also a magical artifact; once infused with spiritual power, it immediately displayed a detailed map of the second layer of the Subterranean Palace.

However, Wang Chen did not find his own location on it!

This meant that the positioning function of this artifact had also failed here.

From this, Wang Chen inferred that he had been transported to an unknown area.

To return to the surface, he would need to find an explored region marked on the map.

As for Zuo Xiaomo, he could only rely on himself!