Chapter 358

Chapter 358: The Maze

Long Yunshuang’s bracelet erupted with a blinding light, forming a dazzlingly gorgeous curtain of radiance before her.

Bang bang bang—

Countless light blades fell upon the curtain, triggering sharp, crackling sounds.

Long Yunshuang’s expression remained calm as she continued advancing toward the cave entrance.

Behind her, Zhou Luo silently observed the scene, following close behind.

Qi Chuan spared a look back at the crowd trapped in illusion before wordlessly catching up.

With the curtain of light blocking the attacks, the formation guarding the cave mouth posed little threat.

Long Yunshuang chose not to directly destroy this offensive formation, opting instead to let it thwart their pursuers.

Within moments, she reached the cave mouth. Though the rain of light blades continued battering the luminous barrier with ceaseless clamor, it shielded them completely.

Forcing their way under the formation’s assault, the three entered the cave and found a pitch-black passage before them.

Reaching out a hand revealed nothing but darkness; only a faint glimmer was visible at the far end.

Yet to the three, it was no obstacle.

In the blackness, they unleashed their mental strength, instantly grasping every detail of the passageway.

But as they pressed deeper, they abruptly discovered an inexplicable force blocking the exit—even Foundation Establishment-level mental strength couldn’t pierce it.

Armed with magical artifacts, they reluctantly approached the glowing end on foot.

Outside, Shangguan Qianxue and Song Zhan were dismantling the illusions conjured by the spiritual symbols. Behind them, the two trailing factions had deliberately chosen to stand motionless.

Focusing solely on Shangguan Qianxue’s group, they remained oblivious that Zhou Luo’s party held the true key.

For now, they waited, anticipating the others would break the formation.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Shangguan Qianxue dispelled the illusions. The landscape snapped back into view.

Seeing the lush forest and the three vanished figures, her beautiful eyes darkened. She released her mental strength, scanning ahead to pursue.

Soon, she too stood before the cave.

Surveying signs of conflict, she made to advance.

But Song Zhan instantly barred her path. "Junior Sister, this conceals a top-grade formation."

As a Second Level Formation Master, he recognized the offensive formation with practiced ease.

"Does Senior Brother intend to break it?" Shangguan Qianxue transmitted her voice to ask.

But Song Zhan gave a faint smile. "Of course not. Should we not lose those tails behind us?"

He decided to alter the formation’s activation pattern, amplifying its power to hinder the two groups pursuing them.

All being Foundation Establishment cultivators, detecting followers was simple unless stealth specialists were involved. They’d ignored it earlier, waiting for the right moment.

Now that the targets had slipped inside the cave, treasures surely lay within.

The time to act had finally come.

Inside the cave, while Song Zhan was scheming about setting up the formation,

Zhou Luo and the others had passed through the dark and gloomy passage, and the view ahead suddenly widened.

It was a bright and spacious cavern filled with various minerals, vibrant and colorful, reflecting off the rocks to make them even more dazzling.

At the center of the cavern stood a reddish wooden coffin.

Patterns of formation lines were drawn on the coffin using golden liquid, and it emitted a faint glow all around.

Surrounding the coffin, spiritual stones had been placed in a neat yet scattered arrangement, forming a large formation with the coffin as its core.

Being a formation master, Zhou Luo keenly perceived that this formation was at least a Second Level one or above.

“Is this the coffin of the Golden Core master?” Long Yunshuang murmured thoughtfully.

“Probably not, but there might be good things inside,”

Qi Chuan said this, but his gaze remained fixed on the pitch-black passage opening opposite them.

The other party was a Golden Core master, so he couldn’t have arranged his tomb so carelessly after death.

The coffin might hold treasures or be a trap.

And the latter possibility was perhaps greater.

But he wasn’t going to voice it openly.

Compared to Zhou Luo, who had signed a contract, Qi Chuan and Long Yunshuang were merely collaborators.

In these circumstances, he couldn’t fully reveal his speculations.

Moreover, he needed to assess how the other party’s strength had developed over the years.

Long Yunshuang wasn’t foolish; she naturally understood what the coffin signified.

So she declared decisively, “Let’s proceed deeper.”

A coffin’s allure wasn’t strong enough; her goal was the spiritual artifact, so it wasn’t necessary to take the risk.

Zhou Luo, who had been silent the whole time nearby, had no objections.

This Second Level formation was much more powerful than expected; forcing their way in would take considerable time, and the group of Foundation Establishment cultivators behind them definitely wouldn’t relent.

Then, plunging themselves into peril would be more trouble than it was worth.

“Alright, let’s go,” Qi Chuan said.

The three of them decisively headed towards another passage.

After passing through that passage, they arrived at a new cavern.

And the layout here was identical to the previous one.

But this time, two additional passages appeared within the cave.

“It seems this tomb is also a maze,” Qi Chuan concluded immediately.

Clearly, the tomb’s owner didn’t want them to find the true coffin location.

At present, two passages lay before them.

They could either split up or stay together.

Qi Chuan turned his gaze to Long Yunshuang.

Among the three, she was the de facto leader, so it was best for her to decide.

As Long Yunshuang eyed the two passages, she mulled over feasible strategies.

“Let me try,”

at this moment, Zhou Luo spoke up.

In this situation, he still had to show his value; otherwise, doing nothing would stir dissatisfaction.

Everyone was smart; since it wasn’t yet time to hunt for the so-called treasures, there was no need to waste effort on this.

These words caught the attention of Qi Chuan and Long Yunshuang.

The former’s eyes flickered slightly, unknown what he was pondering.

The latter wore an expression of surprise and curiosity.

Then, Zhou Luo flipped his right hand over, and surprisingly, three turtle shells appeared on his palm.

“You know divination?” Long Yunshuang’s cool voice held a trace of astonishment.

Qi Chuan also showed a startled look.

The divination skill belonged to the hundred skills of cultivation and was rather obscure in practice.

Because mastering the basics wasn’t hard; even common folk in the mortal world could handle it; what proved difficult was improving the skill.

Truly powerful diviners could not only divine life and death but also probe past lives and future events, making it deeply mysterious.

Of course, they hadn’t heard of anyone achieving that level at present.

Seeing those three turtle shells now, both felt somewhat amazed.

“I fooled around with it in my free time,” Zhou Luo explained offhand.

Anyway, for such a niche skill, he could easily invent an excuse.

Long ago, when he had drawn tickets and won this skill, he’d attempted to divine his own future Fate; the result was the turtle shell for the divination shattering instantly.

Later, he realized with his ability, what he divined couldn’t be too profound.

So this skill had lain dormant ever since.

Now, it finally had a use.