“Lead the way!”
Sun Mo thought that he’d have to spend quite a bit of time searching the ancient castle, not expecting little loachie to be so reliable to have discovered a ‘good place’ so early.
Spirit qi roaming dragon was a lifeform that lived on the third level of the Darkness Continent and enjoyed eating fruits that were rich in spirit qi. They were rare.
Their battle prowess was mediocre, but the reason they could be ranked 36th in the darkness mysterious species list was because they had a strong sense of spirit qi.
What was spirit qi?
It was the essence for Middle-Earth’s natives if they wanted to become stronger.
The greatest characteristic of the spirit qi roaming dragon’s dwellings would be dense spirit qi. Moreover, this characteristic would mean that there was either a vein or a powerful secret treasure in it.
“We’re striking it rich!”
One must learn to be content. Therefore, Sun Mo decided to leave the ancient castle after they were done exploring the place that little loachie had found.
(Hold on, did I just raise a flag?)
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve used your talent to get Qian Dun, who is a teacher, to be convinced by you. Your prestige connection has exceeded 1,000 and you’re rewarded with one silver treasure chest!”
“Can the notification not ring up so suddenly? It’s quite scary!”
Sun Mo looked at the surroundings. This was a walled-in path and the fire illuminated the walls, causing light and shadows to sway. It had the atmosphere of a horror film.
“Teacher, is something the matter?”
Li Ziqi was very sensitive.
“We’re fine!”
Sun Mo stroked Lu Zhiruo’s head like he was petting a cat. “Open the chest!”
After the white light flashed, a skill book that was emitting green light appeared.
“Cool!”
Sun Mo whistled.
Ding!
“Congratulations, you’ve obtained knowledge of 100 types of plants from the Darkness Continent. Would you like to learn it immediately?”
The system’s voice was emotionless, clearly minding Sun Mo’s earlier complaint.
“Teacher Sun, you’re the leader and would need to stay in the middle to give commands. Why not let me walk in front?”
Qian Dun suggested.
He had just leveled up and was extremely confident, his battle will exploding. He had a strong hope that some student groups would approach them immediately and he’d crush them all single-handedly.
“It’s fine!”
Sun Mo rejected.
As Lu Zhiruo had to lead the way, she’d walk at the very front. Therefore, Sun Mo would be by her side to protect her. To have Qian Dun take his place?
Sorry, his mind wouldn’t be at ease!
“Oh!”
Qian Dun stroked his saber, feeling a little disappointed. (Sigh, my saber is feeling thirsty and unbearable, yet there aren’t any heads for me to chop!)
“Learn!”
Sun Mo didn’t have any hesitation at all. There’d be no disadvantages in grasping more knowledge.
The skill book shattered and green light spots shot into Sun Mo’s forehead. Many images immediately appeared in his mind.
“Xuanyuan Po, Jiang Leng, help me keep watch in front!”
After Sun Mo gave out the instructions, he started to deepen his impression of his memories while he had just learned them.
One hour passed.
Ding!
“Congratulations, the proficiency index of the knowledge has increased to the grandmaster-grade!”
Sun Mo wore a satisfied smile after hearing the notification.
(I’ve become stronger, but I don’t go bald. This is perfect!)
“Student Zhiruo, are you very familiar with this place?”
Wang Chao saw that Lu Zhiruo was leading the way, only stopping occasionally to discern the directions, but she was mostly advancing confidently. He felt very curious about this.
“No!”
The papaya girl shook her head.
“Then you…”
Wang Chao wanted to ask more but was interrupted by Gu Xiuxun’s cough.
“Cough cough, Teacher Wang, what do you think of the infrastructure here?”
Gu Xiuxun tried to divert the topic.
“I’m not learned in the study of infrastructure.”
Wang Chao’s emotional intelligence wasn’t bad and he didn’t feel good about continuing to ask further. After all, this was a student’s secret.
Two hours later, even Sun Mo, who trusted the papaya girl, couldn’t help but frown.
“We haven’t arrived yet?”
Sun Mo assessed the surroundings.
Lu Zhiruo immediately communicated with the spirit qi roaming dragon then replied, “Little loachie said that it thinks it’s lost!”
“…”
Hearing this, everyone felt speechless.
(You’d get lost from leading the way? Are you kidding?)
Of course, on Sun Mo’s account, no one dared to express any feelings of dissatisfaction even if they were unhappy.
“I… sorry…”
Lu Zhiruo lowered her head, her index fingers twisting around her clothes. She hated herself for being useless.
(I’m really useless!)
Tears welled up in the papaya girl’s eyes.
“There’s no need to apologize. You are doing this for the group!”
Sun Mo patted the papaya girl’s head and consoled her softly. He then activated his Divine Sight but didn’t notice any abnormalities.
Ancient castle. Unknown terrain.
“Teacher!”
Lu Zhiruo couldn’t hold it in and hugged Sun Mo’s arm. Her teacher was so gentle.
“It’s not a bad thing to be unable to find the way. This means that we’re getting increasingly closer to that secret treasure of darkness. As long as we can find out the reason why we’re lost, we’ll be able to get it.”
Li Ziqi said this as both an analysis as well as trying to help to speak up for the papaya girl.
That secret treasure must be extremely amazing to be able to get the spirit qi roaming dragon to lose its way.
“That’s right!”
Sun Mo looked into the distance. “From now onward, try to stay close. No matter what happens, don’t leave the group!”
As Sun Mo said this, he stared toward Xuanyuan Po.
“Teacher, why are you looking at me?”
The combat addict scratched his head.
“Hehe!”
Tantai Yutang thought. (This guy’s mind is really filled with muscles.)
About ten or more minutes later, everyone still hadn’t found their way. However, a large fog came gushing toward them like tidal waves, encompassing them.
The fog was very dense and it was impossible to see one’s own hands!
“Be careful! Don’t walk around recklessly!”
Sun Mo activated his Divine Sight once again.
Fog, harmless, duration uncertain!
Seeing that it was harmless, Sun Mo heaved a sigh of relief. He then reached out his hand to grab Lu Zhiruo but caught nothing. His countenance changed.
The papaya girl always listened to his words. Since he told them not to move, she would definitely not move. But why couldn’t he grab her?
“Zhiruo, can you hear me?”
“Speak up!”
“Ziqi, speak up!”
Sun Mo called a few times but noticed that there weren’t any reactions at all. He quickly turned and started running quickly.
This direction was where the student groups were at. Even if he were to run recklessly, he should have bumped into people. However, he didn’t encounter anyone even after running out for 30 steps.
Sun Mo’s heart sank and he quickly asked.
“System, what’s going on?”
The system was cold like a stepmother, not giving any reply.
Sun Mo took two deep breaths and calmed down before activating all of his senses. However, he didn’t sense anything at all.
There was nothing, no sound of breathing nor heartbeat.
Everywhere the fog encompassed was in silence.
Sun Mo hesitated for a few minutes but still didn’t leave. Instead, he chose to sit down quietly. He took out his pocket watch and brought it close to his face, but he couldn’t see the time clearly.
Everywhere was milky-white. The feeling was as if one was soaked in milk.
Sun Mo could only count silently. After counting to 12,000 seconds, the fog started to dissipate. Five minutes later, it disappeared completely.
Sun Mo searched around. It was the same place they were at before, but there was no one around. It was as if Sun Mo had been alone all the while.
Sun Mo looked around.
Ancient castle. Unknown terrain.
Sun Mo’s brows were furrowed so tightly together that he could clamp a crab to death.
When he had seen the words ‘unknown terrain’ earlier, he had thought that it was because he had come to a new place that the system didn’t know of. It seemed that these words didn’t just have the literal meaning.
Sun Mo went into deep thought for a moment then suddenly swung his fist to hit the ground.
Bang!
The ground cracked up like a spiderweb, shattered stones splattering everywhere.
Slab, composition: marble.
After leaving a mark on the wall, Sun Mo continued to advance.
The space 100 meters above the ancient castle was a roof of soil. There weren’t any traces of life at all, and the surroundings seemed dilapidated and crumbling.
It didn’t seem like they were destroyed in a war but more like it had been made into a desolate area by the long river of time.
Sun Mo explored the place while contemplating.
Where was he? Why would the others disappear in an instant? Were they teleported away? Or was he in an illusion?
It shouldn’t be teleported away. Putting aside if this could even be done and how powerful a cultivation art was required, there’d be at least spirit qi waves emitted. However, he didn’t sense anything at all.
So was it an illusion?
Then there was the next problem. Was this illusion targeted at him or all living creatures within the space?
Excellent, there was a need for him to verify things.
Sun Mo stopped and entered a house at the side. He used his Divine Sight to check around but didn’t see any abnormalities. He then drew out Chasing Cloud and made a cut on his index finger.
Fresh blood flowed out and Sun Mo started to draw a circular rune on the ground.
This was a summoning formation.
Five minutes later, the formation was completed. Sun Mo checked everything and after ascertaining that he didn’t miss out on anything, he started to chant and channel spirit qi into the formation.
Blood-colored fog started to permeate out. Ten minutes later, faint rustling sounds rang out in the surroundings.
Sun Mo didn’t stop. He continued with the formation.
All sorts of bugs appeared in increasing numbers. All of them gathered here.
Very soon, a thick layer covered the ground, and the bugs stacked up in layers like a carpet. It was bone-shrilling.
“Can anyone tell me where this place is?”
Sun Mo asked.
These bugs weren’t alive. They were wisps of mental energies that were left behind after the bugs died. Sun Mo had used his spiritual control technique to summon them.
“It’s an ancient castle!”
“It’s home!”
“It’s the place of death!”
Countless answers rapidly gushed into Sun Mo’s mind.
These bugs had died at different times and lived in different areas. Therefore, their recognition of the ancient castle was different.
This was like a blind man touching an elephant. What they said were just things that they knew.
“What makes it a place of death?”
Sun Mo started to ask questions in greater detail, selecting the bugs. Those who gave replies like ancient castle and home could all be given up on.
Sun Mo quickly ascertained that the illusion was targeted at invaders. The bugs were too small and insignificant and weren’t within the illusion’s attacking perimeters. They usually moved around freely, and some of them happened to live around that secret treasure.
“Many bones! Great meal!”
“A black infrastructure!”
“You’ll be dying very soon.”
The bugs’ replies were assorted.
“Bring me to that infrastructure!”
Sun Mo instructed.
Right now, Sun Mo could deeply sense how powerful the spiritual control technique was. However, if spirit controllers were to see this scene, they’d probably be driven to death.
The reason many people learned the technique was so that they could summon powerful spiritual beasts and increase their battle prowess. However, Sun Mo had used it to ask for directions.
