Chapter 2045, Discussion
“Temple Master Zong and Temple Master Lian?” Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling confused after hearing this.
“They used to be the two Vice Palace Masters of Raging Fire Temple, Zong Qing and Lian Yu Ming,” the nearby Kang Si Ran explained in a low voice.
Yang Kai nodded in understanding as he gazed over quickly towards two Dao Source Realm masters standing not too far away, thinking that these two should be Zong Qing and Lian Yu Ming.
The two Vice Temple Masters of Raging Fire Temple were First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators and had similar strength. Both of them wore the same Raging Fire Temple robes as well, so Yang Kai was fairly certain of his guess.
Yang Kai suddenly recalled Zong Zi Jin, a youth he met at the Soaring Dragon Altar when he was exploring the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda. Zong Zi Jin had a Third-Order Origin King cultivator and was from Raging Fire Temple, so by the looks of it, Zhong Zi Jin was very likely related to Zong Qing, possibly even the latter’s son.
After a while, the strange phenomenon faded and along with it, the wonderful fragrance as well.
The Raging Fire Temple disciple leading Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran beckoned to the two to land nearby. Once on the ground, this disciple cupped his fist to the two Dao Source Realm masters and stated, “Reporting to the two Temple Masters, these two were also attracted by the Yuan Furnace Mountain’s phenomenon.”
Having heard his report, the taller one of the two Dao Source Realm masters nodded lightly before sweeping Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran with his Divine Sense and said in an indifferent tone, “Since they’ve come here, arrange a place for them to wait with the others.”
“Yes,” the Raging Fire Temple disciple acknowledged before guiding Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran to a certain spot to the side and saying. “You two, wait over there, when we need you, we’ll notify you.”
“Wait a moment,” Yang Kai hurriedly stopped him.
“What?” The Raging Fire Temple disciple seemed rather impatient.
Yang Kai smiled and leaned forward and quietly started stuffing a few Source Crystals into his sleeve while whispering, “Friend, I want to ask you about the current situation. If it’s convenient, can you explain a bit to me?”
The Raging Fire Temple disciple felt the number of Source Crystals being stuffed into his sleeve and smiled with satisfaction, “What else could this be? To be honest, even I have no idea what’s going inside Yuan Furnace Mountain, all I know is that the cave mansion of some fallen master has appeared. If it weren’t for this phenomenon, I’m afraid no one would have noticed it. After these strange eruptions began, our two Temple Masters rushed over along with many elite disciples from the temple to explore this cave mansion.”
“A fallen master’s cave mansion?” Yang Kai pretended to be extremely surprised, his eyes widening as he asked, “Since you’ve discovered such a cave mansion, why hasn’t your Raging Fire Temple tried to explore it alone? Why are they not only allowing outside cultivators to come, but are even welcoming us to stay?”
Upon hearing this, the Raging Fire Temple disciple looked left and right before whispering quietly, “If we could explore it alone, why would we allow others to interfere? The two Temple Masters have already tried, but they couldn’t break open the cave mansion’s protective barriers with just their own strength. The barrier of the cave mansion seems to have been arranged by an Emperor Realm Master and still remains very strong despite years of neglect. Even with all of our Raging Fire Temple’s elites working together, we cannot break that barrier, so we can only depend on external forces.”
After hearing this, Yang Kai showed a look of understanding and nodded, “So that’s how it is.”
To the side, Kang Si Ran furrowed his brow. Obviously, he was also surprised by this development; after all, he had come to quietly explore this cave mansion many years prior and, although he felt that the barrier was strong, it should have still been manageable for a Dao Source Realm master, but he also knew that now was not the time to ask questions.
“From what you say, it seems that your noble Temple intends to break open the barrier with the help of outsiders like us?” A pondering Yang Kai asked.
“Indeed. There is strength in numbers.”
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “Obtaining help from outsiders is one thing, but how will the treasures inside be distributed if we manage to break the barrier?”
The Raging Fire Temple disciple shook his head and said, “I have no idea about that, that’s something for the Temple Masters to worry about. That’s all I know. Friends, please remain here.”
Having said this, the disciple left without giving Yang Kai a chance to ask anything more.
After he left, Yang Kai finally glanced at Kang Si Ran and the two tacitly made their way to a more remote spot before both their expressions grew ugly.
“Who would have thought that things would turn out like this?” Kang Si Ran tightly frowned, “If I knew this would have happened, I would have proposed coming sooner to investigate. Haa… now that this phenomenon is so visible, I’m afraid that everyone in the vicinity will come rushing over.”
“It wouldn’t matter if we came earlier or later. Since even two Dao Source Realm masters couldn’t break in, I’m afraid that just the two of us would have been helpless. This situation might be disadvantageous, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have an edge.”
“Brother Yang, why do you say this?” Kang Si Ran looked at him curiously.
Yang Kai grinned and said, “Shopkeeper Kang has something that no one else has, this is our advantage.”
After hearing this, Kang Si Ran pondered for a moment before nodding and agreeing, “Good! What I have is still quite valuable.”
What they were referring to was naturally the map of the cave mansion. In the past, what the descendant of Gong Sun Mu’s servant gave Kang Si Ran was not just the specific location of the cave mansion but also a map of its interior.
With this thing in hand, no matter how many people went in, Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran weren’t afraid of losing the initiative.
Furthermore, according to the information Yang Kai got after inquiring, Raging Fire Temple only knew that there was a cave mansion inside Yuan Furnace Mountain, as for whose cave mansion it was or what was inside it, they had no idea.
In light of this, Kang Si Ran finally calmed down, exchanging a knowing glance with Yang Kai before both of them closed their eyes and sat down cross-legged, entering a calm, meditative state.
Over time, more and more cultivators were attracted to Yuan Furnace Mountain by the strange phenomenon; however, the strengths of these cultivators were mixed, with many of them being just Origin Returning Realm and a dozen or so Origin Kings mixed in.
With the addition of the cultivators that had gathered before, the number of people at the base of Yuan Furnace Mountain had already crossed seventy.
After two days, the two Dao Source Realm masters of Raging Fire Temple looked at each other before Zong Qing gently nodded and said, “I think that we have the right amount of people. Let’s start!”
Lian Yu Ming also nodded in agreement and said, “An undue delay might bring about trouble.”
Just as he said this, the two stood up at the same time.
As soon as the two of them made a move, the cultivators gathered here opened their eyes and looked towards them one after another.
Zong Qing looked at everyone before speaking, “Friends who have been attracted here by this strange incident, I thank you for remaining patient for so long. This one is Raging Fire Temple’s Vice Palace Master, Zong Qing. Many of you might recognize me.”
“We have indeed heard of Vice Temple Master Zong; however, Vice Temple Master Zong, may I ask why have you gathered us here and what exactly is inside Yuan Furnace Mountain that is causing all this commotion?” an impatient cultivator immediately inquired.
Hearing this, Zong Qing slightly smiled and said, “Friend has asked an excellent question. This Zong was just about to explain to everyone. As for what exactly is inside Yuan Furnace Mountain, truthfully, this Zong does not know. All that is known is that there is an abandoned cave mansion here. Furthermore, it seems to be a cave mansion of an Emperor Realm master!”
“An Emperor’s cave mansion?”
“There was actually something like that inside Yuan Furnace Mountain!?”
“This place is completely desolate, I’ve even passed by it many times in the past! Why didn’t I think of exploring it before? Haa… what a loss!”
In an instant, everyone broke into a clamour, with some showing extreme frustration while others were filled with excitement.
Zong Qing continued with a smile, “My Raging Fire Temple attempted to explore this cave mansion already and broke through the first two barriers protecting it, but we were unable to break the last barrier and were thus unable to enter. Because of this, we can only depend on all the friends gathered here now. As long as all of you are willing to cooperate with my Raging Fire Temple, the last barrier will surely be broken and everyone will be able to explore the cave mansion before us!”
“So, the first barrier has already been broken,” Kang Si Ran muttered under his breath. He had been sceptical as to why Raging Fire Temple hadn’t broken the barrier even with two Dao Source Realm masters at its disposal, but now it seemed that there was more than one barrier to be broken, and the last one was particularly strong.
Finally, everything made sense to him. Kang Si Ran’s previous information wasn’t wrong, but because his strength was lacking, he simply didn’t know about the additional barriers protecting the cave mansion.
If it weren’t for the appearance of this strange phenomenon, with just his and Yang Kai’s strength, they might have been able to break the first two barriers, but would have been stopped by the third.
In light of these facts, Kang Si Ran finally found a little comfort.
“Everyone must be wondering what is stored inside this Emperor Realm master’s cave mansion, and judging by this phenomenon, this Zong can guarantee that there is definitely an extraordinary treasure inside, most likely some kind of extremely precious herb that is about to mature!”
The phenomenon, a five coloured brilliance that was accompanied by an attractive, refreshing fragrance, was quite obviously not something an artifact would produce. Only when a rare and miraculous spirit grass or medicine was about to mature would such a phenomenon occur.
“Temple Master Zong, I would like to know: If the barrier does break, how will the things inside be distributed? This is your Raging Fire Temple’s territory, so if you wish to monopolize everything inside this cave mansion, we will not be able to fight back,” suddenly, a sharp voice rose from the crowd, drifting from place to place, making it hard to figure out just who had spoken.
Once this topic was brought to light, everyone immediately calmed down as well and turned their gazes towards Zong Qing. Obviously, everyone was very concerned about this.
Zong Qing, on the other hand, wasn’t the slightest bit angered by this question and just smiled as he announced, “This Zong can understand your worries, but this Zong can also guarantee that if friends cooperate here to break this barrier, any treasure inside will belong to the one who finds it. This Zong and Brother Lian would absolutely not attack you.”
Lian Yu Ming, who was standing beside him and had been silent all the while, nodded at this moment.
“Vice Temple Master Zong, words alone are no proof, how are we supposed to believe you? Even if Vice Temple Master Lian and you really attacked us, could we still resist?” the sharp voice rose again.
Zong Qing lightly smiled as he swept his gaze across the crowd, soon locking onto a thin man trying to look inconspicuous and declared, “If friend is unwilling to believe Brother Lian and this Zong, you can always leave. We are not forcing you to remain.”
