Chapter 368
After completing the mission of the sect, Xu Ziyan set off for island of the stele.
Thanks to the stele, the originally unfamous island was crowded with cultivators. Depending on the level of cultivation, the cultivators formed three circles from the inside.
The innermost circle contained more than ten nascent soul cultivators, most of whom were casual cultivators from the eastern sea, and there were also some demonic cultivators in human form.
They occupied the best position, and their divine consciousness was paying attention to that stele anytime and anywhere. In this inner circle, there were five other people who were positioned more forward, almost sticking to the side of the stele. Judging from the fluctuations on their bodies, there was no doubt that four of them had reached the later stage of nascent soul. There was only one sword cultivator with a long sword on his back with the middle stage of nascent soul. However, since he could sit side by side with the other four, he’s not inferior to the other four in terms of power.
According to the description on the stele, the address of the maze would be shown on the stele when the treasure was exposed. Also, as long as someone followed the map, they would be eligible to explore the maze. As for the treasure? It’s obviously hidden in the maze.
Qualifications of getting the treasure were not that high. After all, cultivators usually had to cultivate outside, and they must be able to read maps.
This kind of misleading made many low-level cultivators eager to try as well. They knew very well that they couldn’t get the most precious treasures, yet they might as well try for those of second grade.
Of course, there would be some cultivators who were not so clear-headed and thought that they could try their luck for the best treasures!
After all, the treasure was hidden in the maze, and one would need to be lucky to be in a maze!
When Xu Ziyan arrived at the island, it was almost time for the treasure to be exposed, and the handwriting on the stele began to become blurred, gradually turning into the shape of a map.
When Xu Ziyan and Xu Zirong arrived, some of the nascent soul cultivators in the inner circle couldn’t help but snort coldly.
As someone with the highest combat power among these people, the goal of these nascent soul cultivators was naturally the most precious item in the maze. Apparently, they were upset about the fact that there were two more competitors.
However, these cultivators were not stupid and they would never easily make enemies for themselves. After all, the news about the stele had already been spread, and among these cultivators, there were many enemies. It would be a big laughing matter if anyone dared to provoke two nascent soul cultivators.
The stele was tightly surrounded by cultivators of different layers, and cultivators of each layer continuously put pressure on each other.
The outermost circle composed of those of Qi condensation, the middle circle composed of those of golden core, while the innermost circle composed of nascent soul cultivators. Five most powerful cultivators stood in the central area.
It was like an unwritten rule among cultivators, or a kind reminder – never mess with anyone stronger than you.
Those who wanted to enter the innermost circle hadto go through a series of tests. Only those who could withstand the strongest pressure made it to the last round.
Taking Jiang Ying and Fang Tianrui as an example – even though they came with Xu Ziyan, they could at most reach the circle of Qi condensation.
The reason why Xu Ziyan brought the two this time was obviously for the treasure, but it was slightly different from these people’s goals.
After winking at Jiang Ying and Fang Tianrui, Xu Ziyan and Xu Zirong walked into the circle of nascent soul cultivators.
After they entered the circle, the other nascent soul cultivators withdrew their coercion. Since they already proved their strength, they were qualified to share some benefits in the maze!
However, it’s not very clearly mentioned on the stele about the situation of the maze. For this reason alone, these nascent soul cultivators didn’t stop those from the outer circle.
It’s always great to have more people for sacrifice!
Xu Ziyan didn’t act particularly high-profile, as making a fortune in silence was the most beneficial way.
Now, he already had half of the map in his hand, so as long as he wrote down the other half on the stele later, he should be able to get the most precious items once he’s fast enough.
Time passed little by little while everyone was waiting.
When the last ray of sunlight disappeared, the map on the stele was finally fully revealed.
The original golden writing on the stele completely disappeared, turning into distorted golden lines.
As the first level of getting the treasure, the map wasn’t easy to understand. The crooked dots and lines got at least half of the cultivators stumped…
“What’s going on? What’s this thing?”
“Strange, didn’t you say there is a map on the stele? What are these messy things?”
Most of the people who would ask such questions were those stuck at the early stage of Qi condensation, who were standing at the outermost edge of the island. Even though they could use their divine consciousness to read the stele, those messy dots and lines didn’t show any trace of a map at all.
“A bunch of idiots! You shouldn’t risk your lives without a certain level of cultivation! Did you think that you could understand this kind of things?” A golden core cultivator snorted secretly while looking at those yelling cultivators. Then, he tried to re-focus and read carefully those dots and lines.
It has been mentioned on the stele before that one could only enter the maze by following the address. Therefore, it’s logical that the map was complicated, otherwise every ordinary person could just go in and get the treasure.
There had to be some mysteries with the map, and one had to read it super carefully to find out.
There were many doing the same as this golden core cultivator, After all, there’re plenty of smart people, and it’s not strange that others could think of what he did.
The monks who made all kinds of complaints at the beginning also shut up. They all closed their eyes and studied the map carefully. No one wanted to waste such a chance in front of a treasure.
A moment later, a Taoist nun suddenly opened her eyes, rushed into the sky and disappeared.
Someone snorted coldly. A barefoot cultivator in green robe also leaped onto a huge Zen crane and flew away through the air.
With the leading role of these two, several nascent soul cultivators soon seemed to understand the mystery of this map, and they all started manipulating various flying magic weapons and disappeared on the vast sea level.
The rest of the people looked at each other in blank dismay, and most of them hadn’t understood anything from the disorganized lines.
Some cultivators of Qi condensation began to leave.
Everyone knew there were both risks and opportunities with treasures like this. If they already couldn’t figure out a map, then they would definitely not be able to survive the various crises inside.
It’s crucial to stay alive to enjoy treasures. These cultivators understood it very well, that’s why they left.
“I got it! Hahaha! I got it!!!”
Suddenly, a cultivator at the early stage of golden core let out a burst of wild laughter, as if he had discovered the biggest secret in the world.
Afterwards, it seemed that he’d understood something and he opened his mouth widely, yet it was too late and everyone’s attention was on him.
He widened his eyes in horror, watching the group of cultivators who were staring at him, and fled instantly with his sword.
Immediately afterwards, several cultivators flew up from the small island. They all chased in the direction of the golden core cultivator. It seemed that they had made up their mind to find out the secret of the map.
Looking at the back of these people, Xu Ziyan silently lit a row of candles for him. He thought, “if you take hungry wolves as sheep, then blame no one if you get killed!”
The other cultivators seemed to be used to such things, yet none of the nascent soul cultivators chased after them. They seemed to be disdainful of this particular method of getting answers from the others.
Of course, it didn’t rule out that they already knew the true nature of the guy, so no one was willing to try their luck…
After a while, several nascent soul cultivators started understanding the map a bit more and they left hurriedly. There were even two golden core cultivators of later stage among them.
At this moment, the golden core cultivator, whom everyone thought would die, flew back again. He even walked into the circle of nascent soul cultivators without hesitating a bit.
Everyone: …
That golden core cultivator smiled in embarrassment, “I’m really sorry, but I seemed to have understood it wrongly. Unfortunately, I already told the few cultivators but they didn’t believe me, and they insisted to use violence…well, I don’t have any other ways.” Afterwards, he even shook his head regretfully, as if those people were really so unreasonable.
All the cultivators: (╯‵ ′)╯︵┻━┻, damn it! You shouldn’t have used yourself as a bait, you’re a nascent soul after all!
No matter how much they complained, they would never dare to provoke a nascent soul cultivator in front of everybody…
With a happy smile on his face, this nascent soul cultivator, who liked pretending to be weak, walked in front of Xu Ziyan elegantly.
Xu Ziyan: ==Haha, what are you doing? I already have someone with clinginess disease at home, I don’t need another one!
It’s normal that Xu Ziyan was complaining, all because this cultivator Tianle was so unreliable, and he’s also very clingy, a perfect candidate to bring misfortune to the whole team.
In the original novel, Bai Hua teamed up with cultivator Tianle, and his purpose was naturally to win over this stronger cultivator, but no one could foresee the actions of this clingy cultivator with normal logic.