The Prodigies War

On the shore, the soil was moist, and the fresh smell of grass filled the air. The tree branches danced, their foliage covered the charming green hills.

Setting foot on it was like entering another world, one would feel refreshed and relaxed.

That peaceful aura made everyone’s tense heart completely relax.

“Huh?”

When they looked back, the ferryman was rowing the ferry back into the depths of the lake.

At the same time, a languid dao song echoed.

The lyrics weren’t audible, but the melody had a surging, unrestrained flavor that lingered.

It was as if an immortal was singing while traveling on a ferry, free and unbridled!

Lin Xun and the others watched in a daze.

Just who was the skeleton ferryman?

The blood-red lake was so dangerous and strange with great horrors buried within, while it rowed its ferry across it like an unrestrained immortal in the legends.

Was it an immortal among devils?

No one knew.

Disappearing from their vision with the ferry was the vast red lake, fading bit by bit until nothing could be seen…

In the end, there was nothing but a foggy blanket. The black ferry, the skeleton boatman, the bloody lake…were all gone.

Only an empty vastness remained!

“I’m afraid that for the rest of my life I’ll have trouble forgetting what I’ve experienced today,” murmured Ji Xingyao. Her bright eyes blurred in a trance on her stunning face, and her white dress fluttered in the wind. She looked like she had just come out from a poem.

Everyone agreed with her.

First, they entered a bizarre tunnel and saw the legendary Sin Underworld Fire and Yin Bone Underworld Flower…

Then, they had arrived at a ghostly stone forest packed with stone statues. It had felt like being in hell and surrounded by ghosts.

And then, they had taken a small black boat across the blood lake.

Who could forget the strange and thrilling things they had seen on this journey?

“Come on, let’s go and see what kind of fortune is hidden here!” Toady rubbed his palms together in anticipation as he looked at the divine green mountain in the distance.

Wasn’t the reason why they were undergoing risks of all the strangeness and uncertainties for the sake of seeking fortunes?

Toady was certain that this sanctuary harbored great fortune!

“Let’s go!” Lin Xun returned to his senses and took the lead.

To their surprise, this place wasn’t big. It was isolated from the world, but in the verdant forests, aeth herbs and resources could be seen everywhere!

In just a few moments, they already found over a dozen King-grade herbs!

There was Purple Tortoise Poria, White-Spotted Jade Light Flower, Ghost-Eye Nine-Striped Vine…

All were precious King-grade herbs that had long been extinct in the outside world with their own unique and wondrous effects.

Moreover, their path had been calm and tranquil. They hadn’t encountered any danger at all!

“Here, it must have been a sealed blessed land, and we might just be the first cultivators to arrive here!” said Mo Tianhe excitedly.

“This place is covered by a unique law power, I can only perceive an area of ten miles. Other than that, it’s just vast.” Ji Xingyao mused, “I think this is a secret realm, not a big one, but it’s nurtured abundant fortunes.”

Lin Xun nodded. He agreed with this speculation.

While talking, the group traveled through the forest and headed towards the divine green mountain.

This mountain was only a thousand feet tall, but it was pure, ethereal, and rich.

The aeth qi that permeated the area was more than just thick; it also contained an astonishing breath of divinity.

It was denser than the aeth qi at Star Catcher Mountain, Flying Star Mountain, and Mingcui Mountain in the Mythic Fire Realm!

Even the rock crevices were sparkling with a crystalline and holy luster.

Casually grabbing a handful of soil anywhere revealed a permeated vitality that startled them.

Along the smooth trip up the mountain, Lin Xun picked up a variety of aeth materials, fruits, and herbs…

Just halfway up the mountain, each of them had harvested at least a dozen or so King-grade herbs, as well as other aeth resources.

This place was too rich!

It was a mountain of treasures!

Toady kept yelling that he wanted to take the entire mountain with him, but he gave up after a slight attempt.

While the mountain was only a thousand feet tall, it was as tough as an ancient mountain of the gods. Not to mention moving, it was impossible to even shake it a little.

Halfway up the mountain, their field of vision opened up to a large patch of stone apron in which a lush purple bamboo forest grew. The bamboos were as thick as bowls, and their purple leaves were as shiny as polished jade.

When the wind blew through, the bamboos would sway, and their leaves would issue a wave of thunderous sound. Yet the sound wasn’t harsh but indescribably ethereal.

Deep in the bamboo forest, the shadow of a grass hut could be seen.

Lin Xun instantly stopped. His gaze pierced through the purple bamboo plants and settled on that grass hut.

“Some…someone lives here?” Toady was stunned.

“Maybe this is where the owner of this secret realm lives.” Lin Xun’s eyes shone.

The copper ring on his finger had slightly heated up and emitted a strong pulse, as if there was something in that grass hut that was calling it.

This told Lin Xun that they had come to the right place!

Meanwhile, Toady’s attention had shifted from the grass hut to the purple bamboos, and his eyes almost fell out.

“Oh hell, is this the Thundering Violet Bamboo?! A…a whole forest?!” Toady drooled.

Thundering Violet Bamboo!

Ji Xingyao and Mo Tianhe gasped.

In the ancient era, a Saint had rated and selected four bamboos as the Four Great Divine Bamboos. The Thundering Violet Bamboo was one of those four!

This bamboo took a thousand years to take root, another thousand years to bud, and then only grew a section every thousand years. After every nine sections, it would undergo a transformation.

After nine transformations, it would be a top-class divine material that if used to craft a Supreme King Weapon, the result would definitely be of the finest quality.

But more importantly, the greater utility of the Thundering Violet Bamboo was to be used as the main ingredient to refine Saint Treasures!

In the outside world, only ancient dao lineages could plant Thundering Violet Bamboos, but the quantity produced wasn’t much.

As far as Ji Xingyao knew, the Great Zen Temple in the Holy Hidden Lands had the largest number of Thundering Violet Bamboos, but there were only nine of them, and they had been treated as the most precious treasure of the sect…

And yet, there was an entire forest of Thundering Violet Bamboos on this mountain!

Even Lin Xun couldn’t keep his cool.

Not only was the wood of the Thundering Violet Bamboo a top-class divine material, but its leaves were also likewise a rare aeth herb. Although it was not King-grade, it had the miraculous effect of subduing the heart demon, cleansing the dao heart, and repelling evils!

“The owner of that grass hut is definitely an extraordinary and heavenly figure!”

Everyone arrived at the same conclusion.

“Let’s check the hut out.” Lin Xun took a deep breath to resist the urge to collect the Thundering Purple Bamboos right away as he entered the forest.

The others hurriedly followed.

“Hmm?”

The scenery changed as soon as Lin Xun stepped into the forest. The forest was still a bamboo forest, but he could no longer see the grass hut.

And when he looked around, he couldn’t find any way out!

Illusion formation?

Lin Xun grew serious. As a rune founder, he still couldn’t sense the law aura of the formation at all, which was very unusual.

“Be careful everyone! I’ll solve the formation, you guys just follow closely…”

However, Lin Xun’s voice came to an abrupt end when he noticed that at some point, Toady, Ji Xingyao, and Mo Tianhe had vanished!

And he had never once noticed this at all!

Lin Xun tensed up, his eyes flickered as he had a solemn look on his face.

They had been careless, having the first impression that this was a peaceful, tranquil, and blessed secret realm. Moreover, they had been able to harvest many aeth herbs along the way without anything happening, which made them think that there was no threat in this place.

Who would have thought that this peaceful atmosphere would have an unknown mystery hidden within it?

Lin Xun stood in place and scanned the surroundings with a flickering expression.

Violet bamboo covered the sky. The bamboo leaves swayed, emitting waves of thunderous sounds that were like music from heaven blessing the whole land.

Not only was it impossible to find a way out, but even the sky was also completely shrouded by dense bamboo leaves.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Xun activated the Chaofeng Eye and spread his spirit sense to carefully survey the surroundings.

A long time later, his heart became heavy.

Even he was unable to figure out the mysteries of this place!

The restrictions covering this bamboo forest were definitely beyond what a rune founder could understand!

After thinking of every solution possible without any success, Lin Xun didn’t dare to act recklessly. He sat down cross-legged and looked at the copper ring on his finger.

From the moment he had entered the Cave of Divine Underworld, this ring had generated obscure fluctuations, guiding him to this place.

Moreover, it had been slightly hot outside the bamboo forest, emitting an obviously stronger sensation.

However, it was completely silent at the moment!

What’s going on? It guided me here just to trap me?

Lin Xun frowned in thought as he gently rubbed the ring. After a long time, he decided to use his spirit sense to probe the ring again.

With his current mastery of runes, there were hopes to to break through the current predicament, but he didn’t know how long it would take as he needed to solve it bit by bit.

Meanwhile, it was unknown where the others were and whether they were in danger. He had to get out of this situation as fast as possible to help them.

Therefore, the copper ring was the only thing he could focus on.

Lin Xun’s spirit sense spread like tentacles, slender and sensitive as they silently streamed into the copper ring. But just like before, nothing happened.

This once again weighed down on Lin Xun’s heart.

However, the second he retracted his spirit sense, he noticed an almost imperceptible flicker of an obscure glint on the surface of the ring.

He instantly focused and once again sent his spirit sense into the copper ring, not taking his eyes off it for a second in the process.

Immediately, that obscure luster emerged once again and was firmly captured by him.

But it was fleeting and impossible to see clearly.

Refusing to give up, Lin Xun gritted his teeth and tried again. This time, he operated his cultivation energy and sent it into the ring along with his spirit sense.

Sure enough, the thin, obscure luster appeared once again.

On top of that, as his energy rolled in, the luster erupted into a brilliant rain of light.

The entire Thundering Violet Bamboo Forest began to tremble violently, and the originally pleasing thunderous sounds rumbled with a soul-shaking power!

At the same time, an illusory figure drifted out from the rain of light on the copper ring and gradually became clearer…