ragginovel Chapter 316 The Saintess
Chapter 316 The Saintess
Xiao Yun paused, glanced at Du Fan, smiled slightly, and continued:
"Of course, this palace was ordered to be destroyed by the higher-ups decades ago, so the powerful magic array and high-level puppets in the palace have already been moved away. As for danger, there are only some remaining restrictions."
However, Brother Du, you can rest assured that in the Fallen Leaves Return to Roots organization, besides being an assassin, I also have another identity. Even during the heyday of this palace, I was qualified to enter and exit most areas here. Therefore, I am quite clear about the deployment of restrictions here.
As for my purpose, it is very simple: to go to one of the altars and get some holy water for use. I have no other desires.
The latter half of the Concealing Spirit Technique that I mentioned earlier happens to be near that altar. I can take Brother Du to observe this technique first. If Brother Du is satisfied, then you will need to lend your little sister a hand.”
"I have one last question," Du Fan said suddenly, staring at the woman.
"Speak," Xiao Yun said, raising an eyebrow.
Du Fan's eyes flashed, and he asked, "What is Fellow Daoist Xiao's other identity in 'Returning to One's Roots'?"
"Holy Maiden." After saying this, Xiao Yun said no more. She made a hand seal and pointed at the void of the teleportation gate. A black beam of light shot out from her fingertip and instantly entered the gate.
A ripple immediately spread across the surface of the brownish-yellow light gate, and in the blink of an eye, the gate vanished without a trace amidst a low hum.
At this moment, the portal is completely invisible to the naked eye. Even divine sense would find it difficult to detect unless one knows its exact location.
After doing all this, Xiao Yun turned to look at Du Fan, but didn't say anything. She just nodded slightly to him and then turned and walked in one direction along the corridor.
Du Fan glanced at the woman's back, frowned slightly, and then followed her.
Du Fan and Xiao Yun walked through the somewhat gloomy corridor. Every so often, a large gray stone door would appear on the stone wall on one side of the corridor, tightly closed and motionless, giving people a heavy and solid feeling.
On either side of the stone gate hang two ancient lamps, each burning with a dark yellow flame. As they flicker and sway, they emit a faint light. The two ancient lamps, together with the stone gate, look both ancient and mysterious.
Beyond the stone gate should be a series of stone chambers.
Each stone door has a protective array on its surface. A large amount of spiritual light emanates from the array and transforms into a dazzling light curtain several feet thick, completely enveloping the stone door and the surrounding walls without any blind spots.
Xiao Yun didn't offer any explanation, and Du Fan didn't ask either. Both of them had important things on their minds, and they didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble if nothing unexpected happened.
The two walked for a long time before reaching the end of the corridor, where a stone wall blocked their way, splitting the passage into two paths, one on the left and one on the right. Both paths remained dark and deep.
"This way," Xiao Yun said casually, then changed direction and walked towards the left corridor.
Du Fan remained silent, following the woman at a distance of about ten feet behind. At the same time, he quietly activated the Soul Devouring Technique within his body, releasing his current maximum strength of divine sense, which enveloped the surrounding area.
However, what amazed Du Fan was that his divine sense could only reach places like long corridors, while the space behind the stone walls and stone doors was easily opened by the outer array light screen, and even with the strength of his divine sense, he could not penetrate it even slightly.
After turning several corners and walking through several long corridors, an hour later, their view suddenly opened up, and they found themselves in a stone hall with interconnected passageways.
This stone hall is square, covering several acres in size. It is not enclosed, but rather has a passageway in each direction of the quadrilateral. Du Fan and Xiao Yun walked out from one of these passageways.
To put it bluntly, this stone hall is just a wider crossroads, its function being to connect the corridors coming from different directions. And there are countless such crossroads throughout the palace, making it comparable to a maze.
"This way." Xiao Yun's steps never faltered; without a second thought, she walked towards the entrance of one of the passages.
Du Fan felt a little relieved upon seeing this. This woman was clearly very familiar with this palace, so it seemed that her claims about being a saintess were quite credible.
Just as the two were about to enter the passage, Du Fan's expression suddenly changed drastically, and Xiao Yun also sensed something, her figure abruptly stopping.
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, I need an explanation." Du Fan's gaze turned cold.
"I will explain this matter myself, but now is not the time. Let's hide for a while." A hint of surprise flashed in Xiao Yun's eyes, and then she frowned and said this.
"Hmph!" Du Fan snorted coldly. Without saying a word, he flicked his arm, and the invisibility ring immediately appeared. He put it on his finger, and his body immediately blurred and changed, turning into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
After concealing his presence, Du Fan swiftly formed hand seals, instantly activating the Concealing Spirit Technique. His cultivation level instantly dropped to the Quasi-Qi Refining stage, and the cultivation fluctuations emanating from him were now negligible, making it difficult for cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage to detect him.
At the same time, Xiao Yun made a hand seal, and a wisp of black smoke swirled out from her body, covering her completely. After the black smoke churned, the woman vanished into thin air as the smoke dissipated, without revealing even a trace of her presence.
Xiao Yun's methods of concealment are clearly far superior to Du Fan's.
A moment later, faint footsteps were heard from a passageway. Soon after, four men in black stepped into the hall. Judging from their attire, they were all members of the Return to Roots sect. It was unclear whether these men were assassins or had other identities.
The men in black seemed not to have noticed Du Fan and his companion. They remained silent among themselves. After appearing in the stone hall, they did not linger and went directly into another passage. After a short while, they disappeared without a sound.
After another half-cup of tea time, a ripple suddenly appeared in the void of the hall, and the faint image of a man in a green robe emerged. After a few breaths, the figure solidified and appeared, revealing himself to be none other than Du Fan with a gloomy expression.
A few feet behind Du Fan, a black glow suddenly appeared out of thin air, swirling and coiling for a while before quickly dissipating, revealing a black-clad figure whose gender was indistinguishable: Xiao Yun.
Du Fan didn't speak, but turned around and looked coldly at the woman, his face extremely gloomy.
"Brother Du, this was purely an accident. Let's leave here first and talk about it later," Xiao Yun said quickly, a hint of pleading in her eyes.
Du Fan's eyes flashed with a sharp light, his expression somewhat uncertain. After a long while, he took a deep breath and said, "Lead the way."
Seeing this, Xiao Yun felt a little relieved. She was really worried that Du Fan might give up the trip in a fit of anger.
The woman bowed to Du Fan, said nothing, and turned to walk into a passageway.
……
At the same time, in a dimly lit corridor, the four men in black who had previously passed through the stone hall suddenly stopped. One of them sneered and said, "Crow, there was an outsider in that stone hall just now. Why did you stop us from making a move?"
The man in black, named Crow, frowned, glanced at the speaker, and said in a deep voice, "If he is just an outsider, how could he possibly break into the holy palace of our organization? Let alone a Qi Refining stage cultivator, it is unlikely that even a Golden Core cultivator could do so."
If I'm not mistaken, there's at least one of our own people hidden in that stone hall.
"One of our own? No way, who would dare to do that? This is a violation of religious rules. If the Enforcement Hall finds out, there's no chance of survival." Another man in black was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.
"Hehe, if it were in the past, naturally no one would dare to do this, but don't forget, for some reason, decades ago, the organization's higher-ups decided to abandon this palace."
In the following period, the core items in this palace were moved away one after another, and the people of the Enforcement Hall had long since moved to the newly built holy site. They had no time to care about things here.
"As for this palace that will completely disappear in a few years, apart from us Qi Refining cultivators who have something to do with it, the rest of the organization won't pay much attention to it." Crow chuckled and spoke slowly.
"Crow, but this person is, after all, an outsider. We, as..."
A man in black's eyes flashed, and he was about to say something when he was interrupted by a crow.
"Alright, we're not from the Enforcement Hall, nor have we been placed under any restrictions by the organization. I don't think it's necessary for us to meddle in other people's business."
Besides, it's not just a few of us who have our eyes on that item. There are quite a few Qi Refining cultivators in our organization who covet it. Let's hurry, or it won't be good if someone else gets there first."
Upon hearing this, the other three men in black tensed up. After exchanging a glance, none of them continued to dwell on Du Fan's matter. Before long, the four of them moved in unison and headed straight for the depths of the corridor.
……
In the winding corridor, a series of hurried footsteps were heard, and five men in black strode past. After a short while, the place fell silent again.
Just then, a plume of black smoke suddenly billowed out from the nearby stone wall, and after it dissipated, a dark figure appeared—it was Xiao Yun.
Not far from the woman, Du Fan followed closely behind.
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, didn't you say that there were only the two of us in your organization's sacred palace? If my eyes aren't damaged, I saw at least twenty people!"
"Now, can you give me an explanation?" Du Fan's face turned ashen, and his gaze became extremely gloomy.