“How could someone from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion succumb to inner demons?…”
“This Prison-Lock Array is quite interesting.”
Not far from Wen Qixue and his companions, the Valley Master of Danxia Valley appeared out of nowhere. She crouched on the ground, seemingly studying something intently.
Hearing her voice, the group turned around. Upon seeing the Valley Master, they immediately stood straight and offered a respectful bow: “Valley Master.”
The Danxia Valley Master stood up and waved a hand at them: “Please, make yourselves at home.”
“I was simply growing restless in the Compass Hall. Hearing that the City Lord’s Mansion had officially opened, I came over for a stroll and happened to witness this quite interesting scene.”
She examined the Prison-Lock Array laid out on the ground and looked at the person who had set it up with great interest: “Wen Qixue, are you interested in becoming my disciple?”
Wen Qixue: “?”
He was stunned; clearly, the current turn of events was beyond his expectations. He pointed at himself in disbelief: “Me?”
The Danxia Valley Master nodded as if it were a matter of course: “Yes, you.”
She pointed to the Prison-Lock Array on the ground that had not yet been triggered: “These—surely no one taught you this before? You must have figured it out and created it yourself, right?”
Following the direction of the Valley Master’s finger, Wen Qixue looked at the array he had set up and nodded slightly: “Yes. I specifically studied it when I was preparing to set up the Heavenly Thunder Array.”
However, arrays were by no means simple things. Even with long preparation and the occurrence of his Nascent Soul lightning tribulation, he could only achieve that much. Although he had since reshaped his physical body, according to the person in charge of the Mingfeng Chamber of Commerce, the Heavenly Thunder Array he had previously set up seemed to have become a place that anyone could enter and exit at will.
But since he was alive now, Wen Qixue stopped caring about the discarded Heavenly Thunder Array behind the Heavenly Sword Sect. If they wanted to search it, let them. If they truly found something good, it was their own ability. Besides, his own belongings were still in his possession.
As for the Prison-Lock Array, it was merely one of the most basic arrays he had learned while researching the Heavenly Thunder Array. It had no lethality and could only trap people in place. According to the records in the Compass Hall’s library, the Prison-Lock Array usually appeared alongside illusion arrays. However, Wen Qixue had shifted his thinking and combined it with a defensive array, turning it into the current version that was difficult to break from within and could be used in combat.
Wen Qixue explained: “But even when combined with a defensive array, it can only trap a cultivator one major realm higher than oneself. It should be relatively easy for someone at the Golden Core stage to break it by force.”
As soon as he said this, the others looked at Si Mingyan, who was still trapped in the ice cage.
Rong Mingmo pointed at him: “He is indeed at the Golden Core stage, right?”
Xia Changxun gestured to himself: “Then I could break it too!”
Suo Xuanlin reminded him: “Brother Xia didn’t even attack.”
Lan Qinchuan added: “The one who broke it was me.”
Regarding Wen Qixue’s claim, Lan Qinchuan was inclined to believe it: “I only used three strikes to break the ice cage. Even if I am indeed a standout among Golden Core cultivators, if another Golden Core cultivator were to try, it would just take a few more strikes. It really cannot trap a Golden Core cultivator.”
After finishing his sentence, he looked at Si Mingyan still inside the ice cage, paused, and hesitantly added: “Si Mingyan might truly be a bit too weak.”
Rong Mingmo sighed with genuine admiration: “Brother Lan is truly tactful.”
Even knowing what kind of characters her valley’s disciples were, the Danxia Valley Master couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile. She coughed lightly: “Let’s stop talking for now. He is, after all, from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion; this isn’t good.”
“If you really don’t like him, say it behind his back.”
The rest of Danxia Valley: “…” Even you, Valley Master, didn’t leave any face for the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.
Suo Xuanlin, however, was completely relieved. He quietly whispered to Wen Qixue: “Brother Xue, the people from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion are too pathetic; I won’t go there.”
“I think I’d rather cultivate on my own.”
Wen Qixue found it amusing and patted Suo Xuanlin on the shoulder: “As long as you feel that your cultivation is progressing smoothly, that is enough.”
Suo Xuanlin became happy instantly.
The Danxia Valley Master looked at Wen Qixue and Suo Xuanlin, then steered the conversation back: “However, being able to do this without anyone’s guidance shows that you have quite a talent for arrays.”
“Especially since the array manuals you’ve read were likely from ancient methods.”
She encouraged him: “Look, if you take me as your master, you won’t need to figure things out on your own when you encounter something you don’t understand. I also need a disciple to inherit my mantle; it’s mutually beneficial.”
“And if I am your master, surely I would have to contribute if you want to restore the Compass Hall, right? The treasures I have in my possession are far more than what Jiang Che has.”
She glanced at Wen Qixue with undisguised disdain: “Surely you aren’t still pining for your master at the Heavenly Sword Sect?”
“What else can the Heavenly Sword Sect possibly teach you!”
Lan Qinchuan added at the right moment: “Those people at the Heavenly Sword Sect now—even the one with the highest cultivation isn’t as high as you were before.”
Wen Qixue shook his head: “I haven’t given the Heavenly Sword Sect much thought, it’s just that within Danxia Valley…”
The Danxia Valley Master blinked, then understood: “You are trying to say that there are mostly alchemy cultivators in Danxia Valley and few sword cultivators?”
She recalled for a moment and explained to Wen Qixue: “Although there are indeed few sword cultivators, it seems there aren’t many alchemy cultivators either; among the ten elders, only three are alchemy cultivators.”
“However, our Danxia Valley was initially just a group of loose cultivators gathering together; we have all kinds of cultivators. It’s just that in recent years, the alchemy cultivators have become more famous.”
Regarding this point, the Valley Master herself was puzzled: “Why are the alchemy cultivators more famous? Is my second disciple’s artifact refining not good? I am even the number one array master in the Central Continent. Why is Danxia Valley known as an alchemy sect outside?”
Lan Qinchuan and Xia Changxun beside her nodded repeatedly: “Exactly, exactly.”
Rong Mingmo, the only alchemy cultivator present: “…”
I feel like I’m outnumbered.
At this moment, a “crack” sound echoed from not far away. The ice wall trapping Si Mingyan had finally fractured. Wen Qixue and his group looked over.
By now, Si Mingyan no longer had the air of arrogance he had when he came to cause trouble. His hair was disheveled, the spiritual energy around him was chaotic, and he looked utterly wretched.
Wen Qixue was puzzled: “I don’t recall using any other tricks in the ice cage, I only trapped him. Si Mingyan shouldn’t have been able to make himself look like this…”
He wanted to walk over to see what was happening, but the Danxia Valley Master intercepted him.
Her gaze toward Si Mingyan was steady, and her expression was calm, yet the words she spoke were shocking: “He looks like he is developing inner demons.”
As soon as these words were uttered, everyone—not just Wen Qixue’s group but also the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion disciples following Si Mingyan—was stunned.
“Inner demons?”
Prompted by the Danxia Valley Master, Wen Qixue looked at Si Mingyan again. He had never seen anyone burdened by inner demons, but he had dealt with demonic cultivators before: “The current Si Mingyan looks even worse than the state of a demonic cultivator.”
The Danxia Valley Master nodded in agreement, then looked toward the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion disciples: “Go find your elders.”
The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion disciples responded in a flurry of panic: “Yes, yes!”
They then hurried away.
The Danxia Valley Master muttered to herself: “How could someone from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion succumb to inner demons?”
At this moment, Wen Qixue suddenly remembered. In the memories of the soul from the other world, there were indeed two people beside Gu Ninglu who had inner demons!