Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Maze in the Mirror
Searching for the Shattered Moon would have to wait.
Shao Heng had found a Star-Inquiry Sect disciple token inside the storage bag. From the name etched on it, she learned the woman was called Lu Yao.
She sorted the useful items she’d taken and stored them in her own storage ring.
Then she took out a white porcelain bottle and dripped a few dark-green drops onto Lu Yao’s corpse.
“Hey… you’re really ruthless,” Ao Chuan muttered through the Blood Pact.
Shao Heng’s hand stayed steady as stone. She watched the liquid hiss.
Sss.
Flesh collapsed. Bones softened. In moments, the body melted into a shapeless puddle that soaked into the ground.
Only then did Shao Heng snort. “I already killed her. You want me to dig a hole and bury her too?”
“If her fellow disciples happened to see the body, then noticed from the wounds that it was arrows and fire arts, and finally traced it back to me, wouldn’t that be asking for trouble?”
“Tch.” The Little White Dragon was only running his mouth. In his eyes, even swallowing an enemy whole and refining them into essence was nothing.
Like that demon core from the Vine Demon, which he had already swallowed.
Shao Heng’s injuries had worsened after several battles with Lu Yao. She forced the Azure Emperor divine power through her meridians to patch her internal wounds, gritting her teeth as she looted the spoils and erased the evidence.
When she finished, her whole body finally went soft.
She tore a yellow talisman from her sleeve and cast a layer of golden protection over herself. Only then did she compare the thin silk map, roughly confirm her position, and head north.
She planned to find a suitable place to recuperate first. Once her injuries healed, she would make plans for the Shattered Moon.
—
In the forest, three cultivators hurried along before choosing a quiet spot to rest.
Two men and one woman—all young-looking, as if only in their twenties or thirties—yet each carried late-stage First Realm cultivation.
The woman was Bai Hong. She looked cute, but her expression was gloomy. “The secret realm has been open for four days. We’ve searched for so long. How have we not gotten even a single Shattered Moon crystal?”
“It’s all because of Zhao Qing Tu from the Star-Inquiry Sect. We were about to get that Shattered Moon crystal, and he snatched it!”
A black-clad male cultivator with rough features and a muscular build cursed under his breath.
“Enough, Yu Wen.” The speaker was Jiang Feng. He looked refined and was clearly the leader of the three. “We’re just not as skilled. Zhao Qing Tu is an elite inner sect disciple of the Star-Inquiry Sect. They say he joined the sect only six years ago and is already at First Realm perfection. He really is worthy of being the High-Grade Aptitude ‘Northern Dipper Seven Stars.’”
“Luckily, the Shattered Moon isn’t in just one place. As long as we search patiently, the secret realm will stay open for a full six months. We’ll get something eventually.”
After he spoke, Bai Hong and Yu Wen both fell silent.
But even as Jiang Feng said it, his fists were clenched tight, and resentment still lingered in his eyes.
Just then, footsteps sounded.
All three immediately looked over, their mana circulating as they prepared to fight.
“A rat who won’t show his face!” Yu Wen barked, thick brows knitting into a fierce line.
“Senior Brother, you misunderstand.”
A young girl stepped out from the bushes. She wore green and looked 15 or 16.
“Greetings, Senior Brothers and Senior Sister. I’m also a disciple of the One Yuan Sect. I’m collecting the Shattered Moon and happened to pass by. I mean no harm.”
Jiang Feng studied the female cultivator in front of him. His brows furrowed, then he suddenly smiled. “So it’s a Junior Sister.”
“You’ve got real courage. You’re only mid First Realm, yet you dare to roam the Mystic Moon Secret Realm.” He paused. “May I ask your name?”
Inner sect disciples were the best of the best, but every year 10 were selected from the outer sect. In a hundred years, that made a thousand, so the number wasn’t small, and it was normal not to recognize each other.
The girl looked young but had mid-stage cultivation, so she was surely inner sect. Jiang Feng and the others had no doubts.
They also secretly checked her mana aura, and it matched the Origin-Nourishing Qi-Raising Art.
In the inner sect, aside from those taken as a True Disciple by an elder or those who found special opportunities, most disciples still followed this lower-grade cultivation method passed down from the outer sect.
Jiang Feng thought, [Those with Mid-Grade and High-Grade Aptitude can enter the inner sect directly, and nine out of ten will be taken as a True Disciple by an elder. Looks like this female cultivator is like us—lower-grade aptitude, promoted into the inner sect through the disciple tournament.]
The three of them had been promoted into the inner sect in the same batch. 30 or 40 years had passed since then, but they maintained their youthful looks through techniques.
Thinking of that, Jiang Feng felt a bit of kinship with this Junior Sister.
Bai Hong and Yu Wen were the same, their eyes less guarded.
The girl answered, “Thank you for the praise, Senior Brother. My name is Shao Heng. After entering the inner sect, I cultivated for more than 10 years before I barely reached mid-stage. I came into this secret realm because I really want to gamble once and fight for a future.”
Shao Heng lowered her eyes, looking a little shy.
Bai Hong’s eyes brightened as she smiled. “Junior Sister Shao Heng, why be so modest? Reaching mid First Realm at your age is already remarkable.”
“My name is Bai Hong. You can call me Senior Sister Bai.”
She was tall, a full head taller than Shao Heng. She walked over and affectionately patted Shao Heng’s left shoulder.
Yu Wen snorted, turned his head away, and muttered, “What an ignorant idiot. She probably won’t live more than a few days…” Bai Hong shot him a glare, forcing him to swallow whatever nastier words he was about to say.
Jiang Feng lowered his voice and asked, “My name is Jiang Feng. Junior Sister Shao Heng, how did you end up here?”
Stung by Yu Wen’s cold words, Shao Heng looked embarrassed. After a pause, she answered, “Senior Brother Jiang, I finally managed to get a map of where the Shattered Moon gathers. But I ran into a Moon Yin Vine Demon on the way. I barely escaped, but I lost the storage ring that held the map. Now I don’t even know where I am.”
She gathered her courage and asked, “Could Senior Brother and Senior Sister help point me in the right direction? Once we leave the secret realm and return to the sect, I will repay you generously.”
For ordinary cultivators, unless they reached First Realm perfection and their spiritual sense rose to a certain level, they couldn’t achieve photographic memory. So Jiang Feng showed no suspicion.
Bai Hong only sighed regretfully. “Junior Sister Shao Heng, you probably didn’t do many sect missions before. You don’t know—when you get a map, you memorize it first. That’s how you stay safe.”
“And it was even a map of Shattered Moon gathering places. What a waste.”
Her gaze dimmed. They hadn’t gotten their hands on such a treasure either.
Shao Heng looked at her gratefully. “Thank you, Senior Sister. I’ll remember.”
“Enough with the whining.” Yu Wen waved his hand. “We came from the north and didn’t run into anything dangerous. If you want to go, head that way. Don’t come drag us down.”
Jiang Feng shot him a disapproving look, then said gently, “Junior Sister Shao Heng, since you don’t know where to go, why not travel with us for now?”
“We’re heading to a place where the Shattered Moon gathers. It’s called the Soaring Moon Mirror. There’s a natural maze inside, and the Shattered Moon is hidden within it.”
“We divide the spoils by contribution. If you join us, then once we obtain the Shattered Moon, we’ll split it by merit.”
Hearing that, Bai Hong looked at Shao Heng with full approval. Yu Wen turned his head away and snorted, but he didn’t say anything else to object.
Shao Heng pressed her lips together as if hesitating, then finally said, “Thank you, Senior Brother and Senior Sister, for not minding. I’ll travel with you. I’ll do my best and won’t hold you back.”
Bai Hong immediately moved closer, looking even more intimate as she smiled. “Don’t worry, Junior Sister. I’m a late-stage cultivator, and I’ve cultivated close to 800 furnaces of mana. If we run into danger, I’ll save you.”
“And that maze may be mysterious and hard to leave, but it isn’t a life-and-death trap. Compared to other places full of danger, it’s much safer.”