Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Getting There First

Shao Heng was only at mid First Realm, but with Three-Thousand-Li Moon boosting her, her movement was lightning-fast. With spirit sense extended, her efficiency dwarfed most others.

In less than a quarter hour, she’d already seized three segments of snowy white spirit lotus root, as well as one Shattered Moon shard.

After another sweep, she found no more spiritual treasures. In the lake, cultivators were already turning on one another, fighting to steal what others had gathered.

Shao Heng didn’t delay. She dodged an ice spike fired by a nearby cultivator, burst out of the water with an escape technique, and landed on the shore.

She was about to leave when seven brilliant stars flared above the lake in rapid succession.

For a heartbeat she couldn’t make sense of them—until the pattern fully formed, shaped like a wine ladle.

Northern Dipper Seven Stars.

“Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, Yao Guang…”

As she identified them, Shao Heng also drove her escape art hard.

Too late.

The seven stars linked in an instant. A vast column of starlight shot into the sky, then descended and spread, forming a massive dome that swallowed the lake and the surrounding shore.

Her escape technique failed the moment it touched the barrier.

A man’s voice rang out, cold and sharp. “Who went to the bottom of the lake and found a spiritual treasure? Hand it over!”

Shao Heng snapped her head up.

A male cultivator hovered in the air, robes rippling with starshine. His face was refined and handsome, his gaze keen as a blade.

Zhao Qing Tu.

He was the Star-Inquiry Sect disciple who’d once fought her over Great Expansion Spirit-Refining Art.

Back when she’d traveled through the maze with Bai Hong and the others, she’d overheard their muttered complaints and learned bits and pieces about him. Peak First Realm. More than 900 furnaces of power. High-Grade Aptitude—exactly the kind of “heavenly prodigy” a sect would cultivate as a core seed.

The starlight dome trapped Shao Heng inside as well, leaving her no way out. Her brows tightened.

Zhao Qing Tu wasn’t like the Yin-Eroding Bug queen. That creature’s strength was in breeding; its body was weak, and Ao Chuan’s bloodline suppression had made the kill clean.

Zhao Qing Tu, on the other hand, had years of foundation and deeper methods. From this barrier alone, Shao Heng knew she couldn’t fight him head-on.

She lowered her gaze, expression shadowed, and murmured under her breath, “Addicted to stealing my things?”

Zhao Qing Tu hovered above, scanning the crowd with a ruthless calm.

The cultivators who remained at the lake weren’t the strongest disciples—most of the higher-realm experts had already moved on. That was the only reason Zhao Qing Tu dared to act so tyrannically.

He’d guarded this lake because his divination told him a treasure remained here. He’d searched with patience, day after day.

He’d never expected the lotus flowers’ interference to suddenly vanish. Zhao Qing Tu wasn’t stupid. He traced the change, dove to the lakebed, and found lingering traces of pure yang qi in the soil.

Someone had beaten him to it.

He’d waited here seven or eight days, wasting time, grinding his hopes into nothing. Anger had flared—hot, ugly—and he’d thrown out this starlight dome to trap everyone.

It was a rash move.

A bad one.

Shao Heng didn’t expose herself. She’d already altered her face and aura with Face-Changing Art, blending into the crowd as an ordinary cultivator while she watched with cold eyes.

More than 20 figures surged out of the lake. A female cultivator in a snow-white skirt landed with a slash of green swordlight, her blade pointed straight at Zhao Qing Tu.

“Zhao Qing Tu.” Her voice rang like steel. “What do you mean by this?”

Her face was striking, and when her brows lifted, her presence turned sharp and commanding. “Do you think I, Xu Rong, am made of mud? That you can trample whoever you want?”

“You trapped all of us here.” She flicked her sword tip toward the dome, contempt radiating off her. “Do you think we’re weak and easy to bully?”

“What arrogance!”

“Senior Sister Xu is right!”

A man with delicate features stepped forward, mockery in his eyes and jealousy barely hidden under his tone. “Junior Brother Zhao, you’re High-Grade Aptitude, the sect’s prodigy—fine. But we’re inner sect disciples too.”

“You trap us like animals and expect us to smile?” he scoffed. “What do you take us for?”

Zhao Qing Tu’s expression barely shifted, but his fists clenched.

“Senior Sister Xu, calm down,” he said, voice smooth. “I’m only looking for something.”

Xu Rong’s sword didn’t lower.

The delicate-featured man’s lips curled. “Senior Brother Liang Zheng, just wait a moment,” Zhao Qing Tu said, turning slightly. “I have a way to find the person who took it.”

He already felt regret biting at him. Ever since entering the sect, everything had gone his way. In six years, he’d reached peak First Realm, young and ambitious, and far too used to being obeyed.

Now, under the furious stares around him, he finally understood how reckless he’d been.

But if he lifted the dome after being pressured, he’d lose face completely. From this day on, his standing among his peers would crumble.

After weighing it, Zhao Qing Tu clasped his hands toward the crowd. “Everyone. This lake is rich in yin qi. At the bottom, I found traces of pure yang qi lingering in the soil. A rare treasure born of heaven and earth was hidden here—and someone has already taken it.”

A ripple ran through the crowd.

Zhao Qing Tu’s voice sharpened. “Once I find them, I’ll split the treasure with all of you.”

“We’re all here for opportunities. The spirit lotus roots and Shattered Moon have already been taken clean. Don’t you want to know what was hidden at the bottom of this lake?”

The earlier fury cooled, replaced by greedy curiosity. Eyes shifted. People began to glance at one another, calculating.

“How will you find them, Junior Brother Zhao?” someone demanded.

Xu Rong’s expression remained hard, but she was also a Star-Inquiry Sect disciple. She didn’t want to tear the sect apart in public. She spoke first, tempering the tension. “Junior Brother Zhao—how do you plan to do it?”

“Senior Sister Xu, I’ve already learned Eight-Mirror Wondrous Divination,” Zhao Qing Tu said. “Give me a moment.”

He flipped his hand. Eight bone mirrors flew out and hovered beside him. An ancient character surfaced on each mirror, dim at first—then brightening as they resonated together.

Hidden in the crowd, Shao Heng watched without blinking. Her fist tightened before she realized it.

What a Zhao Qing Tu.

The instant he recognized he’d misstepped, he adjusted. He gave up the lakebed treasure as “bait,” dissolved the crowd’s anger with promised benefits, and turned this mess into a stage for his own cultivation and immortal arts.

Shao Heng spoke to Ao Chuan through thought. “Can you break this starlight barrier?”

Ao Chuan hesitated, reluctant. “If I reveal my True Dragon body, I can smash it.”

“But if you expose yourself,” Shao Heng replied, “I won’t be able to protect you.”

Ao Chuan fell silent. He didn’t need to say it. In the Mystic Moon Secret Realm, Ling Jiang’s inheritance might be the greatest opportunity—but a True Dragon hatchling would be another.

Shao Heng dismissed the idea.

Instead, she drove her Yellow Bud with everything she had, pouring spirit power into her meridians until her blood hummed with heat.

The characters on the eight bone mirrors rose, gathering into a thin, dark beam.

The beam shot straight toward Shao Heng.

She erupted.

Seals formed in a blur. Flames burst from her palm. She threw the Phoenix jade ring and the Yang Fire Pearl into the fire, along with a first-grade Thunderburst Talisman.

The flames twisted, condensing into a three-legged black crow wrapped in crimson-gold light. It slammed into the starlight dome.

The crow opened its beak and spat black flames—flames laced with death qi she’d forced out in urgency. At the same time, the talisman flared.

Lightning exploded.

Shao Heng went all out, throwing every method she had into a single strike.

The starlight barrier ruptured.

A gap tore open in the seal.

Shao Heng seized the moment. With one hand, she snatched back the jade ring and the Yang Fire Pearl. Three-Thousand-Li Moon flared beneath her feet, and she rode moonlight out of the opening, fleeing 30 li in a single breath.

Zhao Qing Tu’s eyes darkened as he stared after the escaping figure. A cold smile curved his lips.

“Petty tricks,” he murmured. “Let’s see where you can run.”