Volume Three: Rising Fame - Chapter 70: Gathering from All Sides

The trees in this otherworld are mostly exceptionally thick, perhaps due to the density of spiritual energy? Li Yu is not entirely certain, but after the thought passes, he begins to focus on observing the surrounding environment.

As they draw closer, everyone realizes why the group that leaked the information about the "Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals" yesterday was so confident. Wen Xiangxuan had initially wanted to bring one or two of them along, thinking that if the intel was true, it would be fine, but if they were being deceived...

Li Yu had refused at the time. The reason was simple: if a group can provide such a detailed location, the location itself is unlikely to be wrong; any deception would be hidden elsewhere. For instance, the beasts. That group hadn't mentioned that the beasts here were so dense and highly aggressive. If Li Yu hadn't been in the party, and Wen Xiangxuan had been leading instead, it would be questionable whether they could have even reached this point, let alone survived without casualties.

"Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals..."

Li Yu gazes at an isolated small peak, and even he is left dumbfounded. On many parts of the small mountain, the Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals are exposed. The quantity is significant; even just what is visible on the surface represents a substantial harvest! More ominously, the periphery of this small mountain is shrouded in a thin, lingering mist.

"Isn't this anomaly a bit too obvious?" Li Yu says, suppressing the heat in his heart. The sun has been up for quite a while, and the mist in other areas has long since dissipated. Only here, while the scenery is not much different from elsewhere, the mist remains thin yet persistent, never fading. Li Yu waits patiently for a good while, but the mist before them shows no change.

"What now?" Wen Xiangxuan asks curiously.

"Let's wait a bit," Li Yu replies after a moment of thought. "If there was a group here last night, others should be arriving soon. Well... if they are also after this target, we don't need to rush. Let's wait and see if anyone scouts the path for us." As he speaks, he gestures with his chin in a certain direction.

Wen Xiangxuan looks where he indicated and spots a skeleton under the mist, with a token lying beside it. Although their ancestors left behind the warning that "haste makes waste," it seems someone couldn't suppress their greed and met their end. Wen Xiangxuan feels a pang of alarm, and when she looks again, the mist has shifted, and the skeleton is no longer visible.

"What is going on here?" she asks softly.

"It feels like a formation..." Li Yu mutters, growing more cautious. If it were a natural phenomenon, that would be fine, but if it were the work of those people... given the history of formations and talismans on Blue Star, it wouldn't be easy to get inside! His voice is low, and Wen Xiangxuan doesn't catch everything, but seeing the young man muttering with an inscrutable expression, it is clear he knows something. However, if he is unwilling to speak, Wen Xiangxuan is helpless. Even if she wanted to pry his mouth open, the first consideration would be whether she could actually defeat him.

"What if no one comes, or they are on the other side where we can't see them?" Wen Xiangxuan whispers.

"You have to believe in destiny!" Li Yu replies cryptically. If someone goes up from the other side to collect these Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals, they will inevitably not ignore this side. Once they show their faces, they can just wait for them, right? And if they are on this side, it's even simpler—since it's right in front of them, there's no reason to miss it.

"Whoosh!"

A sound of something piercing the air arrives. A youth holding a large saber cuts across the sky and lands a few hundred meters away. He stands on high ground, stares for a moment, and then, as if just noticing their presence, sweeps his cold gaze over Li Yu and the others. Then, he closes his eyes to wait. After a while, eight figures appear one after another, finally standing behind the saber-wielding youth.

"Someone really came!" Wen Xiangxuan says in surprise. She looks at Li Yu and notices the fleeting look of astonishment on his face, followed by him saying in a low voice, "Big saber, youth—that should be Tang Zhengqing, who recently broke through to the fifth rank. So, can we handle him?"

"What are you saying? Asking me if a man can 'handle' him?!" Li Yu looks at Wen Xiangxuan with dissatisfaction.

Understood. He feels no pressure at all! Realizing this, Wen Xiangxuan relaxes, only to see another person arrive through the air. Li Yu looks at Wen Xiangxuan, his eyes questioning.

"A woman, long hair. Judging by her appearance, it should be Xiang Yadan. If I recall correctly, the Xiang family shouldn't be too far from yours, right?" Wen Xiangxuan whispers. "Didn't the Qing family prepare any intel for you?"

"It wasn't marked!" Li Yu glances at the newcomer and looks away after a moment. Although the Xiang family is nearby, it was reported that the highest-ranking person among those arriving was at the peak of the sixth rank; naturally, Li Yu didn't bother to memorize it. But thinking about it now, Xiang Yadan must be that peak sixth-rank individual from the file. He wonders when she broke through to the fifth rank.

Wen Xiangxuan twitches her mouth, her estimation of Li Yu rising a notch. *It wasn't marked...* It sounds like the Qing family was negligent, but the implication is quite arrogant. Does this mean that anyone below the fifth rank isn't even worth his attention? Thinking of this, Wen Xiangxuan can't help but wonder if she is also a minor character unworthy of being marked. She feels a sudden sense of frustration.

After Xiang Yadan waits for a moment, the people with her appear sporadically, totaling fifteen in all.

"That's a lot of people," Li Yu remarks. However, seeing several men fawning over Xiang Yadan, he suddenly understands. He lets his gaze linger on her delicate face for a moment before looking away.

After waiting for another while, yet another group arrives.

"The situation is not right!" Li Yu says to Wen Xiangxuan with an uncertain expression. One group is understandable, and a second one is still acceptable, but why is there a third? Isn't it said that things come in twos and not threes?

"Whoosh!"

Li Yu watches as a fourth fifth-rank cultivator, who arrived alone and stands by himself, cuts through the sky. He is stunned. Is this yet another team? And this one is a prince of the Great Ming Imperial Family! At this, Li Yu becomes even more solemn. "Four groups. If anyone tells me there isn't someone pushing the news of the Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals from behind the scenes, I'll twist their head off and use it as a ball!"

"It is indeed abnormal... the intervals between their arrivals are so short..." Wen Xiangxuan says in a deep voice. "But if someone is pushing this, don't they want the crystals themselves?"

"Maybe they can't break through this mist?" Wen Yongsi interjects. "Looking at the skeleton in the fog, it's obvious someone has already tried to enter!"

"That would explain it!" Hearing her cousin's words, Wen Xiangxuan has a sudden realization. "The people behind it can't get in themselves, so they secretly leaked the information, hoping to pick up the scraps from the back!"

If only that were true... Li Yu thinks to himself. Perhaps the person behind it leaked the information, but it spiraled out of control, leading to more people arriving. While this explanation is convincing, it relies on the premise that Wen Xiangxuan and the others don't know there is another faction secretly operating within the secret realm. But if they were the ones who took action... what would be their motive?

Noting this in his heart, Li Yu doesn't make a scene. Seeing that these people are quiet after arriving, clearly aware of the situation, Li Yu decides to stay put, wanting to see what kind of tricks they intend to pull.

While waiting, another sound of someone piercing the air comes from the sky. Li Yu turns his head to see a clean-shaven man with a gloomy gaze. Looking at his face... he is another one not mentioned in the files; he has absolutely no impression of him.

Just as he expects an explanation from those beside him, he turns to see Wen Xiangxuan staring at the clean-shaven youth as if her eyes are about to spit fire. Even Wen Yongsi is staring dead at the newcomer, as if he wants to devour his flesh and blood.

"..."

Li Yu looks thoughtfully at the clean-shaven youth. It is rumored that Wen Xiangxuan's previous team was ambushed and that there was a fifth-rank opponent among them—it must be this one, right? He turns to look at Xing Chengping, whose gaze toward the man is also filled with hatred. Hmm... confirmed. It must be him. He only wonders where the other fifth-rank individual is.

"He is Ning Ankang, one of the newly promoted fifth-rank cultivators. He specializes in using dual curved blades and likes to strike at the lower body!" Wen Xiangxuan says softly.

*Ning Ankang...* That's quite a high-standard name to choose for oneself. Li Yu instantly becomes interested and takes a few extra looks. Wen Yongsi opens his mouth to say something, but is yanked back by Wen Xiangxuan's slender hand. He freezes, sees her shake her head slightly, and ultimately says nothing. Such "small movements" naturally fall into Li Yu's eyes. He watches, but says nothing.

After waiting for a while, when the clean-shaven Ning Ankang opens his eyes and scans the crowd, he seems to have discovered something and strides forward. This move draws the attention of everyone present. Tang Zhengqing looks at Ning Ankang, clearly recognizing who he is, and watches his movements with interest. Xiang Yadan, who was talking to someone nearby, is alerted by a gesture and discovers the anomaly in the field. Her eyes sparkle, and she continues to chat with her companions, though her gaze remains fixed on Ning Ankang. The imperial prince, Ying Feiguang, only opens his eyes to look once, then glances toward Li Yu. The corner of his mouth hooks up in what seems like mockery, and he closes his eyes again.

"Do you have a problem?"

Although the three of them harbor varying degrees of hatred in their eyes, when the enemy approaches, their footsteps retreat slightly—even a peak sixth-rank feels breathless when facing an early fifth-rank. Li Yu, however, remains composed and is the first to ask.

"A problem?" Ning Ankang acts as if he has heard a joke, his lips curling up as his gaze passes over Li Yu to look at the three behind him. He pauses, especially when looking at Wen Xiangxuan. "No problem. I just wanted to say a few words to her... for example, your companion is very smooth!"