Chapter 1178: Chapter 355: Miss Lu, Actually My Sister Doesn’t Like Men! (6k)_3
"The array’s core is hidden within the royal forbidden area, guarded day and night by thirty thousand Golden Armor Guards. None may approach without royal bloodline or a Jade Order bestowed by the emperor."
"The speed of this array rivals that of shooting stars," he spread his arms, "able to carry a thousand people at once."
Zhou Qing nodded upon hearing this; he had long heard of these things, but had never seen them with his own eyes.
Sikong Yan shook the jade scroll in his hand: "This is the true interpretation of the Hidden Dragon Path’s Array Dao left by that array master of yore."
"The width, strength, and energy fluctuations of the passage," he counted on his fingers one by one, "the transmission start point, end point, and mid-way nodes, all are contained within."
"You are now a fourth-level array master," Sikong Yan gazed at Zhou Qing with deep meaning, "If you can decipher its mysteries, perhaps we... can bypass the entrance and hitch a ride midway."
Seeing Zhou Qing deep in thought, he added, "Their space channel is maintained throughout the year and is remarkably stable."
"At that time," a gleam flashed in Sikong Yan’s eyes, "it will take only three or four months to reach the border, and returning to the Taiqing Sect would take just a few more months."
Zhou Qing’s eyes lit up as he recalled the last time at the border when he repaired that four-colored Seven Stars Demon-Binding Array with Master Lin.
The jade scrolls everyone used were left by that same fourth-level array master back then, but they had been disassembled.
Then, he stared at the jade scroll and suddenly asked, "Where did you get this?"
Sikong Yan smiled without speaking and only after a while said, "Guess?"
He suddenly stepped closer: "If we can decipher this, we might even be able to take a trip to the royal treasury."
"Not only coming and going as we please," Sikong Yan arched an eyebrow, "but there’s also the wood attribute spirit stones you’ve been dreaming of; as for how many, you can guess again."
Zhou Qing’s pupils slightly contracted.
After a brief silence, he grabbed the jade scroll and turned to leave.
Seeing this, Sikong Yan immediately burst out laughing, then shouted at his departing figure, "Good luck, I’m waiting for your good news!"
...
After leaving Jintian Palace, Zhou Qing did not leave immediately.
He circled around several times and waited until nightfall to stealthily sneak into Yiyun Mansion.
His vast divine sense swept through every corner of the mansion like a stream, confirming that Xuanyuan Yichen was indeed absent before he turned to the Ninth Princess’s residence.
Again, there was no one wearing a golden tag in sight.
"Seems like none of them are here..." Zhou Qing frowned slightly and had no choice but to give up for now.
He took out the communication jade talisman and contacted his senior brother and junior sister.
"I’m fine, don’t worry." After a few brief words of reassurance, the two on the other end visibly relaxed.
However, knowing that mischievous Lu Yaoyao, if Shen Hanyi had truly gone to the border, she would definitely not follow but stay to continue looking for him.
As for the rebellious younger brother, Shen Yunzhou, he must be eager to leave his sister given the chance.
Thus, Zhou Qing specifically instructed his senior brother and junior sister to pay special attention to those with yellow hair — it would increase the chances of finding them.
After the instructions, he took out his old sect token and tried sending a message to Lu Yaoyao.
However, after waiting for a long time without any response, it seemed to be because the distance was too far.
Then he quickly found a quiet inn to stay at.
Taking out four jade scrolls, he cautiously used Daily Reflection to appraise them first.
Confirming there was no danger, he let out a long sigh of relief.
The Friendship Sticker involved three people in total, and Xuanyuan Yichen had already been helped, dropping the corresponding wood attribute spirit stones.
No matter what, number six Shen Hanyi refused to disclose her current difficulties.
Whether under his Divine Ruins Celestial Palace identity or the current destined person identity, he couldn’t force a late-stage Spirit Severing Realm power to confide in him.
So, for now, he could only help Sikong Yan.
According to past experiences, only when a sticker is nearly exhausted can a new one be refreshed.
Since he got this sticker before leaving the Taiqing Sect, no new ones had appeared, which is the best evidence.
Besides, what Sikong Yan said makes sense —
If these jade scrolls can be deciphered, future travel to various places will be much more efficient.
The saved time would be enough for him to accomplish many important things.
After everything was arranged, Zhou Qing began to sit cross-legged, with the four jade scrolls floating and rotating in front of him.
He concentrated and stared, seeing the surface of the jade scroll smooth and new, with faint spiritual power fluctuations lingering at the edges of the array patterns, indicating they had just been copied not long ago.
These jade scrolls were so fresh that they didn’t even have the usual traces of spiritual power sedimentation, showing they were Sikong Yan’s recent acquisitions.
Then, Zhou Qing slightly closed his eyes, lightly tapped his fingertips, and the first azure jade scroll opened with a sound.
At that instant, countless intricate array patterns surged out like living entities, sketching out the complete structure of the Seven Stars Demon-Binding Array in the void.
Zhou Qing’s gaze became intense, recognizing this familiar array map as the version he had repaired with Master Lin back in the day, but now it displayed the original complete array map.
Every array pattern contained deeper mysteries, and the nodes that were once hard to understand were now gradually becoming clear in the eyes of a fourth-level array master.
"So this is it..." Zhou Qing muttered to himself, sliding his finger through a spiritual light, marking a few key nodes.
Then he put it away and turned to the second crimson jade scroll. As his divine sense delved in, a magnificent three-dimensional array map unfolded in his sea of consciousness.
It was the core structure of what is currently known as the Hidden Dragon Path.
Countless golden light dots represented transmission nodes, forming the shape of a winding dragon in the void.
The dragon’s head in the Imperial City, the tail extending to the border, and the four claws correspond to the four major towns in all directions.
Every node was annotated with precise space coordinates and spiritual power flow trajectories, the dense array patterns vast as a galaxy.
