Chapter 152: Entering the Inner Region
Before anyone could inquire, the ground began shaking.
The shaking wasn’t intense, but it caught everyone by surprise and some fell to the ground.
"What’s going on?" Xuan Ke asked when the shaking stopped.
"The inner region is open." Someone said and pointed in a certain direction.
Everyone turned to look and saw huge stone pillars looming in the distance.
"For now, let’s divide the map. Those who want to buy and sell can talk privately." The announcer said.
He was from the border guard faction and was only asked to officiate the competition.
As a cultivator who didn’t have a lot of stake in the matter, he was eager to get done with it and rush to the inner region.
After all, the inner region would only be open for three months, and those who entered first had an advantage.
"I agree." Shen Ru said.
"So do I." Di Shan said.
Several others also agreed, and the announcer removed a silver dagger from his storage ring. The dagger had a short blade, and it glimmered brightly with the morning sun.
He coated it with qi and swung it several times above the treasure map.
A moment later, the map broke into eighteen equal pieces, and everyone stared at them greedily.
"Let’s grab adjacent pieces." Yu Nianzhen whispered to Jiang Yue.
He then looked at Li Futian and Xuan Ke, and both nodded in understanding.
Although they didn’t know the significance of the original map pieces, it was beneficial to have adjacent pieces.
"Everyone can take a piece after ten breaths. Which piece you grab depends on your ability."
Everyone looked at the map pieces and waited for the time to lapse. When it did, many hands reached in and grabbed map pieces before retreating to the distance.
Yu Nianzhen and the other three were the same.
After grabbing their pieces, they immediately ran and didn’t stop until they were more than ten kilometres away.
Even then, they only stopped for a breath so that they could group up before continuing to run.
’As expected!’ Yu Nianzhen thought when he heard loud sounds of fighting in the distance.
Although there were eighteen map pieces, everyone depended on their ability to grab a piece. This meant that one could grab more than one piece if they had the ability.
Also, there was nothing to stop others from killing to take the map pieces.
It was because of this that the four ran away as soon as they grabbed their pieces.
Fortunately, they managed to run fast enough, but none of the four believed the matter would end there. It was very likely that someone would target them in the inner region.
However, they weren’t afraid.
In fact, they were somewhat looking forward to it. Even if the opponent didn’t have a piece of the map, they could still earn from taking their storage artefacts.
"How many?" Jiang Yue whispered to Yu Nianzhen as they ran.
Yu Nianzhen didn’t speak and instead showed two fingers to the other.
Jiang Yue chuckled and also showed two fingers. He then placed his index finger on his lips, and Yu Nianzhen nodded in understanding.
Between them, they had four map pieces.
This meant they deprived two people, and those who didn’t get a piece would chase them if they knew.
"Zhu Bing, Meng Zihua, and Wei Ge grabbed two each." Yu Nianzhen said.
Jiang Yue was flabbergasted when he heard that.
It wasn’t just the realisation that five people took more than half the map pieces, it was that Yu Nianzhen had the time to observe others.
’If he had such time, why didn’t he grab more?’ He grumbled and glared at the other.
However, he wasn’t really angry.
At the moment, neither of them had absolute strength.
If Yu Nianzhen went too far and grabbed more pieces, others would unite against them. At that time, they would be lucky to keep their lives, let alone the map pieces.
’Only those with absolute strength have the right to be unscrupulous.’ He thought and renewed his determination to become stronger.
Five days later, the four brothers finally arrived near the stone pillars.
From this distance, they counted one hundred and eight pillars arranged in a wide circle.
The pillars were one hundred metres tall, and a fire burned on top of each pillar.
When the four walked closer, they saw that the pillars were surrounded by a thin film of light, and people were standing outside this film.
"It should be a barrier." Xuan Ke stated the obvious.
"Do brother Li and brother Ke have the fruits?" Jiang Yue asked.
"Fortunately, I encountered that tree and managed to get one." Li Futian answered.
The others then turned to Xuan Ke. He wore a wicked smile and spoke.
"I killed someone who had it." He said.
Now that he said that, Jiang Yue remembered that they also killed several cultivators who had the fruits during the purple crystal herb task.
From five, they now had eight fruits.
"Should we sell or trade some?" Jiang Yue whispered to Yu Nianzhen.
However, Yu Nianzhen wasn’t sure about this matter.
On one hand, selling would earn them a lot of spirit stones or other equivalent things.
On the other, they didn’t know the use of the hard fruit. If eating it had extraordinary benefits, selling the extras now was a loss.
"It won’t be a loss to sell them after we leave the secret realm." He finally said.
Although they urgently needed spirit stones, the number they had could maintain the jade box for a while.
Until they knew more about the fruits, it was best to keep them.
"Alright, let’s keep them." Jiang Yue also understood the other’s reasoning and agreed.
"These fellow Daoists, shall we go in together?" A voice suddenly asked.
The four looked and saw a group of six walking toward them.
When the speaker saw the scepticism on their faces, she continued without waiting for them to ask.
"You can only enter in groups of twelve." She explained.
The four were shocked and turned to other cultivators in the surroundings. Until this moment, they hadn’t noticed that people were standing in groups.
"We only need to walk in together. We will go our separate ways after that." The woman said.
"Alright, let’s do this." Jiang Yue said.
"We need two more." Xuan Ke said.
He looked around and immediately dashed to several new arrivals.
A few moments later, the temporary group of twelve walked toward the formation barrier.
"Do we need to do anything other than have the fruit?" Someone asked.
"The previous group held the fruits in their hands and then walked right in." The female explained.
At that, everyone removed a fruit from their storage artefacts and held them in their hands.
When everyone was ready, the twelve walked together and smoothly passed through the barrier
"What happens if there aren’t enough people?" Jiang Yue suddenly asked.
"The barrier won’t open to let people in." The female said.
"The last to arrive will be unlucky." Xuan Ke laughed when he thought about it.
"Maybe there is a way." Li Futian said, but his lips were twitching in amusement.
"I will be leaving. Thanks for cooperating." The female said and ran away without waiting for a response.
The others also went their separate ways, and the remaining four walked a distance before stopping.
"Our first target is the soul-refining herb." Yu Nianzhen said.
Jiang Yue needed this herb to break through to the second level of his ethereal soul-refining technique.
Although the quantitative difference between the first and second levels was only one, there was a humongous qualitative difference.
If Jiang Yue’s soul was at the second level when he fought Lin Huang, he wouldn’t need to distract her to draw her into an illusion.
Other than Jiang Yue, Yu Nianzhen also needed the soul-refining herb to enhance his sword soul.
This would not only allow him to comprehend things much faster, but it would also reduce the difficulty of using sword intent.
"I am aiming for the scarlet rock herb." Xuan Ke said.
Since he had a lightning origin, the demand for a strong physique was very high.
Even if he didn’t grab anything else, he needed to take the scarlet rock herb. Otherwise, his body may not withstand his lightning after he broke through to the qi transformation realm.
"What about brother Li?" Jiang Yue asked.
"I need the soul-clarity herb." Li Futian said.
Since everyone had their own goals, they realised they couldn’t travel together for the time being.
However, they grew greedy when they heard each other’s targets.
Jiang Yue who only wished for the soul-refining herb now desired the soul-clarity herb and the scarlet rock herb.
"If there is a chance, why don’t we take extra copies and exchange them with each other?" He asked.
"I have no objection." Yu Nianzhen immediately agreed.
The others also agreed, and the group separated with a promise to meet one month before the close of the thousand herbs garden.
