Chapter 283: A Sudden Breeze
As the time for the opening grew closer, the atmosphere became tenser.
The Death Flower Ascension Front and orthodox cultivators eyed each other warily but no one made a move.
"It feels like something is about to happen." Jiang Yue said and huddled closer to Yu Nianzhen.
"Mmmm." Yu Nianzhen nodded but his eyes were looking around.
Against the Death Flower Ascension Front, the evil cultivators and righteous cultivators were on one side.
However, this didn’t mean that righteous cultivators had suddenly become friends with the evil cultivators.
In fact, the tension in the atmosphere was mainly because of the forced co-existence between the evil cultivators and righteous cultivators.
’I hope nothing happens before the secret realm opens.’ Yu Nianzhen thought and frowned.
"I also don’t feel right being on the same side as the evil cultivators." Bing Lan said and glared at the evil cultivators.
Because of her physique, she was particularly sensitive to evil.
Being so close to so many evil cultivators made her uncomfortable and she wished she could eliminate them alongside the Death Flower Ascension Front.
"Bear with it for the time being." Yang Xu soothed and held his wife closer.
He was also uncomfortable but his wife was the priority.
"We can take care of them when we enter the secret realm." Jiang Yue said.
He still remembered the Corpse Yin cultivator he encountered in the Thousand Herbs Garden.
After that incident, he gained a deep hatred for evil cultivators and he couldn’t help but want to kill them.
"Eliminating evil cultivators and the Death Flower Ascension Front is a merit to our Cangxing world." Yang Xu said and cast a meaningful look at where the evil cultivators stood.
"Let’s move closer to the entrance." Yu Nianzhen suddenly said and took Jiang Yue’s hand.
"I will message brother Xuan." Jiang Yue said and took out a communication jade from his storage ring.
Although they rarely met, it was previously agreed that they would explore the secret realm together.
Now that the time had come, they had to meet up so that they could enter together.
"He is already walking towards us." Yu Nianzhen observed and Jiang Yue looked up.
When he did, he saw Xuan Ke walking in their direction.
The monk’s demeanour was nonchalant but a look of solemnity flashed in his eyes.
Soon after, the two groups were within talking distance but Xuan Ke didn’t acknowledge them.
[Brother Xuan, is something wrong?] Jiang Yue sent a voice transmission.
[Brother Jiang, we should enter as soon as the secret realm opens.]
[Is something the matter?] Jiang Yue asked with a frown on his face.
The group had previously decided to enter as soon as the secret realm opened but the plan was based on speculation.
However, Xuan Ke’s advice looked a little more serious.
[I heard that someone will make a move. We need to rush and not get caught up.]
[Is it the Death Flower Ascension Front or evil cultivators?]
[I don’t know about this. I eavesdropped and didn’t manage to catch everything.]
[I see.]
After that, Jiang Yue immediately spoke to the other three.
When Yu Nianzhen heard it, he suddenly remembered a poem he read in his previous life.
’The spring breeze blew, causing ripples in the spring water of the pond.’ He thought and felt a little annoyed.
At the moment, everyone was maintaining a superficial calm.
If someone did something to stir the situation, all hell would break loose.
In that chaos, no one knew what would happen.
"It seems a lot of people want to enter as soon as possible." Bing Lan commented and the others also noticed it.
While they were not paying attention, a lot of people began to move closer to where the entrance would open.
"Even the elders have begun to act." Jiang Yue said and looked up.
In the sky, nascent soul realm cultivators were facing each other.
Each side was on guard against the other and they didn’t dare to take their eyes off the opponent.
"Master, I forgot to ask. How long will the entrance be open?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"One-quarter of an hour. After that, the entrance will close and won’t open again until one hundred years later."
"A quarter of an hour doesn’t seem like a lot of time." He muttered and once again looked around.
There were more than thirty thousand cultivators in the ice valley.
If all of them wanted to enter the Nine Treasures secret realm, a quarter of an hour didn’t seem to be enough.
"Should some of us enter the ancient palace?" He asked.
"We can’t do that." Yang Xu hurriedly warned.
"Why is that?"
"Only those who pass through the entrance and are recognised by the secret realm can refine the treasures within."
"Is that so?" Jiang Yue asked and frowned.
If what Yang Xu said was right, it meant that Hongzhu and Lu Futian wouldn’t gain anything if they didn’t leave the ancient palace.
However, one was half dead and the other was a nascent soul realm demonic plant.
’It can’t be helped.’ He thought and sighed.
If they found something useful to either Li Futian or Hongzhu, they would have to think of a way to help them get it.
"The heaven and earth qi has begun to fluctuate." Yang Xu said and the others became more attentive.
Although they couldn’t feel the fluctuation, they trusted Yang Xu and didn’t doubt his words.
"The entrance should appear in less than an hour. Be on your guard."
At this, the others including Xuan Ke became a little tense.
Their senses were on full alert and everything around them was within their observation.
At the same time, others had also noticed the fluctuations and had begun to get ready.
"Fifth brother, why are you so nervous?" A voice suddenly resounded in the valley.
Everyone looked up and saw a man standing across from an elder of the Great Zhu empire.
"A traitor of our Great Zhu empire dares to question me?" The fifth brother asked.
His voice was filled with anger and a weapon appeared in his hand, ready to be launched at the enemy.
"Fifth brother, do you want to kill me?" The man asked and then chuckled.
"Unfortunately, the fifth brother no longer has the ability to kill me."
As he said that, a terrifying aura emanated from his body and covered the surroundings.
"You bastard, an abomination. You dare to be proud after stealing someone’s foundation."
"Fifth brother is too rigid. Even stealing requires a lot of courage and skill. Isn’t cultivation going against the sky? The heavens did not bless me with a good foundation so I grabbed one for myself."
"You heretic!" The fifth brother shouted angrily and could no longer control himself.
He swung his sword and an icy qi flew toward the cultivator from the Death Flower Ascension Front.
However, before the icy qi flew too far, it encountered a fire wall and quickly melted.
"Elder Mo." The fifth brother shouted in indignation.
"Fellow Daoist Zhu shouldn’t be so agitated. Don’t let them control the pace." A man said.
The man had flaming hair and was an elder of the Divine Fist sect.
"Brother Mo is right. They are trying to bait us." A woman said and her heart grew more vigilant.
"If you want to fight, wait until the secret realm opens and closes. After that, you can do whatever you want."
At this time, the elder from the Great Zhu empire also realised he had fallen into a trap.
After a last glare at the person who tried to bait him, he calmed himself and focused on the qi fluctuations.
However, this incident wasn’t ignored.
The nascent soul realm cultivators of the orthodox side grew even more guarded.
From this incident, they confirmed that the Death flower Ascension Front was indeed planning something.
"It seems that the Death Flower Ascension Front is more suspect than the evil cultivators." Jiang Yue whispered to the others.
"I think the evil cultivators are also planning something." Yu Nianzhen added.
For some reason, he felt very uneasy and his gaze kept drifting to where the evil cultivators stood.
’Could it be that they plan to ignore the greater good?’ He wondered.
Fundamentally, evil cultivators were selfish.
They seldom cared about anything other than themselves.
This time, the righteous side allied with them because neither side wanted to see the rise of the Death Flower Ascension Front.
However, if something changed...
As Yu Nianzhen thought of these things, his heart skipped a beat.
’Do they also want to betray the Cangxing world or what are they thinking?’
"Azhen..." Jiang Yue called when he saw his husband’s distraction.
’Since I don’t know what they are planning, I should stop worrying too much.’
With that, he took Jiang Yue’s hand and squeezed it a little.
"I am fine." He said.
Jiang Yue looked at him and saw Yu Nianzhen’s mood had lightened.
Unfortunately, he relaxed too soon because a spring breeze suddenly blew.
