The treasure room in the Ancient Sword Tomb was relatively spacious. However, at this time, nearly forty people were squeezed in it, making it appear somewhat crowded and the atmosphere a bit stifled. When Wang Lu and the others arrived through transmission array, they immediately aroused the attention of everyone like cold water being poured into a hot pan.
"Who is it!?"
"Again? Get them out of here, these small fries…"
The room was filled with noises. Wang Lu couldn’t help but frown; this kind of mess did not match with any plan that he got.
However, even if this was unplanned, it didn’t matter. As long as he coped the turn of events by sticking to the fundamental principle… there was nothing to be afraid of.
Upon regaining his calm and composure, Wang Lu swept everyone around him. Most of the faces were unfamiliar, but he also found a few familiar ones. The other side, of course, had also recognized Wang Lu, which, after a moment of hesitation, came up to him.
"Brother Wang!"
A slight smile then hung on Wang Lu’s face. "Little Hai… and Brother Ziye over there, long time no see."
The other side was obviously the group of disciples from the Ten Thousand Arts Sect. Ye Feifei, Zhao Jiangyuan and the others who participated in the competition between the two sects in the past were also present. There were also two other disciples with similar cultivation base, which were obviously also elite disciples of Ten Thousand Arts Sect, making their group a total of seven people.
"What happened here?"
Hai Yunfan wryly smiled. "Human’s calculation could not be compared with the heaven’s calculation."
Since even the disciples of Ten Thousand Arts Sect who were known for their calculation said this, it seemed like there really was a great turn of event… Moreover, thinking about this difficult-to-handle turn of event, as well as the current scene, Wang Lu said, "Shengjing?"
Although it was still unknown why Shengjing Sect was able to disturb the highly confidential plan of the three sects, able to make the three sects’ calculation void, avoid Daoist Master Feng Yin’s divination, and make the disciples of Ten Thousand Arts Sect feel deeply helpless… No matter how he thought about it, only Shengjing Sect could meet those criteria.
"Yes, it’s Shengjing Sect!"
A forceful voice suddenly butted in. Then, a tall male cultivator emerged from the crowd and arrived in front of Wang Lu, towering over him.
Wang Lu’s figure was above average, but in front of this person, he was like an adolescent child. If he looked straight ahead, he could only see the opposite party’s chest.
Then, without lifting his head, Wang Lu said while looking straight at the other side’s chest, "Fellow Daoist from Shengjing Sect? We did not expect a visit from honored guests, so please forgive our manners."
Although this cultivator from the Shengjing Sect was tall, he was not as reckless as he look. Hearing Wang Lu’s words, he knew immediately that Wang Lu had implied that he and the other people were uninvited guests? Nevertheless, he ignored the metaphor of such words and just coldly said, "You guys are from Spirit Sword Sect? I don’t have much nonsense to say to you, just go back where you come from, lest you’re going to cause trouble here and be a hindrance."
Wang Lu lightly said, "Dove occupies the magpie’s nest, is this the way of life of your Shengjing Sect?"
"Dove occupies the magpie’s nest? Ridiculous! When did this ownerless thing become your home?"
Hearing this remark, Wang Lu immediately smiled and then raised his head. "Since you also admit that no one owns this place, then it means it’s also not owned by your Shengjing Sect. Let us put aside the dispute and work together towards the common goal, exploring the deeper levels of this ancient sword tomb, each with their own chance… Wouldn’t that be nice?"
"What a glib tongue!" The tall cultivator let out a sneer but did not speak again; from his condescending glance, there was a hint of appreciation.
Different from Zhou Mumu of Kunlun Immortal Sect and Zhan Ziye of Ten Thousand Arts Sect, the other two group leaders, this young cultivator from Blue River Region before him seemed to be more sophisticated and also more pragmatic.
When his group first met the people of the Kunlun Immortal Sect, the two sects nearly fought against each other. Zhou Mumu, as the team leader of the group from Kunlun Immortal Sect, completely did not expect to meet them here. In her surprise, she immediately made a false accusation, slandering Shengjing Sect of using dirty tricks to steal the secrets of the three sects. With that, a single remark turned into a fierce contention.
Later on, people from Ten Thousand Arts Sect came to the scene. Unsurprisingly, they were also inexplicably surprised. However, Zhan Ziye was actually somewhat calmer than Zhou Mumu. After Zhan Ziye had correctly guessed some of the facts, he did not directly accuse Shengjing Sect of doing dirty tricks. However, Zhan Ziye also stressed that the ancient sword tomb belonged to the three sects, Kunlun Immortal Sect, Ten Thousand Arts Sect and Spirit Sword Sect; Shengjing Sect has no right to intervene...
F*cking fart!
Using dirty tricks to steal the three sects’ secret? When Shengjing Sect wants to know something, do they need to steal it from your home? What a short-sighted and ignorant fool you are!
Shengjing Sect has its force spread throughout the Nine Regions; it was not just for the immediate temporary interest. Their continent-wide strategy had been implemented for more than a thousand years. During which, Shengjing Sect didn’t really do much looting, however, Shengjing Sect’s imprint has been deeply engraved everywhere throughout the Nine Regions...
Then, using the lifetime’s power, the Sect Leader Daoist Master He Tu created the Immortal Treasure Nine Regions Chart, which was linked with the Nine Regions geography, henceforth, the world’s affair was completely under its control.
Therefore, how could Shengjing Sect not know about the appearance of the ancient sword tomb in the Southern Heaven Region?
Of course, even if it was an Immortal Treasure Nine Regions Chart, it was impossible to calculate all of the change in the world. It could only perceive the important events, without providing enough details. Moreover, in the area where the force of Shengjing Sect was slightly inferior, the Nine Regions Chart was relatively insensitive. Coupled with how big Nine Regions were, which meant events and changes big or small constantly occurred, thus, no matter how powerful Shengjing Sect was, it was still difficult for them to take everything into account. For example, the news about the birth of immortal beast at the Grand Cloud Mountain only appeared vague in the Nine Regions Chart, therefore, it didn’t attract enough attention. Afterward, when it finally gave a clear warning, Bai Shixuan has already transformed her form and Fifth Elder of Spirit Sword Sect had already arrived at the Grand Cloud Mountain, thus, the Shengjing Sect had to give up. As for the Ancient Sword Tomb in the Southern Heaven Region, initially, Shengjing Sect also mistook it. They mistakenly thought that, at most, the Ancient Sword Tomb only possessed one or two top-grade spiritual treasures; It was not worth to spend too much manpower and resources on it. When they also got the news that there were three of the Five Uniques that went there to compete, there was no need for Shengjing Sect to push the matter too hard.
However, when a Spirit Sword Sect’s disciple finally took the treasure, Shengjing Sect detected an anomaly. On the Nine Regions Chart, the symbol of the birth of rare treasure not only did not disperse, but it also vaguely grew stronger, though it was only intermittent and indistinct. Using supreme divination, the Sect Leader found that there might be a secret hidden deep within the tomb. However, since it was just an inherited ancient sword tomb, it would be hard to break it without using brute force. Therefore, he immediately ordered the sect’s elite disciples to form a team to explore the tomb.
The response from Shengjing Sect was actually slower than the three sects, however, as the number one sect in the Immortal Path, their advantage was obvious. Though they started late, with their original internal management model, they became the first to complete the mobilization. From the Immortal City of the Central Region, as well as their various divisions, they gathered a twenty-five person raid team and directly went for the entrance of the sword tomb. They did not have the transmission marks left behind like the Kunlun Immortal Sect and Ten Thousand Arts Sect, yet Shengjing Sect team only used less than half a day to break through all the three levels and arrive at the treasure room; their efficiency was extraordinary!
Of course, for people of the Shengjing Sect, this seemed normal. Although these twenty-five people were hastily gathered, all of them were the elites of the sect, absolutely without any untalented person at all. The team leader was peak Xudan Stage Power King Jianglu, the seventh of the nineteenth successor disciples. His fighting style, Unbreakable Mysterious Metal, has reached the sixteenth heaven layer realm, and his comprehensive strength was not below the lead representative from the other Five Uniques. His assistants were the twins Wangyue Luanyu and Wangyue Luanyun which ranked seventeenth and eighteenth of the nineteen successor disciples. The two of them held the yin and yang treasure chest, which, if combined, have the power even more than that of a gushing river. The rest of the more than twenty team members were also the elite disciples of their generation; even the weakest among them has cultivation base of middle-level Xudan Stage. Coupled with their first class Immortal Cultivation Method, and body full of magical treasures, each of them has the comprehensive strength not that much inferior to the Jindan Stage Daoist Master of any high-rank sect.
With such a strong team, why would they need to steal information from the other three sects? With their ability alone, they were more than capable to smoothly explore the sword tomb.
Uninvited guest, dove occupies the magpie’s nest? What a joke, when their team have already entered the treasure room and was trying to open the entrance to the fourth level, only then did the Kunlun team arrived! There was no trace of Zhan Ziye’s team from Ten Thousand Arts Sect and other people. The three sects should be the uninvited guests here!
After becoming aware of this problem, Wang Lu simply didn’t dwell on the right to explore the sword tomb and proposed to put aside the dispute while at the same time didn’t put himself and his team in a weaker position. From the logical point of view, his reasoning was also the most difficult to refute.
After all, although Shengjing Sect was the first to arrive, as the original competitor, the other three sects held the supreme advantage. Therefore, the right to exploit the tomb was still entirely unclear.
How to deal with an unclear problem? Very simple, the first was just like what Wang Lu said earlier, put aside the disagreement first and explore the tomb, the other one was...
"What a joke, who wants to put aside the disagreement with you?" A thin and tall cultivator from the Shengjing Sect team laughed. "Do you think you can compete for the treasures against Shengjing Sect? Are you delusional?"
However, Wang Lu didn’t even need to talk. A young girl from Kunlun team with willowy eyebrows and full of heroic spirit angrily rebuked, "Delusion? Didn’t your sect ever teach you the term first come first serve!?"
"First come first serve? Great! When I arrive, you, Zhou Mumu, were still on your journey. Your Kunlun Immortal Sect has always bragged about you being the ancestors of the Immortal Path, don’t you know how to differentiate the truth from the wrong?"
"The last time we came, your Shengjing Sect didn’t even know about this place!"
Seeing that both sides’ arguments were going nowhere, Shengjing Sect cultivators didn’t say much anymore. Their more than twenty people, one by one, took a step forward, which showed their breathtaking momentum. Under this astonishing pressure, the complexion of the six people team of Kunlun Immortal Sect immediately turned ugly.
No matter how strong they argued, they couldn’t deny the number advantage of the Shengjing Sect. From their twenty-five people team, not one of them were weak.
Having their imposing manner overwhelmed, Zhou Mumu hurriedly looked at the Ten Thousand Arts people. Although the two sects were far from being intimate, they previously have a mutual collaboration. The power of Zhan Ziye’s Ten Thousand Methods Comprehension was astonishing, which could be used as an extremely powerful help.
However, when she saw him, Zhou Mumu was immediately dumbfounded. When they met previously, his quite majestic appearance was dashing, however, Zhan Ziye who has a slight trace of bookish appearance now looked like a shy young boy who has just begun to get interested in the opposite sex; from time to time, he shyly stole a glance at the ample breasted young girl from Spirit Sword Sect...
D-Damn you! What the hell are you doing there!?
Since Zhan Ziye could not be relied on, Zhou Mumu had to place her hope on Spirit Sword Sect. Though except for one, she has never met with the rest of the cultivators from the Spirit Sword Sect, but she has long heard of Wang Lu, their sect’s Lead Representative. Moreover, the last time she explored the sword tomb, she received a sword strike from Zhu Shiyao, nearly crushing her Taiyi Exquisite Immortal Body, which was like a nightmare to her.
If Spirit Sword Sect was willing to lend a hand, the combined force of the three sects would not lose to the Shengjing Sect.
"Hm, allow me to speak some words." When the situation was extremely tense, Wang Lu said, "This Ancient Sword Tomb is a legacy from time immemorial, and its level far exceeds that of today’s world. Moreover, it also experienced the catastrophe of the last Age of Chaos, which meant, it is likely to have a considerable amount of organ failure or mutation, which increase the risk to explore by several points. Although your sect’s team is powerful, I must say that it is unrealistic to expect that your team can go unhindered in this place. It is also the same for us, Spirit Sword Sect, Kunlun Immortal Sect, as well as Ten Thousand Immortal Sect. Therefore, rather than fighting among ourselves, why don’t we collaborate and explore together? The scale of this tomb is unprecedented, the priceless treasures are innumerable, so why must we eat all of this alone?"
Power King Jianglu nodded and said, "Shengjing Sect doesn’t necessarily want to eat alone, if in the process of exploring the tomb we can get a strong aid, that is a naturally good thing. However, we worry that instead of a helping hand, we would get a stab in the back."
This Power King Jianglu was tall and sturdy, and his method was also very fierce, yet unexpectedly, his thought was actually quite refined, which was completely inconsistent with his look.
Wang Lu laughed. "Then let us all take the Big Heart Demon Oath."
However, at this time, it was people of Kunlun Immortal Sect who seemed to undermine him. Seeing Wang Lu wanting to collaborate with the Shengjing Sect, Zhou Mumu angrily said, "How could your Spirit Sword Sect people be so spineless? As soon as you met Shengjing Sect, you become unreliable and bent on shameless flattery?"
Power King Jianglu laughed out loud. "See? Even your three sects can’t seem to stop fighting among yourselves, how can I be sure to accept you as a teammate? Moreover, what brother Wang said just now is right, the risk in exploring this sword tomb is highly unusual that even we, Shengjing Sect, have to proceed cautiously. As for your three sects… I will not say that you guys are just a rabble; don’t waste your breath and just go home to save yourself the trouble. Nine Regions is vast, with innumerable immortal chances. And our Shengjing Sect could not possibly eat all the benefits. Where our force could not reach, you’re free to do anything you want!"
Wang Lu raised his eyebrows. "Are you saying that you will only give others your leftovers?"
"If you really have the skill, Shengjing Sect will welcome you to compete, but even if your three sects join forces, I don’t think it would be enough!"
Wang Lu inwardly said, "I have been waiting for you to say this sentence." However, before he could say anything, he heard a stuttering but cold as ice voice from behind him.
"T-Too much quarrel."
The next moment, stellar starlights sprinkled on every corner of the treasure room.
Seeing this countless point cold stars, people felt as if they have just fallen into an ice cave. However, once they reached out and touched that starlight, they could feel the astonishing heat bursting out of it.
Ice and fire overlapped. Under the illumination from the starlight, unexpectedly, this Ancient Sword Tomb that was inherited from time immemorial seemed to sway a bit! A moment later, along with the falling gravels, a burst of crashing sound was heard as one of the walls collapsed.
The treasure room was broken!
The passage to the fourth level of the sword tomb also appeared behind the wall.
While everyone was in the midst of unparalleled shock, Zhu Shiyao completely ignored the dispute between Shengjing Sect and the three sects. Like the wind, she floated towards the fourth level entrance.
"Wait a moment…"
Shengjing Sect cultivator that was the closest to the wall was the first to respond. He then reached out his hand to grab her. His hand opened and closed, which collapsed the space surrounding it and turned the five elements into disorder. This showed how powerful he was.
"Get out of the way."
Bam!
People could not even see what happened. The cultivator that tried to block her was actually hit back by an incomparably powerful force, sending him flying in the air like a straw.
Power King Jianglu’s eyes went wide, unable to believe what just happened before him.
The person who was sent flying… was one of the vice team leader of the Shengjing Sect, Wangyue Luanyun! That person’s seemingly plain double palms actually contained the yin and yang universe elements in them, with endless change that even peak Xudan Stage cultivators could not contend!
After a moment of consternation, Power King Jianglu rushed forward to pursue. At the same time, his mouth roared, "Want to run!?"
The other cultivators from Shengjing Sect immediately followed. One by one, the twenty-five people went into the passage behind the crumbling wall.
As for the three sects’ cultivators...
"Ck, ck, things really are unpredictable. Come on, what are you guys staring at? Let’s go!"
Along with the call from Wang Lu, the three sects’ cultivators immediately followed closely behind in silence.
Clearly, they have initially fallen into a deadlock that was difficult to unlock, only to be violently cracked. Towards this, everyone felt differently. Especially Wang Lu who was deeply moved by this.
"Sure enough, countless words are inferior to boldly standing straight and just thrusting forward…"