Chương 95: First look

When Shu Yang stepped back into the grand hall once again, the people inside immediately turned to look at him. Shu Yang smiled slightly and walked toward them. He actually didn't have anything against anyone besides Ding Quang and his nephew. Fan Shimo had even been very helpful.

'While I shouldn't rely on them entirely, it doesn't hurt to make some friends.' Shu Yang actually regretted heading out to look for Xiaorong straight away. He should have stuck around and tried to become acquainted before disappearing for two days. These people were all talented and should have some background. They were basically a treasure trove of information.

"Hello, everyone," Shu Yang said, "My name is Zhuo Zhangye. Sorry for disappearing; I was just worried about a friend of mine. From now on, I'm ready to help solve this formation with everyone." The people in front of him exchanged glances, not having much of a reaction. Only Fan Shimo and his grandson smiled kindly at his words. Fan Shimo stepped forward and asked, "Did you find your friend?" Shu Yang paused for a moment before asking back, "Do you know if beasts are accepted into the trial?"

"Beasts?" Fan Shimo asked, turning to look at Ding Quang.

"I saw a few contractual beasts in the trials when I was looking down there," Ding Quang answered, a little stiff.

"What if it's not a contracted beast?" Shu Yang asked. He knew that almost all beasts that lived with humans were under some kind of contract, often set up by a beast tamer. But Shu Yang didn't have one of those with Xiaorong.

"Just a wild beast?" Fan Shimo asked, "Those wouldn't enter this trial, no." Shu Yang nodded. After thinking about it these past two days, he felt that was the case too.

"Your friend is a beast?" Ding Yilang asked, looking at Shu Yang as if he was a crazy person. Shu Yang ignored him and stepped up next to Fan Shimo, looking up at the huge door blocking their way. It was strange; Shu Yang actually saw hundreds, maybe thousands, of engraved patterns on different parts of the door. They weren't hidden from view at all.

"I assume attacking it doesn't work. Do you have some kind of system in place to solve it, or is it every man for himself?" Shu Yang asked.

"Attacking is indeed useless, unless your sword intent could be improved to the 7th-tier. Then it might work," Fan Shimo answered. Shu Yang wanted to ask about those tiers, but held himself back. He didn't want to reveal how ignorant he was. He could find out about those things later, more discreetly.

"As for the system we have. Basically, Master Hongchi is the best at understanding these formations, so most of the time, she is the only one working on it. If she stumbles somewhere, she explains the issue to us, and we all gather to think of a solution together," Fan Shimo finished.

'So they all rely on this girl?' Shu Yang thought to himself, glancing at the red-haired young woman sitting on the floor with scattered notes all around her. Looking at the different patterns on the wall, Shu Yang got a headache. It felt impossible to solve. It was countless times more difficult to solve than the last formation.

'Is it even solvable? Perhaps these patterns are just an illusion, and the true patterns are hidden.' Shu Yang wasn't very prone to trust anything he saw unless he confirmed it with his Piercing Gaze first.

"You said your sword intent improved recently? Did it improve in your trial?" Ding Quang suddenly spoke up and asked. Shu Yang looked over, contemplating how and if to answer. He didn't want to fight with this guy for the rest of his stay here.

"If you don't mind me asking," Ding Quang added.

"That's right," Shu Yang answered.

"That's a bit strange, no?" Ding Quang asked, "Sword intent of the 3rd tier should have been able to cut through any formations set up for a Qi Refiner, not to mention a low-level one like you. Yet, you were stuck for seven months and only got out when your sword intent improved. It seems like you entered a trial for Foundation experts. Why is that?" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Who knows? I guess my sword intent was taken into account when I was placed in my trial," Shu Yang answered.

"Right," Ding Quang nodded, narrowing his eyes slightly.

'When I get tired and need to sleep, I'll definitely head back into the trial section. I can't let down my guard with this guy around.' Shu Yang looked over the patterns on the wall for a while before giving up. It was too complicated. Besides, it might be fake. He would have to wait for a few days to make sure. … Three days passed, and Shu Yang had just recovered enough to briefly use his Bloodline Ability.

He felt he didn't need to wait the full ten days to fully recover, since he just wanted to get a quick view of the true situation on the grand door.

"I can't believe you still have meat," Fan Linzen, Fan Shimo's grandson, said as he bit into the dried meat Shu Yang handed him.

"I came prepared," Shu Yang said with a shrug.

"So did we, but fasting pills are just way more efficient," Fan Linzen said, "But you do grow tired of the taste. Thank you for this."

"It's nothing," Shu Yang said. He hadn't given away any meat for free, but had traded it for fasting pills. It was a deal everyone had made happily, and Shu Yang was quite pleased as well. The fasting pills would last longer, in case he was stuck there for a really long time, and giving these people some meat to taste after so long made for a good impression.

"If only there was enough spiritual qi here," Fan Linzen lamented, "No one would have to starve, and we could make more use of our time."

"If thousands of people used the spiritual qi to cultivate, there probably wouldn't be enough left to power the formations," Shu Yang said.

"I know, I know," Fan Linzen said, sighing, "I really want to get out of here. How long do you think we'll be stuck?"

"I don't know," Shu Yang answered, looking at the door blocking all their path. Over the past three days, he had gotten a little better understanding of the progress these people had made. He had gotten Song Hongchi to answer a few of his questions in exchange for meat; she was otherwise quite obsessed with her studies, and from what she told him, Shu Yang gathered that they weren't even one percent of the way there. Not even close.

By this point, everyone besides Song Hongchi had basically given up on solving the formation. No one said so out loud. Fan Shimo still helped Song Hongchi whenever she got stuck somewhere and needed help. Ding Yulang would also hover around her, appearing helpful, but from what Shu Yang could see, he was only interested in her and not the formation. But the black-clothed man called Hanzhu kept to himself, rarely participating.

Ding Quang didn't know anything about formations, and didn't seem eager to start learning. And Fan Linzen just spent the days talking with Shu Yang, which was much appreciated, as Shu Yang had gotten to know a lot of things from him. After three days of observing everyone, Shu Yang was sure that everyone but Song Hongchi was waiting for Golden Core experts from the outside to break their way in. As for the potential danger that would bring? No one seemed that worried.

If they didn't have the inheritance, why would they be harmed? Not to mention that Song Hongchi, Ding Yilang, and Ding Quang were all part of the Green River Sect. They were all on the same side. But Shu Yang really didn't like that outcome. He couldn't afford to be noticed by an expert of that level; there were too many risks.

'If I want to get out, I'll have to do it myself.'

'Hopefully, if I manage to get to the inheritance, there will be an escape route for me to take.' Shu Yang left Fan Linzen and walked up to the large door, ready to catch his first glimpse of what it was hiding. He glanced at Song Hongchi to the side as she was ignoring Ding Yilang and working on her notes.

'Why is she so adamant about solving this? She is a member of the Green River Sect as well, and shouldn't have to worry.'

'Besides, no one knows better than she does just how far away solving this formation is. How can she still have hope to continue?'

'Has she figured something out she's not sharing?' Shu Yang became a little suspicious, but her notes were there for everyone to see. He shook his head slightly. Now was not the time to think about that. He took a few deep breaths and looked up at the various engraved patterns on the huge door in front of him. With a thought, he activated his Bloodline Ability.

'Nothing?' The various patterns were still there. Truly there. His Piercing Gaze didn't reveal any illusion playing tricks on him. He adjusted his vision slightly to look at what lay beyond the door. He had gotten a lot better at controlling his Bloodline Ability to do these things now, so it came to him easily.

'Rocks, rocks, rocks. Oh, a corridor?' Shu Yang finally saw something interesting. He followed the corridor with his vision, trying to see where it led. But before he could make it, his Bloodline Ability ran out of power.

'Well, this is quite interesting.' Shu Yang thought, looking over the door with his normal sight once again.

'These doors won't lead us outside. In fact, they don't look like doors at all.' Shu Yang had only seen rock behind the doors, and one single corridor.

'It's all very confusing. I need to think carefully. It's definitely not as simple as we are all supposed to come together to solve the final formation as a team.'

'I guess I'll find out more once my Bloodline Ability recovers. If I can see where that corridor leads to, I might get some clues.'

'Until then, since these engraved patterns seem to be the real deal, I should try to figure out what they do.'