Chapter Seventy-Nine: Parting Ways

"The array sealing from ancient times is no trivial matter. You must be careful," Xu Youyi, who had some expertise in arrays, felt compelled to remind Lin Xiaobao at this moment.

Just now, Si Mengling had already recounted the process by which Lin Xiaobao rescued them. It was clear that Lin Xiaobao possessed remarkable talent in both martial arts and alchemy. Considering his age, Xu Youyi estimated that in the field of arrays, Lin Xiaobao might be somewhat lacking, for a person's energy is always limited.

"When you entered the valley, at the seventh step, if you moved just an inch to the left instead of two full steps, do you think you could have entered faster?" Lin Xiaobao said to Xu Youyi, a hint of a smile on his lips.

After a brief pause, Xu Youyi's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed. "You..." For a moment, he could not find words to express the shock in his heart. Lin Xiaobao's suggestion had crossed his mind before, but he had dismissed it as too risky. Yet, upon serious consideration, he realized Lin Xiaobao's method was far simpler than his own. He could not help but bow deeply to Lin Xiaobao. "I am enlightened."

Although Si Mengling had already witnessed Lin Xiaobao's skill in setting arrays, the previous array had been too simple. She had only thought Lin Xiaobao possessed some knowledge in the art, but she never imagined his mastery could impress the senior disciple. Among the younger generation of the Flowing Cloud Sect, the senior disciple's expertise in arrays was unrivaled—even many elders could not match him.

Yet now, he declared himself taught by Lin Xiaobao. What did this signify?

Le Hongcai’s eyes were filled with shock. Since when had the Wind and Snow Pavilion grown so formidable?

Of course, this was because they were unaware of Lin Xiaobao’s illustrious deeds within the Wind and Snow Pavilion...

After some deliberation, the three finally agreed to Lin Xiaobao’s arrangement. As Lin Xiaobao had said, they were powerless to stop him from doing whatever he wished. After all, Le Hongcai and Xu Youyi had barely recovered, their fighting strength not much higher than ninth-tier martial practitioners, and certainly no match for Lin Xiaobao.

They could also see that Lin Xiaobao bore no real malice toward Si Mengling, though his suggestion to claim the ancient seal for himself did tempt them somewhat.

With everything settled, the four parted ways. Le Hongcai and Xu Youyi retraced their steps.

Lin Xiaobao, meanwhile, leapt to the corpse of the Azure-eyed Demon Spider and began to dissect it: the demon eyes, inner core, carapace... The entire spider’s body was swiftly dismantled in Lin Xiaobao’s hands, as if he had performed such tasks countless times before.

Si Mengling, watching from the side, was astonished. How could this fellow be so familiar with the Azure-eyed Demon Spider?

Having finished with the spider, Lin Xiaobao and Si Mengling proceeded toward the depths of the valley.

"What kind of story do you intend to tell me?" Si Mengling asked, curiosity in her voice.

"When the time comes, I’ll naturally tell you," Lin Xiaobao replied, not intending to speak of Lin Tian just yet. As they advanced, he asked the two elders to extend their spiritual senses, so they could avoid the more powerful spirit beasts.

With the elders’ help, Lin Xiaobao easily steered clear of many dangerous areas. This made Si Mengling wonder if their encounter with the Azure-eyed Demon Spider had simply been bad luck, for there seemed not to be many spirit beasts in the valley.

However, even with the elders' assistance, they sometimes found themselves in unavoidable situations. After all, the ancient seal lay deep within the valley. If they tried to detour around certain paths, they would have to circle a great distance, risking encounters with even stronger spirit beasts. So whenever faced with such circumstances, Lin Xiaobao simply dealt with them directly.

Yet another first-tier spirit beast appeared. Watching Lin Xiaobao once more dispatch the creature and process its corpse, Si Mengling grew somewhat numb. Along the way, Lin Xiaobao had already taken the lives of five first-tier spirit beasts.

None of these five beasts had lasted even an hour against Lin Xiaobao, nor had any posed the slightest threat. If Si Mengling hadn’t sensed their powerful aura up close, she would have doubted whether these beasts were anything more than empty shells.

But feeling their presence, she knew each one was stronger than the Azure-eyed Demon Spider. Yet, faced with Lin Xiaobao, they seemed unable to unleash their full power, dying quickly and then being transformed into useful resources, tucked away in Lin Xiaobao’s storage bracelet.

"Be careful. In about an hour, we’ll enter the region of the ancient seal." After disposing of the spirit beast, Lin Xiaobao took out some provisions and shared them with Si Mengling.

"Have you been to the ancient seal before?" Si Mengling was curious about Lin Xiaobao’s behavior. Along the way, it seemed he was extremely familiar with the valley.

Reason dictated that the valley could not be home only to first-tier spirit beasts. Yet apart from those, they had encountered no beasts of the second tier or higher. If luck was ruled out, there was only one possibility: Lin Xiaobao was intimately acquainted with the valley.

"I haven’t been here, but I found a treasure map," Lin Xiaobao replied, not revealing the real reason. He laughed, "Just follow me and you won’t go wrong!"

After eating and drinking, the two set out once more toward their destination.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. In the midst of their hurried journey, Lin Xiaobao suddenly stopped, surveying his surroundings with a tightly furrowed brow.

"What’s wrong?" Si Mengling asked, for she rarely saw Lin Xiaobao so unsettled.

"Someone has already located the ancient seal before us," Lin Xiaobao said, observing the traces ahead.

There was another truth Lin Xiaobao did not voice: the person had entered the core of the ancient seal half a year earlier, and might even have already activated it.

In the depths of the valley, the perimeter of the ancient seal was guarded by a profound array. But when Lin Xiaobao arrived, he saw that someone had already breached the array. How did Lin Xiaobao notice? Because the intruder seemed unfamiliar with the array, yet possessed extraordinary cultivation, forcibly tearing open a gap in the array and entering.

This was precisely what Lin Xiaobao feared. Judging by the damage to the array, the person who entered earlier possessed at least peak ninth-tier spiritual mastery—perhaps even higher...

Of course, this was also due to the weakening of the array’s power after being washed by the ages. Had the array been at its full strength, anyone trapped within would have likely been instantly killed.

Despite his concern, Lin Xiaobao also felt anticipation toward the power of such arrays. If one day he could set up an array like this, wouldn’t it mean that even if his cultivation was inferior, he could still be formidable beyond measure?

After instructing Si Mengling, Lin Xiaobao began to carefully lead her into the array.