Exploration
Following closely to the group, Yan Lenglei, Mo Jidong, amd Long He Yu continued to follow Ning Lianqi as she led the disciples of the Celestial Lotus Sect around. No hidden dangers had been set off or revealed to them, as the disciples all closely traveled while keeping their guard up. As the heat gradually increased, the disciples began to slow down, while their Spiritual Qi reserves were slowly dimming.
After only two shi of time, the disciples stopped to rest, while trying to regain the Spiritual Qi that they had lost. In such an environment, even just sitting down to recover expended a little bit of the Spiritual Qi they were trying to recover. At this rate, it would take a good amount of time until they were able to continue the journey.
As for Yan Lenglei's group, the temperature still hadn't affected them at all. There was no need to use any of their Spiritual Qi, while no sweat could be seen from them either. Only the disciples who were still recovering were sweating with their clothes soaked, as the temperature continued to rise gradually.
Once the disciples had recovered enough for them to continue the journey, they immediately marched forward in hopes to get out of the area as soon as possible, since it was so draining on them. Fortunately for them, there were no Demonic Beasts, nor other sect disciples attacking them on the way.
Soon, a hidden danger that Yan Lenglei had seen earlier while scouting was not too far ahead. "Be careful." Long He Yu reminded Ning Lianqi, as he hinted at the location of the danger. Ning Lianqi nodded as the rest of the disciples became more vigilant. While they didn't know these three bodyguards, they were sure that they wouldn't play any tricks on them. Afterall, it would bring danger to not only Ning Lianqi who they were supposed to protect, but also to themselves.
Drawing their weapons, each and every disciple who was already all in the Noble Realm continued forward while keeping their sights on the danger head. Of course, they could also choose to avoid the danger directly, except for the fact that the path was the only way forward. Surrounding their group, were large canyons that went further than the eyes could see, making it impossible to go anywhere else but ahead or back.
As they approached the single pathway, Ning Lianqi's thin blue cicada-like sword appeared in her hand. A gentle, yet violet Water Qi surged around her Spiritual Tool as she pointed her sword and waved it.
Whoosh!
Immediately, the ground shook and was blown apart by a huge impact from underground. Something extremely large had come out from underground to ambush them. When the dust had yet to clear out, a huge shadow lunged towards them while rubble was still falling from the sky.
Roar!
A huge black centipede Demonic Beast of the Second Grade came forward with its exceedingly huge pincers on each wide of its mouth. It had eight of them, four on each side, which was enough to cleave through a mountain with ease. Ning Lianqi and the Celestial Lotus Sect disciples all leaped away to dodge, while preparing to attack. Obviously, they didn't care if there was only one opponent. If ones life was in danger, why would they not band together and eliminate the danger, instead of allowing one or two people to fight?
Whoosh!
At the same time, dozens of Noble Realm auras were released, as each of the Celestial Lotus Sect Disciples slashed out at the Demonic Beast. Many of the disciples used swords, while a few used sabers. Together, their attacks seemed to have combined into a single powerful attack that multiplief in power and cleaved through the air towards the Demonic Beast.
The centipede's large pincers came forward and pinched the Spiritual Qi that was aiming for it. Unfortunately, the single Demonic Beast couldn't handle this attack that was made up of a combination of different Concepts. Not only that, the Demonic Beast was only of the Mid Stage, while some disciples were already Late Stage Nobles, obviously, with such a difference in cultivation; the Demonic Beast was bound to lose.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the centipede's head was loped off its body and landed on the ground with a 'plop'. A few moments later, its large body came crashing down onto the ground. After that, no other Demonic Beasts appeared to attack them, so the disciples were relieved and sat down to recover their lost Spiritual Qi. Their last attack had used quite a bit of Spiritual Qi, while the temperature caused them to use some in order to stay cool. This time, it would take much longer to recover from their lost Spiritual Qi because of this.
As half a day went by, the disciples of the Celestial Lotus Sect had recovered. Once again, they followed Ning Lianqi's lead, while also being less wary of Yan Lenglei's group. Just as they had said, there was hidden danger at the exact spot that was pointed out. None of them could sense the danger, but they had done so easily, hence the disciples also felt some respect for them. Of course, as disciples of a top-grade sect, they wouldn't show it on their faces and only kept it in their hearts.
*****
Boom!
The earthshaking sound of something large crashing down to the ground could be heard. Inside a huge Mini World where thousands of disciples from elite sects were exploring, and the environment was extremely harsh, one particular group hunted down a small group of Early Stage Second Grade Demonic Beasts.
This group had been traveling in order to leave their environment for almost a day, and dusk was approaching them. By now, the temperature had dropped by many times and they were no longer soaked in sweat. The only problem was that, the temperature had dropped so low, that they needed to use their Spiritual Qi to keep warm. After slaying a small group of Demonic Beasts, the disciples of the Celestial Lotus Sect camped out and recovered their Spiritual Qi for the night.
Within this group, Yan Lenglei and Long He Yu were near the group and cultivating, while Mo Jidong had gone far away on his own to cultivate. In such a place, there was almost no danger to Mo Jidong, hence it was fine for him to leave on his own. As for Ning Lianqi, she camped on her own nearby, but also a little away from the other disciples.
As cultivators, they had no need to eat in order to regain energy. Of course, since they were only in the Noble Realm, they could still recover faster by eating and drinking. Once one had stepped foot into the Baron Realm, they would be unable to recover from the means of eating or drinking. In this case, it would certain,y have no effect on them, and would only act as a source of pleasure for them.
As night fell and morning rose, the group continued to explore the Gu Feixu. After a day, there had been no progress. Of course, they had a month in the ancient ruins so there was still plenty of time. Many of the inheritances that were still remaining were obviously hidden and sitting to collect dust over millions of years.
Since they were hidden, it was obvious that it would be incredibly difficult to find. Of course, since millions of years had passed, and with many sandstorms, as well as the passage of time, that the inheritances were hidden under their feet. While everyone could think of that easily, it was a waste of time and pointless to dig blindly. At the same time, this was also a start since they had no other leads. The surrounding area was either filled with sand, or ancient architecture that had fallen, as well as large boulders and canyons.
With the surroundings like this, it was hard to imagine when they would coincedently run into an inheritance. As Nobles, they couldn't release their Divine Wills to search their surroundings like the Viscounts could, hence they could only aimlessly explore and hope to sense any powerful auras hidden nearby.
A couple of shi of time later, the group lead by Ning Lianqi stopped. Drawing their weapons, a large Late Second Grade Scorpion Demonic Beast caused an earthquake as it dug its way out of the ground, and attacked immediately. Those that were only Early Stage Nobles stood at the far back, while those of the Middle and Late Stage Nobles gathered at the front to fight it together. Yan Lenglei's group stayed even further back and didn't participate in this battle.
It was only a minor threat, in which the disciples of the Celestial Lotus Sect could deal with on their own. Instead, there was something much stronger, far into the distance where none of the disciples could see nor sense.
Waving his sleeve slightly, Yan Lenglei's arm returned to being behind his back, as a large creature that was far in the distance suddenly stopped moving. Moments later, its body was split into thousands of pieces in a single breath of time and dropped to the ground without resistance. Before it died, the Late Second Grade Demonic Beast didn't even know how it had died.
It one were to look above the corpse of the Demonic Beast, they would be able to see a floating sword that emitted deep blue and freezing ice, as well as dark purple thunder and lightning at the same time. The sword slowly hovered up and down in the air at a speed that was neither fast, nor slow for a few moments, before disappearing into the atmosphere as if it had never been there in the first place.
In the far distance, Yan Lenglei watched the battle between the Demonic Scorpion and the Celestial Lotus Sect. Earlier, he had made a move and had slain a Demonic Beast that was much stronger than the one the disciples were currently fighting. It only took the time for him to lift his arm, and then to hold it behind him, for his sword to fly thousands of meters and slay the Demonic Beast.
In front of him, Ning Lianqi's sword was drawn. A large bubble of Water Spiritual Qi surrounded her entire body, as a huge tide of Spiritual Qi formed and rushed towards the Demonic Scorpion. Her attack was used to slow down the Demonic Beast, while the other disciples at the front all gathered together to combine their Spiritual Qi in a single attack. Standing together, a large golden lotus that seemed ethereal and gave off a strong aura of vitality was formed by their combined Spiritual Qi. The golden lotus rotated slowly and enlarged itself in an instant and flew towards the Demonic Scorpion.
Boom!
A huge explosion occured, causing a minor earthquake in the area where the Demonic Beast was blasted by the combined might of dozens of disciples. Obviously, this attack was a technique that belonged exclusively to disciples of the Celestial Lotus Sect. Earlier, when the disciples had used it, Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong saw the mystery behind it and understood something once their eyes were set on it. After understanding it, they both realized something and looked at each other with the same thought in mind.
Of course, this wasn't the place to be thinking about it, hence they would leave it for later to discuss. As for the Demonic Beast, it was still alive. A loud ear-splitting screech was heard from it, as well as large wounds all over its body. Even though it was a Demonic Beast, with many disciples combining their might then multipling it, the damage done would obviously be great. Since it was in this state, the disciples could easily take it out without any major injuries. Any wild animal would become stronger, or have all their abilities be increased greatly when backed into a corner. Obviously, this was the same for Demonic Beasts.
As the Demonic Beast screeched, its large tail suddenly extended over twenty meters in length and stabbed forward through the air at Ning Lianqi.
Whoosh!
"Senior Sister!" the disciples shouted as they all jumped forward to block the attack. Unfortunately for them, the desperate attack of a Late Stage Second Grade Demonic Beast was too much for them. The tail had flung them all away and caused each of them heavy injuries and broken bones. Many of them coughed out mouthfuls of blood as they were worried about Ning Lianqi.
As for Ning Lianqi herself, the bubble surrounding her grew larger and denser in color to defend her. Her sword was held across from her to defend as well. A huge purple tail that was much larger than herself was soaring through the air to aim for her life.
Just when the tail was only meters away from Ning Lianqi, a figure moved from behind her and turne ninto a blurry figure. From above, a figure dressed in blue, holding a rod in one hand had jumped into the air, and dived towards the tail and slammed down hard.
Bang!
With a single blow, Long He Yu who had moved to protect Ning Lianqi, blocked the Demonic Beast's tail. The tail was slammed hard into the ground, buried in sand, as Long He Yu's figure blurred once again and appeared beside the Demonic Beast.
Pow!
His rod slammed hard into the body of the Demonic Beast, as the sound of something breaking resounded clearly in the ears of the Celestial Lotus Sect disciples. Dark-colored blood spewed from the broken exoskeleton that protected the soft interior of the Demonic Beast's body. Taking his rod out, Long He Yu jumped and swung his rod at the Demonic Beast's face.
Pow!
Another ear-splitting screech was heard, as blood poured all over the ground. As for the Demonic Beast, one of its eyes had exploded from Long He Yu's attack. He then found a spot in the very center of the scorpion and stabbed down hard, causing the Demonic Beast to become lifeless. After cleaning up the Demonic Beast, Long He Yu's rod disappeared into his sleeve, as he suddenly disappeared and appeared behind Mo Jidong with the Celestial Lotus Sect disciples awestruck.