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Chapter 233: Ancient Dragon Lair

He patted his chest and said, "Haha, it was nothing."

General Hei Yu spoke the truth. He hadn\'t expected that the alchemist would be dealt with so easily. His plan had been to let the newcomers have a go doing whatever they could. After all, he didn\'t care if they died.

Unexpectedly, they\'d acted without hesitation; they\'d seized the treasure, killed those involved, and set the place on fire. They had completed the mission cleanly and efficiently. This gave General Hei Yu a good impression of them.

Of course, he couldn\'t tell Enchantress Liu that he\'d actually gotten someone else to do the job.

"The White-Bone Hall has many chamber masters, but only a few are outstanding. It appears that Master Hei Yu is definitely one of them," Enchantress Liu praised General Hei Yu highly.

"Oh, no, no. How could I dare accept such praise?" General Hei Yu replied humbly, hiding that he actually felt very pleased. Nevertheless, he couldn\'t hold back a grin as he said, "The three principles that I, Hei Yu, stand by are that a person should always be ruthless, loyal, and have many brothers! That\'s all that matters."

Enchantress Liu then changed the topic. "Acquiring the Eternal-Youth Pills is indeed just a small matter. There\'s a matter of much greater difficulty. I wonder if you would be willing to work with me on it, Chamber Master Hei Yu?"

"Oh?" General Hei Yu uttered, his expression turning serious. He asked, "What is it?"

"I discovered a hidden realm with someone. Each of us had half of the key and agreed to explore it together in the future," Enchantress Liu explained slowly. "However, that person has died, but I have no idea where that happened. So, all I have is my half of the key.

"But it\'s a rare ancient hidden realm. I\'m unwilling to let it go. So, I asked a formation specialist for help. He can attempt opening the hidden realm with the half key, but seventy-two cultivators are needed for the Major Enchanted Formation of the Earthly Evils[1]. What I\'m asking is... could you have your subordinates help form the enchanted formation? I can pay you generously..."

General Hei Yu considered the offer for a moment.

The woman\'s eyes were extremely captivating, but there was no way General Hei Yu would not let her feminine wiles cloud his judgment.

General Hei Yu had a high level of self-awareness. He knew that at least ninety percent of the men in the diabolical sects desired to be with this Enchantress. There was no way she would be interested in him romantically.

Even though she had expressed that she admired him, it was surely just a means to persuade him to help her.

General Hei Yu thoughts were focused solely on what he could benefit from this situation.

After that moment of contemplation, General Hei Yu asked, "I assume that opening an ancient hidden realm won\'t be an easy task, right?"

"As expected, you\'re an intelligent person, Chamber Master Hei Yu." Enchantress Liu smiled again. "I won\'t hide it from you then. There is definitely some danger for those involved."

"Everyone in the diabolical sects know that I, Hei Yu, prioritize being loyal the most. I have always treated my brothers like they\'re part of me," General Hei Yu said. He paused before saying, "Yet, you want me to lead my brothers into danger..."

Enchantress Liu added, "I will pay you more."

"Which hidden realm is it? When are we going?" General Hei Yu asked, no longer hesitating.

Enchantress Liu answered, "In two days. We\'re going to the Ancient Dragon Lair!"

...

After completing their first mission, Chu Liang\'s party and his companions intended to leave.

They all carried tracking jade talismans, but the White-Bone Mountain was constantly in flight. Their senior sect members wanted to wipe out all of the White-Bone Hall members at one go, but it was highly likely that their senior sect members would rush over only to find nothing. Moreover, they didn\'t have knowledge of the situation, so they definitely wouldn\'t have brought enough manpower to take down the White-Bone Hall.

Anyway, the White-Bone Hall did not place any restrictions on its members\' activities; they just needed to arrive promptly when summoned. This meant the trio just needed to make note of the names of the areas in the White-Bone Mountain\'s flight route and leave calmly. Upon returning to their respective sects, they could assemble a large force of righteous cultivators and then destroy the White-Bone Hall in one fell swoop, dealing a heavy blow to the Dark King Sect.

However, just as the trio were about to leave, they received a message that there would be a mission in two days. Everyone was to stay inside the Chamber of Loyalty and await further instructions.

The message made the trio a little uneasy. They were from righteous sects, so staying on White-Bone Mountain for even just a few more moments was torture. Luo Yao was a little better off than the other two, as the qi surrounding the Valley of the Three Absolutes consisted of both righteous and diabolical qi.

Meanwhile, Chu Liang felt the worst. The Crimson Executioner was shaking so much that he almost wished he were dead. He had a great urge to draw the sword and go on a killing spree.

The pavilion that the Chamber of Loyalty occupied had many rooms, so the trio casually picked three rooms and stayed there for two days. When the day of the mission finally arrived, General Hei Yu assembled his troops and valiantly charged off White-Bone Mountain in high spirits.

"I heard this is a secret mission. Only the core members of the Chamber of Loyalty are allowed to take part in it," whispered Liu Sen, the person who had gotten the trio into the hall. "You did a great job on your first mission. That\'s why Chamber Master Hei Yu decided to take you along this time. Excellent work."

Heheh, Chu Liang inwardly let out a bitter laugh. So, that\'s why?

If I had known, I wouldn\'t have acted so ruthlessly during the mission. That way, I might have already returned to Mount Shu and would be enjoying hotpot with Senior Sister Jiang by now.

General Hei Yu rode on the back of a large black-feathered bird, with his brothers following closely behind. They flew northwestward for most of the day.

This baffled the Chamber of Loyalty\'s members.

Where exactly were they going? If they flew further west, they would be flying out of the Yu Dynasty\'s territory.

After about an hour, General Hei Yu announced loudly, "Today\'s mission requires strict confidentiality. Our destination is just up ahead!"

Ahead of them was a seemingly bottomless abyss. It looked like a gaping wound that ran to the center of the earth. Even from a bird\'s-eye view, they could not see an end to the abyss.

It was the Ancient Dragon Lair!

Chu Liang had heard of this legendary realm long ago, but today was his first time venturing to this location.

The lair had been left abandoned for countless years. Yet, when he looked at the lair, he felt a mighty pressure weighing down on him, sending his heart racing in fear.

General Hei Yu led the team straight into the abyss. Occasionally, loud roars rang out from the sides of the abyss, but no creature actually dared to attack the group.

The upper layer of the abyss consisted of pitch-black ramparts with no discernible colors. However, after descending very deep into the abyss, they were surprised by the sudden appearance of lush green grass, trees, and beautiful flowers with vibrant purples and reds. When they finally landed, they found themselves in a luxuriant jungle!

It was totally unexpected that a world like this actually existed deep in a seemingly bottomless abyss. Anyone who saw it would undoubtedly gasp in surprise.

There was a captivatingly beautiful woman in a flaming red dress standing at the entrance of a jungle valley. Beside her was a black-robed man with a weathered face and an icy gaze.

Enchantress Liu? Chu Liang thought.

Seeing the woman, Chu Liang was reminded once again of that black lotus flower.

...

"This is Master Mu, the formation specialist I invited," Enchantress Liu said. Then she stepped forward and gestured toward General Hei Yu. "And this is the Chamber Master Hei Yu of the White-Bone Hall."

General Hei Yu hurriedly greeted Master Mu. "Master Mu, it\'s an honor to meet you at last."

Master Mu was rather cold and indifferent.

He just gave a slight nod and uttered, "Mm."

Nevertheless, General Hei Yu didn\'t get angry.

Instead, he laughed. "Hehe."

Master Mu was renowned among the diabolical sects. He didn\'t belong to any major cultivation lineage, but he had a very high status in the diabolical community.

A cultivator never knew when they might need the help of a specialist like Master Mu, just like how cultivators occasionally needed the services of alchemists and artificers. Specialists had a wide network of connections and usually possessed considerable power and influence, so it was always wise to treat them with respect.

As for why it didn\'t matter that Chu Liang\'s trio had killed that alchemist in their operation, it was because the alchemist wasn\'t a member of a diabolical sect. That meant General Hei Yu wouldn\'t have had any further dealings with the alchemist anyway, so he didn\'t care about the alchemist\'s death. However, General Hei Yu might need Master Mu in the future.

Everyone was somewhat proficient in enchanted formations, but a formation specialist—someone who specialized their cultivation in the field of enchanted formations—was extremely rare. Formation specialists were even rarer than alchemists, artificers, and the like, so they possessed a much higher status than specialists of other fields.

Master Mu swept his gaze over the seventy-two people behind General Hei Yu and asked, "Do all of them have a cultivation level that\'s at the third realm or higher?"

General Hei Yu answered, "Yes. As you requested, all of my brothers here are powerful cultivators at the third and fourth realms."

Master Mu raised his hand and tossed out a sheet of paper. A diagram of an enchanted formation had been drawn on it.

"Stand in accordance with the positions for the qi-circulation route mapped out in the diagram for the Major Enchanted Formation of Earthly Evils. Assist me by activating the underground channels of yin qi. Aim to complete the formation within two hours."

"Sure!" General Hei Yu nodded. "Leave it to me."

He turned around, showed the formation diagram to his subordinates, and explained it to them. Major enchanted formations like these consisted of at least a dozen minor enchanted formations. It was an extremely deep field of study. Nevertheless, Master Mu\'s diagram was detailed and concise, making it relatively easy to understand.

Chu Liang, Luo Yao, and Monk Pushan were among the top disciples of their respective sects, so they probably understood what they needed to do with just a glance. Meanwhile, General Hei Yu was still racking his brain, engaged in a serious discussion with his brothers of the criminal world.

Chu Liang couldn\'t be bothered teaching them, so he just silently retreated to the rear of the group. Then he glanced furtively at the two people standing on the side, away from General Hei Yu\'s group.

Master Mu and Enchantress Liu were whispering to each other. After they had a brief conversation, Master Mu turned around and scanned the deep valley that was surrounded by lofty trees with a height of ten zhang. Then he used his palm to strike the tangle of vines on the mountain wall!

Wham!

"It should be here," Master Mu said resolutely.

He finished talking just as a burst of dust fell, revealing a section of the mountain wall that was covered with strange carvings. In the center of the carvings was a stone disk with a hollow center, appearing to be missing something.

Master Mu raised his hand toward Enchantress Liu.

Enchantress Liu handed over a semicircular iron plate that was engraved with strange patterns. Master Mu then set the iron plate into place, perfectly filling up the hole in the stone disk halfway.

"Fortunately, the half of the key you possess is the Yang Plate, we can use the yin qi in the underground channels as the other half of the key. We might not be able to do it if you possessed the Yin Plate instead," Master Mu said.

Enchantress Liu laughed, "Hehe, it\'s fortunate that you\'re here, Master Mu."

The pair weren\'t trying to hide what they were doing, so Chu Liang had witnessed everything. His pupils contracted a little as a realization surged through his mind.

That iron plate... he had one too!

1. Daoists believe that among the stars of the Big Dipper, there are 72 Earthly-Evil Stars, each with a deity. Collectively, the deities are known as the 72 Earthly Evils. ☜