Hong Ai cleared her throat. "That … Does it need to be an ascended deity? As far as I understood the array is here in our realm, right? In that case, wouldn't it be enough to take someone with you who is proficient with arrays?"
"Hah?" Qiu Ling came out of his misery and looked up. What did this woman want to say?
Hong Ai pointed at her husband. "An De is quite proficient with arrays. Why don't you take him with you to have him take a look at the array? He might be able to find out something."
Qiu Ling looked at the Grandmaster skeptically. "But he's just a human. How would he know about that array?"
Shen An De smiled wryly. "It's not like the array was put there by a dragon or god. Otherwise, you would know how to solve this yourself. But considering that you came running to find my sister-in-law this is obviously something that concerns the human race."
"That's true."
Hong Ai nodded. "In that case, An De really is your best option. He knows a lot about formations and he's only a step away from ascension anyway. If not for me, he probably would have ascended already."
Qiu Ling pondered. His own master hadn't been able to help and the old geezer had said that he should look for an ascended deity. Was it really alright to take this human guy with him? Then again he might as well try. Who knew? Maybe this man would surprise him and be able to solve his problem. Then his beloved would be free again and they could finally marry!
Just thinking about the possibility to finally hold his wedding Qiu Ling didn't consider any longer. He leaped to his feet and was next to Shen An De in the next second, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the gate. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go right now! I'll consider this as you repaying your sister-in-law's debts. I'll even be nice and tell my father-in-law that you're a good guy even though your uncle is such a bastard."
Shen An De looked at his wife who only smiled wryly and waved at him. "Have fun, my dear!"
"I'll be back soon." At least he hoped he would. Who knew what would happen now that he had followed this guy?
Shen An De's worries seemed to be uncalled for though. After the two of them left the Hei Dian Sect, Qiu Ling let go of him and just rose into the air, waiting for him to follow. Shen An De didn't dare tarry. After all, one never knew what a madman would do if you gave him any cause to do something.
Thus, the two people with mixed blood rushed toward the Leyuan region where Qiang Wei was still waiting for Qiu Ling's return.
Qiang Wei's face lit up when he saw his king. Had His Majesty found help? Would they finally be able to open the secret realm and free His Highness?! He really hoped they would otherwise the future would be looking bleak. Everyone knew that His Majesty would be in a bad mood after not seeing the crown prince for a few days. If he was completely unable to see him and didn't know what was going on, then a bad mood was probably the least of their worries. Who knew what would happen?
He instantly hurried over when Qiu Ling and Shen An De landed a few steps away from him. "Your Majesty! Did you manage to find …" He stopped talking when he took a closer look at Shen An De.
Uh? This person … didn't seem to be an ascended deity? He wasn't a god either. In fact he … was either a dragon or a demon? Qiang Wei normally would have thought that the latter was impossible considering how much his king hated the demons but since this was about the crown prince he wasn't as sure anymore.
Qiu Ling ignored him and looked at Shen An De with sparkling eyes.
The Grandmaster sighed and went over to the array. Thanks to the demon blood he had inherited from his father he had no trouble seeing it at all. Just like the dragons, he could see a net of glowing lines on the ground. It made telling what kind of array this was especially easy.
Shen An De still took a second look at it. Never mind that Qiu Ling would probably try to strangle him to death if he said even one word wrong and they didn't manage to get his fiance out of there, this array came as quite the surprise to him as well. He walked along the lines and took in the symbols engraved around them. In the end, he even tried to sense the spiritual energy in the array and the surroundings.
Just as expected. There wasn't any. Or rather there was a minuscule amount of all the elements in the array so that they balanced each other and finally appeared as if they weren't there at all.
Shen An De took a deep breath and walked back to where Qiu Ling and Qiang Wei stood. The two dragons looked at him with eager expressions.
"So, how is it? Can you open it?" Qiu Ling didn't bother with any details. He only wanted to know when he could hug his beloved again.
Shen An De wasn't going to do him the favor of answering fast though. After all, wouldn't he be held accountable if he left out anything that might lead to them being unable to save the Son of Heaven? He definitely wouldn't let that happen!
He cleared his throat and motioned at the array. "It's quite unexpected. This isn't just any array but an ancient one. Nobody has used it for a long, long time already. In fact, there is only one person known to have used it."
"Who?" Qiu Ling's eyes sparkled. Never mind that the array was a strange one. At least they knew something about it now! Didn't that mean that they would be able to free his beloved in a moment? Ah, he'd finally be able to hold him in his arms again! He would make sure to properly express his sentiments when they saw each other again!
Unfortunately, Shen An De's next words were bound to burst his bubble.
"The one who used it was Huan Yin, the founder of the Hei Dian Sect. Unfortunately, he only left a general description behind, so I'm not sure how to open the secret realm."